sime42

So how big or old do Sycamores get then? I saw this contender at the weekend, largest I've seen certainly. At least 5 ft DBH I reckon.

Exactly this. Treating the symptoms rather than the cause isn't the way forward. Drug addiction being a good example. Where's the sense in sending drug addicts to jail where they can just get easy access to harder drugs, learn from other more serious criminals, finish their term and then go out into the community to commit worse crimes to feed their worse addiction? Building more prisons is a bit like building more roads to ease congestion. It doesn't work in the long term.

Hard labour rather than games consoles and all the other perks and privileges that prisoners get. Thereby addressing another problem that we currently face.

Send less people to jail.

No thanks.

I've noticed that they've got a thing for Sycamores. They must like the smooth bark, same as Beech.

Clare Nowland: Officer who Tasered 95-year-old woman suspended WWW.BBC.CO.UK Clare Nowland - who has dementia - was critically injured after she was Tasered at an Australian care home. So this particular bit of heavy handed behaviour by the Aussie police is getting some comeuppance at least. Kind of anyway, not sure why he's still getting paid.

Those Eastern European jobs are interesting. Took me a while to get my head around them to start with. When I first came across one the woman who owned the house explained that you have to fill it with wood, burn it all as hot and rapidly as possible, (ideally in an hour or so), and then completely shut it down. It'll then keep the room warm for the rest of the night. It worked. Quite counterintuitive from our traditional perspective of keeping our woodburners alight as long as possible, and even ticking over all night sometimes. Very grand and ornate looking as well, most that I saw.

Judging by the malcontent with our broken political system, both on here and in the country as a whole, it's probably time to have a vote on PR. If we had a fairer system then the so called "marginal" parties wouldn't be so marginal. Before the naysayers start; some kind of representation, any kind of representation, would be better than the model we now have, where nobody is represented by those in power.

Ummm ........ fair point but it's a heavily flawed kind of cleverness that doesn't grasp the simple concept of finite vs. infinite. So, JRM could be clever, but severely limited by blinkered beliefs, at best. This brings to mind the wider question of the difference between clever and intelligent. Mr Google states;- """Intelligence: the ability to understand ideas, people and things. Cleverness: the ability to manipulate ideas, people and things.""" It's only one of many obviously, but by this definition then most of today's politicians are clever rather than intelligent.

Nice appraisal. Maybe it's the ridiculously posh accent that makes some people think he's clever.

You don't need to see a doctor any more, you can just go to Boots and talk to the spotty youth behind the counter, they'll fix ya up!

What did it taste like? 🤔

It's busy in the nest box at the moment. These are blue tits. They make parenting a human baby look easy. Theyre in and out every other minute poking food in those gaping little mouths.

How many countries around the world use proportional representation? – Electoral Reform Society – ERS WWW.ELECTORAL-REFORM.ORG.UK Proportional representation is the most popular form of democracy for countries in the world today. Proportional...

A German guy called Helmut approaches a lady of the night in London . "I vish to buy sex viz you." "Okay," says the girl, "I charge £50 an hour." "Ist goot, but I must varn you, I am a little kinky." "No problem," she replies cautiously, "I can do a little kinky for an extra £10." Helmut agrees. So off they go to the girl's flat, where the German produces four large bedsprings and a duck caller. "I vant zat you tie zese springs to each of your hans und knees." The girl finds this odd, but complies, fastening the springs as requested. "Now you vill get down on your hans und knees." This she duly does, balancing precariously on the springs. "You vill please to blow zis kwacker as I make love to you." She thinks this even odder, but figures it's harmless (and the guy is paying). But the sex is fantastic: honking away on the duck caller, she is bounced all over the room by the energetic German. The climax is the most sensational she has ever experienced, and it's several minutes before she has enough breath to say, "That was totally amazing! What do you call that position?" "Zat," replies the German, "is ze Four-sprung Duck Technique

Not me, not this southerner, (well midlander). Non of my seedlings did anything, that dodgy compost must have had something bad in it. As a last resort I had to go out and buy a load of young plants at the weekend; toms and cucumbers. Unheard of, outrageous! They'll be very late into final pots but hopefully they'll catch up enough to get some crop at least. These poor runts were about 2 months old;-

Good places, army surplus stores. Great source of cheap but well made and robust work wear. As long as you don't mind the camo and slight musty smell! Can be good for heavy duty tools and other random stuff too.

Good shout. Bay as the added bonus of it's culinary use.

I feel your pain. I wasn't aware of it when my clothes were being cut asunder, that was a small blessing at least. Trauma Shears are what they use I think. https://medtree.co.uk/trauma-shears

I'll preempt what I'm guessing will be the majority of replies on here, and say fell it now and get shot if it! Otherwise you'll be forever fighting it back from overgrowing the garden, and it won't prune well anyway.

No, they shouldn't hand out clothes, but maybe they shouldn't be so free and easy with the scissors! I think the idea is that if they need to get a body undressed in A&E they just cut the clothes off with hardcore scissors, rather than undressing. In the name of expediency and minimal movement, in case of spinal injuries. Which is fair enough. Speaking from bitter personal experience, it is quite annoying. I lost a good jacket and pair of jeans that way, and got sent home in scantily arse covering hospital pyjamas. I vaguely remember that they even cut a necklace off as well. Only myself to blame as I was rushed in there after an episode of youthful over indulgence!