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Discussion in 'Plymouth' started by Plymborn, Jun 25, 2017.

  1. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    The perils of social media coming home to roost once more. That's what you get for being a twat publicly even if it was several years ago. I also think that sections of society ought to harden up a tad. If a few stupid words on the internet upset them to that extent then to be fair they deserve to have the piss taken out of them. I was going to say "grow a pair" but I'd guess that would be taken as an offensive remark. It's a figure of speech that doesn't mean you have to have dangly bits to survive by the way. Just thought I needed to clarify.
     
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  2. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    I was watching on the news tonight the bit about May meets Trump for a chat. No flies on old Teresa is there. Whilst in the same room as Trump she firmly sat down with her knees clamped together tightly and arms folded across her chest. Don't blame her for not taking chances.
     
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  3. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    1.....E-CIGARETTE vapour could raise the risk of developing cancer and heart disease in as little as ten years, a study suggests.
    Researchers from New York University School of Medicine said that although it was clear that vaping was less harmful than smoking, it should still not be promoted as safe.
    Around three million people use e-cigarettes in Britain, and since 2015 Public Health England (PHE) has encouraged smokers to switch to vaping, claiming it is 95% safer than tobacco. The scientists looked for DNA mutations in mice, as well as human lungs, bladder and heart cells, when exposed to e-cigarettes for the equivalent of ten years. They found that in comparison to filtered air, the vapour damaged DNA and prevented it repairing itself.
    Writing in the 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Science', the authors concluded: "It is therefore possible that e-cigarette smoke may contribute to lung and bladder cancer, as well as heart disease, in humans." E-cigarettes do not contain carcinogenic chemicals present when tobacoo is burned. However, the US scientists say that nicotine can be transformed into cancer-causing chemicals called nitrosamines.
    Dr Ed Stephens, senior research fellow at the University of St Andrews , said the research was "consistent with the widely held view that vaping is not without risk of cancer".
    However, Prof Peter Hajek, director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit, Queen Mary University of London, who advised PHE on its guidance, warned that the study could not be used to show an effect on humans.

    My thoughts.....I have never ever smoked, but have been subjected many times to E-cigarette "clouds" whilst walking down the pavement and in more confined areas....it doesn't surprise me that there might still be a risk of cancer inhaling E-cigarettes, I find it hard to believe that filling your lungs with chemicals is no less harmful than tobacco. I find it amazing people can smoke E-cigarettes in cars with the windows closed and literally disappear into a cloud of smoke so that their driving vision resembles a 1950's London pea-souper style fog....and I can certainly remember them as a teenager trying to get home from south London from work....taking three or four hours to do an hours journey.


    2.....Angela Merkel's negotiations on forming a new coalition government in Germany have run into renewed trouble over migration.
    Nine hours of talks ended shortly before 2am yesterday without the parties reaching an agreement.
    Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) are working against the clock to hammer out a coalition agreement before a self-imposed deadline of Sunday night.
    But migration remains a sticking point, even after Mrs Merkel gave up her "open doors" refugee policy and agreed to a limit on the number of asylum seekers allowed into Germany. She is in the unfamiliar position of trying to prevent more migrants entering Germany, with the centre-left SPD pushing for a more open migration policy.
    The dispute centres on whether asylum-seekers already inside the country can bring their relatives to join them. Mrs Merkel's party wants to limit family reunification to those given full refugee status, while the SPD wants to extend it to asylum-seekers granted a temporary stay.
    The CDU is backed by its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, which is also taking part in the talks. There were reports yesterday that the parties were close to a compromise which would grant family reunification for those allowed a temporary stay limited to 1,000 a month, and exemptions in case of hardship.
    But the mood appeared tense, with the SPD accusing the other parties of leaking details of the talks.
    "We won't put up with talk outside the negotiations," an unnamed party source told 'Bild' newspaper.
    The parties are also divided over the issue of healthcare. The SPD wants to end private health insurance and is pushing for reforms to prevent access to more expensive treatment, a policy which is vehemently opposed by Mrs Merkel's party.

    My thoughts.....Migration even in Germany who at first had a "open doors" policy is now becoming a problem....When Merkel lost ground after their General election she lost her coalition party (who lost seats) shades of Mrs May losing ground after our General election. Not an easy subject....a country needs to be in charge of who it lets in or not. So control of freedom of movement is also important plus migrant control.
     
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  4. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    I've smoked plym although I don't now. In my experience most of the information put out there on the subject is contrived depending on who is paying for the research. I'm not advocating that it's actually good for you by the way. The information on the E-Cig is more than likely the result of the Tobacco industry wanting to show that the information that E-Cigs is better than tobacco is not true and would want to paint it in as bad a light as possible. The truth is that we all know that setting fire to something and breathing in the smoke is never going to enhance lungs and taking chemicals into your system isn't going to improve it either. You actually don't need research to tell you that if you possess a brain cell. One thing I would add though. For all the non-smokers complain about people smoking near them or even at all, there is not one of them who would think twice about getting into their car and driving it in a built up City Centre area where thousands of people breathe in their fumes. Put somebody in a closed garage with a fag and they would have to smoke thousands and thousands to kill themselves. Put them in there with a car engine running and it would take about an hour so who is the right or wrong one? Walk down the average high street these days and you can actually taste the air. Anyone want to ban cars?
     
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  5. notDistantGreen

    notDistantGreen Well-Known Member

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    I saw a reputable scientist talking about the issue recently. His argument was that E-cigarettes were certainly safer in relation to lung cancer because the combustion products weren't being inhaled in the same way. Because lung cancer is the greatest risk from smoking, he agreed it was better to use E-cigarettes if the smoker couldn't give up completely, which was of course the best option.

    However, lung cancer isn't the only risk from smoking, with others including heart disease etc. and these risks persist with E-cigarettes. He wasn't in favour of people who don't already smoke touching E-cigarettes with a barge pole.

    They look so stupid though. Can't imagine Humphey Bogart and Lauren Bacall engaging in flirty banter about their E-cigarettes can you? Death before dishonour.
     
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  6. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    Schools are removing analogue clocks from exam halls because teenagers are unable to tell the time.

    A head teachers' union has said that digital devices are replacing circular clock-faces after pupils sitting their GCSEs and A-levels complained they were struggling to read the right time.

    Malcolm Trobe, deputy general secretary at the Association of School and College Leaders, said pupils had become accustomed to digital display.
    "The current generation aren't as good at reading the traditional clock face", he said. "They are used to seeing a digital representation of time on their phones, or on their computers."

    Mr Trobe said teachers wanted students to be relaxed as possible during exams and having a traditional clock in the room could cause unnecessary stress.

    Daily Telegraph 25/04/2018

    PS.....The article does continue...but I could end up brain dead if I try to understand much more of how traditional clock-faces stress out modern day youth.


    My thoughts.....I've checked the date....it isn't April 1st....April Fools day......teenagers taking GCSEs & A-level have trouble reading traditional clock-faces....didn't they get taught that in primary school.
    Are we moving into an age of Universities having to remove traditional clock-faces from 'clock' towers etc,... because students get stressed walking across the quadrangle not being sure if their going to be late for a lecture.....will we have brain surgeons next who don't know how to wipe their bums after going to the loo.

    I'm sorry I cannot get my head around this stressful problem for todays pampered generation.......:headbang::headbang::headbang:.
     
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    Last edited: Apr 25, 2018
  7. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    I understand your sentiment plym but you have fallen into the trap of sounding old. Whether we like it or not everything these days is as described clock wise with the 24 hour version being everywhere youngsters look. They have no need to tell the time on a conventional clock face. It's why they don't do maths in the same way we did or English for that matter. Hand writing used to be one of the things teachers went overboard about if your's was scuffy. Now people don't write that often they type. People don't write letters now they send emails or texts. A lot of words are cut short in both so they can't spell them in full. It's a sign of the times which I think isn't for the best but then again I sound old for saying it. My grandchildren seem to stress about everything these days from how they look to what they possess and image is everything of course. Right cloths, right hair and definately the right trainers. Seems the more you have the more you get stressed. When I was a kid everyone of them played out, yes actually went out and ran about, with the ass of their jeans or shorts or whatever hanging out. Now you pay extra to buy cloths like that. I was a fashion icon before my time. Apparently everything is harder now for some strange reason.
     
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  8. SaintLapras

    SaintLapras Well-Known Member

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    I guess it's to do with the growth of technology and social media which has made an already superficial world even more superficial when everyone is fishing for likes or retweets or reblogs or whatever, with kids who lack the emotional maturity to deal with the pressures to conform and 'fit in' that is propagated by social media. Tbh, I'm quite glad I'm not growing up nowadays, I'm glad I was a kid back when the internet was hardly available and slow, games consoles' graphics were really pixalated, VHS was a thing and people used floppy discs, not USBs.
     
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  9. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    Know what PompeyLapras I have to agree with that sentiment even though it means I'm at the wrong end of life age wise. I would hate to have had to compete in this day and age. There again if I grew up in the modern environment then I suppose I would think it was normal so would think differently. I do find youngsters are not wiser these days though despite all of the information they have available to them. You can give them the info but the ability to learn from any of it is another matter. Life experience teaches you that and it's the only way you learn what's really important.
     
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  10. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    Local elections this Thursday (3rd May) and I'm rather gobsmacked that up to today (29th April) that there has not been a single sheet of political election info through our letterbox......I have no idea who the candidates are or even what parties might be contesting the London Borough of Bromley Council seats.....obviously the three main parties I assume will be putting up their choices for council seats....but who else....Greens, UKIP, Independents....I have no idea.

    This really surprises me seeing the high level of 'politics' going around at the moment....Brexit, Windrush, Anti-Semitism being the tip of the iceberg at the moment.....we have a creaking government at the moment and a Labour Party that is moving rather too far to the left...a Lib/Dem party that are failing to benefit from the mess of the two main parties....What we need is some new politicians to stick their heads above the parapet and give us some proper leadership.
     
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  11. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    Come on you Greens...................
     
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  12. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    Ho, Ho, Ho.
     
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  13. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    Update on so-called local-elections.....Wednesday today .....we vote tomorrow....still not one single pamphlet through the letter box telling us the name of any candidates standing in the London Borough of Bromley Council elections......we pay over £2000 per year to the council (Tory).... surely telling us who we are voting for isn't beyond them.....a situation that opposition parties could benefit from......have they all banded together to save on pamphlets this year....or are we being treated as not worthy enough to bother with.
     
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  14. notDistantGreen

    notDistantGreen Well-Known Member

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    Labour all over the place down here....
     
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  15. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    If you hand over the money that simply plym without knowing who is on the other end of it then I'm standing in your constituency tomorrow. Please send a cheque for £2k to the following address................

    I hardly ever vote locally the same way as I would nationally. I don't think the Tory Councillors here are worth much if I'm honest. I will vote tomorrow even though I don't have a great deal of time for most of them anyway. The cuts to local authorities are far too severe and you cannot provide a service for anything on no money. I do not blame local government for the state of some cities I do blame the central government for it and the Labour Party for inflicting the financial mess in the first place. As they always do in the end. You need something in between but it isn't out there.
     
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  16. SaintLapras

    SaintLapras Well-Known Member

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    Councils are always the first to cry about budget cuts, but funnily enough despite how hard-pressed they claim to be, they never reduce the salaries of the higher ups in the council, just services. Self-serving hypocrites.
     
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  17. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    1730 on voting day.....for the first time for many years Mrs Plym and myself have decided not to bother to vote (it would make no difference whatever you voted here to the outcome).....if not one of the parties/counsellors can be bothered to put one leaflet through are letterbox between them why should we put ourselves out to walk around the corner and tick three boxes.....there just faceless unknown names who mean nothing to us anyway.
    With what is going on in this country anyway at the moment you would expect national parties would be courting us for our vote for the more important issues that are on the horizon.....none of them are worth our effort.
     
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  18. SaintLapras

    SaintLapras Well-Known Member

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    You should write to your candidates (look them up online) or find their social media and tell hem that you chose not to vote because they can't be bothered to canvas you. For too long MPs and Councillors have taken the piss out of the ordinary voting public, and if they're not accountable to you, who are they accountable to? I mean, besides their own egos and wallets.
     
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  19. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    This borough (Bromley) is Tory for ever....so by not voting doesn't matter a damn......I would prefer to vote for the person not the party....the way this Tory council treats the other half....makes it very hard for me to think they care too hoots about the less well off.....there was a moment when I felt that UKIP had an answer to this continual party bashing system that exists.....but they've shot themselves in the foot recently.....with some iffy types jumping on the bandwagon and undermining what I liked about it.
     
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  20. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    Typical of somebody who doesn't work in the public sector I'm assuming who thinks people who do should offer their services for love rather than get paid anything. Top people in the private sector get paid millions in some cases. People in the public sector do not and they have a great deal of responsibility for what they have been paid. I would also make the comment that if you hold locally and nationally elected people in such low esteem you actually do something about it and stand yourself. It's easy to sit at home and just moan, people do it all the time. The harder thing is to make an effort to change it by doing something positive rather than just do that. I am not a socialist by nature normally but even I think the cuts were right at the start to make people think in the proper manner but now are becoming way over the top. Some of the cuts are bordering on the insane and you cannot provide services with no budget to do it with. It seems to me that this is more about privatising things than anything else. Some things should be left alone and not given over to people interested in profit first.
     
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