baypond

An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming (Paperback)Nigel Lawson Amazon for a fiver. Gives a different perspective on global warming and worth a read. However, global warming and global polution tend to get wrapped up in one, and one argument for persuing the global warming argument is that it means there is pressure on countries to reduce polution which is a good thing. But Lawson blows most of the current popular arguments out the water.

[quote user="Stefan"]BTW a small point - I'm not sure about your 180 seat figure..as far as I'm aware in the configurations BA use their biggest Airbuses only have about 140 -145 sellable seats at the moment, not 180, so maybe the "underload" wasn't that bad.[/quote] Hi, well I have only really seen BA use Boeings before, but on the day we travelled it was an AIRBUS 321. I thought they were only 319's and 320's. It was certainly a much larger jet than the usual easyjet ones. The 321 carries over 180 I think. Edited to include this from airbus website: 'Typical two-class seating capacity for the A321 is 185 seats with 16 in first class and 169 in economy, while the A321 single-class configuation comfortably seats 199 passengers.'

With the ongoing profitability issues at BA, I had read that BA would soon abandon their policy of keeping ticket prices at a premium level. Especially approaching departure dates when tickets remain unsold. We had a rediculous situation just before Christmas when our Easyjet flights was cancelled (due to snow), and with none available for at least 48 hours. We had no choice but to book with BA. Price was £250 each, which we stomached because of work commitments and proximity to Christmas. However, what was more difficult to work out was that on a jet that carried 180 people, there were 80 seats left unsold, despite a much larger list of people waiting for the next available easyjet replacement. What a great opportunity BA missed. It would have been great advertising for them to have lowered their prices to make them accessible to more people, and in the process they would have gained a significant income from the flight. Even at £100 they would have taken an extra £8000. Madness, that only ensures BA can not survive if they continue with their current structure.

thanks Chris - no problems tonight

Philips DVD +RW 4X speed, written on an Apple Mac. Stored in a dark cuboard. Only written on once.

I was shocked to discover how quickly some 3/4 year old DVD's burnt on my computer were degrading. We have a stack of them full of video of our children. Many of them no longer replay on DVD players or our computers. Luckily we have the original files on computer hard drive and will be transferring back up copies to external drives and SDHC cards. I thought these DVDs would last at least 10 years, so it may be worth checking your home burnt DVDs before you lose treasured video.

French beef isn't hung so has to be eaten very rare, or cooked extremely slowly at a low temperature (in which case it will not be rare). If you are feeling really flush, you can always roast a portion of beef fillet, smothered in garlic, salt,  pepper, some butter and a little olive oil (to stop the butter burning). Should only take 30 mins in a hot oven, and you can control rareness fairly easily. Not cheap but tastes great.

Not seen since 15th December when in the midst of giving me a lot of grief about being a banker. I just checked out his profile and after telling me he was an engineer, it states he is a 'money changer' with interests in investments and gold. Come back Mickie and finish the discussion, there's a good chap!!

Hi Chris If you are watching, I can't load any pages relating to registering with the planetpassion forum. I hope I am not blocked!

Happy New Year to all. Wishing you health and happiness in 2010 Giles

Lloyds account in sterling I presume. I would send the Euros to a UK broker such as World First or HIFX, and get them to transfer to sterling and remit to your account. You will get the best rate of exchange and possibly be able to ask the UK broker to forgo transfer charges. The only problem, if you havn't already opened an account, is that to open an account they need to see various documents to verify your identity.

Hmm after 47 years I have just read and learn't the difference between license and licence. I never realised there was such a thing spelt licence - I blame the secondary eduaction.

I think you need to contact the local Tresorie with your reference and they will tell you what it relates to. It may be some kind of latent tax deduction, for something in the past that they think is due to them? Did you ever pay any taxes via direct debit?

ID cards are a great idea. As John mentioned, BR rail cards, work security cards, and then mobile phones and security cameras all reveal our whereabouts anyway. We could soon have GPS chips in cars that will reveal where we have driven and how fast we have been driving. As an avid driver I can't think of anything worse, so ID cards are the least of anyone's issues me thinks.

I tried a few drags of a cigarette when I was a teenager, but hated them, the dizziness and also it felt like breathing razorblades. Drugs, well not for me either, unless we are talking wine. Tried some weed a couple of times but again, it was wrapped in tabacco, and in any event iI was too drunk to notice the affects. Capital punishment is a tough one. I like the thought that some people should have their life ended, but in practise I can't bring myself to condone the actual act of taking a life. I guess I am lucky in life not to have faced something so awful that capital punishment would seem the only resonable answer.

[quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="just john "] ps, whats to forgive in your signature? [/quote] Certainly not drug dealers - or polititions - or bankers. [:)] I excluded users for one simple reason, they are, generally, the victims. . [/quote] I always find the term 'victim' in relation to this type of thing a strange observation for most circumstances. I don't know of one person who hasn't tried a cigarette at some point in their life, but the most adictive substance, nicotine, didn't mean that they all became smokers, or a victim. Users are 'users' primarily because the vast majority chose to take drugs. On the other hand, I would agree that many prostitutes are victims.

If you can keep it down - ONE RAW EGG - does the trick, because when you are feeling at your worst the next morning, one thought of the raw egg makes you realise that you don't feel that bad.

Sweet - I like you

Just my luck he will be a banker as well..... Does he know you have read his mail? If not just leave him hanging for 24 hours until his agreed check in time.

haha, sadly even if the spelling was wrong, I have been called far worse this year, Now I know how estate agents and car dealers have felt all these years!

Merry Xmas and a happy New Year to you all. I hope 2010 is a prosperous one, and not necessarily in a monetary sense (even though I am a banker). Giles

I think there are many benefits of a single currency, it is just the fact that it doesn't solve all the problems for all the people. It can cause distortions in the economy resulting in socioeconomic problems, hence Greece and Ireland. By the way, I am no economist and there are people far better qualified to speak on these subjects. My argument was never about FX trading !!

[quote user="Dog"]Foreign exchange is certainly useful for trading with other countries. A single currency would contribute towards lower inflation. Perhaps you could share with me the total value of trades and the total value of  money needed to fulfil international merchantile function?[/quote] A single currency is no guarantee of lower inflation. The only guarantee of lower inflation is appropriate fiscal and monetary policy. Even within the single currency, if policy was too loose, inflation would rise. I don't know what the ratio of fx trading to that required to fulfil international mercantile function is, but it is certainly the volume is far higher. However, volume and competition make the cost of you transfering money abroad cheaper, just look at companies like HIFX and World First etc. Additionally it is not just mercantile trade, it is also foreign investment, dividend repatriation, and hedging of future liabilities which also goes in to the mix.  I am not sure that high FX volumes cause damage anywhere. However the jury is out on whether or not the massive allocation of pension/ money to commodity trading is helpful when it can drive up (or down) commodity prices.

all the time there are national currencies, then foreign exchange is useful. Without it you couldn't buy and sell currencies and there wouldn't be an efficient way of conducting any form of foreign trade. And if you suggest there should only be one world currency, then Greece, Spain and Ireland would suggest that it is not wholly clear that a single currency is the answer.

Probably true, we are providing a service that skims money. So do greengrocers selling vegetables, so do car makers selling cars, so do butchers selling meat, so do train companies moving people around, so does anyone involved in any company. You have me bang to rights, I make money out of providing a service. So do undertakers, and the roman catholic church.