Penguin68

Measuring numbers at a protest (or any other event), particularly one that extends over a longish time and where people can be expected to come and go (and anyway move around) is always very difficult - indeed estimating numbers in general is problematic. People take up much less space than you might expect. So I wouldn't beat too large a drum about number estimates from those puffing or dissing the event. Unless they're trained in this, wild guesstimates are the best you're going to get.

AZ is not being offered as a booster. Pfizer apparently offers very strong protection as a booster regardless of earlier vaccines (and in particular is slightly more effective against the Delta Variant than just 2 AZ doses).

Shredded paper is a good addition to your own garden compost, but is not I think accepted in the green garden waste recycling bins (though it probably should be!). I have put it in my Blue recycling and no one's complained.

is really the result of a political process that prioritises the concerns of vocal middle class voters over data. How unlike the home life of our on LTNs!

Can anyone whose has a third jab confirm whether their reactions to the jab were the same, worse or less than the first two jabs. I had AZ and the first jab gave flu like symptoms for half a day and just a slightly sore arm for the second. I'm expecting Pfizer for the third, although Moderna is a possibility.

I received my call-up from Improving Health on the 6th month anniversary (to the day) of my second jab - so the process for those surgeries in this consortium appears to be working. As this is a voluntary consortium of private practices in Southwark (as GP Practices are) I imagine it's a way in which these practices can pool resource effectively to service their NHS contracts efficiently. There are almost certainly GDPR issues around this - I've certainly never given permission for my data to be shared with Improving Health although their data processing may be taken as an outsourced service of the individual practices, but be that as it may...

Me I think it would be ideal site to build social housing. As the site is owned by the Alleyn's Gift of God Trust (and is currently leased by a pubco) I think it unlikely that it will be wholly released for social housing, although some provision of that might be a requirement of development. Until now Southwark has resisted change of use from a pub. They have clearly been won over in some way, and the promise of some social housing there may have been the sweetener, of course. I think that, when development starts, you can kiss goodbye to the skatepark. And indeed any amenities for the local young people. The reality is that this site has been derelict for a number of years, and something needs to happen there. 30 years ago it was a great pub, particularly in the summer with its extensive garden. Amended to say, in the light of the earlier post (cross posted) - maybe they are still resisting change of use from a pub!

As the weather worsens the queues outside will (particularly for those visiting because they are unwell) become intolerable. Public transport is unreliable, so (as appointments missed by over 10 minutes are abandoned) people tend to arrive early to avoid arriving too late. The few chairs left in the 'waiting room' are well separated, - those huddling together in the open porch are anything but social distancing (albeit with a brisk breeze to ventilate them). I paid my taxes so that the NHS could protect me, rather than the reverse. True, those with appointments may be let in (after being temperature scanned, as if only Covid caused raised temperatures) but really! 'Keep the ill away, or at least out in the open', is not the mantra of a modern health care system. A mind set which treats all patients as the modern equivalent of medieval lepers, with a 'squint' to keep them away from the staff inside is frankly wrong. And isn't replicated at every surgery or clinic by any means.

Apologies for ignorance but what does PA5 stand for? It is the geographic planning area (for primary schools I'm guessing, but maybe for secondary as well?) centred on (broadly) Dulwich. A search suggests 'Dulwich Old Wards College, East Dulwich , Village New Wards Dulwich Hill, Dulwich Village, Dulwich ... Dulwich Dulwich Village Infants Harris ...'

Questions you should ask yourself when looking at 'comparative' statistics:- Was the actual question (or method of data capture) the same? Was it undertaken over a similar time period? In similar conditions (topography, climate/ weather, time of day etc.) ? Within a similar area or location, or where the populations were comparable? Where overall social or political conditions (i.e. lockdown etc.) were similar. If the answer to any of these is 'no', then the basis of comparison will be flawed, to some (or a huge) extent. And don't allow correlation (things move up, or down, when other things move up or down) to be confused with causation. They may be causal (weight goes up as food intake increases) of course, but they may each have e.g. a common cause but not themselves be linked, or they may not be linked at all.

I drove back from Gatwick yesterday (Sunday) evening - petrol readily available in Hooley and along the A235 into Croydon - mainly no queues and no shortages of E10 and diesel. Started to become more problematical the closer to Dulwich I got after that, but the garage just up from the Horniman was serving (don't know what, as I had filled up by then!). Even the fuel station on the Gatwick North Car Park road had some fuel, but there were queues.

It is depressing when local democracy can be so trampled on by our Labour Councillors It was the Labour treatment of their voters (ignorant cannon fodder who can be ignored and taken for granted- together with incipient corruption it must also be added) that lost them their 'natural' majorities in Scotland - however I cannot see a Scots Nats equivalent emerging in SE London. Without strong independent and pro 'the Dulwichs' voices prepared to stand (and then there's the rest of Southwark to take on) I cannot see much hope even in the ballot box. But the current pusillanimous shower are a disgrace to any concept of local democracy. They are not 'our' councillors - we are their serfs, to be ignored when we don't see things their way. LTNs as a concept can work - but the ones we have don't, delivering none of the intended outcomes - save that of being part of the council's war on private vehicle ownership - a war started long before current climate and pollution issues emerged, and based on a socialist dislike of private ownership of anything, much. Other than their own, of course, but like all party bigwigs, their 'ideals' don't go as far as to impact them, or their friends.

If you believe your gas pressure is unduly low you should report this to BG - and pretty quickly. It is possible that your supply pipe has become compromised and may be leaking - or may have become partially blocked through gas works further up the supply line. Unless BG confirm pressures are generally low in your area then you may have a problem, and gas isn't something you want to have a problem with!

You'd think, what with all the cycling and active travelling (walking) that must be going on around here to justify and validate the continued road restrictions that there wouldn't be any petrol queues in Dulwich.

Unless prices have gone up immensely ?35 is between a third and a half a tank for most cars, and will take you quite far as regards local runs for e.g. hybrids. Not an unreasonable form of rationing.

It's always there when I need to use it. Actually quite substantial portions were blocked off, sometimes even to pedestrian traffic, during the London Bridge Station re-build - but maybe you didn't need to use it then, or maybe you're just being ingenuous.

There are clearly activities which are fundamentally risky ? sky-diving or pot-holing for instance and where caution, and appropriate clothing, are vital. But this should not extend towards walking around your own streets. The fact that posters are urging extreme levels of caution against the malicious acts of others ? as if ED was a war zone or an area of extreme danger ? like a favella or areas of lawless South Africa - speaks volumes to what we have been acclimatised to expect in the streets of a the capital of a civilised, first world country. To put it very simply. No one should have to walk around our streets in some sort of defensive posture, and dressing defensively. We should be ashamed that we have let our streets become a hunting zone for criminals. We should be ashamed that women and girls have to sidle and creep through our streets as if they are the problem. If the safety of the people is not the primary concern of the police and the people who pay for them, that is us, then there is something fundamentally wrong. And don?t hide behind, ?well it?s unfortunate, but that?s the most sensible advice we can give?. That way lies the duenna and the bourka.

Giff Gaff runs over what is now the Virgin Media O2 network (O2/ Telefonica as was)

I hope, when it comes to the May elections, people remember that Labour councillors carry collective responsibility for this decision - it is all of them, not just Councillor Rose, who are responsible for this travesty of a democratic decision. It is all of them that despise the will of the (majority) of the people - by their own figures. None of them have had the temerity to go against this totalitarian flow.

New Covid-19 travel rules are forecast to be announced today (Friday 17th September) - which may make things even easier (in advance of seeing the announcement)

If you can, download a .pdf onto you phone - that way you can access the certificate/ passport at any time, signal or no. But (unless recently changed) the certificates only have 30 days currency before they 'expire' (but they can be immediately renewed on-line for a further 30 days) so store a very recent example when you start to travel.

Why can't they employ temps, like they do at Christmas? I don't think they've done that for many years. It was when they offered 3 and 4 deliveries a day at Christmas time (and you paid less for a stamp if the envelope wasn't sealed!)

I'm on Plusnet and get 5GB of data and unlimited calls and texts for ?7/month. Underlying carrier is EE. Plusnet is also owned by BT - which moved all offered mobile services to EE when they acquired the company (and Deutsche Telekom, who originally owned EE, acquired significant stock in BT)

so obviously Royal Mail Management did not think it a good idea to put a replacement Postie on! I don't think they have any spare staff to cover walks where there is sickness or leave. They used to (or got staff to go out on a second walk as overtime). Some of these are now permanently covering otherwise uncovered walks. Operationally they are on a knife's edge with negative spare capacity. Technically they fail any fit-for-purpose test at the moment.

I should add that BT, who owns EE, also has its own MVNO (BT Mobile) which is currently run over the EE network, but was run over other ones. Some carriers have disappeared (i.e. Orange) through take over or alliance. O2 was once wholly owned by BT, split off and made independent (a then requirement of the regulator) bought by the Spanish firm Telefonica and is now owned by Virgin Media 02, a 50:50 joint venture between Telefonica and Liberty Global, the US Cable company that owns Virgin Media. Clear, eh?