Sunday 15 January: The PM should stand up for the Scottish majority and veto Sturgeon’s gender Bill

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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540 thoughts on “Sunday 15 January: The PM should stand up for the Scottish majority and veto Sturgeon’s gender Bill”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolk, a story for today.

    Entertainment Night

    It was entertainment night at the senior citizens’ centre. After the community sing-song led by Alice at the piano it was time for the Star of the Show – Claude the Hypnotist!

    Claude explained that he was going to put the whole audience into a trance … “Yes, each and every one of you and all at the same time,” said Claude.

    The excited chatter dropped to silence as Claude carefully withdrew from his waistcoat pocket a beautiful antique gold pocket watch and chain … “I want you to keep your eyes on this watch” said Claude, holding the watch high for all to see.
    “It is a very special and valuable watch that has been in my family for six generations” said Claude.

    He began to swing the watch gently back and forth while quietly chanting … “Watch the watch – Watch the watch – Watch the watch”

    The audience became mesmerised as the watch swayed back and forth, the lights twinkling as they were reflected from its gleaming surfaces. A hundred and fifty pairs of eyes followed the movements of the gently swaying watch. And then, suddenly, the chain broke!!!

    The beautiful watch fell to the stage and burst apart on impact!

    “SHIT” said Claude.

    It took them three days to clean the Senior Citizens’ Centre and Claude was never invited to entertain again!

  4. 379992+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Why the pretence, face facts, if it is not applicable to the WEF agenda, forget it.

    Sunday 15 January: The PM should stand up for the Scottish majority and veto Sturgeon’s gender Bill

  5. The PM should stand up for the Scottish majority and veto Sturgeon’s gender Bill

    Ha ha, nice one, since when has any politician stood up for the majority in the last 32 years?

    1. Does anybody here seriously think that Sunak is principled, honest, strong or even remotely competent?

  8. Morning all. Dog keener to go out today! So here is a real “boo hoo” story. This poor man was left anxious after being asked questions. Of course, these “trams-activists” don’t like being asked questions because it exposes the hollowness of their ideology. In a sane world, this man would be in a mental hospital but this is 2023. The penultimate paragraph is a hoot., but note the use of language – “anxiety”, “cruel” etc. But on a serious note, this pseudo-science neo-Marxism is one of our number one issues that we need to push back on, and a period of non-silence on this issue from the aGovernment would be very welcome.

    “A TRANS activist has hit out at “cruel” Royal College of Psychiatrists members after facing a question and answer session following a lecture.

    Dr Joseph Hartland, a senior lecturer at Bristol Medical School, was invited to address members at the Royal College of Psychiatrists about gender identity on Nov 23. But the lecturer was left “sad and angry” by a “flurry” of gender-critical questions at the college.

    During the talk, Dr Hartland, who has drawn up a charter for medical schools to divert from government policy on conversion therapy, told the audience about “ze/hir” pronouns and warned that using incorrect pronouns repeatedly “is an act of aggression”.

    It was also claimed that “whilst we traditionally consider two sexes, there is a spectrum of biological differences” and the term “pregnant people” was used to explain how “biological sex is also socially constructed”

    At one point in the lecture, an image of Gandalf, the Lord of the Rings character, was changed to “trandalf” with a trans flag backdrop to warn against “ideas of binary identity” and attendees were told that “being an ally requires you to educate yourself ”. Dr Hartland took to Twitter following the talk to condemn how “the questions came immediately, without warning” from gender-critical audience members.

    “I’m feeling sad and angry, Royal College of Psychiatry staff were really supportive, but I’m so disappointed in my profession”, the former NHS doctor added, speculating that “an anti-trans group somehow infiltrated the invite and attendance data”.

    Dr Hartland added: “I saw a flurry of cruel and unexpected questions. In my anxiety I tried to keep my presentation going.”

    The Royal College of Psychiatrists said: “We are appalled by the treatment of the presenters [during] our CCQI EDI webinar. “It represents the opposite to the college values, which we strive to uphold every day.””

    2. The questions were ‘unexpected’? Ze genuinely thought there was no other way of thinking?
      Poor old Dr.H has really drunk the Kool Aid.

      1. Unexpected questions at a lecture? How very dare they!

        Exposure to ridicule is the only answer; see the bBC ‘comedian’ who had bread rolls lobbed at him when he left the sanctity of the Ministry of Truth and tried his spiel in front of a non-vetted audience.

        Free the bubble dwellers!

    3. ….speculating that “an anti-trans group somehow infiltrated the invite and attendance data”.

      Nope. Just ordinary folk.

    4. You got a link to that? Tried doing a search and only got the Pressreader version. Apparently it is a Telegraph article.

      1. Ahh no, i read the Terriblegraph on Press Reader. I gave up my sub to the paper in June 2020 as I disagreed with the editorial stance it was taking at the time.

        Edit. To confirm, it was in today’s Press Reader Sunday Terriblegraph.

    5. I saw a flurry of cruel and unexpected questions

      Anodyne questions which do not try to get to the truth are not good journalism.

      I would like to ask whom Prince Harry will blame when his marriage breaks up.

  9. Prince Harry has left the zoo, so why is he being treated like a caged animal? 15 January 2023

    Accused of trying to destroy the monarchy, he’s merely revealing the appalling conditions they are forced to live under.

    Like the zoo’s inhabitants the Royals are better fed and cared for in captivity than they would be in the wild. Harry like most escapees from his enclosure is a danger to the general public and should be shot on sight!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/14/prince-harry-has-left-the-zoo-so-why-is-he-being-treated-like-a-caged-animal

    2. Harry broke out from Edinburgh Zoo as he could no longer endure the Forced March of the Penguins each afternoon. On the bright side, they p-p-picked him up and it cured his stutter.

      1. OK, not the best quality pies, but surprisingly tasty and filling and perfect as an emergency standby, so long as you have a means of cooking it.

        1. Agreed, BoB, but I think Feargal was referring to the IMPORTANT notice printed on the lid.

          1. Yes, quite! No doubt someone has done that!
            A bit like the reports I’ve heard of the exploding self heating cans of soup that were part of the compo rations from the ’40s to the ’50s/early 60s.

  12. 370002+ up ticks,

    Dt,

    Sir Keir Starmer: I will slash ‘nonsense’ bureaucracy in the NHS
    ‘Reform or die’ warning as Labour leader criticises ‘mind-boggling waste of time, energy and money’

    The latter will be the case as he draws the scalpel across the jugular of the NHS a promise,vow or pledge given
    by the lab/lib/con/current ukip paedophile umbrella coalition is worth shite, that is a proven fact.

    If the same voting pattern is followed without a credible opposition party coming to the fore we as a Nation / indigenous peoples will NEVER realise a state of healthy wellbeing, integrity and self respect again, all that the majority voter have kissed X goodby via the ballot booth.

    1. “I will do such things –
      What they are
      Yet I know not;
      But they will be the very terrors of the earth desk pilots.”

    2. He is only saying what he knows voters want to hear but hasn’t the slightest intention of carrying out anything that matters.

      1. 370002+ up ticks,

        Morning Mib,
        I make you right, in my book many of the voters want to believe it only because to believe otherwise as to what odious monster they have created via the ballot booth would prove far to painful.

    1. 370002+ up ticks,

      O2O

      Is there any truth Og that in house politico’s are clamouring to become tank crews, and are demanding training.

    2. Helmer sabre rattling. How is this deployment strategic?
      Strategic – relating to the gaining of overall or long-term military advantage. What, with 15 tanks?

      These machines are technically complex and so, unless British tank crews will be manning them, the Ukrainians will have to be trained in all the complexity of operating them under battle conditions.
      Sunak is a complete fool, whether he came to this decision on his own – unlikely – or if he has been ordered to do so by outside influences.
      When these 15 are written down, what then, Mr wannabee statesman?

      1. HMG is utterly foolhardy. Actually I wanted to say effin stupid but …. What does Sunak expect the Russians to do in response? This is America’s war NOT OURS. Sheer lunacy.

      1. Don’t – that reminds me all too painfully of wandering aimlessly round the mega Sainsbury’s carpark.
        “Next time I WILL note the letter above the section.”

  14. At least 14 dead and more wounded in Russian attack on civilian areas. 15 January 2023.

    The death toll from a Russian missile strike that destroyed an apartment building in Dnipro has climbed to 14, in what was the Kremlin’s biggest attack on Ukraine so far this year.

    Rescuers scoured through rubble for survivors through the night, the regional governor said early on Sunday.

    “The search operation is ongoing,” Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, wrote at 2.50am local time on Telegram.

    Some 38 people have been rescued, but about two dozen remained missing and an unknown number of residents were trapped under a massive pile of debris.

    This is not deliberate. There is no advantage to the Russians of any kind, militarily, tactically or strategically in knocking over apartment blocks with very expensive missiles and it would also be counter-productive (witness the above) from a propaganda viewpoint. These impacts are rare but are almost certainly the product of Ukrainian (actually American) Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) that have deflected them from their real targets. This is of course of no comfort to those hit but at least the mass of the population can sleep in their beds knowing that there is no policy of deliberate de-housing such as the allies employed during WWII! This very probably explains the lack of alarm among the general public.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/14/five-killed-wounded-russian-attack-civilian-areas/

  15. ‘Morning, Peeps.  A nice dry start to the day!  The back garden is still partly under water but draining slowly.

    SIR – You report (January 8) that letting dogs into pubs and shops can lead to a 50 per cent rise in trade. However, it’s important to differentiate between dog-friendly and dog-tolerant premises.

    I’ve lost count of the number of supposedly dog-friendly pubs that limit dogs to inappropriate outdoor areas or don’t provide water bowls.

    I remember having a meal at a wine bar and restaurant in Belgium where the staff were confused that we felt we had to ask if they allowed dogs in.

    We British have a long way to go before the majority of dog-friendly outlets are truly such.

    Owen Passey
    Sheffield, South Yorkshire

    Around here the village shops are very dog-friendly, and not just tolerant.  Our Lab pup is now four months old and raring to meet and greet everyone.  She, along with other dogs, is welcomed just about everywhere – with one notable exception now… our optician is a dog-lover and had previously welcomed her in.  However, he recently found out the hard way that dogs are not permitted after he was anonymously reported to the NHS, who promptly told him in no uncertain terms that non-assistance dogs are banned from any premises undertaking NHS work, even though the front part of his premises is just a small shop with a desk, a few chairs and some display stock. Quite illogical. When Mrs HJ worked in a small hospital some years ago now her boss, the senior administrator, always took her dog to work, as did other staff. No record of any adverse effects – quite the opposite in fact.

    1. Hmm. I am in two minds about this.
      We stayed on a dog-friendly camp-site a couple of years ago, and there was a giant dog poo sitting right in the middle of the main way from our tent to the kitchen/bathrooms.
      Our local hardware shop is also dog-friendly, and it was an interesting experience when I went there to pick up some two metre lengths of wood, and someone in the same aisle had a small dog on a long lead.

      1. Good morning Richard and bb2. As in most human activities there are always a few who let the side down…

        Some friends of ours, also Lab owners, are frequent visitors with her to a hospice, under the PAT dogs scheme. The enjoyment and comfort these dogs bring to patients of all ages is quite remarkable. If ours turns out to be suitable – and the signs are good so far – she will undergo the relevant training when old enough.

        (PAT scheme: https://petsastherapy.org/)

        1. Elderly chum is now far gone: among the few words that still bring a smile to her face are “little dog”. She has forgotten little dog’s name, but she can still remember him.

      2. Morning all.

        It irritates me seeing owners with dogs on long leads, they might just as well not be in one. The dogs are allowed to go where they like and if they jump up at you the owner usually say “he won’t harm you he just wants to play”. I don’t mind dogs but do not like them jumping up at me.

      3. The same thing happened to us some years ago. The culprit, according to another caravanner, was the site owner’s own dog! Strangely we didn’t go back there.

      1. Ours was 12.5 yrs when she was put down last April. Training a new pup is very rewarding, and hilarious at times. Fortunately she’s keen and quick to learn.

        1. They are lovely dogs and fairly easy to teach right from wrong.
          I’ve told off twice at airports for saying hello to the staff.

      1. We don’t need an emotional dog! Happy to leave the blubbing to newsreaders and slebs…😁

    4. There’s a restaurant in Ironbridge that is doing Sunday lunches for dogs with some of the proceeds going to a local rehoming centre. I’m thinking I might take the boys one Sunday. It’s so popular, you have to book.

  19. Morning, all Y’all.
    Been snowing again overnight. The level is somewhere between the axles and top of the tyre on the car. Comes up even further on the kitten…

  20. Three dead boa constrictors discovered at Carbeth Loch near Glasgow. 15 January 2023.

    An animal rights charity is appealing for information after the bodies of three snakes were found at a fly-tipping spot near Glasgow.

    The Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) said the boa constrictors were discovered by a member of the public at a site near Carbeth Loch in Blanefield.

    It said two of the snakes were found among rubbish on 9 January and that a third was discovered in the same location the next day.

    Perhaps they swam the Atlantic!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/three-dead-boa-constrictors-discovered-carbeth-loch-glasgow-scotland-snake

        1. Every thing this government does is ripping off tax payers and home owners. All others live here for nothing.
          Politicians them selves take hefty pay outs from the expenses pot.

  21. Morning all 😉 😊 again.
    At least its dry but snow has been forecast. I think we’d have been off to Perth WA to stay with friends, if I hadn’t had these damn health problems. The insurance costs right now would be phenomenal.

      1. Last time we went 6 of us rented a large timber property near Denmark, Bimbim byway was the name of the road. Over looking the Southern ocean.
        I often wish we could/should have stayed.

      2. We drove south and 6 of us stayed near Denmark. In a big old timber house in road named Bimbimbi Way.

  24. First birdie for a while

    Wordle 575 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
    🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Par Four for me.

      Wordle 575 4/6
      🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
      🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
      🟨🟨🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. I got into quite a string of messages with someone who disagreed with my opinion on her. He eventually blocked me!

    1. Most potholes these days are the result of badly repaired previous ones. Councils haven’t got a clue how to repair them, their view is that to keep repairing then means a continuity of work.

      1. In CT the traffic guys on the radio used to joke that the highway dept. filled the potholes with Indian Pudding. If it rained again, it all washed out.

          1. I haven’t heard today but his phone is running out of juice. He is supposed to have his op today. I have booked, privately, my friend cab driver for tomorrow and she is going to take me down so I can see him and take some stuff for him.
            Have to make a return trip to Sainsbury’s for the stuff I forgot yesterday and to get some cash. It’s the only ATM near here.
            My list of jobs is as long as my arm but I need to keep busy.

      4. Yup. Plug pothole with a dollop of tar.
        Rain followed by frost pops them out again like corks.

    1. It was reported this week that the Brecon National Park was not diverse enough and advisors had been appointed from the disabled, blick and LBGT+ communities to fix the problem. Strewth, I thought that there were plenty of cottages in Wales..

      1. How does that work, I wonder? Build a shopping centre to be regularly raided?
        Here, the countryside is currently excludung all those not fitted with skis. Should I set up a “community” to complain that the unskiied cannot access it?

      2. If you would like to discuss ‘cottaging and Black Faces’, with the “Chaps in uniform”, who you find wandering the Beacons, make sure that your Last Willl and Testament is in order

      3. Brecon National Park was not diverse enough and advisors had been appointed
        What is wrong with all these effing idiots ?

      4. I’m sure someone posted a bBC report on here suggesting that the National Parks didn’t encourage enough ‘asian’ visitors, when what they actually meant was subcontinental visitors. As other parts of Asia are well represented.

      1. Great minds and all that. I posted my response without having seen yours!

        (I believe it was the catchphrase of that TV magician Paul Daniels)

  32. Why the Dutch apology for slavery leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. 15 January 2023.

    But, first, the history. Dutch colonies in the Caribbean, which were the centre of its genocidal slave trade during the so-called “golden age” in the Netherlands, remained as such until 1954, when the government eventually agreed to semi-decolonise its territories.

    The ruling white minority elites negotiated a six-island union, the Netherlands Antilles, which by the 21st century, after a series of referendums, had become an arrangement whereby three islands, stripped of their self-rule, are governed directly from the Netherlands as municipalities, and three are “autonomous countries” within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

    In reality, in the autonomous countries government spending is scrutinised and needs Dutch approval from an oversight board. Social services are under-resourced, forcing people to live in impoverished conditions. Primary schools in Curaçao, for instance – where Dutch is privileged over the local language, Papiamentu – fail students again and again. With enraged sadness I see our Caribbean societies stay underdeveloped, constantly under siege by the colonial powers.

    I was not aware that any genocide has occurred among the slaves transported to the America’s. Rather the reverse in fact. They have multiplied and prospered in the New World, which is more than can be said for its indigenous populations who they have largely replaced. Papiamentu as mentioned here, is neither African nor American in origin it is a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese which gives you some idea of those truly responsible for their presence in what are or were Dutch colonies. The problem is of course that appealing to either of these for reparations is a truly futile experience!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/14/dutch-apology-slavery-reparation-caribbean

      1. …While we don’t even incorporate the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands into the United Kingdom. NOTTLers will recall that Dom MIntoff initially wanted Malta to become a county within the UK.

    2. We cannor even get Scotland to be part of the UK, except of course they need money and work/jobs

    3. Slaves were valuable assets. Nobody was wanting them dead, that would be a waste of money.

    4. Any mention in the article of the Kalinago or Igneri? The essential problem is that small islands are uncompetitive when compared with
      any mainland economy.
      As for other results of the ‘genocidal slave trade’, have a glance at Haiti.

    1. Possibly because other sources are pay walled?

      Royal Navy’s new DRONE ships: Britain will unleash fleet of 100 robo-ships to hunt terror gangs smuggling Iranian missiles and drugs in the Middle East
      Terror gangs smuggling Iranian missiles and drugs to be hunted by new drones
      Britain’s top military officer in the Gulf lays out plans to tackle criminal gangs
      By the summer about 100 robo-ships could be patrolling Middle Eastern waters
      It comes as Commodore Adrian Fryer said he was ‘alive’ to the threat Iran poses

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11412559/Gangs-smuggling-Iranian-missiles-drugs-Gulf-hunted-100-new-drones.html

      1. We have renewed our DT online subscription at about a quarter of the price they initially asked.

        Never pay the DT immediately – wait because they will always be offering “special deals”.

        Has anyone got any tips about how to get over or round the Times’s pay wall?

        1. I did this just before Christmas – the DT wanted to increase the price by 50%. I rang up to cancel, and they renewed my subscription at a lower price than I had already been paying!

          2. “Doesn’t stop it being a useless left wing rag.”

            Which ‘rag’ do you mean jd?

          3. A good point. One assumes the Times, but the Telegraph isn’t helping itself.

            I’m tempted to subscribe simply to smack the remoaners and climate change fanatics into the sand.

          4. I cancelled mine yesterday. They not only refunded last months sub but gave me 6 months at £5 pm. I could have had a year at £49 plus a £20 M&S voucher!

        3. Mine was jacked up last month, so cancelled the DD. I’m waiting for a call, I’ve seen £29 for the year mentioned BTL in DT letters.

      2. Britain’s top military officer in the Gulf lays out plans to tackle criminal gangs

        Wadda loda bolero, they can’t even patrol the English channel with any effect.

      3. Put a few in the channel – much more use, especially if on a ‘seek and destroy’ mission.

  34. Girl, 7, in critical condition after drive-by shooting at London memorial service

    Five other people were also injured when a gunman opened fire from a ‘black car’ on mourners outside St Aloysius R.C. Church near Euston

    Eyewitnesses claimed the gunman fired on mourners from a “black car” while they were paying their respects to Fresia Calderon, 50, and her
    daughter, Sara Sanchez, 20, who died last November.

    Life in UK 2023

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/14/london-drive-by-shooting-euston-st-aloysius-three-women-girl/

      1. Oslo seems to be becoming the new Stockholm/Malmö/Rinkeby… we haven’t started with the bombs yet, but give it time.

      1. Remove the guns from the law-abiding citizens and the only ones left with guns are the criminals.
        The pity is that the police and courts do not stamp down heavily enough on gun crime.

        1. As Firstborn said, why would anyone who wants a gun for criminal purposes go through the faff of joining a pistol club, training regulary for a year, applying to the police for a permit (and have no criminal record in the first place), waiting a long time, pay a fee, and get a permit that allows them to buy a Glock from a gunshop at twice or 3 times the price of buying one from a bloke in a pub tomorrow?

          1. In US to buy a gun you have to go through a background check. That’s in stores and gun shops. However, if you go to a gun and knife fair, background checks are not done, so guess where the potential criminals go?
            The worrying thing to me is that I would pass a background check even with my appalling eyesight.

          2. I believe there is a blind shooters association. You have a sighted spotter telling you where the shots are going.

          3. Did I mention that I also have no sense of direction ? 😉
            Which is why I don’t play darts.

  35. “A coalition of outspoken critics and skeptics of the mainstream narratives on COVID-19 has brought an antitrust lawsuit against some of the world’s largest news organizations, accusing them of working in collaboration to suppress dissenting voices surrounding the pandemic

    Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights’ Ripple Of Hope Awards at New York Hilton Midtown in New York City on Dec. 12, 2018. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
    The lawsuit (pdf), filed on Tuesday in a federal court in Texas, targets The Washington Post, the British Broadcasting Corp (BBC), The Associated Press (AP), and Reuters—all of which are members of the “Trusted News Initiative (TNI),” a self-described “industry partnership” formed in 2020 among legacy media giants and big tech companies.

    “By their own admission, members of the TNI have agreed to work together, and have in fact worked together, to exclude from the world’s dominant internet platforms rival news publishers who engage in reporting that challenges and competes with TNI members’ reporting on certain issues relating to COVID-19 and U.S. politics,” the complaint reads.
    Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a critic of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccination policies, led the lawsuit. He is joined by Creative Destruction Media, Trial Site News, Truth About Vaccines founders Ty and Charlene Bollinger, independent journalist Ben Swann, Health Nut News publisher Erin Elizabeth Finn, Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft, Dr. Joseph Mercola, and Ben Tapper, a chiropractor.”

    The plaintiffs, the lawsuit alleges, are among the many victims of the TNI’s “group boycott” tactic, defined as a coordinated effort to facilitate monopoly by cutting off the competitors’ access to supplies and necessities.

    1. Good luck with that.

      The American Judicial system will soon quash that, on orders from the WEF.

    1. ‘White’ people aren’t white in colour – more pink than white, whereas white paint isn’t the same colour as ‘white’ people.

      1. Poème à mon frère blanc (Poem to my white brother) Léopold Sédar SENGHOR

        Dear White brother,

        When I was born, I was black,
        When I grew up, I was black,
        When I’m in the sun, I’m black,
        When I’m sick, I’m black,
        When I die, I’ll be black.
        While you white man,

        When you were born, you were pink,
        When you grew up, you were white,
        When you go to the sun, you are red,
        When you’re cold, you’re blue,
        When you’re scared, you’re green,
        When you’re sick, you’re yellow,
        When you die, you will be grey.
        So, of us two,
        Who is the coloured man?

        1. Although when I was doing some sea training with a very impressive guy from the Trinidad & Tobago coastguard he got very seasick and was definitely a rather odd shade of greeny black!

      2. I had to do unconscious bias training a while back. The hectorer, a black woman immediately said i was privileged and had bias. I replied that I didn’t, and why did she think it appropriate to pick on a white male? Wasn’t that racist, displaying *her* bias?

        She then said I had a privileged upbringing. I asked her to define privileged. She said having more than someone else. I asked her what my name was. She didn’t know, therefore I asked her to explain how she woulc have researched my family history to know if i had a privileged upbringing or not, providing her bias again.

        I found out later she complained about me for being disruptive. I explained the situation to my manager, with supporting colleagues and he said ‘do the damned training, keep quiet or they won’t let you interview’. That is why this hateful nonsense profliterates.

        2. Out of interest, was the lady Afro-Caribbean or African?
          I have often noticed a difference in attitude, though that could in itself have been influenced unconsciously by my ‘vibes’.

          1. Afro-Caribbean also has its roots in Africa so no difference there.

            Scratch a little and it always comes back to the ‘dark’ continent.

            It seems we also originated there but got out because, “♪♫It’s too Darn Hot.♪♫“

        3. They don’t like it up ‘em, because then their nonsense “arguments” fall to pieces. So then they turn it around back on to you, and whine about the “anxiety” they felt by the “hostile questions”

          Seriously, how we have let these people dictate our lives I have no idea.

      3. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0c247b00b5f191d2b39e3a217c5908da3da63b137b908ca95e0ec310ecf8b7f6.jpg

        LORD UNCLE TOM

        by: Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953)

        Lord Uncle Tom was different from
        What other nobles are.
        For they are yellow or pink, I think,
        But he was black as tar.

        He had his Father’s debonair
        And rather easy pride:
        But his complexion and his hair
        Were from the mother’s side.

        He often mingled in debate
        And latterly displayed
        Experience of peculiar weight
        Upon the Cocoa-trade.

        But now He speaks no more. The Bill
        Which he could not abide,
        It preyed upon his mind until
        He sickened, paled, and died.

      4. Yes, recently I felt obliged to start a query about a children’s learn-to-read book; the main character is a SE Asian woman whose skin tone is either sallow or pale yellow, which contrasts with the appearance of european and indian characters.
        Book published recently, we are not talking about Ping the duck (Marjorie Flack. 1933).

        1. I’m yellow. Too many malaria pills as a child. Colour drifts towards old tube train ceiling sludge brown (remember the 1970s tube trains, when you could smoke?) when I’ve meen in the sun.
          Does thaat make me white?

          1. When I’ve been in the sun, Paul, I’m no longer pale but startling red – and it bloody hurts, that why, even living in S Spain for 5 years, I quickly learned to keep to the shade.

      1. It’s a pity that Norway didn’t have colonies, even though we do make paint.
        “The Research Council of Norway is spending over $1.2 million USD on a project that is dedicated to discovering how the country has contributed to the spread of “whiteness” globally, through colonialism and through paint.

        The research project, “How Norway Made the World Whiter (NorWhite),” hosted by the University of Bergen, describes “whiteness” as “​one of today’s key societal and political concerns.”

        1. ……….. one of today’s key societal and political concerns.”

          Only to woke idiots with nothing to do and in non jobs.

          1. Vikings. As was Dublin & the West coast of Scotland. And Istanbul, Sicily… buggers got everywhere!

          5. I am a High Priestess of Avalon. What do I get called here? Lottie. Ethel can deal with it 😉

          8. I remember, when early on this forum, looking up your possible names.

            Several appeared, not least, Elaine, Evienne, Nimue, Nimueh, Niniane, Nivian, Nyneve, Viviane

            Which do you espouse, Ann?

          17. & Sicily ….. The Three Legged Symbol (as used on the Isle of Man) is also used in Sicily

        4. These people are just deranged,m aren’t they?

          “One of today’s key societal and political concerns.”

          Only if you are a total idiot, is it.

  38. Apart from Thai ladyboys, I wonder why one hears so little about trannies except amongst white people?
    I don’t think I’ve ever seen an example. I don’t count those occasional female athletes who have strong male characteristics.

    1. The more coloured the skin, the more fundamental the attitude.
      High-rise buildings, anyone??

    2. We used to go to Bugis Street in Singapore to look at the lady boys but that is no longer there.

      A few ales and back to bed – without any lady boys. There were too many other diversions at the Rainbow club next the Holiday Inn, Scotts Road, just off Orchard Road. That was well before Rainbows had any other meaning.

    1. Big government wants this. It wants our decent, cultured society overrun with barbaric savages. Endless demands for state services then and, of course, abject revenge for Brexit.

    2. Evacuate the staff. Lock the doors. Bar the windows.
      Leave the savages to fight themselves to a standstill. Or preferably, lying very still.

  40. Referring to the headline: “The PM should stand up for the Scottish majority and veto Sturgeon’s gender Bill”

    Shunk will wait until his masters have told him what to think. As the WEF aim to destabilise the family unit he’ll likely completely endorse this demented nonsense.

    1. Politicians are always harping on about the future we leave for the next generation, but normalisation of insanity is really off the plot.

    1. If it had been 3 Wise women, not only would they have got there in time but taken some useful things- as the comment says. How about a casserole, some crusty bread etc and, of course, some vino!

    2. Good afternoon Poppiesmum, and everyone.
      We have the NHS to bring pads & painkillers, but the Virgin had the IHS.

        1. A small heap of fresh guts – just where you put your foot first thing in the morning when you open the door to welcome them in for breakfast.

          1. Yup.
            In my case, at the bottom of the stairs, just where a bare foot would be placed… I can live without cold intestines between (freshly showered) toes…

          2. Toes? I can suggest an alternative… :-))

            Actually, I bought seven new pairs of socks in M&S, Exeter, while I was in Devon last week. I don’t see any need to change socks daily, but the interface between my plastic feet and my shoes seems to destroy socks in short order. Since they have a plywood core, I try to keep them dry. But the plastic shells seem to absorb dye from my socks, so every once in a while I attack them with bleach, whilst wearing the old legs.

  42. To encourage less fit pensioners amongst us – here are two snaps taken this week in the Savoie. Le Grand Mont is near Beaufort – and about 20 miles from Mont Blanc. My friend Henri (on the right) is one of a group of pensioners who go mountain skiing. The combined age of Henri and his chum is 145 years…..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/93b3e57a78a1c9407df67427c0fa85c183dd5e6d4a5840ed9bc5457e79479826.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8475dbe8b71c2eca51ff6d0038f86038e1d0cf974a5d1e0e733f7c5a0d386d81.jpg

    2. How fortunate they are. I’ve driven through the tunnel on the way to Tuscany, does that count ?
      It was chucking it down with rain in France and beautifully sunny on the south exit.

      What a coincidence. I’ve just sent a message to my nephew and his wife who live in the North Pennines. “When I can walk more than 6 steps without being out of breath, we will come up to see you”.
      He took a couple of saplings I had in pots. A walnut and a conifer and has planted them for me. Amongst quite a few hundred others recently planted.

        1. If that’s Mont Blanc. It was a few years back, I think it was around 7 miles long. I’ve got some photos somewhere of the beautiful scenery the other side.

    3. I remember rounding a corner en route to Chamonix. And there, in front of us, was Mont Blanc. Mind blowing and unforgettable.

    4. That’s only 70! Heck, I propositioned a 60 year old at our gym today! – and a damned sexy woman she is too!

  44. Harry’s trials……..”and then he kicked my sandcastle over at the beach and said “That’s because you’ll never have one!”

    –Prince Harry

  45. I’ve just bumped into a mate who I haven’t seen for a while, he says he’s
    gonna divorce the wife because she has’nt spoken to him for 3 months, I
    told him not to be so hasty and think things thru – women like that are
    hard to find !

    2. I had a pal who hadn’t spoken to his wife for 5 years – he didn’t want to interrupt her

      1. Nope. The entire reason energy is expensive is deliberate. High taxes, subsidy and contracts for difference to ensure all energy is sold at the highest price is the problem.

        The state has rigged the energy market. Until nonsense like that stopped, and govenrment forbidden from ever meddling with markets again this sort of nonsense will continue.

        1. Yes of course, but they are ripping off the general public to subsidise the existence of thousands of illegal immigrants.

      1. 370002+ up ticks,

        Afternoon W,
        If we continue to adhere to the same voting pattern yes, it has been made obvious over the last three plus decades that that is what the majority of voters wanted.

  47. Well, waiting for part of our family to visit and bored with snooker. I’ve been watching Wendy Ball. And a very impressive 6 0 win by Manchester United over eh eh Liverpool 👏 😀.
    Good to watch. No diving playing the fool, rolling on the grass feigning injuries.
    I just hope there’s no intention of trying to change the name of the winning club. Femchester United.

  48. Phew! Got lower end of the the ash log lifted a couple of feet ready for pulling out once I devise a method of supporting it. Hopefully I can use a couple of 10′ scaffolding poles with a 6′ bit for cross bracing and some swivel clamps to make a sheerlegs that might do the job.

    Also got the last dead elm roped up for felling. Hopefully will get that done tomorrow or Tuesday.

    Could be en route to Glasgow later in the week. Just bid on a bit of machinery t’Lad wants for his workshop. Plan stopping a couple of nights.
    Now getting dark and it’s turned cold.

  49. Just spent a frustrating hour doing the e-visa form for my next trip to Kenya. Put in all the details, uploaded the required documents, got to the payment screen……… and the whole lot disappeared!!

    4. I have a tip. Not sure if it will/would work but….When you have finished a section and answered all the Q’s. Refresh the page…..

  50. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/wellness-con-why-spending-billions-bid-feel-better/

    The “wellness con”, in this article, is defined by expensive treatments that have little or no scientific basis.

    In the article, I found this little nugget:

    In 2019, Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director and professor of renal medicine at University College London, said: “At a time when health misinformation is running riot on social media, it is reckless and exploitative to peddle ineffective and misleading treatments.

    Pity they didn’t apply that to the covid vaccines, then…

    4. I attended UCL in the mid seventies. Even then friends in the medico school(s) were being financed and groomed by Glaxo. Much the same occurred at Imperial and the financial influence of China and WHO (Gates) led us to the Ferguson set.

  51. That’s me for today. Singing off early. I haven’t felt much like NoTTLing today. One of those days…though the MR (quite rightly) “persuaded” me to go for a 45 minute walk – which helped with the aches and pains and anxieties.

    It is going to get cold (but – allegedly – sunny) for the next four/five days – so will be looking out even more pullovers.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain.. DV.

  52. Four brothers row across the Atlantic in 32 days
    Hamish, Jack, Arthur and Euan Friend covered 3,000 miles from Canary Islands to Antigua raising £90,000 for homelessness and youth charities
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/01/14/four-brothers-row-across-atlantic-32-days/

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/31097d420e0a1e12f4c93f93094dfb9a7eb9f3f6fb66c6ff5008de7a55f20169.jpg

    A splendid achievement! Pretty good considering that with sails it took me 19 days to get from Tenerife to Barbados in 1984.

    Two pairs of twins! All four of them were at my old school, Blundell’s, and one of them came to us a couple of times on a French course. (And got an A grade in his French “A” level)

    2. I’m presuming the DT photos are pre-crossing, they just don’t look weather beaten enough to have just finished 32 days in an open boat in the Atlantic.

      1. 370002+ up ticks,

        Afternoon GG,
        They are both in agreement, both right, specially RB and the end warning.

          1. BB2,
            vaccines are a form of insurance, rather like baptism, or having faith in some religion.

    2. Right from the beginning, I had doubts about this particular vaccine, knowing how long it takes for any drug or vaccine to go through the development and clinical trials process (I worked for the R&D department of a major pharmaceuticals company in IT for over 20 years). I am by no means an anti-vaxxer, knowing how beneficial vaccines are. To be labelled an ‘anti-vaxxer’ because of expressing concerns about the stupidly short time taken to develop and approve this particular ‘vaccine’, is, in my opinion, an insult.

      1. 370002+up ticks.

        Evening A,

        I’v had jabs / boosters before in regards to working overseas,no worries knowing them to be tried & tested over years, am in complete agreement with your post.

      3. They meant to insult us “no thank you very much, highly suspicious to produce a jab in 8/9 months” sensible people. Part of the psychological warfare waged against all and sundry. I have started to ask others, when the subject is brought up, did you have all the childhood vaccines? And did you have to have 3 or 4 boosters ? And did you ever catch what you were vaccinated against back then? I think it’s time we not only defend our decisions/suspicions but need to start posing the questions.

      3. SWMBO tells me that a Norwegian publisher has pulled out of a deal to publish the book here.
        Good.

      4. My son-in-law ordered a copy of it from Amazon. They sent him two copies by mistake. He offered me the second copy free. I declined.

        1. Oh, I’d happily “spend a penny” on it – and the subject.
          The way he’s pissed on pretty well everybody, he deserves it.

          2. Here I sit broken hearted- paid a penny and only farted.
            Seen on the inside of a loo door at London Bridge station many years ago.

  55. Just phoned the hospital and finally got to speak to my husband. He’s back on the ward and had his surgery this morning. He is going to be assessed by physio tomorrow and I told him I was coming down to see him and bring him some stuff. He was contemplating his dinner and said he couldn’t tell if it was beef or chicken. Urk.
    Anyway he sounded alert and said he’s pain free but he hasn’t tried walking yet. It took me ages to get hold of anyone and, yes, I know it’s Sunday.
    The relief I feel is amazing. Hopefully I shall sleep well tonight which wasn’t the case last night. I was roaming around down in the living room at 1.30.
    Let’s hope his recovery continues apace.

    2. Excellent news, Ann! Relief all round! 😀
      30 years ago, Crawley hospital staff canteen won food prizes; the food served to patients (including SWMBO) was a disgrace – a sandwich only, with a scoop of Smash that was cold, powdery inside, and had a skin on.
      Take the poor man something of his favourite to eat! And a bottle of Tabasco to give the food some flavour.

      1. Am planning to smuggle in a couple of pork pies. And some other contraband. Wicked I am 😉

      1. Isn’t it just- I have been beside myself. We have only been together for a few years and I couldn’t have borne it to be over yet.
        Thanks K.

    6. Good luck to the both of you, particularly you Nimaue.

      They also serve, who only stand and wait.

    9. Happy to hear that he has had surgery, onwards now for the recovery and physio. Take care and have one (or two) on me!!

    13. That seems very positive, Ann. Hope all continues to go well. Did put in a good word for you at church this morning, if that helps.

    1. European city of culture.
      Ha bloody ha;
      Whose culture?
      Certainly not that of the civilised world, or rather what remains of the civilised world.

  57. I was reminded by recent events, the billions unaccounted for in Ukraine, murmurings surrounding the vanishing trillion dollars from the US Federal Reserve and reports of Vatican financial corruption with its impending bankruptcy, of the death last week of Cardinal George Pell.

    Cardinal Pell was investigating Vatican finances until falsely accused of child molesting, convicted and imprisoned in Victoria for 400 days before being released. He wrote anonymously that Pope Francis was a disaster for the Catholic Church, a fact only realised after his death. (Edited Pope Francis for Benedict).

    I have reached the ultimate conspiracy theory: ask who actually funds the Davos meetings where the global elites meet up to revue the progress of their plans to impoverish and kill the rest of us…..think of the owners of the Federal Reserve, Rothschilds, Rockefellers etc., the very same bankers turn up at Davos along with their motley crew of criminal gangster political ‘leaders’.

    The world is being robbed blind by these crooks. Now they enlist 5000+ Swiss soldiers for protection as they swill the finest wines and gorge on Beef Wellington.

    1. Not sure Bringing Back Boris would lead to any improvement unless they Build Boris Back Better first.
      I think the lazy lout just got fed up of hard work and being blamed, and did not have the stomach to bring in the next phase.
      Sunak on the other hand, has form in doing what billionaires tell him.

    2. I’m presuming there’s some irony here. Who would want Johnson back, or May, or Truss, or Cameron or even have Sunak at all?

      1. 370002+ up ticks,

        Evening M,

        The wretch cameron I pegged as the first tier of the eu semi reentry missile, treacherous treasa as the second tier,her 9 month delay confirmed it, and the turkish delight as the reentry pilot.

        Treacherous treasa placement via leadership farce gove the assassin / candidate, leadsome supposedly found the kitchen to hot after one short visit and johnson the victim, ALL with temporary equity cards.

  60. I’ve always loved pipe organs, but never knew squat about how to play them – having absolutely no musical talent doesn’t help, but after watching the YT below, I have a little more understanding!
    (BTW, just increases my respect for Geoff even more!)
    https://youtu.be/XLSLHfCdm5E

    1. Check out my nephew on YT- James Orford. He’s a bloody good organist. I had lessons but my legs weren’t long enough to reach the pedals!

        1. Well, I couldn’t catch you- not now anyway. Always won the sprint at school. I could however whack you with my stick ;-))

          1. I’ve got a dodgy knee at the moment, so you’d probably have a better chance of catching me.

          3. As you get older, minor injuries, even cuts and bruises, take longer to heal than when you were younger. An inevitable part of ageing, I’m afraid.

          8. I don’t take any regular medication but right now I’m coughing for England. Been there before though. It does stop in its own good time. Two visits to Wigmore Hall next week, which will mean I’m the irritating sod getting the black looks. I will try not to but again, been there done that before. It’s difficult.

          9. I’ve been very fortunate in not requiring any prescription medicine for over 5 years. I did have a cough a couple of weeks back but that has cleared. I take a couple of Vit D tablets every day which is said to help the old immune system….

          10. Lucky you, Stephen, my medication plus the vit D and Magnesium amounts to six tablets in the morning and another six at night!

          12. Benylin, Day/Night Nurse or some such may quell it for a while.

            I too cough quite heartily from time to time but that’s COPD for you.

          13. Certainly not I. My artritis is “active” at the moment – in other words, giving me gyp!

          15. Touch wood, Stephen, I am physically and mentally in robust health. Except for a “sore” left hip which forces me to lie in bed on my right side and keep my left leg alongside the right one to give me a little more comfort. I suspect this means a (left) hip replacement in a few years’ time.

      2. My nephew is also a talented organist. According to MOH, I had no musical talent whatsoever (despite having sung in various choirs and made recordings!).

        1. My husband thinks he can sing quite well- not. However I cannot wait to have him home and singing out of tune to everything.

    2. Thanks for posting. I’ve sent link to eldest daughter who played the Christmas carols on the local Church organ…

  61. Breaking news…Drive-by memorial shooting may be linked to deceased’s husband’s drug gang past

    Really? Surely not? Well who’da thought it? Yadda yadda
    I’m sure everyone on here thought that from the first moment it hit the news.
    Have a happy evening one and all.

    1. When I saw that piece of news (the shooting), I was unable to summon up any emotion apart from a weary “Again?”
      I hate feeling this cynical about someone being murdered, but it’s just so predictable.

    2. I read that the dead woman came from Colombia. It wasn’t difficult to put two and two together to work out the possible reason behind the shooting.

    3. Well, BoB, I did mention this as a strong possibility in my post of a couple of days ago.

  63. A groaner for you:

    A lorry containing nasal sprays, overturned on the M4
    The Police are not expecting any congestion.

    2. I did buy 2 boxes of Tom Smith’s crackers but I took them down to my daughters for Christmas dinner and I can’t remember the jokes, these are from what I’ve heard lately! (Have not yet lost my sense of humor)!!

      2. I had roast lamb for my Christmas dinner, Jill, I find that the plastic trinkets in crackers stick between my teeth. Lol.

    2. I used to be against capital punishment but…when do we build the gallows. How bad does it have to get?

      2. All their net zero policies have only one logical explanation, which is that they are designed for a much reduced population.
        “Net zero agriculture” will feed about a tenth of the population. Perhaps more if we consent to eat the output of the bug factories.

        All totalitarian efforts to manage agriculture have resulted in famine and deaths, sometimes millions. Stalin and Mao should serve as a warning, but people are hung up on one dictator from the twentieth century, and blithely ignore the warnings from all the rest.

      3. Let’s practise make do and mend, Sue. Just glance up at the lampposts as you make your way to work, and smile.

        1. A garrote can be made out of many different materials, including ropes, cloth, cable ties, fishing lines, nylon, guitar strings, telephone cord or piano wire.

    4. If ever there was/is a case for dissolving not only the Wee Pretendy Parliament but the Welsh and N Irish Assemblies as well.

      Pie in the sky talking shops, with grandiose ideas and the egos to match, plus the unsustainable costs of their regional fantasies.

      Let Westminster take both the responsibility and accountability for them, and spend some time looking at, and resolving, the real problems besetting the whole Kingdom.

      In other words let Westminster do their job and earn their corn.

  65. An interesting observation, if one isn’t logged in one can see the posts of the cowards who block you. When you try to reply to their posts the response can’t be put up.

    Scotland and their proposed rationing of car use is quite likely to harm Scotland far more than it ever will help them.

    1. However the creeping restriction on car usage by us plebs needs to be brought to a halt. Somehow!

      2. Give it time, the average individual puts themselves before a nebulous, so-called common good. Even St Greta.

    2. Scotland is more sparsely populated than England. This must inevitably mean that people in more remote areas will be more dependent on their own transport as public transport in those areas is non-existent. More joined-up thinking from the SNP. Why do Scots keep voting for these morons?

        1. Good grief! Given some of the views espoused by millions of English folk I could well have some Scottish blood in my veins!

          1. Not a drop of Gaelic blood in my bloodline (Oh, maybe the ‘Empress’ Matilda (1102 -1167) daughter of Edith of Scotland) but Scandinavian, French, Spanish and Greek – plus the full-blooded English heritage – the others are mere by blows.

  66. Interviewer: How would you describe yourself?
    Me: Verbally, but I also prepared a dance.

    1. …and the Muppet, Sweeney, cannot see that the country faces ruin because of the policies of Bliar and all subsequent PMs who’ve followed in his frost-bitten footsteps.

  69. Evening, all. The PM is unlikely to stand up for anything that will be of value to this country. That isn’t why he was appointed.

    1. Yes, appointed and not elected by anyone. I am disenfranchised because there is no party I would be happy voting for. Raving Monster Loonies? Well, at least they admit they are loony.

    2. I doubt if he would sit down or lie down for anything either. He is a tool in the hands of Gates and Schwab.

      The vote for Brexit was over 6½ year ago and the MPs, the House of Lords, the civil service, the BBC and most of the MSM look as if they will succeed in getting us back into the monstrous EU.

  72. No one Wordling today?

    Wordle 575 3/6

    ⬜🟨🟩🟨🟩
    🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. I did. Par 4.
      Wordle 575 4/6

      ⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
      ⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩
      🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

          1. How DARE you insult me, Sue Ed?!?!? How very DARE you insult me?!?!? Wash your mouth out with soap!!! (Can’t do Lol smiley faces, but I hope you realise your post didn’t offend me as much as it made me laugh out loud!) And good morning to you, btw.

        2. A film for you; The Young Savages.
          Burt Lancaster.
          Excellent film from 1961. It rings bells from what we see happening in the UK.

  73. The Met Office issue a snow warning for where I live, yet no snow is shown on the currrent detailed online forecast.They are so often wrong about their warnings. They never co-ordinate their forecasts.

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