Jason

Pubs warn over plastic pints plan

Plans to replace the traditional pint glass with one made of shatter-proof plastic will not be accepted by drinkers, the pub industry has warned.

Pubs may be forced to to offer smaller glass sizes for wine and spirits

Pubs and bars could be forced to offer smaller glass sizes under plans to tackle binge drinking being drawn up by ministers. Action against premises that offer the largest measures of wine and spirits as standard is one of the key elements of a package due to be announced this autumn.

MPs call for pub happy hours ban

Pub happy hours should be banned and supermarkets stopped from selling alcohol at a loss in order to combat drink-fuelled disorder, MPs have said.

Children barred from snow-covered parks

Children have been barred from playing in snow-covered parks.


And just because, and no I do not smoke.

Drivers who smoke at the wheel to be hit with £60 fine and three penalty points

Cathy95820

How will we know if all you fine people are happy without a bona fide sanctioned Happy Hour????

SABL

Can I have a plastic of ale, please. That's gonna sound real nice!! I do keep a glass mug in the freezer in case I wish to have a nice frosty drink.... plastic does not have the same thermal properties as glass. I'm a traditionalist and prefer glass even though I do own some tupperware items.

As for the smaller serving of spirits advised by the ministry.... you might not wish to visit your vicar in the late hour of any evening. The smaller servings will have no effect other than to force you to make more trips to the bar. More research is needed to see if this a marketing ploy where the ministry is placed with all blame.

The "happy hour" has been around for ages.... no valid comment can be made by me. I do not frequent local pubs and all consumption is at home. I can drink at a reasonable price in my own home..... the company is rather limited, though. Meeting a nice woman is nil.....maybe I should consider happy hour at the local establishment?? Maybe not so good.....would hate to go home with a lasting impression.

Looks like we are at snow covered parks. Again, I did not check the link provided by Jason. I did survive my youth and many happy memories are from playing in the snow. Far too much emphasis is placed on the safety of our children and much enjoyment is being deprived... A child needs to grow and develope but the fun of being a child is long gone. It is up to the parent to provide the utmost protection for the child. All five of my children are alive and well... I used my judgement to ensure their safety. I really discount any reccomendation by any "egghead" that relies on textbook education without firsthand experience. Theories are beneficial and much can be gleaned by trying to think of future consequences or probabilities. I will reiterate that unless you have real life experience you have no opinion or any valid input. My children are healthy.... their happiness is in their hands. Although my youngest is 28 I still look out for their well-being and privide for their protection... regardless of age they are still my children.

OK.....kinda drifted but decided to post my thoughts. Might not be relevant to Jason's post but it is what it is. I have opinions and on occasion will express them.

WereBo

The original idea of the 'Happy Hour' (1/2 price drinks), between 5:30-6:30PM was rather good, to offer folks leaving work a chance to 'unwind' for an hour, before heading off home. It reduced the 'Rush-Hour' travel on the trains and roads, and people usually arrived home a lot more relaxed.

Now, the happy-hour' can be all evening/night, actively encouraging young drinkers to be (even more) obnoxious. I'd lake to either see the original timing enforced, or the practice stopped entirely.

Tying it in with the plastic-glasses, trouble-free pubs have real glasses - pubs that are known to be troublesome and rowdy have to use plastic pots or get closed down.

As for smoking behind the wheel - As several of the readers comments say, smokers suffering with nicotine-withdrawal while driving is asking for trouble. The police don't even enforce the no-phone rules, until an accident has occurred.

Hell, the police don't even use their indicators when turning or changing lanes!!! (I've mentioned that to quite a few coppers, while sat at traffic-lights). I reckon there's going to be a lot of civil disobedience to this one, at least, I sincerely hope so....

Joefireline

The 'red tape' does seem to have gone well OTT in this country tbh, I can see the point of using plastic cups, with the violence issue, they'll just end up using their fists though, although it's not as dangerous. TBH though, all they need to do is enforce the law that pubs are not allowed to serve people who are drunk, would solve alot of the issues related to violence, and would be less strain on the NHS, police etc

The smaller glass sizes though, I can definately understand, I think it would help reduce binge drinking, although to a small degree, but it wouldn't have any negative affect on anyone, wouldn't stop you from ordering larger sizes...

I also agree with banning happy hour, as it just encourages people to misuse alcohol. People would drink alot more in happy hour, and would increase drunk related issues greatly.

With this point, people are going to be driving, are you encouraging drink driving here? I don't think many people realise, but you need very little amounts of alcohol to have an affect on your driving. I feel that if people are going to be driving, or doing anything that is dangerous and requires alot of attention, they should not be consuming any alcohol at all for the 24hrs beforehand of driving. (Although you don't need 24hrs to get it out of your system, it varies for different people, a overkill here is better than a underkill). Anyway, that's sort of going onto a different point altogether.

With the snow in the park thing, I think this is ridiculous, another example of too much red tape. This hole red tape thing has gone way too far!

With the smoking at the wheel though, I agree 100% with. Smoking while driving has the same sort of affect on your consentration as talking on a phone. I have actually seen the consequences of smoking, only a small accident, because it was at low speed, at high speed though could have extreme consequences. Infact, I'd have it as a £100 fine, or more. If people are putting other peoples lives in danger, they deserve to be punished.
With WereBo's point about the 'nicotine-withdrawal', they should have to pull in first, just like you have to when using a mobile phone, then smoke.
Also, about them not enforcing the phone law, they do enforce it, but not enough.

So basically, my opinion is less red tape on silly things, but more needs to be done in prevently drink related crimes and driving without due care and attention (smoking, talking on mobile, eating etc)

PS: I'm glad I don't live in the USA:
- fattest and unhealthiest nation
- crappy cars
- life revolves around cheeseburgers
- likely to get shot
- Uses English language, but spells things incorrectly. (My spelling isn't great, but at least I don't change the spellings of things to suit my inability to spell.

Don't take any of that personally btw, I'm just making a point as Jason called this thread "I'm glad I do not live in the UK", as you can pick up bad point about any country in the world, and in my opinion, weighing up the positives and negatives, the UK is a better country that the USA to live in. That's my opinion, not nessasarily yours, so don't flame me for saying it...

simpswr

I lived in London in the 80's and really enjoyed the pub life . . I rarely find one I like as much in the US . . Last time I visited, my local had been remodeled into a fern bar . . ugly!! It was old ( one of the old devided ones ) and needed some upgradeing, but they went to far!

Cathy95820

To Joefireline

"...PS: I'm glad I don't live in the USA:
- fattest and unhealthiest nation
- crappy cars
- life revolves around cheeseburgers
- likely to get shot
- Uses English language, but spells things incorrectly. (My spelling isn't great, but at least I don't change the spellings of things to suit my inability to spell."...

How can we not take that personally?

Thanks alot...Clearly you have issues. My generation didm't alter the language so that point is....well .....pointless



I am FAT so what...my husband loves me and I haven't changed since we were married
18 364/365th years ago!...tomorrow is our 19th Anniversary.

I don't own a car.....I might get shot, yes, probably cause I'm a bigger target easier to hit than you! ROFLMAO!

And you know what? God Bless You anyway!

WereBo

Having been a driver for 30+ years and 2 minor accidents in all that time (non-smoking related), I'll agree to disagree with that

Joefireline

Look, my intension was not to offend you, just to make a point, if it does offend you, then you must not be living how you want to be living, so maybe try and change? If you're happy with the way you are, then you have no need to take offense to anything I say. Simply ignore or accept my opinions.

Congratulations with your Anniversary btw!

speedster123

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=AU&h...&v=0OidSD14mGE
YouTube - Top 10 Aussie Beer Commercials

Cathy95820

ty

Done_Fishin

I wonder why I fancy a cold one now, Bruce ??

carsey

To be honest, other countries offer cheaper drinks which are 300x cheaper than the UK, take spanish/greek countries where its very cheap for .5L of beer. You dont see any of their countries having alcohol related problems.

Smaller glass(or plastic) sizes will make absolutely no difference at all. People will drink as much as they want, what that does it create more plastic that needs to go into landfill and create Co2, and I have to make 2 or 3 more trips to a bar as the drink has gone quicker as its smaller amount. People go out to get drunk and have a good time, NOBODY will be able to stop this.

Happy hours.....They aint really going to stop either.


What a load of junk. Soon, they will make it illegal to have radios in the car if we have to stop every 2minutes to change the station or track because its not our favourite. I play my music loud in my car, ive paid good money to have a good system so im going to listen it. What one person classes as loud may be quiet to another, so thats basically unenforceable.

I think the government are getting it all wrong......Lets add more tax to things people need every day such as a car, petrol, and loads of other things.

Do you really see many people stop smoking or drinking because the government thought putting the prices up would stop people? I certainly dont.

And you wonder why we are in a recession...........

Done_Fishin

of the very few occasions I have been involved in a traffic accident, one of them was when I was about 20 years old. Approaching traffic lights slowly I took out a cigarette to smoke, fumbled. dropped it and gently bumped into the car in front when I reached down to pick it up! Didn't do any major damage apart to my pocket trying to save my No claims bonus for the dent I put in the other guys bumper / fender.

MichaelTech

Our tobacco prices are up, but not as much as the rest of the world.
Gas is holding steady, cheaper than the rest of the world, and now, BEER is going up!
The big three, owned by foreign investors, is unjustly raising prices for their domestic beers. As a life long Miller High Life drinker, I will eschew their products, and start buying local micro-brews. Gonna try the patch to quit smoking, the VA sent me a months worth, and now Ijust have to make the choice. Just three left in the pack, so here goes!

SABL

Haven't noticed the increase with Miller...... $14.49 for 30 cans. Still a big shock to my system is switching from Samuel Adams Boston Lager (note my nic) due to economical circumstances. I'm only a few steps away from the "Poor Farm".

MichaelTech

I like the Sam Adams beers, but stay away from any wheat based brew. It does not like me! The Bev-Mo here in Simi is well stocked, but a lot of old stuff that may be past it's drinkability. Most of the Caifornia micros have a "trendy" attitude, and are priced so.
16oz six pack of High Life was $2.99! for a long time, then it got popular, and has gone up to $6.05. Of course, the greedy distributors have a lot to do with that.

SABL

Gotta watch the date on beer, it is not like wine and deteriates with age (like me). I think the limit is 120 days. When I could afford Sam Adams most stores were stocked with fresh beer due to the fact that I helped rotate their stock with frequent purchases.

I think Sam is around $16.00 for a 12 pack.... with Miller HL I get 18 more beers for less money. The one thing about a full-bodied beer is that it is drinkable at room temperature. Not so with Miller or any other weak American beer.... I'd be surprised if AB (Budweiser) can carry much of a market in the UK unless they have changed their recipe. AB does make "American Ale" that might do well in the European Market except for the name. Wonder if any of our friends "across the pond" can make the call if AB has a chance in the UK and if they chill their beer/ale like we yanks do.

WereBo

Not me, I like my ale at room temperature, there's little or no taste otherwise. There's quite a few American beers in the UK, they're selling, but I haven't a clue about how much.

Jason

This could be said for many things. Cigars, or maybe even a soda. Maybe you spilled the soda which caused you to look down for that blink of a second where you ran into the person in front of you. Now I am personally biased. The only accident I was involved in was a rainy night. I managed to stop in time to avoid the accident in front of me that just happened. Sadly, the person behind me did not, well, truth be told the person behind them slammed into them which caused them to hit me.

Lots of things are a distraction in a vehicle. Many people question why I have a remote control for my car stereo system. No, it is not because I like to think I'm cool. The remote enables me to keep my eyes on the road while changing radio stations, volume, or other functions.

My biggest pet peeve with people who smoke in their vehicles is that they through their butts out the window. I've seen far worse from people who drink, put on make up, read, or other distractions from driving. Down here it seems common for the older people to fall asleep or mistake the gas for the break. For about 6 months you could not read the paper without seeing an article about a senior citizen forgetting what peddle is what and running into a house/building.

I'm the exact opposite. For some reason the past summer wheat beer is hitting the spot. More specifically, Shock Top has been my go to beer. I hate that they add an orange to it, but something about it just makes me smile. Even more so however, I have been drinking wine. More specific mead, and for the brand Bunratty. With the wedding the past week I told myself that if I drank a glass of Bunratty Meade for the first month it would bring me good luck, due to old traditions. (I even kissed the wife several times under the good luck tree in St. Augustine). Tonight I may have had a bit too much of the old stuff though. While in St. Augustine I also went to San Sebastian Winery. Worth a visit. I tried a port that knocked my socks off. Ended up ordering some of that along with a few other wines from them. So I have not ended up drinking much beer lately. I still need to send some to 40, however.

I love beer at room temperature also. Room temperature is supposed to really mean cellar temperature. I do hate it when a place brings me a glass that has been stuck in a freezer and frozen with ice chunks on it. There is one pub who has got it right. It is about an hour drive an owned by someone from Ireland. I sadly get to visit often. But their Guinness is the best I've had. If you go on the right nights they even put a shamrock in it for you.