BrandNewGuy

"The National Coalition for Independent Action and 22 voluntary sector groups have attacked national infrastructure bodies who they say have signed up the voluntary sector to privatisation and the dismantling of the welfare state without its consent." Don't think I need to read any further, given this woeful start...

Meh - it's uninteresting and unoriginal but probably got the rabid response it wanted from a tiny sliver of opinion to reinforce, in turn, Guardianistas feeling better about their radical "stance". The rest of "the world" is, I suspect, more concerned about horrible and pointless loss of life.

The current Vodaphone ad with bloody Yoda makes me scream. The woman on the train is doing a crossword with the clue "Excuse". Yoda says, "Most cryptic". No it isn't, Yoda - it's a straightforward clue, not bloody cryptic. Then he suggests "Apologise" as the answer - which fits! That's not a synonym for "Excuse". If the agency is going to spend millions hiring out an annoying green dwarf alien from George Lucas, the least they could do would be to spend another hundred quid on a proper bloody crossword.

No elections in London. We have Boris doing the Police Commissioner thing...

This might give you a less gushing overview than the IEA one (they have been caught out several times before massaging and manipulating their figures) http://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/papers/view/185311 The Klondike-like rush to shale gas has led to oversupply and significant decrease in price, which ironically makes the expensive process less economic. Investors are worried... The USA's sluggish economy has also helped consumers with their energy prices. Shale gas was not a new technology but became economic due to the large oil price increases of 2006-08. It remains to be seen whether it's a long-term alternative to either coal or oil. If the USA wants to get back to a world of steady long-term growth, it won't become self-sufficient in energy - a situation that ironically can only likely happen with long-term economic stagnation and decline. Not a game changer IMHO.

If she's selling the Big Issue without a seller's ID, it seems perfectly reasonable to query it and prefer a seller who has without having to know her back story or 'do some homework'. Offload the guilt trip somewhere else.

The late lamented Sun And Doves had a sign on the door that read something like: "We allow children into the pub until 7pm, but please be aware that anyone, regardless of age, who shouts, screams, runs around or persistently annoys other customers will be asked to leave." Perfect...

Huguenot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > With Savile they were castigated for NOT reporting > an allegation. WTF do people want? Properly and painstakingly researched material, backed up by corroboration. That's what Newsnight's original piece was, as far as we can tell. Their latest piece failed that test on every count, it seems.

rememberwhen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Robert Glenister (Hustle) was walking past Iceland > earlier this week. > > He drove off in a new BMW X5. He lives in East Dulwich - opposite us, in fact. Came round the other day saying he'd do our windows later but could I give him twenty quid...

No, you're not alone. It's obnoxious, puerile, utterly irresponsible and wrong. What did they think this would do to their credibility in negotiations?

And now there's the evil little sister of the cupcake - the cake pop. It's a little round cake on a bloody wooden stick. Y'know, like a lollipop. Infantile crap for a culture that's addicted to superficial novelty and can't appreciate simple good food. They'll be all over ED this Xmas, mark my words...

There was a story a few years ago about an old Irishman in NW London who'd come over here as a very young man with no paperwork and worked every day of his life for cash in hand and never been to the doctor or to hospital. When it came to retirement, there was no bureaucratic trace of him at all and he received no pension or any other benefits. I think the authorities subsequently relented.

Goodwin's Law...

The Stones don't do real concerts - they just put on glitzy rich shows a la Barbra Streisand. Big night out for wealthy dumbos playing 'cool'. Saw them in 1990 and was bored even back then. Someone should put them out of their misery.

maxxi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ah, the memories...20 Sovereign and a pint of Brew > XI please mate. Ta. Nah - Springfield Bitter or Ansell's Moild...

computedshorty Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I should not really give advice as my wife and > myself and are both over 81. I think that's an excellent qualification for giving advice :-)

Architect-designed homes... rather than using, say, baboons.

???? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ditto "look" before a statement by every fooking > politician since Obama started it. Not > pronounciation, just dull unimaginativr ubiquity. Tony Blair mastered that one. It's supposedly a rhetorical device to get most people's attention as we tend to think 'visually'. Other speakers begin statements with "Listen,..." but apparently that's much less effective. Jack Straw had (and probably still has) an annoying way of prefacing everything he says with "Well,...", which not only makes his interviewer sound stupid, but also he speaks it without a full 'L' sound. So it's something like "Wew". Really bloody irritating. And don't get me started on young Miliband's glo'al stops... edt for sp.

So that's all right then... sheesh! The selfishness of parents is understandable but short-sighted and regrettable.

Neil Young - Down By The River.

Prince's solo, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", George Harrison tribute... arrogant, infuriating and a work of heartbreaking genius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zByqXu6nGYA

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,960124,page=1 Extraordinary expectations of entitlement...

???? Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ...and the Pension bit is why QE (which deflates > Bond prices) is causing real problmes for those > retiring with private pensions. > > I think we've years of this austerity to come to > right this situation plus a bit of inflation to > cheat. Overall incomes are going to stagnate which > eventually will make our economies more > competitive with the developing ones whose > citizens are now by and large getting richer and > with greater incomes this good thing is generally > ignored by the lefties such as Hutton who don't > see that globalisation has dragged million out of > poverty but been a shock to us > overpiad/overindulged/westerners, less income > disparity between the west and elsewhere is > painful for us but more 'equal'. > > > Interestingly the Boston Consulting Group > published a report last week saying the US is > likely to have a manufacturing recovery spurred by > a willing workforce, low labour costs by western > standards and cheap energy (Shale fracking)... Agree with much of this, but there's precious little evidence that shale fracking / shale oil / tight oil are ever going to be 'cheap'. They're only being exploited because energy prices are high and their poor EROEI rates mean that increased production will be unlikely to lead to a reduction in price - certainly compared to the good old days when Saudi Arabia could turn on or off the tap at will depending on the world price of crude.

Agreed... but you know it's dirty ;-)

Huguenot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's all a bit kneejerk food snob. > > If I told someone I'd put E160c in their egg > sandwich they'd do their nut about chemical 'muck' > in food. > > If I told someone I'd put paprika in it they'd > compliment me on my creative flair with spices. > > However, E160c is paprika. So this a food snob who doesn't understand E numbers, right? I've met them, but I don't think I am one. If you want shelf life, then go ahead and add emulsifiers. I'd simply try to choose an alternative that was fresh. Needn't be expensive, needn't be snobby.