Monday 16 October: Hamas knew how Israel would respond, yet its leaders still chose to act

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

395 thoughts on “Monday 16 October: Hamas knew how Israel would respond, yet its leaders still chose to act”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolk, today’s story, Sorry if I’ve been remiss recently.

    A Story With A Moral
    A horse and a chicken were playing in a meadow. The horse fell into a mud hole and was sinking. He called to the chicken to go and get the farmer to help pull him out.

    The chicken ran to the farm but the farmer couldn’t be found. So, the chicken drove the farmer’s Mercedes back to the mud hole and tied some rope around the bumper. He threw the other end of the rope to the horse and drove the car forward and saved the horse from sinking!

    A few days later, the chicken and the horse were playing in the meadow again and the chicken fell into the mud hole. The chicken yelled to the horse to go and get some help from the farmer.

    The horse said, “I think I can stand over the hole!”

    So, he stretched over the width of the hole and said, “Grab my penis and pull yourself up.”
    The chicken did and pulled himself to safety.

    The moral of the story: If you are hung like a horse, you don’t need a Mercedes to pick up chicks.

        1. I was worried as we hadn’t heard from you for a few days. Richard has deserted us again and he usually lets us know if you are in hospital. Was it just that you couldn’t find your phone?

    3. For coarse Nottlers – not delicately nurtured ladies

      The donkey is a steady bloke
      Who very rarely has a poke
      But when he does he lets it soak

      and

      All the lady apes ran from King Kong
      For his dong was unspeakably long
      But a friendly giraffe
      Quaffed his yard and a half
      And ecstatically burst into song

      There was a willy competition and it looked as if a chap with 10½ inches was going to win. But then the Duke of Edinburg turned up and when he displayed his entry they all started singing the National Anthem.

    4. I sent this to a friend of mine with whom I shared a study when we were at school.

      His response was:

      I need the Merc!

  4. Good morning all.
    Another chilly morning with a clear pre-sunrise sky and -1°C on the Yard Thermometer.
    Right foot is still painful but not as bad as yesterday.

    1. Just chill – and I’m not talking about the parky weather.
      Put your feet up and drink gallons of tea.

      1. Already on my 3rd pint!
        It’s gone misty outside so I’m expecting a glorious day when that burns off.

  5. Hamas knew how Israel would respond, yet its leaders still chose to act

    And they also knew how the rest of the world would react, or at least those countries with a big imported Islamic population

    1. Deliberate provocations. If some poor Palestinians are killed or maimed, so much the better propaganda effect.

      1. They are terrible excuses for human beings.
        The islamic brain worm carrying out its duties. Hate.

  6. Civilisational conflict defines our age. It mustn’t play out on our streets. 16 October 2023.

    In the words of Kenan Malik, we have, since The Satanic Verses, “internalised the fatwa”. Fear of violence means our freedom of speech is only notional, and many will no longer speak the truth. Yet as we saw this weekend, the freedom to spout hatred is unchecked by authorities afraid to stand up to the mob.

    But something else is at play. The arrogance of liberal ideology, which believes the world is waiting to throw off its superstitious attachment to faith and culture and become secular just like us, means we are blinded to danger. This is how borders can remain open, severe threats can be ignored, and hatreds openly expressed.

    Britain has done as good a job as any other country in managing its newly multiracial society, and there is much in which we can take pride. But we must be alive to the domestic dangers of civilisational conflict.

    That conflict is already here. Mr Timothy describes it in the quote above. We have imported it courtesy of the Political Elites who are still in denial of its reality. They think by ignoring it, and their responsibility for it, it will go away. I can’t remember who said, “You can ignore reality but not its consequences” but it wasn’t far amiss. At the moment the elites indulge in displacement activity. Net zero, Global warming, new exams, ban vaping etc. but the terrible reality of their betrayal is becoming manifest. They haven’t done a “good job”, they have simply covered it over.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/15/civilisational-conflict-defines-our-age/

    2. We wuz warned!

      A chap who was given the name of a biblical prophet, the son of Jared and father of Methuselah, said:

      “We must be mad, literally mad, as a nation to be permitting the annual inflow of some 50,000 dependents, who are for the most part the material of the future growth of the immigrant-descended population. It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre.”

      The tinder is dry and the pyre is ready to be lit.

      1. It’s not the foaming Tiber we should fear but the Thames, the Severn, the Humber, the Mersey, the Tyne, the Clyde and the Forth.

        1. I don’t think Shakespeare was thinking that global warming had raised water levels to such an extent that both Rome and Egypt were flooded and melted into their respective rivers!

          “Let Rome in Tiber melt and the wide arch
          Of the ranged empire fall. Here is my space.
          Kingdoms are clay; our dungy earth alike
          Feeds beast as man.”
          [Antony in Act I Antony and Cleopatra]

          Melt Egypt into Nile! and kindly creatures
          Turn all to serpents!
          [Cleopatra in Act II Antony and Cleopatra

  7. Good Moaning.
    Beautiful sky emerging over the roof tops.

    However, down on the ground, The Ministry of Truth is alive and well and spouting from New Scotland Yard.
    They no longer bother to hide the lies.

    Nick Timothy in the DT:

    “Yet New Scotland Yard felt it necessary to say the protest “went without issue, and thousands were able to express themselves”.

  8. Braverman tells glorifiers of terrorism: ‘The police are coming for you’. 16 October 2023.

    Suella Braverman has warned protesters who “mock the murder of Jewish people” that “the police are coming for you”.

    The Home Secretary tweeted her support for the police’s handling of the pro-Palestine protests in London and in cities across Britain on Saturday, which led to clashes and at least 15 arrests.

    Some 30,000 people attended a march through central London, where chants included “from the river, to the sea, Palestine must be free”.

    I think that these people have figured out the worth of politicians threats!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/15/police-must-use-full-force-of-law-to-combat-anti-semitism0/

    3. Why were they no arrested directly yesterday? Oh, it’s because there was a mob there and plod didn’t want – understandably – the hassle of getting beaten up by thousands of bleating slammers.

      The Left forced these scum on us. It’s time they were deported. Every last one in that crowd. If ooman rights lawyers complain, send them away too.

      1. I haven’t Phizz but its very persistent, I think that I will have to get my computer man in!

      2. I haven’t Phizz but its very persistent, I think that I will have to get my computer man in!

    3. Do you have or have you ever had McAfee anti-virus on your PC?

      The lack of the indefinite article in the message suggest to me that the originator is not a native English speaker so I’d view it with suspicion. I’d temporarily shut down my computer to break the hack.

      Oh. I should have read below first.

      1. Russian has no word for the indefinite article, and the lack of one often points to a Russian speaker.

        The little linguistic blind spots are very useful in spotting the bogus. Even within the English language, there are two vowel sounds in British English that are simply not heard or distinguished in America. I have often heard American actors, claiming an impeccable British accent, falling over with this one.

    4. If it comes by email, check the senders address. I’m getting 10-20 that are apparently from legit senders, but the email address gives it away. Web protection and antivirus currently on full strength.

    5. Is it in the web page? If so, look at the details by right clicking and choosing ‘inspect’. That’ll tell you the scree of things making up the warning. If not sure what you’re looking at , ping it below.

  13. Who is this chap that they can’t keep off the DT’s Letters Page?

    SIR – Jimmy Page – prolific session-player and virtuoso guitarist with Led Zeppelin – is on record stating that the best guitar solo he ever heard (Letters, October 14) is by Elliott Randall on Steely Dan’s Reelin’ in the Years.

    Alan G Barstow
    Onslunda, Skåne County, Sweden

    Well done, yet again, Grizzly

    1. Hey, Beatnik, when you read this. Well, you wouldn’t even know a diamond if you held it in your hand-the things you think are precious I can’t understand, Dude.

      1. Hey, Dean. I’ve spent a lot of (other Dudes’) money and I’ve spent a lot of time. The trip we made to Hollywood (under the bogie of a caboose) is etched upon my mind, Hombre!

        1. Hey Beatnik, you’re a right regular Midnite Cruiser, with your old friend Felonius and no time is better than now, Amigo. Do it again, Dude.

    2. Good morning Richard

      I haven’t a clue about riffs and solos etc , but the chap who wrote this letter does have a point .

      SIR – I believe that Tony Peluso’s guitar solo on the Carpenters’ song Goodbye to Love is one of the greatest ever. Sadly, the band’s “clean cut” image has resulted in its music being taken less seriously than it should.

      Jonathan Mann
      Gunnislake, Cornwall

      That beautiful Carpenters’ song and the guitar solo still give me goose bumps when ever I hear the music , which thankfully is rarely .

    3. The personal effect of any particular guitar solo is hard to describe.
      Jimmy page is/was a great player most soloist are. Hank Marvin was pretty good in his day. As was Eddie Van Halen, etc etc.
      Tommy Emanuel is pretty brilliant.
      I saw him live and he made me feel I should have a bonfire.

  14. 377714+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Monday 16 October: Hamas knew how Israel would respond, yet its leaders still chose to act

    Devil’s advocate,
    Truth in events play a big part as in, did Israel create Hamas,
    triggered it, then responded with the action we have
    witnessed in a “the end WILL justify the means” manner.

    There are powerful forces at work above the controlling
    political hierarchy of the IDF / Hamas imho, and the London march proves we in England are in all intents / purposes / ignorance sitting astride a self constructed time bomb.

    1. Hamas rose to prominence at the same time the IDF bombed out Arafat’s organisation just at the point of a breakthrough in peace tantamount to the Good Friday Agreement. It makes me wonder if this was intentional.

      Note that any suggestion of this by disinterested third parties is met by ad hominem rather than denial.

  15. Good morning Nottlers, a grey, cool day which, unlike yesterday’s splash around the golf course, looks to be as dry as the forecast. Just heading out for an hour of walking football followed by some time in the gym. Should be fun.

  16. Good morning all,

    Frosty here at the McPhee’s in NW Hants but a little murky, wind in the Nor’-West, 1℃ with 10℃ forecast today.

    Following the letters on Saturday about pointless prefixes there are two more today highlighting rxampoles which may or may not offend one’s sensibilities.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bf33539d23df7db1bb851aa8ccf6c14484fe5d896b8e73eccffa85708ae5a1de.png

    Typing purely personally, the one that makes me reach for my shotgun is “pro-active”. What on earth does “pro” add to the meaning of “active”? It’s all part of irritating management-speak which has given us so many linguistic barbarisms. It’s word-crime, I tell you.

    2. I’ve always regarded the pro-active one as meaning acting in favour of something although I can’t think of an antonym offhand.

      1. Doesn’t pro active mean getting in to people’s face and shouting/chanting all kinds of BS.

    3. I think it was coined as a counter to “reactive” in that to be “pro-active” is to look for and countering potential problems before they become real problems.

  17. Four rugby teams remain in the World Cup. In the preliminary rounds New Zealand were beaten by France, South Africa were beaten by IreIand and Argentina were beaten by England.

    The only unbeaten side is England – one of the weakest of the Six Nations sides.

    The draw may have produced some excellent matches – but it has failed to produce the four best teams into the semi-finals.

    1. And probably one of the least entertaining teams in the whole competition.

      Thank goodness they didn’t have Youngs, it would have been even duller.

      1. To be fair, Youngs played well when he came on as a sub in one of the pool matches.

    2. Yes. As I commented last night, neither France nor Ireland deserve to be out of the cup at this stage. They won’t even be in the contest for third place – a travesty. Three of the five best teams in the World are out. One of them, Scotland, didn’t make it put of the pool stage. Are world-rankings pointless?

      1. They are when they relate to the teams’ positions four years ago.
        It would have been much better had the seedings been set at the most recent finish of the domestic seasons.

  18. Probably be offline for a while everyone (No sighs of relief there) while I get this McAfee problem sorted.

      1. John McAfee found dead in his Spanish prison cell prior to being extradited to the USA.

        Seems to be catching.

  19. Morning all 🙂😊
    Sun peeping through hopefully, and frost on the roofs.
    And of course Hamas knew what would happen after the attack on Israel. That’s why they did it. But who is funding Hamas?
    That’s problem the world is confronted with.

    They obviously have absolutely no regard for human life.
    When we have a disclosure perhaps all the horrid idiots out there, might start behaving them selves in adding restrictions on who they hold responsible. But one can only hope, as hundreds of years of hate surface
    more often than is necessary. Often stirred by people who actually believe without any known or obvious respect for others, but only and soley in a type of medieval based religion.

  20. Good morning all.

    Another very chilly night endured , we know because Pip spaniel burrowed under the duvet , down by my feet .. and avoided Moh who sleeps with his foot protruding out of the cover .

    Grey sky , no bird activity on the bird tables and now 6c outside.

          1. I feel much better now on on the correct Meds. More tests and an ultrasound coming up just to be sure.

    2. I actually saw something almost identical to that happen a long time ago.
      A cattle dog that was being used to flush out wild pigs, chased a big red into a large pond. But was saved by his owner Bill Dykers.

        1. I moved on quickly after posting a couple of times earlier.
          My mobile seems to have developed a mind of its own.
          It quite often seems to change or alter words.
          I tried to edit my first comment and I wasn’t able to change anything. The screen froze. It drives me nuts. After half a dozen attempts I had to give up, things do.
          I’ve mentioned before I use to go shooting on three sheep Stations in Northern NSW owned by the same family. The stations adjacent to Narran lake
          were Called Black Box, Lexington and Kiora.

          We rode dirt motor bikes across the rough terrain and carried rifles. The dogs flushed out the non indigenous and destructive wild pigs. We shot them the pigs.
          They were very similar towild boar. During the lambing season the pigs killed and ate the new born lambs.

  22. Good morning all. First frost of Autumn this morning.

    I’ve spent this morning listening to Dr Greer, a retired medical doctor, being interviewed on Redacted. I’ve seen Dr Greer a few times in documentary programmes where he discusses his Disclosure Project. On the surface this project is based on finding the truth about UFOs, now rebranded as UAPs – Unidentified Aerial Phenomena – but this interview with Clayton Morris goes much deeper and chimes with what we are seeing today in politics, Big Pharma, the Military Industrial Complex, people trafficking etc. and a mention of the assassination of JFK.

    I then came across the tweet showing JFK talking about freedom, secrecy etc. If Dr Greer is correct then JFK touched on the very subjects the people controlling this complex didn’t want exposed.

    The ‘Mob’ have been implicated in JFK’s demise and although Dr Greer doesn’t mention them, the ‘Mob’ are as nothing to the people running the complex that Dr Greer is trying to expose. Using the ‘Mob’ as the culprits for JFK’s assassination is probably as good as it gets for hiding the real culprits behind that event.

    President Eisenhower, in his final speech warned of the Military Industrial Complex, perhaps he knew or guessed that something was wrong, very wrong.

    Dr Greer has researched this subject for decades and he has a lot of interesting information to release to the people.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPduNhp7PfE

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg-jvHynP9Y

    https://twitter.com/govt_corrupt/status/1713684379963162985

    1. It could have been the Mob. The Kennedy’s were bootleggers. How do you think they got the presidency in the first place.. That’s not to say that the CIA didn’t pay for the hit. Cost of doing business.

    1. It’s cold today. Even I’m noticing it. Folk are not especially happy as to shower – thee traditional warming up process – involves driving to the gym which adds 40 minutes to the day simply because of traffic first thing. The Warqueen has been gone since 8 with a significant huff.

      Logically she knows we’re sorting the bathroom but irrationally it’s difficult. The house is also ‘clammy’. once Junior has gone. Even Mongo’s curled up rather than sprawled out.

      2. Dehumidifier? It’s not a heater but once it has been on for a while the air starts coming out a little warmer.

      3. I am supplementing my oil heating with a large log fire (I had to have a fallen tree cut up when I returned from my summer holiday). At least the temperature inside is bearable now. The oil can’t hack it once the external temperature drops below double figures, but I don’t really want to have to light the Rayburn this early in the year.

      1. Someone did a great video on the particulate filter issue in modern diesels. It all comes down to the same problem: the more big government forces legislation and regulation the more problems it creates. The fundamental problem is big government doesn’t give a stuff. he regulation it imposes comes straight from the EU. It’s all the climate change nonsense which is designed to force cars off the road.

        The sooner the fools admit that, the better.

    2. Lovely. But stay away from multi-storey car parks, OK? Especially at Luton Airport. I had an elderly Discovery, and even that was a secret arsonist: the one time I had a front seat passenger and turned on the heated seats, they burned a hole in *her skirt…

      *Dianne The Ex bought a Seat Ateca on a PCP in 2019. Lovely car; all the bells and whistles one could ever desire. She subsequently moved to a “zero carbon eco home” in Devon. She has several solar PV panels, and a Tesla Powerwall in the garage. When used car values went through the roof, SMC Seat in Woking suggested she might like to end the contract early, since hers was worth much more than anticipated. Her house has cabling for a charging point. She has anxiety issues anyway, and “range anxiety” would be an unwelcome addition. But we looked at her driving habits, and worked out that 90-odd% of her journeys were in range of a typical PHEV. She test drove a few, and liked them.

      So, she could run a car mostly on sunlight. What’s not to like? Just the fact that a PHEV car typically costs £8k more than the fossil fuel driven equiavelent. She would never recoup this cost. So EVs and PHEVs are basically aimed at virtue signallers. She’s decided to keep the ATeca, and has financed the balloon payment…

  27. ‘Morning All

    Time for a Medley of Laffs

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/27a00d877cbb5102801393790df87d72a747b4436f24ad38c1256d108c72d9c2.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9ed9e3dbf15b73349c6d20558622ecc85333dc27460683e4e182d47777d33369.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/58665f2699aa19bd5f59989088f0b0da0ddfd52f3540d227a61f79bd750f523c.jpg

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/48fbff6891720d385f3d9ed0a1c90bdafc2ef9a10caa7a671995c36fa71cda82.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5796ed7d1da2922b17fc25d4ecdc92a916852d22f1f13b6861653f707cb67beb.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a666d319a9bc63f49361cf86d43c873e41921785f3fc2537682f2ddde49147c7.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d8d02c7ea0a25f6e2f40f28b5b5236317d7ab44de8d968a22dcd3b9991332d7e.jpg

      1. He will pander to the EU after all he was the President of the European Council for about 5 years.

  30. A great take down of economists, and economics, but I can’t help thinking one could substitute other experts and their subjects, for example climate scientists and climate science or virologists and pandemics etc.
    blockquote>Watching a documentary about Scientology, Romer saw clear parallels between the groupthink of Church members and the groupthink of economists, leading him to conclude that the profession had today become little more than a cult masquerading as a pseudoscience.

    Macroeconomic Operating Thetans within the sect hierarchy had begun to engage in a sort of mathematical conspiracy against outsiders by developing incredibly complex statistical models that purported to explain the workings of the global economy with a kind of extreme precision unavailable to God Himself. Nonetheless, the models in question were undeniably beautiful, mathematically speaking, hence the popular geek-joke “Economists do it with super-models” (before then systematically screwing the rest of us, a cynic might subsequently add).

    https://www.takimag.com/article/bidenomics-vs-maganomics-two-tastes-of-the-same-old-shit/

  31. Here is the promised copy of something I posted on The Spectator just now.

    “I had my response to yours removed.

    I expressed by concern about guilt-by-association, giving several examples implicating movements favoured by the woke and levelled at the British.
    I then explained the importance of the Peace during the Christian liturgy.
    Clearly, this is not acceptable to the online censors.
    I will repost my comment elsewhere.”
    ————
    Here is the exchange:

    “Smeg Kettle 2 hours ago

    The bigger question is, or should be: when are we going to talk about the 0000s of anti-semitic imports in the UK, supporting terror & harbouring violent intent to the kafir? I mean, whenever anyone has tried in the past, as many have, going back decades, because it’s visible from space, a chorus of “racist & islamophobia” has resulted.

    Now that they’ve finally revealed themselves to all, what is going to be done? 
I don’t want to share my space with these adherents to doom. Maybe we can send them all to Tony B Liar.
    One other thing. It will be interesting to see how Starmer & the rest of the Labour shambles wriggle & squirm in the coming months, as they attempt to keep these violent mobs onside for their votes.

    jeremy Morfey Smeg Kettle an hour ago Removed

    I am very worried by Guilt-by-association. It could be simply living in the same city as a set of villains, or sharing their religion, or not sharing their religion, or expressing sympathy online with some of their feelings but not others, or being part of a nation whose politicians expressed such sympathy, or even having ancestors who may have been on the wrong side of history.

    There are all sorts of justifications to start the slaughter, and I am sure a fair few could be levelled at the indigenous British by foreign settlers with a grudge.

    I left my village CofE church and became a Catholic after the Parochial Church Committee announced they were abolishing the ‘Peace’ – the gesture conducted during Holy Communion whereby one shakes hands unconditionally with one’s co-celebrants. This was regarded as somewhat embarrassing, and could even descend into orgy in some charismatic congregations. I felt than, and still do, that nobody is fit to receive the Eucharist until making the Peace, as unconditionally as God loves us, and directed especially towards those to whom we feel some emnity or distaste. Normal hostilities may resume when the Mass is ended, but for one brief sacred moment, the cycle can be broken.”

    1. Personally, Jeremy, the Peace is my least favourite part of the Eucharist. I’d happily do without it. Now it’s degenerated into a “wave” post covid it seems even more irrelevant.

  34. Yeugh

    Hotels and homeowners are calling in specially trained dogs to sniff out bedbugs that can lurk in cracks and crevices in bedrooms amid concerns that infestations are on the rise in the UK.

    The spread of bedbugs declined during the Covid crisis as hotels closed and travel ground to a halt but, since the world reopened, dormant populations have begun to bounce back, if not yet to the level reached before the pandemic.

    While the rise has prompted a wave of revulsion – and occasionally trauma for those affected – it has proved a mini-boom for specialist UK firms that deploy trained sniffer dogs to detect the infestations everywhere from private homes to five-star hotels.

    Sniffer dogs deployed to seek out bedbugs in UK hotels and homes
    Firms with specially trained dogs that can detect infestations are increasingly in demand

    Ian Sample Science editor
    @iansample
    Mon 16 Oct 2023 06.00 BST
    Hotels and homeowners are calling in specially trained dogs to sniff out bedbugs that can lurk in cracks and crevices in bedrooms amid concerns that infestations are on the rise in the UK.

    The spread of bedbugs declined during the Covid crisis as hotels closed and travel ground to a halt but, since the world reopened, dormant populations have begun to bounce back, if not yet to the level reached before the pandemic.

    While the rise has prompted a wave of revulsion – and occasionally trauma for those affected – it has proved a mini-boom for specialist UK firms that deploy trained sniffer dogs to detect the infestations everywhere from private homes to five-star hotels.

    Gary Jakeman, the chief executive of K9 Detection Services in Solihull in the West Midlands, has two trained springer spaniels, Milo and Kobie, whose services are increasingly sought after by hotel owners and individuals who suspect the bugs have gained a foothold on their premises.

    Never mind the French connection. Bedbugs were already on the rise in Britain, and we must live with them
    James Logan
    Read more
    “We’re getting more and more interest. We’ve probably had a 25% increase in callouts since June,” said Jakeman. “These dogs are spot on. There’s very little that can get past a well-trained nose.”

    It can take a year to 18 months to train a new dog to sniff out bedbugs. The process mirrors the approach used in training dogs to smell drugs, explosives and stashes of money. In the case of bedbugs, the dogs detect a pheromone the insects emit to help them group together.

    “In very high concentrations, you can smell it yourself,” said Dr Richard Naylor, the director of the Bed Bug Foundation, which provides information on the insects and works with canine training schools to certify dogs for bedbug detection. “They produce a very pungent, recognisable smell.”

    The insects rarely stray more than a metre from where they feed and so are often found near the head of the bed, but it can take hours to find them armed with only a torch and good eyesight. Trained dogs can find them, or rule them out, within minutes, Jakeman says.

    The most common sign of bedbugs are bites which, in people who react to them, can swell and become itchy. But specks of bedbug poo or blood on the sheets are other signs of an infestation. The insects themselves might not be found without taking a bed apart and inspecting all the joints and recesses. “We’ve found them in TV remote controls and plug sockets before,” said Jakeman.

    Though physically harmless, an infestation can be traumatic. “The mental health implications can be devastating,” said Naylor.

    “It isolates people. They feel shame because people falsely associate them with poor living conditions. People don’t go and see their friends, and they don’t want friends to come to them. People become sleep deprived because they sleep with the lights on. It can have a lasting effect: people can feel things crawling on their skin long after the bugs have gone.”

    Brian Leith, who runs BDL Canine Services in South Lanarkshire, works with Benji, a springer-cocker spaniel mix. If a hotel receives a complaint about bedbugs, the pair will check the room in question and half a dozen nearby. “It’s nothing to do with dirty houses at all,” he said. “I’ve been in five-star hotels that have got them.”

    A Victoria line tube train
    Bedbugs ‘a real source of concern’ on London transport, says Sadiq Khan
    Read more
    While records point to a real rise in bedbugs, caused by travel, a growing resistance to insecticides and people buying secondhand furniture, the sharper rise in complaints may be fuelled by the media’s fascination with the bugs and an overreaction to sightings in France.

    “People see the press and panic,” said Leith, who did two inspections on Saturday which found no evidence of bedbugs. “I’m not going to complain. It’s good for business.”

    Naylor suspects cases will have returned to pre-pandemic levels within a couple of years, but another wave of worried callouts may be on the horizon, according to Jakeman.

    “A lot of the time when we are called out there are no bedbugs there,” he said. “There is definitely a rise, but it’s intensified because of the fear people have. I think it’ll go berserk when the Rugby World Cup finishes and people return from France.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/16/sniffer-dogs-deployed-to-seek-out-bedbugs-in-uk-hotels-and-homes

  35. I’m not a great fan of his work, but I fail to see why he has been sacked by the Guardian for this cartoon.
    It is certainly no worse than many of his others.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12633731/Guardian-sacks-cartoonist-Steve-Bell-anti-Semitic-Benjamin-Netanyahu-cartoon.html

    I didn’t recognise the attribution to the Vietnam war but my interpretation was that Netanyahu’s caricature was not antisemitic at all and that he was doing with the scalpel was what is necessary to cut out the cancer that is Hamas’s Gaza.

      1. Perhaps.
        I never thought I would ever defend this cartoonist, there are very few I dislike more.

      1. Indeed, and given some of the cartoons of his that the Guardian has published over the years it is the height of hypocrisy on their part.

      1. I don’t object to derivative cartoons, and in this context he was spot on and used the original well as well as acknowledging his source of inspiration.

        As I said earlier, I’m not a fan, but it was a reasonable cartoon.

        As others have noted; perhaps it was the excuse his employers were seeking?

  36. Tweets by BBC Arabic journalists have been deleted amid concerns that they appeared to justify the killing of Israeli citizens by Hamas.

    The broadcaster is “urgently investigating” the messages in which BBC News Arabic reporters appeared to support the attack by the militant group in which about 1,300 people were killed.

    One journalist tweeted that “Israel’s prestige is crying in the corner” as another seemed to make fun of a grandmother’s abduction by Hamas, according to a report by The Telegraph based on an investigation by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Camera).

    BBC journalists have a “particular responsibility” to ensure that they uphold its due impartiality requirements on social media.

    However the investigation found multiple messages of concern being posted, shared and liked on Twitter/X.

    He also joked about a woman whose grandmother who had been kidnapped receiving her “inheritance”.

    Aya Hossam, a freelance journalist who has previously worked for BBC News Arabic, liked a tweet that also cast doubt on the civilian status of Israelis.

    “Every member of the Zionist entity served in the army at some point in his life, whether men or women, and they all had victims of explicit violations,” the message said. “This term ‘civilians’ applies to the animals and pets that live there.”

    Sally Nabil, a BBC Arabic correspondent based in Egypt and the Middle East, liked tweets that were supportive of “the Palestinian resistance taking an initiative and surprises the Israeli occupier with an operation of quality”. She also liked a tweet that described Israel as “an occupation state”.

    Sanaa Khoury, a religious affairs correspondent for BBC Arabic based in Lebanon, wrote: “Israel’s prestige is crying in the corner” and shared links about celebratory sweets being shared out.

    One former BBC World Service staff member said that it was “imperative” that the BBC took action. “I expect the BBC to hold an immediate investigation of all social media activity and actions of employees, those here and elsewhere and for it to report quickly,” they said. “The director-general Tim Davie has repeatedly warned he is making impartiality a priority. This is now on him to show he means it.”

    A Camera spokesman speaking to The Telegraph claimed that there were frequent lapses in the BBC’s editorial standards in its Arabic-language reporting.

    “These revelations about BBC Arabic employees go hand in hand with the outlet’s ongoing conduct during the war,” he said. “The BBC has repeatedly whitewashed the practice of targeting Jewish civilians in Israel even before the current escalation.”

    A BBC World Service spokeswoman said: “We are urgently investigating this matter. We take allegations of breaches of our editorial and social media guidelines with the utmost seriousness, and if and when we find breaches we will act, including taking disciplinary action.”

    The journalists involved have been taken off air pending the results of the investigation.

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc-journalists-in-middle-east-appear-to-justify-hamas-attacks-on-civilians-cxzgbbx8l

    1. We take allegations of breaches of our editorial and social media guidelines with the utmost seriousness, and if and when we find breaches we will act, including . . . sending the reporter for further training on how to hide their anti-Semitism and extreme left-wing politics.

      1. p.s. we said that while keeping straight faces and crossing our fingers behind our backs.
        You have to be multi skilled to be a beeboid.

  37. Message for Sir Jasper / the phone call you got early today was me, responding to your post yesterday. I am +7 hours on the UK and picked your post up about an hour after you posted it. I called you but got voicemail.

    2. He said she was obviously asking for it. Like all the other eight year old white hussies, going round with their faces and ankle uncovered. How was I to know they weren’t prostitutes like those back home in Dangly Bash?

      1. A friend of mine was in Kyrenia, Cyprus in 1974 when the Turks invaded and she actually heard of a Turkish soldier asking his commanding officer, “Why are there so many prostitutes here”?

    3. I wonder if there is a way to help finance these guys.

      I know plod has asked them to desist. Obviously plod is embarrassed about the success of the nonce finders. Makes them look pathetic.

  39. So the RWC final will be South Africa v New Zealand. Pity that is won’t be France v Ireland – but the quarter finals produced high – and in the main – close scores. And some smashing rugby from the less well-known teams.

    2. Ireland lost to New Zealand because their vacuous and gormless loose-head prop gave away three unnecessary penalties by being too stupid to listen to the ref who constantly warned him. Had the clueless clown listened, Ireland would have won.

      France lost to South Africa because their slow full back permitted a conversion attempt to be charged down (permitted in the laws, apparently). Had he been alert and quicker, France would have won by one point.

        1. They should cut their ‘little Richard’ off and sew it on their forehead – in case they change their mind and want to revert – then send them to Pakistan for retraining.

        2. It should have it’s testicles and penis removed with a rusty razor.
          It should then have its prostate removed with a hand trowel for good measure.

        3. Wow. I was expecting “Isla Bryson” but I got “Tiffany Scott” aka Andrew Burns.

          1. Plenty more perverts to choose from. Speaking of perverts. I’m glad to see the BBC is making programs for everyone. Let’s face it. Who in their right mind is going to enjoy Steve Coogan playing Jimmy Savile?

    3. A blonde policewoman stopped a sports car being driven by another blonde for a routine check. The blonde policewoman asked the blonde in the car for her driving licence.

      The blonde in the car rummaged through her handbag, without success, then said, “Er … what does it look like?” The blonde policewoman rolled her eyes 🙄 and replied, “Hello! It’s got your photograph on it!”

      The blonde in the sports car continued to rummage through her handbag before coming up with an open powder compact. She saw her reflection in the mirror and said, “Is this it? It’s got my picture on it.”

      The blonde policewoman took hold of the compact, looked at the mirror, then said to the blonde sports car driver, “Oh, sorry! I didn’t realise you were a policewoman too. Just mind how you go!”

      1. Disappointed to learn it was only “right wing”, not “far-right fascist extremists”.

        Memo to BBC: must try harder

        1. I should have put that under Belle’s post about the election result.

          There was also a referendum on immigration.

        2. ‘Right wing’ is BBC speak for anyone not seven or eight degrees to the left of Trotsky and Mao Zedong. It is not possible to be to the left of the BBC.

      1. Sling your hook:

        Singapore sling
        30 ml gin
        15 ml cherry liqueur
        7.5 ml Cointreau
        7.5 ml DOM Bénédictine
        120 ml fresh pineapple juice
        15 ml fresh lime juice
        10 ml Grenadine
        1 dash Angostura bitters
        Preparation: Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain into a hurricane glass.

        Whilst waiting for that to be prepared you could have drunk a couple of Pink Pongos – also available at the Raffles Hotel.

        1. I’ve only been to Singapore twice and on both occasions I couldn’t leave the airport!

          Waiting for connecting flights to and from Heathrow and Kingsford-Smith.

          1. A beautiful airport. The original was at Paya Lebar about 5 miles nearer the city centre. When I first went to Changi it still had perforated steel strips for taxiing – very primitive. Now it has been voted World’s Best Airport twelve time or more.

      2. One day i want to come here not on business. I have no energy to do anything when i am here on business. I’d live to bring hubby and (adult now!) children here; when I am not working!

        1. I have a friend (a Singaporean) who works as a doctor there. Whether I shall ever visit, I doubt, but I’d like to.

  45. In a recent interview on BBC R4 an Israeli interviewiee said that the idea of Israel’s unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip signed off by a member of his own family following the absence of peace negotiations with the Palestinians didn’t look like a very good idea:

    https://embassies.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/Maps/Pages/Israels%20Disengagement%20Plan-%202005.aspx

    The Israeli fence surrounding Gaza built along the 1967 Green Line https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-1967-border-the-quot-green-line-quot was therefore never an agreed demarcation between two warring parties and it thus may be argued that Israel never actually withdrew from Gaza.

    There was never a need for Israel to declare war on Hamas as it waa already ongoing.

  47. The same people saying that chanting for genocide against Jews is just free expression, will try to get you fired from your job for using the wrong pronoun

      1. Try an ear trumpet?
        The text explains and comments on what he was saying. I didn’t play the audio.

          1. You’re probably right! My father has been urging us “DON’T MUMBLE!” since we were teenagers.

  51. This will not come as a surprise to Nottlers…

    From the DT:

    “A drug prescribed to treat Covid caused the virus to mutate and may have helped create some of the variants circulating today, a study has found.

    The drug molnupiravir was the first antiviral treatment available in the UK which could be taken as a tablet at home. Hailed as a “historic day for our country” when it was authorised for use in November 2021, the drug has been prescribed to vulnerable groups such as cancer patients and the immunosuppressed.

    It works by inserting nonsensical code into the virus’s own genetic sequence to turn it into gibberish. This is supposed to lead to “catastrophe error” and prevent the virus from replicating, effectively killing the infection in patients, allowing them to recover quickly.

    However, a study from UK Health Security Agency and experts at Imperial College, Cambridge University, the Francis Crick Institute and Liverpool University found the virus sometimes survived with the inserted mutations from the drug, which instead fast-tracked the evolution of Covid variants.

    2. Geert Vanden Bosche was warning about vaccine-driven variants more than two years ago. The whole response to this engineered virus was just wrong right from the start.

  52. When you understand that this has been going on for decades it does not become difficult to understand why the massacre in Israel took place. Perhaps what is more surprising is that it doesn’t happen more often. By the time these children are adults their perception of Jews is thoroughly dehumanized.

    Palestinian Education Brainwashing: Why Children Are Turning Toward Terrorism

    https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/03/20/palestinian-education-brainwashing-why-children-are-turning-toward-terrorism/

  54. Patient who was declared dead wakes up in hospital

    North East Ambulance Service apologises to family as full inquiry into the incident begins

    “We are deeply sorry for the distress that this has caused them.

    “A full review of this incident is being undertaken and we are unable to comment any further at this stage.”

    Boom boom……….

  56. Thought for the day.

    If the US under Biden decides that Iran regime change is needed, I wonder where they think they will be able to invade from, if all the Muslim world is united against Israel.

    Or are they proposing to try to bomb it out of the stone age.

    1. I don’t think the US will manage to take Iran down. They’ve been trying ever since the 80s and they haven’t managed it yet?
      I may be wrong, but isn’t Iran one of the very few countries not to have a Rothschild style central bank? Pure coincidence of course.

      1. Most muslim countries are still there – culturally, at least. Pre islam they gave us the zero. Since then….. only bombs, knives, paedophilia and abuse.

        2. Only real conservatives have zero.
          Cancelled by loons of the left to try to prevent them being able to post on other blogs.

  60. Hi everyone. I’m back! After much angst and suffering. Completely lost track of everything!

    2. I looked through the removal instructions, I have had that McAffee warning pop up. Not sure I could follow that through and keep up until the end, my patience and concentration is not up to it.

      1. I couldn’t either M but my computerman gave me a tip. I use Google Chrome and I accessed Reset Settings and reset the whole thing to the beginning. Then google something and answer the questions and Hey Presto!

        1. I’ve got Google Chrome, so Reset Settings to ‘Default’?

          Then Google what, exactly, Minty?

          1. Go to Google Chrome press three dots. Press Reset Settings and then press dialog box. Then Google something and respond to the questions

  61. https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1713942266165743918

    Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people or the future they want.

    Palestinians are victims of Hamas too.

    Today I’m announcing an increase in our aid to Palestinian civilians by a third, with an additional £10 million of support.

    (Sticking plasters) but what about our own people who need help with their heating , rents , food bills , Ulez bills , NHS waiting lists , cancer diagnosis delays , treatment , hips , knees , heart , eyes , bowel, mental illness, stroke, blood diseases , kidney, transport in the countryside , lack of country doctors , dentists .

    We do enough for Muslims and others , we give money to India despite them being in the Space Race .

    Where will £10 million, an extra 3rd , come from .

    Britain is in the dwang

    What about other wealthy Arab countries , let them foot the bill.

    Get real Sunak , get real .

    1. Can we have any suggestions on how to throw away any more money we don’t have?

      Don’t bother…they are doing a fantastic job.

      1. We have yet to declare our borders open to the poor souls and hope that 4* hotels will be good enough.

    3. These people have for decades been given a steady stream of billions of dollars by the UN and EU. It does nothing to improve their standard of living. It gets spent on weapons and a luxury lifestyle abroad for their leaders. Hamas were elected and are supported by the people. They are not two separate entities.

    5. Radio 4’s PM reported on the ‘British Palestinians’ stranded in Gaza and how little help they’ve received form the UK government.

      1. Either they are British or they are Palestinian. They can’t be both. The two ideologies are mutually exclusive.

        1. If I were in a nitpicking mood, I’d say they were neither. Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese maybe. Possibly Saudi. Defo Moslem. Arab Christians tend to be more middle class and stay in Israel or move to the US like Brigitte Gabriel. Why do we get the scum?

    6. No wonder the Con Party head honcho wrote (in TCW, I think) that there will be no safe rural seats for the party. There won’t be any safe urban ones, either.!

    7. Ten million? Matching village idiot Trudeaus empty gesture to the terrorists.

      It’s not that we have the cash sitting around, it is borrowed money that is being given away..

    2. I do not imagine those plods go to church, know about the War or care about those whom the Cenotaph remembers.

  63. Iran warns of war escalating to other fronts

    James Landale, Diplomatic Correspondent

    Posted at 16:56

    Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, has warned that the possibility of the war between Israel and Hamas spreading to other fronts “is approaching (the) unavoidable stage”. In a statement posted on TwiX, he said that “time is running out for political solutions” and accused Israel of “crimes and murder in Gaza”.

    He wrote: “Conferred with my counterparts from Malaysia, Pakistan, Tunisia. Underlined the need to immediately stop Zionist crimes and murder in Gaza and to dispatch humanitarian aid. I stressed that time is running out for political solutions; probable spread of war in other fronts is approaching unavoidable stage.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67119233

    1. I stressed that time is running out for political solutions; probable spread of war in other fronts is approaching unavoidable stage.

      Yes! I think so as well!

    2. FFS it’s as though they have decided at the highest level to sacrifice the little people again.

      Now we know why they’ve been importing boatloads of young muslim men.

      1. I tried to post something last week that was emailed to me, about a ‘hotel’ keeper who had been officially inducted to take in a few hundred young males. And the government had sent several sealed cases of what turned out to be AK47S and lots of ammunition. He had been visited by a senior army officer. His voice was disguised and the comentry
        cut out. I thought it might have been a hoax but you can’t be sure of anything anymore.

  64. Iran warns of war escalating to other fronts

    James Landale, Diplomatic Correspondent

    Posted at 16:56

    Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, has warned that the possibility of the war between Israel and Hamas spreading to other fronts “is approaching (the) unavoidable stage”. In a statement posted on TwiX, he said that “time is running out for political solutions” and accused Israel of “crimes and murder in Gaza”.

    He wrote: “Conferred with my counterparts from Malaysia, Pakistan, Tunisia. Underlined the need to immediately stop Zionist crimes and murder in Gaza and to dispatch humanitarian aid. I stressed that time is running out for political solutions; probable spread of war in other fronts is approaching unavoidable stage.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67119233

    1. It’s long and thin
      Covered in skin
      Red in parts
      And stuck in tarts:

      Rhubarb of coarse (sic)

  67. I’m sorry but you are not comparing like with like you complete and utter bastards.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12635547/Ukraine-Russia-Israel-Hamas-hostages-Gaza.html

    Russia has not gone in deliberately and callously slaughtering women and children at point blank range.
    Russia has not taken children to be hostages
    Russia has not gloated about the way they tortured and killed innocent Ukrainians
    Russia has not threatened to show televised killing of hostages.

    Stop trying to equate Hamas with Russia.
    Start equating Hamas with their true role models:
    Top Ten Most Evil Dictators of All Time (in order of kill count)
    Kim Il Sung (1.6M deaths) …
    Pol Pot (1.7M deaths) …
    Ismail Enver Pasha (2.5M deaths) …
    Hideki Tojo (5M deaths) …
    Leopold II of Belgium (2-15M deaths) …
    Adolf Hitler (17M deaths)
    Jozef Stalin (23M deaths)
    Mao Zedong (49-78M deaths)

    And this list ignores the supporters of the most evil bastard of them all:
    The big Mo.

    2. “We must be mad, literally mad ………”

      (Don’t knock Enoch!)

      How many centuries did it take for the Spanish to get their invading Muslims from North Africa out of Spain?

      2. Seven? Mind I recall reading that the final decisive war took ten years. Ferdinand and Isabella spent the first three years planning, including building homes and hospitals for their troops. They also rode ahead of their troops, leading them into battle. Who’d follow our leaders into battle? Could you see Rishi on a horse?

      3. Currently, according to Wiki et al, they make up about 4.5% of the Spanish population, the same as the UK. Both are rising very quickly I’m sure.

        Sounds a falsely low figure to me.

      4. Did they actually do so?
        I’m sure there will have been many still there practising Taqiya

        1. There were the Moriscos (and the Jewish converts); various rebellions were followed by attempts to expel them between 1492 and early 18th century. But modern historians suspect that the expulsions were relatively unsuccessful; there is the case of a remote village in Ciudad Real where all the inhabitants were given their marching orders; off they went, but after a while tramping around Spain, they quietly returned and local officials were unaware, or did nothing.

  68. Evening, all. Dry and sunny (but still very cold) today. I managed to put my fuchsias away in the greenhouse, so hopefully they have been saved. I planted the remaining narcissi (Obdum and Bridal Crown) and dead-headed my potentillas, taking some cuttings (they’ve got two chances) from the Abbotswood.

    The headline letter shows that the writer is still looking at the situation from a Western (i e, mainly Christian) point of view. Hamas did it precisely BECAUSE they knew how Israel had to react. There is no point judging muslims’ reactions by Western values. Their ideology is completely incompatible.

  69. That’s me done for this cold cheerless day. Got the grass cut – before the end of the world flooding promised by the Wet Office arrives on Wednesday. And had a haircut – funny how that makes one feel a bit brighter. Not much, but a bit!

    Sorry to see so much criticism by players on losing sides of the rugby referees. To my dismay, the Fijians said that they thought there was “unconscious bias” (AKA RACISM) in the officials. I fear that the days are gone when one had a beer with the ref after the match and offered him a lift to the station….(helping him carry his white stick)…

    Have a jolly evening trying to keep warm (there was a touch of air frost here this morning). Thank God for the stove.

    A demain.

    2. Racism seems to be the most prevalent excuse for anything like personal failure these days.
      They seem to be missing a very important and obvious point.
      They can always go back to where their ancestors lived. I’m sure they’d be made welcome.

      1. There would be many millions arriving from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and numerous other places if everybody returned to where their ancestors came from.

        1. if everybody returned to where their ancestors came from Africa would be at war, but eventually settle down?

          2. So I was born in 46 BB and my grand-daughter in 24 FB (or AB). But we could be just about to have the second B period; he is, after all, Starmer’s puppetter.

        3. Obviously Stig, but I think you know what I mean in these more modern day circumstances. 😉

        4. I don’t know what happened to my reply last evening.
          But I think you do actually understand what I mean. And its pretty obvious that my comment is in relation to our recent situation.

    3. The difference between rugby refs and Football refs is the latter are sponsored by Specsavers ( a brilliant piece of advertising)

  71. Steele away….to Jesus…?

    “Donald Trump’s lawyer says he wants to give evidence in the British courts as he sues over the “Steele Dossier” that alleged he bribed officials and took part in sex parties in Russia.
    The former president’s lawyers told the High Court he is seeking “vindication” for the false allegations from 2017.
    They claim the document breaches UK data protection laws.
    Mr Steele’s company, Orbis Business Intelligence, says it did not make the document public.
    Warning: This article contains graphic language.
    The case stems from 2016, when a US political consultancy asked Mr Steele’s company to produce a report into potential Russian interference in that year’s US general election.
    The project was reportedly paid for by Hillary Clinton’s Democrats and other political opponents of Mr Trump.’

  72. A member of the awkward squad and a Bone of contention being taken out?:

    “Peter Bone: Tory MP facing suspension after bullying probe”

  74. I fear for my country and my grandchildren.
    The idiots who think they are running the country do not have a clue. The damage they have done is irreparable.

      1. I don’t know if you
        Remember in 2005 the Cronulla riots just south of Sydney. Lebanese men had been harassing white girls on the beach. The life guards stepped in andit all kick off. But the Australian media didn’t mention exactly how it started. They blamed local Australian youths.
        The suggestion was the life guards had started it. Another big mistake.
        As have been so many before and after. Everywhere muslims go they deliberately cause trouble, because they know they’ll get away with it . Now after using stolen money from hijacked shipping off the coast of Somalia these vile monsters used the takings to get to Indonesia, replenished fuel etc, arrived on the coast of Western Australia have been allowed to enter.
        Others taken to off shore islands where they set building on fire.
        They are now forming Somalian gangs and stealing openly from shops.
        The western governments need to get a grip before it’s too late.
        I wonder what has happened to the POS that murdered the 10 year old girl near Woking.

        3. Ulan Baator is like any other city now (high rise and constant building the last time I was there). Even in the Gobi, the yurts have TV (powered by solar panels on the roofs).

          1. A year or two ago I took a photo of a traditional Gypsy Caravan parked on the side of the road. It had Solar panels draped over one side…Oh for the open road and the internet highway!

          2. Back in ‘94 I saw biblical style white houses in Jordan that had the flat roof and steps up the side just like the ones we were taught about in scripture class at school but these all had satellite dishes.

      4. Its not as bad as its made out when the BBC hates England it slants everything against us.

        1. It certainly isn’t the country it once was, Johnny. Even here in the sticks it’s starting to look like Africa (when it isn’t looking like the Indian subcontinent, of course).

        2. I’m judging from my own observations from when I’m over and the comments of friends and relatives.

  75. The BIG difference between real leaders and the dross we have:

    ‘This is on me’: Israeli intelligence head takes responsibility for Hamas terror attacks
    The head of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency took responsibility for the Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,400 people on 7 October.
    In his first comments since the attacks, Shin Bet director Ronen Bar said:
    Despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately, on Saturday we were unable to generate sufficient warning that would allow the attack to be thwarted.
    As the one who heads the organization, the responsibility for this is on me. There will be time for investigations. Now we fight.

    Can you really imagine any of our twats accepting responsibility?

  78. A lovely sunny day and I did a bit more bramble bashing.
    Now have a couple of builder’s buckets to burn.

    Ankle is a lot less painful and I’m ready for bed.
    G’night all.

  79. Note the implicit threat in the words from this human rodent.

    Suella Braverman rows with Muslim leaders over anti-Israel chant

    Pro-Palestine march through central London featured slogans such as ‘From the river, to the sea, Palestine must be free’

    By Charles Hymas, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR • 16 October 2023 • 6:00pm

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/61a901bdc54581d0ac42ef689070aa727abe9bbd63306cb79b0bd5be341eb250.jpg
    Pro-Palestine protestors took to the streets of central London on Saturday
    [CREDIT: Heathcliff O’Malley]
    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has claimed the “From the river to the sea” chant is not anti-Semitic as it attacked the Home Secretary for suggesting it was.

    In a series of tweets, a spokesman for the MCB defended the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” that was shouted by protesters at the weekend after Suella Braverman warned that it caused “alarm” to Jews and all “decent” people.

    Miqdaad Versi, the MCB’s spokesman, accused Mrs Braverman of “mischaracterising” the chant and “slurring” a peaceful demonstration in London following the Hamas terror attack on Israel as an “intimidating mob”. Some 30,000 people attended a march through central London, which featured chants including “From the river, to the sea, Palestine must be free”. Photographs showed some of those attending the demonstration wearing images of paragliders on their backs, in an echo of the tactics used by Hamas to infiltrate Israeli territory last weekend to massacre 1,300 people.

    The Telegraph revealed on Monday that senior MPs had criticised the police for being too slow to respond and crack down on displays by pro-Palestine protesters during the demonstration and intimidatory language, including the “From the river to the sea” chant.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8718a5a10538ca1599aae7b6a856cd0089f9ee551f72644575652df83fb9e544.jpg
    Miqdaad Versi of the MCB accused Suella Braverman of ‘mischaracterising’ the chant
    [CREDIT: S Meddle/ITV/Shutterstock]
    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    On Monday, Mrs Braverman tweeted that an “intimidating mob” marched through London chanting the “From the river to the sea” slogan, which, she said, was “widely understood as a demand for the destruction of Israel”.

    “Attempts to pretend otherwise are disingenuous,” she added. “It means the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea – the boundaries of Israel – and comes from the dark days when most Palestinian groups sought to eliminate Israel. It was dropped by mainstream organisations after Israel and the PLO made peace with the 1993 Oslo Accords.

    “The slogan was taken up by Islamists, including Hamas, and remains a staple of anti-Semitic discourse. To hear it shouted in public causes alarm not just to Jews but to all decent people. Those who promote hate on Britain’s streets should realise that our tolerance has limits.”

    However, Mr Versi tweeted: “The Home Secretary is treading on dangerous ground here. A peaceful demonstration is being slurred as “an intimidating mob” and a chant heard at the rally is being mischaracterised. This is not okay. Thread.”

    He maintained the weekend protest attended by as many as 30,000 people was “almost entirely peaceful” with “minimum” arrests. The Metropolitan Police reported 15 arrests, of which three had been charged with criminal offences and one issued with a penalty notice for disorder.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/16/suella-braverman-rows-anti-israel-chant

    1. Yes we all know what a “mostly peaceful protest” looks like and now this. Utterly disgraceful.

    2. “The Home Secretary is treading on dangerous ground here”.
      Why? Is there an IED nearby?

  80. I’ll go and rest my weary body. More carpentry tomorrow. Just following orders.
    I’m so pleased I (nearly) retired 10 years ago.
    Good night all.

    4. “She is a Rhodes Scholar with two master’s degrees from Oxford University.”
      She probably also joined in the “Rhodes must fall” demos.

      3. One must bear in mind that MA (Oxon) is the equivalent of a BA from a redbrick (or concrete) university.

        What’s the betting she was fast-tracked on account of her “protected characteristics”?

        1. Precisely. A First Degree from Oxford (and I believe Cambridge) becomes an automatic Masters but provided that the recipient stays out of jail for two years on graduation.

          As to Rhodes Scholarships these nowadays, after famous recipients including Bill Clinton,
          are about as worthless as a modern degree from Yale or Harvard. The latter represent awards to the offspring of the wealthiest donors from the political donor and corporate donor class. True these Ivy League degrees will land you a post in some corrupt lawyers office (Hunter Biden springs to mind) or a senior position in some other parasitic outfit.

          This person has obviously succeeded to her position in Ofcom through the corrupt system I have outlined with the added bonus of her skin colour.

          Welcome to the UK.

          1. I understood that one could apply to be promoted to an MA (Oxon) after six or seven years (including time as an undergraduate). One didn’t have to have a first.

      4. Rhodes Scholar and MA (Oxon) don’t mean what they used to. Ticks all the boxes and gives the right answers more like.

        1. A lot of Africans seem to be Rhodes Scholars – though how they can bring themselves to accept the benefactor’s money I don’t know……. and it’s always been the case that you can upgrade your Oxford degree after after few years to an MA.

  82. And so it continues…

    From Al beeb….

    “Two people have been shot dead in the Belgian capital Brussels on Monday evening, police have said.
    The gunman fled the scene and is still at large. Prosecutors say they are treating the shooting as terrorism.
    Belgium’s prime minister later confirmed the victims were Swedish. Brussels has increased its terror threat to the highest level.
    A video posted on social media of an Arabic-speaking man claimed he carried out the attack in the name of God.
    The man in the clip added he has killed three people. The Federal Prosecutor’s office has confirmed it has seen the video but cannot confirm he is the gunman.

    1. This is one of numerous ways in which you might be killed merely because you appear to represent a certain type. It’s not personal, but pretending to be what you are not might help. Then again, what you attempt to pretend to be might also make you vulnerable, so conducting a study into which appearance makes you most vulnerable and not pretending to look like that will improve your chances of not being murdered purely because you look as if you ought to he hated.

        1. You are too kind. I’m not at all a like-minded contributor. I do not subscribe to many of the prevailing views.

          3. I know you don’t, but you usually provide a balanced view. I missed you over the last couple of weeks. I guess sometimes you find it hard to remain balanced when there are strong views expressed which you disagree with. All views are acceptable here except personal attacks on other posters. I think you know that.

    1. What you mean it should be changed to reflect actuality… ‘Voluminous White Lovers’?

    2. What you mean it should be changed to reflect actuality… ‘Voluminous White Lovers’?

  86. BBC:
    Hartlepool: Victim named in anti-terrorism murder investigation
    A man has died and another remains in hospital after an attack that is being investigated by counter-terrorism police.

    Terrence Carney, 70, was pronounced dead at the scene after being found on Tees Street, Hartlepool, on Sunday morning. Another man had already been discovered at a house in nearby Wharton Terrace, also in Hartlepool. A man, 44, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-67120165

    Telegraph:
    Member of public killed outside migrant accommodation centre
    Man, 44, arrested as counter terror officers launch investigation

    Counter terror officers are helping police investigate after a member of the public was killed outside a migrant accommodation centre. The incident is understood to have begun inside the migrant accommodation where one person was stabbed before the suspect went outside and is accused of stabbing a second man to death. A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. He was questioned by police and remained in custody on Sunday evening.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/15/murder-counter-terror-migrant-accommodation/

    Guess what’s missing from the BBC report?

    1. This is not terrorism. An isolated attack such as this suggests an individual attack rather than a concerted attempt to cow a population. Nonetheless, it’s dreadful.

      1. Not terrorism, Stig, just an isolated incident outside “a migrant accommodation centre.“. A worry all the same.

    2. On the BBC this morning they named the suspect as Achmed Ali, (a traditional Hartlepool name).

  87. Hard days work today – dismantled an old gate, fighting rusty screws and nails aided by much swearing. Remantled it into a door for the wood store, 2 more bits of wood to fit tomorrow and it’s finished – photo will be uploaded
    In the meantime bon nuit

    1. Alec, did you really call your rusty screws and nails Silly Sausages? Shame on you – and wash your mouth out with soap. Lol.

  88. Must have missed the Wordle today. Back from a stunning music night.

    Wordle 849 3/6

    🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
    🟩🟩⬜🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Yes, I may well seep but that’s while I’m waiting for a Hexham girl to send me her knickers.

  91. Tonight’s Euro 2024 qualifying match in Brussels between Belgium and Sweden was abandoned after two Swedish fans were shot dead near the stadium. The gunman, believed to be Tunisian, was seen heading towards the ground and has yet to be captured. The Swedish team heard of the news at half-time and didn’t wish to continue. Spectators were detained for a while.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/16/brussels-shooting-latest-news-swedish-football-live-belgium
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67129117

    2. Macron “Europe has been shaken”.
      All this and probably even more has been brought on by our useless political classes. They don’t have a clue what they are doing, or what they have done, or what they are going to do about it.

      1. Yes. Inevitable.

        Effing Muslims could kick off all over Europe by invitation given the general uselessness of our political leadership, a leadership seemingly happy to have enabled this clash of cultures. A culture weighted against western values is barking at the door.

        1. Give it a couple of weeks and it’ll be back to the old tealights, flowers and teddy bears response with the sickening “We must not let anger cloud our judgement” bullshite.

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