Wednesday 23 August: The Government must act to stop the undemocratic expansion of Ulez

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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476 thoughts on “Wednesday 23 August: The Government must act to stop the undemocratic expansion of Ulez”

  2. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Stop The Bus
    A blonde was visiting Washington, DC. This was her first time to the city, so she wanted to see the Capitol Building. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find it, so she asked a police officer for directions.

    “Excuse me, officer,” the blonde said, “how do I get to the Capitol Building?”

    The officer said, “Wait here at this bus stop for the number 54 bus. It’ll take you right there.”

    The blonde thanked the officer and he drove off. Three hours later the police officer came back to the same area, and sure enough, the blonde was still waiting at the same bus stop. The officer got out of his car and said,

    “Excuse me, but to get to the Capitol Building, I said to wait here for the number 54 bus. That was three hours ago. Why are you still waiting?”

    The blonde said, “Don’t worry, officer, it won’t be long now. The 45th bus just went by!”

  5. The Government must act to stop the undemocratic expansion of Ulez

    Are people still under the illusion that their democratically elected government still has the power or the will to go against the globalist environmental directives?

    1. 375643+ up ticks,

      Morning B3
      Very much so, the thickasshitters are even up for dying for the party.

  6. Britain to fund Ukraine uranium deal ‘to isolate Putin’. 23 August 2023.

    Britain is financing an enriched uranium deal to help Ukraine run their nuclear power plants over the winter and further “isolate” Vladimir Putin.

    The new arrangement, announced on Wednesday, sees Downing Street guarantee a £192 million loan in an attempt to minimise future blackouts in Ukraine in the months ahead.

    It will support more enriched uranium being provided by Urenco, a UK-headquartered company, to Ukraine’s Energoatom, which runs 15 power plants in the country.

    The move came after Russian forces deliberately targeted Ukraine’s energy supplies last winter as part of its full-scale invasion.

    Here have a few quid. We don’t need it. Everything is hunky dory here. It’s not as if our bills were going through the roof and people can’t pay their bills.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/08/23/shapps-uranium-deal-ukraine-isolate-vladimir-putin/

    1. Morning all.

      Everything, everything this “government” does is totally bonkers. U.K. has no spare money and the trees are bare. Malkinson inquiry is not run by a judge, C of Chester hospital senior managers not investigated … who is really running this country? They’re sure as eggs is eggs not running it for the benefit of you, me or the general public.
      ETA: Ulez – HMG       could if they wanted halt the ULEZ expansion but …

    1. Rishi Sunak is NOT the UK Prime Minister because we no longer have a Prime Minister.
      In reality, he is the Regional Manager of UK Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the World Economic Forum.

      1. ‘Morning, BoB. Richly Suntanned has all the committment and effectiveness of the proverbial chocolate teapot. I would normally advocate dumping him now, with the election little more than a year away. However, the almost total absence of anyone remotely Conservative does not bode well for a replacement, never mind a good one.

  8. Good morning all.
    A bit of a dull, overcast start with 11°C and signs of a recent splattering of raindrops.

    Got back home from the South Coast yesterday after an overnight stop in Avon Dasset, just North of Banbury.
    A couple of pictures from the nearby Burton Dasset Hills, one of the little known beauty spots of the UK with lovely views across Warwickshire:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/74c9338d77d8c28cf4bd44d7a58f2d76c513a56a3c9173edcf5c5401e7b81ad5.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ed18f4831d1982cafc67f6c984b2e41c3fa77d4bca2a89363ad07d26e365965c.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/552e7c0ce2c62f17c1405c82471520170e1bfaa2d0785fc124ff5114cd54231d.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d8b0c196fdb54ff0236e12eff7fe719a28776d573027d44e10f80d7633c52cad.jpg

      2. A stone tower, currently covered in scaffolding for repair and maintenance, as better depicted in Ped’s post.

  9. How to protect yourself from government propaganda. 23 August 2023.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IgLyTXLuiY

    This is an interview with Laura Dodsworth (She has a book out) about the Behavioural Insights Team commonly known as the Nudge Unit. There’s nothing really new for Nottlers but it is worth looking at for the confirmation it brings to all your worst suspicions. There are little snippets of useful information sprinkled throughout. Did you know that they have started naming Heat Waves? That’s the Nudge Unit at work! Covid? Weather Reports? They are in there twisting it all!

    1. Rumours from the USA that the equivalent of the ‘Nudge’ there is beefing up the threat of Plandemic v.2. Federal managers in some departments of the ‘Three Letter Agencies’ and others allegedly have been informed that masking will be re-started around the middle of September and will escalate from there with a lockdown to follow later in the year. Some of these federal employees are whistle-blowers with successful track records.

      One driver for this backward step is the disruption of the 2024 election cycle with ‘mail-in’ ballots high on the agenda.

      However, it hasn’t escaped the likes of Alex Jones that the information released by the top people, while in their planning could have mis-leading dates, so as to make people such as Jones and Stew Peters look like false prophets of doom.

  10. Good morning, chums. Enjoy your day. I’m off to visit the dental hygienist and I don’t think she’ll be happy with my daily (lack of) routine.

      1. Not really, Hugh. Amy is really gentle. You are right about the pain of the final bill, though.

      1. Had mine done last week. No pain just jaw ache. There are different grades of attachment to the descaling tool. I don’t know what they are called but you can get a less raspy one.

    3. Since my dentist suggested I stop using mouthwash my hygienist has been amazed at how little cleaning and polishing I now need.

  11. I see the met office has reduced its temp. forecasts for this week, it is now slightly below avwerage. Its either below average or its not.

    3. I see that the Met Off maps have been covered in orange this week to indicate ‘soaring’ temperatures. 25 in summer is hardly exeptional and I been wearing a jumper in the evenings.

  12. Good morning, all, again.

    Is this a coded headline in The Grimes online?

    “Exposed: the Chinese spy using LinkedIn to hunt UK secrets”

  13. The Pakistan army rescue is all over all the newspapers. For anyone who doesn’t look at newspapers – simply google “Pakistan cable car rescue”.

    Full marks to them.

  14. Good morning, all. Clear blue sky and calm here in N Essex.

    Some Nottlers are reporting poor access and consequent poor service from the NHS. At the GP level I have no problems, open access from 08:00 to 10:00 and appointments available with doctors and nurses. I cannot speak for hospital services as I haven’t, so far, needed them.

    Research by Ed Dowd & Co has revealed that absence levels in the NHS are high i.e. a standard deviation (Z factor) of around 14.7 from trend. Little wonder that people are finding the NHS in trouble around the Country.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a71b639163fc0f0749158875f23062486ef2c2eaea14fe1628965ae01e4d6386.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e31666fae7f7f9be054b8180845b4a95c0835b2b909bbf8dfd44a5fea18ed970.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d7d86e711f02886e7b43abdd7922a5db6cd39e360a834a9d66a8cf1172e8a0b0.png

      1. Dowd & Co have done a lot of work on data from the USA re deaths and disabilities caused by the “vaccines”. The workforce in the USA is at a reduced level: weren’t NHS workers ‘encouraged’ to take the jab? Need we look further?

  15. ‘Morning All

    Medley Time

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7e721a4ee2b5525761c671c06947984a0799023226ef4af0c118e45694ca9a42.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/925a57956016a0677b849bc3aaea9ea31fb678d03b3fff259122b4268e5031b9.jpg

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/892a8b85eb13cdaf88b9fff6ce78241470724921b90247b69b2a60a226f6cce7.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5baa19f7999ee98a93cb47dece384e5117e148b66ee1c36df730f177750d7f84.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/11459c76ded76b6778fc8643a0f2cda88a394ce9a33fec4c2bd2acbcdd9b6fc4.jpg

  17. ‘Morning, Peeps. A scorchio day on its way to Janus Towers. 25°C will mean that little will be achieved in the garden beyond mid-morning.

    Today’s Letters are nothing to write home about, but this BTL poster has achieved honorary Nottl membership with a spot-on rant. Trouble is, no one in government is listening or cares:

    Trevor Anderson
    2 HRS AGO
    Day in – day out, these columns are packed with valid complaints about the dire mismanagement and destruction of our once great country by a succession of governments, to which a catalogue of failure epithets being applied would be too few.
    Virtually every one of our major services and projects have failed – or are in desperate states. Nothing works, the economy is broken, the national debt grows daily – and exceeds GDP – and social deprivation grows apace because of ever rising prices, increased taxes, energy costs, net zero, ULEZ, EV’s, NHS, Immigration, money gifted to the likes of India, etc, etc, etc; the list is endless.
    What is evident, is that what we on these pages say, is meaningless to those that impose unnecessary costs and restrictions on our hard won freedoms and aspirations. MP’s are, almost to a man and woman, wilfully ignorant and/or uncaring about any of this and our complaints are unheard or disregarded. Writing to ones MP is a futile exercise – the stock auto-response is the only reply. What kind of warped delusion do these jobsworths live under if they reach the end of a day feeling satisfied with their work?
    Sunak and the majority of his lightweights will be voted out to be replaced by an even worse bunch of inept, boneheaded underperformers. We need a nationally organised, non-violent uprising, we have to take to the streets.

    * * *

    Well said!

    1. Don’t worry Trevor.

      Once the populace agree to rejoin the EU there will be a considerable improvement.

      In the meantime, mass immigration will continue until a majority demand to rejoin the EU….as the PTB want.

      1. Yes, 1,828 illegals between the 15th and the 21st, and those are just the ones we know about. For the past couple of days, and now today, the sea has been disappointingly calm, so records are about to be broken yet again.

  18. Ukraine’s army is running out of men to recruit, and time to win. 22 August 2023

    It’s a brutal but simple calculation: Kyiv is running out of men. US sources have calculated that its armed forces have lost as many as 70,000 killed in action, with another 100,000 injured. While Russian casualties are higher still, the ratio nevertheless favours Moscow, as Ukraine struggles to replace soldiers in the face of a seemingly endless supply of conscripts.

    Volunteers are no longer coming forward in numbers sufficient to keep the army at fighting strength: those most willing to fight signed up years ago. The latest recruitment slogan is “it’s OK to be afraid”, but there are still many attempting to dodge being drafted to fight on the front lines.

    For all the difficulties the Kremlin has faced in its forced conscriptions, it still has hundreds of thousands of men to draw upon. This is a resource Ukraine simply cannot match, and one that the West cannot supply.

    For Vladimir Putin, victory may at last be in sight as Western support begins to waver. If Kyiv cannot break through the Russian lines now, it may never be able to. If it runs out of willing men to recruit, the West cannot help.

    The recent moves to stave off the battlefield defeat of the Ukies suggest that this analysis is correct. There is a problem here. Having invested considerable political capital, as well as vast amounts of cash and weaponry, can the West allow Ukraine to collapse? Allow Vladimir Putin to win? It would be an astonishing rebuff. NATO would be seen to be essentially toothless. Could they actually allow that and all the consequences that would flow from it? Perhaps it might be time to commit NATO forces? It is at this point that the greatest danger of Nuclear Escalation will arise.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/22/ukraines-army-is-running-out-of-men-to-recruit/

    1. I worked their briefly in the mid 60s
      There are masses of items stored in the basement. Probably easy for the wrong type to get hold of.

      1. Presumably you were not there to compile such essentials as inventories??

        ‘Morning, Eddy.

        1. Morning Hugh…..no we made some new storage cabinets in Harrow and went along to fix them in place. I don’t remember the cabinets being lockable.
          Later in that mid 60s period we also installed viewing platforms and cabinets in the upper regions of the new Post Office tower.
          All closed to the public now, in I think 1980. Security reasons!

  20. Morning all 🙂😊
    Oh what a beautiful morning, wall to wall sunshine.
    If the Government can’t control one person like kahnt, who has now become an absolute dangerous nuisance. What are they going to do when the rest of his type try to take over ?
    Message today that my hospital appointment tomorrow morning has been cancelled due to a strike by consultants, the last same appointment was cancelled in April because of a junior doctors strike.
    And I haven’t even seen a real doctor for over three years, they are only promoted nurses and paramedics in the orthopaedic field. WTF is going on ? Again……

    1. RE, sorry to hear of your predicament. See my earlier comment re NHS absence figures.

      1. Thank you Korky. 😊
        Three weeks at least for a GP appointment locally.
        I’ve had worsening trouble with my left knee for more than 30 years. Due to someone making a complete mess of an arthroscopey.
        I can hardly walk now.
        I believe many of the doctors and nurses have now crossed to the private sector.
        I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the government have been stirring up these strikes. The NHS has become far to costly to maintain. Especially when thousands now have access who have never paid a penny towards its upkeep.

    2. Wall to wall clouds here.
      Have you had a follow-up appointment since your procedure? Or is that the one that’s cancelled?

      1. We might have a shower later as forecast. The garden needs a decent drop. But……hang on that will mean the grass will keep growing. 😄🤔 we can’t win eh.

        No follow up, I rang the cardiology nurses they didn’t seem at all interested and suggested I phoned 111 because my BP was high. They said they in turn said they would let my surgery know and someone would phone me back. That was last week.
        The only follow up that has been mentioned was in November 2023.
        I have lost all faith in my local cardiology department.
        I’m thinking of askng to be transferred to somewhere else.

          1. We are surrounded by hospitals as well.
            Watford, Hemel Hempstead, St Albans, Luton and Dunstable, Lister, Hertford, QE2 WGC.
            One Hatfield, Spire Harpenden. Both private.

  21. UK Migrant Crisis Likely to Get ‘Significantly Worse’, Housing Alone Could Cost £6 Billion a Year Says Report. 22 August 2023

    Key to the criticism is the coming rules being introduced by the government that alleged asylum seekers trying to subvert the UK’s immigration rules would have their claims ruled permanently inadmissible, alongside the Conservative’s long-term failure to actually deport anyone. These two factors running in tandem, the paper warns, would create what they have christened a “perma-backlog” of people who have no right to live and work in the United Kingdom, but who also won’t voluntarily leave and would live in a state of permanent limbo in government-provided accommodation.

    The bright spot here is that the entire system will almost certainly implode from mutually competing crises before we reach this point. The collapse of State Institutions, the inability of politicians to carry out any actions to alleviate the situation will see the UK dissolve into Political and Social anarchy. Only the Muslims will possess the numbers and cohesion to sort it out!

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/08/22/uk-migrant-crisis-likely-to-get-significantly-worse-housing-alone-could-cost-6-billion-a-year-says-report/

    1. Something else that our political classes have effed up.
      We have planning notices close by for a few hundred new houses on green belt agricultural land. Gas, water, electricity ? Schooling, medical assistance ? Etc etc.
      Net zero ?
      What a complete bunch of idiots all of these political people are.

    2. 375643+ up ticks,

      Morning AS,

      Surely an all out civil war as in a full on throat slitting, gizzard piercing, head lopping, daily topping legally declared civil war, we the people are from this declared moment on taking up arms in the defence of survival
      and freedom.

      Cannot be worse than what we are about to receive.

      1. Morning Oggy. I’m sure that there will be some real nastiness in the middle of all this!

        1. 375643+ up ticks,

          AS,
          I am certain there will be as in one push to many,T do believe KIplings ” the beginning”

          The last line of every stanza ends with “… the English began to hate”.

      2. For thirty years, the British have been progressively disarmed.
        Now only agents of the state and criminals can get hold of anything effective.
        H’mmmmm ………

        1. 375643+ up ticks,

          Morning Anne,
          I do not believe there has ever been a more inventive race of peoples when it comes to killing to survive,

    1. King liars. So why didn’t they call an ambulance ? Why did they run away ?
      She was murdered because she wouldn’t do as she was told and because of their vile religious history and beliefs.

      1. The mother was bullied into handing over her child. She should have run away with the girl.
        I suppose there will be no consequences for the sharia court that handed the child over to the murderers either.

          1. All the children would have British passports though if born here. The mentality is that children brought up in the west are hopelessly corrupted and godless, and must be brought up in islam at all costs. Plus, of course – she was blonde. One cannot help speculating whether sxual abuse was involved.
            My children attended a British primary school for a couple of months with a lot of Pakistani children, and the boys were trying to kiss my (blonde) son in the playground. I complained to the teachers and was told it was normal behaviour. I don’t think so! That was one of the reasons we left the UK in the Blair years.

      1. Our useless government will go even further out of its way to cover up the mistakes they have been making for around thirty years.

      2. I’m impressed they could book multiple seats at short notice for a flight to Pakholestan
        School holidays; surely the planes would be filled with families taking their 10 year old daughters to be married off to their cousins.

    1. I’ve just been almost ordered by my surgery to book a flu jab…..no thanks, my trust in vaccines has abandoned me.

    1. It soon spread to Greece.
      ‘Wild fires’ who are all these AHs trying to kid ?
      Good job we’ve had plenty of rain this year.

  25. Nurse avoids suspension after calling patient swear word and sleeping on job

    A Keighley nurse has avoided serious sanctions despite being found to have called a vulnerable incontinent patient a ‘b*****d’, slept while on duty and used furniture to prevent patients from being able to use doors.

    Spilisiwe Zivurawa was working as a registered nurse in mental health at Three Valleys Hospital, Keighley, at the time of the offences. After qualifying in 2010, she had worked with an unblemished record until she was employed as the nurse in charge on the Oakworth Ward.

    The ward is a nine bed unit for male patients who have complex clinical presentations. Many have been diagnosed with physical or neurodegenerative brain disorders, including dementia.

    Many of the patients were referred through the forensic psychiatric system and a number of them have serious index offences such as rape. A National Medical Council (NMC) fitness to the practice hearing panel noted that providing consistency of care would have been challenging as there was a high turnover of staff in the unit as a result of the difficulty and challenging behaviour of the patients.

    The charges against Zivurawa related to a number of incidents between October 2020 and February 2021, and also complaints against her general practice. A local investigation by Elysium Healthcare, who operated the hospital, saw Zivurawa suspended and then dismissed as a result of concerns in March 2021.

    Spilisiwe Zivurawa, then, not Minnie Clegg or Doris Ramsbottom? I’m overcome with shock.

    1. Out of arffrikar ?
      I’m glad she got away with it. Perhaps it might have been worse. She restrained her self quite well.

        1. I did know the Hotten Tots were the originals in southern Africa.
          But I think most of them have been wiped out by migration from further north.
          Nobody will ever convince me we are descendent from Africans.
          There is none if any actual resemblance.
          Thousands of years ago it would have taken far too long for even organised tribes to have walked from Africa to northern Europe. Plus managing to be able to transverse the Med. I know Britain was once attached to Europe. But no one would have known where they going or might have been in store.
          Food to gather etc. The list is endless.
          Certain topics in this ‘modern world’ seem to have become religions. But there is not even any proof of any of that. Just stories and speculation.

    2. Who wants to work on a psychiatric ward with patients who have committed “serious index offences such as rape?”
      She probably wasn’t wrong in her assessment of the patient.

    1. The worsening Road problems supplied by our useless politicians.
      Someone we know told us he was pulled over by ‘Old Bill’ they suspected him of drink driving. After the breathalyser test showed negative. They asked him why he had been driving so slowly and weaving.
      Simple answer, just trying to avoid the pot holes officer.

    2. Where’s the deep, suspension-wrecking pothole labelled Invasion of Replacement People?

    3. I simply don’t understand why the public don’t understand that every single problem we have is solely down to the state. That it’s no longer a surprise, but engineered, deliberate enforced damage.

  27. 375643+ up ticks,

    We could run a full scale war with that type finance, find it more refreshing than the depressing current daily lifestyles
    also countrywide air cleansing.

    UK Migrant Crisis Likely to Get ‘Significantly Worse’, Housing Alone Could Cost £6 Billion a Year Says Report

    What ” they” don’t add is that is after they have compulsory purchased yours.

  28. Good day all,

    Sunny at the McPhee’s, wind Nor’-Nor’-West but wafting all around the compass to end up in the South. 15℃ going up to 23℃. Proper summer.

    Strangely, I can’t find anything to pull to bits this morning that hasn’t already been done.

    1. The UK womb transplant news will get the trannies mammaries flowing. I’m surprised to hear that about 50 babies have been born after this transplant. Its my view there is enough basic medicine to be done in the world without getting into these grotesque procedures.

      1. Yes, there is that one. Unzip a man, insert a womb, apply IVF, birth by ceasarean section, stitch back together minus womb. See, men can have babies. Shut up, bigot!

        1. Is it that simple? Aren’t hormones to be taken into account, the shape of the pelvis and is the woman’s body ‘different’ such that it can accommodate a growing foetus?

          The people advocating this dangerous nonsense are prepared to try and create grotesques because they can.

          2. It is solely about indulging the fantasy of the insane. How on earth we ever got to this insane situation is beyond me.

  29. Well said Madam!
    For those unable to view Tw@ter:-

    It’s not a surprise to me at all that there’s so many white people in Britain, since historically Britain has always been predominantly white.
    No one complains that there’s too many Japanese people in Japan or too many Chinese in china and not enough “diversity” in those countries.
    This idea that there’s a “whiteness problem” in Britain is beyond stupid and I will pushback on it with the same energy that I pushback on the idea of magical human sex changes.

    https://twitter.com/TheFamousArtBR/status/1693962661669544045

    1. It seems to me that ‘diversity’ is not the answer to anything.
      It is quite simply the whole problem.

      1. Does anyone one know, off the top of their heads, where in the Bible diversity is ordained for humanity? It doesn’t sit with the concept of the ‘chosen people’, does it?

        1. I thought the Bible ordained the very opposite of diversity – weren’t the people scattered after they built the Tower of Babel?

        3. The tinted folk quite like the idea of a black Christ and a black Virgin Mary but if one were to suggest the Mary Magdalane was black they would have conniptions.

    2. Skins are predominantly ‘white’ in Britain because Britain is located at high latitudes within a temperate climatic zone. Nature requires pale skins at these latitudes in order to cope with, and get the most from, the weaker sunlight available at these latitudes – darker skins are at an eventual health disadvantage in these circumstances.

      1. Diversity only holds for one direction – the Lionesses were criticised for being too white, but the commentary team was all black.

    3. If an immigrant works and contributes to society, they’re very welcome – but no more than 1000 per year. A freeloading welfare shopper should be encouraged to leave – violently, if necessary.

    1. I can’t even pronounce her name.

      At some point these sort of operations must be stopped on child protection grounds. They’re not about the child, but about the ego of the parent.

  31. Inching with agonising slowness towards gold-backed currencies…

    Also, we are about to be hit by a huge wave of anti-white resentment from the rest of the world. It is anti-western, but what’s the betting that darker skinned people in the west will suddenly remember their roots, and pretend that they’re not part of the west?
    Truth doesn’t matter any more, perception is all that matters. People will forget how they benefited from the west, and just try to steal its wealth and kill the goose.
    http://infobrics.org/post/39152

    edit: The BRICS bank is going to loan gold to the BRICS nations, but the currency won’t be gold backed.
    Links to this website, infobrics, are apparently blocked on facebook…

    1. There seems to be a complete dichotomy that the blacks hate everything colonial yet really, really like welfare, housing, running water, a massive market for food and energy. Therefore it seems their hatred is a bit Judean People’s Front, and therefore irrelevant.

      1. It’s not irrelevant when they kill whites in Africa and then come over here to leech off the rest of us.

      2. It’s not irrelevant when there are millions of young men holding a grudge and a sense of entitlement in our country…

  32. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2ac51a23a8b0a05a4b4b1515176c12b5b4fda2b4303da7f5a7c7ef3e4bc4bdea.png When, oh when, is the Daily Telegraph going to employ reporters who have gone through a rudimentary education? Is this the result of masses of school-leavers being illiterate and innumerate?

    10 miles in NOT 6·5 kilometres. In addition, the Bishop Rock lighthouse is 35½ miles off the Cornish coast (not 10). There is only one ‘booby’ involved in this execrable reporting.

    1. It’s the other way around. 10 km is approximately 6 miles (statute, not nautical) but that still leaves the magical re-location of the Bishop Rock. Which prompts the age-old question about the media: If this is wrong, what else is wrong and if this is bullshit (which much of it is) what else is bullshit?

      In answer to your question, never in our lifetimes because education has been thoroughly trashed.

      1. “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

    2. It’s the other way around. 10 km is approximately 6 miles (statute, not nautical) but that still leaves the magical re-location of the Bishop Rock. Which prompts the age-old question about the media: If this is wrong, what else is wrong and if this is bullshit (which much of it is) what else is bullshit?

      In answer to your question, never in our lifetimes because education has been thoroughly trashed.

    3. It’s the other way around. 10 km is approximately 6 miles (statute, not nautical) but that still leaves the magical re-location of the Bishop Rock. Which prompts the age-old question about the media: If this is wrong, what else is wrong and if this is bullshit (which much of it is) what else is bullshit?

      In answer to your question, never in our lifetimes because education has been thoroughly trashed.

  33. Alastair Campbell is no crusader for truth. Spiked. 23 August 2023.

    One of the leading crusaders against this alleged rise in political lying is – of all people – Alastair Campbell. According to Tony Blair’s former spin doctor, lying in the age of Brexit has become so serious and pervasive that drastic measures need to be taken. Politicians who lie to parliament, he said last week, should face criminal penalties and even jail time.

    It would probably make my day, if not week or even year if I was watching the BBC Headlines and it said: The War Criminal; Traitor and former Prime Minister of the UK, Tony Blair was hanged at eight o’clock this morning. Sadly equally unlikely.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/08/23/alastair-campbell-is-no-crusader-for-truth/

    1. I’d rather see them on crosses on a Golgotha-like hill, Blair out front, Campbell on one side, Brown on the other with assorted others behind such as the Harperson, Barbara Roche and Jack Straw.

      Altogether now, 🎵 Always look on the bright side of life….🎶 or 🎶 Things can only get better…🎵

      1. I’d let Brown off (for pushing the MoD to buy Foxhound and abandon FRES), but make him watch as a reminder that if he steps out of line, he’s next.

        On that note, FRES has ‘delivered’ it’s first vehicle in the form of the Ajax – a tank too noisy to drive, under gunned, under powered and under armoured. Oh, and about 6 years late of deadline. No improvements 2 years later. Why? Because the MoD is too obsessed with green than war fighting.

        1. You are too kind. I wouldn’t. He wrecked the economy with many, many, many flawed policies.

    2. Notice how it’s ‘lying *in the age of Brexit*’. He wants to associate deceit with Brexit – not the reality, which is the continual flood of drivel spinning against Brexit, the statist failures responsible for so much damage.

      Admittedly, he is good at his job and his admitting his difficulties with alcohol are a positive but the farce has got to end. The state is deliberately, intentionally doing in this country.

  34. Have just read yesterday’s DT Leader:

    Act now to block Khan’s war on cars

    The Mayor has abandoned reality in his rush to force Ulez on Londoners

    TELEGRAPH VIEW
    22 August 2023 • 10:00pm

    In just six days’ time, the entire Greater London area will become an ultra-low emission zone (Ulez), within which the owners of non-compliant vehicles will be charged £12.50 a day to drive. The scheme was introduced by Boris Johnson when he was mayor, initially in the same area as the Congestion Charge zone – essentially the City and its environs.

    In 2021 it was extended to the North and South Circular roads. From next week, it will spread to the M25 motorway, including Heathrow Airport, and encompass 600sq miles, the largest zone of its kind in Europe.

    This major event in the nation’s capital is taking place without any proper democratic scrutiny. Mr Khan included the 2021 expansion in his manifesto for the mayoralty but not the latest iteration, which has drawn deep opposition from the outer boroughs affected.

    He has no direct mandate for doing this. Mr Khan says cleaning up London’s air was a stated policy objective so he is entitled to proceed. But it is becoming clear that the evidence with which he justifies his move is at least questionable.

    Emails revealed by the Telegraph last week showed how Mr Khan’s office tried to discredit scientists at Imperial College London, who found the Ulez policy had little impact on pollution. As our Science Editor reports today, his office also asked scientists to alter a Lancet study that showed London’s low-emissions zone made no difference to children’s health. They refused.

    The only legitimate justification for the Ulez expansion is that it makes the air cleaner, improves health and saves lives. If that cannot be definitively proven to be the case then this is nothing more than a money-grabbing exercise that will cause great inconvenience and potential hardship to hundreds of thousands of people.

    Mr Khan has overridden objections by claiming the science overwhelmingly supports the beneficial effects of Ulez. But this may now be in doubt. Given London’s critical importance to the general economic well-being of the country, this expansion should be halted pending a thorough review and a vote in Parliament, where Labour MPs can demonstrate their support for the people of London. Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, has the power under Section 143 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 to block a transport strategy “inconsistent with national politics relating to transport”. He needs to use them, and quickly.

    * * *

    Here we are, just 5 days from implementation, when Khant’s nasty little scheme has been known about for months. The cynical amongst us (me included) strongly suspect that the Tories are seeking to exploit the situation by doing nothing, in the hope that electors will dump the idiot in favour of a Tory Mayor.

    Today’s DT headline – that legal advisors have “blocked” any action by the government – is simply a non-starter. The legal lot advise, ministers decide. This has to be a pathetic smokescreen for a cynical decision and thus a dereliction of duty on the part of the government.

    1. Massive distraction from the coming banking crisis, dollar/pound etc printing spree and strengthening of BRICS

    2. Even with a Tory Mayor and a Tory government this little cash raising exercise will not go away.

      1. …and it was a Tory mayor who started this nonsense by imposing Ulez over the former Congestion Charge area. They are all as bad as each other.

    3. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/002d58b77e5a30d397adbe28d618377a8ecfc7ba37e357b4a22a5ad36afef244.png

      And Sunak and his government have surrendered without putting up any sort of fight at all.

      Top BTL comment:

      Professor Gaga :
      Is Parliament sovereign or not?
      Simple question.
      Khan can be stopped tomorrow if the Tories wanted to.

      Reply to Professor Gaga by Percival Wrattstrangler : So could the boats be stopped if the Tories wanted to stop them.

      As I said yesterday, if they get rid of Sunak NOW they will probably lose the next election but they can start rebuilding now.

      But if they do not get rid of him NOW not only will they lose the next elected they will be wiped out for ever.

      1. Maybe destruction of the Tories would be a good thing. Rebuild from the rubble a new rightish party. 5 years of Labour will show who not to vote for.

    4. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/002d58b77e5a30d397adbe28d618377a8ecfc7ba37e357b4a22a5ad36afef244.png

      And Sunak and his government have surrendered without putting up any sort of fight at all.

      Top BTL comment:

      Professor Gaga :
      Is Parliament sovereign or not?
      Simple question.
      Khan can be stopped tomorrow if the Tories wanted to.

      Reply to Professor Gaga by Percival Wrattstrangler : So could the boats be stopped if the Tories wanted to stop them.

      As I said yesterday, if they get rid of Sunak NOW they will probably lose the next election but they can start rebuilding now.

      But if they do not get rid of him NOW not only will they lose the next elected they will be wiped out for ever.

    5. Khan is a wog who has exceeded his station .

      My impression of London air is that it reeks of weed, curry , pee smell and bunged up drains .

  36. This is an interesting one from Richard Vobes and a chap called Gavin from Sovereign Empowerment. Things are going to get worse but then they will get better, much better, because there are White Hats operating behind the scenes and they’ve got control. Make of it what you will. Personally I’m going to watch World events closely for the next year or two to see what, if anything, matches what he says (1 hour 10 minutes):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quex5Pq2EVw&t=2041s

    1. We need some hope in these dark times! I will listen to it – but probably on 1.25 speed, because Vobes is a bit slow for me!

  37. This is an interesting one from Richard Vobes and a chap called Gavin from Sovereign Empowerment. Things are going to get worse but then they will get better, much better, because there are White Hats operating behind the scenes and they’ve got control. Make of it what you will. Personally I’m going to watch World events closely for the next year or two to see what, if anything, matches what he says (1 hour 10 minutes):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quex5Pq2EVw&t=2041s

    1. I was having tea with yesterday afternoon with a good friend who suffered from a stroke about 6 years ago, she is lucid , a bright spark , but her leg and arm are next to useless .

      I have written about her condition on here recently .

      The stroke ward in our County hospital was appalling as was her treatment by staff.. she was the only one who wasn’t lying out flat and unconscious or incapable of speaking .

      She wasn’t able to wash herself , clean her teeth, do basic toiletries , walk etc etc in the very early days . She was neglected . No exaggeration, she was really neglected .

      She was wheeled to the day room and forgotten about , she had toilet accidents sitting in her chair , they forgot to give her fluids, cut her food up , etc etc she was also left in the bathroom , and put on a loo with no handrails , she sat there for an hour and then fell onto the floor .

      I visited her often and helped tidy her up .

      When she was discharged home after a month , she was still in need of care .. and in a sorry mess.. I wrote to the hospital listing my observations and her lack of care , and concerns for other patients on the Stroke ward .

      I didn’t receive a reply from anyone , and when I made enquiries , they denied they had received anything from me , and were very dismissive and curt towards me .

      After that little exchange , I fretted about things , and thought about myself , and worried that I would be written off if the same happened to me and I ended up on the ward .

      Strangely 2 years after that I succumbed to a TIA , and had to visit the ward , and undergo many tests including a brain scan .

      1. Were you admitted that time or stay as an outpatient? It seems once they’ve got you you are at the mercy of whoever is in charge on the ward. I’m sorry your friend had such poor care. If she hadn’t been so neglected it’s possible she could have regained some of the movement and strength in her limbs if she’d had timely physio treatment.

        1. Hello J , I was an out patient , but had a heavy day being examined .

          I have been invited to put my name forward as a Governor of Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust , one of those cards that arrived in the post , closing date in a few days .

          I went into the website and balked at the idea of doing anything after I looked at the questions , and thought no way, not for me .

          3. Ah – you’ve been monitored! What about Nottl? We speak freely here but we don’t know who’s watching do we? I go by my real name on FB but I avoid anything political there.

          4. I would delete all twit posts and the account. That goes for Facebook too. As we have seen with Farage it can affect banking services and credit ratings.

      2. My neighbour had a bad fall and broke her hip. They replaced the hip and gave her painkillers. She has just been released after 3 months not having had any physio. She also didn’t receive a care package of any kind and was expected to manage. She can’t. She is very weak. She is now back in hospital.

        1. Either another example of postcode lottery or a sharp decline in NHS standards in the last few years. When in the Royal Brompton in 2019 I was given proper physiotherapy after being bed-bound for a few weeks to ensure I could stand and walk unaided. When finally discharged home from my local hospital after a total of nearly 8 weeks I was visited by district nurses to attend to dressings and to check on my wellbeing. This continued with nurses at my GP surgery once I was considered well enough not to need home visits. Your neighbour’s experience has been quite unlike mine of four years ago.

          1. My OH has also had good service from our GP surgery and I can’t complain about his treatment when he was in hospital at the end of last year.

          2. MB has been well treated.
            I really think our old friend post code lottery is the culprit.

      3. If you write on behalf of someone else they will either lie about receiving it or just ignore it and plead ignorance.
        Write to the Care Quality Commission and get your friend to sign it.

      4. That’s terrible T B.
        How can staff we assume to be dedicated to their profession and certain standards, behave in such a terrible manner.
        There is no doubt in my own mind that after the front line the patient is not considered as important as the so called consultants. I sensed a take it or leave attitude..
        When I received the reply from my complaints. They had spun it all around and seemingly blamed me for the problems I had suffered.
        Just before Christmas I had to stay over for three nights. Just before I was given the all clear to leave one of the doctors stood at the door of the quite large one bed ward and spoke to me I couldn’t hear a word he said. When I complained about that.
        That was also my fault.
        I wonder after my recent experience of being told by the cardiac nurse station to phone 111, if when I submitted my details
        A red flag appears on their screens.

  42. Well, they certainly know about food.

    Menu du Jour:

    Big Macs washed down with copious amounts of full-on Coke followed by apple pies and lashings of sugar laden Chantilly cream
    Chocolate and waffles covered in lots of chocolate
    Pancakes slathered in maple syrup and sugar laden Chantilly cream followed by beaver wellington cooked in moose fat
    Chips and battered sausages topped off with more chips and a side-order of chips

    https://twitter.com/DrEliDavid/status/1694122478174376187

    1. Well, they do say that inside every fat person there’s a thin person struggling to get out. No wonder they’re all so overweight.

  43. Hypocrits all.

    Canadas deputy PM Christia Freeland irecently lectured an audience in Eastern Canada about adjusting to the high cost of fuel and claimed that she doesn’t even own a car, she travels by bus, subway or on her bike.

    This week, the witch was given a speeding ticket for driving a rental car at 43kph over a 90kph limit.

    3. Politicos who are ferried around in government limos driven by chauffeurs could claim they don’t own or drive a car. Sleepy Joe could probably say that about his motorcade, if he could remember.

  45. Phew!
    Currently having a break from getting the diseased ash I dropped before buggering off for a week sorted. Got about a two thirds of the main trunk left to log and clear out then it’s tidy the brash up.

    1. I’m just in the middle of listening to that – it’s great. When you hear someone like Macgregor given his head to talk, it really brings home how superficial most stuff on the media is.

    2. I can’t see that! For some unfathomable reason Disqus will not show me Twitter clips; even though I can access them on my own Twitter account.

      I don’t have a clue which clip you have posted.

        2. I accept that twats like that exist; but I can’t get my head around why they are just not simply ignored. The MSM give the brain-dead wankers the publicity they crave. If they simply put a blanket ban on anything to do, reporting wise, with weirdos, they would soon go away.

        3. Why did the idiot have his nuts off when he still wants to be male and have sex with his girlfriend? In the horse world, colts have no choice (trainer says they’d be better off as a gelding and bam! they’re two stone lighter).

    3. From Google search – the top hit.
      You may lose your sex drive, gain weight, or not be able to get an erection. These changes can be upsetting. Talk to your doctor about treatments that might help with these. This care sheet gives you a general idea about how long it will take for you to recover.
      So, why the surprise?

    1. Hermes/Evri are the worst couriers in the country – the drivers up here are fine but the organisation is crap particularly the tracking. I know that the day before a delivery is due I will get a notice to say it’s been delayed. They then tell you they’ll let you know when it’s out for delivery but they don’t. The tracking tells you it’s at a depot or hub but doesn’t say where that is – just GB. I now ask a supplier which courier they use and if they say Hermes I tell them I’ll go elsewhere

        1. I think it depends on the driver – my plants were ok and unharmed in spite of being upside down today. A few years ago a batch of plants spent nearly a week in their van and arrived nearly dead – I did get a refund from T& M but gave them bad feedback for the delivery. They seem to have improved from then.

          Yodel manage to deliver my winebox from Laithwaites with no bother, and sometimes will bring them indoors for me.

        2. Never had a problem with them Del, but most courier services north of Inverness are sub-contracted to local firms

    2. My plug plants arrived this morning via Yodel – I got the email to say they been delivered – it said “by the door”……. if the bottom of the steps is ‘by the door’…..maybe – but we have 11 steps so not that close. The box was upside down, and it clearly says “This side up”.

  52. From Google:

    “The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which distributes aid, sent India £33.4 million in aid cash in 2022/23. But the FCDO’s annual report, published this week, reveals that the total is set to rise to £57 million in 2024/25.18 Jul 2023.”

    They have a space programme, so why are we still sending aid to India, and why is it being increased now, instead of being withdrawn altogether?

    1. Why are we sending aid – because India has very poor people who need help (I think is the excuse). Why does it have very poor people? Because it is corrupt.

    2. Why are we sending aid – because India has very poor people who need help (I think is the excuse). Why does it have very poor people? Because it is corrupt.

    3. Is this bilateral aid or multilateral, of the kind disbursed by international agencies over which the UK has little or no control or influence but which successive UK governments feel obliged to continue funding because of commitments made decades ago and because present governments think it would be a shameful admission.of the UK’s much diminished role in international affairs were they now to renege on them, without any consideration or regard for what are now quite different circumstances.

  53. From Google:

    “The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which distributes aid, sent India £33.4 million in aid cash in 2022/23. But the FCDO’s annual report, published this week, reveals that the total is set to rise to £57 million in 2024/25.18 Jul 2023.”

    They have a space programme, so why are we still sending aid to India, and why is it being increased now, instead of being withdrawn altogether?

    2. Every time these crooks award themselves more riches, it turns the heat up a notch under the boiling fury of the masses.

      1. I wonder if, like Prince Harry, she will feel she is entitled to police protection against anyone incensed enough to take a pot shot at her!

        1. If so, her sense of entitlement is misplaced, as few will know her name, recognise her face or understand why they should hate her. Almost all of the tiny minority who.do will not have the means or inclination to cause her harm, unless she is the kind of fragile flower who.is traumatised by unpleasant comments on social media.

      2. Will it? I think not. The boiling fury of the masses is usually directed to characters in Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Eastenders. Few will have the foggiest idea who Alison Rose is. While Nigel Farage’s name means much more to many others, most will imagine he retired in 2019. While they will have a vague concept of wealthy people awarding themselves and each other large sums of undeserved money, the details will be poorly remembered other than by a few who the others will regard as fixated nerds and obsessives. I could, of course, be describing myself, having settled on the notion that the less I know, the happier I am.

        1. I don’t think people need to know the details – they just have a vague idea that things aren’t fair. Everyone can see that the rich are awarding themselves ever more privileges.

      1. That is the real evil in this case. She should have been sacked summarily – for gross misconduct.

    5. Whatever happened to the Senior Manager conduct rules that she should be abiding by? The PRA and FCA should be all over this like a rash, else it makes a total mockery of their much-vaunted efforts to clean up the culture of the UK’s financial institutions.

    6. I’d happily contribute to crowdfunding Nigel Farage’s lawsuit against her, but I have banked with NatWest ever since it was National Provincial marrying Westminster Bank in 1968, so in effect I’d be crowdfunding both sides.

    7. One of the few times when words fail me.
      This country has become unbelievably corrupt.

  55. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dc3f4954832b39dd6312af0d3f299f90e50a4553c6efa8c38257d1ed6e469031.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1cb7a059c06b1b08c423a556fd1048cd7321a0e89c0441cefbbf6ebde3870ca3.jpg
    I had a bit of a dilemma today, also a conundrum. I really love cottage pie so I decided to make one for my next meal, which will be on Friday. The problem is that I no longer eat potatoes, so, what to do! I hit upon the notion of simply making one without the spuds, i.e. cut out the middle man. I shall just heat up the delicious ragù-style base and top it with a mountain of grated cheese (cheddar and parmesan) then melt it under the grill. That solved the dilemma. Now to the conundrum, what to call it.

    Without the spuds it is not a cottage pie. Could it be a ‘lesser cottage pie’? Not really, so I settled on a simpler name in the same vein. I really hope my hovel pie catches on.

    Next time I may use lamb mince to make a lesser version of a shepherd’s pie. I will have similar high hopes for my sheep-shagger’s pie!😉

    My favourite tomato passata is the one made by Cireo, which is simply the best. Ingredients: tomatoes; salt. I have always loved Cireo canned tomatoes, Italy’s favourite. They should be good, after all Francesco Cireo was the man who pioneered the canning process for tomatoes way back in 1856.
    https://www.italyonthisday.com/2016/12/francesco-cirio-tomatoes-canning-pioneer.html

    2. Chucked a chopped onion, a fair bit of chopped garlic, a pack of M$S precooked cocktail sausages and a load of odds and ends from jars that needed using up into the slow cooker for a couple of hours.
      Then added a pasta sauce plus the rinseings of a couple of nearly empty pickle jars.
      Just served it on rice for ex-Sudent Son & self.
      Very tasty!

      2. Mine is 20%-fat minced beef, fried in lard. Chopped onions and garlic, fried in lard. Chopped mushrooms, fried in butter. Chopped red pepper, fried in butter, then combined with a little beef stock, that jar of tomato passata, some parsley, seasoned with salt and black pepper, then simmered for an hour to reduce down.

          1. Because I am enjoying a very healthy and nutritious high fat/high protein, low carb/no sugar diet. The more fat the healthier.

            It seems people cannot get the terrible (and very wrong) government advice that fat is ‘bad’ for you, out of their heads. On the contrary it is the healthiest food you can eat. Just ask Dr Jordan Peterson, he has eaten nothing but beef and fat for the past five years and his health has improved 100%.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBFT3xZ4taI

    3. Why not make your own passata? The MR has done so for the last 15 years.- though this year’s output will be smaller because of the lousy crop..

      1. We don’t grow enough of our own toms to make anything with them. They are all eaten as salad veg.
        We don’t have a greenhouse; we just have a few plants either just inside or outside the conservatory, depending on the weather.

  56. British Museum suspect was promoted to job in charge of Elgin Marbles after theft warning. 23 August 2023.

    The curator sacked over thefts from the British Museum was promoted to a job that put him in charge of the Elgin Marbles after a whistleblower had raised the alarm.

    Peter Higgs was made acting keeper of Greek collections after the museum received a tip-off that items had turned up for sale on eBay and remained in the job despite being implicated in the sale of missing items. Mr Higgs denies wrongdoing.

    The Telegraph has also learnt that when the museum checked a storeroom where 942 uncatalogued items were kept, all but seven of them were missing.

    Ittai Gradel, the Danish antiquities dealer who uncovered the thefts, said Hartwig Fischer, the museum’s director, and Jonathan Williams, his deputy, should be sacked immediately “for the sake of this great institution”.

    This story gets more involved and incredible with every iteration!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/23/museum-elgin-marbles-thefts-british-job-promoted-greece/

    1. If the 942 items were uncatalogued, how do they know how many are missing?

      He’d have a job to shift the Elgin Marbles without being noticed…….

  57. Phew! It’s warm out there. We’ve come in for a rest and a sit down – OH has been clearing out the shed and I’ve been preparing my baskets for the winter pansies which arrived this morning.

    He’s made me a cup of tea. He’s halfway through making a blackberry and apple crumble. I spotted that he’d used some of my breakfast muesli…..

      3. Our neighbours from the Lot region are happily enjoying the cooler weather here at the moment.
        They have a house sitter in their 40s 🤗😉

    2. I cook the crumble separately then add it for the last few minutes. Never goes soggy even the leftovers.

        1. I also soften the apples in a little cinnamon and butter on a low heat with a lid on for a few mins. No added water. Once the apples have softened slightly i add the blackberries and put the lid back on. Turn off the heat.

          Then i make a light caramel. Plonk the apple and Blackberries in that and give it a little stir.
          After doing all that the crumble should be toasty. Assemble and finish in the oven for a few mins more.

          I also do a deconstructed version and serve them in cocktail glasses on a hot day.

          Custard and or ice cream served separately.

          Just in case he hasn’t a clue. :@)

          1. The apples are already softened as they were in the freezer. I’ll leave it to him to put it all together.

          3. I’m the very soul of diplomacy – he makes the puddings and I eat them. I make the main course and sometimes a starter and he eats them. We have our roles…….

      2. I do that too. I actually fry the crumble mix in a frying-pan – no added fat needed, just stir it all the time. It goes beautifully crisp and stays like that forever.
        If I make too much, I keep what’s left over and use it to sprinkle over ice-cream.

        1. Can i use you as a human shield against Elsie Bloodaxe crumble recipes? Don’t answer that !

      3. I think it was Raymond Blanc who I first saw pre-baking the crumble.
        I half bake it on a flat sheet, turning about once; then add it to the fruit.
        It certainly stops the dreaded sogginess.

  59. Par Four, today.

    Wordle 795 4/6
    ⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Look like a par four. Mine too.

      Wordle 795 4/6

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

      3. Me too.

        Wordle 795 4/6

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

    2. Same here
      Wordle 795 5/6

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

      I seem to have three more threes than fives 80 – 77

          2. Another day/night here- no show by MacMillan today will relate if I feel up to it. 85 % of the health care people I have come into contact with have been super- the two yesterday must have come from, Rent-a-Bitch.
            Kept my temperature as long as possible then went apeshit.

          3. Whoops! But you have to let it out when you can and not bottle it up. Stress is a killer and you have to let it go sometimes.

    3. Better than my effort

      Wordle 795 5/6

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

  62. That’s me gone for this weird day. Virtually no sleep last night – couldn’t get into the right position to relieve my back pain. Up at 5 am because a woman from the Council was calling at 6 am to measure the sound nuisance from the chicken factory at the end of the garden. Cats VERY surprised to see us up and about!

    Sunny day mostly. Finished my book and the periodicals – and done the crosswords and puzzles. Hoping for some sleep tonight though, ironically, we have to be up early tomorrow because Trevor the Painter is coming to do the last room and corridor. Then the market…..

    Have a spiffing evening – drinking hard.

    A demain.

    1. Is the noise as bad as the flies from the chicken factory? Did she measure those as well?

      1. The noise is unbearable (for those who are not deaf). It goes on 24/7. The MR – a plucky and sensible woman – was in tears on Monday afternoon because it makes gardening almost impossible.

        1. Get some glow ball warming anarchists to burn it down.
          I’m sure they would be happy to oblige.

          2. Or you could get Bill Gates to buy it and turn it into a bug farm and harvest the flies.
            Two birds, one stone.

          6. How about writing online on whatever the brand name is (or who they sell to) and pointing out how un-green and unsociable the chickens from this factory are. It eventually worked with the Two Sisters factory, I believe.

          1. It does. It should never have reopened. The District Council is plodding its way through enforcement action – Abatement Notices etc – the bastards simply appeal – thus stopping action – knowing that no hearing will take place for months. They do not give a toss about the misery a couple of hundred people are suffering.

          2. Get a group of the locals to visit the directors’ homes with bullhorns, claxons and car horns and blast them 24/7.
            I’m sure a rota could be organised.

          3. Nice idea but the plod would be on us like a ton of bricks.

            I have a feeling that brown envelopes are involved…but cannot prove it, of course

          6. Can you block access to and from the farm?

            Presumably they are borderline profitable at present.
            A long spell ruining their cash flow might break them?

          9. Never mind that. Visit the chicken farm with Molotov cocktail, equally spaced all around and thrown at the same time.

    5. Yes, I am sure that a Russian warlord would travel the well used route from St. Petersburg to Moscow in his own private plane with its clearly marked registration.
      Arrogant – yes. Stupid – ? .

  64. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/08/23/ittai-gradel-british-museum-theft-evidence/

    The man who uncovered the biggest ever theft from the British Museum
    says that he has been treated like a “village idiot” by its two most
    senior executives, and said they must be sacked to prevent further
    damage to the world-renowned institution.

    Ittai Gradel, a Danish antiquities dealer, said the “slow torture” of disclosures about the scandal will only be halted by the departure of the museum’s director Hartwig Fischer and his deputy Jonathan Williams.

    Speaking
    exclusively to the Telegraph, Dr Gradel explained how he uncovered the
    theft of the decade with years of detective work and said that he had
    “suffered horribly” as the British Museum “refused to listen” to his
    warnings for two years.

    Had it not been for Dr Gradel’s refusal to
    take no for an answer, resulting in him directly contacting George
    Osborne, the museum’s chairman, after being “fobbed off” by its
    managers, the theft of more than 1,500 objects might still have remained
    unknown.

    But rather than thanking him for discovering the thefts,
    Dr Fischer has gone on the attack, effectively blaming Dr Gradel for
    the two-year delay in confirming the treasures were missing.

      1. The restaurant (Browns from memory) occupies the former Police Station. The cell doors are visible in the restaurant.

        They did a great steak the last time I visited about five or more years ago.

        My Technical school woodwork master was deputy Abbey organist, Raymond Jones. I thought him better than Dudley Holroyd who occupied the Abbey organist post.

        I find the photo quite evocative.

          1. When I was a lad the block you refer to had been The Empire Hotel and was occupied by the Navy Department linked to the Defence establishment at Copenacre.

            The frontages comprise ornamental pedimental rooflines representing Cottage, Mansion and Castle. The architect was a Welshman.

    1. Just make everything illegal and then you can fine peasants all day long. The Sheriff of Nottingham would be proud.

  67. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12436697/UK-Covid-cases-nearly-DOUBLE-month-amid-rise-two-mutant-variants-official-figures-suggest-BA-2-86-continues-sweep-globe.html

    Some 875 cases were logged in the country on August 11, according to the most recent Government statistics available, up from just 449 one month earlier.

    ie: we’ve moved from 0.0006% of the population to .001% of the population in a month.
    I’ll bet more people will have been diagnosed with sexually transmitted diseases.

    1. “The uptick in cases coincides with the arrival of Eris” – I thought Eris had left the room…..

      1. Quite.
        Assuming one uses a Ferguscrap approach of doubling every month it will take a year to get beyond 3% of the population (I may have done something silly with decimal points, but I don’t think so) The “experts” will argue that spreads will be exponential, but I suspect they’ve scared the shit out of the sheep to the extent the sheep will stay at home..

        1. Do we rush out and cremate a load of farm animals or bang all the elderly up behind glass?
          I wonder the teachers haven’t interrupted their holidays to go on strike.

    3. Or, as it used to be known “there’s something going about”.
      But that isn’t frightening enough.

    1. They are superb.
      Does your Beloved go to the various Quilting Shows or the Knitting and Stitching Show?

      1. She went to Malvern this year but came away disappointed as the exhibition was not as good as previous years

        1. Our elder son’s mother in law is a quilter, teaches quilting and goes off to the US occasionally on lecturing tours. The legend on the back window of her car reads ‘quilters are piece-makers’ (you probably know this already). Quilting is a complete mystery to me, but crochet is a different matter – I love the texture and variety of stitches that crochet can produce simply by having one stitch on a crochet hook. MiL lives in the Malvern area.

          1. One has to have a lot of patience. For example the double sided, quilted, hooded, full length, multi-coloured dressing gown was made for a 6 year old and made entirely of 0ne inch squares of fabric..

  69. Jack the wanquer Kessler, of the evening Standard:

    And finally, Asian hornets have been confirmed in London for the first time. And I for one welcome our new insect overlords et cetera and so on…

    Typical Lefty, bloody welcome all the immigrants and to Hell with the consequences.
    Unless he was being ironic, which I very much doubt.

    1. “Barack Obama and Joe Biden share the same big government elitist mindset, with a sneering disregard for the plight of ordinary Americans. They are two of the most arrogant and out-of-touch world leaders of the modern era. Their shameful joint legacy has been a testament to failure, despair and American ruin.”

      2. I always thought it very strange that Obama never mentioned his white English mother. I wonder if it might have something to do with the reason he doesn’t get on with women.

  72. Time for the UK government to do a Wilko?

    “A UN judge says the UK is likely to owe more than £18tn in reparations for its historic role in transatlantic slavery.
    A report co-authored by the judge, Patrick Robinson, says the UK should pay $24tn (£18.8tn) for its slavery involvement in 14 countries.
    But Mr Robinson said the sum was an “underestimation” of the damage caused by the slave trade.
    He said he was amazed some countries responsible for slavery think they can “bury their heads in the sand”.
    “Once a state has committed a wrongful act, it’s obliged to pay reparations,” said Mr Robinson, who presided over the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president.
    Mr Robinson spoke to the BBC ahead of his keynote speech at an event to mark Unesco’s Day for Remembering the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Abolition at London’s City Hall on Wednesday.”

    2. Are the Nigerians and others going to pay reparations to the British Navy for stopping the trade?

    3. Since we paid millions to stop it, and saw hundreds of naval personnel die while stopping it, I think we’ve already paid more than enough – so the cretin Robinson can feck off !

      1. We’ve only just finished paying off the last slavery bill (1833-2014). This is never going to end. And I have never owned a slave.

    6. So how much do the African tribes who sold the slaves not only to the Atlantic Trade, but also the North African and Arab Trades owe?

      1. They don’t owe anything to anyone Bob.
        Every part of their history is every one else’s fault. How do we know?
        Because they never stop moaning about it.
        Is anyone going to Brixton on Monday ? 🤔😉

  73. I am away from all gloom. To me gloom is storing up anecdotes to tell MH and then remembering that he’s gone. A patient gave me copy the DT
    and my first thought was to keep it for MH so he could do the crosswords….
    Had to call the call the care line again and after much sensible advice from the paras, I am doing better right now.
    So taking my gloom and me to bed.
    Stop worrying about this idiot world and rest.

    6. It’s a bugger, isn’t it?
      My sister died over a decade ago and I still have similar thoughts.

    7. Hopefully your son can get over soon and he will want to try the crossword.
      I doubt that you will ever get over the loss, it might fade a bit and memories become fonder but you won’t forget.

      I still find myself talking to and watching out for my cat. She has been gone for fifteen years.

          1. I don’t suffer them at all. Discarded as mentally ill. Am I too harsh or are they too stupid?

      1. I was in Suffolk for a funeral, Bob. The hotels by Brandon Station had no vacancies, but I found a very nice modern one-bed apartment on Booking.com. No Wi-Fi, but I could just about manage slow mobile data on the phone. So, having caught up with an old choir from at least 25 years ago (it was their Director of Music’s wife – also a choir member – who had died), I joined in with the singing, and turned the pages for Widor’s Toccata at the end. John the organist was note perfect. Shame that by the end of the piece. everyone had gone with the coffin to the churchyard.

        Repaired to the Ram Inn (just across the road from the apartment) for a pint or three with John, who owns one of the last two remaining companies, producing digital control systems for pipe organs. Clever bloke, and a bloody good organist. Long conversation about techy stuff, organs, choirs and the like, and i got back to the flat around 11.30.

        I seemed to have a faster mobile data connection on the phone than in daylight, so I waited for the new Letters page to appear, and the rest is history. It also meant I could have a lie-in, since my train home wasn’t due to leave till 1008 hrs. Full English Breakfast in a cafe in the High St – the emphasis being on the word ‘Full’. I haven’t felt the need to eat, since then…

        1. Apart from it being for a funeral, sounds like a good trip.
          Full English breakfasts were the cause of me piling the weight on a few years back.

          1. Quite so, Bob. But compared to porage and toast, it was arguably “Low-Carb.” I didn’t quite finish it, as the buttered toast was cold and soggy. But at 2050 hrs, I’m still not hungry.

            OK – the funeral was sad, but also a celebration of a life well lived. Lesley was a force of nature – the small village church was packed. We gave her a good send-off.

            Sad, obviously, but also great to see folks that I haven’t seen for at least 25 years. Some hadn’t changed at all. Others were unrecognisable. Odd, that…

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