rendelharris

Thoroughly agree with DF and Louisa both, the number of times we've been in PC World or Currys waiting hours for someone to deign to pay us attention, given up, strolled across to Argos and got what we want in a couple of minutes - and without anyone trying to flog you a more expensive alternative, sign up to a care plan, extended warranty etc etc. It'd be lovely if there was a locally run shop to which one could go, but unfortunately in the world of modern electronics, with the massive range now available, it would never be viable. Argos is often very much the least painful option.

uncleglen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Still, having been a barrister AND a journalist- > double whammy in the libturd stakes Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are journalists. Winston Churchill was a journalist. Geoffrey Cox is a barrister and so was Margaret Thatcher. Seriously, take some water with it and try not to start so early.

uncleglen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- Your comment is full of contradictions- I was > commenting generally on various peoples' attitudes > to having a car.... You specifically stated why you got a car and said that it would be impossible to take away people's "freedom." You then made a stupid assertion about the economy being reliant on fuel duty. I know you lie a fair bit but lying about your own post is a new one. Nothing in my post was personal to you apart from noting that as you think everything was better in the old days you should recognise the damage mass car ownership has done to society. Do you start early in half term for old time's sake?

Cripes. Give us a puff on that what you've got there.

Presumably at the moment you use the North-South Superhighway to Blackfriars? So instead of going straight on at Blackfriars Bridge, drop down and join the East-West Superhighway (heading east). Opposite the end of Southwark Bridge turn left onto Quietway 11 (Queen Street). Follow the signs for Q11 as far as Featherstone Street, where you can turn right onto Quietway 13 which will take you all the way to Curtain Street. Nice ride!

A friend had an exhibition recently in a gallery in Lewes, struck me as a lovely arty-ish place (more arts-and-crafts than hipster, which is not a bad thing in my view) with, to judge from the estate agents' windows, period two bed houses with a bit of garden available significantly cheaper than a one bed no garden round here.

Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > spark67 Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > From What I've heard its being taken over by > the > > same people who own The Actress & the Bishop > > (Metropolitan/Greenking) > > Could be just a rumour... but sounds plausible. > > > But then what would be the point of not letting > the current leaseholders continue there? > > Have I missed something? (probably) Presumably because the current leaseholders pay themselves a share of the profits, a large company can turf them, take the share of the profits and only have to pay a manager's wage. Possibly, of course, the current leaseholders were offered a chance to stay but, knowing the big pubcos, on such disadvantageous terms they'd rather quit?

rupert james Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Perhaps those calling for these measures should > remember they to will get old. Perhaps those opposing these measures should remember that 9,000 Londoners a year won't have the chance to get as old as they should because they'll die prematurely as a result of pollution. Ella Kissi-Debrah won't grow old; she lived on the South Circular at a time when pollution levels consistently breached legal limits. Having not been born with asthma, she developed a severe form of the condition and suffered three years of terrible attacks, seizures and hospitalisation before dying in agony in February 2013. She was nine years old. Experts have agreed that Ella's pattern of attacks followed those of spikes in air pollution, and that there is a "real prospect that without unlawful levels of air pollution, Ella would not have died".

Passiflora Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Slender margin or what (one point two million > voters in 2016) hope the People March have a good > day. 1.2 million voters sounds frightfully impressive, doesn't it? 3.78% doesn't sound quite so great, and well within the tolerance limits of Brexiters who said it would be "unfinished business" if it was 52-48.

uncleglen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > snowy Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I'd imagine if you looked at the funder logos > at > > the bottom, that would have answered it for you > - > > Mayor of London Office, Transport for London, > and > > Excel London as the venue. > > (It was a rhetorical question smacking of > sarcasm)....who funds the Mayor of London Office, > who funds Tfl and who is therefore ultimately > going to pay the cost of extra staff etc etc.... So now you're objecting to an event designed to show disabled people what's available to help improve their quality of life? You really are a piece of work.

MarkT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "They used to have Open Mic night on Mondays - > which was really popular with some local > musicians." > > JohnL, > Yes, it has been running for some while on the > first Monday of each month, also really popular > with some people who come as audience. The next > date should be next Monday 4th Feb, but with the > change in ownership, who knows? Keep an eye on the > What's On section. > > Also from time to time, excellent gigs from our > local swing band the Fabulous Honeys. > MarkT I had a chat with one of the bar staff (manager? Not sure) the other day and he had the impression that it was going to be a "soft touch" takeover without drastic changes so hopefully the pub will keep its (many, in my opinion) good features and events. What happened to the plans to make the upper floors a hostel, does anyone know? Nothing seems to have been done in that respect, did they get knocked back or just decide to drop it?

Paul Lupton Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Correct betternowthanthen Freedom's what millions upon millions of heroic people all over the world throughout the centuries have fought and died for, it's sod all to do with where you can or can't drive your motorcar.

Sorry to say Phoenix staff are not the best - a few months ago I walked up there with a Parisian friend on a Sunday to have a quick pint before seeing him back off to Kings X for his Eurostar. Arriving a bit early (11.45), we bought coffees from FCB and sat at the tables outside the Phoenix to have a chat and a smoke until they opened. A member of staff unlocked the door, came out and told us that the tables were for customers only - we pointed out that we would be customers as soon as they were open, but she was adamant that we couldn't sit there and then went back in and locked the door behind her - so we buggered off up the hill to the Fox instead. Also, popped in for a quick one with Mrs.H on the way home from a gig recently, being in need of the facilities I made my way to the Gents before going to the bar, only to be stopped by a loud hail from behind the bar that "The toilets are for customers only!" I would have left but it was almost closing so I explained I would be back to order, and was begrudgingly permitted to proceed. The beer's not much cop either. It's a real shame as it's a smashing space and was lovely when it was a Firkin pub, I feel they're just now relying on the trade from Kings and only interested in turning over as much a possible rather than being a decent pub. Sorry, that's a bit of a long rant but I do think it's a shame that a once decent boozer now seems to be more of a faceless factory pub. I did email them about the being turfed off the tables whilst waiting outside incident - no reply.

betternowthanthen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > FREEDOM= BEING ABLE TO DRIVE DOWN A ROAD THAT WAS > ONCE OPENED TO DO ON IS NOW NOT OPEN FOR NO REASON > AT ALL,= FREEDOM GONE Good heavens, how could one contradict such a well-reasoned capitalized argument?

And the freedom of children to grow up without physical and cognitive impairment? The freedom of people to live out their natural span without, as happens to 9,000 people in London every year, having it cut short by pollution? The freedom of people to walk, cycle, play and socialise outside their own homes without having their lives endangered? Yes, people have had this "freedom" for fifty years - one would have thought that you, who's always banging on about how much better things were in the old days, would recognise that as a society we have become increasingly selfish, insular, obese and aggressive, and cars have a lot to do with that. Oh, and total tax revenue from fuel duty amounts to approximately ?27BN per year out of total tax revenues of around ?600BN, so you're as accurate as ever - one doubts a drop in revenue of 4% or so will collapse the economy, and that's before you even start to factor in stopping new road projects, the savings to the NHS (not having to deal with so many accident victims, fewer breathing problems, fitter population etc etc) and so forth. The experiment in mass car ownership has demonstrably and disastrously failed. It hasn't given us freedom, it's imprisoned many in their own homes, and most others are imprisoned in their tin boxes, sitting in traffic jams breathing in poison from the vehicle in front whilst telling themselves this is freedom. Madness.

bobbsy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Who was he visiting? I'd love to know! A friend called Alistair Kinnear, apparently, though visiting not quite the term for it...: http://www.acdcfans.net/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=911

Angelina Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The Bible is opening to misinterpretation, as are > other religious texts. They can be used to > validate behaviours / ideas that are far from > intended. The thing is, the Bible isn't open to misinterpretation, it clearly says in the Old Testament that homosexuality is an abomination that must be punished by death. So, if Christians believe the Bible is the word of God, they surely must follow that literally. If they're repelled by that idea and choose not to follow it, then they create a pick and mix version that clearly shows the whole business up for the nonsense it is.

malumbu Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > First step for me is to rid ourselves of > religious/faith schools - we were so ignorant > going to our CoE (wasn't branded as such). Are > most state schools secular or do you still have to > have religious assemblies? For state schools which are not designated as being of any particular faith, there is a requirement for "acts of worship of a broadly Christian character" - which I can tell you from experience are pretty much worthless and boring for pupils and staff alike.

Fair point Admin though not quite sure how much debate there is to be had on "Is it OK to hate on gays or not?" But maybe it is good to have a reminder of the fact that this stuff is out there and maybe a lot more common than we might think.

Reported. Bigot.

You've lost me FM, I can't see how diverting traffic round Champion Park instead of Champion Hill is going to have any effect on the introduction or otherwise of a CPZ. Champion Hill was already no parking up to the turn and permit/pay parking after that, so restricting access to it will have no effect on parking elsewhere.

first mate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Quite machiavellian to create shorter term > problems and pollution as a necessary step towards > improving health. > > The thing is, many do not believe health is the > primary motivation, revenue is. There lies the > rub. One might argue the means to the end is > enough to cast doubt. What revenue is this scheme going to generate? I know someone mentioned a person driving through the cycle lane, but I seriously doubt that will happen often enough even to pay for the cost of the new street furniture. If people are not going to willingly give up some of their car use, and it very much appears that they will not, what should we do? Just sit back and accept the status quo of 9,000 premature deaths a year in our city and children growing up mentally and physically impaired as a result of breathing in pollution?

Much easier for people with certain "hidden" conditions in the sense that they will at least now be considered rather than ruled out automatically. Just trying to help, I wasn't saying that the process is easy per se.

first mate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes, I have seriously considered these but then I > also wonder about how safe to leave such things > when one needs to! I do feel that feeling safe is > a consideration, especially cycling at night. Yep, appreciate that though I do think that with reflective clobber and lights I might sometimes be safer at night than in the day. Batteries are the most valuable part of most eBikes, and nowadays they're about the size of a waterbottle and can be taken off in a second, don't know that without the battery they're much more vulnerable than standard bikes.

first mate Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > PeterW, > I think you make good points however as someone > who does cycle part of the time I would say that > the geography of ED is problematic in that we have > two very steep hills either side. This is > something of a block for those less physically > able and needing to get to work. Even more so if > you have to carry equipment around for your work. > A flat Dutch landscape of the type I cycled in my > youth makes a huge difference. eBikes are rapidly dropping in price, available on the cycle-to-work scheme, or it's easy to convert an extant bike to an eBike for around ?300. When I was very seriously ill some years ago, so that I could only cycle slowly along the flat and hills were impossible, I converted one of my bikes to an eBike and it was fabulous, made anything possible (I lived near the top of Denmark Hill at the time and it ate the slope). Not a panacea but well worth considering for those for whom the hills are too challenging. Kind of wish I'd kept mine, very good fun it was.