Fun Online Polls: Central heating; Crash for cash

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Have you turned on the central heating yet?

Yes - 46%
Not yet - 45%
We don't have central heating - 9%

Thanks to all 87 who took part. Looks like we are exactly on the cusp of than half of us having turned it on (to the extent that we have central heating).

JQ: Can't vote because there is no "no" or "other please specify". I do have central heating but "Not yet" implies that I will turn it on. I probably won't unless the winter is exceptionally cold. I didn't turn it on last year at all.

I'd count that as a "not yet" myself. But well done for making it through last winter unaided!
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Mr Yan: Next poll should be on this - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41360891

"We don't know the exact reason Birmingham features so heavily in these surveys,"

I think a poll on what factor causes this in Birmingham, Bradford, London and Oldham would be illuminating.

The same question occurred to me when I saw the article. Full list from here.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll:

Certain parts of Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester and Oldham topped the league for Crash for Cash. Do these areas have anything else in common?

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Man-made climate change & Have you turned on the central heating yet?

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

Are this year's strong hurricanes and Indian monsoon evidence of man-made climate change?

Yes - 10%
No - 90%

Thanks to all 114 who took part and 8 who re-Tweeted. I'm with the majority on this. It'd be bloody embarrassing if it turned out to be true.

Rapscallion in the comments linked to this fine article.
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Sticking with the weather, the Daily Mash republished their article on central heating, as it seems to do this time every year*.

So that's this week's Fun Online Poll:

"Have you turned on the central heating yet?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

* One recurring article we haven't seen this year is Ryanair switching to its winter schedule and blaming the reduction in the number of flights on high airport taxes. They've got themselves in to a whole different mess this year.

Fun Online Polls: Central heating, bank lending and debts

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were fairly evenly balanced:

Have you turned on your central heating yet?
Yes - 24%
No, but I probably will do soon - 8%
No, and I'm going to put it off as long as possible - 40%
No. What sort of wimp needs central heating? Put on a pullover! - 28%

Thanks to all 112 of you who took part. As a fully paid up wimps, we turned ours on last week.
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This week's question was submitted by Ralph Musgrave.

How many politicians call for more bank lending while simultaneously decrying the increase in debts?

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Fun Online Polls: Syrian refugees & Central heating

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll - on a good turnout of 102 - were as follows:

You're a Muslim fleeing the war zone in Syria or Iraq. What's the obvious destination?
Safer areas in Syria or Iraq - 20%
A neighbouring Muslim country 25%
A Muslim country which can be reached overland - 19%
North-west Europe, a society quite alien to you, via a highly risky journey across the Mediterranean 36%

Although the general perception is that they are all coming over here, those hundreds of thousands are just the tip of the iceberg and people on the ground are responding pretty much as you would expect.

Graeme left the following comment:

As far as I know, the numbers are:
Total refugees 12m
Refugees displaced within Syria 8m
Refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan 3.75m
Refugees in Europe 0.25m

Facts which could be used to justify a hardening of the European line: "if fleeing to Turkey etc is good enough for 98% of them, it must be good enough for the other 2%"; or it could be used to justify a softening: "oh, it's only a few of them who actually want to come here".

But these arguments are self-cancelling: if the line hardens, even fewer will try to come here, which then justifies a softening; if the line softens, more will try to come here, which will justify a hardening etc.
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Turning to more topical matters, have you turned on your central heating yet?

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.