Dannyno

I hold no brief for the council or the contractors. However, everyone needs to understand the science behind gritting. Rock salt works by lowering the temperature at which water freezes. It doesn't do this just by magic sitting on top of ice or snow, it has to get mixed in to be really effective. It's not dropping hot coals. Water with salt mixed in will freeze at much lower temperatures, thereby preventing ice forming in the first place. And it will also cause ice and snow to melt (once all mixed in). You have to get your timing right. If you grit when the roads are not wet at all, then the rock salt just ends up being 'swept' away as cars drive over it. So when it does rain or snow, there isn't enough still around to be effective. What you want to do is grit when there's some moisture around, so the salt can get mixed in straight away. If you grit and it rains a lot, then the rain could wash the grit away, or dilute it so it becomes ineffective. Remember that this entire strategy only works because the water and the salt mix together and the salt affects the freezing point of the water. As the salt is diluted, the less it will lower the freezing point of water. If it rains a lot, or there is a lot of snow, then clearly that has an impact on what the salt is able to achieve. There's also no point gritting only for several inches of snow to land on top of it, particularly if there is so much snow that it reduces traffic. Because that means the snow and the grit don't get mixed up and it's completely wasted. So there might be a good scientific reason for distributing grit only after a certain amount of snow has fallen. It stops your local wardens from well-meaning wastage by covering the roads and pavements in it in anticipation, only for it to be washed or swept away or covered in a thick blanket of snow, and it will lie on top of a thin layer of snow where it will be crushed into it by wheels or feet, and thereby form the necessary mixture. So although it sounds mad to wait until it actually snows to distribute grit, there might actually be good reasons behind it. In which case, that ought to be properly explained. If wardens don't understand the science of what they are doing, they're not likely to be effective.

I drive into the city fairly often. I don't find it difficult. Meadowhall was planned and has that advantage over the city centre, and all the car parking is free and easy to get to in that it just circles the shops. Clearly the City Centre has a mix of parking - including some free - and you do have to navigate to where you want to get to a bit more. But it's a city centre, developed before cars took over the world. Unless you knock it all down and start again it will always be at a disadvantage compared to Meadowhall. Given how many cars there now are, you simply cannot organise the traffic as you would 30-40 years ago.

this is interesting: http://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/faith-schools-transport-briefing-paper.pdf

Whirlow Hall Farm have lots of trees at the moment: http://www.whirlowhallfarm.org/?page_id=38

The idea of a "market" in school provision disgusts me. But if the ability to choose a school means long journeys, then either everyone should have subsidised transport, or nobody should. There should not be religious tests for the availaibility of subsidised or free transport. But that's the situation we're in. Some stories from elsewhere: Flintshire: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2012/11/if-you-cant-prove-youre-a-christian-get-off-the-school-bus Northumberland: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2012/09/parents-object-to-school-bus-apartheid-in-northumberland Wakefield: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2012/06/wakefield-latest-council-to-propose-cutting-faith-school-transport-subsidies Cheshire East: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2012/06/no-justification-for-subsidising-faith-school-transport Essex: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2012/03/essex-county-council-scraps-transport-subsidy-for-faith-schools And so on. More: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/tags/transport Dan

There are very few rules around this kind of thing. It is, for example, legal to be buried in your own back garden, so long as you steer well clear of springs and wells (Environment Agency give advice on this). As for ashes (not actually ashes as usually understood at all, but fine bone fragments), they are potentially a pollutant, so you could be in trouble for scattering them in the wrong place, such as in rivers. Basically, you're supposed to get the landowners' permission to do anything on their land (no different to littering, otherwise). Some landowners, including owners of beauty spots, may refuse permission for reasons that ought to be obvious. The majority of people are now cremated after death, so you can imagine that in some popular places the scattering of ashes could become a serious problem (phosphates in cremated bone are not good for plants, for example - not necessarily because it kills them, but because it overstimulates them). See: http://www.scattering-ashes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/GEHO0306BKIK-e-e.pdf

Wales isn't "Tory-free". There are 8 Tory MPs from Welsh constituencies at Westminister, 14 Tory held seats (out of 60) on the Welsh Assembly, 1 of the MEPs for Wales is a Tory, and they have control of Monmouthshire County Council.

There was some work done following consultation in 2009, I think: See: http://www.smartroutes.co.uk/ecclesallroad/index.html

Citizens Advice Bureau, on Bailiffs: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/debt_bailiffs_e.htm There is reliable information there about the powers that Bailiffs have. They are much more extensive than some people here seem to think.

It's perfectly possible to park close to Argos in the city centre, there's a multi-storey car park right behind it, for a start. It's not that expensive, really, and it's not always full. And if you need anything very big and difficult to manoeuvre, you could consider getting it delivered. There's another multi-storey built around John Lewis, which is pretty convenient. And lots of off-street car parks all over. As well as on-street bays on certain roads. Lots of it: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/roads/travel/driving/parking/centre.html Meadowhall itself is completely pedestrianised, don't forget. I don't go often, but I have been and found that on a busy day, you can end up having to walk further to and from your car than you would if you went into town. It's OK if you can find a parking space near an exit or behind one of the big stores, but that's not always possible. The attractions of Meadowall over the City Centre are of course obvious, but it's not actually difficult to drive into the City Centre and find somewhere to park, without getting fined. Thousands of people do it every day. If you're finding the modern road system a bit confusing, I sympathise, but you could do a bit of thinking beforehand. Perhaps even look at a map or the Council website for assistance. Help yourself a bit, eh?

See here: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_the_public/topic_specific_guides/crime.aspx and http://www.justice.gov.uk/information-access-rights

Presumably if you need to close a lane, you do it on a Sunday because it's the quietest day.

From: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/roads/travel/driving/roadworks/roadworks.html

Men-only clubs are perfectly legal.

And this photo taken in 2009 shows the St George flag flying:

They have flown the St George's flag. Proof here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1173582/THE-WIDER-VIEW-Shame-public-buildings-did-fly-St-Georges-Day-flag-including-BBC-House-Commons.html

NHS Litigation Authority, I think it is. They deal with compensation claims against the NHS - and not just for operations gone wrong. Too many mistakes are made, but the £11.95bn (2008) figures includes lawyers fees - naturally they are ballooning. Dan

That's awful. Presumably you're surviving on your private unemployment insurance? Naturally you won't favour anyone else supporting you.

I would think thrombosis is a risk factor in lots of serious surgery, and if you're admitted to hospital then the inactivity could be a risk if you have certain conditions. Again, it's no secret that 25,000 people a year die of thrombosis in hospitals. For comparison a couple of thousand people die of MRSA in hospitals. Whether you think this means the NHS killed them depends on whether you understand anything or not.

The CRA was passed in 1977! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act Dan

Just calling them "lefty" doesn't make them lefty. "Lefties" were in fact spending the Blair/Brown years loudly criticising them for their debt-led "boom", and warning loudly about the inevitable bust. No "lefty" worth their salt would think you can abolish boom and bust - or at any rate not like that. Most lefties are more likely to say that boom and bust are part and parcel of the capitalist system.

You think *Clinton* was a "lefty"? Woah.

Er, these were countries listed... "Ireland, Iceland, Greece, Italy, Japan, USA, France, Germany " Ireland has been governed for years by coalitions. The dominant parties have been Fianna Fáil, which is Christian democratic and Fine Gael which is centre right. Iceland has been dominated in recent years by the centre-right socially conservative Independence Party. The Greek PASOK is indeed nominally socialist, but more social democratic in practice. Italy has been led in recent years by Berlusconi (three terms since 1994), who nobody could sensibly describe as socialist. In Japan a centre left party took over in 2009 but before that the right wing Liberal Democrats ran the country for over 50 years. I can't quite believe you think the USA has had "left wing governments for years". France has been run by right-wing governments of the "Union for a Popular Movement" since 2002. And Germany has had a Christian Democratic right wing government since 2005. Before that it was the Social Democrats, who haven't been a socialist party since the 1950s.

It's not really a "covered up" scandal, since everyone knows about it, it's discussed in the media, and the statistics are widely published and commented upon. But apart from that, you're right it's a big problem. But a) it's a problem in every hospital in the entire world. b) it's therefore also a problem in private hospitals, and c) although it's less of a problem in private hospitals (but still a problem), this is for good reason. Partly it's because the worst cases always end up in state hospitals, or because the risk is greater in the older or more seriously ill patients that the private system doesn't see. And partly it's about funding. But don't listen to me about those good reasons, listen to the private healthcare industry: http://www.privatehealth.co.uk/private-hospitals/hospital-infections-guide/infection-rates-private-hospitals/ " Independent hospitals have lower bed occupancy, nursing staff are under less pressure and patients mostly have their own private rooms with en-suite bathrooms so the risk of cross-infection is substantially reduced. Furthermore, in independent hospitals a higher nurse-to-patient ratio ensures a higher quality of care, and with more staff resources private hospitals can operate a thorough room cleaning system. Private hospitals can also afford a robust infection surveillance programme and ongoing staff training so that the medical team does their utmost to minimise infections. Private hospitals are able to carry out effective isolation procedures if they find a patient is an MRSA carrier." So a lot of the problems in the NHS are not the fault of the staff doing something wrong. It's not as if you can shut down the NHS, shunt everyone into private care, and the problem will be solved. People would only get the care they could afford, and the poor would only be able to afford the bare minimum. In facilities which would be worse than the NHS. And therefore would die from hospital acquired infections at even greater rates.

Some might have some LGPS pension, depends on their work history. It you got them nationalised, or taken back into local authority ownership, maybe that would do it. So how do we get the bus drivers a decent pension then..? Not by stealing mine, that's for sure. Are the bus drivers up for a fight on this? I know they have in the past.