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by Mike Sales
27 Mar 2024, 6:57pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: What Has Made You Laugh Today ?
Replies: 1471
Views: 96523

Re: What Has Made You Laugh Today ?

A proposal to change the name of a Lincolnshire university will be put to education regulators next month, officials have said.

Bishop Grosseteste University (BGU) will be called Lincoln Bishop University if the idea is approved by the Office for Students.

The institution, which was granted university status in 2012, said the move would "better represent its location".
by Mike Sales
25 Mar 2024, 6:36pm
Forum: Fun & Games
Topic: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Replies: 2256
Views: 126143

Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

I think Stalky and Co' was my favourite book. As a young schoolboy I would have loved to be a fourth in Stalky's little gang, but even then public school did not appeal .
by Mike Sales
25 Mar 2024, 6:10pm
Forum: Fun & Games
Topic: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Replies: 2256
Views: 126143

Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

Jdsk wrote: 25 Mar 2024, 6:08pm
Mike Sales wrote: 25 Mar 2024, 6:04pm EGREGIOUS
It's not that this word does my head in, but I am interested in its rapid rise and contagion. It illustrates how language changes in fashions, I suppose, just as all problems suddenly became issues.
I first came the word about six decades ago, in Kipling's Stalky and Co. The character thought to be Kipling's schoolboy self is referred to by his headmaster as 'the egregious Beetle'. I had to look it up.
Then there were sixty years of silence from it.
Now it has been discovered again, and it crops up everywhere . Quite fun to welcome back this fine word from my boyhood
I've always been interested in why usage became overwhelmingly negative when the derivation would allow it to go either way.

Jonathan
That did puzzle me. I could not work out quite what the headmaster meant, but in context it was clearly negative.

P.s. I was irritated to find that I had spelt Beetle's name as if he was one of the Fab Four. I have corrected some examples of my mistake.
by Mike Sales
25 Mar 2024, 6:04pm
Forum: Fun & Games
Topic: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??
Replies: 2256
Views: 126143

Re: English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

EGREGIOUS
It's not that this word does my head in, but I am interested in its rapid rise and contagion. It illustrates how language changes in fashions, I suppose, just as all problems suddenly became issues.
I first came the word about six decades ago, in Kipling's Stalky and Co. The character thought to be Kipling's schoolboy self is referred to by his headmaster as 'the egregious Beetle'. I had to look it up.
Then there were sixty years of silence from it.
Now it has been discovered again, and it crops up everywhere . Quite fun to welcome back this fine word from my boyhood
by Mike Sales
23 Mar 2024, 5:50pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Dashcams in HGVs will help catch reckless drivers
Replies: 7
Views: 334

Re: Dashcams in HGVs will help catch reckless drivers

I have found that some 'key cycle users' will get cams!
Executive Summary:
As a result of the East of England and East Midland’s Road Safety Summit on 15 September
2023, Humberside PCC was invited by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Association
of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) to submit a road safety funding bid. The bid
was successful and will fund the purchase of dashcams for key road users, body cams for
Community Speed Watch co-ordinators, and cycle cams for key cycle user. The overall aim
is to make improvements to the current offer around Operation Snap and our local
Community Speed Watch scheme.
Humberside OPCC will also be working closely with Lincolnshire OPCC, who are conducting
a similar dash cam trial, albeit with a different approach to evaluate options for what works.
Humberside OPCC will receive £65,000 towards the project, which will run from January-
July 2024, to coincide with the Operation Journey - DfT Roads Policing Review Programme.
The DfT will be providing evaluation of the project through a third-party provider.
https://www.humberside-pcc.gov.uk/Docum ... ourney.pdf
by Mike Sales
23 Mar 2024, 5:09pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Is this terminal?
Replies: 50
Views: 2494

Re: Is this terminal?

Fifty years ago I was working in a gang which put composite floors into warehouses.
Another gang were sawing up asbestos for walls.
I expected the boss, a exceptionally foul mouthed man, to explode when I refused to sweep up the dust they left.
He said not a word, and did it himself
by Mike Sales
23 Mar 2024, 4:58pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 103
Views: 2920

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

PH wrote: 23 Mar 2024, 4:43pm
Mike Sales wrote: 23 Mar 2024, 4:31pm I imagine that they have a lot more knowledge of the subject than thee and me.
I'm sure they do, but knowledge and good ideas are not enough to get you elected. If they were we wouldn't be in this position. If you need an example of that, look at all the good ideas and level of knowledge within the Green Party and compare that with their electoral success.
True enough. They are now in the business of publicising the idea, which is always an important stage. If they can get the principle into the thoughts of a political party, that is very worthwhile.
The ideas of the green movement have gained traction. Recycling and wind power were completely fringe ideas when I first got involved.
by Mike Sales
23 Mar 2024, 4:31pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 103
Views: 2920

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

PH wrote: 23 Mar 2024, 4:04pm
Mike Sales wrote: 23 Mar 2024, 2:19pm Some ideas from a patriotic millionaire.
It's what I said a couple of posts ago, the idea of taxing wealth rather than income. The problem is that no one has come up with a mechanism to do it. If someone's wealth is growing assets rather than income, how do you tax that? If the answer involves them relinquishing control of all or part of the asset, that's socialism. The idea of that level of state intervention scares people so much that no one proposing it stands a chance of being elected.
Take a look at the Patriotc Millionaires' website. They are very keen on the idea.

They projected 'TAX OUR WEALTH' onto the walls of the Treasury and the Bank of England.
Patriotic Millionaires UK, a collection of British-based members of the super-rich, said that instead of considering tax cuts the chancellor should increase taxes on the richest members of society to help fund public services for all.

“We’re not about to give up on this country. We need a wealth tax now,” another message projected in 1.8-metre (6ft) high letters read. “We want it. For a better Britain.”

The imposition of a 2% tax on those with more than £10m of assets could raise £22bn a year, or more than £420m a week, they claimed. “That could pay for the average salary cost of more than 600,000 nurses a year – more than three-quarters of the UK’s nursing workforce,” the group said.

Phil White, a former business consultant and member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, said: “The whole country knows that we need a serious injection of capital to get us back on track. We have a potential £423m a week, which is currently absent from national investment revenue, because we don’t tax extreme wealth. Surely the people in the UK deserve more? For a better Britain our government should prioritise taxing those of us who can most afford it.”
I imagine that they have a lot more knowledge of the subject than thee and me.
They have very likely looked into the feasibility of a Wealth Tax before so prominently proposing it.

https://patrioticmillionaires.uk/
Patriotic Millionaires UK is a nonpartisan network of British millionaires, from multiple industries and backgrounds from across the UK. It delivers a single mission - to leverage the voice of wealth to build a better Britain by changing the system to end extreme wealth and make those with it make their fair and proper contribution.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... onaires-uk
by Mike Sales
23 Mar 2024, 4:17pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Dashcams in HGVs will help catch reckless drivers
Replies: 7
Views: 334

Re: Dashcams in HGVs will help catch reckless drivers

PH wrote: 23 Mar 2024, 4:10pm
Mike Sales wrote: 23 Mar 2024, 1:36pm The police are enlisting vigilantes.
No they're not.
They're coming up with alternative ways to gather evidence. There is no intention of changing the way crimes are judged and punished.
I dislike using emojis, but perhaps I should reconsider.
I was using the silly slur so often thrown at the likes of Jeremy Vine and Cycling Mikey.
by Mike Sales
23 Mar 2024, 2:19pm
Forum: The Tea Shop
Topic: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?
Replies: 103
Views: 2920

Re: Just how long will it take to turn this ship around?

Some ideas from a patriotic millionaire.
I hope Rachel Reeves is listening.
Let’s start with our broken tax system. We continue to hear about how high our taxes are, but the truth is that while our system disproportionately taxes the vast majority who get their income from work, those who are already wealthy from investments, rent and inheritances are taxed relatively lightly. Our own prime minister, who earned more than £2m last year and is married to a billionaire, pays the same effective tax rate as a teacher.

The good news is, there are plenty of ways to address this imbalance. Equalising rates of capital gains tax with income tax, so that income from wealth is taxed at the same level as income from work, would raise £16.7bn a year. Removing loopholes and reliefs from inheritance tax would raise around £1bn a year. Applying national insurance more consistently across all forms of income could raise over £30bn a year. And an annual tax on stocks of wealth would raise nearly £12bn a year. Together, a package of higher taxes on wealth could raise billions to fund cost of living support in the short term and provide essential public goods such as a strong social safety net and clean, affordable energy provision in the future.

As a member of the campaign group Patriotic Millionaires UK, I want rich people like me to pay our fair share of tax. And I’m not alone. Nearly 75% of millionaires also want higher taxes on wealth.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ich-wealth
by Mike Sales
23 Mar 2024, 1:36pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Dashcams in HGVs will help catch reckless drivers
Replies: 7
Views: 334

Dashcams in HGVs will help catch reckless drivers

The police are enlisting vigilantes.
Perhaps they will give cyclists cameras next.
One hundred dashcams are to be fitted in HGVs and coaches to catch reckless driving in Lincolnshire.

Footage showing driving offences will be uploaded to Lincolnshire Police website and may be used by the force to take action.

The aim is to cut the number of people killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads.

It is part of a £45,000 project called Operation Journey.

The dashcams will be given to haulage and coach companies that drive on the high-risk routes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51lq4jp296o
by Mike Sales
22 Mar 2024, 3:09pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Is this terminal?
Replies: 50
Views: 2494

Re: Is this terminal?

531colin wrote: 22 Mar 2024, 3:03pm
Mike Sales wrote: 22 Mar 2024, 2:09pm Bear in mind that you need no qualifications to open a bike shop, or to work on bikes.
……,,.or to post on this forum.
That is right: you cannot hand over responsibility: you have to make your own judgement of the advice and of the advice giver.
by Mike Sales
22 Mar 2024, 2:09pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Is this terminal?
Replies: 50
Views: 2494

Re: Is this terminal?

Bear in mind that you need no qualifications to open a bike shop, or to work on bikes.
by Mike Sales
22 Mar 2024, 1:39pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Is this terminal?
Replies: 50
Views: 2494

Re: Is this terminal?

If a shop condemns a frame they have lost nothing, and may well gain a sale.
If they okay a frame they are laying themselves open to expensive problems.
Which way would you decide to advise?
by Mike Sales
22 Mar 2024, 11:55am
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: Over-powerful LED lights
Replies: 94
Views: 6536

Re: Over-powerful LED lights

Diatom wrote: 22 Mar 2024, 11:42am
simonhill wrote: 16 Mar 2024, 3:26pm Not car lights, but another curse of overbright lights.

I was dining at an outside food market tonight. Each cooking stall had a really bright light. A big bulbous thing. There were also a few overhead spotlights made up of rows of (presumably) LEDs. The effect was terrible. The glare was eye squinting, made worse by shiny metal table tops.

I'm sure they were all very energy efficient, but if this is the future if lighting, brings back candles.
I couldn't agree more. I wish lighting in general was gentler.

Last night there was a beautiful moon and, in the countryside in Cornwall, I could see perfectly well by that light. The eye can adapt well to low levels of light, but nowadays it is quite rare for people to go out at night without the benefit (or perhaps harm) of unnecessarily bright lighting. I met some other people out walking and they had powerful head torches. I believe they were missing out on the beauty of the moonlight and, after I passed them, my night vision was spoiled for a while.

Although not certain, there are many potential harmful consequences of excessive illumination. Some of these consequences are given in the following paper:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4763120/
Before street lighting people had to plan their night moves with respect to the moon's phases.
The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a British dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham. At first called the Lunar Circle, "Lunar Society" became the formal name by 1775. The name arose because the society would meet during the full moon, as the extra light made the journey home easier and safer in the absence of street lighting. The members cheerfully referred to themselves as "lunaticks", a contemporary spelling of lunatics. Venues included Erasmus Darwin's home in Lichfield, Matthew Boulton's home, Soho House, Bowbridge House in Derbyshire, and Great Barr Hall.
I once found myself walking home on a moonless night on an island with no street lighting. I was saved by the intermittent but regular flashes from the lighthouse. Five flashes every fifteen seconds.

Whereas on a beautiful night of full moon on the Gwent levels I was able to turn off my bike lights. This was before LED lights and so I lost no visual information and saved my batteries. Motors were visible by their lights and noise in plenty of time to switch on, of course. There were few of them, as the Bonington-Jagworths were pounding down the parallel motorway. Their lights and snarl there were an unpleasant reminder that my idyll was a rare exception to the 'normal' mankind dominated world.