Grumble Thread

[Bryn]

The original clip has just been shown again on the BBC News channel, followed by a 'new' interview, etc. with Ms. Weaver.

[french frank]

The original clip has just been shown again on the BBC News channel, followed by a 'new' interview, etc. with Ms. Weaver.

Not much news happening at the moment, then?

[Bryn]

Not much news happening at the moment, then?

Clearly not. I was alerted to this via FB a few minutes ago: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/141552...jackie-weaver/

[Nick Armstrong]

That's a bit unfair. It gives you "an" insight into such committees, but doesn't give you full insight. They may indeed have many "stupid" squabbles, and raise and attempt to deal with with matters which don't particularly interest you, but they do - arguably - serve a useful purpose. They are a part of the governance in the UK and if they were to be removed things would become even more "top down" than they are at the moment.

True enough, and I’m sure there are many out there with a taste and aptitude for participation to allow such work to continue...

[Dave2002]

Not much news happening at the moment, then?

Try the Parliament Channel and see what's going in on Scotland.

[french frank]

Try the Parliament Channel and see what's going in on Scotland.

I was merely referring to the re-regurgitation of Serial's favourite programmme. I get my news from newspapers.

[vinteuil]

True enough, and I’m sure there are many out there with a taste and aptitude for participation to allow such work to continue...

... I respect those who have a greater sense of social service than I do.

But I think the world is also divided in to 'joiners' and 'those who would do anything rather than join anything'. And I am a 'joiner' of that second class, if I may toy with Russell's paradox...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/russell-paradox/

.

[french frank]

... I respect those who have a greater sense of social service than I do.

That respect lifts you somewhat above the herd, monsieur - those who have no sense of social service, but who have no respect for those who do either. In the worst cases they merely condemn those who fulfil such service inadequately.

[Nick Armstrong]

... I respect those who have a greater sense of social service than I do.

But I think the world is also divided in to 'joiners' and 'those who would do anything rather than join anything'. And I am a 'joiner' of that second class, if I may toy with Russell's paradox...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/russell-paradox/

.

Count me in too

[eighthobstruction]

....I have thought about being a Parish Councillor - Independant (you bet ya)....but was put off by the other Parish councillors who to be brief and not use too many adjectives - obnoxious....petty and vengeful....self important....50% of 12 were like that....

[gradus]

....I have thought about being a Parish Councillor - Independant (you bet ya)....but was put off by the other Parish councillors who be brief and not use too many adjectives - obnoxious....petty and vengeful....self important....50% of 12 were like that....

Our parish councillors are a decent bunch and if you want to get larger scale things done in your community their support can be near-essential, since one of the first questions asked by large organisations whom you wish to take action will be 'Are the Parish Council behind this?'

[eighthobstruction]

Our parish councillors are a decent bunch and if you want to get larger scale things done in your community their support can be near-essential, since one of the first questions asked by large organisations whom you wish to take action will be 'Are the Parish Council behind this?'

....Oh certainly, yes , we have 2 gems, 4 straight forward types , but some dreadful others embedded for years (I am talking a little historically by a few years, early 2000's)

[Dave2002]

True enough, and I’m sure there are many out there with a taste and aptitude for participation to allow such work to continue...

I was for a while a parish councillor - which turned out to be a lot harder than I expected. Some of the work was boring, while some was quite interesting. Did we achieve much? Maybe not a great deal, though we did get a flood in one street sorted out. The flood had happened every year for ages, but eventually we managed to get one of the drains cleared which releaved the problem. That was not completely trivial as it required co-ordinating several services and also getting a legal order to permit one of the agents access to the property which had the drain running under its land. It was one small but useful success in several years.

Mostly we approved planning submissions, though we also opposed some big developments. That was not good, but it appeared that the wishes of local residents were frequently trampled upon by developers intent on making a profit in an area of the south east which is already significantly over developed. I honestly can't say that things would be better without the lower levels of local government.

We could often spot problems, though we weren't able to fix too many of them.

We do need some people to do things like that.

[french frank]

I honestly can't say that things would be better without the lower levels of local government.

It is the case for federalism that decisions should be taken at the level closest to the people affected as is practically possible. Worth considering the classical Greek origin of the word 'idiot' - ἰδιώτης

[Dave2002]

I'll come back to discussions of federalism and etymology later!

One really big gripe I have is the lack of written instructions in many situations. I suppose many of us may have noticed the "instructions" in self assembly furniture - often from one rather large company with an original base outside the UK.

Another situation is the EV chargers for cars now being put up in various places, and in Scotland some are administered by an organisation called Chargeplace Scotland. There are different chargers, and hardly any have sensible instructions. Does one put the charge cable into the car first? Does one press a button on the charging unit first? Does one swipe one's access/payment card first? Does one have to initiate anything in the car first? ... and so on.

Having pictures is just not good enough. One variant seems to have captive charging cable which can't be released until the card is touched on the reader, but it is then possible to get into a situation in which if the cable "plug" is then put into the car, that the EV charger won't start. It is easily possible to spend (waste) 20 minutes trying to get this sorted. On top of that, some of the chargers do have faults from time to time, so one may waste a lot of time and only then discover that the charger is out of action. Sometimes hitting the emergency off button works - but that's another story.

I cannot imagine why any organisation would not provide sensible instructions in English on the equipment for people in a generally English speaking country.
This is the height of stupidity. Perhaps it's a deliberate attempt to deter people from buying or using electric vehicles.