onetruth

Climate-change deniers: my Arbtalk app informs me that this topic is now "Hot".

Informative, but where's the coarse language I was promised? Disappointed. Good idea. Also, all the new techs like heat pumps etc. - they should at least be considered in all new builds. There was something on the radio today about how gas-boilers are routinely used just because they are familiar to builders and expected by customers, even though there are more efficient and greener heating options available. Also on the radio today, engineers (Dutch if I recall correctly) have developed an industrial, scalable carbon-capture system which sounds as if it has a lot of potential to mitigate some of the harm we do to the atmosphere. The carbon can be buried, or converted into a better-than-natural fuel. The summary was: it's very pricey, but works, and is ready to go whenever we decide we need it.

What is it? Personally, I'd use a pressure washer, just because I have one and don't know any better!

You don't know what you're talking about, chicks love that pi shit.

I'd be gutted to lose them. I think I'd be tempted, rather than reducing the whole crown, to remove any particular branches that caused me concern (ie. dodgy looking ones that might actually fall on the house). If you do a reduction, you are going to develop vulnerable spots all round the tree and quite high up. That would be fine if you intend to repeat the reduction every couple of years, but I would rather focus on removing or reducing the weight on the branches on the house-side of the tree, where a failure might actually do some damage. Reduction would look better, but probably do less to ease anxieties than simply pushing back the most menacing-looking branches.

21 + 15 -

I don't think there's much more she could have done with the Brexit negotiations, but she'd have done a better job than Cameron at getting the pre-referendum reforms that were needed, and she'd have done a better job than May at getting the fanatics in the Tory party to accept compromise in the national interest. She was good at enhancing Britain's position within Europe while retaining particularly favourable terms.

She set her son up with a load of dodgy arms deals. He tried to start a coup in some African country several years ago but when it went tits up she pulled strings to get him a soft prison sentence. Kids, eh? She didn't hate her own children, just didn't care one jot about anyone else's. Or, at least, those who didn't fit her very peculiar definition of "hard-working".

She had the balls, and she did the job. And then, to nobody's benefit, she allowed the communities that had relied on the mines to crumble. Given the social devastation that has fallen on so many formerly hard-working villages across the country since the pit closures, I think it is wrong to consider the miners as holding the country to ransom: they were desperately fighting for the survival their communities. They lost, and sure enough the vindictive and negligent government allowed these communities to fall apart. We probably had to close the mines, we had to moderate the unions, but we didn't have to ruin the communities in the process. But then again, those northern peasants are going vote Labour anyway, so who cares? Here's a tax cut...

Probably because they knew a Labour government would be less likely. "pound shop Churchill" made me laugh. I wonder how she'd have felt about the comparison.

Good things: response to Falklands crisis, strengthened UK's position in Europe, curtailed worst abuses by trade unions, supported perestroika. Bad things: introduced poll tax (most regressive form of tax imaginable), removed workers' rights, massively increased income disparity, massively reduced industrial capacity, slashed investment in schools, health care and infrastructure, put millions out of work (ok, maybe not all her fault), allowed countless communities to go to the wall because they weren't "one-of-us" and therefore, to her mind, worthless. Oh, yeah, the milk thing too.

Reading this, I think I must never have experienced girlfriend problems.

off-shore account? come on, lads, no reason we can't keep this magic going till 2019.

Unless you're blind, I doubt it! Managed to do this just replacing the spark plug to perform the test... Off to the dealer's now. I don't think I'm going to sharpen my chains any more - there must be a 50:50 chance that if I do my house will fall down.

It idles OK, but there may be issues. It doesn't cut out but might rev a little high - I think the chain creeps on occasion (though not constantly). Of the causes you suggest, the fuel filter and fuel line are, as far as I can see, ok. The other suggestions are beyond my ken: I've never even heard of a "breather" outside of Roger's Profanisaurus. Thanks, both of you, for your efforts to help. I think it'll probably be for the best if I just take it back to Gustharts to sort out: if I try to fix it myself I will no doubt end up fibbering the small-end gasket, or something of equal meaninglessness and expense to myself.

Two years I think, occasional use. Never been serviced, though, and apart from sharpening the chain, gets very little tlc. This is the first time the spark plug's been removed, for example. Air filter looks really clean. Fuel filter looks (as far as I can tell) ok. I don't think that this is the saw that I put chain oil into the fuel tank!

I have a problem with my 441. Basically it cuts out within a couple of seconds at full revs, and can manage maybe 15 seconds max under load if I only throttle it half-way. The exhaust also seems abnormally hot. No problems starting (hot or cold), the saw hasn't seen much use (still on first bar). I am loathed to take it to the dealer (not very close) as it means losing two whole days - one to take it and one to retrieve it, but having read this thread I fear it may be the only option. Can anyone suggest anything simple I could try beforehand? I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to engines - I doubt I'd recognise a carburettor if I shat one out. Thanks!

I don't think any of states neighbouring Israel have apartheid either really. By that I mean, the groups you identify are not excluded from running/voting in elections. All those countries are authoritarian to some extent, but where there is democracy, it is not restricted to members of a specific race. In all these states, the ruling class belongs to the majority race, so there is no need to exclude other groups from elections: they can simply be ignored. Obviously this wasn't the case in S Africa, where the ruling minority needed apartheid to maintain control. Lebanon is an interesting case: it does put religious constraints on the important offices of state, eg. President has to be a Christian, PM has to be Sunni. You are right about the tunnel vision. Most people, if they care at all, will find their sympathies lying either with the Arabs or with the Israelis. If they're unable to see beyond these sympathies, the situation becomes black and white.

I guess it depends how you choose to define apartheid. That article doesn't really go into it. Israel certainly has racist laws, but it doesn't (I believe) define who can hold public office or vote by race, as was the case in South Africa or Rhodesia.

Today's effort - my best yet...

Lovely.

that's humbling.

I need to plant around 100 trees near a recently enlarged pond. The ground has suffered severe compaction by JCBs and the like, and it's possible that much of the top layer was originally the subsoil. It's bad - no air pockets, no worms, not much discernible organic matter. It's been water-logged since the works were carried out. I'll be planting oak, birch, holly, hawthorn, etc. What's the best way for me to go about this? I'm inclined to dig fairly large pits (maybe 50cm dia x 50 cm deep), use container-grown stock, add a bit of bone meal, and buy in compost for the backfill. I'm slightly worried that these pits will just act like buckets and cause the roots to rot away. I also wonder if importing earthworms and/or mycorrhizae to the site would make a difference. Personally, I'd rather dig the holes and add the goodies this year, and plant up next, but my customer is keen to get the trees in as soon as possible.

I'm glad I listened to it. He gave a very good account of himself. He seemed reasonable and honest. He didn't say anything to make me dislike him personally. Yes. Well done to the Oxford Union for having the guts to host it.