Does seem a bit knee jerky/band wagonny/arse covery, although I can’t really blame the council for that reaction.

So there’s a fire tomorrow in a 4th floor flat which spreads via the cladding and the people are still living there?

Can’t help but think that less disruptive interim measures, such as 24hr fire marshals, different evacuation instructions (leave immediately at first alarm), and ensuring that the fire alarms actually work would be as effective and a LOT less disruptive to families. But then, I’m not the one making the decisions, and I’m certainly not an expert.

Tisn’t (twasn’t; seems to have gone now) too hot, it’s too damn HUMID. Like others, I sweat to keep cool. If that sweat doesn’t evaporate because the air is already saturated with moisture, it just sits on me uncomfortably and I get hot and grumpy. Temp/humidity much more pleasant today.

I’m absolutely reliant on my car. I work 12hr shifts 16 miles away with no public transport links and I’m not fit/willing to add two hours a day to my working day, and on my days off I have a 44mile round trip school run to do, as the school my boys go to is decided by their mother.

Guttingly. I’m very envious of those posters that either survive fine without a car or do about 2.5k a year. Lovely lifestyle. Those rare days when our cars stay on the drive all day are celebrated in thins household.

I shall look forward to hearing to this later. Always enjoyable listening to a self satisfied egotistical Tory gobshite being skewered by logic and their own character failings.

Or you could put up with a few minutes of diesel idling noise a day and display a shred of empathy for a chap who sounds like he works 100hr weeks to put food on the table for his family? If he’s saving a tenner a week by running a bloody great tractor on red instead of a Peugeot 106d on white, I’d be surprised. And if he’s commuting by tractor to save a tiny bit of cash, then he deserves sympathy not malicious shopping to the tax man. Honestly.

What’s actually the difference between middle and working class? (I’ve googled it, and I’m none the wiser)

@thrgreatape; sage words I think. We are probably not even as good as killing each other than we used to be…

Islam is a peaceful religion

Sorry, but cite. I hear this said a lot, but I hear no proof, just repetition. What makes Islam inherently more or less peaceful than other religions? I’m no expert, but it seems that their are proponents of religiously justified violence within Islam, just as there are within Christianity and Judaism, as well as the more calm, sensible individuals who think that’s all hogwash (and thankfully make up the vast majority of all the religious groups; but this is probably down to people being decent people rather than any inherent ‘peaceful religion’ stuff).

In this given situation, that fact that the attacker was subdued and protected from serious harm by the Imam shows that the Imam was a respected individual with his head screwed on, nothing more, nothing less, and kudos to him for that.

I don’t think that any (Abrahamic) religion can truely claim to be a ‘religion of peace. (Unless they also accept that they are a religion of incompetence; because they all seem fairly bad at the ‘peace’ malarkey.)

He could well be a terrorist, assuming he has laid out a manifesto or system of beliefs that his attack was part of.

he was saying ‘I want to kill Muslims. ‘I want to kill Muslims.'”

That’ll do for me.

I love you lot. You just made me chuckle on a grumpy morning 8)

Currently it’s Brits vs the EU.

Not for around 48% of us, it isn’t. You’re right though; people need an enemy to rail against. The über rich seem as good a target as any 😈

I’m pleased my “not part of the family” elicited the response anticipated.

In fairness, obvious troll was obvious.

The idea that you can’t love your pet and still be pragmatic about ending its life after an serious injury/illness is frankly moronic.

Now now. There’s no reason that you can’t consider a pet to be part of your family and STILL be pragmatic about euthanasia. I think most people are; it’s when it comes to people that pragmatism goes out of the window, unfortunately. Remember; we’re all animals in the end. Humans are just a little more cunning, and a lot nastier than most others.

I bloody loved that moment with my two; similar ages both. Balance bike route? It’s ace

The President Of The United States Of America, is yelling at TV sets…

This does not surprise me in the slightest. This is the Donald we are talking about.

The problem with your

‘Jazz=inflammible cladding whereas Volvo=fireproof cladding’

analogy is that whilst your point of life being full of compromise stands, they are at completely opposite ends of the scale, economically speaking. A better analogy would be ‘would you spend the extra £100 for the additional passenger protection available as an option when you buy your new Jazz for £10000?’ to give a more realistic approximation of the comparative risk/reward ratio. And THAT is why people feel angry. It feels (granted we don’t know the facts) that small cost savings have massively increased risk, with the majority of the money going to make a Kensington eyesore just a little bit prettier.

Edit; beaten to the punch by those more eloquent than me. 😆

we would’nt need austerity if we capped public sector wages as 100k would we?

Lol. I work in a public sector organisation with 4-5k employees; probably about 10 people in it scrape past the 100k mark. Capping them (which would be relatively fine by me; I’m never likely to climb to those dizzy heights) would be fine by me, but I doubt it’s going to fix the deficit some how. I wonder how that compares to a similar sized private sector organisation? Market leader, multi million pound budget.

I suspect that you are mistaking socialism for communism. I’m no expert, but I don’t think socialism expects or wants ‘the State to provide for all of its citizens”. Rather it strives for social justice and reduced inequality of wealth, health and happiness.

I’ll say it again.

I don’t think Hols2 is mocking any victims of accidental death, and to suggest he is, is misrepresenting what he is saying.

Tragic death is tragic death. Stupidity is stupidity. The former should not stand in the way of suspecting and/or calling out the latter.

For example, do you think it’s fair that someone earning 100 – 120k / year who I add is paying 6k/year for a rail season ticket is paying a notional 60% tax rate on earnings over 100k?

Yes. I think it’s completely fair. Nobody needs an income of that level, making it entirely a luxury. Why shouldn’t people’s ‘luxuries fund’ be heavily taxed? I put decent health and social care for all above your personal ability to upgrade from a merc to a Macan, spend stupid mo eye on yachts or wrist borne status signalling, or whether you can afford the third holiday a year in the Seychelles. Sorry.

on earnings over 100k?

THIS is the bit that makes it fair. You’ve paid exactly the same percentage of tax as us mere plebs, but the higher level of tax either a) modestly hampers your ability to zoom away from us (remember; 1% of 100k is substantially more than 1% of 25k, and the person on 25k NEEDS it all to live) or b) encourages your employer to reward you even more, as they know that they will have to offset the tax loss, which would result in higher tax takes. Either way, society wins, and you’re still loaded.

I don’t think Hols2 is mocking any victims of accidental death, and to suggest he is, is misrepresenting what he is saying. He’s merely pointing out that the US Navy deaths are in all likelihood due to a catastrophic cock up, and like all cock ups in history, will be subject to a certain amount of ridicule. Such is life.

What do those Osprey thingies sound like? Bet they’re distinct from any other aircraft

eBay/auto trader? Most dealers are on both if they know what’s good for them

Wow.

Out of interest; what’s your position on the shape of the Earth?

A dog/cat is NOT one of the family.

I’m as pragmatic about the subject as the next person, but this statement is pish (ie; it may be true for you, but I’d wager it isn’t for most pet owners) unless you are talking strict biology. I like my dog a lot more than I like some of my human (extended) family. Difference is, we are allowed to make sensible pragmatic decisions regarding the cost/benefit ratio of treatments with pets. Not so much with batty old relatives, mores the pity. 😉

IS it durable?

I very much doubt it. It’s functional now, but I doubt it would see out more than one winter without a lot of protection. It doesn’t feel ‘beer garden grade’ which is what I was looking for.

Probably, or pretty close. There’s a few self tappers that will leave a hole, but it’s mostly bolts. Haven’t got boxes though; they were big and hadn’t got any room to store them.

I still reckon you’ve made a rod for your back by building it though.

I certainly don’t disagree, which I kind of why I posted here. It’s more complicated than a simple ‘this is not the DVD I ordered’ issue. Honestly, I only started to become dissatisfied AS I built it; it’s a nice enough thing, I just don’t feel that it’s going to have the longevity that I was looking for, and I’d have bought something different if I’d have known the truth. Issue is not being able to see before buying, so I’d kind of hope for some distance selling buyer protection in this instance.

Will pursue through eBay.

Container ship making unexplanied maneuvers late at night + naval vessel on intercepting course late at night + missing persons = probably a trafficking intercept misjudged, missing naval personnel probably on deck ordering stop or in a launch (ir whatever they’re called) off the side ready to board the vessel?

I think you’re thinking about this too much. Try;
Dark + 0230hrs tired people who won’t be the most experienced sailors on the boat + humans cock up. Massively unlikely in vast oceans, but statistically almost a certainty, eventually. Article talks about flooded compartments and the footage shows a LOT of water being pumped out of the vessel, so I suspect significant below the waterline damage, and probably explains the mispers, too, sadly.

Hard or softwood aside, what’s it say on the certificate? Is there a certificate?

No certificate supplied.

Regarding the fingernail test; I’m aware that isn’t 100% infallible (balsa) but it’s fair to say that if you’re advertising wood as hardwood for outdoor furniture, it’s likely to be the hard, sense properties of common hardwood that you’re looking for, for durability and weather resistance. (Fails, btw)

Out of interest how do you know it isn’t hard wood? Can you post some close up pics for the armchair experts?

I don’t know, but I strongly suspect due to the the large growth rings and it kinda looks more uniform (like pine), as well as the weight. That’s why I’m asking on here though.

If it’s not as described, you can reject the goods. You haven’t rejected the goods, you’ve accepted them and built it. It’s a bit like complaining to a restaurant about your meal after you’ve eaten it.

This is true, and hence my pondering. However, I’m no wood expert, and only became increasingly suspicious through the build process, with copious googling that evening hardening my suspicion. To use your analogy; it’s like my steak tasted a little funny, but I couldn’t put my finger on why, but the resulting next three days on the loo revealed to me why. Should I accept that as I’ve eaten it all? 😉

I do. But I don’t think it’s balsa. As an update, they’ve replied, basically asking me for evidence that it’s not made from hardwood, so seems they went on the same smart arse course as you 😉

I think Drac is adding the stated ’70 missing or dead’ with the known 30. It’s not clear, but I think that the 70 is actually meant to include the known 30. The Senior police officer did state that the numbers were ‘unlikely’ to enter triple digits.

Very hard for the authorities to get solid numbers in the early days with this incident; it’s not like a stadium or aviation disaster where ticketing means a very good idea of numbers from the onset.

If he hasn’t got a dashcam it’ll go 50:50 and he’ll lose his no claims…

Wow. 😯 So much wrong with that post those posts I’m not even sure where to start.

I would guess that the implication is that two buildings with different construction design, materials and load cases would obviously not be expected to react the same way…

Not to mention the absence of 20 odd tonnes of atomised jet fuel. FFS.

We are just pawns in the game and we are moved around and sacrificed for the big boys, the kings and queens to take the glory.

However, (dramatic language aside) this I agree with.

It’s second hand, and probably cost significantly less than new as a result. Part of the reason for that is that there is no warranty to pay for out of the asking price. Caveat emptor surely? (Sorry)

McDonnell was trying to get a million people out on the streets protesting against May – not a great idea given the situation. This is turning into rabble rousing.

Unfortunate timing, but to be very clear, it was pointed out on R4 moments ago that McDonnell’s comments were in reference to May’s poor performance so far, and were made BEFORE the Grenfell Tower tragedy unfolded.

Agreed. They can’t even find the blue light zapper that I bought from Aldi last year, idiots.

Yes, yes you do. (Not sure about that one specifically for a new rider, strikes me as drop city, but you could always chop it in)

Also; what the hell kinda second hand push bike has a comparable value to a BMW GS? They ain’t cheap themselves!