So now the new iMacs are out, has anyone got one? Or seen one in the flesh? Probably about to pull the trigger on one, but still cautiously waiting to see if there are any glaring problems, unlikely but still. Initial reports seem to be overall positive; video production seems to be surprisingly good on what is essentially more of a ‘consumer’ type product. If the M1 machines are this good, then the future for Apple looks pretty bright, once the more ‘pro’ spec machines start coming out.

The original Pace RC100 was a bike I coveted all those years ago; I could never have afforded one then, it was hideously expensive. Didn’t it also have proprietary fitting Magura hydraulic brakes? The square tubing was totally unique. The last time I saw one, was locked up in central London. Obviously just being used for commuting duties, it was battered and rather sad looking. Shame. They type of bike would be great now, for ‘gentler’ off road riding though.

Socialism is based on principles of equality. Zionism privileges one group over another. Therefore a ‘Zionist socialist’ is an oxymoron and that’s the core conundrum facing Sturmer.

The problem with using such reductionism is that it ignores the incredible complexity, and nuance, in the whole issue of Jewish self-determination, social, cultural and ideological freedom that lies at the heart of Zionist philosophy. To condemn Zionism thus, is akin to the ‘all lives matter’ type of rhetoric spouted by the right.

Zionism privileges one group over another

This is a common misconception for a start. There are forms of ‘Zionism’ that do this, but to bluntly state thus, starts to wander towards the line of anti-Semitism. There are plenty of Zionists who are bitterly opposed to the actions of the Israeli state, and as I said earlier; Zionism isn’t one single idea. I myself support the right to self-determination for all people, and that includes Jewish people, who if they feel they need a state in order to enjoy that right of self-determination, then that should be supported. Many of the early pioneers who founded kibbutzim in Palestine, were horrified once they saw what transpired throughout the formation of modern Israel. These would have been the Socialist/Marxist Zionists, a mix of liberal and Bundist Jews from the US and Europe. There are many Zionists arguing for a two-state solution, and for balance there are Palestinians who support a single state where Palestinians and Jews are represented equally. Fact is, Israel isn’t going to suddenly disappear. But what should be happening, is international condemnation of the Israeli regime, and suitable sanctions/actions to force that regime to stop it’s genocidal campaign. Armest is unsurprisingly silent on this, as he’s gutless. Modern Israel acts as a ‘bridge’ to Middle Eastern resources, and the recent talks of developing economic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, is all part of that plan. Biden, who has now shown his true colours regarding Israel and Palestine, by sanctioning a £500+ billion arms deal with Israel, is very keen to ensure the continued flow of money from the region; Christians, Muslims and Jews all working in complete harmony. How wonderful. Western leaders have shown time and again, that they don’t genuinely give a shit about the Palestinians, and historically, neither have most of the neighbouring Muslim nations such as Egypt, Jordan, SA etc. As long as Israel is buying billions worth of weapons from us, we don’t need to worry. But I will reiterate; for a Labour leader to ignore the treatment of the Palestinians by a belligerent, heavily armed apartheid state, makes a mockery of Labour’s pledge to not tolerate racism, fascism and oppression of people, of any kind.

On the subject of Zionism:

The biggest racists I know are zionists

I think this needs to be qualified with a clarification of what ‘Zionism’ actually is. Do you mean the Zionism of Theodore Hertzl? The Zionism of the founders of the Kibbutzim? The Liberal Zionism of modern middle class westerners? Or the extreme Zionism of cults like Lehava, a far-right fundamentalist group whose slogan is ‘Preventing Assimilation’? Because there is an awful lot of difference between say the ‘communists’ of the Kibbutzim movement, and the fascists of Lehava. There is a world of difference between the Socialist Zionists who believed in the right to self-determination for all Jews, and for the foundation of a nation where Jews cannot suffer the horrors caused by anti-Semitism, and the extreme religious beliefs held by the likes of Lehava. And a whole load of grey in between. ‘Zionism’ has become somewhat of a pejorative term, used to describe those who believe in the rights of one group over another, and apartheid system as that employed by the current Israeli administration, which I think is grossly unfair, because I know many ‘liberal’ Zionists who are completely opposed to the fascism of Netanyahu and his acolytes. Once again, the complexity of Zionism is lost on many, and this sets a dangerous precedent, one which has no positive outcome. so I’d urge people to read up, and educate yourselves about Zionism, in order to better understand the situation with Israel and Palestine. Because at the end of the day, it has very little to do with religion, Judaism or anything, and much more to do with western economic and cultural imperialism. Israel was founded under the guise of providing Jews with a safe homeland, a noble cause and one which all of us should respect, but has become a front for US and European economic interests, and a platform to install nuclear weapons pointed at the unruly Arabs. That right-wing extremism has flourished to the point of dominance, is the fault of the west’s failure and unwillingness to ensure international laws aren’t violated. Because as long as the money keeps flowing, brown people dying doesn’t matter. But to get to the root of the issues, we have to look not at Jews, or Muslims, or Israelis, or Palestinians, but to ourselves, here in the affluent ‘liberal’ west, because it’s in our direct interests that that situation is being perpetuated. It’s clear that the weaponsitation if anti-Semitism against Corbyn was purely because of his opposition to the actions of the Israeli government, and those of their western enablers, particularly the US and UK governments, and the threat he potentially posed to the flow of all that wealth and power. I’d wager Corbyn knows a fair bit more about actual Zionism than Armrest does, and again, Armrest’s abject failure to condemn what are war crimes by the Israeli state, exposes his weakness. A Labour leader needs to stand against such crimes, not condone them. And by sitting on the fence, he is doing just that. Coward.

Do you know how politics actually works?

Some of us do. You, clearly, don’t.

I think by now it’s obvious that Armrest has pretty much failed to turn the fortunes of the Labour Party around. Mainly due to having no clear ideas on how to address the many issues this country is facing, or to connect with the populace in any meaningful way. The first rule of politics is to be heard; if nobody is listening, then you have no chance of getting your ideas across. Corbyn, by far from being an ideal ‘leader’, managed to achieve this, despite the massive pressure of a partisan media, the weaponisation of anti-Semitism, and many senior members of his own party, against him. How Armrest can be less popular, despite not having this pressure, really shows just how inadequate he really is. Corbyn is still managing to reach far larger numbers of people, despite not even being in the party at the moment. Armrest, blinkered by his ‘unqualified support for Zionism’, totally failed to read the public mood regarding the recent atrocities committed by Israel, and is too gutless to say anything more than ‘oh people on both sides should back off a bit’. Pathetic.

<p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Corbyn spent Saturday addressing 100,000 people in London.<br><br>Starmer spent it addressing 56 Centrists on Zoom. pic.twitter.com/oY4gmkHApi</p>— Kerry-Anne Mendoza 🏳️‍🌈 (@TheMendozaWoman) May 16, 2021

<script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js&#8221; charset=”utf-8″></script>

Politics is getting people to listen to you. Armrest isn’t doing that. Pissing into the wind. I think even some of the most ardent Armresters on here, can now see he’s a failure and needs to go.

Sorry; I just have to correct a mistake I made in my earlier post. I referred to the powers BF agents have, and stated they cannot arrest you. Well, they sort of can, but they have to have ‘reasonable’ suspicion that a person is in breach of the law regarding immigration and the right to remain in the UK etc. They are not allowed to detain you simply on how you look, though, so if they stop a black person purely on the grounds of their race, that is illegal. They also cannot enter a premises without the permission of the tenant or landlord/property owner. They are legally obliged to identify themselves, give good reason why they’ve stopped you, to inform you you do not have to answer any questions, and to inform you that you are not under arrest and free to leave at any time. All this information can be found on the anti-raids network website I linked to above.

Without getting all ‘Bridges’ about it,

I take that as a compliment. Good to know I’ve made some sort of impact.

Bridges, seriously man, have you heard yourself?

Yes, and so have you, by the looks of things. Which is good. As I’m not a Labour member, voter or supporter, I can say what I like. If you don’t like it, that really is your problem, not mine.

I’ve unfortunately had experience with ‘Border Force’ agents; their typical MO is to turn up (often in the early hours to catch people by surprise, and avoid resistance by members of the public) and use aggression and intimidation to force people to comply, and often act unlawfully. It must be recognised that many BF agents are the kind of people who failed to get into the police, so you can imagine the bar is very, very low. They invariably aren’t well educated, not particularly intelligent, although they’ll often have one senior member who will be giving orders. They also invariably do not follow correct legal procedure when questioning people, and do not inform them of their rights in law. Which is why it is so important to at least observe, and better still, to arm yourself with the actual correct legal procedure in terms of apprehending and questioning individuals (people have the right to leave at any time, usually, as they cannot be lawfully detained unless the BF agents have an actual court document enabling them to do so), and to actively intervene if you believe the law isn’t being correctly obeyed. You cannot be arrested by them, as they have no legal powers to do so (they need police officers in attendance for that). The Anti Raids Network is a good place to start, for information, and there are many local groups that you can contact to form civil resistance groups to help prevent illegal raids and activities by BF agents.

https://antiraids.net/about/

It’s a nasty, nasty environment this government is creating. It’s our collective responsibility to act against it.

Well done all those in Glasgow who acted to defend their community. No-one is illegal.

And they are right of course, it is a complete load of bollocks, of course it is.

There’s myriad reasons why particular use of language isn’t ‘a complete load of bollocks’, many of them relating to times when racism was rife, when the views and opinions of people of colour were never considered. If you really cannot understand the difference between ‘coloured people’, and ‘people of colour’, as descriptive terms, then I suggest you read up on the matter. It is an extremely complex and nuanced issue, certainly not one that can be dismissed as ‘a complete load of bollocks’.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/dahleen-glanton/ct-dahleen-glanton-colored-email-reading-list-20200304-utx7geiwm5hupa3t7w6xr3xqn4-story.html

Of course, the term ‘people of colour’, like’BAME’, is not without its own controversy and opposition.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/black-women-people-colour-racism-beyonce-coachella-black-lives-matter-a8316561.html

I always think it’s best to listen to the subjects of such debate, and ask what they prefer to be called. With respect to all on here, this might not quite be the best place to find such informed and enlightened people. Some people on here clearly don’t know their arse from an ass, for example. ;)

I’d just like to point out that I don’t have an ass. I also don’t own a horse, donkey or even a mule. Just to make that clear. I did however use some Zebra crossings yesterday (on my way to a beigel bakery; make of that what you will), and I thought ‘here we have black and white, in perfect unity, guiding us safely’. Fantastic.

If you want to see a non-Jew doing Jewish comedy, Eddie Murphy’s your man:

Sublime.

Only after did I wonder whether my ‘Collection only’ had been elegantly dismantled right in front of me, and my bookcase is in their flat with various Polish books on ‘How to Outwit the English’ on it.

Lol! Genuinely laughed at that. Fantastic. :D

On the flip side of this, are people who would rather throw perfectly good items away, than let someone else have it ‘for free’. Very selfish attitude. I’m only too happy to give someone something decent that I no longer have any use for. And that includes Apple Macs and Dysons. ;)

Your impressive ability to be wrong about stuff makes it very difficult to figure out when you could be more wrong.

Lol! You’re going to need some Savlon on that burn, Binners. :D

Was it from machine mart as well ? I nearly bought a small lathe there (well big for Machine mart) but on inspection it was junk and basically scrap unless your intention was to turn large metal into small metal.

No; it was an old, very heavy British made thing, can’t remember the brand now. Was once a decent quality machine. The problem was that it was all quite tired and worn out. So many things would have needed doing, to make it run, and I doubt it would ever have run very well. The motor looked potentially dangerous for a start. So I threw it in the cellar somewhere, where it probably still remains, rusting away. At some point I need to put it outside for the local scrappies. The problem with buying something without prior knowledge and experience, is that if you do buy a dud, you’ve then got to get rid of it. I basically paid some chancer to do just that. Caveat Emptor.

Pfff my highly tongue in cheek comment about Mandelson has been deleted. Total sense of humour failure somewhere.

Maybe it’s just because your idea of ‘humour’ isn’t the same as other people’s. YOU might have thought it was funny, I didn’t. I found it very offensive. That’s why I reported it. Good to see it’s been removed. Quite why you thought it appropriate to refer to Mandelson’s cultural heritage, I have no idea. It’s clear you are ignorant about real anti-Semitism though. I don’t personally believe you to be genuinely hateful, just thoughtless. Perhaps take the time to enlighten yourself a bit better, so you don’t make the same mistakes in future.

I think it might be that discussion of the drinking habits of jewish homosexuals is against forum policy?

Would Peter Mandelson drink it though? Or is asking the question too anti-semitic for the likes of Bridges?

Ok, so you’re now attempting to laugh it off, which is understandable, as you’ve been somewhat embarrassed. But move on now. You can rise above this nonsense.

Lol! That must be handy for the run down to the Asda superstore. I bet nobody bothers parking too close to you! But how many gallons to the mile does it do??

At least then we can’t be accused of being anti-semites/nazis 🙂

Well, you’ve still failed to explain your anti-Semitic comment about Mandelson, so I can see why you’d prefer the discussion to move away from such issues. It’s a bit awkward, isn’t it?

I’ve said nothing of the sort.

Except:

You’d think that given everything thats happened in the party over the last few years, why not file it under ‘subjects not to touch with a barge pole’ and have done with it?

Oh dear. Your own post, too. That’s embarrassing.

The Tories don’t feel the need to comment on it.

Oops.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/no10-slaps-down-tory-minister-24092863

You don’t do your homework, do you?

Who said they should?

Binners, essentially.

Why are we even having this conversation on a thread about the Labour Leader?

Is it a bit uncomfortable for you?

What I don’t get is when it became compulsory for labour politicians to comment on everything that happens in Israel?

Because if you’re the leader of a party that is supposed to stand against racism, oppression, bigotry, hate, injustice etc, then it’s actually your job to condemn such, wherever you see it. Given the close links between Israel and the UK, particularly in the technology and weapons industries, it is actually important to stand against what is a fascistic apartheid regime. Because if you remain silent, you’re complicit in the crimes of that state.

Given that the Israeli’s don’t give a flying **** what anyone thinks, least of all the leader of the opposition in the UK, why bother? Given that it will have absolutely zero impact on anything?

The Israeli regime gave enough of a ‘flying ****’ to do it’s level best to undermine Corbyn, whom they saw as a potential threat to future trade and ‘diplomatic’ arrangements between the countries.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/08/israeli-diplomat-shai-masot-plotted-against-mps-set-up-political-groups-labour

If trade and diplomatic links between Israel and the UK and much more so, the USA, were diminished in any way, this would have a massive effect on Israel’s survival as the state it has become. Hence why it’s in Israel’s best interests, to keep those ties and strengthen them. Because without UK and US help, Israel wouldn’t be able to bomb the **** out of innocent children. And before anyone whines on about Hamas etc; remind yourself which nation uses jet bombers, white phospohorus, poisoning water supplies, all sorts of forms of torture, detention without trial (often of children), and basically state sponsored murder and ethnic cleansing.

So, you still think UK politicians should turn a blind eye?

Are any of the Clarke ones any good? I want one to sit on a bench. They’ve got a few models between 2 and 300 quid. Are they still junk at that price?

I live around the corner from a Machine Mart and don’t fancy driving across the country to pick up an antique when I’m not sure what I’m looking at.

Well mine is this model, as far as I can see:

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cdp5rb-5-speed-bench-mounted-pillar-dri/

Not sure why it’s £10 more than the blue one. But they’re essentially Chinese made cheap machines, intended for ‘occasional’ and light use. They aren’t made to particularly exacting tolerances. The plastic guard on mine broke first time I used it, the handles unscrew on a regular basis, I have to check everything’s safe before I use it. It has a limited (50mm) drilling depth. It lacks a rack and pinion height adjust mechanism. It’s really not great. But it gets the job done, and has served me well for over 10 years. I can’t complain for £60. But I am now feeling the need for something better, as the level of my work demands a higher level of accuracy. The runout isn’t bad, but then I’m using it on wood, at relatively shallow depths. A bit more power, better accuracy and more depth would be good.

These Axminster and Machine Mart drills look practically identical. More powerful motor on the MachineMart version, and the Axminster one is nearly £90 more. For just a little more than the Axminster drill, this looks like a better machine:

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cdp452b-550w-16-speed-bench-mounted-dri/

Of course, it’s all about what’s in stock. This is probably the very worst time to be buying tools, as CV has seen a massive reduction in manufacturing, shipping and therefore stock, so prices are at maximum. I wouldn’t call any of the Clarke stuff ‘junk’; some of it might not be brilliant, but it’s useable. And I think you’re wise to be cautious about buying something second hand without experience; I bought a lathe a few years ago, and it was basically a pile of scrap. Might have been great once, but the amount of work involved in getting it just to run, let alone run well, just wasn’t worth it.

skills wise i’m tooled up with a router, track saw, table saw etc and i can do things like fitting kitchens, converted my garage this year and I’ve laminated together a tabletop, made a resin river table – that sort of thing, but I’m certainly not skilled enough for dovetail joints or any fine cabinetry

If you’ve been able to develop skills to use such equipment, and complete certain tasks, then you have the ability to learn how to use other tools. Dovetails aren’t as difficult as they might first seem, certainly standard ‘through’ dovetails. Practice makes perfect of course, but learning skills with hand tools can help you use machinery too, as you understand the processes that bit better. Very often, using hand tools to do a job can be quicker and easier than setting up power tools. And hand tools can help with little ‘fixes’ to make up for the imperfections and inadequacies power tools can often leave. Learning to use hand tools can also give you more confidence in your abilities. You’ve nothing to lose, but a bit of time really.

See? Easy! :D

What about

Whattaboutwhattaboutwhattabout.

It’s the right wingers who’ve done the damage. Under their control, the party cannot be truly democratic, or representative of working people. And will therefore never offer any real alternative to the tories. Ergo, it’s the right that must either step aside and abide by the wishes of the majority of the members (which they refused to do under Corbyn, who was, let’s not forget, democratically elected by those members), or leave. Or failing that be forced out. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

And if Labour is to be only of and for the Left, then there are many seats they can never hope to win.

As it is, it’s only representing center-right elite interests. And tell me; how well is that panning out?

I think the reason Labour is **** is because it’s actually a coalition of very different groups with only some common ground. So people want different things. And this is because FPTP demands it.

I concur. But getting rid of the wealthy elite right wingers, would at least allow for a more diverse range of voices to be heard. Because it’s those who control the party, who dictate the direction the party has been going in for the last 20 years or more. For Labour to become relevant once more, it needs to become a party that truly represents working people, not a vehicle for neoliberal elitist ambition. By getting rid of the elite right, you’d perhaps lose some ‘funding’ (read: paying for political influence) from the likes of Lord Sainsburys, Alan Sugar, Richard Branson etc, but then closer affiliation with trade unions could fill at least part of that void, and give greater voice to the underrepresented. The cycle of wealth and privilege that rules out political system must be broken, if there is to be real social progression. And that can’t happen the way things are.

Oh, I see, you meant a different set of wealthy elites, sorry, as you were.

Do you really believe that those union leaders, or Corbyn, Murray and Milne, are even in the same league as the trio I mentioned, in terms of absolute wealth and further political influence? Nowhere near. Again; absolute desperation from the right.

So your problem isn’t so much that many people in the Labour party are wealthy beyond the dreams of most folk, but that the wealthy elites you don’t like, are wealthier than another group of very wealthy people.

It’s how those people use that wealth. And beyond mere wealth, how influential they are. And it’s laughable that you attempted to compare the salaries of those union leaders, with the wealth owned by the likes of Blair, Mandelson, Hodge etc. You really have no idea of what I’m talking about, have you? That’s pretty obvious.

GMB bosses Paul Kenny and Tim Roache split earnings of £263,000

TUC chief Frances O’Grady earns £152,365.

Stephen Cotton, head of the International Transport Workers Federation took home £149,005

Cathy Warwick was paid £147,139. head of Royal College of Midwives

RMT union general Sec. Mick Cash paid £137,349.

Far too easy:

Blair

Hodge.

Mandelson.

I really can’t be bothered to list any more. That’ll do you for starters though. Quite telling that you’re attacking union leaders, who if they were in similar level positions in corporate jobs, would probably be earning multiples of those figures. So; what was your point again?

Maybe so. But Corbyn and some of his closet aids were “wealthy” as well, and, before they were in position, sabotaged Labour and its previous leaders “at every turn”.

Absolutely desperate. Is that really the best you can come up with?

Ask yourself… if you were a member of some shadowy rich and influential cabal, hell bent on having governments bend to your will, and sabotaging democracy for your own evil ends, why on earth would you bother with the labour party? What on earth would you hope to gain by that?

You don’t really understand how politics works, do you? Not that that should stop you commenting on here; your posts do at least serve as light hearted relief from what is a truly depressing reality. But just so you know; we’re laughing AT you, not WITH you.

It’s getting to the point where the party just needs putting out of its misery. At a national level it’s a basket case that looks totally incapable of modernisation or reform. A 20th century anachronism, adrift in the 21st, with no idea what its meant to stand for

The only question it presently seems to be asking itself is who to blame. The voters? Corbyn? Blair? Ed Milliband? Peter Mandleson seems a popular bond villain.

How about ‘all the above’?

Corbyn attempted the necessary reform. The wealthy right of the party deliberately sabotaged him at every turn. The Blairites, Mandelson, etc. So blame them.

And there you go. The reason labour is ****ed. Still banging on about some ridiculous tinfoil-helmetted conspiracy theory from 4 years ago. It seems more people are interested in endlessly feeding some mythical betrayal than taking on Boris and co…

But it’s fact. Not ‘mythical’. You have it in black and white, from Mandelson. Ask your friend Dazh why Mandelson is so bent on screwing over Labour voters; he might have an answer. The real reason Labour is **** is because the wealthy elite of the party want it as their own political vehicle, to serve their own ends. Hence the failed neoliberal project. Trouble is, that’s now a busted flush and they are offering no effective opposition to the tories. These are the people you seem to support. That’s where the problem lies; I know you want to blame Corbyn/the left/anyone else etc, but the real reason is right there, staring you in the face. And you know it. That elite don’t want change; this is the situation that suits them best. They get to stay wealthy, to have others subservient to them in order to do their bidding. To continue to enjoy privilege, to holiday in Tuscany, to send their kids to posh schools, to live in nice areas without any ‘undesirables’ spoiling the view. Nah; the status quo suits them down to the ground, they don’t want anyone upsetting the applecart.

The labour party really is well and truly screwed

This, I think we can all agree upon. Unity for once.

Quite…

Which is why I’m asking questions. No need to be an arsehole about it.

Septic tank waste is often used as fertilizer rather than taken to a waste water plant, but they don’t build sewage works to deal specifically with septic tank waste, its additional capacity in existing infrastructure.

Thanks.

There are always levels of rural and urban. Find your place on the sliding scale.

I think we all need towns and cities, it’s how our society is organised, and how human seem to thrive best in many ways. But I do think more people should have opportunities to access a more rural way of life, as this may well be denied them due to economic factors. The OP was all about this type of lifestyle maybe being more expensive than urban living. If so, and if more rural communities could be viable, with less reliance on urban centres, then surely it would be good to look at reducing such costs? It’s ok if you have a £1m+ townhouse in London to sell, to help finance your rural escape, but if you don’t, your options are somewhat limited, I feel. More focus on proper sustainable rural living would be a great move, but I can’t see this or any other probable government making such commitments.

But seriously; you’ve made quite an offensive comment there, yet seem completely unapologetic. You may well not care at all, but I, and I’d imagine others, do. I’d really like you to explain your comment.

Thanks for judgement. It’s nice to know you can have all the things you want while sneering at us for having what we want. Well done.

Wow. So defensive. Why? I’m not being judgmental, simply stating what people have said. Such as:

Yup not having to share my space with thousands of other people

(My bold)

We all live within a society, like it or not. For some of us, it’s better to live in one type of place, than another. From a mental health perspective, I think far too many people ‘suffer’ from being cooped up in big cities, as they’re not suited to them. So we should be looking at ways to reduce population density, perhaps, whilst needing to balance that with preserving rural areas. So it’s very difficult indeed; our little island doesn’t offer so much space for people to spread out more, without major environmental damage. Contrast with say Russia, where there are vast areas of potentially habitable land, yet people still live in quite dense cities, mainly. And China is just insane; there’s 7 or 8 cities there now with populations over 10 million. This is clearly unsustainable, so new compromise solutions have to be found. We can’t ALL go and live in rural areas. And if we choose to, yet want infrastructure provided, then that adds further cost and environmental impact. So as for living ‘off grid’ as the OP puts it; it’s clear there’s no such thing really, not in the UK at least, and we still all need the same goods, services and infrastructure. So that’s why I’m interested in how people get around these issues. A septic tank doesn’t sound like such a great idea, because you still have to pump it out every so often, and that requires major infrastructure elsewhere. So what about alternatives, such as composting/organic filtration etc? I am clueless about such things, so would appreciate any pointers on such things.

hopefully the Queens speech will give labour something to oppose and get their teeth into!

Optimistic. That’s assuming Labour actually had any teeth…

Because he’s worse than Hitler! That’s why!

Who, Dazh? That’s a bit strong.

I think I’m fairly safe in my assessment of his character.

That’s fine; he is truly vile, no question. But why did you feel the need to comment on his cultural heritage in the way you did?

So essentially; most of you seem to want all that modern life has to offer, just not share it with others as much as possible? Or not live too far from amenities. I do get the solitude/peace and quiet aspect; I like to enjoy that every once in a while. But then I yearn for urban life. Makes me appreciate just how much I do enjoy living in a vast, overcrowded, sprawling metropolis. Fact is; we’re all reliant on urban centres for out modern way of life; we need people to work in them to organise everything, for retail, education, healthcare etc. You might have the luxury of not having traffic streaming past your front door, but then YOU are the traffic streaming past someone else’s door, on your way to access said services. roads need to be built and maintained, in order for you to enjoy such ‘privilege’. I’m curious, because recent changes in the way we live and work, has seen an exodus from larger urban centres; London ‘lost’ 700,000 people in the period up until December I think. Perhaps more have followed. And house prices in London have actually fallen, and those in many other areas, risen, as people seek that rural/small village/town idyll. It’s very interesting; I don’t think we are all suited to urban life, and that a lot more people should be living a quieter existence. Spread people out more. But as more people ‘escape’ to the countryside, so those places become busier and noisier etc.

All the things you take for granted living in a city

I never do. This is the thing. What a privilege to be able to have so many things to enjoy, so close. To be able to walk or cycle to work, to pop into a neighbour’s next door, see kids growing up, have social relationships with the people around you who work in the services you need in order to live; I love all that. But as I said, to each their own.

What was your point again, caller?

If that was aimed at me, I was referring to someone who would want to give up the aforementioned facilities; ie, ‘off grid’. So obviously not you. Because you are connected to the ‘grid’.

We’re pretty well off-grid here in the highlands – 2 bed, stone built conversion. The only thing we get is mains electricity and even then we had a power cut when one of the transformers blew in a snow storm. Water supply is private – very low pressure which means we have problems getting hot water, plus the washing machine and drains don’t work well. We barely get 4G broadband and it falls over regularly – any wind or rain. Heating is oil and we’ve used 1200 litres in a year – it’s OK, keeps us warm but the boiler outside is noisy and stinks.

Worth noting that this person is:

Moving shortly to our new house on an island, but it has mains services, high speed broadband decent insulation, ASHP and underfloor heating.

I’m a complete Sybarite. I simply cannot understand the attraction for living outside of ‘modern life’, as some do. To each their own, I suppose. That’s why I’m asking; I want to be able to understand.

I don’t think he himself cared or knew he was Jewish until he realised he could use it for political ends to help his billionaire friends.

Wow. That feeds right into actual anti-Semitism. To suggest a Jewish person could use their ‘Jewishness’ for political and financial gain? I think you need to seriously rethink what you just said there. Yes, he is as guilty as any of weaponising anti-Semitism against Corbyn and the left, but that’s an entirely separate matter, and has everything to do with his increasingly right wing leanings, not because he’s Jewish himself.

I think you need to apologise, and at least explain yourself there, dazh.

I have no problem with their “bias”, it was a very good fit for me. I’m part of the target audience. None of that negates my current opinion about how they work, and why I don’t want to be one of their eager, or even occasional, consumers from here on. They thrive on “Labour eats itself” content, it drives clicks and engagements very successfully.

I’m still struggling with your notion that Novaramedia are ‘part of the problem’. Do you not think that being critical of how the party is run, and what direction it is taking, is essential in the debate about how wider politics is being formed and enacted? There have always been internal divisions within Labour; it’s a very ‘broad church’. But the left of the party have been systematically hounded and demonised by what is actually a small minority of rich, powerful right-wing figures who seem to want the Labour party to be the vehicle for their own political ambitions. Labour are increasingly not seen as the party for the ‘people’, and the real problem, which you either cannot see of choose to ignore, is that further movement in this direction will ultimately render the party utterly irrelevant (as per the LibDems), and cause it’s political destruction. Yet Novaramedia are ‘part of the problem’?

That looks very similar to my Axminster drill…

Is that one of their ‘Craft’ range? They seem a significant step up from the ‘Clarke’ branded ones like mine.

It’s a Sealey GDM150 – seems decent quality. Not aerospace standard I grant you but more than adequate for me to mess about with

Well, unless you’re actually making aircraft, I wouldn’t worry! That looks spot on.

This thread has now given me feelings of inadequacy regarding my ‘crappy’ Clarke pillar drill. :(

I have to ask, as a confirmed city dweller who sees ‘the countryside’ as a place to visit now and then, and come home from; why would you want to give up all the trappings of modern life, such as flush sanitation, mains water, electricity, gas, telecommunications etc? Me, I couldn’t, wouldn’t want to, live without any of these things. So I’m genuinely curious why anyone would actively want to. Not judging, just that I’ve never understood why.

Who said that I disagree with the “opinions” they publish?

How do you know what they are, if you don’t read them?