Dogkennelhillbilly

No. But that's the only option until we change our minds, which will require at least one general election.

Crikey. How do you even do that without a bell bollard to flip you?

It is 100% an I Told You So thread, and I doubt there is any way to recover it. But TBH the question "what do we want to do now?" seems a little hopeless. The EU and EFTA seem like they have a pretty established approach to how they're willing to engage with third party states, and "we" don't like the terms of entry. So we can piss off...

Does the UK have a skills gap (low unemployment, demand for low wage labour)? The UK economy just received 500,000 immigrants, driven by oppressive political events in Ukraine and Hong Kong. Does the economy need to be hooked back up to the cheap labour IV drip of central Europe?

Come off the high horse, ignore the Khan-related conspiracy memes, and read less crappy media. There's an extremely detailed map and tons of background information here (just Googling "tfl ulez extension" worked for me): https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/ulez-expansion-2023

The Tweets don't say that at all. You've made a leap of logic so big you could probably commute to the City on it...

There is no way that bike haters are going around maliciously and meticulously repositioning yhese bikes to obstruct people so they get irritated enough that the bikes get banned. That's just wild That seems like a US press inquiry contact email.

Too late now, but isnt there a printing business inside Oru?

It's easy to be wise in retrospect. I mean, who could have predicted the downsides (apart from everyone who predicted them)?

My old landlord (who was very experienced and sensible) always used Daisylets.

Is the "local resident who is also a solicitor" the failed Tory candidate in the recent local elections and who practices a completely different type of law?

Having sorted donations for multiple organisations: unfortunately, books, CDs, and DVDs are basically worthless now. Clothing is worth little and often poorly made. Punters do not hesitate to dump obsolete (a 1997 A level textbook?), dirty, and useless (a broken plastic toy?) items on you, and it takes time and money to get rid of them. Thieves will steal donations from shops and bins. It is hard to whip unpaid volunteers into the Customer Service Automatons that "consumers" expect these days. If you sell the stuff too cheap, you can't fund the object of the charity; if you sell stuff too expensive, people moan that it's not affordable for consumers. If your target for "pathetic managerial ego" is the local charity shop, then you're gonna be really disappointed when you find out who runs multibillion dollar organisations like Twitter or FIFA or the Department of Health... Thank you for your donations. You are doing good by your donations. It is more equitable and sustainable than binning them. A song and dance to thank you may be a bit out of reach for the moment.

As to whether Soderberg is bourgeois - I refer to the Macmillan definition cited above of "typical of middle class people and their attitudes". Soderberg is just another arse-achingly boring coffee shop trading on the prejudices and aspirations of its milquetoast middle class punters (of which I would probably be one if I could tolerate their habit of adding cinnamon to everything). But what are you gonna do? People love caffeine and sugar presented a certain way... As to whether we are a more class-less society - I refer to this thread in the other forum to avoid this one being taken even further offtopic: /viewtopic.php?t=2290684

On a thread in the main forum, someone objected to my polytechnic debating club charactisation of a smug coffee shop as bourgeois as obsolete because "Surely these days we're a far more class-less society..." I don't agree that the UK, London or East Dulwich is a classless society or is even heading in that direction. In fact, the long term picture is that we are heading in absolutely the opposite direction: income inequality is increasing and social mobility is decreasing. I have seen with my own eyes the houses of people living in extreme wealth and extreme poverty, less than 1500m apart in Dulwich. (And I am extremely grateful for my own privilege). It is true that we have the first BAME prime minister (after Disraeli...?), and it is true that the old signifiers of class (in race, dress, accent) are fading. This is not the England of the Cleese/Corbett/Barker sketch. But it is also true that Sunak was privately educated in an elite school and is part of the global 1%, and that there plenty of new class signifiers...just ask the yummy parents at Gails and Soderberg wearing Lululemon after they drop their kids off at private school on their Tern e-bike .. Am I too cynical? https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-mobility-in-great-britain-state-of-the-nation-2018-to-2019 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7484/ https://equalitytrust.org.uk/scale-economic-inequality-uk

White Eagle Appeal (allied with the Polish White Eagle Club in Balham) is sending truckloads of medical supplies to hospitals and other aid to NGOs in Ukraine every week. Used clean crutches, wheelchairs, frames etc gratefully received at White Eagle Club, 211 Balham High Rd. http://whiteeagleappeal.org/ Having said that, I thought there was a little area at the Southwark Reuse and Recycling Centre (dump) on Old Kent Rd where they were keeping medical stuff for re-use. Has anyone else seen that?

Seems a bit "dog in the manger" to want the government to ban dockless dropoffs and pickups for everyone else because you don't find it convenient as a user. That's like banning taxis because you prefer the predictability of finding a bus at the bus stop.

TBH, comrade, I'm not convinced of the accuracy of your definition of "bourgeois", either in a Marxist/Marxian sense or the vernacular sense, which both correctly describe Soderberg. But you obviously have strong feelings about it, so feel to imagine Soderberg described as "yet another coffee shop/bakery for the bourgeoisie", which I hope you find dogmatically acceptable. https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/bourgeois_1 If Dulwich becomes plagued by as many Kulak-oriented shops (perhaps they would sell petrol cultivators, or yokes for oxen) as we have smug identikit coffee shops, I will come back to moan about the preponderance of kulak-oriented shops. Until then...

Good work! The operators should make it easier for us to report inconsiderately (actually, illegally - it is already against the law to block a pavement) parked bikes, so they can fine the lazy sods responsible. I had to pull over today and move a bike - some pillock had left it 90 degrees across a pavement. 🤬😡

Lime and Human Forest both have mobile phone holders on the handlebars of their bikes and scooters.

It is, but I've been in one. They're crap. The brand and food are bourgeois. We have many bourgeois coffee shops in Dulwich. Poundland is a business, but it is not bourgeois.

Crown & Greyhound is usually open. In fact, aren't pretty much all pubs open?

Meh - another bourgeois chain store. Soderberg is Nordic Gail's.

What I love about this conspiracy theory is that it simultaneously requires Southwark Council to be totally inept and a cabal of scheming geniuses.

There's going to be a dog grooming shop in West Dulwich next to mummies-just-dropped-kids-off-at-private-school favourite La Gastronomia. I've forgotten what the name of the poodle palace will be.

Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain (Papal ambassador, if you prefer) Claudio Gugerotti enthusiastically endorsing Georgian wine in Dulwich Wines.