u/Expert-Sherbert-1527

just read her book "war of the return". I think she would be a great guest.

Just saw a board game called "No escape", and wondered about games where you get to be really evil and screw other people over.

What's the best one you've played.

On 17 October 1814 London experienced the great beer flood! A 15-foot-high wave of beer swept through the streets. 570 tonnes of porter flooded and killed 8 people.

https://preview.redd.it/j4n1gylhgakh1.jpg?width=846&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6708bb56661e106411b2491d56c65dbf4d48af92

I can't understand why you would flee to another country, that country offers you protection, pays for your board and food, basically making you a ward of the state and this is how you repay them?

Thank to everyone who helped in my last thread. I spoke with Citizens Advice this morning.

I've been advised that as my parents are citizens they are eligible for pension credit, despite only having worked for 6 years and never having saved anything.

This means they will be (unfortunately) staying. I had been hoping the lack of a pension would have forced them back home and into the care of other family members, but they will instead continue to be a thorn in my side over here.

Unfortunately, as I'm the most successful child, their care will likely fall on my shoulders.

So I have vague memories of a book from my childhood. It had a troll with a chest, maybe he was in the chest or maybe he was hiding something in there. There was a village and possibly some swans. I feel it was vaguely nordic. Like hans christian anderson? That kind of thing.

It left an impression with me and the art style was quite unique. It was also hardback.

Very UK thing IMO. French, and Spanish only seem to do it at the beach.

See a lot of them in town, and even in shops. Tends to be a type, no?

So I found out I was celiac almost by accident. Had a lot of joint pain over months and went to the doctors. They ran a panel and found I had it.

I have a friend who gets stomach ache and vomits or gets the runs when she eats gluten but I really have no idea at all.

Obviously I want to avoid it but there are times when I may be eating it without knowing? Like recently I started to get worried about spices, and lentils. Also a lot of "gluten free" stuff (IPA beer for instance) contains some gluten. Oats also worry me.

Like I might be getting glutened all the time.

Is there any way to test it? Also if I don't have much of a reaction is there much point in trying to avoid it? I've been gluten free (or so I hope) for 5 years at this point but hate a lot of the food.

I think I've reached the point in life where I'll happily read a brilliant book about almost anything.

Gardening? Great. Car repair? Sure. The history of agriculture? Absolutely. If someone tells me there's a 500-page masterpiece on concrete, medieval tax collection, or the evolution of staplers, I'm in.

So what's the best non-fiction book you've ever read? I don't care about the subject, I just want books that are so well-written, that they make you obsessed with a topic you never knew you cared about.

Hit me with your favourites.

I've been finding cucumbers in the UK have this weird Chemical taste recently. Is it just me?

https://preview.redd.it/n0ndabpdspfh1.jpg?width=1263&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b7b7dce8dd0fb212da2d48e68479daca67bcdac

I personally hate them so much I've considered vandalising them. But the buggers have been very firmly bolted into place!

Do I hate them because I want women to be abused? No... it's because they're yet another example of ill-conceived "doing something doing nothing"-ism, where you pretend to tackle a problem but your solution is so crap it does nothing to help.

Look, a guy who hangs around with other guys who catcall and abuse women will take no notice whatsoever or this sign. Guys who don't hang around with abusers (like me) have to read these stupid patronising signs every day while going to work, and feel "told off" by the state.

They're only in Leicester so this was someone in Leicester's bright idea. And judging by how well they're stuck on the creators knew they would be popular. Would be interesting to see if Leicester has lower abuse against women due to this signs. Have they made an effect at all? I doubt it.

edit: since everyone thinks these signs are wonderful, I propose we make more of them! Signs out side of shops saying "don't even think about shoplifting. It's wrong!", signs around the city centre saying "If you are thinking or robbing someone, think again!" Crime will be at an all time low in no time!

Just had my mind blow by AI. Apparently the vagina has no mucus producing glands...! Muscus comes from blood plasma! So why vaginal dryness? Because sjogrens doesn't actually attack glands it attacks epithelial cells.

Also - men's junk is also affected. ED is much higher among men with SD and some studies show 2/3 of men with sjogrens have ED.

More than 100,000 households currently living in social housing in England are now in the richest 20% of the population by income. That's not new tenancies going to wealthy applicants, allocation is genuinely need-based with 1.3 million households on waiting lists. It's existing tenants whose income has grown since they moved in, and the system never checks back in. Small share of the roughly 4 million social tenancies out there, but still a lot of homes given how long some families wait.

Meanwhile every FTB I talk to is grinding just to find 5% for a deposit, on top of stamp duty, solicitor fees, survey costs. Brutal climb before you even get near a mortgage offer.

There's already a mechanism built for exactly this scenario, and it's barely used. Back in 2015 the government tried to bring in "pay to stay", forcing social tenants earning over £30k (£40k in London) onto market rent instead of subsidised rent. It got dropped as a mandatory policy in November 2016 and left as optional for councils and housing associations. Most don't bother. So the tool that's meant to catch exactly this situation has sat unused for almost a decade.

On the FTB side it's a similar story of half-finished policy. The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme (aka Freedom to Buy) is now permanent, 5% deposit on homes up to £600k, which helps. But the Lifetime ISA's £450k property cap hasn't moved since 2017, quietly losing value against rising prices the whole time. The government's actually consulting right now on scrapping the LISA altogether for a new First Time Buyer ISA by 2028. First Homes offers new-builds at a permanent 30-50% discount to first-time buyers, so the price itself is lower rather than a top-up, though it only applies to homes specifically part of the scheme.

Portugal's cutting income tax for under-35s. If you're under 35 and earn up to €28k, you pay zero tax in year one. It steps up gradually after that, but even the top earners in that age group only pay 15% tax, way below the normal rate. First-time buyers under 35 also pay zero property transfer tax there. Netherlands does the same. Meanwhile the UK's offering a 5% deposit guarantee and reworking the LISA. What's actually being done here to get those 100k+ homes to people who need them, and give FTBs a real leg up instead of just tinkering at the edges?

I'm curious what the water pressure is like there? I used to live in Clarendon park and the water pressure was pitiful.