Huguenot

I'm afraid that there's absolutely nothing on here that I wouldn't say to you or anyone else face to face ZT. Neither do I think it would cause affront to any ordinary mortal, they would have to have lead a terribly sheltered life. What I can't imagine is what you are reading on here, but it is clearly not what is written down. Try reading it again.

What did I say that couldn't be said in public, ZT? Are you reading the same thread I am?

If the developed world wastage is down to aesthetics, won't economics put paid to that without any other factor being necessary? The waste is just down to comparatively low pricing - people will start eating scruffy tomatoes if the alternative is ?1 a pop.

Nah, not cruel - but I'm surprised that Zebedee Tring is attempting to grab the moral high ground by defending m&m fairy's unwarranted assault on hard working young families. There is something of the night about such flexible 'principles'. Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows eh?

Bizarre world where m&m fairy can toss unjustified insults at entire swathes of society, and I should be described as a bully for pulling her up on it. ;-)

I have nothing against your business, and I wish it all the best. I have not criticized your business at all. As a small business owner I'm well aware how challenging it is, and make a point not to make it worse by insulting my customer base. Home brined salt beef sounds marvellous. I have a significant problem with your divisive and abusive class bigotry, and I drew attention to how inappropriate it was. If you don't want to be criticized for your prejudices, then it may be wiser not to express them. I'm not sure what the point is about the hanging baskets - is this a continuation of the theme?

If you haven't got PowerPoint, use OpenOffice.org or Prezi.com or even just Google Presentation. They will all allow you to create a blank slide, add the image into it, and then show the slide without surrounding stuff. If the image is distorted that may be down to the angle between the projector and the wall. You should be able to adjust this using the 'keystone' corrections on the projector menu.

SJ's method works for me - iOS6

Sounds great m&m fairy - you're right, the thread isn't about Jack's it's about what ED looks like ten years from now, which you leveraged to make an unfounded, spiteful and unpleasantly prejudiced attack on a group of group of people to whom you owe your livelihood. Best of luck with that! I know what type of people ED would be better off without in ten years time ;-) BTW, was your friendly customer lying about the pastrami then? Jeez these middle classes are such LIARS.

I hope you will not misconstrue my views as disrespect for your service and your sacrifice Top Banana. War itself - the acquisition of territory, resources and the subjugation of people through violence and intimidation is an exceptionally medieval pursuit. The flag has a role to play within that context. I don't believe that the application of military doctrine and practice in civil life could be described as anything other than medieval. It is most likely to be applied by paramilitary organizations, or those with aspirations to achieve power through violence and intimidation. The UK still retains its 'Cool Britannia' attributes in South East Asia, and the flag design is still worn here by bright young things as a avidly as Brazil shirts used to be worn in London - a symbol of life and energy. So maybe it does have a use - but that certainly doesn't involve tribal allegiances and a weapon of deportation.

Surely the fairly obvious point is that you can't feed a conurbation of 25m people from a pocket farm on the Surrey borders delivering boxes of endives. New agrarianism is a middle class conceit. I don't know about nuance, but any conversation about agriculture needs to start with bulk!

How many did you get PaulK?

That was a bit *whoosh* malumbu, are you saying it's a good idea that people who can't explain the Union Jack are deported? I'm quite pleased that our nation doesn't chug on about flags like a bunch of retarded medievalists. It's pathetic. Half the world speaks Eglish as a primary or functional language, so I can't really imagine that anyone outside of a housing estate bully gang imagines a flag is good for anything.

Do you know who your local representatives are?

This is a good example of why I prefer the accounts of eye-witnesses rather than rationalization by absent analysts. Whilst, naturally, it's preaching to the converted in me, it reaffirms my belief that the apparent organisation of rebel forces (whether they be Syrian or Maoist) is governed by chaos theory and self interest not by military tactics. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/27/syrian-rebels-scramble-spoils-war BTW, I think the Guardian was chosen for this story because of its global reach rather than politics.

Ooh squash bum, I raise you bowling bum.

Although that's bit like saying that we should stop wearing shoes now because someday we might not be able to afford them?

Yes Otta - I can't work out why malumbu wants to have a conversation with people he thinks are acting like 13 year olds, nor why he thinks football should be handed back to the fans if they do such terrible things like play score predictions.

I thought that was an excellent piece - particularly with ref to LD's thread in the a lounge. Doesn't have anything to do with Foie Gras really, and it wasn't an ideal metaphor - the moral challenge with Foie Gras isn't that it's environmentally unsound.

Aquarius moon, you need only type 'room 101' into Google and it will give you the answer in less time than it took you to type your reply ;)

Sorry, I wasn't implying that everyone who disagrees with me is a fundamentalist - I was saying it's the fundamentalists who are the problem. I don't object to anxiety about GM food - but it's only the dogmatic fundamentalists who cannot accept that genetic modification is indistinguishable from 15,000 years of selective breeding. GM has it's problems - and a significant part of that is patent. We cannot allow Monsanto or individual nation states to control the world's food supply. Nuclear has its problems, but it takes a fundamentalist to elevate this to a dogmatic religious superstition that denies the world a vital energy supply - especially given the catastrophic alternatives. I still can't believe the psychopaths who recommend a wholesale reduction in the earth's population - what exactly do they think they are proposing? Debt is just a pointless complaint - my parents took out a mortgage of ?6,000 in the 70s on the house I grew up in - it was more money than they could imagine, nor could they sensibly expect to pay it off within the the bounds of their imagination. Nowadays ?600,000 is the same thing for people at the same life stage and in 50 years time it will be ?6,000,000. Inflation kills debt. Economists know that - it takes a fundamentalist to freeze like a rabbit in the headlights when they perceive it.

Ah, the pastrami situation is intriguing. This lady was onvinced she had it in an Original Reuben sandwich: http://bighungryfamily.blogspot.sg/2011/05/jacks-cafe-pellatt-road-se22.html?m=1 The lady was incredibly nice and complimentary - even using the word 'scrummy' which must been infuriating? Perhaps removing pastrami from the menu and criticizing her lifestyle may have impacted upon your success? I can understand your fear that rents are too high for ED shops, and time will tell - but if you are right about middle class darlings then they won't be shopping in McDonalds either. I'm sorry your business didn't work out, but it does sound like you've created a group of people to blame and piled all your disgust into an unreasonable stereotype. I'll be betting that even people who have lived in ED all their lives take their kids on holiday in the summer. I'm not aware of any evidence of blow-in middle classes being responsible for the demise of ED, there's no evidence either that ED is actually in demise. In the boom period of the early 2000s everybody was blaming the middle classes for supporting small independent boutique shops. Up until the late 90s it was a dump.

Hahaha, you haven't REALLY got a snake have you AM? Excellent!

Apparently, the most eco friendly way to dispose of your tree is to chip it and spread it on your garden. Second is to compost it but ONLY if you turn your compost heap regularly (if it decomposes without oxygen it will create methane). Third is to chip and burn. Fourth is to compost it if you don't regularly turn your heap, but at least use it. Last is landfill, which guarantees it'd decompose without oxygen and pump methane out.

I think this is for the Lounge