You’re not quite getting this, Gary M. I’ll give you a little more time to think about it.

You’re not really looking at this from a wider perspective are you.

I’m looking at it from the perspective of promoting road safety, educating people, providing an alternative to the normal bureaucratic route, and helping prevent future offences, and even possibly injury or death. Not sure I need to look at it from a ‘wider’ perspective really.

I can see bike shops *loving* that, “Nah mate I’ll get them off the Police for half what you charge if they ever bother to stop me”.

So you charge full RRP for them.

You know that phrase “you can’t give them away”? Most folk just were not interested as it meant they’d have to buy batteries at some point, or just said they’d be nicked as they couldn’t be arsed taking them off the bikes when parked.

But you weren’t acting in a legal capacity; you didn’t have the authority to offer them a choice between buying some lights, and copping a much larger fine. So, not quite the same, although I do see your point.

Next time suggest the Police carry round some nice bits of fish they can sell cheap in case they see anyone who’s only got chips

Have you ever considered a career as a comedian?

I once received a torrent of foul-mouthed abuse from a very posh sounding woman in a 4×4. Rather than be offended, I found it rather turned me on somewhat. Which prompted me to respond with ‘can I have your ‘phone number? because if you’re as dirty as your mouth is, I’m sure we can have some fun!’ :D

Strangely, she was suddenly rendered speechless as she drove off.

I’m right ,no i’m right ,you listen to me, no you listen to me.

So, who is right?

:lol:

Should Scotland have the right to chip bams?

Speeder; feel free to do that yourself, if you feel so strongly about it. :?

Salesmanship is not my forte barty, just give us a shout if you want to discuss anything.

I’m more interested in someone who knows what they’re doing, than simply someone who just talks about it! And thanks, I will do. :-)

Saudi isn’t perfect

Glad that’s cleared up then.

Do you really not differentiate between me and a member of ISIS?

if you were to imagine a different perspective, perhaps from someone who lives in those countries, you could be seen as someone who is part of an invading military force which uses violence against people who happen to have a differing ideology, and who wants to impose their will over others, through the use of said violence, fear and intimidation. Or, as some might put it, a ‘terrorist’. An individual who has been trained to be part of a killing machine, who will blindly obey orders, even if those orders may be considered ‘morally wrong’ by some people.

And some of those people in those countries might not like what you do, and what you appear to represent. And possibly even chose to react against you using violence themselves.

Perspective is of course dependent on where you stand.

The Flip 3 can only be better right?

The sound is significantly improved, and the original Flip was very good. The much longer battery life is a big bonus for a portable speaker. Pairing is very very easy. USB recharging is much more convenient than having to carry charger about with you. And it’s water-resistant. The only downside are the potentially vulnerable side speaker units, which could get damaged by hard-sharp objects in a bag etc. And it doesn’t come with a case, sadly, although I’m using my old Flip 1 case which fits perfectly.

Martin Bishop, financial adviser at Donnelly-McPartlin

:lol:

I’ve repeatedly posted the “tag line” NOT all Muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims.

(Corrected to read what I imagine you actually meant)

But you’re still wrong. Very, very wrong. Not all terrorists are Muslims. As has already been stated. Why are you continually ignorant/dismissive of this?

If you use that same logic, then we can easily state that ‘not all men are terrorists, but (pretty much) all terrorists are men’.

Shall we suspect, fear, hate and demonise all men?

An admission that the abuse of state powers of surveillance was wrong:

http://news.met.police.uk/news/claimants-in-civil-cases-receive-mps-apology-138574

Thanks, Titchmarsh. I’ve a few other bits and pieces to sort out first (like making space for a new bike by selling others!), and am a massive procrastinator, so I hope to get in touch soon. Thanks for coming on and posting.

This is gorgeous!

Wrecker; you’re either a troll, a supporter of far-right wing ideology, or simply (and I think this more likely), a massively ignorant person. This threat is considered real and rapidly increasing, by many people who have studied this issue far more than you or I. I no longer wish to continue discussing this with someone who appears to be in such denial. Good day.

Just a suggestion, but perhaps we should concentrate on the actual,real threats that are firing automatic weapons and using plastic explosives in city centres, not ones which you personally find offensive?

Ones which I personally find offensive? I’m sure many tens, if not hundreds of millions throughout Europe find far-right wing extremists incredibly offensive. Don’t you? Do you think it’s ok, as long as they’re not actually using ‘automatic weapons and plastic explosives’? Shall we simply ignore every attack that doesn’t use such tactics?

This is surely just an ‘isolated incident’, so nothing to worry about?

http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Neo-Nazis-gang-carves-attacks-Spanish-teen-cares-swastika-into-arm-415478

Are you claiming that there isn’t a significant threat to European freedom, from far-right wing extremists?

Ok, shall we wait until people are being murdered in concentration camps before we start worrying? Jeez.

Of course it’s not impossible in future, but to say that it poses more of a threat than the Fundamental perverts to western europe is plain dumb.

There are millions of members of far-right organisations throughout Europe. Members of organisations which espouse hateful, divisive ideology not dissimilar to the likes of ISIS etc. Some of those members commit terrorist atrocities. Just because you don’t read about it here, doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11948175/Far-Right-extremists-could-attack-refugees-with-acid-or-wooden-clubs-says-German-police.html

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/13/european-far-right-on-the-rise-how-to-tackle

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/blog/attacks-refugees-intensifying-across-europe-under-far-right-influence

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/09/us-europe-farright-special-report-idUSBREA380IU20140409#3ifpxAKg0JIZd7Om.97

Even here in Britain, mosques and synagogues have been attacked by far-right wing extremists. Whilst I’m sure there probably have been attacks on churches, I don’t think such attacks are as numerous or violent.

To believe that there isn’t a significant threat to European society, from such groups, is just, well, plain stupid.

To humour you here is a piece on the Austrian law which I read at the time of the F1 attack. Note no such requirement is made of Christians or Jews as it’s not necessary for the reasons I stated above.

it reminds Muslims that state law takes precedence over religious beliefs,

I’m surprised you posted that, because it the article is in fact about Muslim communities in Austria wanting parity with other religious communities, yet not actually enjoying that:

But it also will restrict foreign financing of mosques and forbid foreign-funded Imams from preaching in Austria in future. The law would also encourage teaching essential beliefs in German, rather than, as is often the case, in Turkish. And, it reminds Muslims that state law takes precedence over religious beliefs, and reserves the right to revoke recognition of a community if the state believes the group does not follow the law.
“We want an Islam with an Austrian character,” Integration Minister Sebastian Kurz told public broadcaster ORF last October.
But those last two parts in the law are grating to Muslims. No other religious law restricts foreign financing and they point out that the Catholic Church receives funding from the Vatican, Protestants have gotten from Germany and the Jewish community gets some support from Israel and the USA.
Outside influence
“We don’t have the challenge (with other religions) that we have to worry about the influences from foreign nations and for that reason, we have to be a bit stricter about the financing from foreign countries in the case of Islam,” Kurz added.

Seems somewhat discriminatory, to me.

Is Jambalaya still going on about Muslim extremeists? Jambalaya; why are you talking only about attacks committed by ‘Muslims’? What about considering ALL such terrorist attacks? Why are you falling into the idiot’s trap of believing that ‘All terrorists are Muslims = All Muslims are terrorists’ bollocks? If you are going to objectively assess the reality of terrorist threat, then you need to consider all of them, and not be so selective.

http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/10-worst-terror-attacks-extreme-christians-and-far-right-white-men

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11786802/Burning-of-Christian-churches-in-Israel-justified-far-Right-Jewish-leader-says.html

http://scroll.in/article/718458/most-extremists-in-india-are-not-muslim-they-are-hindu

That’s just a couple of examples. You speak of antisemitism, yet no mention by you, of the alarming rise in far-right groups and ideology, especially in eastern Europe, which in my opinion is of far greater threat to us in western Europe than Islamic extremism. Russia, Ukraine, Hungary and Romania (as well as groups such as Golden Dawn in Greece), have all seen massive rises in the popularity of far-right organisations and political parties, with some even gaining power in some areas.This is something we should really be focussing on (Angela Merkel did try to draw attention to this, but seemed to be largely ignored). Instead, we are faced with a smokescreen of ‘Islamic’ terrorism, and focus only on that.

We all need to set our sights much wider. Such a narrow view is what led to the rise of the Nazis. We have far greater dangers to face than ISIS.

Jealousy

I really don’t think most people actually are. I think most people are simply critical of people who have way more than enough to live on, more than the vast majority of people in this country, yet appear to be moaning about struggling to make ends meet. The truth is, their ‘difficulties’ stem from their sense of entitlement to a particular ‘lifestyle’, as has been pointed out. An affliction many people suffer with, regardless of ‘wealth’. As others have pointed out, this couple could make quite a few choices and be able to afford that private education for their kids. They don’t ‘need’ to own a second home, they don’t ‘need’ expensive shit and holidays, etc. Most of us seem to do ok without all that.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m not remotely jealous of people who probably have to spend the vast majority of their waking hours working for that nice salary, get to spend limited quality time with their families, are beholden to their employers, have to commute for hours a day, and probably don’t have much of a social life. All so they can brag about how ‘wealthy’ they are.

Wealthy for me is not having to work whilst living in a nice house/area.

That’ll be us then. Mortgage and child-free, and able to live quite comfortably from savings/investments. My wife does work ‘part-time’ for a charity she loves, but I’m currently ‘between jobs’. We were wondering just ho much we do actually ‘need’, so we’ve decided to ‘allow’ ourselves a set amount each month, to see how much we can actually save. Because the truth is, we really don’t ‘need’ much more than food and some basic essentials.

So, we’re stuck “getting by” on a combined £3k per month take home and, because my wife helps run the local food bank and we’re friends with a varied mix of people, realising that we’re very well off indeed.

+1. ‘Wealth’ isn’t just about having things.

I wish I lived in London. It sounds great!

It can be. You just have to know how to manage your finances. :wink:

I have the JBL Flip and the latest version, the Flip 3. The 3 has a much longer batter life, is USB rechargeable, and is splash-proof. It also has a better sound. For about £80, you can’t beat it.

I know quite a few people like them. My wife has friends who are looking to move to a bigger place (2 kids growing up needing more space), who are moaning that they can’t find anything within their budget, in the area they want to live in (they have around £750,000, and want to live in one of London’s most fashionable areas). I can’t even engage with idiots like that. They simply cannot appreciate that they are in an incredibly privileged position relative to 99% of the population, and really do think they are somehow ‘entitled’.

a 725k home in SW London is pretty average

It’s not. Maybe ‘average’ for a very nice home in a very nice area, but certainly not ‘average’ for SW London. If people weren’t so blinkered and felt so entitled, they would realise they could buy a bloody nice home in a not so fashionable area, for a lot less. The equivalent to our home in an area just a mile away from us is probably about £150,000-200,000 more. Simply because it has a different (more desirable) postcode, and some of the local residents are ‘celebrities’. So what? What else do you get for your money? Nothing.

Fact is though, that anti-semitic attacks are sharply on the increase in Europe. I do find it interesting that Jambalaya has omitted to mention the recent attacks on Muslims in the UK, such as the firebombing of a community centre in Glasgow:

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14037433.Muslims_urged_to_stay_at_home_after_signs_of_Paris_attacks_backlash/

The abuse of a SNP member:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/619814/Nicola-Sturgeon-Humza-Yousaf-hate-crime-Muslim-MSP-Paris

And the firebombing of a Muslim family’s home in Northern Ireland:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-34840896

Do you have any comment on these vile crimes, Jambalaya?

Well, even if you discard her many previous lies – the calculated steps to cover up the Benghazi incident should rule her out of politics for life.

Wow, you’re serious!

So, you’d really prefer a megalomaniac xenophobic nutter who’d happily bring about the total destruction of the planet, to Hilary Clinton?

Of course, Donald Trump has never lied. Oh no. :lol:

Oh that’s beautiful, Mayan!

I’m completely self taught, never held a torch before I started number 1.

That’s really very interesting. And contradicts what some others have said. Although I’m under no illusion that it’s easy!

Busta; be sure to post up your results here!

You’re a bigot, plain and simple.

Oh my. 8O

The non thinking man’s Putin.

Yet, strangely, still preferable to Hilary

I assume that you’re ‘trolling’, but in case you’re actually not, care to amuse us with why you think this?

Or at least pretend. :-)

my issue with a hybrid is that you end up with a riding position like jeremy corbyn’s bike and when it’s windy that makes a difference. the fact you see people on road bikes is a clue, they are tougher and more capable than you’d think and can easily handle a seafront

There are hybrids, and there are hybrids.

Well, they both fall under the ‘hybrid’ category on Evans’ website. Point is, there’s a range of designs to suit different riding styles. Drop-bar road bikes are simply not as versatile as a flat bar hybrid, plus they are generally not as tough. In my experience, commuters using ‘road’ bikes tend to suffer more mechanical issues and crash more often than hybrid users.

It’s ok. Most of your jobs will eventually be outsourced to India or wherever, and you’ll have loads of free time to waste on the internet! :D

I don’t need to ‘work’ full time, but I still find it staggering the amount of time some of you seem to spend on here alone. 8O

why dont we have Belgian style furniture ladder things? they have town houses like us but you can easily remove a window and then wiz everything up yet we struggle with narrow twisty victorian stairs.

This could have been extremely useful to us, when we recently had a massive sofa and antique sideboard delivered. The only way was to winch it up and get it through the window. Fortunately, we were having new windows fitted at the time, but it still involved having to use a scaffolding tower and winch gear. Something like £300 or so just to get some old furniture into the house. :lol:

Neither item will now be removable without destruction.

How? Most decent lights now fix on with o-ring type mounts

Well, the o-ring either snapped or the plastic (overcomplicated) mount broke. Who knows. I wasn’t that confident about it from the start. Won’t be replacing it with similar. The fronts seem ok though; annoying that you have to hold down the power button for several hours just to get it to change to flashing mode. My wife has no patience for such things, and has gone back to the Smart Lunar 25. Probably won’t be getting any more Moon lights based on this experience.

So, 1 week of using the Moon lights, and so far, one has fallen off and been lost due to the crap rubber band mount, and we don’t like the way you turn them on and off/switch between constant and flashing modes. Very bright though. But I’ve ordered 2 CatEye LD500s to fit to the pannier racks, as they are super-reliable and tough.

Hybrids between £300 and £700 or so are the most fiercely competitive part of the bicycle market (if you discount the Argos/Halfords/Tesco crap), so some of the best value for money to be had. For under £500, you can get a lightweight alloy frame with carbon fork, and fairly decent components. My wife has a Trex 7.5FX, and it’s a fantastic bike; unbelievably light for the money (was ca. £450 in a sale). The big manufacturers have been churning out millions of this type of bike, so know what they are doing, pretty much.

Why do people borrow close to or more than their yearly income to buy a depreciating asset vehicle that spends most of its life sat in traffic? And why are these vehicles capable of up to 155mph when the speed limit is half that?
I fail to grasp the car/ego thing and often wonder what it replaces in people’s lives? Hundreds of years ago people possibly coveted a stout horse or natty suit of of armour or a nice herd of cattle? Either way the car has far too much significance for people.

+1. I totally understand having nice things, and a nice car would fit into that idea. And I understand some people just need a basic utility vehicle for stuff. I really don’t get why anyone would spend thousands of pounds more just to have a slightly more powerful engine etc in an already shit car. Or indeed why anyone would buy such crappy motors new in the first place. 8O I suppose someone’s got to though. Mugs.

Why do so many people with such a distorted/blinkered/ignorant view of the world seem to be the most prolific on any political threads on here?

Surely anodising wears off the braking surface on rim braked bikes, or am I missing something?

Braking surface will probably be on a thicker bit of metal. The braking action will help polish the surface, and remove corrosion. It’s designed to do that.

This cross section of a rim will help illustrate this further:

Would you want to remove any material from anywhere else on that rim?

I don’t understand why people rush to ‘update’ their devices, without first waiting a bit to see if anyone else has issues. Why? If it ain’t broke…

I have 3 macs, the oldest being 15 years old. Granted, it’s a bit slow, but it still works perfectly. Not that I ever use it (that needs discussing on the ‘hoarding’ thread!). The two others work beautifully and really don’t need ‘updating’ to an OS that offers no real-use benefits. I’d have to ‘upgrade’ my Adobe stuff for a start, and I don’t see why I should have to fork out loads more money when it works fine for my needs.

Whilst I understand new software to make best use of new technology, I do suspect that such ‘updates’ are in fact a way of forcing people to spend loads of money when they don’t really need to.

Glitch. :?

at what point does being thrifty merge into hoarding?

Hoarding, at it’s extreme end, can be a symptom of a more complex set of mental health issues, even an illness. Extreme, irrational (to others) hoarding is the manifestation of a disturbed mind. I’ve witnessed this, and it’s really quite shocking. People can form attachments to things that they maybe can’t with other people, a form of substitute possibly. Like I said, very complex.

I’m actually glad I’m a bit of a hoarder; quite a lot of my old stuff has gone to charity, including some decent clothing, rather than simply into landfill. And it’s nice to pass stuff on to others who might enjoy it.

Contrary to what my friends and neighbours think, having several bikes is not ‘hoarding’. :lol: