Dagmar

I don't disagree with you. I think that we will see little real change after the election. After December 1st we will subject to the primacy of EU law anyway to the next government is little more than a talking shop with little real power.

I think that this might sum up Gordon Brown and nu-Labour. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3S-G80m_DU&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - 99 Red Balloons: The New Labour disaster in 4 minutes[/ame]

Arob; Thanks for that, I had a good laugh. I take it that you are a GB supporter. He'll be writing out a personal letter of thanks to those who voted for his party next May. It won't take long and he'll have plenty of time on his hands. Yours will be the one adressed to 'Arab'

Remember;a major difference between apples and pears, which affects their pruning, is that the branches aren't as strong and have an occasional propensity to snap . One way to build up the strength of the branches, is to prune as for apple trees but continue the formative (or restorative) pruning for eight years rather than four. This means repeating the pruning for year four through years five to eight. Pear trees bear their fruit closer to main branches than apples. So,allow around 8 main branches to form rather than the four or five that you would for apple trees.

Last summer I was involved with some apple and pear trees in Italy that were reputed to be 500 years old. There was documented 'proof' that the trees were growing in the same spot for this period ( at an old monastry). What is not clear, and by the way is the most probable scenario, is whether the tree was in fact grafted back onto the rootstock. This could have happened several times had the tree begun to fail. In the UK there are trees that are known to be in excess of 200 years old, these are of interst as they often are old and even lost varieties. Some good info here:The oldest apple tree in Britain? The staff at Bernwode are always pleased to hear of old fruit trees and can be contacted via the website above.The only way to sure of a variety is from the fruit, so if you have an example or a photo of it should be identfiable.

Yes, it is very strange.

This is quite good. [ame] [/ame]

They have done this in the states! In some the income from sport fishing way exceeds the previous income from commercial fishing and the fish stocks are booming. See the link for details:http://mpa.gov/ I can't see the EU allowing any country to do this though, especially the UK. We'll just do whatever they say as usual and set up a whole load of regulatory non jobs to collect fines/license fees etc.

I need to open a new business account, but looking around I see some of our banks are a bit shaky. I'm happy for my personal account to stay where it is, but the business account, well.............. I pulled the following from another site; "Bank shares plummeted today amid concerns that the latest government package to stabilise banks and encourage lending would not solve the deepening economic crisis. Royal Bank of Scotland was the biggest faller in the FTSE 100 share index, its price collapsing by more than 66%, to 11.6p, after it warned of the largest loss in British corporate history of up to £28bn and its chief executive, Stephen Hester, admitted that full-scale nationalisation of the bank had been considered. The taxpayer already owns 58% of RBS but this will soon rise to 68% when £5bn of preference shares owned by the government are converted into ordinary shares. The first day of dealing in shares of the newly created Lloyds Banking Group resulted in a 34% drop to 65p. The bank, which now has more branches than any of its rivals, issued a trading statement insisting that Lloyds TSB had been trading "satisfactorily", while HBOS, which it rescued in a deal brokered by Gordon Brown, had not suffered any "significant change" in its trading position. Unlike RBS, Lloyds TSB is not asking the government to convert the preference shares it owns in the combined bank into ordinary shares, which means the taxpayers' stake is staying at 44%. Eric Daniels, the chief executive of Lloyds, said the bank was "continuing its ongoing constructive dialogue" with the government about the wide range of measures announced today. Among them is a plan to sell insurance to banks to help them cap the losses on loans that have turned sour in the credit crunch. HSBC, the only bank listed on the stockmarket not to have raised any fresh funds, insisted it would not need to use the government insurance scheme." I'm thinking HSBC then! Any opinions?

Surely, for this to be the case there would have to be an actual law in place regarding the correct situations in which this equipment can be used. If that is the case then it would apply to everyone, wouldn't it?

¿Le También es necesario que hable o entienda Vasco

Of course they don't hold grudges .....to do so would be an emotional response wouldn't it!

Yes, this sounds like hormesis, 'generally-favorable biological responses to low exposures to toxins and other stressors.' It would seem that hormesis is not generally accepted by the medical profession but is accepted anecdotaly. The old adage that......' you had to eat a peck of dirt before you die', would seem to suggest that the principle was well known and accepted. A peck being equivalent to 16 dry pints by volume - a fair bit of dirt

I do agree with you. The point I was making was that many truly believe that a dog 'loves' them when in fact it cannot feel such an emotion and really just sees you as a provider for their needs. In too many homes the dog is elevated to the status of pack leader (top dog), this is where the trouble starts.

This is all true. The reason that dogs were domesticated in the first place is that they were a very effective 'cave cleaner', eating any waste including human excrement. You really should not let them lick your face, share bowls etc. They should be kept outside. I have at present seven dogs. I only allow them into the house exceptionally. I must say that I prefer them to some humans though, therir loyalty is endearing but is based on selfishness nothing more. Dogs are not human and should not be treated as such.

I think you're spot on. I'm not convinced that they can stop anyone collecting dead wood in a public forest or woodland though.

The right of people to collect wood from Britain’s forests that was created under the Magna Carta has been overturned due to health and safety fears. read the whole thing here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3264458/Forestry-Commission-scraps-Magna-Carta-right-to-collect-woods-from-forests.html I was under the impression that; if rights that were granted under Magna Carta were impinged, that in itself was 'unlawful', and could only be enforced if the party concerned consented to the new law. Maybe a mass wood collection would be an idea?

It seems that 'Leaf signal theory' and its apparent evidence of coevolution, originally postulated by the late William Hamilton, a biologist at the University of Oxford, has been effectively disproved by Marco Archetti also of Oxford and his colleagues at the University of Talca in Chile. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01469.x

It would be a indicator for coevolution. I can't find much recent work on it. I remember it fascinated me when it was first postulated!

Leaf signal theory?

All members of the cabinet are.

She is or was a privy councillor MP are addressed as 'honourable' Privy council members as 'right honourable'

[ame] [/ame]

NOT HMRC will acquire powers in 2009 to enter business premises and private homes used for business. For errors that are "careless, but non-deliberate", penalties of up to 30% of an unpaid tax bill can be levied. Fines worth 70% of the final tax bill could be imposed, should officials believe the taxpayer deliberately ignored the need to make a payment. Deliberate concealment could trigger fines worth 100% of the final tax bill. These new powers will come into effect on April 1 2009. Tax officers will gain powers to inspect and remove information and documents, while the Treasury will limit the amount taxpayers can reclaim in wrongly paid tax from six to four years. Income tax, capital gains tax, VAT and stamp duty tax will be among payments covered by the new regime. Fines can be imposed from March 2009 on tax bills calculated from March 2008. I don't see much about having to prove anything here - if the inspector says that your on the fiddle then its "pay up chummy", if you make a mistake its a fine and I bet that anyone dealing in cash or a sunstantial part of the business is cash are going to come under special scrutiny. The emphasis are mine