Saturday 1 July: Cuts to Army troop numbers leave Britain ill-equipped to defend itself

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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605 thoughts on “Saturday 1 July: Cuts to Army troop numbers leave Britain ill-equipped to defend itself”

  3. Cuts to Army troop numbers leave Britain ill-equipped to defend itself

    The last thing the globalists want is a big army to defend the nation state

    1. Cuts to Westminster and Whitehall would be more beneficial to this once safe and reasonably safe nation. Too many self opinionated morons ‘at the top’ are busy bringing it to its knees.

    1. Now, I like Just Stop Oil, and I like Pride, but which one is better? There’s only one way to find out:-

      FIGHT!!!

    2. Now, I like Just Stop Oil, and I like Pride, but which one is better? There’s only one way to find out:-

      FIGHT!!!

  5. Good morning, chums. Enjoy your Saturday. I certainly plan to do so.

  7. 374059+ up ticks.

    Morning Each,

    Dt,
    Letters: Cuts to Army troop numbers leave Britain ill-equipped to defend itself

    Reality,

    Cuts to Army troop numbers leave Britain ill-equipped to defend itself the living proof will continue to arrive via Dover
    to back up the standing / lying in 5* comfort army in hotels awaiting the call.

    How bloody amazingly simple you use the nations polling stations and voters to open the door.

    Seemingly france has fallen, all in the BIG PLAN to be reconstructed the RESET way.

    1. 374059+ up ticks,

      O2O,
      My belief is we have, as a nation, not only made the invaders task easy for them but aided & abetted them also, within these Isles now you are never more than 15 minutes from the nearest mosque / potential arms dump.

      More overspill from the french terror campaign malady ( in many respects self inflicted) will be arriving at Dover today, courtesy of the lab/lib/con pro eu coalition party.

  8. Plans to shorten medical training put quality of NHS care at risk, doctors say. 1 July 2023.

    Plans to shorten medical training could dilute the calibre of doctors entering the NHS in England and damage the quality of care patients receive, doctors’ leaders have warned.

    Government proposals to cut doctors’ time in medical school from five to four years, and to introduce medical apprenticeships, could “water down” training for health service staff, they said.

    The system is truly beginning to collapse now!

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jun/30/plans-to-shorten-medical-training-put-quality-of-nhs-care-at-risk-doctors-say

  9. Met office said it was going to be the warmest June ever.
    Not when your central heating kicks in its not.

    ’76 was far warmer, it was very hot far more than this june no matter how much they lie.
    I was there.

    1. When we stayed in Holt earlier in June we put the heating a few times in the cottage.

      1. I think we only has 2 hot days this June.

        1976 was hot before and after June.

        1. I remember 76 well. I had a bath every day that was siphoned down to my veggie patch. I even grew celery that year. Then we left to live in Oz.

          1. That year we had friends from Oz staying on their first trip yo GB.
            The pubs in London ran out of beer, I remember. We drove to Scotland and there were overheating cars on the hard shoulder every half a mile (remember overheating cars?)
            The Aussies said GB countryside was browner than in Oz.

    2. I remember Father & I fitting loft insulation that summer. We had to be out of the attic by about 9 am, or it was too hot. And armfuls of glassfibre spikes, naturally.

    3. The start of June was very chilly. I was still using the electric blanket and wearing a long sleeve nightie.

    4. Even if June 2023 is not the hottest June ever it fits the narrative to say it is!

      3. And the BBC are doing just that – “hottest since records began” – BS!

  10. Met office said it was going to be the warmest June ever.
    Not when your central heating kicks in its not.

    ’76 was far warmer, it was very hot far more than this june no matter how much they lie.
    I was there.

  11. Morning all 🙂😊
    Grey and breezy.
    I hope its better tomorrow we have a family gathering at home with rellies as far away as Cape Town and Norfolk. I was in two minds wether to assemble and erect our 9×3 metre ‘marquee’. But have decided to take a chance on the clearing forecast.
    Busy day today preparing, I’m making two large trays of Focaccia using home grown garlic and rosemary from our garden. Unfortunately our small olive tree was almost wiped by the frost last winter.
    Might pop back later. 😉
    Have fun.

    2. Sounds great, Eddy! Hope the weather is kind to you. Enjoy!
      From Cape Town, eh? That’s a bit of a trek.

      1. I’ve also had a date for my long awaited ablation. Later this month.
        I may be privileged to get my life back. After two years.

        1. I’ll keep my fingrrs crorxed for you, Eddy – although I always thought ablative was a case for a noun in Latin… No wonder I failed the exam.

          1. No idea Obs, am I bovvered ?
            I just want the job done with and past tense.

          1. Thanks Bob. Safe hands might be a good idea.
            It’s quite a tricky operation.

    3. You sound so sociable Eddy , and appear to enjoy lots of happy family occasions .

      Be careful, don’t overdo things and know your limitations having fun .

      My peach tree was wiped out by the frost earlier this year, the fruit was white fleshed and so sweet, it was about 23 years old .

      1. I had two Mamosa shrubs I’d grow from seeds brought back from Spain.
        An ozzie bottle brush and a small Japanese maple all destroyed by frost.
        But our new miniature rose Bush in memory of our Labrador has about 8 blooms.

    2. Happy birthday to 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 Rastus! I hope we’ll see him later on!

    3. https://www.google.com/search?q=77+Sunset+Strip+Theme&oq=77+Sunset+Strip+Theme&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBwgAEAAYgAQyBggBEEUYOTIHCAIQABiABDIICAMQABgWGB4yCAgEEAAYFhgeMggIBRAAGBYYHjIKCAYQABiGAxiKBTIKCAcQABiGAxiKBTIKCAgQABiGAxiKBdIBCTEwMTQ0ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:2faa2e90,vid:xDGtOcrs0RU

      Thank you, my darling, for putting up with me for so many years.

      Elsie is already in the 77 Strip Club but we shall be joined later in year by Alf The Great, Ready Eddy and Minty and there are more Nottlers lining up to join us there next year.

      5. A very, very Happy Birthday to you, Richard! Have a wonderful day and lots of love to you! 💕🎂🍷🍾

      8. Been, there, done that, two years ago, Richard.

        I can only repeat have a happy, happy day, and I’m sure Caroline will make it so – you lucky, lucky man.

    5. Happy birthday, Rastus.
      I was about to ask about the number of candles on your cake ….

      1. Good morning Anne.

        77 – born in 1946 but I see from my list that your birthday is on 13th September but that you are rather shy about giving us your year of birth.

  13. French police say ‘we are at war with vermin’ as they threaten revolt over rioting. 1 July 2023.

    French police said they were “at war” with “savage hordes of vermin” on Friday night as France was rocked by violent waves of riots and looting.

    Two of the country’s top police unions threatened a revolt unless Emmanuel Macron’s government restored order after protests broke out over an officer’s shooting of a teenager outside Paris.

    We are waiting for something similar to kick off here. It will start just the same with a minor incident. The cities will probably go up in flames first.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/30/paris-shooting-violence-nanterre-olympic-pool-nahel-france/

    1. I think that video from Twitter which Belle posted yesterday which showed migrants assault a middle-aged white man on a train in Scotland is possibly the start.

      1. Well, Scotland seems to want more of them. The trouble is that the gimmies don’t want to be in Scotland.

          1. What, the Scots or the gimmies? :o)

            Happy July to you too, Sue. Let’s hope it is a happy one (perhaps a fatal fireball could land on Parliament?)

          3. Especially if both houses are sitting.

            I rather hope that, if Putin is going to start WWIII, that’s his first target.

          3. It would just be better for us if they flocked somewhere else. Preferably another continent.

      2. More likely after a middle-aged white man assaults (defends himself) a bunch of migrant thugs with a shotgun.

    2. A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

      [Mark Ch.VI vv4-6]

      They didn’t believe him, indeed he was reviled for telling the truth and those who repeat the truth he uttered are still reviled and vilified.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4c4d5d517a44e64a7bf3062b61457db9afe3fb017fb77dff749b30800c643819.png

      And against all the evidence the PTB will continue to refuse to accept that he is being proved right.

  14. 374059+ up ticks,

    SAVAGE HOARDS NOW IS IT, what happened to the all comforting diversity ?

    Is the comfort brigade ready at dover today to welcome refugees from civil war torn france with R/R hotel reservations, prior to them starting here, may one ask.

      1. 374059+ up ticks,

        Morning TB,

        Keep them at bay off the coast of the British Isles would be far superior.

      2. Stick ours on barges anchored in and around Rockall.

        Bugger Rwanda, that’ll stop the mischief.

      1. 374059+ up ticks,

        Morning FM,

        Hoards,
        is usually someone who obsessively and unnecessarily keeps things they do not need.

        You are saying you agree to mass uncontrolled immigration ?

        1. Many thanks, Maggiebelle, for this excellent harmonious birthday song!

      2. Bon Jaw.
        Happy birthday to you. I hope you’re having a lovely day, I’m sure Caroline will see to that. 🥂🍾🥐🎂

    2. I’d not heard about that what a horrible thing to happen.
      That’s why I am worried about the futures of our lovely grandchildren.
      This fake migration but true invasion makes me so angry. These political morons should be strung up. One each day until they have perminately fix the problems.

  16. Good morning, all and a very happy month.

    Grey and cloudy and very windy – though the Wet Office claims it will be sunny this afternoon. Hmmm.

    2. Local Al-Beeb forecast for Essex predicts lower than average temperatures for the first week of July. Incineration of the World to commence later in the month when temperatures hit 26+?

        1. Don’t mention Liberty Bodices, Anne, Bill is obviously having a bad JULY already, and rubber buttons would probably drive him over the edge.

          2. My mother always referred to her mammary support as her bb or bust bodice.

  17. Good moaning tootle monde,

    Cloudy again at the McPhee Hampshire desmesne, and remaining so with perhaps the odd solar break-through. Wind Westerly,15℃ going to 19℃ today. It looks as though the weather may be settling into the familiar recent pattern in which we have summer in June followed by a cooler, cloudy July and August.

    From the Gatesograph letters:

    SIR – While I agree with the thrust of Jemima Lewis’s view of Poundbury, I disagree with her over one thing.

    She says the design draws on centuries of much-loved British domestic architecture. Yet in respect of the larger structures in the town, when viewed from the approaches on the A35 and A37, I see a roofscape characteristic of central Europe, not Britain. Léon Krier, the master planner, is from Luxembourg, which may be relevant.

    David Lander
    Woking, Surrey

    Having driven past and looked at it several times while going on West-country breaks, Poundbury seems to me more to resemble a Victorian barracks complex or even a prison.

    1. Good morning DB
      How is your dearly beloved wife after her heart scare , I hope she is feeling a little bit better.

      Cooler dog walking weather, thank goodness.

      1. She saw a GP at last and investigations are taking place. The heart seems to be working properly but she is still rather breathless.

    3. Morning, Delboy.
      Hope all’s well with you and Mrs Delboy (Delgirl?)

      1. I am fine but the delgirl is being investigated and treated for atrial fibrillation. She had a minor heart attack in 2001. Both her parents died from heart attacks so it is a nervous time.

        1. We all seem to be falling apart just now. Hope that all goes well for her, and that she doesn’t worry overly.

  20. 374059+ up ticks,

    You certainly done your bit, your support for boris was outstanding.

    After my banking travails, I fear Britain is lost
    Our large corporates have turned woke. If you stand up to new-think, you too can have your accounts closed and your life made impossible

    2. I think it would be outrageous if any banks banned you because you support Gerard Batten.

      Whom do I detest and despise most in the HoC? Probably Chris Bryant – but even he should not have his bank accounts removed

      1. 373059+ up ticks,

        Morning R,
        Haven’t caught up yet, been very busy,has he named the bank ? could very well be offshore.

        Bryant may could very well be a match for farage.

    2. Several responses say this image is nothing to do with disturbances in France but an old image of a hand severed in a tram accident. I can see a rail but cannot verify either way which account is true.

      1. Folk who knowingly publish distorted reality are no better than those who engage in criminal activity.

        1. I’ve tried looking for any news report of a man in France having his hand severed by rioters following the shooting of the 17-yeart-old by French police, but without luck thus far. Some will say that the incident never happened, others that the mass media are covering it up. There are accounts of people suffering amputations in tram accidents but I’ve yet to find one which matches this report. I’m stumped.

          1. This tweeter claims this incident happened six years ago and not even in France, adding that Google Lens proves it, but I’ve not found it on Google Lens other than in tweets saying it happened in the French riots. I don’t know which to believe. It would help if those saying it was a tram accident would spell out where and when, perhaps with a link to a news report.

            https://twitter.com/La_La_Gomera/status/1675096374143057920?s=20

  22. Erin’s off to open the local library now for her Saturday stint.
    Right I must get on slayders.

  23. This raised a smile this morning…..

    ​A pirate walked into a bar and the bartender said, “Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while. What happened?” You look terrible.”

    What do you mean? said the pirate, ‘I feel fine.’

    The bartender said, “What about that wooden leg? You didn’t have that before.”

    The pirate said, “Well we were in battle and I got hit with a cannonball, but I’m fine now.”

    The bartender said, “Well, okay but what about that hook? What happened to your hand?

    The pirate said, “Well, we were in another battle. I boarded a ship and got into a sword fight. My hand was cut off. I got fitted with a hook. I’m fine, really.”

    The bartender said, “What about that eye patch?”

    The pirate said, “Oh, one day we were at sea and a flock of birds flew over. I looked up and one of them sh*t in my eye.”

    The bartender said, “You’re kidding, you lost your eye from bird sh*t?

    The pirate said, “It was my first time with the hook.”

    1. There is a similar joke along the lines of:
      Q “Why is your ear wrapped in a bandage?”
      A “While I was waiting for an important phone call I decided to do the ironing.”

      1. Certainly not Corporal…!

        I could not hope to match the style and panache of such an erudite storyteller as you my friend?

    1. 374059+ up ticks,

      Morning LD,

      One must admit it does look romantic via firelight.

    2. Heard on BBC local radio that >1000 people arrested across France and that the rioting had spread to Belgium. Of course, being Al-Beeb the excuse was the killing earlier in the week aka George Floyd.

  26. Tried to send my electricity meter readings in online. “We are having trouble logging you on”. They invite one to telephone if there are problems. “Our everso helpful agents are available every day from Monday to Thursday – and for a hour on Friday”……

    One despairs.

    1. I usually submit the reading by phone without any difficulty then run into the problem you’re having when I try to retrieve the new statement online the following day.

      EDF have started hassling me again to have a “smart” meter. It went quiet for a while after the last time I gave them a firm NO.

    2. Possibly telling Grandad to suck eggs, but ….
      When you ring a ‘helpline’ make sure it’s an English number (0800), otherwise you will be chatting to someone in Bangalore in a noisy, echoing call centre. Apart from the difficult accent, they just do not appreciate the subtleties of English communication.
      Even I (with reasonable hearing for my age) was reduced to barking down the phone “WHAT”???? “Can’t hear you” etc…..
      I know that like MB, you have hearing problems, and you will just dissolve into a puddle of frustration.

      1. My ex-Swedish wife used to hand the phone to me, if that ever happened when she rang a help-line, muttering, “Himalayan Hut.”

      2. The “helpline” is simply a recording telling one, in effect, to eff off.

        1. After my very, VERY frustrating phone call to EDF, I went online and printed off the list of help lines and plumped for an English number.
          A lovely Geordie lass sorted out a festering problem (to do with the Dower House being rented for several years) in nano seconds.

      3. I’m having hearing problems of late but it isn’t me. Have you noticed that there seems to be an increasing propensity for people to mumble rather than speak clearly? Another trait I have noticed, particularly with American films and TV series is to speak in a sort of loud ‘stage whisper, so everything is sort of a breathy sibilant sound when being emotive or intimate with a loved one or what not? Between the mumbles and the whispers I find it almost impossible to understand what is being said.

      4. I’m having hearing problems of late but it isn’t me. Have you noticed that there seems to be an increasing propensity for people to mumble rather than speak clearly? Another trait I have noticed, particularly with American films and TV series is to speak in a sort of loud ‘stage whisper, so everything is sort of a breathy sibilant sound when being emotive or intimate with a loved one or what not? Between the mumbles and the whispers I find it almost impossible to understand what is being said.

    3. Try submitting them around the 25th each month – the site is less busy. It doesn’t really matter which date you send them as long as you’re consistent.

  27. 🎶Heaven Devon, I’m in heaven Devon.🎶

    In Salcombe for the w/e wiv big Sis, staying in one of them there houses prob owned by a Londoner and depriving the locals of a place to live.

    1. I used to sail regularly into Salcombe. Some friends of mine, David and Anna, used to run the King’s Arms pub on the quay.

  28. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story – very late

    Saving It All For You

    A priest was taking a shortcut through an alley one day and came upon a young boy who was masturbating. “My son, you shouldn’t be doing that,” said the priest. “You should be saving that for when you get married.”

    The embarrassed boy hung his head down low and simply said “Yes, Father.”

    About 10 years later the priest was in his study when a young man, in his early twenties came in.

    “Yes, my son?” said the priest.

    “Father, you may not remember me, but about 10 years ago you caught me masturbating in an alley, and I’ll never forget the advice you gave then.”

    “And what was that, my son?”

    “Well, you told me that what I was doing was wrong and I should be saving it for when I get married,” said the young man.

    “That sounds like something I probably would have said,” said the priest. “Did you take my advice?”

    “Yes I did, Father; but there’s only one problem.”

    “What’s that, my son?”

    “Well, I have three 55-gallon drums full of the stuff in the back of my pickup truck. Now that I am getting married what am I supposed to do with it?”

    1. Morning, Maggie.
      Aren’t they well camouflaged.
      Their parents have managed to match the wallpaper with the chicks.

  30. Good morning to all! Another rather nice cool day here in West Sussex, no sun but not gloomy.

    I thought this analysis about what is going on in France interesting, so I’m kicking off the day with it. I don’t know France very well, only been there once and was not that impressed. But would be interested in what those among us who do know the place think of this mans remarks.

    France riots: Schools teaching democratic change can be brought THROUGH VIOLENCE

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFktp1D4vYA&t=72s

    1. Interesting talk. I found it amusing that the English TV hosts were so certain that street democracy is bad, and the British system is better.

  31. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/98d71f773e8f1f8b71d117bfeac567b1ec2d129494962f943badd51d69288481.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/30/jeremy-clarkson-guilty-sexism-meghan-duchess-sussex-column/

    BTL

    “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”
    [Attributed to Voltaire]

    Are there any ‘Powers That Be’ left in Europe who will stand up unequivocally for free speech?

    To be fair I expect a naked Lady Godiva would have been easier on the eye than the skinny-legged Duchess.

      1. Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
        To see a fine lady upon a while horse.
        Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
        She shall have music wherever she goes.

        1. A cock horse being one that was kept at the bottom of a hill to be attached to wagons as extra horsepower. Once at the top it was returned to the bottom ready for the next assignment.

    2. I understood from somewhere that he was referencing the fate of some character in “Game of Thrones” a series I have never watched.

      1. He got in first. Dolly gave him the evil eye and just squidged him. He went to his own bed a few minutes later.

        1. That’s where I’m off to, shortly.

          Pity i don’t have some-one to squidge me.

  35. On this day, 1st July 1971 HMS Artemis sank whilst alongside HMS Dolphin Gosport, home of the 1st Submarine Squadron.

    HMS Artemis (P449) was an Amphion-class submarine of the Royal Navy, built by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. of Greenock and launched 28 August 1946. The submarine sank while refuelling in 1971, was raised and sold for breaking up in 1972.

    Three members of the crew managed to get everyone clear before being trapped blow as the Artemis sank, they later effected a successful underwater escape.

    All aboard escaped, as a result of their decisive action.

    She was raised on 6 July and decommissioned, sold to be broken up for scrap on 12 December 1972.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0fa37883d9ff8871f1289817edd409e1a36743181ac1cd00fda4a4b76e7f1807.jpg

    1. The acceptance of zinc supplements as an important aid to health is once again largely due to Derek Bryce-Smith’s work.

      In my daily regime!

      1. How many mgms dosage per day do you take? I have seen conflicting amounts.

  38. That’s an early run to Matlock out of the way.
    Visit the cashpoint, pay a small amount of change into the Building Society and do a bit of shopping.

    Then off to Salisbury & Wood for 3 bags of cement.
    Now say with my delayed 2nd mug of tea before I start work.

      1. Yes, very much!
        1st time I’d seen Rite of Spring live and bloody hell!
        It was LOUD!!

  39. It’s all part of the scheme to get this country into the EU army.
    You know, that army Nick Clegg assured us didn’t exist.

    1. One has to wonder about the young fighting men being imported via the cross channel trafficking too. They have no allegiance.

      1. Au contraire, Sue. They have a devout allegiance to the Caliphate and islam.

    2. Much like our government signing HM Forces up to PESCO; the first EU body in which participants can cherry pick which orders/regulations they will follow…or so our political/snivel serpent class claim. To mix metaphors, we are called conspiracy theorists because we can see the Emperor is naked.

    1. We are plagued with wild boar in Brittany.

      Where are Asterix and Obelix when we need them?

      2. Wild boar make very good eating. I used to eat it regulary at the Pike & Eel pub in Cambs.

  41. This was posted on here yesterday:

    Lies, deceit and everything else the Covid Inquiry won’t uncover

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/lies-deceit-and-everything-else-the-covid-inquiry-wont-uncover/

    There is not a single verified electron microscope image of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, yet we have all seen drawings of it, presumably based on what other coronaviruses look like. The genomic sequence of the SARS-CoV- 2 virus cannot be known because the virus was never purified and its sequence never published. It makes one wonder what genetic sequence they thought they were testing using a PCR test which was invented to analyse DNA and not viral material.

    This was all explained by Dr Kary Mullis, the inventor of the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) test, but he was ignored by the public figures of the time such as Patrick Vallance, Chris Whitty, the Sage committee members…

    He couldn’t have been ignored because he couldn’t have had anything to say on it – he’d been dead for several months before the panic began.

    1. Yes, he very conveniently died in 2019 but we do have his recorded opinions on video with regards to passing off PCR as a diagnostic tool and its being useless when run at more than 30 cycles of magnification. As we all know, the NHS used 45.

    2. I think he said before he died that PCR shouldn’t be used as a diagnostic tool.

      1. Indeed he did but this effectively states that he was ignored at the time. We can’t know whether the writer is ignorant of the fact or simply guilty of lazy writing but you can imagine how members of the compliant MSM would treat such an utterance made in public – and especially if it were done at the inquiry.

        1. It’s lazy writing. Your quote “he was ignored by the public figures of the time” was ‘of the time’ as Whitty, Vallance et al were in office at the time he died or shortly afterwards.

          1. Now we’re in danger going where I hoped we wouldn’t – semantic overanalysis. ‘Of the time’ is clearly referring to Covid.

          5. And people will still be reading that article thinking he was ignored at the time.

          6. It is semantic but I still think his words were valid ‘at the time’. Of course, with him out of the way the opportunity arose for Christian Drosten to promote the use of PCR with the results we all saw.

          7. It is semantic but I still think his words were valid ‘at the time’.

            You’re going a bit JSP on me here! As I said, many people will read that thinking he was taking part in the debate at the time.

            If only he had been…

          8. His death came at a convenient time for those people who made use of his invention in a way he hadn’t intended.

          9. I wonder what the reaction of the FDA et al would have been if he had been alive and spoken out…

          10. Probably merely to cancel him, as they did with others who gave contrary opinions.

      1. Anthony Stephen Fauci is an American physician-scientist and immunologist who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022,

        Just saying!

      2. The colours are surely not natural and it is anyway merely presenting what may be a sample of infected tissue. The nature of the infection in no way proves the cause. Take those yellow bits away from the turquoise and magenta stuff and grow it independently. Then you’ve isolated a possible cause of the infection.

        1. It’s true; the colours are not natural. They were added to enhance the image.

  42. Let us keepmumisbusy in our thoughts today as she is undergoing the first installment of her treatment. I hope with all my heart she gets more consistent and useful care than I.
    A bad night again and still pain today. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.
    Hope y’all are well and enjoying your Saturday.

  44. Today is the day of the Round The Island Race when about 1,000 sailing boats are racing around the Isle of Wight.

    This was won by a pair of twins, Richard and Harvey Bagnall, who were 77 on Wednesday. I have done quite a lot of sailing with Richard and Harvey whose sailing ability leaves me in the shade. However Harvey sailed across the Atlantic from the Canaries to the Caribbean in 1984 in a Contessa 32 when I did the same trip taking one day less than he did in Raua, a van de stadt Pioneer 10, a similar sized boat!

    In 1977 the Bagnalls won the Round The Island Race in an appropriately named boat called Silver Jubilee. Richard Bagnall was the production manager of this boat at Camper and Nicholson’s Boatyard in Gosport at the time.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/83202cd1d811e21f6e06f37066d6e29d9de67cf068f1df413840bcfa59b697dd.png

      1. As in de-moralisation, meaning anti-moral. A good article. I hadn’t considered the origin of the term. We do live in a world where depravity is promoted. I guess it’s so that we’re demeaned and can’t fight back. If you accept debauchery, you’re in no position to pass judgment. You’re demoralised.

  46. Last weekend Macron made headlines by claiming the damp squib rebellion was proof that Russia is falling apart. Oh, the irony.

  47. The bells of hell go ding-a-ling-a ling…..

    “UK Says NATO Should Consider Waiving Membership Action Plan for Ukraine
    The MAP involves ensuring aspiring members meet NATO standards
    by Dave DeCamp Posted on June 29, 2023Categories NewsTags Britain, Ukraine
    British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said Thursday that NATO should consider skipping a Membership Action Plan (MAP) as a requirement for Ukraine to join the Western military alliance.

    The MAP is designed to ensure aspiring NATO members meet certain political, economic, and military standards to join the alliance. Waiving the MAP would speed up Ukrainian membership if NATO ever formally invites Kyiv to join.

    According to the UK Parliament’s House of Commons Library, between 1999 and 2020, every new NATO member joined through a MAP. But Finland and Sweden were invited last year without having to go through the MAP process.

    “I think we should absolutely look at skipping the Membership Action Plan,” Wallace said. “But of course, we have to put some realism in this space that there are 31 members of NATO now and, you know, we have to all move together.”

    2. Erdogan opposes Ukraine membership. Will they skip the unanimity rule too?

      1. There would be no point to ‘rules’ at all if they do that, would there? They might as well abandon them if they make special cases to suit their agenda. These people have no integrity whatsoever, they are like children in a playground with favourites. It’s frightening.

    3. What or who has provoked Wallace into coming up with this insane idea?

      …we have to put some realism…

      The first piece of evidence, with regards to realism, that this shower in government could put forward is that they finally recognise that they’re in a hole and they must stop digging.

    4. Doesn’t NATO have a rule that you can’t join if you have already been attacked?

      1. Rule 1 of the NATO treaty. Which they’ve never abided by. So what of the other rules?

        Article 1

        The Parties undertake, as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.

    1. His, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”, moment?

      Likely not but one can only hope.

  49. ‘Afternoon All

    Belated Medly

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f26a034206bfe8a6f7e4ae45659d35d7194cf886e73fdbdbd0910a7333e5b437.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/44005c0af13765ea86be205fd4460e9cc9a4bf021b54371c8dbdc9a8d7cf5286.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8cc758c316972c4374b867fae267b1caf91b8d179634afef83da5eaa96cccfb0.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bf45a8d92067242d3d12ba9182ff1e19341798947ceb05351621364772d04fd1.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cdf6f377bd7c0773f6e3d9c010ec573ba5a834ee469443ba5c4fcc8514f8ed55.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3da0b3d86a711711eaa3511ffa5828721d31a45d71cad93b52eabcbcc3e640e8.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5bdfa926900f68eed721c7f2d534626636a012f79c10fa977a766e18d956304f.jpg

    1. If that was an accidental shooting, then the policeman had his finger on the trigger, and the movement of the car caused him to pull it. Rule#3 of firearms: finger only on the trigger when about to fire – except this does not apply to police, just civilian shooters. The police in Norway frequently poop off theirs or someone else’s guns, shooting holes in their cars and recently, discharging a shotgun through an open window in Kongsberg nick.
      If it was deliberate, then, who is surprised at the result?

        1. Quite likely. According to Breitbart, he was known to police, and 16 – when the driving age in France is 17, apparently. Also, what was he doing in a Mercedes that he couldn’t afford?

          2. He was a delivery driver. I believe he was 17 at the time of the shooting.
            I wonder what he was delivering?

      2. Exactly.
        Did the officer open fire?
        Or did the car suddenly moving forward cause a negligent/accidental discharge with fatal results?

        1. My bet is on the latter.
          Again, merely looking at the footage, the officer doesn’t seem particularly agitated; it’s almost as if he didn’t think he had hit the driver, he was walking slowly away from the crash site when one might have expected to have seen him running, either to his bike/car or towards the crash, which doesn’t appear to be very far away.

          It’s almost as if he’s resigned to the driver having escaped and not realising the car had crashed further up the road. With a helmet on and a poor sight line he might not have seen or heard the crash.

      1. Unless he was shot first, and being shot caused him to drive off.
        However, that’s not how it looks to me.

        1. The gun flash shows the car was in motion. It looks as if the policeman’s arm was turned by the door mirror as the car moved forward.

          1. As I have observed, isn’t it very odd that this bit of the footage is held back from almost every other report showing video that I have seen.

      2. St George of Floyd was also the architect of his own misfortune by refusing to get out of the car when repeatedly asked. Not that you’d know it from the subsequent events.

    3. It’s amazing how there is always film of these events but nothing of the incident in Bournemouth and Nottingham

    4. You only have to remember that there were no riots when that white French child was raped and murdered and her remains stuffed in a suitcase, by a migrant, to realise that the details of what happened in this video are irrelevant.

  51. Just imagine how much worse it would have been in France if they hadn’t of parcelled off tens of thousands of potential rioters over here

  52. Phew!
    That’s the two dead ash safely dropped and sorted.
    Not large trees, a mere 5 or so inches each, but both stemmed from the same roots and halfway up the steepest part of the bank.
    I was planning to use a rope to get down to them, but then thought, “Why not use that small two section ladder you bloody idiot?”
    MUCH easier and a nice bit of firewood now added to the growing stacks.

    1. Was it Chalara, Ash die back ?
      We had a lot of that near us, they moved in and cut the whole lot down.

      1. Yep.
        I’ve still got a load to fell but these were the largest left near the road.
        There are still half a dozen roadside stems to take down, but they are only in the 3 to 4 inch range.

        Plenty large ones up the hill though!

  53. I wonder what will happen?

    It comes after eco-activists Just Stop Oil threatened to disrupt the march unless organisers of the LGBTQ+ event complied with their demands.
    The radical campaigners met organisers and demanded that Pride come out in support of “an end to new oil and gas”.
    Pride organisers have urged the activists to give the parade the “respect and focus it deserves”. But a Just Stop Oil spokesman said: “The climate crisis has already killed, and made homeless, millions of people including many LGBTQ+ people.
    “We are calling on Pride in London to make a statement condemning new oil, gas and coal. If Pride in London fails to take these basic steps necessary to protect our community, we will have to consider potential escalations.”
    A spokesman for the Met Police said they had a “plan in place” for any disruption.

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/pride-london-2023-lgbt-hyde-park-whitehall-sadiq-khan-march-parade-b1091480.html

  54. Just finished garden work for the day. Earlier I was in town at the market and on the way back to my car I thought I’d wander past Newbury’s new 15-minute neighbourhood under construction. It’s on the site of the old bus station and adjacent car park, one or two minutes walk to the railway station (Paddington 50 minutes) and right next to the district council offices so the Agenda 2030 ‘Change Agents’ can keep an eye on progress. The four-storey apartments are for rent, not purchase (of course – you will own nothing) and have retail spaces on the ground floor. It’s going to be the sort of place where you’d just love to live.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bcf4bb4b349bdee94b7226351c0c7271943026f782100e516ecbe8a561c19b06.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/72035ca02700ad5a9e3f58af0af76af902422863154fb512984011f878b4b5d4.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d59323ea1765b05e28c38b41a514f46a2b49229af5ba060ba9eabcc2c1123ce.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8a6a33dfe0f01dbc81422aad081a60c43723c5869e7edc5717ace99d98c60121.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/473ef0ba2cecccaba49816aa4f6b3beeec6d016e0b81ab0e697b3992dbe2546e.jpg

    1. It’s going to be the sort of place where you’d just love to live.

      If you’ve just got off a boat that is!

    3. Not attractive at all. Just functional.
      The future of this ruined country.

    4. I think I’d prefer the new open prison that was being discussed recently.

    5. We rented top floor flat over the shops in Newport Pagnell High Street back in the ’80s. So what’s the big deal now?

    6. I like the ominous sign: “Everyone Deserves This Feeling” – Souless!

      1. Especially when the flats above are rented to the blacks on housing benefits.

  55. Ukrainian counter-offensive advancing ‘in all directions’. 30 June 2023

    Ukrainian troops are advancing in all directions of their counteroffensive, a senior official has said.

    Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar told Ukrainian television: “If we talk about the entire frontline, both east and south, we have seized the strategic initiative and are advancing in all directions.”

    All directions? Completely meaningless. These people are utterly stumped! They have absolutely no idea what to do. Except keep lying of course.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/06/30/ukraine-russia-war-latest-general-sergei-surovikin-arrested/

    1. 15:00 and onwards – an interesting take on how it looks in various countries.

      1. He was spot on about our MSM propaganda and our pathetic armed forces. A bunch of silly ants threatening an elephant.

        1. So Zelensky will be for the chop now, then? His work is now complete, they have no further use for him.

          3. Perhaps he’ll have some second hand munitions for sale cheap.

            Time for the MOD to step in with their cheque book.

  58. All done. Focaccia baked looking good, one traditional olive oil and Rosemary the second fresh garden herbs and home grown fresh garlic.
    Any over will freeze and defrost as needed.
    I need at rest now.

    1. I suppose they all live in tents eat worms and leaves and walk everywhere.

  62. If you’re still around Harry K.

    Terre Vieille had a stall on the market this am and it reminded me that you haven’t been on Nottle for a while and then you put an upvote on one of my posts.
    Psychic?

          1. Perhaps we were all thinking of you, Harry! I was remembering our trip to Carcassonne and how our little dog would lie in wait underneath the table to surprise the pigeons as they walked by, she loved that her emerging presence would scatter them skywards, then I recalled you had a trip to Carcassonne a few years ago – it is strange the connections one’s brain makes.

          3. Three books by Kate Mosse you might like, Mum.

            Labyrinth
            Sepulchre, and
            Citadel

            All deal with Carcassone, its life and times. Written between 2005 & 2012.

          4. Great books, to be read repeatedly. Each time I find something I missed previously.

          5. Thank you, Jill, for endorsing the recommendation.

            Have you been to Carcassone?

            If not, put it on your bucket list – very interesting medieval citadel.

          6. Thank you, Tom, for reminding me. I have the Labyrinth upstairs in a box we brought back from France – I never got around to reading it.

          7. That’s a good starter, Mum.

            I guarantee, you’ll be looking for the next (Sepulchre) – available on Kindle if you have such.

    2. Terre Vieille! I still have some of their excellent Pecharmant here, kept for occasions rather than swilled daily! The proprietor always reminded me of Eric Morecambe!

      We have been travelling (Oz and USA, separate trips) and I got out of the NoTTL habit somewhat but do look in from time to time. Hope all is well with you both.

          4. Nah, it’s 40 years before you’re accepted as a resident.

            Bill is still on probation having legged it to foreign climes before he was time-served.

      2. It is excellent wine. Outside my daily drinking price range but I enjoy the odd bottle.
        There was a young man on the stall who spoke excellent English.
        I hope your trips were good fun , we’re flourishing, thank you

    1. You have to get your priorities right.

      I bet kissing was involved – with tongues, of course.

          3. I cannot even see them but that’s probably because I operate on WIN 7 Professional and it doesn’t read any Apple shiite.

    2. Algerian and Moroccan. Being taken to a mosque.

      An immigrant, likely a criminal one and a muslim. Im tired of these lies.

  67. Zelenskyy: ‘Serious threat’ remains at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.1 July 2023.

    Ukraine’s president has warned that a “serious threat” remains at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

    Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Russia was “technically ready” to provoke a localised explosion at the facility, citing Ukrainian intelligence as the source of his information.

    “There is a serious threat because Russia is technically ready to provoke a local explosion at the station, which could lead to a (radiation) release,” Mr Zelenskyy told a joint news conference in Kyiv with Spain’s prime minister.

    This looks like another False Flag in the offing. Zelensky keeps bulling it up though the Russians are in possession of the plant and any consequences would be very serious for them both militarily and politically.

    https://news.sky.com/story/russia-ukraine-war-latest-serious-threat-remains-at-zaporizhzhia-plant-as-ukraine-advancing-despite-lacking-resources-12541713

    1. How can the idiot clown promote/provoke an explosion when the plant is in Russian hands?

      1. I suppose he could just say there has been an explosion and show a computer generated image. How would we know the truth?

        1. Radiation cloud would be detected – as at Chernobyl, so Ukraine has experience of these things.

          1. And I’d be willing to bet that there’s a lot of satellite coverage over that part of the world.

          2. But the media and others do what they’re told …. they are all bought. Look at the submersible performance.

        2. We wouldn’t and he and the West will blame it on Russia.

          You heard it here first.

  69. On my other blog I occasionally post about a heroism that doesn’t involve kicking a football for obscene amounts of money or merely telling the World you are gay.

    Temporary Lieutenant Harold Reginald Newgass, GC (3rd August 1896 – 17th November 1984), Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

    On the evening of 28th – 29th November 1940, a German parachute mine fell on the Garston Gas Works in Liverpool. It was unknown whether it was magnetic, acoustic, delayed action or just a “dud”. Consequently, this caused extensive disruption in the area, with factory work halted and over 6,000 people removed from the vicinity. Additionally, railway and dock sidings were closed and the gas supply to the south and east of Liverpool was disrupted.
    The “luftmine” had fallen through a large gas holder and its parachute had become entangled in the hole in the roof. The large entry hole made by the mine allowed gas to escape and a portion of the roof to sink. The mine was resting on the floor nearly upright, nose down in some 7 feet of oily water. It was also leaning on one of the 7 feet high brick piers on which, in turn, the iron pillars that supported the roof were fixed.
    Additionally, the mine’s fuse mechanism was against the pillar, meaning that the mine had to be turned before it could be defused. Some of the water was pumped out and an access hole was cut into the side of the gas holder. The job of now rendering the mine safe was left to Temporary Lieutenant Harold Newgass.
    Newgass could only enter the gas holder with the aid of breathing apparatus supplying oxygen via cylinder. The Auxiliary Fire Service prepared six cylinders, each with a life of about 30 minutes. He would have to take it in stages over the next two days.
    Newgass now worked hard to use each available cylinder’s 30-minute window. The strain of the operation meant that Newgass used more and more oxygen and the 30 minutes dwindled rapidly. He later commented: “Working in an oxygen mask is a bit of a strain”.
    Using the first cylinder, Newgass checked the mine and prepared his plan to defuse the device. Using the second cylinder, he carried his tools and a ladder to the mine. On the third sortie he placed sandbags around the nose of the mine, and tied the top of the mine to the iron roof support.
    On 30th November 1940, using the fourth cylinder, Newgass began the difficult defusing operation. Turning the mine to reveal the fuse he then removed it and the unit primer and detonator. Almost exhausted Newgass returned for the fifth cylinder and now turned the mine further to undo clock-keep ring. With his final cylinder he was again to extract the clock, rendering the mine inert.
    Garston employers now removed the mine by removing it with block and tackle. It was put on a lorry for disposal. Had the mine detonated, the whole of Garston Works, and much of the surrounding properties would have been completely destroyed in the blast.

    Newgass was subsequently awarded the George Cross for his actions. The announcement for the award was published in the London Gazette on 4th March 1941, reading:

    The King has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the GEORGE CROSS for great gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty to:
    Temporary Lieutenant Harold Reginald Newgass, R.N.V.R.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/59/Harold_Newgass.jpg/150px-Harold_Newgass.jpg

    3. I was brought up a mile from those gasworks, after the war we used to buy our coke from there (not the drug or the drink)

    1. Fortunately the staff seem to be aware that their furry overlord is awake and will be busy opening the food.
      Or else….

    2. Talking of long pickles. How are your trombo’s doing. Mine is six feet tall with lots of flowers.

      1. Does one actually buy a cat?
        Surely money is handed over merely for the privilege of being in its employment?

        1. Fortunately – and VERY lucky we were, G and P were “free to a good home”. A delightful elderly couple about five miles away had given sanctuary to a pregnant feral cat. The cat, having sussed out that the couple were OK, brought her five kittens (aged a few days) into their house. The provided bedding etc. At six weeks, the mother stopped feeding the kittens – so the couple asked the vet to find good homes for four of them. There were two ginger and two black. Tiny little things.

          We had been looking for a pair of ginger kittens for about a year. We saw some but there was something amiss with all of the (even though people wanted £200 EACH for them).

          We were phoned at 10 am and by 11 am, G & P were in a box on the way to join us. And we have been just so lucky. They are not lap cats – they much prefer being outdoors – but with access to a range of chairs, sofas, beds, baskets inside when it suits them.

          More photographs (several hundred) are available if cats are your thing!!

    4. He’s trying to work out the meaning of the hieroglyphics. Takes him back to the olden days when he was once a royal cat in the pyramids. Trouble was they buried him alive when they walled the tomb up.

  71. Funny Old World

    “We’ve had more mobile phone footage from Paris in the last 48 hours than we’ve had from Ukraine in 17 months.”

  72. Interesting finish to the opening stage of the Tour de France.
    Probably unique.

      1. Worse.
        Result under spoiler for those who are watching highlights later.

        Twin Brits first and second

      2. Exactly what our English & History Master, Ernst Wangermann, later renowned Professor at Salzburg University taught us.

        JSTOR
        https://www.jstor.org › stable
        by K Benda · 1960 — Professor Wangermann, teacher of the. Grammar School at Earl’s Colne, England, carried on a research work for several years.

        1. The days when Colchester, Earls Colne and Halstead all had grammar schools.

          1. So too, Harwich, Clacton, Maldon, Braintree and Sudbury. Some were labelled High Schools but they were grammar schools in all but name. Strangely, my small grammar competed in sports against all of those except Maldon. It wasn’t due to distance as we travelled out to Saffron Walden’s Friends School and to the Royal Hospital School at Holbrook.

      3. True.
        But:
        The “probably” relates to the fact that that there might have been another occurrence, unbeknown to me.
        Until then I will assume it’s unique.
        Probably.

    2. While the Scots are to be congratulated on what would once have been thought an impossible feat, it’s yet more evidence of the decline in West Indies cricket. They’ve lost to Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and now Scotland on their way to elimination from the tournament finals in India this coming autumn. The rival attractions of football and athletics have contributed to this rather sad fall in WI cricketing standards.

      3. That is sad. I know or care little about cricket – but superb Windy cricketers are one of the back drops to my life.

  75. Birdie Three today.

    Wordle 742 3/6
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Par here

      Wordle 742 4/6

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

    2. Bogey five for me but anything less than a seven is fine.

      Wordle 742 5/6

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

    3. Bogie 5 here.
      Wordle 742 5/6

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

  76. – The situation could be far far worse in France if we in the UK hadn’t kindly accepted so many of their potential rioters to our shores.
    But I don’t suppose we will get any thanks

      1. Tea – check.
        Coffee (Gold Blend) – check
        Sugar – check.
        Milk – check.
        Non Dairy – check.
        Hob Nobs (Chocolate and plain) – big box in reception – check.
        Oh – don’t forget the mugs and trays.

          2. Clucking Bell.
            Now I’ll have the Health Nazis and Human Rites Lawyers down on me like a ton of bricks.
            Worse still, massed ranks of vegans will mob the Dower House.

          1. Bugger that, Bill just rip their hands off the asphalt; if it hurts, tough titty.

          3. Dig up the road – nobody will notice the extra potholes. Leave the daft buggers with a big chunk of asphalt stuck to each hand.

          8. Sod that.
            Cut a bloody great hole in the road and leave it attached.
            No motorist will notice another pot hole.

    2. 374059+ up ticks,

      Afternoon B3,
      I don’t know, you could very well receive, behind the ear, a brick bearing the word shocran

    2. I just said exactly that to my wife.
      It’ll be happening here next.
      If that silly woman really did that, she should be arrested and jailed.

    3. I wonder, at what point did it dawn on politicians that holding up little signs with slogans on them was a really, really bad idea?

  79. That’s me for this curious day. Grey, mild, sunny, cloudy – 20 mph westerly wind all day – without a moment’s respite – and the same for the next few days.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain – DV.

  80. Old people are just sooooo selfish.
    According to the Wail, apparently the Queen and Prince Phillip are to blame for Ginge and Whinge’s career slide.
    How very dare people live into their 90s and then have the brass neck to get sick and die.

    1. It’s so easy to take a poke at people who have passed on.
      And rather cowardly.

    2. Is this another in the same vein as ‘The boomers have stolen your future’ articles? Do I detect the start of another oldies’ campaign to distract from govt blame? Let’s blame all the oldies for all the woes of the world….. Put Them Down!

  81. I have had the most god awful day pain wise. And now Neil Oliver has a bloody great snake on his show. Thanks a lot Neil!

    1. The snake seems to like her handler and enjoy being stroked. I think I’d still rather have a pet cat or dog.

        1. If it makes you feel better Lotl
          I was riding my dirt bike alone in the Australian Bush near Narran lakes and a 6ft long brown snake crossed my path. I had no way of avoiding it as I was stuck in a deep dried tyre track. I chopped it in half. Fortunately the top half didn’t fly upwards and inject me with its deadly poison. I may never have been found.

          I just kept Bugger on. X

          2. I also use to help my mate Trevor who was in charge of Birds and Reptiles at Adelaide Zoo. Catch death adders for the zoo displays.

          4. I know, but Trevor was a really nice and clever guy.
            I’m not sure he’s even still with us he had a terrible problem with a deformed back.
            He gave us some lovely opals he had mined at Lightening Ridge.

        2. If it makes you feel better Lotl
          I was riding my dirt bike alone in the Australian Bush near Narran lakes and a 6ft long brown snake crossed my path. I had no way of avoiding it as I was stuck in a deep dried tyre track. I chopped it in half. Fortunately the top half didn’t fly upwards and inject me with its deadly poison. I may never have been found.

          I just kept Bugger on. X

        3. me too, especially those in government
          Hope you have a decent night Ann

      2. There was a photo of me (aged 12) with two pythons around my neck, at Dublin Zoo, in the Irish Times, c.1953.

        As I recall, they were warm and friendly!

        1. They are warm and fortunately they were friendly or you wouldn’t be here to tell the tale! 🙂 Personally, I am possibly the world’s worst herpetophobe.

        2. With hindsight, I reckon I was ‘used’ by the Dublin Zoo to illustrate to the public that snakes aren’t necessarily ‘bad guys’.

      3. #MeToo, Sue i have a horror of snakes.

        Fortunately not too many to bother about in UK – only adders.

        Different story when I was in Singapore and Australia.

          1. Yep, Ann, been there too and survived. N Carolina, Arizona and California. Oh, and Chicago Florida, and Texas.

    2. Sorry to hear about your day. Reminds me of a day, few years ago when my daughter in the back garden, came across a black snake outside on her patio. She let out a terrific scream, whereupon Chester, her Goldie (fast asleep indoors) leapt up and crashed through the screen door, sending it flying, to rescue his Momma, only to look at snake with that look that said “Really? It’s only a snake, I’m going back to sleep”

    3. Sounds, Ann, as if you really need the Tramadol & Diclofenac each x 50 mg.

      1. Seeing oncologist on Tues and will see what he says. Right now,what I am taking with some Pinot is helping tonight,.

        1. So sad, m’dear that like me you have to rely upon alcohol to kill pain.

          I do understand as I rely upon whisky to do the same, That and sleep. but what a waste of a life, Eh?

    5. Link to N Oliver, please, Ann.

      Despite paying for Patreon, I don’t automatically get these others.

    6. The ‘bloody great’ showed it wasn’t Sunak, and I don’t really like snakes generally. Or spiders, wasps, beetles, gnats, scorpions, sharks… err, ok, I’m scared of most things.

  83. There’s a programme on BBC known as Money For Nothing. You might be expected to see politicians featuring. But it is all about saving rubbish from the skips and dumps. And then recycling.
    They might have to do something like that to this country if it carries on way it’s all going.

  84. I’ve run out of steam today. One of our patio umbrellas blew over and the pole is badly damaged. I’ve just struggled to take it apart. And we have around 15 guests coming tomorrow. “Oh Booger” as Unlucky Alf on the Fast Show would have said.
    I’ll have to get the roll of duct tape out in the morning.
    Signing off for today.

      1. I had a glass of merlot and watched a recording I have of the my favourite band The Eagles in 2020.
        Went to bed at 9pm that’s why I’m awake so early.

    2. Splints. Duct tape wrapped around some form of splint, perhaps a piece of plastic or metal pipe.

      1. Yes thanks Tim.
        Exactly what I’m going to do later, a length of plastic waste pipe split length ways to flex over the damaged fitting. And held by tape.
        Can you imagine how awful it would have been if soome of our guests had been sitting around the table.
        The whole of the concrete base including the table move around two feet.

  85. Evening, all. It isn’t just army numbers, it’s equipment and backup in the form of air force and navy. It has seemed to me that the so-called “peace dividend” was just an excuse for making us defenceless,

    1. Remind me, Conners; who coined the phrase, ‘Peace Dividend’ ?

      It sounds Cameronian …

        1. That would make Maggie T. the last effective, defender of the realm, Ndovu.

    2. I’ve long argued that the army air force/navy is an out moded concept rooted in history rather than operational efficiency.

      We should have small, mobile, heavily equipped and armed ‘armies’. Each comprises about 1000 men, split again into squads of about 20 with the vehicles – helicopter gunships, medical evac, transports, support armour, heavy weapons, air support in the form of drones with intelligence assets in the back field.

      The days of set piece battles at sea with giant navies are over. The new enemy is urban warfare, paramilitaries, terrorists who travel light with old weapons. We need to be faster, more independent and better armed.

      1. I agree we need to be faster and better armed. Fighting a guerilla war is damned difficult,

      2. Let the Royal Navy do it all, they have the Royal Marines and Fleet Air Arm plus their ships and boats.

          1. They weren’t designed to work; they were Gordon Brown’s farewell ‘make-work’ for Clyde and Forth shipbuilders.

            A multi billion fiasco.

      1. The answer seems to be, that whatever they come up with, treat it like Covid and don’t worry.

        It’s all psyops, so fukc ’em.

      2. As I am a non-Twitter, I can’t see anything 🙂 War is a nasty business. Anyone who says different is deluded.

  86. Your neighbour’s garage has been renovated (new roof, new plaster on exterior walls, new white paint).

    Do you say….

    a) Your garage is looking great!
    b) You should have done X as well
    c) Your workers were doing it wrong, and they will have over-charged you
    d) If you’d replaced the roof earlier, you wouldn’t have had to do the walls?

    If a), then you are a normal, decent human being.
    If any of the other answers, then you are one of my ARSEHOLE male neighbours, who cannot accept that a woman owns one of the only two detached houses in the street. Fuck them all!

    1. Hardly any of our neighbours have a garage. Even though we nearly all have nice, detached houses.

      1. Ours is full of junk valuable belongings and the cars sit on the drive…

        1. I can think of two with garages, usually the cars are on the drive outside. The rest of us have cars but no garage.

        2. I’ve got a garage and a car port – car sits in the latter, former is full of crap

        3. Our neighbour on the right side keeps his vintage motorbike in our left side neighbour’s garage. As rent he mows her lawn.

    2. The world seems to be filled with miserable bastards who queue up to demonstrate that by trying to show how superior they are. Eff them all.

  88. I think that that’s me for the night so I’ll wish you all goodnight and God bless.

    See you all again in the morn, Gentlefolk.

  89. “In some real sense, the post-war peace conference has already been held and the verdict is in. We are referring to the de facto Ukrainian referendums on the illegitimate state that Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev built, and which the Washington neocons and War Party are determined to uphold at any cost, including going to the brink of nuclear war with Russia.

    Time and again the Ukrainian electorate effectively voted for partition, as dramatically underscored by the elector maps above.

    So send Zelensky packing back to his comedy show and let the blue states of the Ukrainian east and south have their own countries or return to the bosom of Mother Russia, from which these communities emerged during the 18th and 19th centuries.

    That would end the carnage in a heart-beat, and would stop the senseless slaughter of Ukrainians and Russians alike—a human catastrophe that is beginning to rival the heinous criminality of World War I trench warfare.

    The implicit Peace of the Partition, however, could have an additional silver lining. It would expose the absolute mendacity of the Washington War Party and the fact that it is so desperate to rule the world that it will prop up even utter nincompoops like Zelensky to stay in the business of fighting falsely demonized monsters who are no threat at all to America’s real homeland security.”

    Good information here on the creation of Ukraine and its present destruction:

    https://internationalman.com/articles/david-stockman-on-why-the-us-should-stop-sending-money-to-zelensky/

    4. As you’ve identified, Stephen, Ukraine, of and in itself, is just a farce, backed by the US in order to do anything to keep a cold war going and supporting their arm’s industry.

      Time for them to back off and find other means to support their arm’s industry.

      …and not at our, or the rest of the world’s expense.

  90. Went up to bed about 8 ish. Back down now, will not take the prescription pills any more.
    Sod the NHS, sod Boris and his pathetic “advisors”. And sod this bloody government!!

      1. Sos, these days I am doing my best. It’s not the best I can do but I do what I can. You have been some ill health yourself and I am sure you understand.
        Today has been very tough and then we have next week’s appointments.

        1. I wrote a page of notes of my problems and a chart of my varied blood pressure readings.
          I left them with the paramedic I saw instead of one of our pointless GPs. She as promised got straight on to the hospital and out the the blue Friday I have my appointment set up.
          But in over 6 months the bloody cardiology department and the other medics have done absolutely stuff all. Except take home their salaries.
          And I’m still waiting for a reply regarding my official written complaint to the hospital.
          I’ve formed a distinct feeling that they all think they are more important than the patients.

    2. I trust that you are telling these useless doctors that the medicines don’t bloody work. There again, they will probably just add another pill to suppress some of the side effects.

      I was given a prescription for oxycontin some years ago, I managed one of the pills before the boss took the rest away from me – sod the pain, I wasn’t going to act like a zombie any longer.

      And while we are at it, sod the canadian government. What an absolute bunch of a**holes, having new fuel taxes take effect on Canada day.

    3. Same with me, Ann. wide awake at 02:00 and still here, reading my kindle for nothing else to do.

  92. I am now going to bid y’all good night. I can’t take any more today.

  93. Dragged out by t’Lad who’s stopping overnight.
    A walk across Dunsley Meadows and into Cromford for a pint in the Bell, then in the Boat, then a walk round the back of Ball Eye Quarry to the Kings Head up in Bonsall where I did a solo unaccompanied rendition of Byker Hill on the Karekroake before dropping down home!

    Now off to bed! G’night all.

  94. An amazing band up at the local tonight. Must have been expensive, but enough drinking bodies to cover it hopefully. I did my best.
    I spoke to a lovely lady I didn’t know. One of those moments when you think, “If only…”
    Totally innocent conversation, but an undercurrent…
    The pleasures of getting old.

    2. It’s great how live music can bring people out of their shell.
      My son plays lead guitar in a local 4 piece they play, retro stuff with their own twist, playing at the Elephant & Castle Wheathampstead Herts later this month. 23rd I think.

    3. After a pint in the Ball and Boat in Cromford, t’Lad & I went home via the Karecroaky in the Kings Head in Bonsall and I did an unaccompanied rendition of Byker Hill that went well!

      The bloke running the night could have done with a couple of buckets to give some of the performers a chance of being able to hold the tune!

  95. The UK is in serious decline, a broken state and a broken society. The recent example of Farage, a prominent pro-Brexit politician being denied access to UK banking services is surely the tip of the tyrannical globalist spear.

    The Covid Inquiry is a bucket of whitewash liberally applied and designed to give free passes to our corrupt politicians and their cohorts in the medical and pharmaceutical ‘professions’.

    We have evidence that the proxy war in Ukraine and much vaunted offensive is an utter embarrassment and failure yet our politicians persist with the pretence that our support for a corrupt bunch of imbeciles is a worthy cause. Nothing could be further from the Truth.

    We were told that Russia was weak with a diminished military and inferior armaments yet the precise opposite is proven to be the case. Likewise we were given to believe that Russian technology lags behind that of the west. This has always puzzled me for the fact that without Russian technological assistance the west would be unable to access the International Space Station. Go figure that one out.

    I am no fan of Bunter Johnson, nor of Liz Truss or Kwasi Kwarteng but find it worrying that such establishment figures can so easily be tossed aside by the WEF puppets Sunak and his chum waiting in the wings Queer Starmer. Two more odious evil reptiles would be hard to conjure from a witch’s cauldron.

    We are in serious decline as a nation and folk need to wise up and wake up at the soonest.

      2. 374091+ up ticks,

        Morning O,

        What should have been done 30 plus years ago, stop supporting / voting lab/lib/con.

        1. But the alternatives are a self-centred rabble who couldn’t even organise to fart in their own pants.
          It also doesn’t address the placemen in the civil service.
          I’m afraid only organised violence will be any help.

  96. Had a delightful meeting with beers and pizza of a local group of ‘true bloods’ this afternoon. We exchange stories and anecdotes about the effects of Covid vaccinations, mask mandates and lockdowns on our lives and those of our relatives and acquaintances.

    So many have fallen for the ‘take the vaccine and save granny’ rhetoric and the disgusting nudge unit urging folk to turn in their relatives refusing the jabs. The amount of division and family disputes engendered by corrupt government policy persists. Those of us reasoning against taking an untested poison into our bodies happily remain resolute and now meet regularly to share our direct experiences.

    It seems that many colleagues now suffer from ‘Long Covid’ and are unwilling or unable to return to the workplace. I believe a large cohort of these folk are employed in local government and government agencies.

    One of the most obvious results of folk skipping work under the pretext of ‘Long Covid’ is that agencies responsible for enforcement of environmental policies are absent. For example we have local farmers spraying human waste on fields around us. The human waste is kept in open ‘slurry lakes’ and all regulations about its storage and use are ignored or bypassed. This presents a potentially serious risk to public health.

    There are so many ways in which our state is failing us. Everywhere we look, from dangerously potholed roads to absolutely unsafe motorways with no hard shoulders or other safety lanes screams negligence.

    We need a total clear out at Westminster and in the management of our major institutions. The sooner the better. On no account should any sentient human being vote for any of the mainstream parties. They are to every man and woman rotten and corrupt to the core,

    1. Absolutely agree.
      In the condition I ended up in after the covid injections if we’d still had a mortgage and I hadn’t retired, I would have not been able to earn a living for over two years. And I suspect we would have been evicted.

    2. corim, within your group have you discussed the possibility that ‘Long Covid’ is in fact the result of the jabs?
      Ed Dowd, ex Blackrock portfolio manager, with the help of some smart data analysts, has published USA figures of not only those who died from the jab but the huge number of people who have been disabled. Many of the disabled can no longer work and some can only perform at a reduced level. Blaming the “virus” (pathogen) for ‘Long Covid’ to cover the impact of the jabs would be something the awful people running this disaster would do without a moment’s regret or shame.

  97. The WEF establishment waited patiently for Queen Elizabeth to die before unleashing their latest attacks on the British people. We now have an Idiot WEF King and basically all sorts of insane nonsense is now allowed by this fool. God help us all. Insanity rules at present.

    1. “We now have an Idiot WEF King…”

      Suffering from ‘Malthusian dementia’ according to one recent DT BTL comment…

      1. As is his wokey, Jokey son, the heir apparent.

        God, when will you spare us this bloody nonsense?

    2. 374091+ up ticks,

      Morning C,

      Good post,
      United people power via a PEOPLES RESET is required for starters, every pylon they are now
      proposing must be adorned by a current MP then followed by selective pharmaceutical top rankers,

    3. I don’t think they waited even to then.
      The trigger for them moving against the British People was the death of Prince Phillip as we saw with the knighting of Blair almost as soon as he’d been laid to rest.

  98. Good morning, chums. Waiting here for Geoff to give us Sunday’s NoTTLe page.

      1. Good morning, Tom. I went to bed at around 10.30 pm, but only slept for two hours then off to the loo. I thought I’d not get another proper sleep, but surprised myself and slept right through until turned 6.30 am. So feeling refreshed. Will now have a cuppa and return at intervals to post on Sunday’s page.

    2. Morning, Geoff.
      The Sunday page doesn’t show when entering from the web, but does when using your link above.
      Has it been named weirdly, so it’s not at the top of the list?

      1. They certainly deserved to go broke. Let’s hope that all non-woke people can get out before it sinks!

    2. Contacted Yorkshire Building Society to let them know my views on the matter. They say on their website:

      ‘We really listen to our customers. Every response we receive is used to help us provide a better online experience for you’.

      Presumably at best will get a vague and waffly response.

      1. Do you are anyone remember ‘The bank of Dave’, what happened to that, is it still going?

    1. You have posted this on Saturday’s page. For some treason one has to access Sunday’s page from this one, Geoff’s post of this morning.

      1. Thank you – I’ll delete it. It’s a long one and I I don’t want to clog up the works. I seldom access nttl by the previous day. Got my knickers in a twist, I scarcely know what day of the week it is at the moment.

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