Wednesday 15 March: To a former medic, the junior doctor strikes reflect a sad shift in values

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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661 thoughts on “Wednesday 15 March: To a former medic, the junior doctor strikes reflect a sad shift in values”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s stories

    A Re-run Of The 2013 Darwin Awards

    Eighth Place

    In Detroit, a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after squeezing head first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys.

    Seventh Place

    A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker, who “totally zoned when he ran”, accidentally jogged off a 100-foot high cliff on his daily run.

    Sixth Place

    While at the beach, Daniel Jones, 21, dug an 8-foot hole for protection from the wind and had been sitting in a beach chair at the bottom, when it collapsed, burying him beneath 5 feet of sand. People on the beach used their hands and shovels trying to get him out but could not reach him. It took rescue workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him. Jones was pronounced dead at a hospital.

    Fifth Place

    Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed as he fell through the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burgling. Death was caused when the long flashlight he had placed in his mouth to keep his hands free rammed into the base of his skull as he hit the floor.

    Fourth Place

    Sylvester Briddell, Jr., 26, was killed as he won a bet with friends who said he would not put a revolver loaded with four bullets into his mouth and pull the trigger.

    Third Place

    After stepping around a marked police patrol car parked at the front door, a man walked into H&J Leather & Firearms intent on robbing the store. The shop was full of customers and a uniformed officer was standing at the counter. Upon seeing the officer, the would-be robber announced a hold-up and fired a few wild shots from a target pistol.

    The officer and a clerk promptly returned fire, and several customers also drew their guns and fired. The robber was pronounced dead at the scene by Paramedics. Crime scene investigators located 47 expended cartridge cases in the shop. The subsequent autopsy revealed 23 gunshot wounds. Ballistics identified rounds from 7 different weapons. No one else was hurt.

    HONOURABLE MENTION

    Paul Stiller, 47, and his wife Bonnie were bored just driving around at 2 A.M. so they lit a quarter stick of dynamite to toss out the window to see what would happen. Apparently, they failed to notice that the window was closed.

    RUNNER UP

    Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from a local bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more excited, and at least 10 men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 AM. Upon arrival at the midpoint of the bridge, they discovered that no one had brought a bungee rope. Bingham, who had continued drinking, volunteered and pointed out that a coil of lineman’s cable lay nearby. They secured one end around Bingham’s leg and then tied the other to the bridge. His fall lasted 40 feet before the cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall into the icy water and was rescued by two nearby fishermen. Bingham’s foot was never located.

    AND THE WINNER IS….

    Zookeeper Friedrich Riesfeldt (Paderborn, Germany) fed his constipated elephant 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries, figs and prunes before the plugged-up pachyderm finally got relief. Investigators say ill-fated Friedrich, 46, was attempting to give the ailing elephant an olive oil enema when the relieved beast unloaded.

    The sheer force of the elephant’s unexpected defecation knocked Mr Riesfeldt to the ground where he struck his head on a rock as the elephant continued to evacuate 200 pounds of dung on top of him. It seems to be just one of those freak accidents that proves… ‘Shit happens’

    It Always Seems Important To Thank These People For Removing Themselves From The Gene Pool.

    2. Tom, your daily jokes are always good ones, but today’s list is the funniest you’ve ever posted. I still can’t stop laughing as I post this.

  4. Good morning all
    Advice needed…
    My daughter has that virus that’s going round, with sore throat and fever. She’s now on the fourth day of both.
    How long did the fever last for other people? What would be a red flag to panic about?

    1. The signs and symptoms of a cold usually begin one to two days after exposure. In children, nasal congestion is the most prominent symptom. Children can also have clear, yellow, or green-colored nasal discharge. Fever (temperature higher than 100.4°F or 38°C) is common during the first three days of the illness. Other symptoms may include sore throat, cough, irritability, difficulty sleeping, and decreased appetite.

      I hope that helps BB. I did read a personal account a few days ago but cannot now recall where!

      https://www.uptodate.com/contents/the-common-cold-in-children-beyond-the-basics/print#:~:text=colored%20nasal%20discharge.-,Fever%20(temperature%20higher%20than%20100.4%C2%B0F%20or%2038%C2%B0,three%20days%20of%20the%20illness.

      1. It’s definitely more than a cold. (Wish there was a proper term for more than a cold but not flu.)
        When I went in earlier, she looked at death’s door. She is now sitting up and phoning though.
        Problem is, I am about to depart for two days’ skiing…my dearly beloved has had a rotten time recently, so I am loathe to cancel the skiing…Daughter 2 and Son 1 are at home to keep an eye on her, and the fridge is packed with invalid food.

        But if I am in touch with her by phone, I’m not sure what questions to ask to know whether I should come rushing home.

          2. Keep fluids going in.
            When really sweaty with fever, hot chilli/curry for dinner, plenty beer & really hot bath, then bed.
            Should shift the fever, food will taste of something, and beer hydrates and anaesthetizes for a decent zed.

        2. As I’ve a rotten one at the moment myself, my best advice would be to keep warm, rest and drink a lot. All fairly useless advice in real terms. If your daughter has been ill for more than 8 days then I’d call a doctor, as it could be a chest infection that requires antibiotics.

        3. Isn’t it a bit cruel to leave her with a fridge full of past its sell-by?

          }:-O

          I hope she is sufficiently recovered in a couple of days that you needn’t worry and can both enjoy the skiing.

    2. This advice was published recently about Strept: Might be worth checking listed symptoms:

      What’s a Streptococcal infection?
      These infections are caused by several strains of bacteria – the most common are streptococcus A and streptococcus B.
      Most group A streptococcal bacteria cause skin and throat infections, including:  strep throat (sore throat)
       impetigo (infection of the skin producing pus-filled blisters)
       cellulitis (infection of the skin, fat and underlying tissues)
       erysipelas (inflammation of the upper layers of the skin)
       tonsillitis (severe throat infection)
       scarlet fever (infection causing sore throat, fever and rash)
      Group A streptococcal bacteria can get into the blood, deep muscle or fat tissue and cause what are known as invasive streptococcal infections, including:
       bacteraemia (blood infection)
       endocarditis (heart lining infection)
       meningitis (brain and spinal cord inflammation)
       peritonitis (intestinal inflammation)
       urinary tract infection
       necrotising fasciitis (death of tissue under the skin)
       streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (infection causing low blood pressure and injury
      to organs such as the kidneys, liver and lungs)
      Group B streptococcal bacteria usually cause infections in newborn babies, such as lung infection, blood poisoning and meningitis.
      Some people are carriers of streptococcal bacteria on their skin or in their throat, vagina, bladder or rectum. Carriers do not develop an infection.
      What are the symptoms?
      Streptococcal bacteria cause a wide range of infections. Each infection produces different symptoms.
      Symptoms of the most common streptococcal infection – strep throat – include:  sore, red throat
       fever, headache
       swollen lymph nodes (lumps) in the neck and under the jaw
      Although necrotising fasciitis is rare, it can be particularly serious. The early symptoms of necrotising fasciitis and other severe invasive streptococcal infections often include several of the following combined:
       minor cut or injury to the skin that usually appears infected
       pain in the general area of the injury
       pain that is more severe than would be normal with a minor cut or injury
       flu-like symptoms, such as diarrhoea, nausea, fever, confusion, dizziness and weakness  intense thirst
      If you experience several of these symptoms at once, you should seek quick medical attention.

    3. Back of the throat is now white, emergency appointment with doctor booked for today.
      With a practice that does NOT require masks and covid tests.

  8. Don’t panic – here’s why drone collision won’t lead to all-out US-Russia war. 14 March 2023.

    The US MQ-9 Reaper drone would have been obvious to the Russian pilot and, with a top speed of about 480km/h (298mph), much slower than the Russian Su-27 fighter. It is also much less manoeuvrable.

    The Russian Air Force is known to act in a cavalier and provocative fashion around Western aircraft.
    Last year, a Russian jet supposedly accidentally released a weapon near a British Rivet Joint spy plane, also over the Black Sea.

    Consequently, Tuesday’s collision will almost certainly have been because of poor airmanship by the Russian pilot.

    Of course it was! Lol!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/03/14/russia-us-reaper-drone-collision-jet-black-sea-analysis/

    1. I hear the Russians have bought a couple of old WW2 spitfires so they can turn the drones back they way the came

    2. Yeah, Russians are well-known for their poor flying skills.
      Why do I hear the sound of back-pedalling? More to this than anyone is telling.

      1. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e5894c84361948744bc154001bf4155a351910a82f7973ad957b1d2482e38ddf.png

        Morning Oberst.I didn’t want to get into the details because it’s impossible to know who is telling the truth. Bearing in mind the location, which is pretty near the main Russian port of Sevastopol, I did wonder if the Russian, after repeated attempts to deflect it, actually shot it down. Though I’m not a pilot myself the idea that they stuck a wingtip or the plane’s nose into the drones Propeller seems unlikely!

        1. Indeed. Maybe the drone operator tried to ram the Russian, and bent his propeller in the process, causing a fuel leak from the Sukhoi?

          1. These are 66 million dollar devices flying at high speed. Airspace is rather big. It’s highly unllikely there was any collision at all. More likely is a missile shot down the drone after a demand it turn back which, because it was likely on mission it wouldn’t have.

        2. As one with experience of military aviation I can say that would be a tactic with a fairly high probability of doing terminal damage to one’s own jet. It would be far better to give it a hose of 27mm, 30mm or whatever calibre of cannon it is that the Russians fit to their fighters.

        3. I think I read that doodlebugs were tipped over by the RAF although the Reaper would be a little more sophisticated.

          1. A good point KP though one would think that the Reaper has internal stabilising systems!

          2. And has a (remote) pilot. The tipping of V1s toppled their gyros, so it crashed. Done by using a wing to increase lift over a bug wing, no contact necessary (or desirable!).

    3. Yeah, Russians are well-known for their poor flying skills.
      Why do I hear the sound of back-pedalling? More to this than anyone is telling.

  9. Morning, all Y’all.
    Beautiful bright blue sky over loads of bright white snow… Lovely!

      1. Effin’ hope so. The old boy with the nightmares kept me awake much of the night, can’t be dealing with that again.

  10. To a former medic, the junior doctor strikes reflect a sad shift in values

    Went past a hospital yesterday where they were all jumping up and down waving banners asking drivers to hoot, they got a blank from me.

    1. Don’t like the terms and conditions, go work somewhere else. Like in Africa, whose medics the West have plundered.

  11. Good morning all.
    A rather chilly -3½°C outside with a slight morning mist now clearing with the sun lighting the trees opposite.

        1. Yep. I’ve got it right now. Snow, frost and ice. That bloody global warming has a lot to answer to.

    1. Well that’s one that won’t be biting me this summer.
      We use to have bats in our garden. But the newcomers who have moved in close by are afraid of the dark.
      And the bats and the owls have moved on.

      1. Bummer. Absence of artificial light reveals no darkness, just a deep dusk that’s comforting and good for owls & bats.

        1. Tired after t’old lad crying out all night & me arguing with Nurse about removing my saline drip (she refused, so I did it). Hopefully to be released today.

          1. I remember having a middle-of-the-night argument with a brain-dead nurse who didn’t believe me when I told her my sinus wash-out tube was no longer in my sinus. She refused to check it. She didn’t even apologise when I got another nurse to re-insert it.

          4. Bent there, done that. I took a canula out because it was a bloody (ho ho) nuisance. Got a telling off. Went home the next day, though.

            Hope that is YOUR reward, Paul. KBO. Actually persuading a horsepiddle to LET YOU GO can be more difficult that getting admitted. Then you have to wait four hours for the five minute job of getting your medication ready…..

            KBO – again!

          5. Paperwork to do – signing me off sick, for example, booking for control visit, writing up their report (copy for me), and operating instructions to print.

    2. But if you do that then the butter just melts and runs everywhere, leaving you back where you started, with soggy bread.

          1. I stopped using Lurpak since they started adding milk ‘culture’ to it. It makes it smell and taste rancid. Eastern Europeans love it: I hate it. Just churned cream and salt in my butter, please.

          2. Personally I try to avoid buying anything non-British when it comes to dairy and meat.

          3. I don’t have that luxury here in Sweden; however, Swedish meat is first class. My butter is Finnish.

          4. I don’t have that luxury here in Sweden; however, Swedish meat is first class. My butter is Finnish.

      2. Untrue. Butter is a fat and doesn’t make the toast soggy. That is why most people prefer hot toast and not cold. I’ve been buttering hot toast all my life and never had it melting and ‘running everywhere’.

        1. Glad to see you say “most people”, Grizzly. I am a unique individual and beg to differ with your views on cold toast. Lol.

          1. Morning Elsie. I like my toast Hot and Black which gets me full diversity in diet marks!

          2. Auntie Elsie, you never listen to the good advice your dutiful nephew gives you, don’t you? 🤣

          3. Nine times out of ten I follow your advice meticulously, but when it comes to toast and mince pies, my preference is for cold and not hot. (It’s different, of course, with showers as I can never understand those folk who like to take a cold shower.)

          4. I eat my mince pies cold as well. My school used to bake a type of ‘mince pie’ (currants in golden syrup) in a large tray that was cut into squares for serving, hot, with custard I was rather partial to that.

            Two years ago I started finishing my hot shower off with a cold rinse. It is a shock at first but you feel invigorated (and quite warm) when you get out and have a brisk rub down with a large towel.

          5. Good morning Grizzly

            I cannot believe that you have ever been wrong in the advice you so freely give us and nobody could accuse you of being over-prescriptive!

        2. Morning Grizz, it melts and runs everywhere (mostly down ones shirt) when you put it on hot crumpets

          1. To be honest I am a less elegant eater than I used to be – indeed I have become the sort of person at the dining table near whom an intelligent dog will position himself in order to snaffle up loose chewings which fall to the floor.

            Caroline has cut down on laundering my shirts and jumpers by making me a set of cotton bibs with a loop to put round the neck but she refuses to sew in a receptacle to trap falling pieces of food – as the plastic plastic pelican bibs have – as she says that this would be undignified for a man of my advanced years.

            https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e9c720986ccbb7a88490978222be44249cce86b22597367307020a86e50950d5.jpg

          3. Morning, Spikey. But it tells you on the packet that the holes in the crumpet will soak it up! 🤣

  18. I read the Daily Sceptic and listen to the podcasts but I don’t subscribe so cannot comment btl. I am just listening to the latest, where Toby Young is defending St Gary.

    Oh dear oh dear Toby. How many times could you mention the word “contractor” with respect to the sainted jig-eared crisp-muncher?

    I hope HMRC nail him. I cannot see how he is a contractor. Could he send his Mum to do MOTD if he wasn’t available one Saturday? I doubt it.

    Edit. Now I get it, Toby is preserving his position as a contractor at GB News. But Toby – what show do you present, week in, week out on GB News?

      1. Yes, I was trying to make a point though…..he cannot just send anyone to do his job. So I am not sure how he can argue the has the right of substitution.

  20. US should stay out of Ukraine’s ‘territorial dispute’ with Russia, says Ron DeSantis. 15 March 2023.

    Ron DeSantis has declared protecting Ukraine not a “vital interest” for the United States and called the conflict a “territorial dispute” between Kyiv and Moscow.

    The Florida governor echoed the position of Donald Trump as he indicated that Ukraine should not be a foreign policy priority for the US, which should instead focus on the threat of China and securing its own southern border.

    Mr DeSantis said: “While the US has many vital national interests… becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them.

    Here speaks the voice of sanity and Common sense!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/03/14/us-should-stay-ukraines-territorial-dispute-russia-says-ron/

    1. Ron DeSantis has declared protecting Ukraine not a “vital interest”
      for the United States and called the conflict a “territorial dispute”
      between Kyiv and Moscow**

      **Oh Shite the Russkis are winning inspite of the untold billions,sanctions and weapons we’ve thrown at the Ukes time to run for cover

    1. The identity of the woman has not been revealed, but the Mail has learnt that she is an American spy on secondment to the Government Communications Headquarters, which is based just three miles away.

      The nature of her work has not been revealed, but GCHQ has a strong relationship with its US equivalent, the National Security Agency.

      Agreements signed at the end of the World War II remain essential to the security of both nations with GCHQ saying it has ‘it has stopped many terrorist plots and has saved many lives at home and abroad.’ Last night police were still quizzing a man arrested at the scene on suspicion of carrying out a terrorist act.

      Initially, the apparently targeted stabbing was treated as attempted murder, but the suspect was re-arrested on suspicion of preparing and instigating a terrorist act just 24 hours later.

      This looks like an attempt to impress the Americans with our commitment!

  29. Some good news for a change:

    10 year study of 12,000+ Canadians divided into two groups those taking Vitamin D3 or D2 supplements and those not taking Vitamin D. Result 40% reduction in Dementia for those taking VitD compared to those not taking the supplement.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U4CD1uKnZA

    2. Interesting that the study was over 10 years. Incidentally that’s about the timespan you need to know whether a vaccine is safe or not.
      Just saying.

      1. Took D when the convid started, and B12 since last summer. No colds! Deffo a winner.

  30. G’day everyone,

    Bright start at McPhee Towers, frosty, 0℃, wind in South, rain later which is going to be unpleasant with the ‘high’ forecast to be 5℃.

    I see there’s a letter in the Gatesograph from Dr Peter Daszak denying that his organisation, EcoHealth Alliance, was involved in ‘gain of function’ work in Wuhan. Why am I inclined not to believe him?

  31. Morning all 😉 😊
    Frost and sun……it must be spring…..
    Junior doctors moaning, nurses moaning.
    You never hear the patients moaning……
    Well if they do say anything, nobody actually takes any notice or really cares.

    2. And in reality the Chinese are buying up as many available domestic or otherwise properties as they can get their hands on.
      And they buy millions of tons of coal and another minerals and gas.
      Australia no longer manufactures anything at all.
      Nice to see Noddy back on TV.

  33. Yo and Go Moaning

    At 0715, Blue and greys cars both white and So Lah panels charging like mad

    OAT 6.7 Deg C

    Very strange

  34. That was good.
    Surgeon came for test & the gadget still works and seems correctly fastened. Yaay. Need some papers & then can go home. Double Yaay!

      1. From collapse to peacemaker 60 hours including the weekend.
        Good one, Helsevesen. 👍😍

        1. You lucky bugger, I spent 12 hours sitting in a chair in triage just before Christmas. I’m still waiting for something
          to happen !!!
          It would have been worse if I hadn’t had a letter from my GP avoiding A&E.
          But obviously they don’t have the FOAD policy in Norway.

        2. YO OL

          Here, you would still be in the waiting area.
          Note, I did not say “Room” it could be a corridor

  35. Medley Time

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a0601d7ee6b1fc09ae4d0e0b5ba29ecc13743a46ff272625f060af5342383e96.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a826076eac657a6f2f4e9c0c5794511e943c9f7cf027a1f6bf2cf47187fc8b8e.jpg?w=600&h=599

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e89c474d117290058cddbb87ec04568721351f28f871f888b8165dbeef073ed0.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/18b9344d73578a360f131605b44884cad4cfa34c7094913b68fe2fe9fe70aedf.jpg

    https://scontent.fbrs4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/336172110_597989878587185_760143386679029670_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=BNZihj2g2QMAX_6UuVb&_nc_ht=scontent.fbrs4-1.fna&oh=00_AfCttCQ-hEiOb8Cf1AyTQTIoWLaNnwYAAb_-3x5tGATA6g&oe=64163EFA

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8ae7f1e9d015711a179fb3502762220a50f14e520e3b121aea5e1143948ac589.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fe35824f5527d4b3e67b9dbcfdb7015a55d0160e3a0212b414932a727fbada00.jpg

  36. 371993+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    This junior Doctors strike is on par with nursing a condemned man/woman/it back to health then hanging them.

    They are kicking the shite out of a nation that has been on the highly critical list these past 30 plus years.

    Nothing will ever change until the peoples en masse want change
    as in, politically eliminating this three party treacherously rogue politico coalition.

    A major sign of full blown idiocy is thinking YOUR PARTY within the governing coalition has your welfare at heart,

    Wednesday 15 March: To a former medic, the junior doctor strikes reflect a sad shift in values

  39. According to the Telegraph, Hunt is to attempt the impossible – tax the UK into prosperity.
    That’ll go well.

  40. Good morning Nottlers, it’s a crisp, clear day on the Costa Clyde and finally reached above freezing. I’m just passing through as I’m driving to Walsall today, then my buddie and I are up and off at 04.00 to catch the EuroChunnel tomorrow morning, as we head to Port Zealande for the Marillion weekend. Three full concerts over Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. With the odd refreshments in between. First time since 2019, it’s going to be a fun time!

    3. That is the sort of thing my brother does .. I guess the T shirt matters .. Except he flies from SA to here there and everywhere.
      It must be a male thing .

  41. (It could be me every morning but I don’t live near a bridge. . . As a result I have the flexibility of a broomstick.)

    Is this what is known as ‘Getting your leg over’?

    https://scontent-cdg4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/335610506_154893383780728_4909226474100455540_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=6yJb__Y1k8AAX_-VLxI&_nc_oc=AQmEFZATPP4TTyV4zzUsGWoItwItWY2novQghVEcwH7nnrZma1xoxtdtF8XvM5e6shg&_nc_ht=scontent-cdg4-2.xx&oh=00_AfBp32tOGmtDLktELXrhGaR8ldAk6pxpYJWFOIHJ2gibSw&oe=64166BEE

      1. I never could, Belle. I can only touch my feet if I sit down & haul one ankle up.

    4. I don’t know what’s so special about that. All she’s done is stuck her leg up. I’m a podgy bugger and could do that! I’d be more impressed if she were not leaning on anything!

        1. Waiting for discharge papers & cannula removals. Have running shoes on already 😉

  44. Off to take the MR to see a foot man. Used to be called a Chiropodist. Now MUCH posher – a Podiatrist…

    The Americanisation continues. Back later.

    1. In this desert of tolerance, grown up debate has become a farce. Our justice system was founded on the premise that laws should protect us all, irrespective of our views or position. If freedom of thought is not similarly protected, democracy is a self-limiting disease with suicidal tendencies.

      Free Speech and Democracy are essentially dead!

  46. Good morning all,
    Has anyone else had an email from the NHS about having a health condition allegedly making them more ‘at risk’ from convid?
    Even if true, why the sudden interest? Too many ‘test’ kits going spare? Gubmint/NHS snakes got shares in companies flogging the ‘tests’ and ‘treatments’? Mind you, not even a hint that I didn’t roll up my sleeve for boosters last Autumn – that alone made me wonder if the email was genuine.
    Yes, I do have a potentially serious (but reasonably well-controlled) long-term health condition, but my consultant has told me I am at no more risk from convid than anyone in perfect health.

    1. You should keep lateral flow tests at home
    2. You should take a test if you have coronavirus symptoms. Important: You must report your test result.
    3. If you test positive, the NHS will contact you about treatments.

    The government will even be sending me a pack of ‘tests’ in the next couple of weeks. How kind …..

    If you have coronavirus symptoms you should take a lateral flow test immediately, even if your symptoms are mild.
    You must report your result at https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result or by calling 119. It’s important to provide your NHS number and postcode correctly so you can be contacted.
    If your test is negative but you still have symptoms, you should take another test on each of the next two days (three tests in total over three days).
    If any of your lateral flow tests are positive and you have reported the result, the NHS should contact you about treatment. If you are not contacted within 24 hours of your positive test, call your GP surgery, 111, or your specialist clinician (if you have one), who can make an urgent referral.

    Got to keep up the fear agenda.

      1. I have no intention of using any of the ‘tests’ or reporting anything. I shall carry on as I have been.

    2. OH got a pack of tests last week. Obs since his recent by pass op he is ‘vulnerable ‘. The expiry date on the test pack is August which leads me to suspect they are unloading this surplus stock on the unsuspecting public.

      1. At least I’m not the only one then. It was odd that they weren’t hectoring me to submit to a booster to ‘protect’ myself.

        1. My good schoolfriend yesterday said she would be having the latest booster. Even though she won’t be 75 till May. I just said I won’t- I’m done with jabs.

    4. MB had a parcel – presumably some sort of Chinese made kit – arrive a few days back. No idea where it’s gone.

      1. Mine will go in the bin. It’s not as though these tests are of any use with the way they use too many cycles.

    1. Good morning Belle.
      I bet she is a liebour MP, probably representing somewhere like Bradford, Dewsbury or Luton.

      1. Apsana Begum (Bengali: আফসানা বেগম; born 25 May 1990) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Poplar and Limehouse since 2019. She is Parliament’s first hijab-wearing MP.

        WIKIPEDIA

          1. After graduating in 2011, Begum moved back to her parents’ house, and then started a relationship with Ehtashamul Haque, a member of Tower Hamlets Council. After her father died in 2012, her family learnt of the relationship and, Haque being twice divorced and older than her, disapproved of it.Begum and Haque married in May 2013, with none of the family attending, and her possesssions were left in bin liners outside the family’s house. She moved into her husband’s residence, but she has alleged that he was abusive towards her, and then cheated on her, leading her to end the marriage in October 2015. She reconciled with her family, and slept on a sofa in their living room.

            In January 2020, Begum wrote in a tweet that she had suffered from domestic abuse. She went on to become chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic Violence and Abuse.

            You have to laugh!

          3. It always seems to be a much older man. Maybe the younger males prefer to ‘train’ using young, vulner able British girls.

          4. After graduating in 2011, Begum moved back to her parents’ house, and then started a relationship with Ehtashamul Haque, a member of Tower Hamlets Council. After her father died in 2012, her family learnt of the relationship and, Haque being twice divorced and older than her, disapproved of it.Begum and Haque married in May 2013, with none of the family attending, and her possesssions were left in bin liners outside the family’s house. She moved into her husband’s residence, but she has alleged that he was abusive towards her, and then cheated on her, leading her to end the marriage in October 2015. She reconciled with her family, and slept on a sofa in their living room.

            In January 2020, Begum wrote in a tweet that she had suffered from domestic abuse. She went on to become chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic Violence and Abuse.

            You have to laugh!

          5. That will be the next step. This lot get here and either infiltrate and subvert or loaf on welfare. Both types are parasites.

        3. Who cares what she wears. She shouldn’t be here. Wouldn’t be here if the nation were not being overrun.

          1. They certainly shouldn’t be allowed to become MPs. The more there are of them in the HoC, the more likely they are to start demanding law changes to reflect their twisted ideology.

          2. One begins to see the point of the US President having been born in the USA.

          3. That should go back to at least great grandparents being born here. These people tend to start breeding at a younger age than native Brits.

        4. Are there any Muslim countries in which a person could openly wear a crucifix in the national assembly?

    3. Two words, second one is off.
      If she knows everything should needs to concentrate on why all those people are leaving muslim country’s.
      And explain to them as intently as she did how to put their own houses in order. They are intensly lazy and simply can’t be bothered.
      And stop expecting the western cultures to bail them Out. As soon as they arrive anywhere else they display little if any respect and they cause as much disruption and as many problems as they can possibly manage.

      1. We could always get seen apart when they were all forced to closed by Hand On Cock and his mates.
        As soon as he could he reopened to see his patients, albeit with lots of PPE.

      1. I will need them, my niggle is due to a cracked tooth. Not much to be done with it apart from taking it out.
        He did say 5 years ago it probably needs to go but then decided to have a go at saving it, so he was successful until now.

    3. My dentist is the most gorgeous tiny blonde German lass, habitually clad in tight white trousers… a joy to behold, and a lift to the spirits!

      1. “Open wide, Herr Oberstleutnant. Oh, I see you have already. But do try to put your tongue away”.

      2. My dentist is called Neil so I can’t say the same although he is a decent chap.

    1. I don’t understand why if the roots were causing pavement to become a trip hazard those in charge arranged for say 10 trees to be felled (spaced out) and replanted with ornamental trees in year one followed by a similar programme over the next few years….

    3. A Chain saw massacre.
      Perhaps some of the local councillors need their gardens adjusting as well.

    4. Anything Packham is against I am instictively for until I have done a bit of my own checking. If I can be bothered.

  51. The rationale of the shower in HoC importing young men of fighting age in their thousands has been commented on here before.
    The tweets below speculate on what could be behind the invasion.
    Drip feeding the invaders over time into the UK under the guise of being refugees makes sense if they are to be used for ‘security’ within the Country. Having many hundreds at a time disembarking from ferries at Channel ports would attract even more attention and subsequent questions demanding answers.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8c4509d96615ddb4ff5200fdf026464e7816ef94a62088decb2e59bcab3b0d5f.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d808422330b7a96f82ef349060f65c40e1d50a9516d5baf555dd901270671471.png

    The tweet re Colchester is disturbing: the military here consists of the elite Air Landing Brigade i.e. the Red Berets, and the Provost Marshal HQ. The ALB skills are for battle field operations but the PM have the following as one of their functions:

    Provost Marshal (Army) provide the ‘Policing the Force’ element, which includes activities concerned with investigations, custodial matters and security here in the UK. This is supported by our RMP Units, our specialist organisations (Special Investigations Branch and Specialist Operations Regiment), as well as the MPS for custodial matters and the MPGS for establishment security.

    Army – Provost

    1. I’m not sure they’re military. They’re wasters. Although the EU has often sought to post non locals in other countries – as they’ve no ties there – for crowd control.

      Just as Stalin did.

    2. Re military haircuts – that style is used all over the Arab world – every male has the same cut.

    2. We are reaching a point of Atlas shrugged. People leaving the workforce, capital moving away, investment falling.

      The state is gormless and ironic and thinks it will win, yet is already seeing the failure of it’s ideology. The problem is we’re far too placid. The pakistani muslim paedophile rapists rape, murder and kill and yet instead of tearing them limb from limb and sticking the still screaming remains on a pike as a warning to the rest to stay in line we just shrug and tolerate it.

      Hell, Khan should be limbless by now with a bolt put through his skull. Instead that oaf continues to make our lives difficult.

    3. An excellent analogy, but he forgot to include the bit about what happens to them when they stop laying.

      1. 371993+ up ticks,

        Morning FM,

        Recycled as chicken fodder, same as
        soylent green, nothing goes to waste in the new world.

  56. Putin calls Ukraine role in Nord Stream blasts ‘sheer nonsense’. 15 March 2023.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed as “sheer nonsense” allegations that Ukrainians could be behind the explosions that crippled the Nord Stream gas pipelines, suggesting the United States may have been responsible.

    The Russian leader insisted on Tuesday the US had a motive to carry out the attack in the Baltic Sea last year, saying it wanted to halt supplies of cheap Russian natural gas to Europe and provide the continent with more expensive liquefied natural gas.

    Yes that’s about right Vlad!

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/15/putin-calls-ukraine-role-in-nord-stream-blasts-sheer-nonsense

    1. The lengths they’ve gone to is potty! There’s men and there’s women. A group is a plural. It’s utterly grammatically incorrect.

  58. 371993+ up ticks,

    Now there’s a question to ponder.

    Post
    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    20h
    How will future generations look back on this?

    A ‘woman’ is accused of rape using ‘her penis’. The alleged victim says she couldn’t use physical force to stop her ‘because she might then be accused of assault’ – not to mention ‘transphobia’ & ‘hate crime’. She’s not wrong, & you can understand her predicament given that some of these ‘trans women’ look like rugby players.

    This insanity takes place in English courts of law that gave the World a system of justice that has been emulated by the English speaking world, & many other civilised nations. Now judges sit & listen to lawyers talking about women with penises. And the reason for that is because they would be sacked if they spoke u.

    England is fucked. Can it be unfucked?

    Transgender predator released from prison following child sex offences convicted of raping ‘vulnerable’ friend weeks later – LBC,
    Translate post

    A transgender predator has been convicted of using ‘her penis’ to rape a vulnerable friend following her release from prison for child sex offences.

    https://gettr.com/post/p2betga2c54

    1. A woman does not have a willy. Therefore, this is a man. A male rapist, released and re-offended. It’s all too comically predictable.

      If the law is so completely and utterly back to front, there’s no point to obeying it.

  59. Well, someone has some decency left in the USA:-

    Dear Conservatives, I Apologize
    My “Team” was Taken in By Full-Spectrum Propaganda

    There is no way to avoid this moment. The formal letter of apology. From me. To Conservatives and to those who “put America first” everywhere.

    It’s tempting to sweep this confrontation with my own gullibility under the rug — to “move on” without ever acknowledging that I was duped, and that as a result I made mistakes in judgement, and that these mistakes, multiplied by the tens of thousands and millions on the part of people just like me, hurt millions of other people like you all, in existential ways.

    But that erasure of personal and public history would be wrong.

    I owe you a full-throated apology.

    I believed a farrago of lies. And, as a result of these lies, and my credulity — and the credulity of people similarly situated to me – many conservatives’ reputations are being tarnished, on false bases.

    The proximate cause of this letter of apology is the airing, two nights ago, of excepts from tens of thousands of hours of security camera footage from the United States Capitol taken on Jan 6, 2021. The footage was released by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson [https://www.axios.com/2023/03/08/mccarthy-defends-jan-6-footage-tucker-carlson-fox-news].

    While “fact-checkers” state that it is “misinformation” to claim that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was in charge of Capitol Police on that day [https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/07/27/fact-check-nancy-pelosi-isnt-in-charge-capitol-police/8082088002/], the fact is that the USCP is under the oversight of Congress, according to — the United States Capitol Police: [https://www.uscp.gov/the-department/oversight].

    This would be the same Congress that convened the January 6 Committee subsequently, and that used millions of dollars in taxpayer money to turn that horrible day, and that tragic event, into a message point that would be used to tar a former President as a would-be terrorist, and to smear all Republicans, by association, as “insurrectionists,” or as insurrectionists’ sympathizers and fellow-travelers.

    There is no way to unsee Officer Brian Sicknick, claimed by some Democrats in leadership and by most of the legacy media to have been killed by rioters at the Capitol that day, alive in at least one section of the newly released video. The USCP medical examiner states that this Officer died of “natural causes,” but also that he died “in the line of duty.” Whatever the truth of this confusing conclusion, and with all respect for and condolences to Officer Sicknick’s family, the circumstances of his death do matter to the public, as without his death having been caused by the events of Jan 6, the breach of the capitol, serious though it was, cannot be described as a “deadly insurrection.” [https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/medical-examiner-finds-uscp-officer-brian-sicknick-died-natural-causes] Sadly, though the contrary was what was reported, Officer Sicknick died two days after Jan 6, from suffering two strokes. https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-siege/capitol-police-officer-brian-sicknick-died-of-natural-causes-after-suffering-two-strokes-day-after-jan-6-report/

    Read more at:-
    https://naomiwolf.substack.com/p/dear-conservatives-i-am-sorry

    2. No, that’s Enoch, but I agree Norman would be in the ‘best cabinet’ of all time.

      I remember going on ‘experience’ trips in RAF Britannias to the Middle East when I was a cadet. We happily overflew Iran in those days.

      1. I flew to the Far east (and back) in one when our squadron went on detachment to Kuantan during the Indonesian crisis. It took most of our ground equipment as well as personnel, transferring to a Beverly for the journey from Seletar to Kuantan. We staged through El Adem, Aden, Gan, return journey via Gan, Bahrain and Malta

        1. Same here, Alec. I was on 205 Squadron at Changi. My crew was detached to Labuan to fly 15 hour night patrols looking for seaborne insurgents.
          Officers were billeted in the airport hotel while NCO aircrew were in tents on the perimeter of the airfield. Not much sleep to be had during the day with the sounds of Canberras, Javelins, the Beverly etc. One of the Javelins was flown by a Master Pilot and a Master Navigator whose combined ages were just short of 100.
          It was fun to clear the 20mm cannon fitted in the nose.
          Those were the days!
          Edited to include the patrol length.

    1. How is it possible for HMG/NHS to even discuss handing over everyone’s medical records to anyone without consulting the public? What happened to the wonderful GDPR?

      1. They will say it is for data purposes and the patients will be anonymised. And if you believe that you will believe anything. Just take a look at how much money the DVLA makes on selling information to private parking companies.

    2. Dangerous things are Dromedaries, was taught in Libya to always give them a wide birth. Often they are muzzled because of their propensity to bite. Very unpredictable animals.

      2. An oil worker told me once that he despised his Libyan colleagues as they were cruel to all sorts of animals.

        1. They are not kind to dogs, horrible in fact. They love cats but also capture migrating songbirds in nets by the thousands, a nasty custom, people buy them and then liberate them, they are also sold to major A holes in Europe, brisk trade apparently while, they drive song birds to extinction. But Dromedaries are just temperamentally unpleasant, it’s just their nature.

      3. I took a selfie in Algeria with a camel in the background rifling through the rubbish on our camp. An Arab colleague suggested it might just be dangerous. After seeing this video, I think I was lucky.

    1. 371993+ up ticks,

      O2O

      The power of cover ups,

      1h

      @BLAIMGame

      That – plus the issue of cover up which has meant that many Pakistani grooming gang members were never prosecuted and therefore do not appear in the statistics. By % of the population in areas such as Rotherham, the incidence is high.

    2. It would also be true to say that the majority of people in prison in the UK are white. But the statistics show a more meaningful depiction:-
      In 2020, of prisoners whose ethnicity was known [footnote 49], 73% were White, 13% Black, 8% Asian, 5% Mixed and 1% from Other ethnic groups. The ethnicity of prisoners varied across age groups, with a higher proportion of younger prisoners being from minority ethnic groups (53% of under 18-year olds).
      https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/ethnicity-and-the-criminal-justice-system-statistics-2020/ethnicity-and-the-criminal-justice-system-2020#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20of%20prisoners%20whose,under%2018-year%20olds).

      1. OK.

        The white population is 81%. In prison 73% are white. Proportionately fewer than the population at large.
        The black population is 3%. In prison they make up 13%. Proportionately greater than the population at large. Naughty boys and girls.

    3. Of course they are. Yes, of course. That’s why prisons are overflowing with pakistani muslim paedophiles locked up for mechanical rape of children.

    1. I expect quite a lot of licence fee reminders are sent to certifiably dead people, not just missing and possibly dead people. Probably HMRC tax forms as well.

      1. I’m sure you are right Sue. Cutting a long story short GPs’ patient lists were also not accurate. Discovered way back in 1979 in the NHS7year trial to detect breast cancer.

        I don’t suppose it has been scrupulously updated ever since.

    2. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

      Dear Norwegian Hospital.

      He is still at it. Please apply full anaesthetic NOW.

  67. Morning all. Was supposed to go to doctors today but had to cancel because the person who was supposed to take me has stabbed himself in the left hand whilst trying to pry frozen packages apart. Person managed to cut an artery and is now in surgery. Do not use knifes to pry frozen things apart, woe and tribulation will unfold 😒
    So looking up the question of how to get frozen things apart safely I came across this, sadly you can’t buy it in the UK. but I wondered if any one has an idea for something similar or, for that matter, uses a safe method in getting frozen packages apart without defrosting. Is there such a thing as a triangular metal rod, for example? Any ideas gratefully received.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-robGkZU09g

    4. The only technique I can recommend is for opening jamjars and similar; grasp the jar firmly and knock its lid against a solid surface, preferably wooden.

      1. A slight danger of smashing the glass. A strap wrench is the answer.

        Often just by running the lid under the hot tap will loosen it.

      2. jam jars are easy. just tap the edge of the lid on the edge of a kitchen counter as you turn the jar. Eventually it will loosen and be easy to open, never fails. More or less the same as your suggestion.

    5. The only technique I can recommend is for opening jamjars and similar; grasp the jar firmly and knock its lid against a solid surface, preferably wooden.

  68. Back from foot man. MR very satisfied with his advice. Gave a handy tip, too. If one has Athlete’s Foot – apply Vick Vapour Rub to affected area.

    Also, if you have a cold, at bedtime, slather both insteps with Vick, put on socks and – overnight – a lot of your blocked-up-ness will have disappeared. Apparently, the skin in the instep absorbs the menthol and it passes into your bloodstream. Certainly worth a try.

    I also defeated the miseryguts and was able to buy a bottle of Boots Night Nurse….!!!

    Finally, a sign of the times (again). I did a bit of shopping. Bill came to £3.50. I gave the girl four £1 coins.
    She took out a calculator to work out the change…….

    Have I missed much?

    1. “Have I missed much?” ‘Education, Education, Education”‘ I suspect.

      MoH is currently teaching our 6 year old granddaughter how to add up and subtract using the HTU system which apparently is no longer in favour in Primary schools……

    2. One of the ward sisters I worked with swore by Vicks as a cure for every ailment under sun.
      One of the SENs had a touch of pruritus …. I suspect you’re ahead of me on this one.
      Let’s just say, Sister XXXXXXX’s suggested cure took the patient’s mind off the original problem.

    3. One of the ward sisters I worked with swore by Vicks as a cure for every ailment under sun.
      One of the SENs had a touch of pruritus …. I suspect you’re ahead of me on this one.
      Let’s just say, Sister XXXXXXX’s suggested cure took the patient’s mind off the original problem.

      2. Sounds like Fascinating Aïda whose piano player, Dillie Keane, is of Irish descent.

  71. 371993+ up ticks,

    Would charlie agree ? NOT charlie whooperlug but charlie Chan If
    I was to side with China.

    breitbart

    China Is Now Challenging the International World Order, Says UK.

  72. This young lady wasn’t satisfied with her image so she had a couple of tattoos and some body enhancements – unfortunately it sprang a leak and she ended up looking like a right left t*t!

    https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/03/15/00/68196899-11860591-Flashback_A_fresh_faced_Mary_is_pictured_before_going_under_the_-a-5_1678839396722.jpg https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/03/15/00/68709269-11860591-It_s_the_first_of_many_procedures_for_Mary_who_is_planning_to_ha-a-1_1678839396522.jpg https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/03/14/23/68709257-11860591-Mary_was_forced_to_walk_around_with_a_uniboob_for_weeks_after_on-a-3_1678837780405.jpg

        1. Just lick her lips and she’ll stick to a window.

          Everyone has a right to be stupid … but she abuses it.

        1. Looks like she has all the qualifications to become an exhibit in a Freak show….

      1. It would seem her glasses weren’t that good to start off with. Their range didn’t get anywhere near the mirror.

  73. In the Smug Git aftermath, I wonder how the beeboids reacted to the (understandably) furious letter from the Musicians Union – that Our Susan exposed yesterday….

    Ponders….. Hmmmm. Er.. Sod all?

      2. tentacles? surely testicles? no, can’t be, the establishment doesn’t have any

  74. Over at the Telegraph, it appears that SKB has collapsed, and surprise, surprise- it is all Donald Trump’s fault. When the wokest bank in the universe goes belly up, it is not because of its business ethos and lending policy and behaviour, it is because Orange Man is behind it all. Personally, I don’t take much I read in the DT very seriously, and that’s now my default position after nearly 60 years as a reader. Anyway, here’s an insight into bank failure in the USA:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdB-cjcabvs

  75. Another far-right Methodist on the rampage (from The Grimes):

    “A woman stabbed outside a leisure centre in Cheltenham last week is an American spy on secondment to GCHQ, it was reported last night.

    Police were called to the Gloucestershire town at about 9.15pm on Thursday after reports that a woman had been attacked. She suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital for surgery. She was said to be in a stable condition.

    A 29-year-old man from Cheltenham was arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism contrary to section 41 of the Terrorism Act (2000), as well as on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism under section 5 of the Terrorism Act (2006).”

    2. “Don’t worry, madam; help is on its way. May I take your name?”
      “The name is Hari … Mata Hari.”
      “What is your occupation?”
      “Oh, I’m a spy! [sotto voce: But please keep that to yourself.]”

    3. The fact that she has said she is an American spy means she isn’t. They don’t call them spies anyway. They are called agents. Only the enemy would call them spies.

  76. Another far-right Methodist on the rampage (from The Grimes):

    “A woman stabbed outside a leisure centre in Cheltenham last week is an American spy on secondment to GCHQ, it was reported last night.

    Police were called to the Gloucestershire town at about 9.15pm on Thursday after reports that a woman had been attacked. She suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital for surgery. She was said to be in a stable condition.

    A 29-year-old man from Cheltenham was arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism contrary to section 41 of the Terrorism Act (2000), as well as on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism under section 5 of the Terrorism Act (2006).”

  77. Putin is preparing for a nuclear showdown – we must be ready. 15 March 2023.

    First, they must reassure the public that they are aware of the threat of Russian nuclear weapons in extremis. Nuclear threats are not mere bluff. Constantly downgrading the threat fails to prepare us to dissuade Russia if, or when, a crisis point comes.

    Second, one of the key lessons learned from the 2011 Fukushima civil nuclear disaster in Japan was that a lack of information, in particular an accurate assessment of radiation levels, can lead to ill-informed decisions. The US and its allies should improve how they detect and monitor radiation in case of nuclear use, a missile strike on a nuclear facility, or an accident stemming from a nuclear plant located in an area of military operations. This will primarily help protect civilian populations from civil nuclear accidents, but could also help in times of war. Related to this, we should maintain medical stockpiles, such as of potassium iodide, and supplies of personal protective equipment.

    Thirdly, ensure that any use of tactical nuclear weapons by Russia is met by a robust Western and global response that is calibrated, relies on conventional weapons, and is informed by an understanding of Russian behaviour and thinking. More importantly, Russia should know exactly what the response would be long in advance. Strategic ambiguity is simply too risky in this case.

    You could be forgiven for thinking that this was written by a complete looney, and you would be right. It’s Hamish de Bretton-Gordon. The Critical factor in Nuclear War is the response time. Once a satellite detects the detonation of a Nuclear Weapon an automatic sequence takes place to respond since he who hesitates is radioactive ash!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/15/putin-preparing-nuclear-showdown-must-ready/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

    1. As was pointed out many years ago an Englishman can run a mile in under 4 minutes!

      Given the proximity of HM forces where I live I won’t even have time to put my running shoes on if said balloon goes up….

    3. But wouldn’t Biden have to authorize nuclear weapon use?

      According to his staff, he doesn’t start work until 9AM so Putin will have time to finish WW3 before Biden has even started his corn flakes.

    4. Hamish de Feckwit is one of the utter morons that the Telegaffe wheel out from time to time to peddle their drivel – just when you think the “news”paper can sink no lower, out comes Hamish!

      1. Worms are sensitive to vibrations and retreat rapidly when they perceive any threat.

      2. It’s American (Glen Larson, a master of surrealist humour). Birds listen to the ground to detect their prey. Very few people know that worms play the drums and that gives away their location to the bird.🙄

  79. Hunt announcing he will waste ever more money, not get fracking, put taxes up and h claims this is a good thing. These creatures are psychotic.

    As for quantum computing – dear life. What ignorance and stupidity. If we could get AI they’d get rid of these fools in no time and recover the economy.

    Cut corporation tax… by raising it. What a wanker.

    1. A start in abolishing the lifetime allowance. Now when will he announce radically scrapping the tax bands, introducing a flat single tax and allowing people to save their own money?

    2. To borrow an old analogy, the Government understands as much about AI as Mickey Mouse knows about Walt Disney. You would know much more about this topic than I do, but a GPT subscription costs a mere $20 per month.

  80. Enough of the daily gloom. I am about to go through the seed packets and then get sowing in the greenhouse.

    A wonderful moment in the gardening year.

  81. IFS raises questions over fuel duty freeze
    Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has described aspects of the Chancellor’s approach to fuel duty as “absurd” and the plan for overall spending to increase by just 1% post-election as “unlikely to be met”.

    He also said it is a “choice” for the Government to invest billions in freezing the duty rather than preventing “very big pay cuts” for public sector workers.

    He tweeted: “Recall that the government has spent months saying it can’t find any money to prevent nurses and teachers getting very big pay cuts. He just found £6 billion to cut fuel duties. That’s a choice.”

    No, not raising a tax does not cost the treasury anything. It isn’t an investment, it is not robbing the earner of their own money. The entire premise of that berk is back to front.

    1. At least your idiots are just freezing fuel taxes, our bigger idiots are increasing taxes on April 1st.

      Pure coincidence that they have given themselves a payrise on the same day.

    1. The inside of the Left wing mind is one of hypocrisy, double think and sheer complete madness.

    2. Afternoon Lewis. I think it’s necessary now to accept that the Political and Social Elites are insane!

    3. Afternoon Lewis. I think it’s necessary now to accept that the Political and Social Elites are insane!

    4. Afternoon Lewis. I think it’s necessary now to accept that the Political and Social Elites are insane!

    5. It is not about inclusivity. It is about punishing people who stand up to their warped ideology.

  84. We have replaced the traditional family with a giant national Ponzi scheme. 15 March 2023.

    Instead of spending vast sums on helping parents afford nursery fees, the Government should pay them to look after the child themselves.

    As every modern parent will be all too well aware, nursery fees in this country are staggeringly steep. So now Jeremy Hunt has ridden to the rescue. In his Budget the Chancellor promised 30 hours of free childcare a week for children aged nine months and above. I’m sure this announcement will be very popular.

    But I also suspect it’s a big mistake.

    That may seem a strange comment. Many families today, especially during this cost-of-living crisis, believe they simply can’t get by on a single income. As a result, mothers feel under great pressure to get back to work as soon as possible. So, unless the grandparents a) live nearby and b) are exceptionally generous, not to mention outstandingly fit, the child needs to be left at a nursery.

    If I have a complaint about the premise of this article it is that it doesn’t go far enough. The truth is the the Welfare State has demolished the Family in the UK and Socialism in its wider sense has destroyed the country!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2023/03/15/jeremy-hunt-may-come-regret-sending-parents-back-work/

    1. Always the intent. The harder it is for the nuclear family to survive the easier it is to destroy it.

      The family produces intelligent, law abiding children who go on to work. They want nothing from big government. Need nothing. They make little use of welfare, policing, housing and so on. The more the state destroys the family, the bigger it gets. The more society erodes until there’s so much welfare, poverty, chaos, crime and misery you have socialism, and then the whole farce collapses.

    2. I suppose taxing people less so they had more disposable income wouldn’t be the answer…?

      1. Now don’t be silly. Common sense in the face of enforced decline? Heck, this is a man who stood up and said ‘we’re hiking taxes, we’re a low tax economy. They’re utterly deranged.

    3. All children robe state owned. Simples.
      ETMS: “To be” not robe
      ETMS: – edited to make sense

    5. “The family is the enemy of the state and the state will not obtain control completely until the family is totally destroyed.”

      Friedrich Engels

    1. Excellent. You realise the value of such things when denied. Sip slowly and don’t let it go to your head ! You might fall over.

    3. I raise a glass to you, Paul. Remarkable resilience and fortitude. If only the ruddy gee-gees I backed at Cheltenham this afternoon could follow your lead and had some sort of clue about how to jump a fence.

      1. I remember my mum once backing a beautiful looking horse at Wetherby. It refused at the first fence.

        1. My father was not a gambling man but he was taken to the races by a friend and he went to see the horses go round the enclosure before the race started. My father looked at the horse he had backed and said to its jockey: “You might as well go back to the stable – I’ve put my money on you!”

          The jockey scowled malignantly at my father and went to the starting line. As my father feared the horse came ninth in a field of ten.

    4. Excellent news! Will raise a glass to you also. Promise to be good and not overdo things!!

    6. “May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been,
      The foresight to know where you’re going,
      And the insight to know when you have gone too far.” xx

    7. They read your jokes and kicked you out?

      Good luck, if you must over do it, do so sitting down.

    8. Well done – now take it easy. Are you sure that alcohol THIS early is a good idea?

  91. Can I ask a stupid question .

    Iraq.. Saddam was reputed to have had weapons of mass destruction .. and no one liked Saddam .. so Iraq was invaded and Saddam eliminated … that was 20 years ago … Should we have left Iraq alone and allowed Saddam to froth and fume and threaten ?

    The same applies to Gadaffi.. even though he was a nasty piece of work, did we react too strongly.. ?

    1. Afternoon Belle. We should not have attacked either. They never posed a credible threat to us!

        1. Yes. They haven’t forgotten what we did Belle! The pity of is that the Elites have learned nothing. They are pursuing the very same agenda with Russia!

        2. TBH, who could blame them?
          I live in a country conquered by the Nazis within living memory, and it makes things different. How would Brits like it if the US blew a part of the country up, killed the King, and imposed US laws? If there were as many weapons floating around as in Iraq, then there would likely be a war.

          2. …have delved deeply into the whys and wherefores of the minds of those people ?

            No. Most of them are utter morons.

    2. Afternoon Belle. We should not have attacket either. They never posed a credible threat to us!

    3. IMHO, both were seen as an opportunity to both protect oil prices and expand US hegemony.
      I was never in Iraq, but quite a lot in Libya, and what the West has done to the place really upsets me.
      Yes Ghaddafi was a nasty bastard, but a sudden power vacuum has been worse… Arabs are not WASP Americans, and need to work it out for themselves rather than have something imposed by a foreign power.
      The West should butt out.

    4. Gadaffi was planning a pan-African currency and he had a lot of support from African states. The US administration want dollar hegemony so they removed Gadaffi. The irony is that the BRICS group will probably destroy dollar hegemony anyway because the US will lose against Russia and China.

      1. I know we are hardly the ones to talk, these days. But just imagine the financial chaos of a pan-African currency.

    5. Yes. They were both unpleasant people, but they knew about the countries over which they held sway. Their time would have come, but it should have at the hands of their compatriots, not virtue signalling westerners.
      Not every culture wants – or is temperamentally suited to – western style democracy.

      3. They kept the lid on a lot of middle east problems. Blair and his vile mate Campbell caused many deaths and disruption.

      4. They kept the lid on a lot of middle east problems. Blair and his vile mate Campbell caused many deaths and disruption.

    6. Nato bomb Gadaffi’s water pipe lines the stretched from the aquifers in the south to his northern towns and cities.
      The reason the yanks wiped him out was because he wanted to trade oil in gold Dinar and not the US dollar.
      He was pulled from his hiding place in a drain and stabbed up his backside.

        1. But no body else was enterprising enough to even try to improve quality of life in those third world countries.
          So those bastards killed him.

  92. Gold hits new all-time high in UK as banking crisis grows. 15 March 2023.

    Gold has hit a new UK price record for the second time this year following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday. The failure of the regional US bank has sparked a wave of fear across financial markets, slashing billions off of the value of banks around the world.

    So far gold has hit a new peak of £1,599.26 per ounce today, beating February’s previous record of £1,592, and with market fear spreading to impact banks globally, it seems that £1,600 per ounce could be reached at any moment. Even in the US gold is up more than 6% in the past week, hitting $1,930.52 today, and could soon pass $2,000 per ounce.

  93. The EU and its fifth columnists within the UK made sure that Johnson had his hands tied behind his back because the Benn Act stipulated that Britain could not go for WTO terms and leave the EU without a deal with the EU.

    Sunak is either a traitor or a complete imbecile because he has put himself in a very similar position: by allowing Article 16 to be scrapped and letting the ECJ have superiority over British Law the UK’s hands are completely tied with no escape clause. When, as it will certainly will, the EU decides to tighten the noose Brexit will be finished for good.

    Our attention has been diverted by trivia such as the Lineker nonsense but let us pray that the ERG and the DUP do all they can to bring the catastrophe that is the Windsor Surrender to everyone’s attention.

    1. Don’t think it will matter one way or the other, Sunak’ already said it will go ahead whatever DUP say.

    1. I went to have my haircut today, the barber had two assistants. I asked why his two young sons were not at school. Teachers strike they said.
      The older lad, around 9 was sweeping the off cuts away. The younger lad tidying the desk.
      Before I left I gave both of them a pound ‘tip’ each. Much appreciated. 🤗

  95. Good afternoon.
    Have now sorted out a suitable chair for my playroom.
    Apparently it’s an ‘executive’ chair! Get meeee …… All I need now is a company to ru(i)n.
    How is the bionic Oberst faring?

    2. Don’t worry about him – he’s on the booze and off the joke book for the time being.

      1. Nah, that was at local Italian Trattoria.
        Now I’m home – with IPA, so expect to be asleep soon – it’s 8%, as IPA should be.

        1. Have you ever thought that your problem had nothing to do with your heart – but came about because you are a confirmed, chronic alcoholic? Like most NoTTLers!

          1. Nope.
            I can live without booze – just have done these last few days. Cheeky bugger.

  96. Did no one notice the stealth tax in the Budget? Personal Tax allowances to be frozen at the current level until April 2028 according to the Beeb. Any inflation indexation increase in wages / pensions will probably be wiped out by the failure to have a commensurate inflation increase in the personal allowance. :-((

    2. “the Ides of March be come, quoth Caesar”
      ‘So be they,’ the soothsayer responded, ‘but yet are they not past.’

    3. Caesar: The Ides of March are come
      Soothsayer: Aye, Caesar but not gone!

      What more disasters will hit us before the day is done?

  98. Escalating crisis at Credits Suisse triggers panic in markets. 15 March 2023 • 2:19pm

    Stock markets tumble as scandal-hit lender’s share price plunges

    Credit Suisse’s biggest shareholder has ruled out injecting any more cash into the embattled bank, triggering a 30pc slump in its share price and sparking panic in financial markets.

    The deepening crisis at the Swiss lender triggered fears of wider contagion in Europe’s banking industry, sending shares in lenders plunging across the continent and in the US.

    The euro tumbled against the dollar, while oil prices fell to the lowest level in more than a year on recession fears and gold spiked.

    We’re doomed!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/15/escalating-crisis-credit-suisse-triggers-fresh-fears-european/

      1. I believe one is not allow to disparage French Banks in France on pain of huge fines….

        How’s UniCredit faring these days?

      2. There have been rumours of DB being on the brink for the last decade but they seem to keep buggering on.

  100. Two glasses Barbera – excellent! And a double espresso for added flavour. But nowt beats a good, Englsih-style IPA at proper strength (as opposed to the crazily-hopped US style). Two warm moggies, excited to see one is back, and the stress levels drop noticeably.
    :-D)

        1. It’s cool – I am become CYBORG! Read my words and fear, little earthlings!
          It’s like your car’s engine management system – it records errors in the engine/heart operation, corrects them, makes sure there aren’t any misfires, all in a package the size of a pack of playing cards under me left pecs. Errors can be read by a RFID-enabled gadget.
          Interestingly, my job currently is to do the same thing for an oil production platform just entering construction…

          1. Isn’t it tricky when you have a shower? Are the terminals insulated? (Serious comment, for once).

          2. I can only guess that the terminals, being probably screwed into your heart, are well insulated by the rib-cage and the epidermis.

          6. Yup.
            Wee spirals of wire passed down to the heart & screwed in by the surgeon twisting then ends at the top before connecting them to the control box and shoving it (brutally) under the muscle and above the rib cage.

          7. It’s all sub-cutaneous. Nothing to see but amazing bruises and a shoulder covered in lumps. And sore… so, once the wounds heal, it’s all waterproof.

          8. Oh, good. I had visions of you needing to put on a rubber coat prior to taking a shower! How do you change the battery?

          12. Hope not. Just had it fitted yesterday, so difficult to tell.
            I do have a “membership” card, though…

          14. I’ll not be deliberately lying on our cooker, if that’s what you mean, Geoff!

  101. Very successful three hours. 14 different types of vegetables sown. Propagators in full swing.

    Time for a nice cup of TEA (see that, Paul???!!!)

    1. Careful, the shock of you drinking tea rather than red wine might put him into relapse.

      1. An excellent brew not available in Weegieland, Geoff. Unfortunately. I like Nøgne Ø and Hansa full-strength IPAs, brewed English style, and 8-9% as it should be.

  102. Very successful three hours. 14 different types of vegetables sown. Propagators in full swing.

    Time for a nice cup of TEA (see that, Paul???!!!)

  103. From GBN:

    “Prince Andrew is considering launching bombshell memoir after falling out with his brother, it has been claimed.”

    Possibly just a means to put pressure on his brother. If not, however, I trust that Andrew realises that he may well set the ball rolling towards republicanism. One thing is certain – this cannot go on without inflicting serious damage on the RF

    1. I care neither a jot nor a tittle for any of them (apart, possibly, from Anne).

      My lifelong regard and respect for the British monarchy died with Her late Majesty.

    2. As Oscar Wilde suggested only superficial people do not judge by appearances.

      I have never liked Charles – even as a child he was a dud in comparison with his sister Anne. He is arrogant, slow-witted and lacking in judgement. He has no charm or humour and is mean-spirited and dull. He does not look as if he would be good company.

      But these are my gut feelings and maybe they are wrong as I have not met him though I once met his sister at Windsor Castle..

      Has anyone here got some enthusiastic paeans of joy to express about Charles to show what a splendid chap he is and just how bigoted and ill-judged my view of him is?

      1. I rather like the King. He had a long wait to get to the throne and, in my opinion, did more with that time than his predecessor Edward VII did. Charles doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the Princes Trust and his naval service.
        I agree that he needs to zip it re the climate BS but he will have to as being king is going to take up a lot of his time.
        He has a strong support in his wife which will be of benefit to him and to the country.

        1. He’s now the King, he should keep his trap shut, stay out of politics etc; and if the Royal family must make a noise he should leave it to William.

        2. I have some sympathy for C3R, in that he’s had a long wait to commence ‘the day job’. But he needs to disassociate himself from the likes of Schwab. It mat be too late.

          But what do I know. I declined an invitation to play the piano at a local charity reception for the now Duchess of Edinburgh, on the basis that (a) I’m not a pianist, and (b) my repertoire was prolly not what they had in mind…

          Camilla seems a good sort. Our Rector has met her on several occasions as an army chaplain, and he’s impressed. As am I. I hope she will keep Charles grounded.

      2. Having never met the chap, not knowing him socially I have no basis to judge what he’s like. I disagree with his climate obsession, although I applaud his architectural views. He is a very privileged, well off individual who spends a lot of time being pampered by others. He can hold those views because of that position.

        To judge him so harshly when (I assume) you don’t know him is wrong.

        I was told that Germaine Greer was a raging feminist, a difficult, obnoxious woman with rigid opinions. When I met her at a conference she gave a reading on Virginia Woolf and afterward I found her erudite, wittyy, charming. She was sharp, razor bright and challenged a lot of my own views, but she never came across as inflexible. She listened, considered and responded brilliantly as if we were old debating partners rather than me being a dim witted barely twenty yokel.

      3. Stick with the Royals,the alternative is too horrendous to contemplate.
        Ken Livingstone proved that with his Mayor of London scam…..
        A president,just imagine what we would end up with…

  104. Very wet here .. walked the dogs at 1430 and it started to rain .. Wanted to do some gardening earlier, but the garden is still soggy from previous rain
    showers / deluges, have four bags of free compost / manure given to me by a friend to put down where the roses are , and bought four bags of bedding compost. 40 litres from Lidl, £3 .75 each or there abouts to nourish the flower beds.

    No sign of Mr Rat for a few days ,, I wonder where he went ?

    A close neighbour of ours is no longer . We feel so sad by hearing the news .. She and her husband , superb couple were at Gatwick last week, overnighting in a hotel before catching an early flight to Spain .. She complained about not feeling well that evening , then collapsed .. succumbing to a stroke .. and that was it .

    We are neighbours but have loads of space around us , so hardly see each other apart from a wave etc . People are so busy doing their own thing , for sure we are all shocked by the news .

    1. Oh, man. That’s awful, Belle. Terrible for the husband, but at least she went looking forward to her holiday, rather than sick, miserable and broken. Not much comfort, but… Thoughts for the husband, suddenly left alone like that.

  105. Par Four Today.

    Wordle 634 4/6
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. Five for me too.

        Wordle 634 5/6

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

    2. Me too.

      Wordle 634 4/6

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

    1. Sadly, nothing will change until we have all taken not a haircut but a scalping.

      1. 371993+up ticks,

        Evening FM,

        i ever so mildly disagree, not taken, we have had surely enough of that,now is the time for giving.

        WHY would one want to wait ?

  107. It’s now that Second Son is moving into is flat, a few miles up the road. It woud be great to be able to help him, as I did with his brother, but at the moment I an barely lift a pint, never mind half a bed, or lie on the floor to screw things together.
    Pissing me off, it is.

      1. Washing my hair was the plan, as my scalp itches like a bastard. Complex issue, to avoid wetting the wound… I might need the assistance of a whole fleet of nubile nymphs… ;-))

        1. Put a chair or stool beside the sink and lean backwards. Ask your wife or son to then wash your hair. That way your wound won’t get wet.

        3. I gave up with barbers when they were made illegal in 2020, Bought some clippers from Amazon, and never looked back. In Carlisle for a funeral in January, I had my clippers with me, but decided the hotel wouldn’t appreciate the detritus on the floor.

          So I toddled over the road to a nearby barber. Foreign. Aren’t they all, now? ‘Are you from around here?’ ‘Not for 35 years.’ ‘Very dangerous place. Not like my country.’ ‘Oh, which is your country?’ ‘Kazakhstan, he replied… 😱

          But Sos has a point..,.

          1. They are everywhere and are open even on Sundays.. our little market town has one and maybe even two .. and their advertising is the sort of stuff one would find in a bazaar, so many male styles including that ghastly fringe look that brown footballers seem to copy.

          2. True, Maggie. Most seem to be Turkish, in which case there’s a chance of getting rid of nose and ear hair by somewhat extreme, inflammable, means.

            And I noticed a sea change in Botchergate, Carlisle, in that the street was awash with police and other officials in Hi-Viz jackets. On a Monday. I believe this is related to the presence of a University since I left the city.

          3. Wonder if that’s the same barber I went to just before the 1st lockdown?
            Was up there helping Dr. Daughter move to take up a 6 month secondment in Carlisle.

        4. I gave up with barbers when they were made illegal in 2020, Bought some clippers from Amazon, and never looked back. In Carlisle for a funeral in January, I had my clippers with me, but decided the hotel wouldn’t appreciate the detritus on the floor.

          So I toddled over the road to a nearby barber. Foreign. Aren’t they all, now? ‘Are you from around here?’ ‘Not for 35 years.’ ‘Very dangerous place. Not like my country.’ ‘Oh, which is your country?’ ‘Kazakhstan, he replied… 😱

          But Sos has a point..,.

        5. I gave up with barbers when they were made illegal in 2020, Bought some clippers from Amazon, and never looked back. In Carlisle for a funeral in January, I had my clippers with me, but decided the hotel wouldn’t appreciate the detritus on the floor.

          So I toddled over the road to a nearby barber. Foreign. Aren’t they all, now? ‘Are you from around here?’ ‘Not for 35 years.’ ‘Very dangerous place. Not like my country.’ ‘Oh, which is your country?’ ‘Kazakhstan, he replied… 😱

          But Sos has a point..,.

        6. I gave up with barbers when they were made illegal in 2020, Bought some clippers from Amazon, and never looked back. In Carlisle for a funeral in January, I had my clippers with me, but decided the hotel wouldn’t appreciate the detritus on the floor.

          So I toddled over the road to a nearby barber. Foreign. Aren’t they all, now? ‘Are you from around here?’ ‘Not for 35 years.’ ‘Very dangerous place. Not like my country.’ ‘Oh, which is your country?’ ‘Kazakhstan, he replied… 😱

          But Sos has a point..,.

    2. 🎶Take it easy, take it easy, don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy. 🎶 🎸

  108. 371993+ up ticks,

    breitbart,

    May one ask,

    Anti-Family Tories Unveil Plan to See Million More Women Enter Workforce, will the burka be an encumbrance or will the wearers be exempt ?

  109. That’s me gone. Wonderful feeling to get the garden restarted. Of course, half the seeds won’t germinate – but so what?

    Glad Paul is back to what passes for normal. I do think he ought to reduce the booze – at least until his new motor is run in.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain

  110. Let’s dance the Khan Khan and kill several birds with one drone?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11862777/Russia-nuclear-war-Experts-say-Putins-Poseidon-nuke-kill-millions.html

    This is getting more and more surreal.

    Can Russia REALLY wipe out Britain with a ‘1,000ft-high tsunami’? Experts say Putin’s Poseidon nuke COULD destroy a coastal city, cause radioactive floods and kill millions in London
    Putin’s propagandists have continued to threaten the UK with nuclear holocaust
    Experts warned that if Putin launched Poseidon, London would be destroyed

      2. We have more to worry about our side false flagging in order to goad and manipulate the British public than Putin nuking us. I suspect the West is putting words into his mouth.

        1. Well said, Mum.

          It’s just scare tactics, as the Gov’t have finally realised that they’ve backed the wrong side.

          How can they be so stupid,,, but that’s MPs for you – stupid.

        1. The Beatles have to answer for some of it:
          “Well, the Ukraine girls really knock me out (Uuuu-uu-u-uuuh)
          They leave the West behind
          And Moscow girls make me sing and shout (Uuuu-uu-u-uuuh)
          That Georgia’s always on my mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mind
          Oh, come on!
          Yeah, I’m back in the U.S.S.R.​
          You don’t know how lucky you are, boys
          Back in the U.S.S.R.​          ”

          I almost miss the USSR.

    1. This is very similar to the British Blair Iraq interferrence. Biden and his AH cohorts will walk away with out so much of a scratch. Leaving distraught families and huge gaps in their lives. Masses of destruction. For precisely what gain.
      Biden can’t be wholely held responsible. He’s far too stupid. But the other people involved in the US government behind all those pointless death and destruction, are an absolute disgrace.

    2. Don’t worry, he’s already blind drunk, celebrating the return

      of his joke book

      1. I suspect Paul will sleep well tonight and return to his jokes tomorrow, well rested.

          3. I had an eye test at Specsavers yesterday. The optometrist was a veiled Muslim lady in a surgical mask, but, having discussed my medical history, she said something about my ‘energy’. I discounted this, and said I have a sense of humour, and don’t take myself too seriously. It was an interesting exchange.

            Specsavers now have an order for two new pairs of specs, but unfortunately, I’m also being referred for cataract surgery in my good eye. Since the other eye is pretty useless, there may be a brief interruption to this site, after the surgery happens, but it’s unlikely to be any time soon…

          4. Better that you’re sorted out as soon as possible.
            Even Nottlers could probably cope with posting on an “old” site, unless there’s an automatic closing of posts after a few days rather than a controlled shut off.

          5. At the moment, each page closes after two days. When I have a definite date for surgery, I’ll arrange an alternative. It was easier when we were merely a Disqus ‘channel’. Now, there’s WordPress to negotiate.

            One of our Churchwardens (the one with the ‘key’ to the Parish website) has just gone off on an 80 day cruise. She’s granted me a log-on, but since the Parish website and NoTTL are both based on WordPress, I have to use a different browser to get on to the former.

          7. Hope all goes well, Geoff, one of my biggest fears is eye problems. My father, sister and her son all suffered from glaucoma.

          8. Mum (1914-2003) had age-related macular degeneration. It may have been related to smoking, which she gave up when her younger sister died from cancer. But who knows? In the end, lung cancer took her as well, although it was a secondary cancer in the neck which caused paralysis and (thankfully) death shortly thereafter. AMD now gets the same treatment as diabetic retinopathy – i.e. Lucentis injections. They used to cost the NHS over £1000 a pop. I believe they are now a bit cheaper. these days. Happily. my retinopathy is stable (in the good eye), and it’s a year since my last jabs. Sadly, Lucentis was too late for Mum. An uncle had glaucoma. It appears I don’t have that either, thankfully.

          11. I understand the potential problem but have you a deputy who may step in and do as you do for us, very proudly?

          12. Hi, Tom. I’ve simplified the process of posting each day’s new page to the extent that I have to copy five blocks of text, then paste them in the right order. I don’t necessarily need to read them. But when the date draws near, I may seek assistance.

          13. Mother had that, and said how much better things were afterwards. So, to look forward to, Geoff.

          14. Alf the Great had it recently. My Mum also, about thirty years ago. My main concern is that with the other eye being pretty useless, there may be a period of less-than-ideal sight. But such is life…

  113. 371993+up ticks,

    Nicely put,

    Post
    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    4h
    Frank Warren nicely summing up the Lineker issue, especially at the end “fuck him”.

    Anyone who doesn’t toe the Globalist open borders agenda, & any of their other ideologies, is automatically labelled a ‘Nazi’.

    How many people know that in the 1930s the SS were cooperating with the Soviet security forces to learn the means of setting up & managing concentration camps modelled on the Gulags? The Left & the Nazis are two sides of the same coin

    https://gettr.com/post/p2bj4qqe578

    1. As I so often say, “The opposite cheeks of the same shitty Socialist arsehole.”

  115. Evening all…… met my two old schoolfriends for lunch today – we went to Cote, which was good. Got a bit cold & wet waiting for the bus afterwards, to go back to Jane’s (where I’d left my car) for a cup of tea and chat before heading for home.

  116. Ask every adult in the UK:
    “Do you think all asylum seekers should be permitted entry to the UK?”
    Everyone who answers “yes” should be allocated a refugee and be required to supply open ended board and lodging at their own expense.
    The debate would soon stop as the woke realised that there actually is a cost to our generosity.

    1. If memory serves, they were asked when they last went on a rally. Most said ‘we don’t have room’. They don’t, yet the country does.

      I like how you think but not one – 10.

  117. My apologies if anyone posted this earlier. This is a scene of devastation. Over 100 trees were chopped down during the night (last night, apparently) in Plymouth – the inhabitants knew nothing about it; they awoke and started their day with this terrible scene before them. There is, of course, no point in having a 15 minute city with complete surveillance if trees get in the way of that surveillance. What ‘they’ want is a completely sterile city. Trees offer security and a sense of continuity in times of great stress.
    https://twitter.com/Duchess314/status/1635945487487434752?s=20

      1. My apologies for treading on your toes, Belle – I saw the Twitter post this morning but I didn’t have time to re-post it, busy day going to the vet (check up) -an hour’s wait with an increasingly stressed dog – thence onwards to our son’s to collect our grandson from school. We didn’t get home until 5.30-ish. Needless to say I was shocked by those photographs. Just as if those trees were nothing. Vandalism, treachery, urban terrorism, arrogance all rolled into one. One cannot say now that councils are concerned about climate change when they do things like this with such deliberate utter disregard.

  118. Moggin the Mog’s theme music….adapted from Palladio by Karl Jenkins. Yes?

  119. Bollocks! Went to answer Bill’s comment regarding having a drink of TEA and got White screened.
    I was going to comment that Hogsback Traditional English Ale is rather a nice pint.

      1. Affligem (Belgian lager @ 6.9%) tastes much better.

        But maybe you haven’t researched enough. Go to Beerwulf’s website and check it out.

        It feeds my beer machine @ 8°C and tastes sublime.

        I’m off to recharge my glass.

  120. Got the broken roof support on the Hollybush Woodstack replaced today, then Stepson arrived and after he’d had a bath, I’d done his washing and fed him, went into Matlock for a bit of shopping.

    I gave him a right bollocking as he’s not been cleaning his teach and his breath would strip paint at 50 yards!

    1. She’s not wrong.

      Unfortunately I don’t have that traction with my two daughters.

      One is very independent and lives in Tasmania.

      The other is a left-wing socialist teacher and is estranged in Liverpool. God help her.

    1. Just going to finish me glass of plonk and then head to bed.
      Sleep well Eddy.

  124. Signing off.
    So glad that Paul has escaped and is home- just hope he takes care of himself. And all of you do likewise.
    See you tomorrow, all being well.
    Very tired so goodnight Y’all.

  125. Goodnight and God bless, Gentlefolks, I too am off to find the solace of my bed and a book..

    Bis morgen fruh.

  126. Britain prepared to consider leaving ECHR if it blocks illegal migration plan
    Dominic Raab said the UK could not rule out the possibility of ‘revisiting our membership’ if Strasbourg stops small boats crackdown
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/03/15/britain-prepared-consider-leaving-echr-blocks-illegal-migration/

    Pull the other one it might have bells on it

    BTL

    We threaten to leave the ECHR – but we know that this is an empty threat.

    We also threatened to invoke Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol and then ended up with Sunak’s Windsor Capitulation which removed that vital escape route leaving Northern Ireland still under the control of the EU with the ECJ and not British law as the final arbiter!

    Let’s face it – the Windsor Surrender is the end of even the pretence of Brexit.

    2. 371993+ up ticks,

      Evening R,
      Consequences of what has been allowed to happen, with the peoples consent.

    3. As an afterthought I believe the Windsor Declaration marks the death knell of our Monarchy.

      I believe the little man Sunak has exploited the dolt Charles III to bring this outcome about. Both are committed globalists.

      Sunak stands to obtain far greater influence in a One World Government than the hapless King Charles III who is possibly already bankrupted by his folly in associating with the Goon Show of the WHO/ WEF/ UN/ Rothschild/ Rockefeller/ Bush/ Clinton/ Soros/ Gates Mafia.

      We are dealing with truly nasty, evil and maladroit puppets of the Rothschild cabal and it is about time for people in the UK to wake up to the malign and evil intent of these ‘global masters’’. It is all aimed at you, they wish to enslave you.

      1. As you state, Charlie Boy may be financially bankrupt but his keen association with the cabal mentioned indicates that he is close to being morally bankrupt, too. How he can be associated with such rich riff-raff and then pledge himself to the people in his oath could be a problem both for him, the monarchy and to the Country: constitutional experts already are expressing concerns about the wording that the oath will contain.

    1. 371993+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      When retribution finally comes , and it will we will NOT forget those in power and their supporters.

  128. Good night, chums. I hope everyone sleeps well, especially Paul – and welcome back to your home, Paul.

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