david_carnell

Also, in Quid's example, the BBC sucks up skilled workers, pays them a premium and the private sector can't compete. They then move to London because there is a bigger pool of talent....but they'd have to pay them more because it's in London and their costs would also be much higher too because of rent/business rates etc. I doubt it's that simple. Plus, fair days pay for a fair days work and all that. Don't see why a teacher, teaching the same curriculum to the same number of kids, in the same standard of school should get paid less up North. You want to see how the regions recover? It's not by sucking all the best teachers to London to earn better salaries.

An interesting interview with Prof. Danny Dorling reveals that: income inequality has now reached a new maximum when you exclude the top 1%, income inequality within the remaining 99% is now lower than at any time since Thatcher was PM the IFS confirms that the Gini coefficient (the measure of income inequality) is 5% lower now than it was in 1991 members of the 1% attempt to portray state schools as the problem and suggest grammar schools once gave working-class kids a chance. Grammar schools were a relic of an older even more unequal age. countries committed to high-quality comprehensives for all (Finland) come out on top of international educational stats social mobility is lowest in areas where local "choice" in education is superficially highest - a study last year named Trafford as the area with the highest educational social segregation due to secondary moderns and grammar schools being retained as well as private provision being high further interesting snippets about the Finnish educational utopia: 99.2% state funded; no inspections of teachers; no league tables; no sets or streaming; low amounts of homework; absence of private tuition

Jah Lush Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I loved working in Holborn though it is 20 years > since I did. You being at the Kingsway end you're > not far from the Princess Louise. Not been in > there for a very long time but it's beautiful old > pub so you really should give a whirl. Sadly, it would seem the curse of Samuel Smith is upon it. http://www.timeout.com/london/bars-and-pubs/princess-louise So many beautiful boozers have fallen prey to this curse - it's tantamount to abuse. I'd almost rather it was a Wetherspoons. At least their ale is nice and well kept.

jennyh Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's hellish, now spending 2 hours a day > travelling to and from nursery in Dulwich. Have > tried so many routes but all lead into the same > few roads which are rammed!! Anyone got a secret > way? Have even tried going via nunhead but takes > ages too. Bicycle?

No. I think it's just until parity is achieved. But don't quote me.

I'm moving jobs at the end of Feb and leaving Victoria/Pimlico for (High) Holborn. Don't really know that bit of town too well and hoping for recommendations for pubs/restaurants/luncheon venues, stalls, shops etc that might be different to the normal pret/eat/itsu rubbish. I love the 7 Stars in Lincolns Inn already but otherwise I'm a bit clueless. I'll be at the Kingsway end if that makes any difference but happy to wander about.

And she's not been selected as the Labour PPC, she has merely put her name forward for selection as the PPC. Big difference. I think Labour Party rules state is has to be a woman (as it's replacing a woman) so Peter John (Southwark council leader) is out of the running.

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Curious I can't see an Amy Lame on ewither Lambeth > of Southwark or in fact any UK electoral roll. And so it begins....the LibDems announced their candidate yet Jimbo?

I disagree James, but we'll let that go for now. How many more Harris schools (primary and/or secondary) would you be happy with?

Brilliant news until you read the thread about Harris academies and their methods to fiddle exam results. James - serious question. What is the maximum number (or percentage of Southwark's schools) that you would allow Harris to run?

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/the_data_so_far.png

Excellent article, root. A simple and comprehensive rebuttal to nearly all the arguments made by the anti-vaccine lobby. The correlation with Jenny McCarthy's career was particularly comic.

Yunna wrote: "Vaccinations are essentially drugs..." What does this even mean? "...of which she has a history of bad reactions to..." Your niece reacts badly to all drugs? All medicines? Only heroin and crack? "Yes, people die in Africa, not just 'sub Saharan' Africa, of diseases, have you been there? Have you seen the conditions people live in? So you think vaccinations will be their saviour? How about plentiful food and clean water? How about freedon from war, torture and rape?" Errr....so you think if you give people clean water and stop war they won't get measles??? Riiiight. And not only that, but immunisation has the potential to boost a country's growth. Immunisation makes economic sense. Many analyses weighing the costs versus the benefits of vaccination have shown positive economic impact. What's more, the infrastructure, management and acceptability of immunisation programmes offer a platform to deliver other integrated health and nutrition interventions. "Who are we to trivialise their lives and their suffering? People die of starvation. Shall we vaccinate them too?" Are you actually this dim or just pretending for effect. If anyone is trivialising the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children, it's you with your non-sequiturs and straw men. "It's easy for us to say how bad it is in Africa yet not look at the situation in our own country. Are we the healthiest country in Europe? No more obesity, heart disease or cancer, is that right? I believe penicillin was a true success story, until we used and abused antibiotics and created 'superbugs' go figure! Yay science!!" I'm not even sure which of your many idiotic points I want to fisk here. I think I'll just leave it in bold for others to read.

TE44 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- ...I believe natural immunity is under rated... Are you kidding me? This is unbelievable. Do you have any idea how many people in sub-Saharan Africa die every year of preventable illness that could be vaccinated against? Do you? The measles death toll in Africa is so high ? a child dies from every minute ? that many mothers don't give children real names until they have survived the disease. Try telling them about natural immunity. I'm sure it'll be a great comfort. Tell them about your thoughts on MMR and autism while the virus weakens their child's immune system and renders them susceptible to fatal complications from diarrhoea, pneumonia, and encephalitis. Those "lucky" enough to survive measles can have permanent disabilities, including brain damage, blindness and deafness. And it doesn't stop with measles. Want to see some actual statistics rather than the pseudo-medical wibble you keep posting? (All figs are from Unicef) Tetanus - 30,000 mothers dies and 200,000 newborns in 2001. Whooping cough - 300,000 a year. Both preventable with immunisation. Want to see what happens when science wins and we ignore people like you? In 2012, global efforts to immunize children with vaccines against life-threatening diseases reached 111 million children and averted an estimated 2 to 3 million deaths per year. Polio. Man's success story. Science wins. In 1988 it was killing 350,000 a year. It's now less than 2,000. Why? Because of a worldwide programme of immunisation. Not because of "natural immunity". Whatever that is. How do you even manage to put your pants on the right way round in the morning?

I'm in. You Irish lads watching the Scotland game? Fancy meeting up? Normally I'd have suggested Hoopers but I suspect EDT or Actress this time. Or Castle perhaps?

Bar Story is far closer for a pint. Or the Refreshment Rooms.

If you'd consider Crete rather than mainland Greece then this hotel not far from Chania (regular flights) was amazing for kids and adults.... http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1574391-d288931-Reviews-Ammos_Hotel-Agii_Apostoli_Chania_Town_Chania_Prefecture_Crete.html The food was excellent (esp breakfast) and reasonably priced as it's all extra. Private beach. Smart rooms. Short bus ride from small city.

Hurrah! The bollard is up again. Roll up, roll up, place your bets. I reckon it'll be down by Sunday. I'm not convinced it's accidental anymore and that someone with a transit van, a tow bar and some chain isn't just yanking it over deliberately to make their life easier the rest of the time. Otherwise, the drivers around here really need eye sight tests.

His email address is from the towel shop....

And the bollard is down! Who had their money on yesterday? Come and claim your prize....it's lying in the street.

Good choice. I love the Norfolk and Suffolk coastline in Winter. Bleak but alluring.

Indeed. No doubt Eileen is on the case!

The Cask in Pimlico is an excellent pub that you could while away a few hours in. It's on Tachbrook St.

I'm very much in favour of the redevelopment of the station frontage and opening of the square as a civic space. However, perspex commercial units in the square and 6 story residential units (with no guarantee of these being affordable or social housing) seem utterly at odds with the area and the demographic. The displacement of small shops and creative studios beyond those situated within the to-be-demolished arcade in front of the station would not be welcomed.

Stupidly I left my car lights on and now have a flat battery. It's an automatic so a push start is a no-go. Have tried jump leads from a neighbour's car but no joy after 10mins of charging. A few questions: I connected the negative lead from his car to an earth point. Should I have connected it to the neutral point on my battery instead? Does anyone have a jump pack I could borrow? If my battery is kaput what now? Replace it? Should/could I do this myself? Expensive? I'm not an AA member but do any local garages send men out to fix cars at your house?