Penguin68

Fireworks fulfil a need for excitement and spectacle, which many (not of course all) of us have. And they can be a way to mark occasions, to make them memorable. Or as a way of displaying wealth through conspicuous consumption (literally having money to burn). They are a route to an end.

Cats, dogs and all animals were around before fireworks ! And people were around before domesticated animals - so what please them comes first? As far as actual living-now animals (individuals, not species) are concerned, fireworks certainly pre-date them. Oh, and as we are actually animals as well, how come our needs are being ignored?

In general the police take a different view of cars blocking an entrance when there is no car on the drive, and when one is being blocked from exiting (which makes sense). Your condition should encourage them further. In fact I believe that you would be justified (I'm not suggesting this) if you used your car to push the other out of the way. I think there is some case law on that.

I have just heard (from my garage) that there is a spate of CAT thefts both locally and wider in London - leading to 3 month waiting lists for some spares! Police rumour has it that an Eastern European gang is behind many of these - the converters are removed on the street - cut-out quite brutally, with sensors taken as well (which is where the shortage is). If you see people working under cars (obviously particularly at night) - call the cops! Although replacement costs to car owners (or their insurers, if they are prepared to pay) will be close to ?1000 when the costs of parts (?600 for a CAT, plus the sensors and electronics) and labour are taken into account, the thieves are probably only getting ?40-?60 for what they steal! [NB as the repair costs are so high, insurers will often try to write-off the vehicles based on their assessment of on-street value - and they pay-out only the cost over the excess anyway]. It looks like its the CATs themselves, and not just the platinum in them, that are now the target, as they are also taking sensors.

Just to add that 'movement' may not equate to subsidence (although subsidence is always a result of movement!). Most houses of any age do flex, and this will cause small cracks - which can be exacerbated by e.g. heavy trucks bouncing over speed bumps. Additionally additions to houses can pull-away - but this can be sorted without it being a function of subsidence (often they are not tied-in in the way that original features are). It is when the cracks are wide and opening quickly that you need to be concerned. Photographing any external cracks with a ruler will allow you to judge movement and its speed (and give you a record if there are stable cracks for any future sale issues!). Subsidence is a problem when the conditions are worsening - past evidence of movement (even quite substantial movement) may not necessarily be evidence of continuing problems. Removal of trees can cause movement which then stabilises, for instance. If the house is still standing there is no reason why it won't continue to stand. [And some evidence of movement locally dates back to bomb damage - if the house is still here after that, it ain't going anywhere - a friend discovered a wall more than a foot out of true through that cause - 60 years and more after the bomb had fallen!].

Sorry Penguin 68, in practice you do have to call the police. Look at the post again - double negative - I was definitely saying 'call the police'. Certainly no one who witnesses such a terrible assault should not call the police - That is 'anyone who does see ... should call the police'

Violence associated with adult autism is comparatively rare (that is violence by the autistic person - self-harm and violence to an autistic person is more common). Despite the claim made by the 'companion' I would treat the possibility that this person is autistic with great caution. Certainly no one who witnesses such a terrible assault should not call the police - medium secure psychiatric units are designed to provide treatment to people who are diagnosed with psychiatric problems and cannot contain their violent outbursts. And prisons for those without such an excuse. https://www.mdedge.com/psychiatry/article/77690/neurology/violent-behavior-autism-spectrum-disorder-it-fact-or-fiction https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27185105 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5980973/ https://www.autism.org.uk/about/behaviour/challenging-behaviour.aspx

Some nurseries offer packs of 'naturalising' bulbs - which would be good for areas which are not frequently disturbed. This is the planting which keeps on giving. Otherwise pollinator friendly wild flowers would be a good choice (expenditure on Goose Green roundabout tends to be of the 'rebuild because another over-large lorry has rammed it' nature. Perhaps there's nothing much left for horticulture there?). We are lucky in the south of the borough to have so much parkland available. And to have quite (and quiet) leafy streets (the planting of ornamental cherries really paid back this year). Planting in tree pits has the drawback that these are often quite arid and can be vandalised. When it does work it's lovely.

'Lawn sand' is commonly applied to grassy areas to encourage drainage (you would normally spike the lawn as well, using a spiked roller). Is it possible that the grassy areas have been so treated?

Les, as you were a witness to this, maybe you should call https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/contactus/reportcruelty The chances of someone knowing this woman and also being a ED Forum-er are probably quite slight.

BT chooses which platform your e-mail address(es) is/ are parented on. Mine is/ are on Yahoo (which was their default platform way-back when BT and Yahoo partnered - now e-mail is all that is left of that partnership). They were planning to migrate all their services away from Yahoo (and indeed have partly done so - my Yahoo (as opposed to BT Yahoo Mail) log-on now takes me back to BT screens - I can no longer log-on to the Yahoo news server). However although the service is now run by BT the platform it runs on is Yahoo's - and it is this platform which has failed. Office 365 (Outlook) is a mail handler (ap) but it takes its mail from the server platforms it is parented on. Edited to note that I have accessed one email sent this afternoon over my version of Outlook. So some things are coming through via the Microsoft ap, (and also via the native Mail ap on Windows 10). But I suspect only some.

My Virgin Media is fine. As (I think) it's not on the Yahoo email platform that's not surprising. BT's underlying network infrastructure is fine - it's a (much used) 3rd party email platform which is at fault.

It appears that the problem is with BT's underlying mail service provider, Yahoo - and that other (non BT) services which also rely on Yahoo are impacted. BT talks about moving its service from the Yahoo platform, but never seems to get round to it, or not for a significant number of its customers.

Just a heads-up that BT Mail has a major outage - although other BT Internet/ broadband provided services are working OK. It seems to be impacting across the country. https://downdetector.co.uk/status/bt-british-telecom/map/

I don't understand this statement, what help does someone who's prepared to go out and stab someone need? Although this seems to be part of a series of criminal offences, and hence probably not relevant, random violence I'm afraid can be symptomatic of those suffering some mental health disorders (although self-harm is tragically far more common). This can be particularly so with people suffering paranoid delusions (sometimes chemically induced or exacerbated). In these cases 'help' is far more appropriate than punishment.

As this could be a long run thing, using one (or several) 'not suitable for HGV' signs with the diversion would be sensible - with an HGV route designated. Barry Road is a numbered road, and hence generally suitable for all traffic - but the side roads clearly aren't. Maybe a councillor (or more than one as a number of wards are being impacted) could make representation to Southwark/ Highways agency.

Any chance you could stand for PM ? I'm not sure that 'even handed' or with 'a factual background' is a qualification (at least looking at incumbents and aspirants) for this post.

Surprised it hasnt made the news though, its a bit of a sad indictment of how common this thing probably is in South London. Whether something is reported or not depends very much on (a) the actual severity of the incident (we believe there was an attack and stabbing from kjet2's post, we do not know the severity of the injury); (b) what else was happening at the time which might have eclipsed this incident and © whether any reporter could get sufficient information to stand the story up so that it was newsworthy. Often reports of attacks/ muggings are only reported on later, after briefing etc. from the police. It is quite wrong to assume that no immediate media pick-up implies that such events are either trivial or too common to bother about locally. I have lived in South London since 1975 - and in ED for the last 30 years+ - and my impression is that casual street violence (with peaks and troughs over that time) is considerably less than it used to be - although as an old person I feel less threatened anyway (and am far less likely to be). Nevertheless the growing trope of the 'blood-soaked streets of ED and Peckham' (certainly as a growing or unchanging phenomenon) needs challenging.

The first area you wait is counted for their "Admitted into A&E" stat, the second area you wait you're counted as admitted so it doesn't affect their stats. But as the count-down to the magical 4 hour target wait is triggered from the 'admitted to A&E' time this actually does them no favours. Indeed forcing people to wait a longer time for first triage (which starts the clock) would be a better bet, if they wanted to fiddle their figures.

I believe that when you are triaged in the first room you may be sent to a number of different second staging posts. If you were in one with a long waiting time that suggests that your problem was (probably) - (1) not life threatening and (2) would not lead to rapid deterioration (however bad it was it wasn't likely to get much worse). A simple break for instance, however painful, will be as treatable in 4 or 7 hours as it would be immediately. That makes it no better for you, of course, particularly if in pain, but at least you won't be with people who will be treated before you because of the severity of their problem. This may be a better way to allocate ER resources, where clearly the acutely ill (those whose lives may be at risk, or whose condition is likely to deteriorate quickly) should be being treated first. The downside is that you can enter the first room of the ER system thinking that it looks like there will be only a few ahead of you, only to enter a crowded 'second stage' room, which is dispiriting.

Don't we already pay for brown bins in our council tax? You pay for the collection of kitchen waste in your council tax (that's a statutory obligation) - for which the council now provides a mid-size brown bin (kerb-side caddy). Up till June 2019 you were also paying for the collection of garden waste as part of general council tax, but that's not s statutory obligation and that inclusive service was then withdrawn by the council and replaced by a separate charge for garden waste collection - for which the large brown bins (mainly) already provided were earmarked. do we brush these back out onto the streets & clog up the drains because this is council responsibility? Yes - that's going to be one of the (I'm sure) unintended consequences of this change in council policy.

Yes, there is a completely weird phenomenon in the Insurance industry. If you have subsidence properly put right (with structural engineers certificates etc.) you will be charged far higher future premiums, even though your property is now in far better condition (and with less risk) than that of your neighbours. You may even find the property uninsurable except with your existing insurer, who is obliged to offer cover (I believe). And yet the actual risk of further damage is far smaller, once it's been underpinned or whatever. You are not really being charged for risk at all, but the insurer is trying to get back their costs through higher premiums. Which entirely negates the concept of shared risk through insurance (where those not claiming 'pay' for those who have to). It's a disgrace, Mr Growser (which will only make sense to pensioners who remember Toytown in Children's Hour on the Home Service).

There are several key differences between the old Enduring and the new Lasting Powers. 1. Lasting Powers are now registered, from the start, and for a fee, with the Court of Protection. However, the fee is low and a single fee can cover multiple Attorneys, if they are registered together. Once the principal loses the power of independent decision on a permanent basis this will have to be notified to the Court of Protection, but a temporary loss of capacity (e.g. an illness, operation etc.) does not, I think have to be notified. Nor would something like 'being abroad' if decisions needed to be made in absentia, or forms signed. And nor would a choice when an (elderly?) person wanted to hand over the running of their finances to someone else, when when they retained a decision making capacity. The old Enduring Powers were much more expensive to register, and were only registered when capacity was permanently lost (e.g. through dementia). Then there was a lot of rigmarole, including ensuring that all relatives agreed to the Power being granted. This took time and, as I say, was expensive. 2. The Powers cover separately Financial and Medical Powers, so for full cover you will need one of each. 3. Overly complex requirements written into the Powers may not be accepted by the Court of Protection so having a solicitor help you may be useful. A solicitor can also keep copies of everything which may be helpful if you set up a Power long before you may need it (which is a really good idea - you cannot tell when the worst might happen!) You will also need to decide whether your attorneys have joint or several decision making powers (must they all agree of can one take the lead, if there is more than one?) Both LPAs and EPAs have the problem that banks etc. can be bloody awkward and unhelpful when it comes to accepting their (legal) registration. However much you have got everything 'right'.

So that would be ?1.3m for the full run? Makes more sense than just ?350k, considering what will have to be spent on them - and should offer a developer a tidy but not wholly exorbitant profit, considering the likely development time and cost of funding a loan. And remembering that this will be a taxable profit, (on what basis, capital gain or trading profit) depending on how the purchasing company is structured.

In the last couple of weeks, and possibly for another couple, deliveries have been by odd posties and at odd times because of holiday cover - if it hasn't happened to you yet it probably will. But things are getting delivered, and in the main on days expected, in my experience.