Sunday 23 July: The billions wasted on HS2 could have been used to secure Britain’s future energy supply

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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479 thoughts on “Sunday 23 July: The billions wasted on HS2 could have been used to secure Britain’s future energy supply”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Ageism

    A man decides to have a face-lift for his birthday. He spends £5,000 and feels really good about the results. On his way home he stops at a news-stand and buys a paper. Before leaving he says to the news-vendor, “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how old do you think I am?”

    “About 35,” was the reply.

    “I’m actually 47,” the man says, feeling really happy.

    After that, he goes into McDonald’s for lunch, and asks the order taker the same question, to which the reply is, “Oh you look about 29”.

    “I am actually 47,” he answered.

    While standing at the bus stop he asks an old woman the same question. She replies, “I am 85 years old and my eyesight is going. But when I was young there was a sure way of telling a man’s age. If I put my hand down your pants and play with your balls for ten minutes, I will be able to tell your exact age.”

    As there was no one around, the man thought what the hell and let her slip her hand down his pants. Ten minutes later the old lady says, “OK, it’s done. You’re 47 years old.”

    Stunned, the man says, “That was brilliant! How did you do that?”

    The old lady replies, “I was behind you in line at McDonalds.”

  2. Good morning, chums. First? No, Sir Jasper beat us all to it. Good morning, Tom.

    1. It used to be called The Co-operative Perminent Buildig Soc. says it all.

    3. The problem for Chris Packham is that he doesn’t know who will manage Nationwide, or his sweetshop, in ten years time.

      It could be someone who doesn’t like Chris Packham.

  7. ‘Morning All

    Mail hysterical about fires on Rhodes how very “convenient” for the climate nutters

    Neil Oliver

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvvBp25eh0U

    Europe’s “48°C Horror That Never Was”…ESA, Media Sharply Criticized For Manipulative Reporting

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/07/19/europes-48c-horror-that-never-wasesa-media-sharply-criticized-for-manipulative-reporting/

    Now,Medley Time

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e08a0ca8ddc712b288eb24bacd24adeac56d13e2eab7805e80a09eb543903ded.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2b8bad735b5e5bdbb32e8c12d74894d8bc0f3ed6c51d08d926f525b116f32a7d.jpg

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f44ef02913511ab833d843ac90fcffdd8e747bf8e6122e1848e5857b3c676529.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/39b08cc4a91d35afe1178c6212c265f671348ef2affaa4702df2c6a55e861935.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c48eb87e69b9f68a18f0f6a7b716bc396f275f257120db3cd50439077d68c46e.png

  8. Going to grab more zeds, even though I sneaked back to bed at about 17:00, I was awake again at 01:00 to unleash Umberto at the underglaze and have had to repeat just about every hour on the hour.

    I’ll be back later.

  9. 374768+up ticks,

    Moening Each,

    May one say,

    That’s the way to do it, it’s taken nine years inclusive of siestas,
    the Spanish have come a long way since 1588 which then begs the question, where’s our modern day Frankie when he’s needed.

    How Spain’s Left lost its heartlands and put the hard Right on brink of power
    In an already heated election campaign, socialists in Andalusia sweat over the prospect of a Vox-PP coalition running the country

    1. 374768+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      How about a mass beneficial decent peoples spirit booster with a rendering of

      🎵
      Anything you can do we can do better.

    1. Bill Gates prescribed a novel vaccine and a change of diet to include lab created meat and GM veggies. Safe and Effective!

    1. South Park in a lot of instances seem to foretell the future. The Simpsons too.

  12. Ahem………….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/761884bb443d629035e2e16c605212afb3ed513c6cd5493154bec389c4a01815.jpg

    Two dozen Australians in the state of New South Wales have been arrested since early November for intentionally setting fires as record-large blazes continue to burn across the country.There have been 24 people charged with deliberately setting fires

    https://abcnews.go.com/International/24-australians-arrested-deliberately-setting-fires-season/story?id=68108272
    Aussie or Canadian tourists on holiday in Rhodes??

  14. Good morning, all. Grey skies. Rained overnight. Prolly dry for rest of the day.

  15. ‘Morning, Peeps. Some much-needed rainfall yesterday afternoon and overnight, with around 760 ltrs back in the water butts and a garden with no dry soil (for now). And more to come this week.

    SIR – I agree wholeheartedly with Janet Daley (Comment, July 16) in her argument that the BBC has totally failed in its role as speaking to and for the nation .

    The Corporation has dumbed down to such a degree that it no longer sees its target audience as anyone over 30 and as such the presenters now spout woke views and want to be friends as opposed to professionals imparting important information.
    The Today programme is a case in point. Banal banter between its presenters, more suitable for Radio 5, is now commonplace. Where, in the past, the programme set the daily agenda, it now has a format where presenters ask increasingly long-winded questions of politicians but do not generally allow much of an answer before they interrupt with some vacuous comment. Any serious discussion is cut, and robust intellectual argument has been sacrificed in favour of mundane and ill-considered commentary.

    Oh for the glory days of John Humphrys.

    Martin R Cooper
    West Horsley, Surrey

    Well said, Mr Cooper! Ever since the BBC decided to go for the ‘yoof vote’ the rest of us seem to have been abandoned. I don’t know how many times it needs to be said, but if the youngsters in my family and others we know are any guide, the BBC is just about the last broadcaster in which they have any interest at all. It has lost touch, but still believes it dominates news and current affairs. Someone needs to remind them that this is no longer the case, and has probably been so for at least a decade or more.

    3. I watched the ‘new’ University Challenge yesterday. I doubt I’ll be watching any more…

  16. ‘Morning, Peeps. Some much-needed rainfall yesterday afternoon and overnight, with around 760 ltrs back in the water butts and a garden with no dry soil (for now). And more to come this week.

    SIR – I agree wholeheartedly with Janet Daley (Comment, July 16) in her argument that the BBC has totally failed in its role as speaking to and for the nation .

    The Corporation has dumbed down to such a degree that it no longer sees its target audience as anyone over 30 and as such the presenters now spout woke views and want to be friends as opposed to professionals imparting important information.
    The Today programme is a case in point. Banal banter between its presenters, more suitable for Radio 5, is now commonplace. Where, in the past, the programme set the daily agenda, it now has a format where presenters ask increasingly long-winded questions of politicians but do not generally allow much of an answer before they interrupt with some vacuous comment. Any serious discussion is cut, and robust intellectual argument has been sacrificed in favour of mundane and ill-considered commentary.

    Oh for the glory days of John Humphrys.

    Martin R Cooper
    West Horsley, Surrey

    Well said, Mr Cooper! Ever since the BBC decided to go for the ‘yoof vote’ the rest of us seem to have been abandoned. I don’t know how many times it needs to be said, but if the youngsters in my family and others we know are any guide, the BBC is just about the last broadcaster in which they have any interest at all. It has lost touch, but still believes it dominates news and current affairs. Someone needs to remind them that this is no longer the case, and has probably been so for at least a decade or more.

  19. The billions wasted on HS2 could have been used to secure Britain’s future energy supply

    What can you say about HS2, nobody wanted it, except the EU as part of their European high speed train network.
    Maybe they saw it as a way for the elites to move swiftly around the continent when road and car travel has been close down for the masses.

    1. It’s utter nonsense to suggest that nobody wanted HS2. The contractors working for it and the corporate directors commissioning public spending on the project wanted it very much.

  20. On the rolling news banner at the bottom of the GB News screen, Michael Gove has apparently called for Net Zero measures to be relaxed. He is only saying that because voters are becoming more aware of, and vocal about, the reality of such nonsense.
    It’s the same with the illegals – all talk and little or no action.

    1. They are looking at what is happening in European elections where countries have adopted the madness

      1. The orange eco loonies will be throwing major tantrums in the unlikely event that any of the aims are watered down.

        1. We can hope for group nervous breakdowns. We are going to need more strait-jackets.

  21. From the DM…..

    “America’s first ever elected transgender
    lawmaker has been charged with horrific child sex offenses after
    allegedly getting her daycare worker to send her explicit photos of
    toddlers in her care.

    Stacie Marine Laughton, 39, a former
    Democrat representative, could face up to 30 years in jail after being
    charged with aiding and abetting the sexual exploitation of children.

    The
    former New Hampshire state representative was arrested after daycare
    worker Lindsay Groves, 38, was accused of taking explicit photographs of
    children aged between three to five years old in Tyngsborough,
    Massachusetts.

    Groves was reportedly in a relationship with
    Laughton, and the two had discussed the sexual photographs of children
    in more than 10,000 messages.

    Department of Justice
    documents show several sickening conversations between the pair, who
    fantasized about sexually assaulting young children. Their alleged
    conversations were detailed in full in charging documents, but are too
    horrific to reproduce.”
    Hmm now THAT’S awkward……….

    1. It goes to show that these transgender individuals are either perverts or have serious mental health issues. If the latter, they need psychiatric care. In either case, they are not to be trusted in any capacity.

  22. Our GDP per capita is now the worst in Europe according to Remainer research.

    Well you know the answer, stop increasing our capita on a massive scale year on year

    2. Well… perhaps importing 25 million welfare shoppers every year was a stupid, spiteful, vicious decision by an obese, corrupt, criminal government?

  23. Last week we took our 10-month old pup to a relatively clean pond for her first swimming ‘lesson’. She was hesitant throughout, so we decided to leave and have another go next week. As we were leaving she decided to get right up to the edge, whereupon she fell in and went right under. Instinct took over and she came up, spluttering, and climbed out. A good shake guaranteed that we all got wet, but she was not inclined to try again.

    We are due to lunch with friends next week, whose own Lab is a keen swimmer (just as our previous three were). With any luck the encouragement from her new friend will do the trick.

    Here she is at a friend’s house just before her dip:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/282e6a5e6ba069d212a623d1b93aedcff084c898db06516720a2bd5efafed8ea.jpg

      1. ‘Morning, Sue and Phiz. I have to agree with you…she is the image of her Mum, and when the exuberance of puppyhood starts to diminish we hope that she will be as laid back, too. Currently her training is going well, but it is interspersed with the typical ‘selective deafness’ to which our previous young Labs were prone, and the whistle can be blown until we are blue in the face if another dog is within range – and that can be anything up to about 200 yds!

        1. Our daughters new puppy (4 months) has a lovely new trick which involves removing insoles from everyone’s shoes, and eating or burying them! Our SiL can’t believe she’s so naughty, as he’s more used to Border collies! When we had both the puppies here all those years ago, it was a race to remove the tea towels, pants, socks and bras from their mouths before they buried them in the garden! Ah! Great memories!

          1. I have given up. Harry is now the proud owner of two pairs of slippers and four odd socks. He keeps them in his basket.

          7. Initially ours usually went after slippers. If sitting reading or watching TV, during which the slippers are slipped off, they would mysteriously vanish by slight of paw. This one is pretty good and has stolen/damaged/destroyed hardly anything.

          8. Initially ours usually went after slippers. If sitting reading or watching TV, during which the slippers are slipped off, they would mysteriously vanish by slight of paw. This one is pretty good and has stolen/damaged/destroyed hardly anything.

          9. I can’t really complain, as Dobby the naked cat, has a nasty habit of chewing my flip-flops! If he can get into the shoe cupboard, he’s in heaven!

        2. I use a little squeaker. They know when they hear the squeak a niblet is forthcoming.

        3. Ahhh, how well I remember that selective deafness: the turning at the whistle, as they stood on the horizon, with that expression of “can’t hear you!”, before belting off to further adventure! 🤣🤣

    3. She’s absolutely glorious, in every way.

      When Mongo goes to the pool he leaps in and we can’t get him out. He doens’t need all the buoyancy aids and just flaps about messily, happy as anything.

      1. I know what you mean, our previous Lab, Milly, would take a run-up and launch into water, legs akimbo and oblivious to any pain as her belly hit the water with a loud smack. Her pleasure was obvious.

    4. She’s absolutely glorious, in every way.

      When Mongo goes to the pool he leaps in and we can’t get him out. He doens’t need all the buoyancy aids and just flaps about messily, happy as anything.

    1. Yep, there’s certainly a rise in shit for brains and as for courtesy and fair play, the spiteful hope not haters don’t grasp the concept. Their ignorance and vanity trumps all other considerations.

    1. A life-raft will only hold him up for an hour or two

      Scrap Net Zero

      should be on the lifeboat if one comes along to rescue him.

  28. Britain is now a poor nation. This is the number one issue we face – yet our leaders ignore it. 23 July 2023.

    British politics ought to revolve around just one question. Why are we falling behind other advanced economies? That question should have dominated the recent by-elections. It should be the focus of every party manifesto. It should occupy our front pages and lead our news bulletins. Yet it is being almost wholly ignored as we quarrel about equality, obesity, trans rights and other ephemera.

    Britain has some of the lowest productivity in the developed world, meaning that we generate less stuff per hour. Slovenes are overtaking us now, and Poles are on course to do so in the mid-2030s. South Koreans, who had a third of our income per head as recently as 1985, have already surpassed us. Yet we refuse to acknowledge, let alone address, the causes of our decline.

    TOP COMMENT BELOW THE LINE.

    M J Scrivens.

    Well, importing ten million semi-illiterate dross, creating a few million non-jobs in the public sector, hurling benefits at half the bone-idle population, completely giving up on law enforcement, worshipping BLM and Stonewall and taxing the few that actually do anything useful to death probably doesn’t help.

    Ms. Scrivens is of course correct. It’s going to get a lot poorer. The UK is on the cusp of becoming a Third World entry.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/22/britain-is-now-a-poor-nation-this-is-our-number-one-issue/

      1. What’s worse, illegally entering the country is a crime – yet the state continues to bring them in by the boatload, happily giving them accommodation and cash – our cash.

        It’s utterly disgusting. The Home office is a criminal organisation.

    1. The amusing thing (to me) is that so-called conservative writers/outlets are screaming and yelling at the prospect of a Conservative government in Spain.

      1. Ah, but shirley it’s not Conservative – it’s obviously “extreme Right-Wing”!

        1. Quite so – that is exactly what they are saying – “fears of Franco come-back” etc etc

          It is no more “far-right” than the new Italian one. Trouble is that the woke Gen X and Gen Z people have never KNOWN a true Conservative government

          1. Trouble is that the woke Gen X and Gen Z people have never KNOWN. a true . an honest Conservative government.

    2. 374768+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      The above criminal act is visible both knowing / showing cowardly scum action and the evil consequences for the victim.

      How about those being covered up,
      children mass rape & abuse, FGM these unseen scars are mentally / physically for life.

      These issues have been with us since the devil’s agent b liar lifted the latch, due in equal shares between the lab/lib/con coalition parties, members & voters.

      These voting cretins are abusing their own kids via the polling station , with every vote.

        1. At some time, if the autorities don’t stop this kind of thing, then the local indigenous males will, and very much nastier, too. And people will start to arm themselves for self-protection.

          1. 374768+ up ticks,
            O,
            These odious episodes have been in play for near on four decades, GE after GE.

            When you have a situation where 48%
            of the peoples ( proven rubbish) as their actions have shown since the democratic referendum, and many currently supporting / voting for governing political party paedophile transporters, the root cause of their children being raped & abused
            ( rotherham plus ).

            48% / 52% not far off the point where when armed you may as well shoot the person standing next to you, that is our state as a nation we find ourselves in today.

            As much as I would like to see your post come to pass ………

          2. The state sets about destroying those who publicise this. Mark Steyn? Tommy Robinson? Hell, the Police were complicit in the cover up. It goes to the very top. The entire revolting edifice of state is hell bent on covering up paedophilia, rape, violence perpetrated by gimmigrants – muslims especially.

    4. Why should sub-human monsters expect human rights?

      A stiff sentence is necessary followed by an automatic death penalty for a repeat offence.

      1. 374768+ up ticks,

        Morning R,
        To keep HR lawyers in the lifestyle they have come to expect.

        Two lads I know very well one went to camp hill IOW, adult nick, the other to
        “borstal” he told me “you don’t go there twice” same as Colchester army nick.

  31. I note that Project Weather Fear is alive and well – and that some papers are embellishing it by using Fahrenheit – “95ºF horror in Rhodes”…..

    Clever, eh?

    2. I wish all temps would go back to degF. After thirty plus years of degC, I still don’t know whether I’m supposed too be hot or cold without doing a quick conversion in my head.

  32. Good Moaning.
    Given our experience with council made compost (too acid and fried the plants) this warning rang true.
    I omitted the picture on convolvulus since I assume NOTTLers know what it looks like.

    “Notes from the Sticks: How green is our compost?

    Margaret AshworthJuly 23, 2023

    I’M not sure why, but last week’s column (about cricket, motor racing and sheep) prompted reader ‘Mozzy’ to comment: ‘I’ve lived in my London house, small garden a long time. Recently I am getting bindweed popping up in a few places. I remember it as a child elsewhere on waste ground, looking quite attractive with its white flowers. So whilst musing on it, I wondered if it is coming in with these rubbish peat-free composts, from other people’s gardens. It is collected here as green waste. Plus other weeds I’ve never seen before such as borage, but not the edible one.’

    On interrogation, Mozzy revealed that councils sell the green waste they collect to the peat-free compost manufacturers, something I did not know. This inspired me to do a little digging (pun intended).

    The government is banning the sale of bagged compost containing peat to amateur gardeners at the end of the year as part of ‘wider efforts to achieve Net Zero’. (The horticultural trade has extended deadlines up to 2030.) So the little people will need to rely on peat-free composts from January 2024.

    These are blends of plant-derived materials such as bark, coir (extracted from the outer husk of coconut) wood-fibre and ‘green compost’ mixed with inorganic materials such as grit.

    Green compost is supplied to the manufacturers by many local authorities. The Royal Horticultural Society (which is well on board with the climate change message) says it ’tends to have a high nutrient content and high pH, making it an excellent soil improver or mulch. There is an industry standard (British Standards Institution PAS100) for green compost that enforces consistent and regulated processing, in order to encourage its use in potting composts’.

    In Lancashire the green bin waste is taken to an ‘open windrow in vessel’ composting facility. The Biffa waste disposal firm’s website describes the in-vessel composting process: ‘Incoming wastes are sorted, shredded to achieve a maximum particle size, mixed to achieve the correct “recipe,” and then loaded into composting tunnels. Air is drawn through the feedstock with the rate of air flow being controlled to ensure an optimum treatment temperature. Following the completion of an initial composting period, the material is removed from the tunnel, remixed and returned to another tunnel for the composting process to be completed. The treated material is then stored for a period of four to eight weeks to enable final maturation to occur, whereupon the product is screened and sieved to remove any contamination.’

    Other websites are very similar. What we are not told is how hot the material becomes in the composting process, and this can be crucial. The seeds of field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), pictured below, need a month at 145 deg F (63 deg C) to kill them. That’s hot.”

      2. There’s nothing else these days at our local garden centres. Our own compost bin is also peat free.

    2. ‘Moaning, Annie. I was warned off this stuff a long time ago, for the very same reason – it isn’t composted for long enough and this results in some pernicious weeds being imported.

      And the irony of buying back stuff you paid to have taken away won’t be lost on most of us!

      1. Plus it doesn’t retain moisture! I planted montbretia and freesias in pots, not realising it was peat free, and the results were disappointing, to say the least! 1 freesia out of 18 bulbs and the montbretis still looks like couch grass 3 months on, and nary a flower!

    3. The seeds of field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), pictured below, need a month at 145 deg F (63 deg C) to kill them. That’s hot.” – surely, just leave them outside and glowbawl warming will do the rest before August?

  33. Good Day all,

    The view from Casa McPhee is of drizzle. It’s supposed to stop but there may be a shower or two later. Wind West-Sou’-West and it’s a tad warmer at 17℃ rising to 20℃ today.

    One of my favourite YouTubers is The Academic Agent, an ultra-conservative academic who offers on-line analyses on all sorts of topics as well as an array of university-level courses. His latest book, ‘The Populist Delusion’ is a best-seller. Here’s his take on the continuing Farage affair, it’s 9 minutes:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBxv5iQxfsA

  34. I must stop saying there’s not a cloud in the sky as 10 min later there’s no blue sky

  35. I have lately read a biography of King George V by Jane (“Um”) Ridley. In one summer in the 1910s Queen Mary complained bitterly because the temperature in London went above 100ºF.

    Oddly, no one mentioned global warming….

    1. And the temperature hit 100ºF last year.

      95ºF = 35ºC – which is certainly warm but not unusual.

      Caroline remembers walking home from school in Madrid when it was 42ºC = 107.6F and yes, it was oppressively hot then!

    2. Yes, there was an occurrence such as that but it didn’t comply with the norms of temperature measurement. The day would have been hot, though. Global warming as an idea probably hadn’t been invented at that time. Most people would have believed that God controlled the weather.

  36. Excellent news. A brilliant plan to save future generations from hurty things:

    With its cross-dressing heroine and story of mistaken identity, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has been delighting audiences for four centuries.

    But the romantic comedy is now the subject of a so-called ‘content warning’ by a university, which has given students permission to walk out of lectures on the play if they find its romantic entanglements detrimental to their ‘wellbeing’.

    The University of Wales Trinity Saint David issued the directive for an English degree course module that includes Twelfth Night, as well as three other plays by the Bard.

      1. Oh what a heap of muck we stir
        When first we call a him a her!
        And if a person has a quim
        It’s rather strange to call her him.

  37. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/14a290d1305b014feaa30d8ab9c0f1cb520a7412f00b5a85eea7420e625b5201.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/07/22/nigel-farage-apology-bbc-coutts/

    The BBC refuses to issue an apology for telling lies!

    BTL : Percival Wrattstrangler

    What’s the matter with Ofcom?

    If it can censor GB News and make it get rid of Mark Steyn and close down its debates on vaccine damage and Asian rape gangs and yet allow sexual perversion to flourish within the BBC news teams and yet not demand that the BBC apologises for its lies about Farage then surely the biased and partisan Ofcom should be scrapped along with the BBC licence fee?

    3. Ofcom did not force GB News to get rid of Mark Steyn. Steyn resented terms in a new contract offered by GB News which would have left him personally liable for Ofcom fines if the regulator found GB News in breach of Ofcom rules during Steyn’s broadcasts. This is unusual in broadcasting contracts. He particularly objected to not being permitted to mount his own defence against Ofcom charges, with GB News insisting it would take responsibility for it.

      I can certainly see why Steyn objected to that but he would need to be confident that he’d be more likely to succeed than GB News. Given his hot-headed personality, I’d not be sure of that. GB News clearly didn’t trust him to comply with Ofcom rules nor that he’d succeed in his own defence if charged with breaching them. That might very well have proved costly for the broadcaster if Steyn was permitted to continue as before.

      https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/broadcast/mark-steyn-gb-news-ofcom/

      1. In other words – Ofcom made it impossible for GB News to keep Steyn on the programme. They knew that Steyn would fall foul of Ofcom censorship.

  38. Reading last nights posts first thing this morning i noticed Oberst mention a nice Provencal stew he had had. Mine was on and simmering by 8 am.

    1. Nothing so ‘posh’ chez Korky. However, I have my slow cooker brim full of Kingsford hot-pot: today that means chopped chicken breast, Polish garlic sausage and a range of vegetables. Smells and tastes fine. Will supply three meals.😎
      Enjoy your Provencal stew.

      1. Nothing so posh? Just call yours Pot au Feu and join the ranks of us posh nobs !

        Enjoy !

      2. Fried sliced chicken breast and de-boned and sliced chicken thighs together with finely diced onion and chopped chorizo,

        Then I add a can of chicken soup, salt & black pepper, plus a pinch of chilli flakes and a teaspoon of ‘Very Lazy Garlic and a tsp of Marmite, sliced and diced unpeeled baby potatoes, sliced red peppers, mushrooms and finally spinach.

        Stir well and heat on a just below 100 degree heat, (let the soup just simmer) for at least one hour.

        Serve with mashed potato, Yummy

        1. Sounds tasty. I haven’t any spinach but I do have some swiss chard in the garden and chard is a good substitute. I may steam some of that as a side dish.

          1. Sounds OK to me KtK, I just like spinach because, on last stirring it shreds across everything, so the part you freeze for later will certainly have spinach in it.

            Maybe Swiss Chard will also shred but I know not enough to comment.

            Thank you for the critique.

          2. Sounds OK to me KtK, I just like spinach because, on last stirring it shreds across everything, so the part you freeze for later will certainly have spinach in it.

            Maybe Swiss Chard will also shred but I know not enough to comment.

            Thank you for the critique.

  39. Ed Dowd talking of a ‘Black Swan’ event after analysis of UK PIPS data.

    A black swan is an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. Black swan events are characterized by their extreme rarity, severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/11c19e60f3125d666165c135866fc98da572c4dbad3c19f475b0250858d67b1a.png

    Video at:
    Vigilant Fox – Ed Dowd Drops Haematological Data Bombshell

    1. Whatever happened to The Black Swan and her/his Bayeux tapestry style cartoons?

      1. I used to cringe and shudder whenever Jake Thackray came on the telly (usually on Tonight with Cliff Michelmore) in the 1960s. I couldn’t reach for the channel-change button quickly enough.

    1. If you search for ‘Crimean shelling Ukraine’ there’s never any menton of the Ukrainian’s doing it prior to the war, nor the domestic terrorism. It is comically, deliberately devoid of facts the Left don’t want to present.

      Whenthe information gathering tools are so desperately biased it is no wonder people are mindlessly ignorant.

  43. Putin has become a global bogeyman. Russians must exorcise this ghoul. 23 July 2023.

    Nearly 18 months into his invasion of Ukraine, a catastrophe wholly of his making, the much-loathed, ridiculed, ostracised and accursed Putin, wholly indifferent to the misery he causes, has become, in different ways, the world’s most wanted man – and possibly its most dangerous too.

    Putin embodies Russia’s international isolation and growing spiritual degradation. Like a daemon, hobgoblin or kraken of ancient folklore, he’s metamorphosed into global bogeyman or bugaboo – a monstrous, nightmarish figure personifying evil. Putinism is a graph charting the arc of modern morality. The zero on the scale is him.

    It is almost needless to say that none of this is true. Putin is only isolated, and that is only partial, by the West and its lackeys. He has some strong supporters. India and China are active supporters while the Middle East, Africa, South and Central America, and South East Asia are at worst indifferent and at best silently approving.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/23/putin-has-become-a-global-bogeyman-russians-must-exorcise-this-ghoul

    2. “…a catastrophe wholly of his making” – well, that’s useful – it lets the meddling US and EU, who really did cause the whole sorry mess, off the hook!

    3. The guardian, as usual ignores why Putin is popular. They like to demonise him but he represents everything the Left hate. It is Western ‘liberalism’ (degradation) and our dependence on him that has created Putin’s ability to act as he has.

      But hey. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, Lefties. It tolls for you.

    4. The year before this local skirmish started I thought the Guardian had declared Ukraine as the most corrupt in Europe.

    1. I agree. These lines from Hilaire Belloc who attacked the intellectual snobbery of pretentious academics are worth remembering.

      Remote and ineffectual Don
      That dared attack my Chesterton,
      With that poor weapon, half-impelled,
      Unlearnt, unsteady, hardly held,
      Unworthy for a tilt with men—
      …………………
      …………………
      …………………
      Believe me I shall soon return.
      My fires are banked, but still they burn
      To write some more about the Don
      That dared attack my Chesterton.

      …

  45. Project Fear (PF) is running out of steam – it needs to change tack and alter its focus.

    PF should now try and terrify those who have had the Covid jabs rather than those who haven’t.

    It should also petrify us with the horrors of the coming New Ice Age.

    1. Hence my comments about the new winter Met maps, being produced in various shades of blue,,shewing the progress of the glaciers which will overwhelm us.

    2. Fear allows the state to control people. The government has created the perfect storm of dependence. Without significant savings people fear losing their jobs, so they clamour for security. With an unstable world they look to government – which has created the instability – to provide. When wages are losing value – because of government debt, waste and tax people look to the state for ansers and government happily points at supermarkets.

      The state is to blame for every problem we have. The really clever bit is the state then points everywhere else to deflect blame and people fall for it because they’re not educated enough to see the truth – again, because government wants people ignorant.

    1. Did you buy your seeds for next year while you were in France, or do you save seed from them each year?

      1. We bought them in Italy. (half an hour from where we stay). I tried saving seed – complete failure. I shan’t waste time again.

        2. Try putting waste seeds from cooking preparations onto your oldest compost heap towards the end of the storage season, and cover them with a light amount of compost, I found several seeds had germinated and did well in situ trailing along the ground.

    2. Mine are doing well too. Thanks for the seeds.

      I trade with Margaret across the road. She gets some trombetti and i get fresh figs.

      1. That is very interesting. You had saved seed – and it did well. The saved ones I sowed – and those I gave to my daughter-in-law – never did a thing. We resorted to year old “packet” seed.

    3. Perhaps they’re really triffids and one of them has died and that’s why you have so many flies.

  47. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e595a884b17525e837fec017720be7195d8af8af52a2aba674d87a76a361c2ed.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/relationships/strapped-for-cash-school-fees/

    BTL

    In France they have a sensible attitude to private schools and private medicine. They believe that if you have paid for these things with your taxes you are entitled to get them.

    Thus if the state spends £x on educating a child it will give the private school £x for each child it educates. Our two sons were in such well run private primary schools that we did not have to pay any fees at all!

    So when Starmer talks about the state subsidising parents with VAT tax breaks to use private schools he is talking nonsense – it is the other way round – those who are using private schools who are subsidising the state for paying for state education for their children and not using it. Also those using private schools are reducing overcrowding in state schools.

    This is Old Labour’s politics of envy on full blatant display. Even if it makes economic and practical sense to have private schools as well as state schools Labour wants to scrap them out of spite and vindictive jealousy!

    1. Most people hear that schools don’t get a lot of money and are envious of private education and those taking it up. Envy’s easy than understanding the problem which is really quite simple: The money that should go to educating children is swallowed up by the monolith of the state. It is consumed so far from the tax payer – the customer – that folk don’t understand that the problem isn’t school funding, but the state machine itself.

      1. Just a big state pot that doesn’t/daren’t differentiate or ring-fence certain income for certain tasks.

        Govt, has NO idea how to manage an/any economy.

  48. ‘Gollum’ Tony is no moderate

    Last week the Blair creature emerged from wherever he dwells to sit

    alongside another leathery old Marxoid, the current Labour leader Sir

    Keir Starmer.

    Amazingly, people still think of Blair, who has done so much to ruin a prosperous and happy country, as a ‘moderate’.

    They make the same mistake about Sir Keir, a veteran ultra-radical. The

    resulting interaction was about as much fun as gallstones or reflux.

    But what struck me was how Blair is starting to look like Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings, consumed and
    withered by his embrace of war in Iraq, and the great tidal wave of evil
    released by it.

    By the way, his invasion of Iraq genuinely was unprovoked, which Russia’s invasion of
    Ukraine was not. Why is it never referred to as such?
    Peter Hitchens.

    1. The political class look at Blair as ‘he won three elections’. Decent people look at Blair and see the man who ruined the country.

    2. The lefty solution to that is to ‘force’ people to work. They do actually believe that.

      As an irony, I spoke to a colleague who, this year is going to get a nice 5% pay rise. She doesn’t believe she has earned it. Her co worker, who she dislikes, has been basically incompetent and will get the same rise.

      That’s the difference between a socialist and a capitalist. A capitalist believes you should enjoy the returns of your work. A socialist believes you should be given whatever you want at someone else’s expense. That’s why it doesn’t work.

      1. If only that was funny.

        We have had this for three months. I have lived here 39 years and never seen anything remotely like it.

        I lived in Egypt for 2½ years – where flies are rife. THEY were not as bad as this. One despairs, at times.

        2. Not funny at all – we don’t have many here even though it’s quite a rural area, where people keep pigs and chickens and the cattle on the common are only a short walk away.

          2. Very true. I also have a feeling that brown envelops are involved…..hence the leisurely action by the District Council.

          4. The District Council has – finally – served an Abatement Notice – with which the bastards will not comply and then they’ll be fined. But carry on producing millions of flies.

          5. Time for the Molotov Cocktails – at midnight or later – how quick is the fire service?

        4. I would say from experience that there is an undiscovered corpse or dead body close to you property. it could be anywhere. If you have undergrowth near by or someone who hasn’t been seen for a week or so. This happened to us a few years ago. Eventually the police found a dead mother and her daughter in their home about 100 yards from ours.
          Same thing happened in a block flats I was working in in North London.

          3. No, dear boy. There is a chicken breeding unit 200 yards from the houses along this road – which is insanitary, filthy, badly run etc etc. The birds lay eggs from which other chickens are bred. Their “waste” is emptied once a YEAR….. That – and the appalling managemet – is the reason for this infestation. As I said elsewhere – over 200 people are affected by it. There is noise, chemical pollution and smell – as well.

          4. Are well you didn’t mention that.
            Probably throwing the dead bodies into an open skip.

          5. A Molotov cocktail or two in strategic positions might just solve the problem, Bill.

            Talk to the neighbours, they might agree.

    2. Scary. You don’t have the body parts of innocent travellers in the fridge by any chance?

    6. Think you should get a pest control man in.
      Are you missing any relatives or asylum seekers who maybe under the floor?

      1. Getaway…!!

        The District Council has been plodding along doing very little for several months. Over 200 people in the village are similarly affected. The poultry firm (Banhams) is notorious for running filthy chicken units.

          1. Very difficult. Civil action might work – but one would need a fighting fund of £250,000 – quite impossible in this village.

        1. We have a chili plant that I call Audrey- it’s almost the size of the giant plant in the Little Shop of Horrors.

  51. BBC
    “Tourists sleeping in cardboard boxes – Rhodes official

    Lucky, lucky bastards.

    2. While back in the UK, illegal immigrants are housed in comfortable hotels. Funny old world, isn’t it?

  54. https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjD882a3KSAAxUhxAIHHXw0BgwQFnoECCoQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fpolitics%2F2023%2F07%2F19%2Fsnp-chopped-down-16m-trees-develop-wind-farms-scotland%2F&usg=AOvVaw2MADXOd9VCQy4CHa2ni6qG&opi=89978449
    I don’t know if anyone mentioned this at the time, but having had the conversation about ‘Green’ compost this morning, I had to post it again! You couldn’t make it up! But the egregious Sturgeon b*tch did just that!

    1. Greeniacs are below contempt. Destroy truly renewable carbon sinks i.e. trees and replace that resource with something that generates a huge carbon footprint during manufacture along with parts that cannot be recycled and that will not last anywhere near the lifetime of a tree.
      Did they burn the trees? If so, that would have been the icing on the lunacy cake.

      1. Apparently, some would have been ‘replanted’ on site🤣 but most were part of a commercial crop which had reached the end of its growth!! And I zip up the back!🙄

        1. Not real, natural woodland then……..most conifer crops have a life and are then ‘used’ and replanted. As were the oak forests that were planted two hundred years ago to build ships.

          1. I actually don’t believe the excuses, Ndovu. Knowing where the biggest wind farms are, and how long they’ve been established, makes me very sceptical. We also know several people who work in the ‘industry’, 2 of whom I wouldn’t trust with a goldfish!

      2. …and turbo-mills need 75 litres of oil in order to operate.

        How ‘green’ is that.

        Hippocrytes the lot of ’em.

  55. I was taking Champix/verenicline to stop smoking. After 10 days i had stopped puffing away. Then they withdrew it and a week later i was back to smoking.
    Now they are talking about licensing Cytisine which works in a similar way on the receptors in the brain.

    I have already used Cytisine. It’s available in Europe and sold on Amazon.

    Trouble is i had the most godawful side effects to it. Nausea, brain fog and nightmares.

    As i am spending nearly £30 a day on cigarettes and of course the health issues i am going to try it again.

    Nottlers will need to bear with me if i post things more stupid than i normally do.

    At least i can entertain you all with the nightmares !

    1. Just stop buying cigarettes. Stop smoking them. They are probably the cause of your health issues.

        1. No. But my mother smoked all her adult life, untill the last few months – I guess an early sign of her illness made them unpalatable. My uncle was doing some decorating one day and decided to stop smoking so he threw the remains of his last packet on the fire and never smoked again.

          I guess the drugs you have tried that worked trigger something in the brain that puts you off smoking.

          I watched my mother chain-smoking when I was a little girl and thought that was how everyone did it – but the smell, the brown ceilings and walls and everything else about smoking put me off it for life and I have never smoked, apart from a puff when I was 10 that made me cough.

          1. My parents both smoked all the time. That’s where my addiction comes from. You were lucky to escape it.

          3. My parents also smoked.
            My father gave up but mother continued until she was in her 70’s and one day just stopped.
            She had been encouraged by her father and started at home when she was about 7 years old. It was regarded as sophisticated in those days.
            Unfortunately she developed COPD which was a significant contributory factor to her death in her mid 80’s.

          4. My parents both smoked all the time. I smoked 25 a day for 20 years but had no problems is stopping.

          5. My cure (E-cigs) satisfies that trigger in the brain ,with an alternate source of nicotine – which is where the true addiction lies.

        2. True, Philip, see my earlier post, much cheaper in the long run than tobacco cigarettes and Govt tax.

          1. So was my response.
            But, given the claimed source, are you certain?
            She has a tendency to Lammynation.

          4. Oh, of course.

            One of those abbreviations one remembers the instant one is reminded!

      3. Is that for real? If so, it’s hilarious! (If not real, it’s genius!)

      1. Doesn’t apply to everyone, Johnny.

        Sometimes a little help is needed – that’s what I’m trying to do.

    4. Try e-cigarettes (vaping), Philip, it’s what I did in 2017, after a massive heart attack whilst in Tasmania.

      I haven’t smoked since. The e-cigs use a nicotine mix in the liquid, which satisfies the brain’s insistent, Nic, nic, nicotine request for a fix.

    5. Stick at it Phizz. I know how hard it is, not like Grizz, Johnny N and others who seem to have found giving up just a decision, and job done.

  57. As nobody in Canada loves him anymore, Trudeau jyst took a trip to New York to heap praise on Von der Leyen and the EU. I don’t think that he approved of brexit:
    https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/trudeau-hails-european-values-as-source-of-global-strength-during-stop-at-un

    Boy wonder made two trips within Canada this week. He was soundly booed by the athletes when he opened the indigeryidodar games and he had to abandon a gladhanding trip near us when the crowd became a touch too restles. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving despot.

  59. Bit late today.
    Afternoon 😊🙂
    But still horrible and bloody cloudy.
    The outdoor pub gig my eldest played in last night was ruined by the wet weather. It was on behalf of his Best man who died shortly after his wedding 3 years ago. They and another band did the gig free of charge to raise money for the hospice where he sadly passed away. His widow and two children were there and his 12 year-old daughter sang along on stage in one his favourite numbers. There would have been three times the attendance if the weather had been what is expected in July.
    There were enjoyable moments when meeting up with old friends and some relations. And lots on dancing on the wet grass.

      1. It’s a good thing to do.
        I’m not up to it at the moment.
        But there are lost of things on the list.

  60. Old guy goes to the hospital with heart problems, after an examination the doctor told him he’d only got 6 hours to live and to go home and spend it with his family. Off he went home and told his wife, she was in tears and said “How would you like to spend your last 6 hours?” He said “Let’s go to bed and try to relive our passionate years of our youth” Off they went and made love for an hour. She said “We’ve got 5 hours left what shall we do?” He said “We’ll have another session of that” Another hour of passion followed. They lay back and had a ciggy then decided as there was still 3 hours to go they’d make love for another hour. They repeated that after a short break for a ciggy and a cup of teal, she was knackered by this time and said “We’ve still got an hour left together what would you like to do? ” He said “Let’s make love again” She said ” For fucks sake I’ve got to get up in the morning – you haven’t!”

  61. I am strong willed when I have to be. i stopped smoking at about 25 and just gave up on the spot. So many people just cannot do this. I have never had a flu jab or a Covid jab as i did not believe in them I never wore a mask. People need to get a grip either do it or dont. read Jordon Perterson.

    1. My OH gave up smoking when he was about 25 – long before I knew him so he never smoked in my presence.

    2. Agreed, John.

      I have the same strong will and self-discipline. I am now entering my seventh consecutive week of eating only four meals a week with no sugar (in any form), carbohydrates nor processed food in my diet. This strong will has me never feeling hungry, sleeping like a baby for eight solid hours each night, and feeling fitter, sharper and more alert than ever.

      I also gave up smoking (when 32) and haven’t missed it since. I have also been teetotal for the past two months and I do not hanker for alcohol in any form. Few people have strong wills and a scant few have self-discipline. They continue to eat and drink rubbish and then cannot understand why they are always ill.

      1. Your post has made me pour a single malt and light a cigar. You’re not helping! :@)

    3. Well done Johnny, I did the same although a couple of years older, 40 a day to zero overnight – just think of the money we’ve saved never mind the health benefits

    3. But.. but the Left are always telling us the blicks invented physics and science and everything!

  64. Bugger.
    One of the hives has died. Just a few lethargic bees wandering out of the exit, and falling into the grass.
    Poor little fuzzy buggers. Initial investigation suggests they starved a bit earlier – there were plenty of strong bees at the end of May, they seem to have built cells to grow a new Queen, but run out of energy due to the endless cold, wet weather, to continue. The new comb is empty, no larvae, and the food stocks down to half of bugger-all. We’ll get the local expert round for a second opinion.
    It’s very sad – honey bees aren’t pets by any means, but one looks after them and cares for them, they are pleasant company and, as a bunch, pleasingly fuzzy. so, when they die, it makes one sad.

    2. Sorry about that, Paul. As you say, they’re not pets but their work and cohesion inspires admiration! Do they not make it clear that they’re short of food, or don’t you disturb them?

      1. They are Firstborn’s, but he took a look in the hive relatively recently (in a break between rain and darkness) and all seemed well. It’s difficult to strike a balance between opening the hive a lot for inspections, and leaving them to it.

    3. That is sad. I’m no expert but something like a green house when the conditions are bad and stuff it full of flowers. I know i sound like an idiot.

          3. We seem to be making light of a bad situation as Nottlers do. The same with Johnny and Grizz’s response to my current difficulties. Long may it continue !

          7. It’s sad, no doubt about it, but not the end of the world.
            In any case, a hallmark of English humour is it’s evident in adversity.

      1. Love honey – it’s the one thing in nature that doesn’t rot.

        It stays good and edible for many thousands of years,

          1. Depends where it comes from.
            I remember Gales honey in the UK, sickly sweet stuff. Firstborn’s bees make light, fragrant, slightly floral honey that’s entirely different.
            Makes magic mead, too!

    6. Oh, Paul, such a shame after all the love and care you lavished and all for naught.

      Mother Nature can be cruel – we just have to get over it and carry on.

      Good luck with future hives.

      1. You must teach your sons to tell the bees ALL the family news – they are part of the family.

        1. It also means you observe the bees, for a period, regularly. Most important, that

          1. Not only observe but, daft as it may be, talk to them. They do seem to understand.

    7. That is sad. Bees are the good guys – and girls.
      People used to announce significant family news to their bees.

      1. As children, we were taught to go and tell the bees of ALL family news – they seemed to thrive and my Papa (who collected) and Mama (who extracted) gave us such wonderful honey, that our well-informed bees produced.

        I love honey to this day.

    3. Sadly, no. England were poised to win the Old Trafford test but the weather thwarted them. The Ashes cannot now be won but victory at the Oval, starting on Thursday, can still give them a well-deserved draw.

  67. Par Four today.

    Wordle 764 4/6
    ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
    ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
    ⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Likewise an easy par.
      Wordle 764 4/6

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

      1. A little three here

        Wordle 764 3/6

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

      2. And me.

        Wordle 764 4/6

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

    2. Birdie today.
      Wordle 764 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
      ⬜🟨🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  68. That’s me finished for today. Sunshine and showers – looks like another shower about to arrive. We are orf for a bit of culchur, doncha know.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain (when I hope to have a bonfire.

    1. There’s a story on here, somewhere, Bill about a bonfire.

      May be worth rooting it out.

    2. Tossed away by England’s batsmen at Brum on the 4th day and at Lord’s on the 2nd.

      Jimmy Anderson’s figures don’t look good: 4 wickets in 114 overs, average 76.

      1. Anderson’s test cricket retirement must be imminent, if not before the Oval then afterwards. The winter tour of India in January/February looks like a test series too far.

    2. I’ve still got half a demi Jon and it’s still good.
      Plenty of apples in view this year as well. I need to get hold of more eaters.

      1. two 22-litre homebrew pressure barrels, us.
        Getting close to apple season, so they need empties.
        Cheersh! Hic!

    1. Excellent, Bob.
      Ciders, indoors, me. Ingredients: Apples, years, alcohol (about 8%).
      Nowt added, nowt taken away.

      2. Hmm, I guess somebody has to be, George.

        I’m proud to be a full Norfolk dumpling, moi hart aloive, bor.

          2. Just sent off my application for Svensk citizenship. I don’t even need to be fluent in the language.

          3. We haave to have passed a test in norwegian, and a “citizenship” test.

          4. No such criteria here … or so they tell me. No doubt I’ll find out in the fullness of time.

  74. 374768+ up ticks,

    Battery failure no doubt,

    Dt,

    Alien spaceship ‘could have crash-landed on Mars’
    Scientists say they cannot discount possibility that pointy objects found on the Red Planet are debris from extraterrestrial vehicle

    And I believe a registration plate,

    2. The aliens lost their way in the Galaxy at the Milky Way and crash-landed on Mars sometime After Eight.

      3. 374768+ up ticks,

        Evening A

        If ever they landed here where would we find room for hundreds & thousands of the wee bastards.

      4. Ho, ho, ho, Aeneas. (Actually, those were four very good jokes – well done!)

      1. Up whose ‘arris?

        Sorry I can’t read Ogga’s ramblings as I’ve blocked him.

    4. As it’s impossible for us on planet Earth to disprove such claims, they can be circulated and recirculated on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites, with the general populous believing it’s an established fact. I think it’s bollocks but I’ll be greatly outweighed by the many thousands of others who will believe it.

  77. Tonight the wonderful bbc news had a feature about misogyny and the ongoing abuse of females.
    But once again their research didn’t quite tie things up.
    They completely missed the most outstanding, most obvious established reason for misogyny and the abuse, of not only mature women but young girls as well.
    I’ll leave that with you.
    Good evening all.

    1. BBC – check out Islam and its misogynistic treatment and attitude to women.

      Thanks Eddy for making the point.

    2. In one discussion I saw Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson described as ‘online misogynists’…

  78. ‘Night All

    Boy,did I call it early doors or what??

    Greece Rhodes fires: Firefighters say there are ‘indications of arson’ in shocking update

    Officials say there are early indications of arson as a police investigation is launched into the horrific wildfires.

    Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, from the Rhodes Fire Department, told reporters that the blistering heatwave may not be to blame for the heartbreaking blaze.

    https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-greece-rhodes-fires-firefighters-30534110

    1. Hmm. How many volunteer firemen in the fire dept?

      Happened a lot in Oz, just to supplement the poor wages.

    2. Trudeau promoted and likely funded many forest fires in Canada. The resultant smog and poor air quality in US cities enables bastards like Trudeau to claim it is global warming or climate change.

      There are parallels with other gangster regimes. Take the partial demolition of an Orthodox cathedral in Odessa; there is no possibility that Russia would have caused the destruction and every indication that the Ukrainian regime ordered the missile strike using weapons provided to it by the collective west.

      1. Nah you are wrong on that. Trudeau doesn’t need facts (true or otherwise) to make some of his BS claims.

        Just look at the way he has claimed that right wing extremists have persuaded Muslim parents to object to gender teaching in schools.

        1. I wonder what my SK and Grade 2 granddaughters have been brainwashed with in school so far, or at what age the filth begins.

  79. I know that I’ve been very remiss in the previous few days but I’ll now wish you all (and Ann especially) goodnight and God bless, Gentlefolk.

  80. Radio 4 6pm news headline: Spain might get a coalition including the FAR-RIGHT.

    The subsequent report made the obvious reference to Franco but also pointed out that there was a possibility of a coalition with a far-left party. I nearly choked on my chorizo. Fancy hearing that! And then, in a report on Max Headroom and the looming GE, there was a mention of Labour’s far-left element.

    How did that get past the editor?

      1. I have just been admonished by Carol who says he has a nice face even if a tad overweight. The Trelawney fellow has a radio face. The midget is an organist I am told.

      1. Proms audiences always have the clap. Except the actual prommers, who groan with despair every time it happens.

        1. ‘Proms audiences always have the clap’; perhaps they should be more careful, Sue?

      3. It’s a recent phenomenon; it interrupts the flow, does no favours for the musicians and must play havoc with scheduling.

    2. When my brother was in the Royal Marines, he had a mate who put WD40 on his hair. It looks like this anecdote is waiting for a witty punchline but there isn’t one. It was true.

        1. When I was a kid, after my weekly bath, my Dad used to put Brylcreem on my hair. I hated it.

  83. Miss Italy defends decision to ban all transgender women from competing saying it ‘will not jump on the glittery bandwagon of trans activism’
    Miss Italy patron Patrizia Mirigliani said contestants must be ‘woman from birth’
    It comes after the Netherlands crowned its first male-born winner on July 8

    Well done the Wops.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12329261/Miss-Italy-defends-descision-ban-transgender-women-competing-saying-not-jump-glittery-bandwagon-trans-activism.html

  86. Off to bed soon. Been a bitch of a day- pain, no appetite or energy. Been nodding off and on all day. At least it didn’t rain;-)
    See y’all tomorrow.

    1. This ongoing suffering will have other deleterious effects if you’re weakened through loss of appetite. You might have to overcome your disinterest in food and eat something, even when you don’t feel like it. However, if eating beyond your capacity makes you feel nauseous, you should think about vitamin and mineral pills to supplement your reduced intake.

    2. It is unbelievable that your doctors aren’t doing something to help you. I suppose they simply don’t care, don’t see you as a person, just a ‘case.’
      No doubt, they wouldn’t allow one of their own family to suffer in the same way.
      You have no appetite but is it worth trying some soup, or even those ready-made jellies? Just for a bit of energy and sustenance.
      I hope you can get some sleep tonight.
      Goodnight Ann.

    3. Can you take something like Ensure protein drink or Complan to get some nourishment into your system until you are ready for food? When I was ill with sepsis some years ago my doctor recommended Ensure when I couldn’t face food for a few days. I hope you are soon able to get some help, best wishes to you and your oh.

      1. The hospital recommended something like this for a relative of mine too. It did the job of nourishing.

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