LOL – this thread is full of reasons for punters not to use architects and the shed thread has a photo of why punters shouldn’t not use them!

Does anyone have a prefabricated “garden office” shed? Looking for something cool at the moment.

Possibly, but not necessarily. It might be that the exporter sucks up the lower profit margin (because, for instance, no-one else in the world is buying their stuff), or that the retailer/manufacturer does etc etc. Also, a weak pound is great news for exporters (except of course if they use a lot of imports in their exports IYSWIM).

I’m actually not really disagreeing with you here and take your point. I suppose I am really just saying that in economics (as a academic observation), it’s practically impossible to come up with any rules/laws that always work so that you can predict ahead of time what’s going to happen.

Hmm – but otoh, the volume of GBP’s that actually bought and sold to pay for imports/exports is tiny compared to the amount that’s traded speculatively, so what we’re talking about maybe irrelevant to currency strength.

Also, just a question that’s semi-related, how does GBP bought to trade in bonds affect GBP rates (because that’s not goods or services)?

“You can’t wash out and reuse plastic bottles…”

You can if you make them thick enough. I can’t remember where it was (Denmark? Hungary?) but soft drinks and beer bottles were all the same size by law, and you could get reusable glass and plastic ones. IIRC, glass beer bottles were used 90 times before they became too weak (they get scanned at the production line and destroyed before use). I think it was Denmark.

Good to know (in fact, the ESTA is technically part of the VWP – if you don’t do ESTA, you don’t qualify for the waiver). What a hassle.

the UK is a net importer of goods.

And a net exporter of services!

You lot obviously work at places which don’t care that much about security.

I used to work at a place where half the people would log out and then leave the log in screen displaying for fifteen hours before they came back. Facepalm!

90% of people aren’t programmers or other people would lose something if they switched off.

And as for not turning monitors off! :evil:

What needs to happen is to scrap some of the big projects, e.g. ID cards – a total waste of money in these times; Crossrail – demanded by the City, well they can f*^k off now

I agree with you that the ID card scheme should be scrapped (and not just for financial reasons), but Crossrail is different: it’s something the private sector won’t do alone, it’s relatively labour-intensive (which creates employment), it’s long-term investment in transport infrastructure, and it will create vast efficiencies and vast added value for property.

indeed…where is the inflation to go with all of this ? why are we not seeing inflation… it MUST happen in this economic climate..

I don’t see why – you should only get inflation in overheating economies without any spare capacity, which is the opposite of what we have. I don’t think (hope) we should see stagflation again because there are so few barriers to driving wages or input costs down. We will see.

how much do you pay on the ferry and at a campsite for hookup?

ps I am jealous of you!

“so that it’s just not worth their time hassling you.”

Having spent a lot of time in CIS/other ‘stans, I agree with this entirely. No-one is going to put a gun in your face and demand a million dollars. Most likely they are going to pretend to read your passport/visa (most cops grew up reading Cyrillic only, so are often baffled by Latin characters) and then pretend to find some problem, and suck in air through teeth with a “ooh, this is going to be tricky for you, it’s going to be a lot of time down the station” type vibe. What they are waiting for you to do at this point is say “ooh, is there any way we can just settle this right here?” and then proffer a wrinkly fiver (or whatever). They will rarely spit it out and name a price. If you have the time, you can simply not bother offering the cash, and they will eventually lose interest and tell you to sod off. Every minute they’re wasting on squeezing dough out of you is another lost opportunity to extort some other sod.

It’s a bit of a hassle when you’re in a bit of a rush (and can’t be bothered to hang around) or when you’re in the middle of nowhere (and there are no other marks walking by)! Not so bad walking around, but worse driving.

They’re still legal tender. Check US Treasury website for more, if you’re bothered.

“You may find the embassy can help. They MIGHT be in the position to exchange valid old notes. I assume you still require a visa before you go. so ask when making contact.”

Calling US embassy’s 0898 phone line to get a baffled clerk at the other end probably won’t work out effective! UK citizens don’t require a visa for tourism – they travel under Visa Waiver Program. You don’t need to apply in advance (generally) but you may need to submit some info through your travel agent/airline.

Check the US CDC website for details on whether malaria is a problem. There is probably a UK equivalent that googling will identify. I have never heard of malaria in Tajikistan (I would have thought the winters were too cold and it wasn’t tropical enough), but I am not a doctor, obviously.

To answer the OP: this forum has always had its share of knuckledragging little Englanders, nothing’s changed.

“To use the word ‘racism’ is totally wrong in that area because Christians, Jews and Muslims are all the same race, just different tribes.”

This is complete nonsense, and if you thought about it for half a second you’d see why. You can be from any racial group and choose to follow any of those religions. Aretha Franklin (famous Christian) and Yusuf Islam (ex Cat Stevens, famous Muslim) are not the same race!

If your statement is that race is a pernicious, slippery and unscientific thing, I agree, but if it means anything, it doesn’t mean what you say it means.

Maybe you don’t need a permit if the government which are protesting against, is more than five thousand miles away.

No, that’s completely wrong. The purpose of the exclusion zone is exclude all demonstrations about anything no matter how small.

However, IIRC, it is only effective at certain times of year, mostly when Parliament is in session. Perhaps this was one of the off days.

“i told her that apart from the pain and suffering germany was responsible for, we won! “

Well, that, and it was the last bright spark followed by forty years of declining power and economic mismanagement.

All the companies there are all the same. Just search five different travel engines (kayak, travelocity, expedia etc), then search directly on the companies’ websites, and then just choose whoever is cheapest.

Why did you have a ‘mare getting a car? You didn’t book in advance?

“Wicked campers are also in Australia, and will certainly be a cheaper option than most.”

Wicked campers always look really scruffy – old Hiaces with crappy “Wacky” graffiti. There’s another one called Jucy that’s Previas converted to campervans for two people, on-road only that might be worth a look.

“I hired a car from Hertz in Perth a couple of months ago and I’m 25, so no 26 and over policy there for sure. “

car != campervan.

you’ll probably not notice them after a couple of weeks.

You know the scene in Blues Brothers when Ellwood takes Jake (or is it the other way around?) back to his apartment..?

aye, there’s nowt wrong with haggling. it duzznt raise an eyebrow most of the time when you ask. car and hotel hire, electronics…

I’m actually quite impressed that Labour are taking on the BNP

How? By fielding candidates in every constituency possible, just like they always do, and by suggesting that the BNP is the critical player in the seat which requires them to change their slogan?

Maybe a better way of taking on the BNP and its support would have been to avoid a whole lot of xenophobic cobblers like British Jobs For British Workers.

I think it’s disgraceful that G is trying to make analogies that put the fine, upstanding British Bobby in the same category as a shock troop of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army that would brutally attack unarmed civilians for engaging in their right to protest and association.

Oh, wait, hold on…

Get somewhere on the c’anal and commute along the towpath…or buy a houseboat!

“Perhaps the Police used more force than necessary…”

Yes, that’s exactly the fricking point, glad you’ve finally thought your way around to it. If you use excessive force, that’s an assault – and if someone dies as a result of that assault, that’s manslaughter.

Smacking someone with a baton or shoving people to the ground isn’t a legal response to non-compliance with a legal request, no matter how much madey-uppy “police-approved manouver” tosh you come out with.

“The guy then got up and walked away….lesson learned I’d say. The fact that he died minutes later is unfortunate but could be completely unrelated”

Yeah, OK – you’re right. It could be a complete coincidence that out of the four decades of his life, the moment that he chose to **** off and have a heart attack was ten minutes after being assaulted by a cop! Let me ask you a question – if you were in the dock for manslaughter, and whether you’d be found guilty or not depended on the jury believing that the heart attack was just a coincidence – how confident would you feel?

“A mate of mine who went out there told me it was like the UK in the 70’s. “

Naah, that’s an exaggeration. There are knuckledraggers in every country.

“Stuff” is more expensive and retail is a little bit behind what it is in Europe; but once you get in a job, rates of pay + holidays + conditions are better than the UK afaics. There is still a lot of govt intervention in the economy. People seem to be pretty well skilled and take their jobs seriously, but they love sport and outdoorsy stuff too.

There are (far) more positives than negatives IMO.

But (obviously) a lot depends on where you live: the WA Premier has just said, basically, that Perth is a backward dump and getting more boozy/violent, and they had a big court case that put the city in a bad light. (Basically – a bunch of English painters and Scottish layabouts got in a fight at a pub; Aussie/English cops show up and start beating the crap out of everyone, tase some guy and are about to tase him again; layabout’s son headbutts him to prevent second tasing, but cop falls over and is paralyzed; son is charged with attempted murder/GBH and is acquitted on grounds of self-defence because cops assaulted everyone before trying to arrest them).

Similarly, I wouldn’t want to live in some backwater town where everyone’s an alcoholic and life expectancy is in the 50s – but then if I were moving to the UK I wouldn’t want to move to Easterhouse, so…and the big cities and towns can be really nice and comfortable and good for bringing up kids etc.

Also – are your kids non-mainstream educationally (i.e. special support, SEN)? If so, check that the local school has some sort of structure in place – they are not hot at that at all here. But the people with kids I know in Oz have their kids outside all the time, swimming, football etc etc.

Frankly – I agree with your point, but showing the photos is a bit much IMO.

“So the fact that he possibly had a heart condition makes it okay in what way. Picture if you will your 82 year old granny being robbed in her house and dying from a heart attack ,lets just let the scrote got caught the old granny would have snuffed it in the next couple of years anyway so no big deal eh? Couple of hours community service should do it.”

Well, precisely – or maybe “well, there was no need for her to have been so difficult, she could have just handed over her pension book, she was obviously playing the fool, besides, it’s not so important to look at this one death, what’s done is done, we should focus on the situation as a whole, and the 99% of scrotes that don’t kill grannies…”

perhaps he should have been arrested earlier for a minor public order offence. Who knows, he may then have died in police custody in the back of the van or the cells, he may have been saved. What would we be saying then?

If the cop had arrested him (for a good reason) instead of smacking him, then it wouldn’t have been assault/manslaughter because it was a legal use of force. If you mean to assault someone, assault someone and they die as a result, then it’s manslaughter.

If he’d have had a heart attack in the middle of the protesters would they get this level of blame or would he have died protesting his cause?

Err – no, because the heart attack wouldn’t have been the result of an assault. If he’d died two weeks later the cop wouldn’t be getting the blame either.

Why all the confusion? It’s the difference between Mrs Miggins keeling over after winning 100 quid at the bingo, and her keeling over when someone mugs her in an alley as she walks home from the bingo. You can see that there’s a difference between the two, right?

“is it fair to uproot the kids”

I moved about a lot as a kid. Your kids are young enough that it will not be a problem.

Nowhere is paradise, and there are still problems with Australia, but I think it would be well worth serious consideration. There are just as many venal, bent politicians and culturally/commercially it’s a bit of a backwater (Dylan Moran showed up for a tour and got 15 minutes on Newsnight).

I think that the Aussie economy is only a few months away from a serious kick in the nuts (it’s been insulated so far) but that might actually work in your favour, as property prices should fall and retailers will cut prices. Other people think that things won’t get any worse than they are already.

You should go and look at britishexpats.com forums – there you’ll find tons of poms, nursing poms, nursing poms in Australia, nursing poms in Qld etc.

you bastards!

we’re coming back for you. :evil:

as for badgers, surely the best way is simply to pwn them with bombers?

Such a database would be never store the entire DNA sequence of every person.

Says who? The ID card was only ever supposed to be voluntary and for identification only; then it became compulsory for non-UK citizens and airport workers; now the Border Agency is suggesting integrating ATM cards into the ID card; and next it will be compulsory for everyone.

I don’t think all policemen are thugs and I think a fair proportion (I hope a large majority) would find the actions of this few reprehensible. If they don’t come forward (and at least some are now), I would hope they are properly dobbed in it by their colleagues as a result.

Huh – well, perhaps there was a flood of calls to the IPCC by concerned police officers over the last week (we may hear more at the trial), but I doubt it.

Cops become institutionalized (like anyone who works in an institution). The same cop that was relatively efficient and polite in processing my traffic accident details at Charing Cross Police Station was bashing some guy over the head three days later.

If you’re car-ing it, then why not get a big cheap-o 5 or 6 man tent from Asda or wherever? It’s not like you have to worry about the weight, and the extra size is such a luxury!

By coinkydink, I happened to come across this today:

As Professor Goodheart has said, “Although it may not be probable that any particular man may have an unusually thin skull or a weak heart, nevertheless it is a fact which is easily forseeable. A man who strikes another ought to forsee that his victim may be suffering from some weakness. We all know that the average man in the street is not necessarily the average man”.

Judge Evatt in Chester v Waverley, 1939, High Court of Australia.

Err – talking about state persecution of unpopular minorities isn’t exactly irrelevant in a discussion of the state gathering biometric data that could be used for persecution of unpopular minorities. It’s not like, for instance, s/he said Australia’s helmet laws were “worthy of the Nazis and one step away from Nuremburg laws” or something completely hyperbolic like that. So you can ram Godwin up your poop chute! :)

grizzlygus – you can ramble on and miss the point all you want (in your glee at Johnson looking foolish – which is always a good thing but never a rare one), but all the same it’s not UK politicians’ mandate or interest to interfere with transport in London when that’s a power reserved for London government, and it’s undemocratic to do so. BJ doesn’t answer to MPs, he’s supposed to answer to the London Ass’y and London electorate. It was the same when Labour controlled the GLC under a Tory government, and it’s the same the other way around.

We may just have to agree to let this drop, as this is so incredibly obvious and tedious.

I bought an eBay/crappy plastic hand pump for pumping out power steering fluid. It was shlte.

“Looks now as if Ian Tomlinson’s attacker wasn’t wearing any epaulets. “

Huh – nothing shocking there. I have seen cops covering up/failing to wear their epaulettes numerous times when in riot gear (or whatever the proper name for it is). Some of the helmets/shields have numbers on the back of them, but I have no idea whether anyone writes those numbers down.

“Maybe why he was walking about apparently drunk as some have suggested was in actual fact that he previously had been hit on the head”

Given that the victim was unfortunately an alcoholic (according to Guardian profile yesterday), it’s probably more likely that he was in fact drunk (or perhaps had some sort of alcohol-related damage before he was hit by the cops).

“The chaos effected the lives of thousands, if not millions of people who have no vote at all in the mayoral elections. “

No, I get it, keep your hair on.

That’s as may be – but you are affected by plenty of things every day about which you have no say. Just because Britian is affected by the US sub-prime mortgage industry, it’s not the place of MPs to start grilling US financial institutions, however much they enjoy the opportunity to act tough and score points.

London transport is London’s responsibility, and it’s not the place of MPs from Northumberland or Ebbw Vale or even Maidstone to stick their nose in it – any more than it’s Boris Johnson’s job to exercise oversight over the UK Department of Transport (or whatever it’s called now).