I wondered why weight loss jabs were going to cost more and apparently "US President Donald Trump had previously complained about the high cost of drugs in the US, compared to other countries, and threatened the pharmaceutical industry if they didn't act." so Eli Lily levelled up and the UK private market has seen a price rise. Be careful what you wish for Donald.
When I used to cycle around Torbay our "beloved" council decided to increase the distance covered by cycle lanes so they installed dropped kerbs and put up signs directing cyclists on to the footpaths, no demarcation lines, no segregation of foot traffic and wheeled traffic. Then there was the section that originally took the cyclists down the same steps as the pedestrians. A year or two later the council installed an expensive ramp for wheeled traffic and of course the pedestrians used it as well.
We have some of those multi use footpaths @NigelJ , and they do seem to be well marked, but the signs on posts often get hidden by hedging/trees etc, which isn't helpful for anyone. Re your steps problem - I don't think there's any common sense anywhere nowadays - in any walk of life. Pardon the pun...
When runners come towards me on the pavement/footpath I revert to Grump Old Man mode. If they don't look as though they are going to go around me I stop then go into Grumpy Look and stand with my arms folded . Works for me!
In parts of the central one way system in Cheltenham, there are road markings allowing cyclists to go in the opposite direction against the traffic. No road markings to delineate where they can ride (not that it would make much difference), but a crazy idea in my opinion.
There are 2 large car parks at the western end of La Tranche-sur-Mer, a local beach resort which attracts thousands every year as it has long, sandy beaches designated for family use, surfers, windsurfers, sand surfers and dinghy sailors. Everyone seems to respect these. In order to maintain ease of access and safety there are two pathways along the side of these car parks leading to the main beach, shops and restaurants. They are clearly marked for cyclists and pedestrians and have arrows dividing each of those lanes into coming and going. Do people have the wit to read the signs and follow them? What do you think?
You may not be too interested @pete but what the USA does and says has wide repercussions in the rest of the world as it is the most powerful and rich of the "free" world and its influence on international monetary values, trade, wars and peace, ecology and global warming has a far reach. What Trump is doing is so astonishingly extreme that it has to be questioned. I won't list them all but here are a few reasons why you should be concerned. His announcements and fluctuations on tariffs affect trade everywhere including profits and thus jobs in the UK and other countries. His declared ambition to annex Canada and Greenland may seem like a joke to you but he's got agents in there spying and fomenting discontent with some success in Alberta and that's a huge worry for their national governments and citizens. His treatment of brown people, assuming them all to be illegal immigrants and criminals when they are mostly law abiding, tax paying, legal immigrants or citizens by birth is an outrageous breacjh of basic human rights. The removal of funding to organisations doing climate and medical research into cancer and Alzheimers, amongst others, will have huge repercussions for millions in the US as well as worldwide. The removal of the right of women to determine what happens to their bodies is barbaric and includes making 10 and 12 year old victims of rape complete their pregnancies and give birth. Then there's the whole moral thing of having a known liar, cheat, paedophile and insolvent man in charge of such a huge economy and society. His ambivalence and prevarication over support for Ukraine against illegal Russian attacks and invasion have cost many lives. He has withdrawn intelligence and military support as well as funding at crucial moments and is reluctant, thoughh obliged, to resume sending weapons at great cost to Ukraine's mineral assets in the future. The US constitution guarantees freedom of religion yet red states are now forcing schools to post the 10 commandments, all while their governorrs, senators, congressmen and attorney generals commit serial adultery and worse. If Trump and co get away with it other would be dictators will surely follow and the world will be even more destabilised.
Now this one gets a warning; it's disturbing and worrying; Radio 4 programme on a grey/black market in dead bodies and body parts in the US. BBC Radio 4 - Currently, The Body Shop
As for running and cycling and walking being on the same foot path; you wait until you come across a mobility scooter slowly processing along the centre with a fan of small terriers on extending leads on either side. The drivers get most upset if you ask them to restrain there dogs or move to one side or the other so you can pass. Imagine if you trip over a lead or catch it on your wheel, you may be hurt, but it doesn't bode well for any terrier involved.
I'm interested, of course. But I probably dont read as much propaganda as you appear to. He is only President until the next election and we will see what happens then, if its been a total debacle I'm sure he will get voted out along with the Republican party. He wont be there long enough to do all you appear to believe he is planning. I was only thinking the other day he seems to be softening his attitude and approach to a fair amount of things. He's not a trained politician like all the others so he says stupid things, mostly like normal people do, rather than just guarding his back and being totally non committal on all things, like the professional politicians we are so used to seeing. I just find it refreshing that a person in that position actually says what he thinks, right or wrong, rather than what he thinks the the loony mamby pamby bunch want to hear. One thing is for sure, unless someone on this side of the world gets a grip it wont be long until we are the Third World, (lots of them moving in now anyway), and we become the ones dominated by the likes of China, Russia and India. We are half way there now, not far to go.
@Obelix-Vendée, when did Trump get found guilty of sex with children? The US does have a huge global impact, but as it becomes a less reliable ally and trading partner, that may change. Imagine a world where all currencies were not linked through the dollar exchange? That would certainly be "interesting". Should the world be so reliant on one superpower? Probably not, as time at the top always runs out eventually. The thing about Trump is at least we can see what he is doing. Religion has been eroding women's rights and freedoms since the day man thought it up, but most of this is done in ways and in places that make a fight-back very difficult. Not so with Trump. We may not like some (or even all) of his policies, but he isn't sidling things through on the quiet, so procedures to challenge can (and have been) activated.
What I find strange is that the US is still considered a Super Power. According to President Trump, the rest of the world is treating his country badly and taking advantge particularly over trade and the expectation of financial support for Europe. That doen't sound like a Super Power to me. What is considered a Super Power these days ? Money, armaments ( especially nuclear ) or influence ? Take your pick. Despite his proclamations, he and his govt have done SFA to alter the position in the Israel/Gaza or the Russia/Ukraine wars. Little point pretending otherwise. If the MAGA desire is uppermost in his mind, he doesn't appear to be making a very good job of it as yet. Whilst he does have several criminal charges against him, like @ViewAhead I hadn't heard of any paedophile charges. Association with Epstein doesn't necessarily prove he was involved in those acts - think of Prince Andrew - iffy but not actually proven.
If the US isn't a Super power we have been relying on a lame duck for many years. I think Trump has this idea that tradewise other countries have been taking them for a ride, but that's down to what other governments have allowed to happen. Its happened and still happening here, we allow other countries to flood us with cheap produce, all produced under lesser rules than we let our own producers work. Recipe for total dependence on imports. We are even now becoming totally dependant imported labour because nobody born here wants to get dirty hands.
