Compassion

[Pulcinella]

FWIW - I tried it yesterday and today, and seem to have shifted slightly to the left economically and become slightly more libertarian overnight - but it does force one to have views on things I'm not up to speed on (bringing up children...)

Maybe you should go back to bed for a bit longer, Richard.
Then when you wake up again you might find that you've joined the rest of us in the bottom left of the bottom left.

(No hitting rock bottom jokes, please!)

[MrGongGong]

Some of the statement are a bit odd IMV (though I suspect they are leading towards underlying things that are unstated )
such as

It’s a sad reflection on our society that something as basic as drinking water is now a bottled, branded consumer product.

[Richard Tarleton]

I wondered about that question - access to free clean drinking water a basic human requirement, but like the late AA Gill I also regard water as a foodstuff, not just something for washing food down. Some people can taste the difference - our tap water tastes unpleasant, slightly improved filtered..... I've no problem with people bottling water from esoteric sources and selling it - the market will decide.

[MrGongGong]

I've no problem with people bottling water from esoteric sources and selling it - the market will decide.

Got to love "the market"



THIS is what "the market" will "decide"

NO thanks

[Sir Velo]

Seems even planned economies aren't immune from the issue of plastic waste.

[Richard Tarleton]

Got to love "the market"

THIS is what "the market" will "decide"

NO thanks

Well it was you who raised this statement, Mr GG - perhaps it was attitudes to plastic pollution that it was intended to flush out. Is the solution to plastic pollution in the oceans to close down the bottled water industry globally, or to solve the bottling/waste problem? I agree we've left it a bit late.

Seems even planned economies aren't immune from the issue of plastic waste.

Most plastic pollution in the world's oceans famously comes from these 10 rivers....

Yangtze - East China Sea, Asia
Nile - Mediterranean Sea, Africa
Ganges - Bay of Bengal, Asia
Indus - Arabian Sea, Asia
Yellow River - Yellow Sea, Asia
Haihe - Yellow Sea, Asia
Pearl River - South China Sea, Asia
Amur - Sea of Okhotsk, Asia
Niger - Gulf of Guinea, Africa
Mekong - South China Sea, Asia

[vinteuil]

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It’s a sad reflection on our society that something as basic as drinking water is now a bottled, branded consumer product.

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I wondered about that question - access to free clean drinking water a basic human requirement, but like the late AA Gill I also regard water as a foodstuff, not just something for washing food down. Some people can taste the difference - our tap water tastes unpleasant, slightly improved filtered..... I've no problem with people bottling water from esoteric sources and selling it - the market will decide.

... yes, I felt that the statement was ambiguous. In the end I read it assuming that clean drinking tap water was an obvious human requirement, and that we were to consider the possibility of bottled water as an option. Like Richd: T and the late great Gill, bottled water is something I choose (badoit, vichy-st-yorre, châteldon by preference... ) so couldn't honestly regard that as "a sad reflection on our society" - rather it is an Additional Good Thing that makes life better.




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[Anastasius]

..... with state-owned 'public services', including transport and utilities …

That worked 'really well' the last time we tried it !

[Serial_Apologist]

I wondered about that question - access to free clean drinking water a basic human requirement, but like the late AA Gill I also regard water as a foodstuff, not just something for washing food down. Some people can taste the difference - our tap water tastes unpleasant, slightly improved filtered..... I've no problem with people bottling water from esoteric sources and selling it - the market will decide.

You obviously don't remember canned London fog.

[Serial_Apologist]

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... yes, I felt that the statement was ambiguous. In the end I read it assuming that clean drinking tap water was an obvious human requirement, and that we were to consider the possibility of bottled water as an option. Like Richd: T and the late great Gill, bottled water is something I choose (badoit, vichy-st-yorre, châteldon by preference... ) so couldn't honestly regard that as "a sad reflection on our society" - rather it is an Additional Good Thing that makes life better.




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I for one would be suspicious of anybody telling me this particular bottled water had come from this particular source. For starters, what about the source? Is everyone expected to carry knowledge about the putative health advantages of water coming from it? Sounds like a Victorian spa scam to me...

[teamsaint]

That worked 'really well' the last time we tried it !

So how is franchising of railways working out? Unpopular, and I’d suggest, unravelling. And don’t even think about sensible ticketing designed to take account of changing work patterns and the vast array of price anomolies that are created by our current “ system”.
Nationalised rail wasn’t by any means all bad. Intercity 125s are still going strong , for example.

[Bryn]

That worked 'really well' the last time we tried it !

https://fullfact.org/economy/government-funding-rail-industry-bbcqt/

[vinteuil]

I for one would be suspicious of anybody telling me this particular bottled water had come from this particular source. For starters, what about the source? Is everyone expected to carry knowledge about the putative health advantages of water coming from it? Sounds like a Victorian spa scam to me...

... o you sceptic serial!

I like these waters not for any possible health benefits but cos I like the taste.

And I like the phrasing used by Louis XIV's doctor Guy-Crescent Fagon when recommending the water of Châteldon : « Les eaux de Châteldon guériront votre Majesté quelquefois, la soulageront souvent, et la consoleront toujours. »


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[teamsaint]

... o you sceptic serial!

I like these waters not for any possible health benefits but cos I like the taste.

And I like the phrasing used by Louis XIV's doctor Guy-Crescent Fagon when recommending the water of Châteldon : « Les eaux de Châteldon guériront votre Majesté quelquefois, la soulageront souvent, et la consoleront toujours. »


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Tap water in London used to be undrinkable. Is it still so bad ?

[vinteuil]

Tap water in London used to be undrinkable. Is it still so bad ?

... London tap water is fine and we use it all the time. But the mineral waters I've mentioned above have particular tastes and go specially well with food. And they're slightly fizzy, too - which I like.

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