Sheaf Saint

Yeah OK I see what you're getting at. But a couple of nights down the pub and spending maybe £20 a time isn't even in the same league as owning flashy BMWs and taking foreign holidays. You mentioned prioritising... well to me a social life is a priority. I would actually go stir crazy if I were forced to stay in all the time and not do anything, so occasionally allowing the expense of a (cheap) night out is an essential in order to maintain my sanity. There's no point in living if all you are doing is merely existing.

Yeah, admittedly there probably are a few things I could do to save myself a few extra quid on top of what I already do. But the point of my post was really to highlight that not everybody in the demographic described in the Guardian article fits into the neat little stereotype that you made reference to in your earlier post. She's already registered with five. She's got two degrees and a whole host of other certificates in her field gained from work placements and short courses etc... but she is in the same situation that all graduates currently face: for every job you apply for you are up against on average between 30-50 other applicants, all with more experience than you, and as a result you can't even get an interview. I think myself lucky to have a job at all in the current economic climate, because many people I know are in a much worse situation than I am.

What I said was it COULD be argued that our colonial influence is PARTLY to blame. If the British Empire had never reached India and the country was left to its own natural rate of development, can you honestly say - hand on heart - that their industrial output and economic growth would be as high as it is now? No, thought not. But don't let that get in the way of yet another rant at someone who has the temerity to disagree with you. And IMO, your opinion on this matter is worthless, due to your inability to provide any research-based evidence to support your argument and your propensity to attack and abuse anybody who holds a differing viewpoint. While I don't claim to be an expert, I have done a limited amount of study in this subject and recently completed an OU course in environmental studies, and whether you agree or not the overwhelming consensus among the scientific community is that global warming is happening and that human activity is making, and will continue to make, a significant contribution to it. The lifestyle we lead currently is completely unsustainable moving forward. It has been calculated that if all 7 billion people on this planet lived the same lifestyle as the average European, we would need three and a half Earths to provide the necessary resources. The population is only going to get bigger over the coming decades, and all of these people are going to need food, clothing, housing, transport etc... We simply can't carry on like we are. Unless a concerted, global effort is made to reduce our impact on the environment and develop renewable sources of power, the world will descend into all-out chaos as communities/nations compete for the few remaining resources. So we have two options really. We can take your approach of sticking our fingers in our ears going "LA-LA-LAAAA" and pretending there is no problem, or we can start investing now in ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle that will not only make life easier for future generations, it will make the world we inhabit a cleaner and better place to live. It doesn't have to mean damaging our economy either. Investing in renewable technologies will provide jobs and boost local economies (look at the example of Freiburg in Germany) and if the UK is at the forefront of the technological revolution, it can only be a good thing for our economy on the world stage. It would also reduce our need for importing fossil-fuels, leaving us less vulnerable to the impending price rises that will result from higher demand for fewer resources. Your own blinkered opinion may lead to you believing that I and others who actually care about the planet we live on have been suckered by agenda-driven propaganda, but to my mind you and others like you are very much like creationists: unable or unwilling to review the evidence placed before you but totally convinced of your own authority on the matter anyway.

I appreciate the stereotype you are alluding to here, but it's a bit harsh to apply it to everyone in the demographic that this article refers to.... I am in full time employment, and while I'm not on mega-money by any means, it's not exactly poverty-line either. Thing is though, I was made redundant in 2008 and spent almost nine months out of work in total because it coincided with the global financial crash in september of that year, and even now a large chunk of my monthly salary goes towards paying off the debts that I racked up trying to support myself during that time. Add to this the fact that my girlfriend has recently left uni and cannot even get an interview, let alone any actual work, but she doesn't qualify for JSA because my salary is apparently high enough to support both of us, meaning she is not able to contribute her fair share towards the mortgage, bills etc... I don't lead a lavish lifestyle. Don't have Sky TV or Virgin and just get freeview. I only buy clothes when I absolutely need to and I only ever buy stuff that's in a sale or a special offer. I don't have expensive tastes in food either - I usually make sure I go shopping in the evenings when the supermarket has loads of stuff about to go out of date in the reduced bay. At the end of the month I maybe have enough left over for one or two nights out at the pub with friends, and this I consider to be an essential because I would go stir crazy if I had to stay in the house all the time and not have any social life. The only thing in my monthly expenditure that would really be considered a luxury is my gym membership, but it's only £20 and the health benefits (both physical and mental) I get from it make it excellent value for money IMO. Savings? Pension contributions? You're having a laugh! We desperately need a new boiler because the one we've got has been condemned and we have been advised by the gas engineer not to use it. Where the hell am I going to get that kind of money from? The social won't help me because my income isn't low enough for me to qualify for a grant, so I will have to apply for a bank loan (which I probably won't get) and just put myself in even more debt. And so the cycle continues.

Well, organic farming actually requires even more agricultural land than non-organic owing to the non-use of artificial fertilisers and animal feeds. But it's great that you obviously take a big interest in exactly where and how your food is produced. It really is amazing how little people understand about the origins of most of the stuff they eat. Ask any kid these days where bananas come from and they will invariably answer with the supermarket. If anybody wants to seriously reduce the environmental impact of their diet then the way to do it is to cut out meat altogether, and only eat seasonal fruits and vegetables that do not need to be shipped half way across the world.

So until the larger polluters in the world begin to make serious reductions in their output, we should just say "f*ck it, it's not our problem"? Is that what you are suggesting? I disagree entirely. Briatin was one of the original pioneers of industry and it could be argued that our colonial influence in India is partly to blame for their current industrial and economic boom. The way I see it is that we have a duty to lead the way for others to follow. As does everybody. Alpine argues against reducing our greenhouse gas emissions on the basis that we would be damaging our economy, but to my mind that is senseless. My recent (admittedly limited) studies on this subject have taught me two important lessons... Firstly, that everything in this biosphere is inter-connected in some way and as the dominant species on this planet we have a repsonsibility to protect biodiversity as much as possible, and secondly that a healthy environment and a healthy economy are not mutually exclusive. Look at the example of Masdar in the UAE. It's a massive project that aims to create a clean-energy driven and sustainable city. It has required a lot of external investment but the construction of it will provide jobs and revenue for all of the contractors involved (the main architects are British I believe). Why could that not be recreated in the UK?

I'm still struggling to understand why anybody would need to keep a chainsaw onboard a luxury cruiseliner.

It's called freedom of choice delldays. My girlfriend is vegetarian, for the simple reason that she just doesn't like the taste of meat, but there are so many different reasons why people make that choice. A friend of mine recently decided to become pescatarian. He said he felt uncomfortable eating animals that he wouldn't be prepared to kill for himself, but has no qualms about eating fish. There is also a huge environmental argument against eating meat. The worldwide demand for cheap beef products is the principal cause of deforestation in Amazonia; whereas if humans were to eat the soya that is grown to feed the cattle directly, we would only need a tenth of the amount of agricultural land to provide the same amount of food energy. With the global population expected to reach 9 billion at some point this century, this is going to become a very important concern.

Bo11ox. Radiohead, and in particular Tom Yorke, are fully deserving of all the public support they receive. We all know that you can never bring yourself to say anything complimentary about anything mainstream manji, but sometimes, just sometimes, there is actually a very good reason why certain bands/artists become popular. Admittedly it took me quite a while to get into and appreciate Radiohead, but I'm really glad I did now.

Hmmmm. While I still have some respect for Hoddle for the job he did with us, it's fair to say his record in the transfer market while at Saints was abysmal. I seriously doubt he had already lined up somebody who would have gone on to do a better job than BT did.

Well I don't claim to be any kind of industry-leading expert when it comes to IT, but the simple fact is I ran it on my own PC and it worked, so I ran it on my work laptop and it worked, and I have used it many many times on other computers in my day-to-day job and it has never failed to do what its developers claim it will. And it's free, so what's not to like?

I know everyone is entitled to their opinion and all that, but in this case yours is just plain wrong. I have used it many times and I swear by it. It clears redundant registry keys and drivers and deletes unwanted programs from startup resulting in a much smoother and faster system every time.

Then you've got too many programs in your startup folder, and I'll bet you don't use half of them or even know they are running. Download CCLEANER and run it... will speed up your system a treat

You would think the plod would be happy for other motorists to warn people and make them slow down. After all the whole point is to reduce accidents.... isn't it?

Cracking goal

Although it hasn't actually been proven (yet) the overwhelming consensus among climate scientists is that average temperatures in the UK and the rest of north western Europe will drop as a result of global warming due to the disruption to the gulfstream (that currently provides us with warmer climes than many other areas along the same line of latitude) caused by the desalination effect of melting Arctic ice.

The fact that he is England's no. 2 says more about the lack of decent keepers in England than it does about his ability IMO. He let in some very sloppy goals for WHU last season and if Big Sam doesn't think he will be good enough for them in the prem next year, why should we assume he would be any better for us?

I did a similar thing a few years ago - 60 miles along the Trans-Pennine Trail between Leeds and Sheffield. The longest ride I did in training for it was about 27 miles and I was woefully under-prepared for it come the day. The biggest mistake I made was assuming that riding in the relatively flat region near where I live would be adequate training - it wasn't nearly enough. Make sure you do a lot of hill-climbing during your training, as not only will this prepare you for what you will face on the ride, it is also good resistance training and will help with your overall fitness. You've probably already been given loads of advice about it but one warning I would give is don't stop for too long at any one time and especially don't stop for a big lunch or anything. Take plenty of high energy food with you in your pack - cereal bars, dried fruit and nuts, and some sugary sweets for when you need a quick boost. Maybe PM Minty about it, as he did the John o'Groats to Lands-End ride a few years back as I recall, so he can probably offer some pearls of wisdom. Will happily make a donation though because I know from first-hand that this is no small undertaking and is worthy of my support. Good luck mate.

I did see a little bit of the end as my girlfriend was watching it, and the thing that really struck me was that during the fireworks display at the end there appeared to be a projection of the french flag over the front of Buck house. What was that all about?

Oh goddammit I've fallen into another one of dune's traps. He's managed to turn yet another thread into a right-wing rant about the evils of socialism!

I don't really care what Churchill had to say about it. Aside from being a decent military strategist he was actually a crap prime minister who was an alcoholic and who changed parties as often as he changed his socks.

Nothing at all. Like I said... their prerogative.

Err, you do realise that Liz is descended from Germans and that Phil is Greek, don't you? I'm not the slightest bit gutted. If people want to stand around in the rain eating cupcakes and waving flags, while blowing sunshine up the 'arris of some old pensioner who had the extreme good fortune to be born into the house of Windsor and whose only real achievement that is being marked right now is having managed to thus far avoid dying, then that's their prerogative. Personally, I have far more interesting and stimulating things to do with my time.

Making a comeback? It never really went away, it's just that places like HMV etc stopped selling it.

Believe me, I'd like to. They had the good sense to overthrow their royalty centuries ago.