BrandNewGuy

First point - so what? Second point - this allegation has been aired before on this forum and turned out to be bullshit. Address the issues or don't put it on here. Incidentally I don't know the councillor nor have I voted for her. I just dislike this muck-slinging. edited for sp

Yes, it is. Have you actually spoken to your councillor about these issues? Does she refuse to speak to you?

Have you asked her before or are you just having a go on here?

Wow. Who'd be a local councillor?

Why didn't they spell it "Oaxaca"? Doesn't anglicising it make it less, well, authentic?

Salsaboy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Women who put their make up on whilst sitting on > the train in the morning. Get up earlier ffs. This used to send me into irrational rage to - until last Wednesday morning. If you were in the second carriage of the 08.40 to London Bridge, you might have seen the young woman who, after doing her make-up, started moisturising her legs. I was the bloke sitting next to her as she silkily massaged up and down her legs. It took all my self-control not to do a Vic Reeves-style pervy thigh rub or two. Unbelievable.

Or maybe developers of new builds where there were no houses/flats previously could be made to offer a few years of free car club membership to new buyers. Adding twelve properties to the area with no extra parking is daft.

b?

And another niche is late/early opening and convenience. 7-11, Costcutter etc seem to have done OK over the years. Cost is less of an issue with them, too, though I don't think that's got much to do with demographic changes - everyone uses them.

No, niche doesn't have to mean poncey and chi-chi. As I mentioned, both SMBS and the Cheese Block are niche - some things in them are pricey, but then that's also the case with Sainsburys and - especially - the Co-op.

No, but as Jeremy said, if they weren't offering anything significantly different from Sainsbury's - and often at a higher price - then they were unlikely to survive. Those shops that closed didn't adapt enough or offer anything much different, unlike food shops such as SMBS and the Cheese Block which survived and thrived.

Yes, if the butchers had hung on for a few more years they could have done a William Rose, as it were. It didn't really help their case putting aggressive signs outside the shop saying things like, "Buy your meat here or we'll close."

david_carnell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > A recent academic study shows that long-distance > rail travel in the UK now costs 0.49p per km. This > compares with ... 0.15p per km in France. Really? I'd like to see those figures. Earlier this year I tried to organise some rail trips in France and found it horrendously expensive - and I looked at advance fares, offpeak, local v 'inter city', group travel etc. Gave up and went by car instead...

buddug Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > And don't get me started on 'interns' aka slave > labour... To play devil's advocate, maybe it's many of the other people in the workplace who are closer to 'slave labour' - tied down by big mortgages who daren't move on, ask for a rise, etc etc because of their bonded status. An unpaid intern, on the other hand, can just say 'screw you' and walk out the door.

buddug Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ... the only reason this > country is struggling is because we were forced to > give all our taxpayers money to bail out the > banks. Focus on that. I will - it's not true. Huge debt, relentlessly increasing oil prices, a burst bubble and an international financial crisis are the main factors. Yes, the bankers wsere greedy and reckless. Yes, the banks shouldn't have been bailed out quite so straightforwardly, but the reasons for financial and fiscal disaster were already in place. > And frankly, the MPs' expenses scandal saw more money > siphoned off from taxpayers' money than benefit > fraudsters! ?1.2 million of MPs' expenses was ordered to be paid back. Benefit fraud is about ?1.1 billion a year. Yes, many MPs are self-serving greedheads, but you claim doesn't hold up.

"Didn't happen for years" - really? "... from doorsteps of lots of people" - really? Four pints of milk ?1 from Iceland. No excuse for theft.

LadyDeliah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Do you think it might be people who want milk but > have no money to buy any? No. For once I suspect the bankers and the ConDems aren't to blame for something unpleasant happening in the world...

On Friday, OCR released documents relating to their investigations into allegations of malpractice at Kingsdale School. Here's how The Huffington Post reported it: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/19/gcse-exam-malpractice-kingsdale-foundation-school_n_3621858.html GCSE Exam Malpractice Found At 'Brilliant' Kingsdale Foundation School, Southwark An examination board found evidence of malpractice at an academy school highly praised by Prime Minister David Cameron, according to documents released on Friday. OCR said that as a result of adjudged instances of maladministration and malpractice found in the administration of GCSE Science coursework at Kingsdale Foundation School in Southwark, south London, it lost confidence in the validity and reliability of the marks submitted by the school. The school was described as "brilliant" by Cameron in May 2011, but allegations about practices there were made by whistleblowers in July that year. OCR said that with regard to the production of coursework, candidates confirmed that the practice was for a first draft to be written and marked by the teachers. Candidates were then given another opportunity to complete it. Its report said: "These statements reflect some of the allegations made by one of the whistle-blowers and evidence to support the claim was found as multiple copies of the coursework with earlier drafts and improved second drafts existed. This practice does constitute malpractice." OCR decided to discard all the coursework marks and give candidates an assessed grade for the coursework units based on examined units. Candidates received a full grade for GCSE Science at the usual time, the report says. Specific demands of the centre were made in a letter in October 2011 from the chief executive of exam boards' umbrella body the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to the school's chair of governors, the report says. These related to the strengthening of the role of the Examinations Officer, the conduct of examinations in line with JCQ rules and the correct delivery and assessment of internally assessed units. It was also deemed necessary to place a JCQ inspector full time in the school during all 2012 exam periods, but no further problems were uncovered. The report was released by qualifications regulator Ofqual as it believed it was in the public interest to do so. OCR said the investigating team did not find any evidence to support allegations relating to exams being taken at the wrong time or in the wrong place. It was also confident that invigilation was in line with regulations. There was also no evidence that science teachers were providing candidates with additional support during their examinations. Another exam board, AQA, said evidence was found of irregularities in the management of coursework and the submission of marks to the board in relation to GCSE English and GCSE English literature. Another board, WJEC, said the handwriting of three candidates varied across scripts in different subjects. It was determined that "unauthorised emergency scribes" had been used, "even in cases where the candidate had been capable of writing", and no details of the scribes used were kept. Ofqual said the reports had not been agreed by the school, where there was no one immediately available to comment. The school's headteacher, Steve Morrison, later invited Ofqual to release all other reports over the same period "as we believe there is nothing exceptional about the Kingsdale case other than the orchestrated provocation of a media storm". He said in a statement: "We recognise the published reports are internal communications between the examination bodies and Ofqual and have a specific and limited remit, perspective and objective. "We have expressed our concerns to both Ofqual and the examination bodies over what we consider to be misleading and/or inaccurate statements contained within them particularly with respect to the report from OCR. "We intend to make further representations as we do not believe the public interest is served by ambiguous or erroneous reporting. We thank Ofqual for noting that the school does not agree with all aspects of the reports. "The school is not averse to such reports being published subject to accuracy and the requirement to protect individual confidentiality. "We would welcome a move to greater transparency in such cases and invite Ofqual to release all other reports over the same period as we believe there is nothing exceptional about the Kingsdale case other than the orchestrated provocation of a media storm. "We are confident that outcomes compare favourably to many other inquiries over the same period in spite of the extended forensic examination of the school. In this respect, the most significant outcome of the investigation is the fact any historic deficiencies or irregularities identified by the school or the examination bodies related almost exclusively to the work and responsibilities of purported 'whistleblowers'. "The governing body wishes to confirm that the outcomes of investigations have produced no evidence at all of institutional or systemic malpractice or maladministration at the school. There can be no doubt that in this respect the school has been fully exonerated. "No sanction or warning has been issued against any individual connected to the school who was the subject of an allegation by a third party. "One warning (which is the lowest form of sanction) was issued against an individual who was formerly associated with the school based on evidence supplied by the school. "Parents, students and the public can have confidence in the integrity of past, current and future examination grades awarded at the school. "The school now considers this matter closed. "The Governing Body has been provided with compelling evidence that there was a coordinated campaign against the school and specific individuals within it. "The Governing Body would like to express its gratitude to our wonderful students, staff, parents and the overwhelming number of well-wishers whose faith in the excellence of the school has been fully justified."

"... the unspoken conspiracy that prevails in modern Western democracies between voters and the governments they elect: we, the voters, will get to blame you for problems that are actually ours, and in return we will allow you, the government, to pretend that you are steering the country, like a helmsman steering a ship, when you can't..." (James Meek)

In St David's, the self-service restaurant / cafeteria in the cathedral itself is really good and excellent value. Apart from the cathedral, there's not a lot to see or do in St David's, though there are quite a few tourist tat shops.

Here he comes now...

KalamityKel Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > They are? All pics snapped on the walk home from the station - except for the last one...

... Yeah, because businesses only ever get custom from their shareholders... Sheesh.

Mousey McP Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Green Woodpecker hopping around Goose Green this > morning @ 6.30 then flew up into the trees > opposite St Johns Church. Possibly nesting? It's probably too late for nesting - more likely to be hunting ants, which are their favourite food. Despite being a woodpecker, it spends more time feeding on the ground than in trees.

They haven't been able to renew their lease, alas, but they are on a rolling one-month, looking for somewhere else nearby. Agree with the comments above - brilliant bar and friendly, knowledgeable staff. Seems a shame that EDers need to go all the way there for something so good and straightforward, but I fear ED rents would preclude anything like this happening nearer to home.