louisiana

PinkyB Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Tht's actually really useful to hear because I > moved house in April and can't find my voting > card. So basically I can just turn up without any > proof of who I am and they'll let me do my > democratic duty? As long as it is the correct polling station. You can still only cast your vote at the designated polling station for your registered residence. Presumably I could also have > voted on behalf of a lazy flatmate of the same sex > who I knew wasn't going to bother? As long as they didn't recognise you as not being that person. There is a legal right of anybody at the polling station to challenge (whether poll worker or voter who happens to be there at the time), but that would all be down to happenstance (and any such challenge scenario would disappear under repeated government proposals on remote voting).

An ice cream parlour. Though I noticed this week that Jacks does have a few proper ice creams. Um, I'm feeling the urge to go out and vote...

Yes, PGC, there is no need in law for any ID. There is no need - in law - for you to register as an individual voter. Someone on your household, if you have one, can register you (without your knowledge) and they can also register you for a postal vote (and presumably use that vote), which would prevent you from voting in person. By law. Indeed, I can send a fax to Southwark claiming I'm a resident (without any geographic proof - just a fax number) and register myself (and others that I register as voters) as postal voters. I've done it. There is a need to overhaul all this. Labour are terrified that if they have individual voter registration there will be massive drop-out, while local councils say (when you speak to their RO's) that they have no money to implement proper checks on people claiming voting rights and elections are the Cinderella of local government. And then we spend billions on whatever (was in Iraq, monogrammed drain covers). Go figure. I feel the urge to dedicate the next year to massive campaigning around this.

Nigella

FWIW, I'm currently thinking of learning to cut hair... 'cos I'm thinking the same.

Oh, I do love a bit of Cassetteboy: this one David Attenborough on . (There's also a fab one of Nigella Lawson doing something she shouldn't that's been popular with DJ's over the last couple of years. Not on YooToob)

Ain't Nobody - Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan, Chaka Chaka Chaka Khan

Who is Mr Ron Seal? Can he be trusted? Is he on the John Lewis List? And what is it exactly that he does with his coat, simple or otherwise? I'll get my slave, ...erm, servant to investigate forthwith.

I do hope he hasn't been visiting young ladies again.

I'm sure we have not heard the last of HB. Unfortunately.

Vote for And for those of you who believe in the ... Edited to insert missing word.

The blackbird is feasting on the cherries like some toddler with a bag of sweeties. He's going to get very sick indeed. Now I know where they all go. :-S

Got a place at University College London, back in the day. I have kept bouncing back ever since, though was absent for a few years in the 90s.

Choke? I nearly swallowed my monogrammed drain cover.

PinkyB Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Somewhere Tony Blair is laughing and laughing and > laughing. Splitting his sides.

Another one bites the dust. It's like nine-pin bowling... ten-pin bowling... Yikes, I'm running out of fingers, pins. Perhaps that old expression, 'has resigned to spend more time with his/her family' should be updated to read '... to spend more time with his/her monogrammed drain cover/moat/floating duck home'.

Quack, quack, quaaack! Did you go for the tasting menu? And the wines to accompany?

Lizziedjango Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Boots the chemist Boots or Superdrug would give the LL chemists a kick up the backside, to be sure. , Gap and a TK Maxx please. > > The indie shops look pretty, but I would like a > couple of decent chain shops as opposed to ones > which sell overpriced ornamental tat. I'd disagree that local shops sell only overpriced tat. In recent years I've bought a few frocks and skirts (maybe six frocks and four skirts in total) from the ED shop on North Cross Road and from Celestial (in both cases this stock is at the back of the shop, so not apparent from the window/door). The skirts were all 30-40 quid and the dresses 40-75 (mostly around 45). They have all been my favourites. I'm wearing one of the skirts now. All are from small labels and more stylish than anything from the chains, and the prices were not more expensive. (When I took a look in The White Stuff recently the prices for tops and skirts seemed higher and their stuff is somewhat tat-ish and certainly ordinary.) While Gap is absolutely great for plain wardrobe staples like jeans, jumpers, or black jackets, or jim-jams, there rarely seems to be anything fun or really interesting and stylish in there.

Scott's, Bentley's... Hm, something fishy going on there.

KalamityKel Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I prefer a bit of mud slinging B) And tell me KK, do you prefer your mud slippery or with some sticky suction?

Crikey, I leave the thread alone for a day and come back and you're all still going at it hammer and tongs. 1. ED used to be full of ropey old pubs (well it certainly was in 1986 when I first moved here). It now has some nice pubs and some nice eateries. Things have certainly improved around here. 2. None is perfect. There is no such thing as perfection. But all offer some things that are of value to particular communities. 3. Appreciating good food is not something reserved for (I quote) "snobs". Working classes around the world have been doing so for many years (and often eat far better than many of the UK so-called middle classes). The idea that good food is a class thing is bonkers, and a particularly British obsession. 4. There's nothing wrong with 'critical review', whether professional or otherwise, and in particular critique of specifics. It is not (I quote) "poisonous". It shows interest, both in food/drink and the establishments concerned. We wouldn't be arguing if we weren't actively engaged. Consider all the discussion over there's been on here about Green & Blue - a great example of how to take customer opinions seriously and respond. That's part of the reason I'm a regular G&B customer. And part of the reason I "sell" G&B to to many people not on this forum. 5. The Palmerston does aim higher with its food than many food establishments in this area. Aiming high is good. 6. Establishments can go up and they can go down. Generally around here they've been going up, but not always. 7. Proprietors and managers need to be vigilant. Standards can slip, improvements can always be made, and there are a lot of choices out there for the punters, with new ones popping up all the time. 8. It's never easy starting and running a sustainable business (but nobody ever said it would be). I've been doing so since 1992. If you run a good business it's fair that you reap the rewards if it all works out. I'm not sure what nice cars have got to do with anything. And I will continue to take pix of my food when the food particularly takes my fancy, and post them on the Web. Without the permission of the management. P.S. I am completely unconnected with anyone else who has posted on this thread and am not engaged at all in any part of the food or retail industries. Nor do I have any friends so connected apart from the owner of one establishment in Crystal Palace (which I have never mentioned). I have no axe to grind and nothing to promote.

Quids you are trolling B) I shall refrain from ranting against Bossman as they are not worth drawing breath for.

Nero, you're forgetting the commissioning of new radio drama... and of course services to public information about farming, health etc. (The Archers), knowledge sharing with related professionals in relevant sectors, training and education (including online resources), the reinvigoration of the entire Salford economy...

I'd vote for a party that abolished first past the post in favour of some form of proportional representation, and that introduced a bill of rights. Unfortunately any party with any chance of winning under the present system is unlikely to implement the former (once they get into office).

blah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Now there is more choice of essentially the same > product > > 200 different flavours of a vanilla ice cream isnt > much a choice at all.The media experts and > marketeers have commodified politics and made it > another product to be sold and consumed. > Very much like Sainbury's versus Tesco.