willow

This is a bit random but has anyone else seen an old man walking a very large dog (possibly an english sheepdog) very slowly around Goose Green? He looks really frail (the man, not the dog) and just wondered whether he needed any help walking the dog. A dog that size must need a lot of walking and looking after. Anyone know who this man is? Thanks!

This is completely biased but my favourite is France Wales in 2005 6 nations when Martyn Williams and Stephen Jones completely turned the match around and Wales came back from 15 - 6 down at half time to beat France 18 - 24.

The energy saving trust do an online energy survey. Not sure whether they come round though http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/What-can-I-do-today/Energy-saving-grants-and-offers There are some grants and stuff available for homeowners and people on benefits http://www.southwark.gov.uk/YourServices/environment/energyefficiency/grants.html

Oh dear. Thought I'd be over it in a couple of days but still feeling queezy

Are you saying I'm going to be throwing up for a month?

Do you know whether there's a bug going round?

Please excuse my ignorance but what is a troll?

Contrast this game with the scrappy, dull Ireland England match. Also does irritate me immensely that Inverdale moves straight on to dissecting why England lost rather than praise Ireland for being the better side. He did exactly the same thing when Wales beat them. Getting a bit sick of the England Broadcasting Corporation being a licence paying Celt.

"But I reckon BBC News is actually a lot better than it used to be." Nah. Don't agree with this arguement. I was recently watching an old video (remember them?) of Naked Gun 2/12 that I'd recorded yonks ago and I caught a glimpse of the 9 o' clock news that was shown before the film. It was depressing viewing. It was a video from only 14 years ago but it was like television news of a by-gone era. The basic quality of the journalism against the crap we see today is plane to see.

OK - I can stand it no more without speaking up! Has anyone else noticed the absolutely appalling decline in the standard of the BBC news over the past few years? I was watching the 10 o' clock news last night and it occurred to me that it's now turned into a version of the Day Today crossed with Newsround. Chris Morris was truly ahead of his time. Why oh why does the BBC insist on treating its viewers like complete morons? Things that I find particularly irritating are: - The way the presenters stand now instead of having a desk, like they're trying to engender trust with the viewers - The way presenters and reporters can't keep their hands still when they're talking - The way everyone EMPHASISES every OTHER word - Ridiculous use of graphics to illustrate simple points (e.g. reporter using escalators in shopping centre to illustrate how sales have fallen over past year) - The way every single story has to be personalised to a family or person as if the viewer can't understand the concept unless it's applied (cue use of people looking through photo albums etc) Seriously, what has happened? It makes me very indigent, in a "what is Britain coming to" type way usually only reserved for Daily Mail readers..... Am thinking of starting a campaign to bring back better journalism to the BBC or something similar...... Does anyone else feel like this or is it just me spending too much time indoors in this cold weather?

His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. Boring load of w**k. Agree about Saturday - tosh. Also don't ever read The English Patient. It's rubbish.

Don't think we're ones to talk in Britain about fast tracking passports for medals. Remember Zola Budd in Los Angeles? And she ran bare foot.

This will be the worst Olympics ever. Discuss (I'm not necessarily of this opinion - just wanted to start a debate)

Asset Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think the streets are pretty rubbish free by and > large, compared with other parts of London. I agree. The streets are not "strewn with rubbish" as Louisa says. Credit where credit is due, I actually think Southwark do a bloody good job in keeping our streets clean. It's people that drop litter not the council!

Have got the remains of a leg of lamb and wondered whether it was possible to make into stock, in the manner of our hardy predecesors. Seems a shame to waste it.....

The fine for dropping litter isn't ?80. It's ?75 but ?50 if you pay within 14 days.

Almost a side issue but on the same subject, Tessa Jowell if you're reading this, as one of your constituents, please could you tell me who those men in blue were and why the metropolitan police seemed to be taking directions from them? As Olympics minister I'm sure you'll be able to tell us. Also, I thought many people were protesting yesterday at China's appauling human rights record generally, not just in relation to Tibet. There were Dafur protesters there too yesterday but they haven't received as much, if any, coverage because it's not the issue of the day.

If you have a patio or a balcony then you could try a wormery. Wiggly Wigglers do a good line in them...... Depending on where you live then you could try your local allotment I guess. Or the Centre for Wildlife Gardening on Marsden Road used to let you take your organic waste down there. Don't know if they still let you.

Could Wales do it? Still fancy the French on points difference.

Ha ha - I pissed myself when I read this! You realise this is an inner London borough don't you? The youth offending team do stirling work in the community. They do not work by sitting on their a*ses expecting these gangs of marauding pre-pubescent rapist (probably, let's face it from north of the borough) to come to them so we will not be indundated. This sort of ignorant nimby-ism makes me so mad! Last year young offenders coordinated through the youth offending team took part in a really good project cleaning up an area near West Dulwich station but they had to keep an extremely low profile in case there was similar outrage from local concerned residents, who were terrified that they were going to be forced to give hand jobs for crack, or whatever else their vivid imaginations came up with...... Perhaps you'll have more luck generating outrage of the "war on the middle classes" variety on the Daily Mail / Daily Express forums. Isn't it a pity we have to share our streets with poor people, probably from ethnic minorities...... We don't want them polluting this sunny enclave of south london.....

France on points difference. Grrrr.

The basic fact of the matter is that Caffe Nero thinks it's above the law. This is a trick favoured by the large supermarkets - build first, then seek planning permission later. They then employ their large and experienced legal team to challenge the local authority position, who really don't have the funds to keep fighting it. Planning laws are there for a reason - they're not there to make life difficult or inconvenient for people just for the sake of it. If organisations think they're above the law, where's it going to end? Like it or not, local governments are democractically elected. They are elected to do a job, one of which is to uphold the law. You can't pick or choose which ones you'd like the council to enforce because it suits your particular purpose. I'd rather certain pubs didn't comply with the smoking ban but you just accept it because of the greater benefit.

benjaminty Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As someone mentioned before... it was just leaves! > I feel for you SeanMlow to be honest. Not only > did you drop something biodegradable and get fined > for it, but at the very same time some "real" > wrong doers were left "undealt" with because of > their numbers and demeanour. (Although not sure > the fact it was biodegradable was going through > your mind - feel free to correct me?) > > If I were you I'd feel totally p1ssed too! > > If all of you posting and telling SML he's a > naughty boy actually stopped and thought about how > you have been a little hard done by .... ? > bitter pills to swallow.. Yes he did wrong but we > all hate double standards. It's really beside the point that the litter was biodegradable! What a silly argument. Does that mean that the street sweepers should leave all biodegradable waste on the pavement where people have dropped it because it will rot anyway? Does the same rationale apply to biodegradable dog poo I wonder? We'd get people skidding all over the place with rotting banana skins and then sueing the council!

Going back to the title of the thread, I think it's perfectly fair to be fined for dropping a cigarette butt. Litter is litter and it still sends out a message of contempt and disregard for the local environment. Everyone knows it's wrong and anti-social. You can't cry foul play just coz you got caught and someone else didn't. That's like protesting when you get sapped by a speed camera when you know that other cars that have been speeding have gotten away with it.