Peckhamnearbe

Reminder that this weekend is the RSPB's Big Garden Bird Watch. You can register and report your sightings on the RSPB website or The Guardian's. My attention has been taken by the way in which one of the pair of robins which visit my garden has managed, after many unsuccessful attempts, to land on the tits' fat ball. Not as agile or dexterously as the beautiful tits (blue and coal) but effective. It's stumpy mate waits below for tit bit. How could I tell whether the one that has learned to do this is male or female - only thing is that it looks a bit smaller and maybe younger.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/cyclist-lying-unconscious-in-the-street-had-iphone-and-wallet-stolen-by-passersby-8916027.html Nigel Street, Peckham.

This came to my mail box and may provide some information/insight. I found that one of the speakers (Ewa Jasiewicz) has written a piece for the New Statesman recently: Eyewitness Syria Public Meeting Wednesday 31 July 2013 7.30 pm Come and listen to an illustrated eyewitness account from the front line of Idlib by journalist Ewa Jasiewicz, plus Samir Dathi, Stop the War National Officer. New Cross Learning (former New Cross Library) 283 - 285 New Cross Road SE14 6AS Ewa Jasiewicz is a solidarity activist and trade unionist. She has lived and worked with oil workers and refugees in Iraq, and paramedics and farmers in Palestine. At the end of May, Ewa travelled to Ma?arrat al Numan and Kafranbel in Idlib province, Northern Syria with a new solidarity initiative called ?Witness Syria?. She spent time with Basmet Amal (Ma?rrat al Numan), the Kafranbel Media Centre and Karama Bus (Kafranbel) and Jasmine Studio (Bab Al Hawa Camp, Turkish-Syrian border). She will speak about the self-organisation and self determination taking place there and what you can do to support it.

Just to add (in response to dbhoy post) that Lewisham People Before Profit run this one in Honor Oak Park and the White Wood Shop (in fact the estate agent's next to it) collects food donations which are actually offered to the needy from the charity shop they run in New Cross. Was there myself on Monday dropping off groceries bought through the generous donation of someone in the Muslim community. Donations of clothes and furniture are also accepted. www.lewishamfoodbank.com

Prompted to ask for other 'gems' following a conversation heard between boy attending a well known local public school and his family. Asked to make presentations in groups on different aspects of life in Iran (occassioned by the showing of the film 'Persepolis'), one group evidenced the view that Iran was so misogynist that fathers cut off the legs of their daughters to prevent them leaving home; this whilst there was a competition taking place with this result: http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/07/06/312451/iranian-womens-futsal-team-wins-silver/ The allegation, along with many other strange assertions on this and other aspects of life in that country went unchallenged by anyone, not least the teacher. (The products of this sort of education tend to be in positions of power and influence in the future!) Any way, so what other nuggets of laughable misinformation have we had to de-learn from our schooling? One of mine was from a sports quiz held in year 10 when it was too wet to go out for Games. In answer to a question on the difference between rugby league and rugby union, we were told ''there's no difference apart from the fact that there are fifteen players in the union form and only thirteen in the league form of rugby''.

This may be of interest and concern for those worried about what is happening to the NHS. A request for letters to MPs etc on SE23 Forum (template provided if needed) http://nationalcan.ning.com/forum/topics/competition-regulations-forced-on-the-nhs

People reading this who are interested in the campaign to try to save Lewisham Hospital may be interested in this: From: r. BBC Question Time protest Goldsmiths College-Save Lewisham Hospital This Thursday January 10th 5.30pm-9.30pm more info: http://www.savelewishamhospital.com/bbc-question-time-protest/ Also http://brockleycentral.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/close-lewisham-plan-sent-to-health.html

Should charities offer to take up the slack if public services are cut? The National Coalition for Independent Action thinks not: http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/13839/ncia_says_umbrella_bodies_have_signed_up_sector_to_privatisation http://www.independentaction.net/2012/11/20/anger-grows-as-sector-leaders-ingratiate-themselves-with-the-government-open-letter-says-not-in-our-name/#more-9500

And to add some context apropros King's - expect pressure because us Lewisham people are campaigning to keep Lewisham A&E open which is under threat due to the huge debts saddled on it by the Labour Government's PFI funding regime. So, if this is not defeated, 750,000 of us will be sharing facilities at King's and Woolwich. King's is nearer.... See a pattern emerging - I do. www.se23.com (Lewisham A&E closure)

hi all, The attached document explains simply and clearly what the Bill is going to do and why we have to keep trying to stop it. Raise the questions with anyone you can, share the information with anyone, get papers to raise the questions or send excerpts in as letters, ask your MPs to get answers that reassure you on these questions. As a colleague recently reminded me, the first duty of a doctor, and by inference a health professional or system is ?DO NO HARM? ? this could be the most basic question of all to challenge the government with ? can they prove beyond doubt that their intentions will do no harm in the face of such overwhelming evidence that that is exactly what will be the impact? http://abetternhs.wordpress.com/faq/

Seems the lad killed was an innocent bystander - it could have been anyone of us: http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16108072

And let us add, zero tolerance of 'high' level crime i.e. that committed by those who are continuing to 'loot' public money e.g. using taxpayers' bail out money to award themselves huge bonuses and gold-plate their pensions whilst saying that public sector is too profligate. The elite seem to think that everyone should accept their largesse is a divine right.

On an earlier thread (which I can't find now), there was dicussion about red squirrel sighting. I would like to know if grey squirrels' coats take on a reddish hue at any point in their life cycle because on the weekend I saw (family also) a squirrel which had a grey top half but definite reddish bottom half and we wondered if there was cross-breeding taking place but then red squirrels are extinct - esp in the south so how can it be so? My nephew who is at work at the moment, took a couple of pictures which I can upload when he is back. Really interested to have any information about this. Hasten to add that we were in Hyde Park when we saw this.