951 thoughts on “Wednesday 8 January: HS2 solves the North-South divide and promotes local regeneration”

  1. Iran attacks two US airbases in Iraq in wake of Suleimani killing. 8 JANUARY 2020

    Iran has launched more than a dozen missiles at Iraqi bases hosting US and coalition troops, declaring the strikes to be retaliation for the killing last week of top general Qassem Suleimani.

    Morning everyone. Well it’s begun! The only thing we can be certain of is that a lot of ordinary families will be missing their Sons, Brothers and Fathers when it’s finished! There will be nothing else to show for it!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/08/suleimani-assassination-two-us-airbases-in-iraq-hit-by-missiles-in-retaliation

      1. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8fb13bf02de1894f30ab290e8cc37ed91adfdbf1effa52360016f72f0c0a2abb.jpg

        McNamara, however, was impatient for action. The president, at a critical moment in the election campaign, was anxious not to concede any opening for Republicans to charge him with weakness. He won plaudits for his prompt and tough response to an assault on the American flag. Thereafter, it was almost inevitable that the administration should lie and lie again, to conceal the multiple blunders and deceits perpetrated to justify air strikes on North Vietnam. The president delayed his 4 August national TV address until 11.36 p.m. Eastern time, when Adm. Sharp told him that Ticonderoga’s and Constellation’s planes were airborne.

        Max Hastings. Vietnam: An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975 . HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle Edition.

        1. Its called the real world. History shows it has always been like this and it will continue to be so.

    3. Morning Minty

      Iran resembles a seething wood ant mass . Disturb the pile with a stick and chaos reigns , they bite relentlessly and exact revenge , distracted from their other chewy tasks .. they are a frightening sight.

  2. Good Morning everybody

    Is anyone else bored of reading (non-)letters about HS2? It’s getting worse than [insert preference]

  4. SIR – It hardly comes as a surprise that someone so lacking in culture as Donald Trump should threaten to destroy what is not only the cultural heritage of Iran but also of the world.

    Judith Rixon
    Bourne, Lincolnshire

    Purlease – get back in your box.

    2. She’s not heard of the Taliban or boko haram, then? Sometimes it’s better to remain silent than expose one’s ignorance by writing letters to the DT.

  5. SIR – Britain’s international aid budget of around £14 billion, much of which is prone to waste or misappropriation, should surely now be given in its entirety to Australia.

    Malcolm Parkin
    Kinross

    SIR – In the First World War, some 416,800 Australians served in the British Empire’s armed forces. Of these, 62,000 were killed and more than 156,000 gassed, wounded or taken prisoner.

    In the Second World War, some 993,000 Australians served in the armed forces, of whom more than 27,000 were killed, 23,400 were wounded and 30,500 taken prisoner.

    Australia helped us in our hours of dire need, so surely we can and should help Australia in her present hour of dire need.

    Christopher Benson
    Haslemere, Surrey

    1. Exactly. Australians are stout & reliable friends when the shut hits the airconditioning. The UK should reciprocate.

    2. I do rather agree. Most of our foreign aid budget is wasted, but if we can help, we should.

      However, because that department is both incompetent and over manned, the money won’t go to where it’s needed.

  6. Why is Lord Kerslake still being treated as though he’s impartial?
    Steerpike – 7 January 2020 – 6:09 PM

    https://spectatorblogs.imgix.net/files/2020/01/GettyImages-1134571074.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=820&h=550

    In recent weeks, a former head of the civil service has been quoted almost incessantly in the pages of the British press. Lord Kerslake today warned the government over its supposed plans for Whitehall reform. Last week, he criticised the ‘serious and extraordinary’ leak of personal New Year’s Honours list data. Before that, the same Lord Kerslake called on the government to end the Brexit no-deal uncertainty by looking at the possibility of a second referendum.

    Readers might be forgiven for treating the pronouncements of a former head of the civil service as somehow above politics. After all, the civil service code calls on Whitehall mandarins to adhere to strict rules of impartiality. It is not, one might reasonably think, within a public official’s brief to openly extol a political point of view, even if the mandarin in question has since departed that particular role. Such a presumption seems even more well-founded in Kerslake’s case given that he was handed his peerage for services to public administration. When he originally entered the House of Lords in 2015, Kerslake rightly chose to sit as a crossbench peer, eschewing overt political allegiances in the manner one might expect of a former civil service chief.

    So it may be helpful for readers (and frankly some journalists) to point out that far from upholding the near-sacred civil service commitment to impartiality, Kerslake is, in fact, a party hack. In October last year, he was criticised by Baroness D’Souza, a former Lord Speaker herself, for his relationship with the Labour party. She reminded Kerslake that crossbenchers are supposed to ‘remain politically unaffiliated’, adding that he appeared to be a ‘committed’ Labour supporter.

    Indeed, Kerslake has been advising the Labour leadership for a number of years, even revealing key elements of Labour’s strategy had the 2019 general election ended with a hung parliament. So it is not out of the question to suppose that Kerslake would have found himself working for Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn had Labour come to power.

    On reflection then, his issues with Dominic Cummings’ plans for Whitehall reform might not be based on an old civil servant’s evenhandedness but instead on the fact that he and John McDonnell had themselves plotted their own scheme for a civil service overhaul. Mr S recommends that journalists take Kerslake’s views with a heavy pinch of salt…

  7. I wonder if Boris will appear for PMQ’s today,
    He seems to be keeping a low profile.
    I wonder what is up?

    1. ‘Morning, Bob.

      H’s only just gt back from holiday & there is the question over Iran to occupy him.

    2. Too busy cancelling “no deal” planning and permitting Javid go to Davis, in other words starting his long anticipated backsliding.
      In the words of BTO, “you ain’t seen nothing yet”

      1. When I voice my doubts about Boris Johnson’s sincerity about Brexit Peddy comes down on me like a ton of bricks.

        I wonder if Peddy has considered replacing Nicholas Parsons as the host on the Radio 4 programme Just A Minute where no repetitions are allowed.

        1. Yes it comes as no surprise to me either despite all the backslapping that was on display after the GE.
          The Conservative Party has sold this country down the river regarding the EU since Heath right through to May. The only Conservative PM who displayed any backbone was Thatcher, and we know how that ended.
          Johnson will no doubt continue on where May left off, fine words but little action.

    5. I would like to have seen what Marty Feldman could have achieved if he had been given a free hand.

  11. SIR – Part of the Labour leadership contest will presumably be to determine which candidate’s name scans best as a chant.
    If so, “Oh, Emily Thornberry” may triumph.
    Anthony Perrin

    Has Mr P been reading my posts on NTTL???

  12. Je suis Charlie. Spiked 7 January 2020.

    Five years on, our response to the Charlie Hebdo massacre must be to defend freedom of speech for everyone. For every blasphemer, every unorthodox thinker, every un-PC cartoonist, every offensive comic, every NoTTler, every free-wheeling politician, and every citizen who wants to make fun of religion or oppose mass immigration or say that people with penises are not women and never will be. There should be worldwide events to mark Charlie Hebdo Day today. That there aren’t reveals how little backing freedom of speech now has in political circles. Let’s change this so that on the tenth anniversary of this act of censorious and Islamist barbarism, people will gather to say once again: ‘Je suis Charlie.’

    It’s not a lack of “backing” from political circles, it is that they are the greatest enemies of Free Speech in the world today!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/01/07/je-suis-charlie/

    1. A response:-

      ROBERT SPOWART
      8th January 2020 at 10:00 am

      Yes, it is staggering how quickly the Carlie Hebdo massacre was met by condemnation not of the murders, but of the magazine its self.
      But considering how quickly these self same people responded to Islamist atrocities with the worn out, kneejerk mantra of “It’s nothing to do with Islam,” is it really that surprising?

    2. Unless the West stands up for its own values it will perish.

      Islam knows this to be the truth – but too many politicians find it a far too inconvenient truth to acknowledge it.

      1. What I don’t understand is why we keep pandering to this demographic. Why all the ‘hate speech’ laws when very clearly there is a problem in that demographic?

        I understand Labour wanted a voting bloc, but why did the Conservatives continue the influx?

  13. ….Soleimani’s successor, Esmail Ghaani, says the purpose of the Revolutionary Guards is to bring about the worldwide victory of the Hidden Imam.
    Otto Inglis

    Mr G has been watching too many Bond films.

    1. ‘Morning, Belle.

      My father used to say that so-&-so clings like baby’s yellow to a blanket.

          1. Morning Anne .

            I saw a consultant before Christmas , had x rays etc, blood tests, gland in my neck, but next appt was cancelled , then rearranged for Feb , then another letter arrived yesterday cancelling , and rearranged for March .. I guess they see me as an older patient , and that is it ..

          2. Do you have a GP who will kick @rse?
            The alternative is pricey, so needs careful consideration.

          4. What kind of final restoration was put on the tooth after the RCT? A crown? A filling? It might be worth having the occlusion checked – a premature occlusion on that tooth (i.e. if it is slightly proud) could cause the symptoms you describe.

          6. Morning, Maggie. My root canal treatment of four years ago went badly wrong (there was insufficient tooth left for the crown to adhere to).

            Lat month I forked out £2,000 (in addition to the £600 I’d paid earlier in the year) for two implants. Yes, it wasn’t cheap, but my gob feels back to normal for the first time in a decade.

          7. Have you tried a mouth guard? You could be grinding your teeth all night without knowing it.

          8. Morning, Maggie. My root canal treatment of four years ago went badly wrong (there was insufficient tooth left for the crown to adhere to).

            Lat month I forked out £2,000 (in addition to the £600 I’d paid earlier in the year) for two implants. Yes, it wasn’t cheap, but my gob feels back to normal for the first time in a decade.

          9. I wondered about that. A good dentist or orthodontist will spend ages getting the occlusion right. And tell you to come back if there’s the slightest problem.

          10. An iatrogenic malocclusion can cause havoc in the whole body apart from just the dental area.

          11. That figures.
            Neck, shoulders, spine and ever downwards.
            Something I have tried to explain time and again to a gentleman who just won’t persevere in adjusting to his dentures.

    2. Good lord! A comment to the Mail actually got through:-

      Bob of Bonsall, Matlock, United Kingdom, moments ago

      Like eggs to bacon? More like shonet to a blanket!

  15. First Trade Meeting with EU today

    An initial meeting with the European Commission’s new president as they hold talks for the first time since she replaced Jean-Claude Juncker. takes place today.
    The Prime Minister is expected to tell Ursula von der Leyen the UK wants a free trade agreement with the EU by the end of December this year, when the transition period is set to end.

    Their face-to-face meeting in Downing Street on Wednesday, the first since she took office, will also be attended by Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

    The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the UK would be “free to hold trade discussions with countries across the world” after it has left the bloc at the end of the month.

  16. NASA, Boeing probe software glitch

    NASA is opening an independent investigation with Boeing over a software glitch that prevented its unmanned astronaut capsule from reaching the International Space Station in December, the agency said on Tuesday

    1. The software upgrade probably had a more stylish interface and more ways to deliver exciting new monetization-friendly targeted advertising scripts, whilst making difficult decisions about the need to retire other features in order to maintain performance.

    2. Perhaps they can look at the Boeing aircraft as well

      The Boeing MAX disaster has already cost the company billions of dollars … 400 undelivered Boeing Max aircraft remain grounded indefinitely.

      http://theconversation.com/grounded-whats-behind-boeings-production-shutdown-of-max-aircraft-129077

      The world’s biggest planemaker, Boeing, faced another blow as it announced that up to 50 of its 737 NG aircraft—a predecessor to the 737 MAX—have been grounded after several operators discovered cracks on the aircraft.

      https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2019/10/31/dozens-of-boeing-737-ng-planes-grounded-after-airlines-discover-cracks-on-the-aircraft/

      1. …and now a Ukraine Air, four-year-old 737 crashes on take-off from Tehran Airport.

        Software malfunction or intercepted a missile bound for a US air-base in Iraq?

      2. I note that you are today’s target for the down-voting autobot.

        Your comment on Otto Inglis’ letter confirms this.

        1. I’m not sure that it is an “autobot”, Tom.

          I think it is just a cowardly anonymous wanker.

  19. WE best check on which Labour MP’s have booked to appear at Glastonbury. IT will be as clue as to who will be the next leader

  20. ‘Morning All

    nicked

    Loved Michael Deacon’s description of Mong-Bailey and his summing up. This snippet from his column in the DT:
    Rebecca Long Bailey is the worst choice Labour could make. So she’s bound to win

    ‘…Will
    the inconsistency matter? [her flip-flopping on a second referendum]
    Probably not. At least, no more than the drabness, or the banality, or
    that monotonous insistent whine, like a bluebottle struggling to
    negotiate a window. What will most likely matter, to the people choosing
    the next Labour leader, is that Ms Long Bailey is fully behind the
    current one. Under her, she’s promised a Left-wing magazine, there will
    be no return to “the Tory-lite policies that held our party back before
    Jeremy”. … she told ITV that she would award Mr Corbyn’s leadership
    “10 out of 10”.

    The Labour Left have held their period of
    reflection. They’ve looked themselves in the mirror. They’ve searched
    their souls. And they’ve concluded that they were right all along.’

    1. The stronger this ilk of the Labour Party grow and the more they proliferate, the longer they will be kept out of power.

      It is a win/win situation for common sense.

    2. Just as good is the comment that they can’t attack her character because she hasn’t got one!

    3. Morning Rik,
      This is no way a pro lab post but what must be faced is the fact that it has taken three to do the political tango of sh!te, deceit & treachery, and they have not held back in any way in producing a country fit for foreign occupation.
      This by many who would put our past enemy’s in the shade.
      Actions not repeated rhetoric are the order of the day, and definitely NOT
      more of the same.

    5. Of course they were right. Corbyn himself said that “we won the argument”. So why change a winning manifesto?

  22. ‘morning all – just had to share this non-political, non ttl gem that has me chorlting into my morning tea.

    spoiler – not a spoof

    A fortune teller who successfully predicted Brexit and England winning the Cricket World Cup has revealed what we can expect in 2020.
    Jemima Packington, 64, is the world’s only Asparamancer and claims she can peer into the future by tossing asparagus into the air and interpreting how the spears land.

    full nonsense here
    :- https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/fortune-teller-who-predicted-brexit-3708101

    2. That means for most of the year she’s relying on inferior stuff flown in from Peru and Kenya.

    3. Bless them. Labour supporters really are thick idiots.

      10 times Boris’ intellect? Labour hasn’t anyone his equal yet.

  24. A plane is on its way to Toronto, when a blonde in economy class gets up and moves to the first-class section and sits down.

    The flight attendant watches her do this and asks to see her ticket.

    She then tells the blonde that she paid for economy class and that she will have to sit in the back.

    The blonde replies, “I’m blonde, I’m beautiful, I’m going to Toronto and I’m staying right here.”

    The flight attendant goes into the cockpit and tells the pilot and the co-pilot that there is a blonde bimbo sitting in first class, that belongs in economy and won’t move back to her seat.

    The co-pilot goes back to the blonde and tries to explain that because she only paid for economy she will have to leave and return to her seat.

    The blonde replies, “I’m blonde, I’m beautiful, I’m going to Toronto and I’m staying right here.”

    The co-pilot tells the pilot that he probably should have the police waiting when they land to arrest this blonde woman who won’t listen to reason.

    The pilot says, “you say she is a blonde? I’ll handle this, I’m married to a blonde. I speak blonde.”

    He goes back to the blonde and whispers in her ear, and she says, “Oh, I’m sorry.” and gets up and goes back to her seat in economy.

    The flight attendant and co-pilot are amazed and asked him what he said to make her move without any fuss.

    “I told her, “First class isn’t going to Toronto.”

    1. I consider it an honour that someone would want my upvotes. They, obviously, have nothing sensible to say and rely on nicking other people’s.

      1. ‘Morning, GG, on my version of NTTL using Chrome, I cannot see any records of number of comments nor upvotes for anyone. I shall try firefox. It shews there so I shall refresh and have another go.

        1. Refreshed and checked. I can see my own – at 55,162 it’s about 5,000 down from yesterday.

          3. Does it mean we’re all going to eventually disappear up our own avatars’ arseholes?

        2. We use Safari. Click on my avatar and it opens up notifications and comments and declining upvotes (soon to be in the singular). Today yours shows 21566 comments and 54811 votes.

          1. Rik, as a Mod, do you not have direct access to ask disqus to look into this, as it’s obvious someone has access to their website either legally or illegally?

          2. Wotcha Nanners,I have been to a Disqus forum and asked a Disqus Mod for an explanation,answer came there none

      4. Down votes eventually lower the reputation of the account/ID, making it very difficult to post anywhere that the account is not ‘white-listed’.

    3. Morning, Bleausard,

      I wasn’t aware of this anomaly since I seldom check my account details; however, after this topic was brought up yesterday I checked mine and noticed that my upvote “count” had mysteriously deteriorated to around 17,000-or-so. This morning, after reading your post, I am now down to just over 7,000!

      This seems to be highly selective. Curiously it would appear that only certain posters are being targetted. Is this part of a move (by certain ‘favourites’) on this forum to get rid of those with whom they do not agree?

      If that is what they want then they can have it. I only learned, yesterday, that one of my favourite correspondents—ehcalmdown—has been hounded off the forum as a result of attacks on him by those possessing only a fraction of his intellect, wit and genuine humour.

      It would appear, from this, that the lunatics have taken over this asylum in tandem with the other lunatics that have taken over the world.

      If that is what the mental pygmies who have hijacked this forum want then they are welcome to it. I have better (and far more important) things to fritter away my time doing.

      1. Hi Grizzly, it has nothig to do with popularity, I can assure you of that one, it is a bot. BTW, ehcalmdown was a favourite of mine too, a most decent chap. My advice is to ignore downvoters and trolls completely. Give them no ‘airtime’ whatsoever.

        1. Hi, Jenny, and Happy New Year.

          I’m just curious as to why only a few of us have been targetted by both the “bot” and the “downvoter”? It seems too much of a coincidence to me.

          1. Hi Grizzly and a very Happy New Year to you too. Hope you have a good one. From what I have gleaned – quite extensively, the bot is random. The downvoters are not – they may have a problem with a site, a poster or two or even the issue being discussed such as the bot situation which always seems to attract them. It has been going on for almost a year now so nothing to do with the channel closures. Best ignored.

    4. I’ve lost over 5000 upvotes since midnight. I now have fewer upvotes than comments.

  26. Good Morning all.

    The Scotsman
    A Scotsman moves to Toronto, Canada, and attends his first baseball game.
    The first batter approaches the batters’ box, takes a few swings and then hits a double. Everyone is on their feet screaming “Run!”
    The next batter hits a single. The Scotsman listens as the crowd again cheers “RUN!! RUN!!” The Scotsman is enjoying the game and begins
    screaming with the fans.
    The fifth batter comes up and four balls go by. The Umpire calls out, ”Walk.” The batter starts his slow trot to first base. The Scot stands up and screams, “Run ye lazy bastard rrrun!”
    The people around him begin laughing.
    Embarrassed, the Scot sits back down. A friendly fan notes the man’s embarrassment, leans over and explains, He can’t run — he has four balls.”

    The Scot stands up and screams, “Walk with pride, Laddie!”

    1. “The mum-of-three, who works as a school caterer, said she watched powerless as the ‘super bright’ London schoolgirl gradually fell in with the wrong friends”

      As Theodore Dalrymple observed when the young and old lags used the excuse for their crimes as “they fell in with the wrong people” – no excuse ,that was their choice, they could have fallen in with the right people.

      1. “She’s gated until she finds some new, better friends.”

        How is she supposed o do that?

          2. Morning, Peddy. Was it you who recommended the Morland dynasty novels by Cynthia Harrod Eagles?
            You are right. Like C.J. Sansom, she evokes the era without the dreaded ‘pish tusherie’.
            Speech, in particular, is very difficult to get right. You need to hold a modern reader, but still indicate that people spoke and thought in a very different manner.

          3. Morning, Anne, actually ’twas me and I’ve just bought books 21-24. I’m reading book 21 now.

            Best beloved is also enjoying them but is a slower reader – she is on book 6.

    1. The commentaries are no less persuasive. Working-class voters abandoned Labour primarily because they recoiled from what it has become: A party almost exclusively of the relatively-affluent woke metropolitan ‘liberal’-Left in university towns, and of the welfare-state dependent poor in inner cities. The party’s Leftists’ scorn for working-class attachment to patriotism and democracy, damning it as ‘far-Right’ and ‘racist’, got its just deserts.

      Yes!

    1. Oi Rik

      I am saving up for my ‘orse un cart, for when I Tintent later in the year

    4. They shouldn’t be on a dual carriage way. It’s just not safe for the horse, for other drivers.

      As for the complete prat who drove over the grass to get ahead, he should be shot in the kneecaps, have his feet and hands cut off and castrated and his tongue torn out. He was a danger to everyone on the road.

    2. Yes I have often asked myself that question and wonder whether there is any point in our recycling bins.

      1. The WEEE act prevents us from creating a certain amount of waste.

        Obviously we do produce more than that, but what we do to get around it is ship it to, well, these people who send us a nice certificate saying they’ve properly disposed of it.

        We meet our ‘climate change’ targets, the EU doesn’t fine us, Africa/India dumps it in the sea. We’re responsible, but no one will admit it because of ‘climate change’.

      2. Morning TB,
        My forecast of the three stage
        partial re-entry rocket is coming to pass,
        1 stage cameron ( the wretch)
        2 stage mayday,
        3 stage johnson, brussels anchor dropper.
        Up to now give credit to the
        political enemas of GB they have played a blinder.

    2. I would love to know the Foreign Aid ‘hold on us’ when we desperately could use the funds ourselves. I think countries should have a ‘Disaster Fund’ for helping to rebuild hard hit countries in times of natural disasters. We are not in a position to give money away for highly controversial ‘projects’. Time it was stopped and used only in times of crisis.

  33. Daily Brexit Betrayal

    How I despise all those MPs and indeed

    those Remain Mandarins, posturing to show their concern for EU citizens

    while totally disregarding the fate of our expats in EU member states!

    Why do they not demand that the Government takes a hard stance with

    Barnier about reciprocal arrangements for our citizens?

    The fact is that Remain does not trust us to run our affairs unless Nanny EU is there to tell us what to do and how to do it. They make me sick!

    https://independencedaily.co.uk/your-daily-brexit-betrayal-wednesday-8th-january-2020/

    6. My goodness, I am still in tears over this beautiful little film.

      I sent the link to my right wing uncle in America and also to my doctor friend in Iran.

    8. Note that when asked the “good ones” will claim to be Persian not Iranian……
      I attended a Persian wedding in Loughborough which was to be presided over by a Pakistani Mullah who was not bets pleased with Persian Muslims (many of that first wave were fleeing the Ayotollah’s reign and were “enlightened ” by the Shah’s westernisation program…. many who have come lately fall into the poor uneducated religious fanatic class).
      He thought they were much like CofE’s congregations, turn up for weddings funerals but not much else.

      Indeed, before he arrived the chef was drunk as a skunk (he had already prepared some magnificent food), booze flowed freely (they could. many of them, drink an airline stewardess under the table) and the women were all dressed western style. But when the mullah was due the cook and the booze were hidden, the women separated and put on head scarves and once the mullah had done his bit and gone of grumbling at was all back as it was before.
      I was told of some of the drinking parties in Iran where, when the revolutionary guard was found to be knowing at the door all those who had been drinking took a quick mouthwash of petrol so that their breath wouldn’t give them away.

    9. Some very funny films made by the Iranians. Some actually poking a bit of fun at the current rules.
      One was about the Saudi Iran football match at which some of the Saudi wives were allowed to attend by Iranian women were not allowed. Reminiscent of the Life of Brian Stoning sketch, the girls would dress as boys to get in and watch the game and the security were rounding them up and collecting them together on the roof area of one of the stands…… it was very funny the way it went and the outcome. Worth a watch if you can find it…

    10. PS The subtitled version is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXx_Hw34V-Q

      In the notes on this one person responds:

      A side note about the poetry..

      There are more than one poem there. The couple are playing sort of
      literary game, one starts with a couplet of a poem and next one should
      continue with another couplet which got to start with the last character
      of the first one 🙂

      And by the way thanks for great translation 🙂 Just a comment for the
      first couplet, I believe it can better deliver the meaning to be
      translated like:

      “Those who know the true love (are in a journey) in the deep sea (of
      real love) They (choose to be) drowned but didn’t polluted (not to
      pollute) themselves to the water”

      Cheers!
      I’ve seen this game in action at a Christmas (festive?) party (where the whiskey disappeared fast) and it can get very intense and genuine appreciation for the cleverest contributions.

    11. PS Thanks True Belle, that just about got me over the missed anniversary issue when i showed my wife…….

    12. Having met many Persians at gatherings, courtesy of the kindness of my Iranian hostess neighbour, I can confirm the individuals I’ve met are kind, generous bright people with a love of art and literature. Indeed one is a very successful author. One of his books, a leather bound illustrated tome on Falconry retails at over $400. He’s recently completed what amounts to an encyclopaedia of contemporary Horse Breeding in the British Isles.
      It is a great pity that the cancer of Religious Zealotry affects so much of the World.

      1. I agree entirely with you .. and of course we really do have so much to thank them for..

        I just cannot see where so much hate , revenge violence and repression comes from . Are modern Iranians in denial of their wonderful cultural past .

        I guess we are all half a minute away from reacting .. as previous conflicts have proven!

        1. Everything everywhere has been damaged by Islamic zealotry, and will continue to be. Unless our politicians grow ears to listen and eyes to see.

        2. They are even trying to interpret Khayyam as being true to the Muslim faith by trying to re-interpret his bits about wine etc. The Fitzgerald translation is excellent by the way. Just like those revisonists changing a Christmas carol, Enid Blighton, the Railway books, etc etc.

  38. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/70ffc84087ceeacfebbd664dfc999c9284547dd50b23fac355f444d871edb3f3.png Rowan Pelling is on the money in her damnation of that vastly overrated decade (or should that be “decayed”): the 1970s.

    For me, it was a time when only the advent of prog rock saved me from being suicidal.

    Popular music was dire.
    Fashions were beyond a clownish joke.
    Hairstyles were ugly.
    Food was an abomination.
    Politics were a joke.
    Unions had far too much power and influence.
    The BBC was at its most risible.

    The only good thing to come out of that decade was the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. The 1980s were a VAST improvement in every way.

    2. Ha ha……..I remember it well. No ipads nor iphones for us…only i-spy as Michael Mcyntire pointed out…..lol. Watched Crackerjack in my teens…and enjoyed it then!

    3. In the 1970s I was a young mother – we had little money so holidays were a week in a tent.
      Life was generally a bit of a grind. Politics was dire – the three day week, power cuts, the winter of discontent.
      A hot, dry summer in 1976. We bought a house that year, after seven years of living mainly in flats.
      The 1980s were definitely an improvement.

      2. I remember 70s when the bank manager used to write to us on an almost monthly basis asking if we could revert to the old system of us banking with them.

    5. It’s why I don’t follow fashion, Grizz. At best, it’s ludicrous, and always expensive & wasteful of money & other resources.

          1. N,
            Then it will continue until the death count gets
            high enough to trigger action.
            How high is high enough ?
            How long is a piece of string.
            We have very much so, the same three monkey brigade operating in the UK

    2. The law of unintended consequences is now a religion within the political classes of the Western Hemisphere.

        1. As you know there is a whole raft of things that people vote for and you do not have the opportunity to vote on selective points. Therefore people vote for what is best for their own circumstances and after that what they think is best for the country. We may, and usually do, get the best of a bad bunch.

          2. GG,
            The electorate have had ample time to judge whether to support / vote for a mass uncontrolled immigration party’s or not, decades in point of fact.
            I would even go as far to say that that issue alone would lead the raft of reasons by a country mile.
            The consequences of mass uncontrolled immigration leads to the breakdown of
            Education,
            medication,
            accommodation,
            incarceration.
            Then the failure of a Nation.

          3. You complain about people being told who to vote for but you are, at the same time, telling them not to vote for lib/lab/con and vote UKIP. Should they do as you tell them?

          4. Once again your words not mine GG, I do not complain I state a fact.
            I “personally” vote for the real UKIP there is a difference.
            If a person is “told” who to vote for
            that is surely wrong to start with.
            I point out, and there is plenty of living proof,that continuing
            to follow the same voting pattern over the last four decades
            is wrong in so far as it has got progressively worse on a daily basis.

          6. GG,
            Any that was not of the lab/lib/con proven treachery, mass uncontrolled immigration coalition persuasion, an independent, there are other options.

          8. GG,
            Then seriously ask yourself would
            George E Ellison have voted for any of these
            parties ?

          9. I don’t know any more than you do.
            What would you do.
            I add that in the GE I was 1 of 600 who voted UKIP. Not all constituencies had an opportunity to vote for anyone other than for those who stood for election.

          10. GG,
            I would respect George E Ellison the last man killed in WW1.
            I cannot imagine him fighting for a country we have become, via the ballot booth & courtesy of the lab/lib/con parties.

          11. I also respect him but do not know how he would have voted then nor now.
            Now the question again.
            With only Lib/Lab/Con on the ballot paper who would you have voted for?

          12. GG,
            He was fighting for a decent country & way of life, all that these parties have tried their best to hand over to a foreign regime.
            Plus these parties have actually covered up
            criminal actions resulting in lifetime mental scarring of many, ongoing.
            I would feel that if I were to vote lab/lib/con I would be condoning the parties policies ie mass uncontrolled immigration and all its evil consequences so would refrain from voting.
            As in,what sort of fireman would take petrol to a fire.

          1. GG,
            Your words ,not mine I
            would ask they ask themselves what has these parties done for the welfare / safety of both peoples & country
            before kissing a candidate thus X.

        3. Ogga, dear ogga, when the voting paper lists a chimp, a gorilla and an orangutan, not voting isn’t going to stop you being landed with an ape. Yes, I know that some of us are lucky enough to have better options and people still don’t vote for them but they usually only stand in constituencies where the ape has a comfortable majority, so that too begins to look orchestrated.

          1. Afternoon dearest, dearest SE,
            Out of the chimp, gorilla, orangutan, I personally would choose the real kipper not by the way the ersatz UKIP Nec in charge at the moment.
            I can see no reason to support & vote for a
            mass uncontrolled immigration party and all the odious fall from such a vote, seen on a daily basis.
            As with sheep many of us layoff our failing onto the animal kingdom when in reality it is the peoples at fault.
            By the by animals have enough problems with
            halal slaughter.

          2. Thank you, Sue. That comment has made my day. :•)

            May I please use it for my own propaganda purposes? I promise I’ll not claim authorship.

  40. Furious reaction of woman refused both entry to “mile-high club” and any more alcohol (Conclusion? Yes! Safer to travel on Ryanair) :

    Ayoung woman had to be restrained by six people after she headbutted a medic on an Etihad flight in scenes he said were ‘worse than anything he’d seen in A&E’, a court heard, as she was jailed for six months.

    Demi Burton, 20, attacked passengers and cabin crew on a flight from Abu Dhabi to Manchester when she was refused alcohol.

    Burton boarded the plane while intoxicated and continued to drink red wine until flight attendants told her they would no longer serve her.

    The decision was made after she made a series of inappropriate sexual comments which included asking two men travelling on the flight to join her in the “mile high club”.

    Minshull Street Crown Court heard the 20-year-old shouted: “You may as well just land the plane now then!” when she was refused alcohol before she embarked on a drunken rampage which witnesses claimed lasted for up to four hours.

    Staff on the Etihad flight attempted tried to calm Burton down only for her to headbutt, maul and and kick out at them during a violent struggle.

    It took six crew members and passengers to restrain her and she was arrested when the plane touched down.

    A consultant anaesthetist travelling on the flight who was bitten on the elbow and headbutted as he helped restrain Burton claimed it was worse than working in A&E, the court heard.

    One stewardess was bitten on the forearm was headbutted around the chin.

    Other passengers where kicked to the ribs and face and head butted to the cheek which left bruising.

    Stewardess Fouzia Naim said in a statement: “It was a stressful situation but whilst I managed to remain calm and professional, it’s not acceptable for crew members to be treated this way and not fair on the other passengers to witness things like this.

    “As a result of her being verbally abusive towards me and assaulting, I couldn’t eat or drink anything whilst the flight was ongoing.”

    Burton, from Carrington, near Manchester had been travelling home from a three month trip to Australia where she had been visiting family.

    She claimed she had been drinking as she had a fear of flying. She was jailed for six months after she admitted being drunk on an aircraft and five charges of assault.

    The incident began on May 9 shortly after flight EY21 had taken off from the United Arab Emirates.

    Prosecuting Miss Claire Brocklebank, said: “It appears she was drunk before getting on the flight and she started making a number of inappropriate sexual comments to a number of male passengers on the flight.

    “Two in particular remember hearing comments and at first they laughed it off but it then became more and more increasingly inappropriate and she asked them to join the mile high club.

    “Both tried to end conversation with her but she carried on.

    “One said he felt quite shocked by her comments and people around her started to ask her to be quiet as others could hear.”

    Burton’s defence lawyer, Martin Callery, said his client had been drinking because of a fear of flying as well as apprehensions about seeing her family.

    He said: “She is thoroughly ashamed of herself and because she is remorseful, she is utterly embarrassed at the way she behaved. It is completely out of character as far as she is concerned.

    “She went to Australia to get away from her family who have behaved towards her from her early years in a very controlling and very abusive way.

    “She thought it was right fly back but was apprehensive about the arrival home and apprehensive about flying itself and had more to drink then was appropriate.”

    Sentencing her, judge John Edwards said: “Good order on any flight – in particular a long distance one – is essential and those who undermine that put that at risk by behaving in such crass way.

    “Your behaviour was unpleasant, violent and persistent over a lengthy period. So that a doctor, an anaesthetist by profession remarks in all his dealings in A&E had not witnessed such aggressive behaviour before.

    “I’m afraid you have to be dealt with in a way that might deter others.”

    Yes, such draconian punishment is really going to deter others.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/07/woman-headbutted-medic-flight-scenes-worse-anything-seen-ae

    2. “It took six crew members and passengers to restrain her and she was arrested when the plane touched down.”

      What? Did no one have the necessary skills to administer a swift uppercut?

      Sleep tight, dear!

  41. Should every driver resit their test aged 70?
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7862123/Should-driver-resit-test-aged-70-motorist-87-accidentally-killed-woman.html

    William Heagren, 87 and a grandfather, was jailed for mowing down two women
    Within ten days of being jailed at Wormwood Scrubs he suffered a heart attack
    The case opened up a debate whether older drivers should have to resit their test

    Of course they should, which government has the gonads to make it law.

    1. He needed a medical.

      Resitting the driving test probably wouldn’t have stopped the accident as it sounds like he was medically impaired.

        1. Morning S,
          The meaning of the word Government seems to have been totally lost for decades as far as the lab/lib/con parties are concerned.
          I do believe management to be more suited, ie
          revenue collectors on behalf of brussels.

    3. Morning PT – at 78 I still drive a recovery truck and I have to have an annual medical plus a CPC. Some of the wrinklies I see on the road should have their licences rescinded never mind be retested

        1. It could of course mean that the age groups with most crashes have more folks driving but even so…quite interestng I thought.

    4. Actually older drivers are the safest. These is a case though for testing those of 80 or over

      The most dangerous drivers on the road by a very long way are the younger drivers although they think they are the safest

      1. It’s not just a question of eyesight our reactions are slower ( mine certainly are) and you can’t always
        judge a situation quickly to avoid an accident.

        1. That’s why older drivers tend to maintain a longer distance from the one in front, and also to be more aware of their own reaction times, by not acting like a boy racer.

    6. In Spain drivers who wish to renew their driving licence need to include a
      report of psychophysical aptitude issued by an authorized Driver Recognition Centre.

    7. We have to take a driving test once we reach 80, then get retested every two years after that. The written test is very basic and only verifies the most basic coordination skills.

      By basic, one of the tasks is apparently draw a clock face then add the hands showing 10:25 .

    8. Statistically, older drivers are some of the safest on the road, with young drivers being the most unsafe. We have to take a vision test at every renewal (regardless of age) but that’s about it. Of course, having essentially no public transport means older people really have to keep driving.

    9. Far more accidents are caused by young people driving too fast or while under the influence, than by older people.

    10. No, but the re-issue of the driving licence every three years should be linked to, at least, an eye test.

      1. I will be 70 in 13 months’ time and I will have no problem in volunteering to take a driving test.

        1. Have you seen the convoluted C20th scenario questions test that has to be passed before you can get behind the wheel?

          1. No, but I am a police-trained “standard” driver who was taught to drive to “the system of car control” by taking a five-week intensive practical and theory course before passing a rigorous written test and extended driving examination.

            I subsequently took a number of refresher courses to maintain my skills level.

            I now live in Sweden and my driving skills are, on so many levels, much higher than any Swede I’ve encountered on the roads.

          3. “my driving skills are … much higher than any Swede I’ve encountered on the roads.” That’s not saying much, is it, Grizz? Yer Weegies are as bad, if not worse. They have a gene that tells them that they are the only person on the mountain – the rest of their behaviour is then understandable, whether on the roads or holding doors, queueing…

          4. I thought “Weegies” referred to Glaswegians, Paul.

            Don’t get me started on the loutish Swedes’ inability to comprehend the concept of queueing! More than a few have been instructed in the etiquette by the teaching aid that is my right elbow.

          5. “Woodentops” better? :-))
            I let rip at a Swede standing behind me in the queue to check in. I bent down to check the bag was zipped up properly, and he stepped past and in front of me.
            Put it this way, the noise I made about WTF DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING; SHIT-FOR-BRAINS? got everybody’s attention.
            Same to the guy who tried to push his way onto the bus before we had got off. Nearly shat his nice pink trousers, so he did.

          7. They won’t listen to me, Tryers, but it’s fun making them all swerve out of my way!

          11. Your last sentence is right on the nail. Most of them are 1/2 asleep.

            Do you have British or Swedish licence?

          12. Currently I have a Körkort (“Drive Card”), but my DVLA record number is printed on it for presentation should I return to live in the UK.

    11. My father was only in his 70’s when mum started to see the first sign of tremors caused by Parkinson’s. She told on him to their family doctor and his licence was cancelled. He accepted it with good grace. Dad had always been a good driver though. I had an old friend whose doctor finally stopped her driving at about age 91 and in truth she’d always been a dangerous driver. Anyone who accepted her offer of a lift home from church was in for a white knuckle ride. I can testify to that.

      1. I don’t know how old Miss Simpson of Firwood next to where my Mam used to work was, but she’d often give me a lift home from school in her old “sit up & bed” Ford Popular.
        She never got out of 2nd gear!

          2. Not as funny, though.
            Incidentally, my Dad’s first car, except his was in interesting shades of rust…

        2. We had one of those and I could hardly ever find 1st. Only 3 gears with 1st being a crash gear and synchronised on 2 & 3.

      2. An elderly relation lost the use of one eye in a fishing accident; some of her cars were a bit careless when entering the narrow part of the driveway.

    1. I read the word ‘Pansexual’ the other day and had to look it up on Google….I was none the wiser.

      1. The Americans make a disgusting desert called sex in a pan, maybe they are talking about that.

        For the Grizzly recipe book, it is a shortcake base with a mix of packaged chocolate pudding, white pudding and cream dollies on top.

        2. The Americans make a disgusting desert called sex in a pan…

          Are you confusing it with the cocktail called sex on the beach?

          1. No really, it was all the rage at pot luck suppers a few years ago. The drink sounds dangerously quaffable on a hot summer afternoon.

      1. I have happily travelled through life using “him”, “her” and “it” and I’m more than happy to continue along that route.

    2. I couldn’t be bothered to waste my time reading past the first few lines.

      Male and female have been the criteria for all living beings since time immemorial and no amount of weidos will change that.

  44. Just been out doing a half hour’s log splitting to get the empty wood stacks refilled for next winter and heard geese honking.
    Looking straight up I watched a large skein of perhaps 150 to 200 fly over.
    A lovely sight.

  45. It looks like the uptick gobbler has a firm hold, will there be minor adjustments made to our comments next ?
    IMO we are once again being herded along a chosen path.

  46. The Guardian really does live in a parallel universe. Guy Lodge is being shredded BTL.

    Is this the end of the awards show host?
    After Ricky Gervais tried, and failed, to torch Hollywood at this year’s Golden Globes, the future of awards shows looks to be mercifully host-free
    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2018/01/17/Guy_Lodge,_L.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=e4887650dcc84b33d9a3b74c563293f8
    Guy Lodge – Tue 7 Jan 2020 21.56 GMT
    https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jan/07/ricky-gervais-awards-show-host-end

    1. Goddag Paul.

      Are you sure it’s not the glow from that Parkhaus?

      300 cars destroyed, WOW!

      1. Indeed.
        Bearing in mind how many cars “go on fire” daily in France, Sweden Oslo, maybe it is just another Slammer moment?
        Morning, Peddy.

  48. SIR – “Marg bar Amrika” – death to America – is what the supporters of the Iranian regime have been shouting for 40 years. Similar slogans are also directed at Britain, and above all at Israel and Jews.

    As commander of the Quds force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qassim Soleimani was the man whose job was to turn the hate speech into action. The only surprising thing about his assassination is that it wasn’t carried out a long time ago.

    The late Ayatollah Khomeini designed the Islamic Republic of Iran to be a totalitarian state, functioning in a similar way to the Third Reich or the Soviet Union. The Pasdaran, or Revolutionary Guard Corps, is its equivalent of the SS and answers to Ayatollah Khamenei – bypassing his subordinate, the elected president.

    Soleimani’s successor, Esmail Ghaani, says the purpose of the Revolutionary Guards is to bring about the worldwide victory of the Hidden Imam. In simple terms, the Iranian regime is engaged in a holy war against most of humanity, including the Sunni majority of Muslims.

    Otto Inglis
    Edinburgh

    Corbyn’s view is that Soleimani was merely doing his job when ‘illegally assassinated’ by Trump.

    1. He was doing his job – spreading hate and murdering folk. That was his job. Since the job was unacceptable, I feel it reasonable that he was prematurely retired – with extreme prejudice.

    2. Corbyn’s view is that Soleimani was merely doing his job when ‘illegally assassinated’ by Trump.

      If Corbyn thinks that Soleimani’s role was legitimate, whom did Corbyn have in mind for his government’s enforcer?

    1. If the Americans can neutralise Solemani, perhaps the British could neutralise von Leyen ?

      1. A deal can be reached b y the year end. They may be a few loose end to tie up after that bit a deal can be reached

        2. The EU will meet the deadline if they agree to the same trade arrangements and conditions as we endure as members.
          Now that he is bombproof and no sign of labour recovering anytime in the next decade or so Boris might, “in the interests of harmonious relations with our neighbours” agree to pretty much all of it bar a couple of cosmetic adjustments. He is not now nor has he ever been a committed brexit supporter. His decision to support brexit during the referendum was a late decision that surprised everyone including Cameron but it was the best way for Bojo to get into No. 19.
          Now he is there and unlikely to be deposed for the next 10 years or so he can and probably will , do exactly as he likes. He no longer needs to listen to us, justto Cummings…. and how did such a person acquire such power without ever being elected? I am not sure who is the more dangerous… Bojo or Cummings.

          5. HL,
            There is that word again, there seems to be a great deal of this hoping material about
            currently.

          6. Be careful what you wish for.
            There is a saying that more tears have been shed over prayers answered than prayers ignored. I suspect Cummings, totally unaccountable and clearly a control frek is the more dangerous of the two.

            He can be an advisor but how does he have such power to act or intend to act to cull the Civil Service….. and transform it. We have seen such idealogies before where the need for reform is recognised but the remedy is not specified. Think Bliar and his vanadalising the HoL, the Justice system… and pretty much anything else that took his fancy. He may have promised reforms but not whatform they would take.

          8. Why all this uncertainty
            at this late moment in time ?
            The boris might, the boris could, with such
            dependency on such a highly critical issue should we really have bothered back in June 2016 ?

          9. If Johnson sells the UK out to the EU, as many suspect he will, he will not have 10 years. If the fishing grounds go, the EU nationals become 1st class citizens with more rights than the British, if we have to meet their tax requirements and the list goes on, he will be seen as a fake, a charlatan with nothing more than bluster and bombast to support his empty promises.

      3. I’m sure that you mean neutralising by being extremely tough and uncompromising in the negotiations ahead and not in a violent manner. Sadly, early reports on a couple of issues indicate that Johnson’s tough talk was more hot air than the promise of firm action as he backtracks.

          1. ogga1, if you’d read any of my posts over the last few months re Johnson, you wouldn’t have asked that question.

      4. T,
        Be a tad clearer, do you mean the British peoples,
        or
        the British politicos, in the
        main ?
        There is a vast difference between both in so far as the peoples voted OUT whereas the majority of the politico’s voted………….

    2. And with Jon Sopel back on toady, the blitzkrieg pace is certainly upped.

      Although it is no ” lightning war”, just the same old relentless anti-Trump, anti-Brexit, bo$$ox.

  51. CES 2020

    A machine that rapidly chills packaged drinks is on show at the CES tech expo.

    I suspect that with fizzy drinks you might be taking a shower when you open it

    The start-up involved hopes to launch Juno later this year to cool cans and bottles of drink at point of use, meaning they do not need to be stored in refrigerators in advance.

    1. SNAP!

      If you had understood the article you would have seen that fizzy drinks do not spray everywhere on opening.

      1. Lack of basic science knowledge from BJ, but not untypical of most of the great British public, whose scientific knowledge appears to be shockingly lacking.
        Unlike most solids, gases are more soluble at colder rather than warmer temperatures and therefore the container is much less likely to spray everywhere when chilled.

  52. What is wrong with this people ?

    ‘Girl boss’ advert banned for gender stereotyping

    An advert saying “You do the girl boss thing” has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
    People Per Hour, an online platform that connects businesses and freelancers, ran the advert on the London Underground last year.
    The ASA upheld 19 complaints it received about the advert and ruled that it reinforced “harmful gender stereotypes”.
    The firm removed the word “girl” from the advert and issued an apology.

  53. Full UK-EU trade deal ‘impossible’ by deadline – von der Leyen

    Of course deal is possible by then but they are never going to admit that

    The UK and the EU will remain the “best of friends” but they will “not be as close as before” after Brexit, the new European Commission president says.
    Speaking ahead of talks with the PM, Ursula von der Leyen warned it would be “impossible” to reach a comprehensive trade deal by the end of 2020.
    She said if the deadline was not extended it was not a case of “all or nothing”, but of priorities.
    But Boris Johnson has insisted a deal is possible by December 2020.
    The prime minister has also said that the process will not be extended.

      1. Any “deal” reached with the EU will not be in the interests of the UK. The Eu have shown tha in their attitude towards the UK in its “negotiations” i.e. bullying.

        Do we want to be bullied by useless continentals who keep on starting wars (military or economic) to control Europe? WTO it has to be.

      2. O,
        First you settle the business in hand ie after nearly four years
        honoring the referendum verdict of the peoples, no if’s or but’s or deals.

    2. Re your last sentence – he’d better stick to that or thenTories will be toast at the next GE. And if the dead.ine is reached without a trade deal then WTO rules it is. Fine by me. In fact it’s the best!

      1. Afternoon VW,
        Thanks to the lab/lib/con pro eu coalition we are at this moment in time in a very tenuous position believe it or not depending on “hope” that johnson does the right thing.
        For all johnson ( amnesties R me) backers know he could very well be using the UK as a stepping stone on route to the
        premiership position in the eu.
        As for the next GE you may very well, courtesy of lab/lib/con and a supporting cast of fools, have to time your visitation to the ballot booth
        with prayer visitations to the mosque five times a day.

    3. BJ,
      Why does the necessity of a full trade deal obstruct total severance first off ?
      The majority of the peoples voted OUT.
      Once the UK is OUT then after a gap celebration period of say nine months
      answer the phone from brussels.
      Fair is fair the nine month worked in their favour once so no complaints.

      1. You are confusing different thing. WE are leaving on the 31 January. After that we are negotiating a free trade deal with the EU. WE will also be talking with other countries with reared to reaching trade deals

        1. You forget how many restrictions we are under during our interim period until 31 December 2020 – restriction we can do nothing about.

    4. What has the EU ever done for us except take our money. NOTHING but cause trouble.

    1. Afternoon MCMHMG,
      If johnson was inclusive in the group he would be the one singing the bum note.

    3. They haven’t named the 60+ Canadians yet but many are assuming that it will also be Canadians by passport only..

      Pretenty PM hasn’t said much yet, I guess that they know that they have found the weak side of the west.

      Feck em.

    1. The usual thing. Everything but everything happens down South. We must stop that North-South divide once and for all. More black-on-black crime up North please.

    2. The cities here have to put up with yelling and screaming from the Black Lives Matter gang whenever a police officer gets into conflict of any sort with a black man. But the person most likely (by about a 10:1 ratio) to be the killer of a young black male is another young black male, and if anyone protests those killings, it is to the effect that the hated police should do more. The cops just can’t win.

      1. The cops should let the ferals get on with killing each other, and just keep out. If a mum screams that the cops should be protecting them, they should be protecting us as well – which they don’t. If a certain sector of society want to kill each other, let them get on with it.

        1. Since most of this stuff happens in the inner city areas, where nobody else goes, to a large extent that’s what happens. What’s grim about it is the collateral damage. DC had a case recently where a couple of teenagers were trying to settle a dispute and a nearby child got shot dead.

          1. That is sad – nearby people should keep out until the population in the no-go areas exterminate each other.

          3. The people who currently kill each other. So let them finish the job and them others can move back.

          4. HL,
            Who allowed them to form “no go areas” and why was they allowed to form “no go areas”

      2. Afternoon JTL,
        The law cannot be both
        PC / Appeasers & unbiased law
        enforcers.
        We the decent people have no use for technicolor / rainbow police cars & judges of a
        mis-judging nature, we want law enforcing back as was before the madness in the mid 70s descended on the nation.
        In short we want a copper who earns respect & not ongoing ridicule.

  57. Uri Geller applies to work for Boris Johnson after advert calling for ‘super-talented weirdos’

        2. Developed at MEXE in Christchurch.
          Useful bit of kit when bridging.

          https://u0v052dm9wl3gxo0y3lx0u44wz-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/View-from-Vaucelles-of-Monty%E2%80%99s-Bridge-built-in-eight-days-by-the-20th-Field-Company-Royal-Canadian-Engineers.-Caen-Normandy-12-August-1944-showing-Christchurch-Crib-bridging-supports.jpg

          https://u0v052dm9wl3gxo0y3lx0u44wz-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Christchurch-Cribs.jpg

          https://u0v052dm9wl3gxo0y3lx0u44wz-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Improvised-bridge-104-Field-Squadron-REV.jpg

          And even used in the development of the Harrier Ski-jump take off ramp:-

          https://u0v052dm9wl3gxo0y3lx0u44wz-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/John-Farley-doing-the-first-Ski-Jump-take-off-in-the-Sea-Harrier-at-SBAC-Show-Farnborough-1978.-Image-from-RAF-Jever-site.jpg

          1. Evening Bob,
            But mainly enjoyed on a Sunday dinner time session with a pint of Guinness and a fag.
            By the by good photo’s.

  60. COFFEE HOUSE – Three ways Britain should refuse to stick to the EU’s rules in trade talks
    Matthew Lynn – 8 January 2020 – 1:21 PM

    It is hard to imagine there will be much of a meeting of minds. As the new president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen meets with the newly re-elected British Prime Minister Boris Johnson today the pleasantries will quickly give way to a strong clash of views.

    With our departure from the EU set for the end of the month, trade talks are about to open. Brussels is desperate to lock the UK into its regulatory system. But quite rightly, the government is resisting that. After all, there was no point in leaving only to accept all the EU rules and regulations, except this time with no say over how they are made. In fact, the UK government should make it absolutely clear there are a whole series of industries where we are determined to break free. And if that doesn’t happen it isn’t worth doing a deal.

    In fairness, we may want to accept partial alignment. In industries such as automobiles, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, where supply chains span Europe, and safety standards are global, it is perfectly sensible to adopt EU rules. But there are big areas where we should refuse to align ourselves. Such as? Here are three we should insist on.

    First, finance. We don’t want the City controlled from Brussels, especially as the French and Germans will be determined to do as much damage to our banks and fund managers as possible.

    Sure, it is useful to have the right to sell our financial services across Europe. But the City has always thrived as a freewheeling centre for innovation. And without the British, the EU will turn against finance even more than it already has. The City should be regulated in London and nowhere else.

    Next, technology. The EU is engaged in a bonkers war with the most successful companies in the world. From punitive fines, to endless taxes, to cumbersome data privacy rules that have hit start up companies the hardest, Brussels seems intent on damaging the sector as much as possible. Why? It wants to protect old companies from disruptive competition. By contrast, the UK should be embracing innovation, and encouraging new businesses and ideas. Freed from the EU’s rules, we can be Europe’s tech hub.

    Finally, agriculture. The EU’s protectionism never worked for the UK. It was always hard to work out exactly why we were imposing heavy import duties on, for example, citrus fruit, given how hard it is to grow lemons in this country even in sunny Kent. A damp post industrial island should buy its food on the world market at the cheapest prices. It should then use some of the money saved to help farmers preserve the landscape. It doesn’t make any sense to produce food expensively.

    Even worse, with a wave of innovation on the way, from vertical farms to lab grown meat, we need the freedom to embrace change – even if it isn’t great for French or Spanish agri-business.

    Over the next few months, there will be lots of pressure on the government to agree to whatever the EU demands. We will hear lots of the same lines about cliff edges, job losses, and shortages if we don’t take whatever deal is offered.

    But the UK needs to be very clear that it wants to seize the opportunities of leaving. And it can only do that by breaking with the EU’s rules.

    ***************************************************************************

    BTL:

    Ken • 2 hours ago • edited

    “In industries such as automobiles, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, where supply chains span Europe, and safety standards are global, it is perfectly sensible to adopt EU rules.”

    We should we, as a nation, accept any of their rules? If a business wants to sell goods into the EU, then they must build their goods to EU standards, but that does not require the UK to sign up to those standards. A similar business selling goods elsewhere can then manufacture to the standards of that local market.

    Jolly Radical • an hour ago

    Excellent input from Matthew Lynn as always.

    My friends in Germany tell me that the German broadsheets are speculating gleefully on the prospect of the EU Parliament actually REFUSING to ratify the WA later this month. Verhofstadt is apparently coordinating this frantically.

    This would be yet another blatant “delay = permanent membership, get used to it Englander” tactic, but what should our response be?

    1. What should our response be?

      If they want to play hardball, so can we. Withdraw our M.E.P’s. Close all Embassy and bring the staff home. Stop paying them any money. Stop all joint projects. Stop all import/export and open markets with less spiteful people. In effect, turn our backs on them til they see sense and negotiate properly.

      Alternatively…declare war.

    2. Z,
      The only unknown quantity in this farce
      is johnson.
      Our response on the 1st feb should be
      total severance and a nine month
      celebratory period, before any deals the eu wish to propose are listened to.

    1. Afternoon Rik,
      Never,ever,ever take at face value any
      political statement coming from the
      brussels sub office, AKA locally as the
      HOC.

    3. Ah but their rights are still protected they are free to return to their parents at any time

      1. I liked the old boy back in a flood hit area, sitting outside with a gun across his lap next to a sign,
        “looters WILL be shot”.

  65. John Ward

    One could simply write the candidates off as a joke. But they’re worse

    than a joke: they’re even worse than a very badly told joke with a

    self-satisfied grin as offered up by the thirty or more profoundly

    unfunny comics we see on TV satire panels every week. As Bernard Manning

    would’ve put it, “they’re about as funny as a f***ing burning

    orphanage”. They are, I’m afraid, a triumph of utter, self-unaware

    narcissistic betrayal of those left behind in Britain….a gaggle of

    faux-radical élitists who remember every slight from the past, repeat

    the syntax of the 1970s, and learn nothing that might help those they

    represent in the future.

    https://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2020/01/08/labour-leadership-contest-the-art-of-tinkering-with-the-funeral-arrangements/

    1. I like the writing style.

      “If you know a single original policy the Four Headless Chickens of the
      Apocalypse have come up with, do let me know. Needless to say, all four
      are unrepentant Remainers”.

  66. South Yorkshire Police again

    Rotten to the core

    “Girl, 15, ‘was repeatedly raped and sexually exploited by Asian

    grooming gang but no action was taken when she reported abuse’, court

    hears

    Nine men went on trial today accused of raping a girl aged between 15 and 17

    Abuse took place when the victim was drunk or on drugs, jurors were told

    The complainant first told police about being raped in 2011, prosecutor said

    No investigation was carried out or crime recorded, Sheffield Crown Court heard”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7865155/Girl-15-raped-Asian-grooming-gang-says-no-action-taken-police-court-hears.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailUK

      2. I don’t know what to believe about that case but if it was consensual why was she so heavily bruised?

        In the case of Yorkshire they had no need to be rough with them because they were already insensate.

    2. Oh come on Rik. Only been going on for 50 years. Give the Police a chance ! And it’s not as if more than 30,000 teenage girls were affected. Sheesh.

    4. How that organisation’s ranks weren’t culled from top to bottom is a mystery. Any decent coppers in South Yorkshire must have been embarrassed to admit working for it.

      1. I met a Policeman on holiday in Malta and i said the people are coming to view them as Social Services in uniform He agreed with me.

  67. Well, it looks like the “bot” (whatever TF that is) has concluded its mission to wipe out my upvote history. To date 13,249 comments: 0 upvotes. Cool, eh?

    Strange, as I take a look at most other popular contributors, they all seem to have a healthy “upvote” balance.

    And yet you still tell me that I’ve not been singled out?

    BOLLOCKS!

        1. Phizzee – all you need to do is add someones account number to the list and the program runs itself. No effort. 🙂 The joys of Disqus.

          2. Ahh I see what you are saying. 🙂 It is definitely not one of us, as I first encountered the effects of this bot on people over a year ago. They were from all different channels but the vast majority held the same “right wing” beliefs as we do. Some on the left were affected, but very few.

            Some people just don’t like those of us who believe in democracy and can argue our position.

          2. Evenin’ Phil. I’ve always been baffled by the paradox that if porn causes moral degradation why aren’t the censors affected? Lol!

          3. Evening, Minty.

            There was a report which i can’t be bothered to track down that said they were in need of counseling.

      3. Why am I paranoid, Rik? Explain that.

        I wasn’t aware of this “anomaly” until it was pointed out to me yesterday. I never look at (or check) my upvote count since it has never meant anything to me. Earlier today, Tom kept giving me a running tally of how my (and no one else’s) account was losing upvotes at a rapid rate. I finally noted, a short while ago, that the “bank” was empty.

        Yours is still in a healthy state with more than 130,000 still showing. Most other regulars have very large numbers still showing.

        I, personally, don’t give a fuck about this (never have) but it does seem suspicious that only one account has been emptied. Why?

        Please don’t go the same way as some other commentators and start attributing things to me (paranoia?) that are simply not true. I thought you were better than that, Rik.

        1. It’s not just you!! You have not been “Singled Out”

          As I said I have lost 50,000 in three days
          How many did you start with??

        2. Gizzly – it is possible that the Disqus staff (who many suspect are the ones reducing peoples upvotes) know that we are on to them and just don’t care anymore. Instead of whittling down peoples accounts slowly over months they are just taking them down in days.

          It really does not matter. It is the value of peoples words not their scores that count. Some “celebrities” have millions of followers and “likes,” but they cannot open their mouths without making idiots of themselves.

          You have just been given a “downvote” by the type of person that does not matter, just to try to get to you. Ignore it chap. 🙂

        3. IMO people are being targeted, one by one.

          It’s even happened to me. I wouldn’t have thought I was important enough to delete upvotes from, but they are indiscriminate.

    3. You are in good company, ogga1 is going through the pruning campaign,
      as I say, next we will notice a small adjustment to the comments, IMO we are once again being manipulated.

    4. Grizzly – we will all be there shortly. Many others have already been reduced to zero in the past year.

      Only when we are all zeroes will we be truly equal. I think I read that on some left-wing protesters sign.

    5. I’ve lost about a third, down from high 30 thousands to just above 20 thousand. Pathetic creature(s) but if it’s what floats their boat…

    7. Mine have been disappearing at a rate of knots since the weekend. Another 1500 in the last hour.

  68. I’ve just watched the Donald at his Press Conference. It looks as though WW3 has been temporarily postponed!

  69. It’s time to stop bashing white men. Spiked 7 January 2020.

    Monty Python legend and film director Terry Gilliam says we have to stop blaming white men for every ill in the world. He’s right. The casual manner in which ‘white man’ has become a term of abuse is deeply worrying. It treats whiteness almost as an original sin. It turns the accident of white skin into a marker for evil, a sign that you’re a morally questionable creature. It’s time to bring this white-man-bashing to an end.

    He’s about twenty years too late there. Another generation and they will be extinct!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/01/08/its-time-to-stop-bashing-white-men/

    1. Whiter than white?

      Following demisexuality and pansexuality, are we in for an invasion of OMOsexuality or is the Tide turning?

          3. I don’t want to lecture you Eddy but the Morlocks are the villains in H.G. Wells The Time Machine. They feed off the Eloi a caste of super refined wastrels.

          4. Not lecturing at all, Araminta, in fact it’s nice to learn a bit.

            Although it’s an extremely slow process, late in my life I’ve started to read books – mainly from the free Gutenberg site I mentioned the other week. Having polished off War of the Worlds, I’m now on 30 Strange Stories by H. G. Wells and will stick The Time Machine on my list.

  70. Good evening from the Sarf of France. Gorgeous sunset over the Med. 21 degrees C.

    Time for a glass to celebrate being on holiday.

    I’ll look in from time to time. Has that slammer who preached death to Americans and British IN EFFING LONDON been arrested yet? Just asking.

    3. What have you been on for the last few weeks?

      Or, if you have properties in two different countries, does it count as not being on holiday if you are living in one of them? Sounds a trifle spoilt…

  71. I have just noticed that since yesterday, my “up votes” have gone down by 40,000.

    Someone must have been busy overnight…

          3. I doubt that whichever person you are referring to has the power to remove any upvotes.

    2. Outside opinion counts for nothing in these backward countries. It falls to their own people to realise that this is barbaric and, until the male population “sees the light”, nothing will change.

    3. When it comes to Islam:

      Feminists are too scared top say or do anything against the monstrous suppression of women by Muslim men;

      Animal Rights activists and vegans do not challenge halal slaughter

      and

      Environmentalists keep strangely quiet about the fact that far more CO2 is dumped into the atmosphere and plastic waste fed into the oceans through Asian rivers than from anywhere else.

  74. Body ‘Of Child Migrant’ Found In Landing Gear Of Air France Flight

    The body of a stowaway has been found in the landing gear of an Air France flight from the Ivory Coast to Paris, the airline said.
    The lifeless body was found after Flight 703 left Abidjan on Tuesday and landed at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, the airline said in a statement.
    It expressed its “deepest sympathy and compassion for this human tragedy”.
    A French police official said the young victim has yet to be identified but is thought to be from Africa. An investigation is under way.
    Such stowaway attempts are extremely rare and nearly impossible to survive, the official said.
    French media reported that the body belonged to a child migrant, though the official said it was too early to determine the victim’s age.

    1. The Labour Party has demanded that all aircraft leaving mainland Africa are to fly with their undercarriage DOWN

      1. The EU is to introduce new legislation banning aircraft from having landing gear in order to prevent these deaths

        1. PS JB

          Landing gear can be called Take Off Gear

          The deffynishun of a good/safe pilot is when you check his Log Book and the Number of Landings is the same as the number of Take Offs

  76. Labour leadership: Unison endorses Sir Keir Starmer

    Sir Keir Starmer has won the backing of the UK’s largest trade union, Unison, to become the next Labour leader.
    Unison, which has 1.3 million members, said the shadow Brexit secretary was best placed of the candidates to unite the party and regain public trust.
    Unite, Labour’s largest financial backer, will decide later this month who to back in the contest.
    Sir Keir has also become the first to secure enough nominations from MPs and MEPs to get on the ballot paper.
    By Wednesday morning, the Holborn and St Pancras MP had secured the backing of 23 colleagues – passing the minimum of 22 required.

  78. Bill Jackson would like to thank all his followers who have lent him their up votes

  79. The Seven Types Of Sexuality

    Heterosexuality- Is the sexual attraction between members of the opposite sexes such as man attracts to woman and woman attracts to man sexually.

    Homosexuality- is the sexual attraction between members of the same sexes such as man to man and woman to woman.sexually.

    Bisexuality- Is the sexual attraction to both the opposite and same sexes such as man to man and man to woman, woman to woman and woman to man.

    Asexuality- Is also known as nonsexuality which is the lack of sexual attraction and sexual interest towards others.

    Polysexuality- Is the sexual attraction to more than one gender but do not wish to be known as bisexual as it implies that there are only two binary sexes, do not confuse this with pansexuality (Pan meaning All) and (Poly meaning many).

    Pansexuality- Is the sexual attraction towards people regardless of gender also known as omnisexuality, some pansexuals refer to themselves as gender blind as to them gender is insignificant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others. For some it is an attraction to saucepans and frying pans where they have an urge to have a deep and meaningful relationship with them

    Transexualism – Is when a person identifies themselves with a physical sex that is different to their own biological one, A medical diagnosis can be made if a person experiences discomfort as a result of a desire to be a member of the opposite sex. for example a person may be born male, and is uncomfortable with their gender as a male and changes to a female, or a female may change to a male. It is a long process that they will go through and an expensive one too.
    I hope that my explanations have helped you to understand the seven different sexualities of the human,

          7. I need to buy another side of pork to make a further batch. I cold-smoked (for 10 hours) the streaky half of the last batch I made, back in the summer, and it was delicious. I just left the back bacon ‘green’ (unsmoked).

      2. There, allegedly, used to be a donkey in one of the bars of La Linea (just across the border from Gib), whose party piece was to ‘have sexual relations with a female Woman

        A young Orficer joined a regiment in the desert. He was told that there were no Females in the barracks, however, his colonel did pointto a camel and say, if the urge is great use that
        A sentry observed the Orficer sevicing the camel and he was in front of the colonel to be disciplined
        The Young Orficers defence was the the Colonel told him to use the camel

        The Colonel said Yes to ride to the ‘Bawdy House’ in Town

    2. The Seven Types Of Sexuality.

      1. Normal.
      2. Perversion,
      3. Perversion.
      4. Perversion.
      5. Perversion.
      6. Perversion.
      7. Perversion.

    3. Another lot they just seem to make terms up

      SexualitY
      Romantic Orientation- Who you are romantically attracted to meaning wanting to be in a romantic relationship with and is unrelated to sexual attraction.
      Sexual Orientation- Who you are sexually attracted to meaning who you get turned on by or who you would want to engage in sexual behaviors with.

      *note all listed below are applicable also to romantic orientations. These take the prefix of the word and the ending -romantic, i.e. heteroromantic, panromantic, aromantic.

      Heterosexual- The attraction to a gender different from their own (commonly used to describe someone who is gender binary [female or male] attracted to the other binary gender).
      Homosexual- The attraction to a gender the same as their own (commonly used to describe someone who is gender binary [female or male] attracted to the same binary gender). Sometimess referred to as gay.
      Lesbian- Women who are attracted only to other women
      Bisexual- When you are attracted to two or more genders. This term is generally used to describe being attracted to men and women, but can apply to being attracted to any two or more genders. Note that you do not have to be equally attracted to each gender.
      Pansexual- When you are attracted to all genders and/or do not concern gender when you are attracted towards someone
      Bicurious- People who are open to experiment with genders that are not only their own, but do not know if they are open to forming any sort of relationship with multiple genders.
      Polysexual- When you are attracted to many genders
      Monosexual- Being attracted to only one gender
      Allosexual- When you are not asexual (attracted to at least one gender)
      Androsexual- Being attracted to masculine gender presentation
      Gynosexual- Being attracted to feminine gender presentation
      Questioning- People who are debating their own sexuality/gender
      Asexual- Not experiencing sexual attraction (note that you can also be aromantic and you do not necessarily have to be asexual and aromantic at the same time). Sometimes the term, ace, is used to describe asexuals.
      Demisexual- When you only experience sexual attraction after forming a strong emotional bond first or a romantic bond
      Grey Asexual- When you only experience attraction rarely, on a very low scale, or only under certain circumstances
      Perioriented- When your sexual and romantic orientation targets the same gender (for example being heteromantic and heterosexual or being biromantic and bisexual)
      Varioriented- When your sexual and romantic orientations do not target the same set of genders (for example being heteromantic and bisexual or being homoromantic and pansexual)
      Heteronormative- The belief that hetersexuality is the norm and that sex, gender, sexuality, and gender roles all align
      Erasure- Ignoring the existance of genders and sexualities in the middle of the spectrum
      Cishet- Someone who is both cisgendered and heterosexual. This is sometimes used as a slur.
      Polyamorous- An umbrella term referring to people who have or are open to have consensually have relationships with multiple people at the same time
      Monoamorous- People who have or or open to have relationships with only one other person at a time. The term, monogamous, is also sometimes used.
      Queer- A reclaimed slur for anybody in the LGBT+ community or who do not identify as cisgender and/or hetersexual/heteromantic
      Ally- A supporter of the LGBT+ community that does not identify as LGBT+
      Gender & Sex
      Sex- Your assigned gender at birth and/or the gender of your reproductive organs
      Gender- Where you feel that you personally fall on the spectrum between male and female. Commonly people identify as male or female, but some fall in the middle or move throughout the spectrum.
      Cisgender- When you identify with the gender you were assigned at birth
      Transgender- When you identify with a gender different than that you were assigned at birth
      Transsexual- When you have had Gender Reassignment Surgery (GRS) to change the sexual organs you were born with to that of a different gender.

      *note that you will sometimes see an astrid after Trans (Trans*) which is meant to include both transgendered and transsexual individuals

      Male to Female (MtF)- When somebody that is assigned as a male at birth identifies as a female
      Female to Male (FtM)- When somebody that is assigned as a female at birth identifies as a male
      Binary- The genders at each end of the gender spectrum (male and female)
      Non-Binary- An umbrella term for genders that fall somewhere in the middle of the gender spectrum and are neither strictly male or female. This can be used as a gender identification without further explanation. Sometimes the term, genderqueer, is used.
      Genderfluid- Moving between genders or having a fluctuating gender identity
      Agender- Not identifying with any gender. Sometimes referred to as being genderless or gendervoid
      Bigender- Identifying as two genders, commonly (but not exclusively) male and female. Sometimes you feel like both genders at the same time and sometimes you fluctuate.
      Polygender- When you identify with multiple genders at once. Sometimes referred to as multigender.
      Neutrois- When you identify as agender, neither male nor female, and/or genderless
      Gender Apathetic- When you really do not identify nor care about any particular gender. You are fine passing off as whatever and you really do not have an opinion towards your own gender.
      Androgyne- This term overlaps a lot between gender identification and presentation. It can be used to describe others and as an identification. This term is used to describe people who are neither male nor female or are both male and female. Basically anyone who does not fit into a binary gender category.
      Intergender- Somebody who’s gender is somewhere between male and female
      Demigender- When you feel as if you are one part a defined gender and one or more parts an undefined gender. Terms can include demigirl, demiboy, demiagender, ect.
      Greygender- Somebody with a weak gender identification of themselves
      Aporagender- Somebody with a strong gender identification of themselves that is non-binary
      Maverique- A non-binary gender that exists outside of the orthodox social bounds of gender
      Novigender- A gender that is super complex and impossible to describe in a single term
      Designated gender- A gender assigned at birth based on an individuals sex and/or what gender society percieves a person to be
      AFAB- Assigned Female At Birth
      AMAB- Assigned Male At Birth
      Gender roles- Certain behaviors an activities expected/considered acceptable of people in a particular society based upon their designated gender
      Gender Presentation- The gender you present yourself to others. This is sometimes referred to as gender expression
      Transitioning- The process of using medical means to change your sex
      Intersex- A biological difference in sex that is when people are born with genitals, gonads, and/or chromosomes that do not match up exactly with male or female. Intersex individuals can have any romantic/sexual orientation and can have any gender identification. Intersex individuals are about as common as redheads.
      Dyadic- Someone who is not intersex and when their gentinals, gonads, and chromosomes can all match into either a male or female category
      Trans Woman- Someone who is assigned as a male at birth, but identifies as a woman
      Trans Man- Someone who is assigned as a female at birth, but identifies as a man
      Trans Feminine- Someone who identifies as feminine, but identifies as neither a man nor a woman. They must also be assigned male at birth.
      Trans Masculine- Someone who identifies as masculine, but identifies as neither a man nor a woman. They must also be assigned female at birth.
      Social Dysphoria- Discomfort experienced when acting in ways socially different than your gender or being addressed in ways different to your gender
      Body Dysphoria- Discomfort experienced because of the difference between gender and your sex, role, or gender expression
      Butch- A term used to describe someone who’s gender expression is more masculine than feminine. This is commonly used in describing women or lesbians.
      Femme (Fem)- A term used to describe someone who’s gender expression is more feminine than masculine. This is commonly used in describing women or lesbians.
      Binarism- Putting gender strictly into two categories (male and female) and refusing to acknowledge genders outside of male and female.

      This site uses cookies to personalize your experience, analyze site usage, and offer tailored promotions. http://www.youronlinechoices.eu Remind me later

      1. Pansexual:- One who becomes sexually aroused while frying bacon and eggs for breakfast.

      2. Bah! “Romantic love” was around at the time of Chaucer. It was called Courtly love – ask Troilus.

      4. What about Toshsexual – people who are attracted, and sometimes addicted, to complete tosh?

  80. Just seen tomorrow’s weather. Wow! To Italy for trombetti seed. And cheese. And things.

    A demain – possibly.

    (Connection playing up – I blame the Iranians.)

    1. Hello railroad, is this the railroad?
      I want a one way ticket down to Tennessee
      I’m leaving immediately, Chattanooga, here I come
      Pardon me boy, is that the Chattanooga choo choo?
      Right on track 29, boy, you can give me a shine
      I can afford to board the Chattanooga choo choo
      I’ve, I’ve, I’ve got my fare and just a trifle to spare
      You leave the Pennsylvania station ’bout a quarter to four
      Read a magazine and then you’re in Baltimore
      Dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer
      Then to have your ham and eggs in Carolina
      When you hear the whistle blowing eight to the bar
      Then you know that Tennessee is not very far
      Shovel all the coal in, gotta keep it rolling
      Whoo, whoo, Chattanooga, there you are
      There’s gonna be a certain party at the station
      In, in satin…
      Source: Musixmatch
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGBwmLRNLJ4

          1. Hello Mahatma!

            Thank you for that, my dear. And Cherry Blossom Express for you – but not as I knew it. I used to meet two violinists in a Bierkeller in Earls Court Road, and they would sometimes play it on their violins, after they had finished work. Their version was always my favourite. If I was really naughty and up beyond midnight we’d all go to the Split Coconut and share a huge rum punch that was served out of an enormous glass. Those were the days of studenthood during the holidays!

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50dMowICzwU

      2. Lovely piece of music – but no trains to Chattanooga these days.

        Similarly the Last Train to San Fernando left a long time ago, as did The Last Train to Clarksville,

        And the Coronation Scot is also long gone. Even Paul Temple could not save it.

          1. Gone as well – bot I do have a Lonnie Donegan Album on CD which includes that and many more of his hits.

  82. Glossary of terms

    Please study careful it will become a part of a degree course. If you can understand this total bs you are genius

    Agender Somebody who either feels they have no gender identity, or who identify not as male or female but ‘neutral.’

    Aporagender A fairly new word stemming from the Greek ‘apor’, meaning ‘separate’. Aporagender is an umbrella term meaning “a gender separate from male, female and anything in between while still having a very strong and specific gendered feeling.” That latter part is key, then, distinguishing it from Agender.

    Bigender Relatively straightforward: a bigender person sees themselves as having two gender identities. The separate genders could both be male, or female, mixed or other – and may be felt at the same time or entirely distinctly.

    Butch Used as both a noun and an adjective, this refers to a person who identifies as masculine (either physically, mentally or emotionally). The term is occasionally used as a lesbian slur, but has been reclaimed by some gay women and turned into a affirmative label.

    Cisgender Pronounced “siss-gender”, this refers to anybody who identifies with the same biological gender they were born with. Tentatively, then, it could be seen as the opposite of transgender.

    Demigender A catchall term for all identities that only have a partial connection to a certain gender. Demiboy and demigirl are also frequently used.

    Femme Used by and for anybody who identifies as feminine, but more commonly associated with feminine-identifying gay women.

    Demigender A catchall term for all identities that only have a partial connection to a certain gender. Demiboy and demigirl are also frequently used.

    Femme Used by and for anybody who identifies as feminine, but more commonly associated with feminine-identifying gay women.

    Genderfluid A term describing individuals for whom gender is unfixed: they fluctuate between different identities aside from their biological assignment.

    Gender neutral A synonym for ‘agender’: somebody who identifies with no gender.

    Gender queer An umbrella term covering any feelings about gender alternative to society’s traditional expectations.

    Intergender One of the oldest (and thus often deemed outdated) terms, this is used by anybody whose gender identity is between male and female. Some believe intergender should only refer to those born with different genitals to the norm, though this is more commonly known as ‘intersex’.

    Nonbinary Fairly simply, anybody who doesn’t identify as simply female or male.

    Polygender Identifying with several different genders either at the same time or different times. Normally the term is given to those with four or more.

    Transgender/Trans An umbrella term for any individual whose gender identity is different from what is typically associated with their assigned biological sex at birth. It should be noted that transgenderism is a gender identity and not a sexual orientation, therefore no assumptions should be made as a result.

    3. BJ,
      I can only ID arseender as a segment of a daisy chain, check with Jim the washing machine chap / chapess.
      And a straperdicktomeism both in the main can be summed up under the encapsulating title poofdykeania.
      How many genuine cases, ? how many illegals in the UK ?, how long is a piece of string?

  84. Hello NoTTLers

    Briefly in and out, as happens at the moment. We all know this, but when are governments (particularly ours) going to do something? As far as I’m concerned, the tragedy of Africa (and the tragedy to the rest of the world) is some Africans. They really have shown themselves not to be worthy of such a wonderful continent.

    The Tragedy of Africa
    Hannes Wessels

    It’s over sixty years since Ghana became independent from Britain. The world celebrated as the sun began to set on the imperial era. “African Nationalism,” in the form of Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, entered the stage, and the world celebrated the breaking of a golden dawn bringing bright light to the “Dark Continent,” as the colonial shackles were broken and “liberation” belatedly arrived.

    Since then, some 200 coups or attempted coups have taken place, 25 heads of state have been assassinated, and roughly fifty wars have been fought. Despite multiple interventions, Africa remains the most corrupt continent by far. Transparency International reports that illicit transfers out of Africa far exceed the total value of all foreign aid to the continent (currently estimated at over $50 billion a year). With Britain being one of the most generous providers, over $1 trillion in aid has been pumped into the most resource-rich continent on the planet, but it remains by far the poorest. Sadly, it’s getting messier because of rank bad governance and the virtual absence of the rule of law, leaving human and property rights open to routine violation.

    A misplaced sense of guilt that has been at the core of British-Africa policy has resulted in throwing massive amounts of public money down a gigantic black hole. The annual foreign-aid budget, pegged as a fixed percentage of U.K.’s GDP, is currently in the region of £15 billion p.a.

    Possibly the biggest misconception about Africans, also very effectively peddled by the mendacious BBC and some of the print media, is that Africans remain angry and anti-British because they were once colonized. This is rubbish; most love the British, adore the Queen, and respect the flag. And this sentiment has only grown recently, fueled by the Chinese, who have arrived in force and number. Unlike the British, past and present, the new colonialists are not squeamish about such trivia as human rights, and they are contemptuous of the locals they exploit. This attitude has angered and alienated millions; but it works well for a tiny political elite that prospers mightily at the expense of the majority. This grossly unfair dispensation suits the new Oriental overlords in their bid to reign supreme in the countries they target for plunder, but which they do not consider to be home.

    “Despite multiple interventions, Africa remains the most corrupt continent by far.”
    The stark fact is that hundreds of millions of Africans living in wretched poverty desperately want to see more of the British and a more robust British presence, but, unsurprisingly, their leaders are less enthusiastic. The politicos should not be blamed; they have become very used to generous dollops of mostly unconditional Western “aid,” which is then siphoned off to enrich themselves and their cronies, and to pay the bloated bureaucracies and security services that buttress their positions of power.

    NGOs and the mandarins of the “aid business” certainly won’t like any messing with the status quo because they too have created big, sinecure-ridden bureaucracies that provide opulent lifestyles for a legion of “do-gooders” who are generally unaccountable to anyone of any consequence.

    African leaders have made a monumental mess of governing the place, despite being given huge opportunities and vast cash donations to succeed, and the only way to recovery is to acknowledge this and position competent people in both the public and private sector. The short answer to the next despot who arrives in London looking for some financial assistance is to tell him the gravy train has hit a wall and from now on help will arrive on two legs and may have a white skin.

    The world needs reminding that it was the British people and their excellent systems of governance that laid the platforms for some of the most successful polities in history, which include: the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and (up to a point) South Africa. It was the colonial experience that set these countries on the road to a richness that somehow missed Africa when the colonials departed.

    Indeed, current events unfolding in Hong Kong provide stark proof of this premise. If colonization was so bad, why are the people of the former territory out in the streets risking their lives to retain and protect the systems bequeathed them by Britain and so abhorred by African leaders? I suggest the answer lies in the fact that most citizens, and especially the industrious working class, have experienced a sense of fair governance and know that that fairness is enshrined in the systems the colonials left behind.

    What Africa desperately needs is not money but good governance and a radical reduction in the size of bureaucracies that consume most of the national wealth while providing little in return. To achieve this, they must acknowledge and accept that they need skilled British people in important positions in the public and private sector. Instead of donating huge sums of money, policy should be aimed at funding carefully selected civil servants and businesspeople to go abroad and help reestablish good governance and a more conducive business environment.

    It was Liberia’s President Johnson Sirleaf who said, “Africa is not poor, it is poorly managed.” Nobody is better skilled and placed to address this critically fundamental problem than the British.

    Equally important is the urgent need to stimulate economic growth. In Africa it is really only the mammoth multinationals that can afford to buy the needed political patronage to break through the rigorous red tape and graft that go with doing business in Africa and manage to function. But in return for mining and other concessions, much of the revenue is often externalized, bringing marginal benefit to the country.

    The “little guy,” the small-time entrepreneur who wants to start a business in Africa, usually finds himself in the suffocating clutches of corrupt bureaucrats who present a regulatory minefield that sucks the zeal out of the endeavor. The potential investor loses, the country loses, and so do the people who may have gained employment. Britain is awash with skilled people who could contribute and prosper in Africa, in all areas of commercial enterprise, if given the chance, and it is they who hold the key to unlocking so much of the continent’s potential. Money currently being dished out as aid would be far better channeled into their hands. The Foreign Office must be instructed to press their Commonwealth counterparts to open their countries to these people, offer favorable investment incentives, give them a level playing field, and protect their property rights.

    None of this will be easy—old habits die hard—but the rewards could be staggering. The tragedy of Africa is that so much local talent and energy combined with a deep desire to have a chance to work are wasted almost entirely because of poor governance and dishonesty.

    https://www.takimag.com/article/the-tragedy-of-africa/

    1. Looking at the current state of the governance of the UK and its useless, untrustworthy and corrupt political and establishment classes I do not see how what we have here would be of any advantage to the African continent.

      1. Not now, but what we created then. Anyway. what we have that is of advantage to opportunistic Africans, is BENEFITS! Paid for by horrible whitey.

    2. Pretty sure it’s not exactly the done thing in this “enlightened” era to refer to Africa as a “black hole” as the author did.

      I am reminded of a Washington Post oped written back just before South Africa became black majority ruled. The writer was a black reporter who the Post had sent to multiple countries on the African continent. His most memorable conclusion was that the only place he felt safe the whole time he was there was South Africa. Of course, the RSA has moved onwards and upwards – and now it’s not safe either.

      1. I can’t help thinking that it serves them right. (Not the whites who helped the country prosper).

      2. Yep. I also commented on this.
        I suspect we can no longer refer to that place in Calcutta as “the Black hole” any more and just think of all those astronomy terms that will have to be changed….

    3. Good afternoon!

      One begins to see why the Romans had so little interest in the cost and effort of conquering Sub-Saharan Africa.

      “The politicos should not be blamed; they have become very used to generous dollops of mostly unconditional Western “aid,” which is then siphoned off to enrich themselves and their cronies, and to pay the bloated bureaucracies and security services that buttress their positions of power”, could with a little tweaking equally describe the EU Commission.

      1. Hello, Sue,

        Indeed. What have Africans (as opposed to Africa) contributed to civilisation? What are the Africans in Western countries contributing to civilisation?

        Pass.

        1. Oh, you could go to Buzz feed…..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Z-IBZr_L4 … where a couple of lame brains try to go 72hours without using anything invented by Black people. Sadly for them pretty well all the featured inventors did not invent what was claimed and a couple who got only a passing mention did in fact do far more. One missing was George Washington Carver…. who truly did a great deal….

          A more testing exprience would be for all those who shriek about “cultural appropriation” were to do without anything and everything invented by non-Bame. Well, OK lets drop the ME and stick with Black people, the noisiest about this because in antiquity (before the religion of peace) were quite inventive and gave us algebra (a lot would happily do without that, especially those products of the modern education system), zero and a great deal of astronomy.But lately?

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRosjwul9Sg

          1. The Arabs who invented algebra etc. are nothing like the sub-Sahara Africans. The latter have never achieved anything.

          2. Which is why I suggested dropping the ME from BAME
            They didn’t ven invent slavery though they proved adept and exploiting it and no one calls on them to apologise…. remember all the uproar when Roots appeared on TV and AFrican(_?)Americans discovered that Africans were a key ingredient in the slave trade.
            I also note that in some of the “Slave states” the slavery laws included a racist restriction… Black slave owners could not own white slaves… yes there were black slave owners, some of which supported the south in the civil war and yes there were white slaves (The surplus poor” and many were British whose journey from the Uk to North America was very little different to that of the African slaves.

            But when you have a chip on your shoulder facts are of little importance.

          4. We’ve had this discussion before: the Arabs did not invent algebra. Algebra in a number of forms evolved from the ancient Egyptians (certainly not Arab), the Babylonians, ancient Greeks and India (Brahmagupta). A Persian mathematician, Al-Khwarizmi wrote a book describing what became known as algebra: the word originated from the name of his book. Algebra continued evolving through the time of Leibniz and into the modern era.

            The first known instance of zero originated in India (Brahmagupta).

            Wikipedia – History of Algebra

          5. Sorry, I was making a very generalised (and thus in this case wrong) statement. Apols are I stand corrected.

          6. Hi, HL. No apology needed, it’s a common story that’s been put around for some time along with others to make the RoP i.e Arabs, appear progressive.
            Some time ago I heard a Persian (Iranian) man referred to as an Arab. He was livid and stated that he was an Assyrian and no way was he an Arab.

        2. Question: What are the Africans in Western countries contributing to civilisation?
          Answer: They provide steady employment for the police, criminal lawyers, judges, prison officers, social workers, ambulance & ER staff and of course undertakers !

          1. The 419 advanced fee scams? Haven’t you had one of those emails from some woman claiming to be the wife of someone who died and left countless millions in a Nigerian bank account and you can have 25% if you’ll just help her move it?

          2. I have had dozens of them, so many in fact I have become an agent for the Nigerian Central Reserve Bank of Bonga Bonga and am authorised to offer you a 25% discount on our 2099 Bond offering which is backed by shares of Enron

      2. There was a paper published somewhere which looked at the poverty syndrome in third world governments with the richest supplies of raw materials…. Venezuela and Nigeria being key examples….. paradoxically the sort of governments lead by people so thoroughly approved of by people like Red Ken Livingstone (a far cry from Finknottle, the other newt fancier) and Jeremy Corbyn who seems unable to even attempt to hide his idiosyncrasies.

    4. I think I have mentioned before (but can’t find the original program… maybe the Beeb has deleted it or edited it out of the accessible copies) one of those great train journeys when they chose as the host someone with somne sort of qualification instead of using it as a sort of perk for a couple of celebrities (Palin, Portilo etc.). For a journey following the british built railway from Cape Town north they chose an African American professor of Anthropology….
      At one point he goes along the train and talks to various passengers one of whom is a black woman. He innocently asks what she wants of the future and she replies “I wish the British were back in control”. Queue a pretty good Michael Jackson impression as the colour drains and the shock takes effect. OK, I exaggerate a bit but he was clearly taken aback by this when his expectation would have been the absolute opposite. She went on to explain that the British had been fair and impartial but with independence the biggest tribe has taken over and things had gone down hill fast for the rest.
      As was said at the time Democt=racy in the newly independent nations was a case of “One man, one vote, once only.”

      PS are you Ok with referring to Africa as “black hole” into which we pour millions …. and the EU too including more of our money…..?

      1. Yes, it was not my reference but from the author of the article which I posted. A black hole is a bottomless pit. If people of colour want to take over an old expression, which pre-dated their own attempted takeover of our language, then they can try. And they can FOAD.

        1. Off topic a bit, but Whitehaven in Cumbria has been rated the safest town in England. Blackpool and Blackburn tie for the worst.

      1. I’ve been boycotting them since about 1972, when they opened a branch in my home town. I thought I’d give them a try, even though the smell of baking on the street outside the shop was a strangely unpleasant one. Normally baking smells marvellous.

        The pasty I bought in the shop lived up to the expectation suggested by the smell on the street. The pastry was greasy and unappetising. I gave them a few more chances to improve, but nothing changed. It beats me how they are still going.

        1. Is that cafe still going on the town side of the Railway bridge just next to where the Buffalo Cinema used to be?

          1. The south side, just along from Woolworths, Bob, about half way from the Grand Corner.

    7. Proof, if it were ever needed, that veganism is a mental disorder.

      Vegans scream, long and loud, that they will eat no animal-derived product.

      OK so far?

      Why the fuck, then, do they clamour to eat food that tries its very best to mimic a carnivorous diet?

    8. They look like the digestive system hasn’t got to spend much energy converting them into waste

    8. Nobody here too upset, I imagine, although Lottie liked to defend them for some reason.

          1. Afghanistan surely?
            Annoying thing was, he had been a popular officer and could have had a decent Army career were it not for the Press interference.

    10. “MEGHAN MARKLE and Prince have announced they are stepping back as senior members of the Royal Family, in a shock announcement.”

      Have they just realised how deeply unpopular they have become after trying to lecture people who are far more intelligent than they are on how to live their lives.

      1. They are not unpopular with me,
        I have no feelings either way.
        They just got off to a bad start, had bad advice.
        I’m sure they can come back older and wiser.

        1. “I’m sure they can come back older and wiser.”

          I’m sure you’re half right, Bob.

        2. The bad advice no doubt came from Meghan. She is cheap, tawdry and does not belong in the British royal family. A bit like her predecessor, Wallis Impson. Come to that, Harry has developed several Edwardian (VIII) traits…submissiveness being one.

          1. Spot on HL

            Harry has been bewitched by her… she is manipulative and has a bad track record with relationships .. She’ s a bling queen and has ruined Harry who always seemed so happy and energetic .. and a bit of a lad ..when he was single … a funghi to be with !

          8. After serving in Aghanistan, marriage to Meghan is probably giving him further war experience – 24/7.

          14. Aw, but it was good for us, even if it wasn’t for you (which I don’t believe for one minute). NoTTL without Mahatma (as I wrote when you left) is much diminished. IMO nearly all NoTTLers are appreciated by others.

          15. I left originally in early 2016 along with Truth Revealed & Spam Fritter to create a channel of our own – Absolutely Not the Daily Trollograph as Geoff would not allow anybody else to put up pages and we wanted to post our own article pages

          16. I know, and I went onto those sites. But there is only so much time we have in a day to be online.

            I always like seeing you here. So there.

      2. Apparently the Duchess of Windsor grew to despise her third husband. I wonder if The Duchess of Sussex already despises her second.

    11. Oh good. It’s a shame that they are only “gradually” going to give up the money they get from taxpayers. Let them go – and don’t let them live off the British “Royal” as a trademark for what they want.

      We’ve seen this before – Harry has more than a little resemblance to his relative Edward VIII. Take their titles back and let them go. They can be plain Mr. and Mrs.

      1. Yo HL

        Harry has more than a little resemblance to his relative Edward VIII.

        That assumes that Prince Charles is his Dad

        Allegedly Diana was unfaithful, just the once with the British Army.

        That could be a .Major’ influence on his actions

        2. Wotcher, OLT,
          Well his mother was connected to theRoyal ancestral line as well. Who knows how far back it went? There were some pretty awful and weak royals in the last few centuries.

      2. And cut off every penny – she should go back to work as a Z list actress and he can stay at home to look after the brat.

        2. It’s the nose. Also ginger is a dominant trait – or else it would have died out – and … well, are there any ginger royals?

          1. The Spencers – Diana’s older sister and brother are gingery. Harry looks very much like Charles Spencer.

          1. There were one or two comments on various Radio Four programmes, culminating in a Friday broadcast of the News Quiz a couple of decades ago that had a comment from one of the participants that appeared to suggest a not very “well known London secret” regarding her treatment by her family before she got anywhere near Charles.

            The Saturday repeat had that snippet removed.

          2. Didn’t her granny or someone, engineer the whole thing, without any reference to Diana’s own feelings?

    12. Doesn’t work that way. It’s a duty. You cannot resign a duty.

      I’m sure she loved the pomp and the tax payer paying for her wedding, but the return on that is as an ambassador – a figurehead of the United Kingdom. You don’t get one without the other.

      1. The tax payer has also recently shelled out a considerable sum for the refubishment of their home.

        1. That’s why she went back to Grenfell this week to check the kitchen has an Aga to service the new home.

        2. That’s fine – it’s our property and should be maintained.

          Of course, they should have to find somewhere else to live. Newham, perhaps.

          4. Fair enough, it’ll be relied upon to be reasonably modern for when William’s small person wants a granny flat.

      2. I’ve never considered them members of the Royal Family anyway. They won’t be missed.

    1. Wouldn’t surprise me if they accidentally shot it down thinking it was the Americans coming to attack them.

        1. Well, so far it looks like an accident. But coming around the time of the Iranian retaliation on the US in Iraq it could very well be connected.

          I would think it was an accidental shoot down by air defences if anything.

          1. Yes; the ” coincidence is amazing, all the more so that it is an Ukrainian airline. I’m waiting for the Democrats to say that Trump was talking to it.

      3. It would certainly explain why, so far, the mullahs have refused to allow an examination of the ‘black box’ which was recovered from the crashed plane.

        1. Because it would mean handing it over to Boeing and therefore the Americans who they aren’t exactly on friendly terms with at the moment.

    1. From Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Gardiner

      In February 2017, The Times revealed that since September 2015, Gardiner had received £182,284 in disclosed cash donations from Christine Lee & Co, which acts as the chief legal adviser to the Chinese embassy. Before this, his constituency party received cash donations from Christine Lee & Co of £22,500 between 2009 and 2015. The paper also revealed that part of this money was used to fund the employment of Daniel Wilkes (son of the firm’s founder) in his parliamentary offices. Alistair Graham, former chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, called the situation “bizarre” and said “there are clearly questions to be answered”.[20]

      Gardiner has been a supporter of China in his shadow portfolios, in particular surrounding the development of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, opposing inner-party disputes over criticism of Chinese involvement in the project, despite military and intelligence figures warning ministers that such involvement posed a threat to national security. He urged Theresa May to tell China that Britain wanted strong investment in infrastructure projects, and described her decision to halt the deal as “politically stupid” and tantamount to “closing UK Plc down”.[20] Gardiner later criticised May for negotiating a “rip-off deal” over its development.[21]

  91. You have to feel sorry for the Queen. First Andrew, next Harry. There’s been a lot of rubbish in that family. Thank the Lord for William and Kate.

        2. Whoever it is, Pud, they are a gutless, whingeing, mincing kiddie-fiddling arsewipe (and that’s just for starters).

          If ever the technology becomes available to identify them, they had better start shitting their pants because I’m coming for them and it won’t be pretty!

      2. No. The Royal family brings in oodles of cash for the country. Whatever people’s opinion on the monarchy itself, that golden goose must remain unplucked. It’s too valuable.

      4. Not with any risk of President Corbyn at the top, thank you very much. Better the devil you know …..

    2. You have to feel sorry for the Queen. First Andrew, next Harry.
      You have to feel sorry for the Queen. First Charles, then Andrew, next Harry.
      there that’s fixed it for you!

          4. To be fair when in a London Taxi on the way to a meeting in the City of London, on the day of the Diana Funeral, I made some derogatory remarks about the vacant morons (who had descended on Westminster clutching Dutch flowers) that I thought these people, in their thousands, were sentimental workshys. I had work to do so why were they not similarly at work.

            The Taxi driver stopped the cab and threatened to turf me out. He was another idiot taken in by Diana’s supposed ‘charms’.

          5. Most people remember where they wee when they heard of her death. I remember, and I remember what the the peopkle around me thought. They felt that it was like a personal bereavement.

          6. Alas, I cannot even remember where I was when J F Kennedy was shot. That was on reflection a much more momentous event.

            I heard the news of the death of Diana early one morning as I was preparing to go to work in Norwich, a drive of about ninety miles each way. The BBC played solemn music. I actually felt a certain sense of relief having been bombarded with ‘News’ about the ghastly woman for a decade, on a daily basis.

          7. I was a 12 year old and was sitting on the kitchen floor of a neighbour friend’s house, playing with a box of old broken toys and bits of scrap metal. My friend had suggested that we “make our own robot” from the scraps. As we were sorting through them his dad entered the kitchen to tell us that Kennedy’s assassination was all over the news.

            By the way, Corim, you didn’t happen to work for Chaplin Farrant on Yarmouth Road in Norwich did you?

          8. I worked for Feilden & Mawson initially in London but was seconded to Norwich office to sort out the masonry to the cathedral tower, bits of which were falling off. The Surveyor to the Fabric (Cathedral Architect) was Keith Darby, a fellow associate of the practice, who had been stricken with Hepatitis C.

            I spent several months on the enormous scaffold measuring and formulating repairs to the masonry and the cast and wrought iron belfry louvres. Having formulated and specified the necessary repairs I was shunted to one side by Sir Bernard Feilden’s nephew, Hugh Feilden, who as a new partner in the practice was attempting to succeed Keith Darby who had by then died. The Dean and Chapter appointed a Cambridge architect to the vacant post.

            Hugh Feilden himself died unexpectedly a few months ago. He will have been about my age.

            The Norwich office was on Ferry Road, more or less in line with the Cathedral Close.

          12. There aren’t many people I take an instant dislike to, but she was one. Blair was another.

          14. I thought she was a breath of fresh air compared to the rest of them.
            St Johns Wood – and you would too.

  92. Just had an amusing 20 minutes watching Andrew Neil take Clive Lewis apart.

    Lewis is so thick he doesn’t realise that voters don’t want extreme left wing policies.

  93. Two New Vacancies have become available. No experience required Must be able to handle media attention

    Please apply to the Queen at Buck House. Pay and Conditions negotiable

      2. On the contrary the principal requirement (diversity) implies one must be freckled and ginger and the other a half caste.

        Edit: Matching snub Ski-slope noses would be an advantage.

    3. To be frank, the Royal Christmas photo showed clearly the Queen’s intentions as regards the reduced Royal Family, no Andrew and Duchess of Pork, no Anne and her Vice Admiral, no Edward and his upper crust property sales assistant, No offspring of the above.

      What a refreshing change.

    2. The wreckage was scattered over a wide area indicating an in flight break up. There are not too many possible causes.

      1. Precisely. Photos of the fuselage show multiple penetrations of the fuselage skin. The plane was probably shot down, possibly by an Iranian airport defence missile, having mistaken it for a drone.

        The reluctance of the Iranian regime to release the two black box recorders either to Ukraine, international air accident investigators or the engine manufacturer more or less proves the cover up.

        1. My theory, for which I have absolutely no evidence:

          Trigger-happy missile battery shoots down plane.
          Iran can’t admit this as they risk losing support from neutrals over US strike.
          US knows this so both sides agree to no further strikes against the US and decide to blame ‘technical failure.’
          Iran keeps up the anti-US rhetoric while quietly doing nothing.

    1. “Roger Utley, chairman of the bench, announced that as well as the
      six-month ban, the court was fining Mrs Tindall £666 ……….. “

      That’s the devil of a price to pay …..

      ……. I’ll get me holy water.
      :¬(

    3. Hands of Philip please

      He has lived an action packed life, see HMS Cossack in Norway,

      Supported HMQ wonderfully

      Never PC

      If it is from the BBC, it is B*llox Before Country

      2. HMS Cossack, number L101 (or was it 103?). My first Airfix ship model. Seized the German prison ship Altmark and released the POWs it contained. Prince Philip is a top bloke in my book.

        1. Boy, did that piss off the Norwegians, as it happened in Norwegian waters whilst Norway was trying to be neutral. Fat lot of good neutrality did for them, but they hoped to repeat WW1 experience & stay out of conflict.

    5. “Roger Utley, chairman of the bench, announced that as well as the six-month ban, the court was fining Mrs Tindall £666 plus costs and a victim surcharge of £151.”

      Who’s the victim?

      I see Prickly Thistle also feels prickly about it.

    1. Derby had a similar scheme which was abandoned because of the vandalism to and theft of the bikes.

      1. These schemes are being abandoned all over the UK. They are expensive to operate and have high levels of vandalism etc and low levels of use

      1. Who would have thought that vandalism and theft of the bikes is rife and usage of them low. Lost of these schemes have gone bus or just pulled out. They rarely last more than a few years before giving it up as a bad job

  104. Not at all impressed with that Jess Philips. made the mistake of watchng Morgan intererview her. labour are the worst i have ever seen them

    1. O2O,
      The three monkeys are slowing retreating, the last under aged virgins in the country will turn around to the adults and say “you shower of bastards” before being defiled.

  107. “MPs vote to drop child refugee protections from Brexit bill”
    This is front page news on the Guardian, designed to make Boris look bad.
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk
    But if you read further down the report, the protection remains. The Guardian is a sneaky scum rag.

    3. I thought that Boris was going to drop those protections. In which case isn’t it Boris being sneaky?

      1. I think Boris wants to have his cake and eat it. Whatever, escaping from EU rules and setting your own is not to be sneezed at.

      2. Iain Blackford, SNP leader in the Commons. He resembles Billy Bunter and likewise spouts nonsense whilst he and his Scots remain utterly dependant upon the receipt of postal orders at regular intervals from ‘Mummy’ aka England.

        1. Thanks

          One of Queen Nicola’s serfs then

          Until the price of Indepenence, or that the UK as whole should vote, and the silly tax giver, Mr Barnet on the Clapham omnibus (who hates going Norf) are mentioned.

    1. I think Mr Hat said that it could affect your ability to post unless you were whitelisted by the Mods.

        2. ” Adding this person to the whitelist will automatically approve his or her new comments from now on.”

          AKA being added as a Trusted User allowing you to be able to post irrespective of your Disqus Reputation status – High, Average or Low, Low rep posters usually have their posts go automatically into Pending or Spam and require manual approval & release by a Moderator

        3. OneLastTry – Whitelisting is just when a channel such as this one, ignores however low your “reputation” score is and allows your comments through. When your score drops below 0, then every comment you make on “normal” sites goes to Pending before it goes up for people to see. On larger sites they do not have the time to check each comment that is sent there, so all of your comments there are effectively blocked.

          This is a “quirk” of Disqus that allows you to be censored in this way, and it is why I am the only one of my friends who uses it. Disqus is not considered to be “serious software” by them because it can be used like this. No one user should be able to censor another by fiddling the system.

      2. Phizzee – having a below 0 score will censor your comments from larger news sites such as Breitbart, but it will not affect you commenting here, or on any site that “knows you.”

  110. DM Story https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7865155/Girl-15-raped-Asian-grooming-gang-says-no-action-taken-police-court-hears.html

    Girl, 15, ‘was repeatedly raped and sexually exploited by Asian grooming gang but no action was taken when she reported abuse’, court hears

    Jurors heard the girl, abused between age 15 and 17, told South Yorkshire Police she was raped and ‘no effective action was taken’. Usman Din, pictured, denies three counts of rape.

    It is the refusal of police and politicians to act justly where Muslims are involved which makes the problem of Islamophobia very much worse. Indeed, I should like to see more cases brought against the South Yorkshire Police for promoting Islamophobia by not dealing with the actions of Muslim rapists seriously enough.

    1. “She was gaggin’ for it, your honour. We woz doin’ ‘er a faver.” Court told..

    2. The problems is that the same UK human rights lawyers that seek out witness’s to imaginary war crimes committed by British troops in N.I., Afghanistan & Iraq were not available to defend their beloved Muslim clients in South Yorkshire at the time, due to being busy fabricating evidence against British troops, so out of respect for the perpetrators human rights the South Yorkshire Police decided to forgo charging the groomers with a crime!

    3. Evening R,
      Mr Gerard Batten has been pointing this out in rhetoric & book form since
      2005 castigated by the many for pointing out, in no uncertain manner the dangers of islamic ideology.

  111. “Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have ‘positive’ meeting”
    I like that expression ” positive meeting “

    2. It used to be a b*gger to get those masts down, to recover (let it land back on board) the helo, then raise them to sail onwards

          1. Morning M,
            The reason I asked was I lived in Borstal village some time ago ( Rochester) & I believe the youth nick was the original.
            I piped up two plant rooms in the institution,
            the current one has a fully kitted out gym,
            carpeted single cell accommodation, underfloor heating etc,etc.
            Adding substance to the old song “come inside you silly sod come inside”.

      1. That one woke me up, Bob.

        I put Nina Simone’s version on in a pub a couple of years ago, to be met with “Who’s put this ***** on?”

          3. I was telling my neighbours – who aren’t on the internet – that you could spend a week’s holiday on YouTube.

            I sold all my vinyl LPs last year and although the chap who bought them got a bargain, I don’t miss them since I get most of what I need off YouTube.

            Speaking of which, this is a useful free programme – https://www.4kdownload.com/products/product-youtubetomp3

      2. That one woke me up, Bob.

        I put Nina Simone’s version on in a pub a couple of years ago, to be met with “Who’s put this ***** on?”

  116. Telephone call to my mother. Apparently, her father left her a bequest. Problem is, he died 40 years ago… and had no money. There’s a cousin Marvin (!) in the picture, too. Never heard of him. Looks like a swindel to me. Will investigate in the morning. Winding myself up now over how many people there are that prey on old folk.
    And, pace Bob, on young folk, too. Bastards, the lot of them!

    1. Can I put her in touch with the peeps who need all my banking details to maitain my Netflix accout

    2. We have experienced a number of family inheritance swindles over the years. My wife’s great aunt Millie was persuaded to give Power of Attorney to her creepy gardener and he walked off with several hundred thousands in the eighties. Closest relatives were decrepit and unaware of the situation. The bastard died shortly afterwards but his bank clerk wife did well out of it.

      Another close relative has granted power of attorney to a part-time Filipino carer. We are fighting this one.

      What I find amazing is that unsavoury folk unrelated to the person can so readily be granted Power of Attorney. It took my wife ages and much detailed work to achieve the same concerning her late parents.

      1. From personal experience here, so long as a person is of sound mind, he/she can give anyone they wish power of attorney. The possiblity of undue influence is irrelevant. Acting solicitors are exempt from criticism.

        1. You are clearly a contrarian and a fool. It is a common occurrence that poor often dependant and immobilised folk are prone to exploitation.

          Edit: A paw print or scrawled and illegible signature is enough to satisfy our useless system.

          3. You’ve just reminded me of my vile (ex-) sister. Cow!

            She acquired an enduring power of attorney over my mother’s affairs when my widowed mother became too confused to arrange her own affairs. I contacted her solicitor and was shown a handwritten note, that had ostensibly been written and signed by my mother, giving the power of attorney to her daughter. I knew immediately it was a forgery since the handwriting and signature bore no resemblance to mum’s, and the standard of grammar and spelling was appalling (mum prided herself on her spelling ability and her English was good).

            What really got my goat, afterwards, was the fact that mum had her credit card ‘stolen’ and it was used at cash dispensers in Yorkshire towns 20 miles away, to remove £8,000 from her account. The story given was that someone must have seen mum using a cash dispenser and had stolen her card after noting her PIN number.

            Police enquiries ensued but no arrests were made. Curiously, my sister and her useless husband, not long after this, were able to buy themselves a brand new 15-seater taxi, when previously they only ran old bangers.

          4. ” You are clearly a contrarian and a fool.”
            Thank you for upvoting Corrimobile’ s description of me.

            That’s two of you who misunderstood what I said, which was simply the legal position,
            Oh, well. We had a similar problem within our family. I think sisters and sisters-in-law dio this sort of thing all the time.

          5. Aided and abetted by solicitors. There is a firm in the New Forest I would steer clear of called Claw and Snatch.

          6. It sounds like you have a serious problem, sunshine. Who I upvote is the concern of no one but me. I didn’t even read what you said since I have no interest in reading everyone’s posts, just the posts of those intelligent and interesting correspondents who interest me.

          7. Well, if you upvote without reading (as several do), once in a while you will get it wrong. No big deal.

    3. Bitch, in the case of the gold-digger who married my old father and copped £1.4 million + all the furniture – in fact everything that had belonged to him and our mother, 19 years ago.

    4. On the market there are some quite simple large-button cordless ‘phones with a callblocking button. If you were to put all your mother’s contacts (name & numbers) into the phone memory, she might be able to avoid answering junk calls.
      Money taken fraudulently via a credit card can be recovered, but not so easy if it is taken via a debit card. One idea to protect an elderly relation could be to cover or erase the three digit security number on the back of the debit card. Card will still work for cash withdrawal or purchases in person, but not for ‘customer not present’ transactions. Of course, the bank card is bank property, so I am not suggesting that you damage the card, just
      invisibilise those risky 3 digits. Tippex perhaps.

    1. Me neither. It’s a pain, as my body-clock is now out of sync. I sleep in the mornings, get tired early evening, up now for a while.

      2. Sat up in bed with the DT and a mug of tea each.
        She woke me up coughing so I decided refreshments were in order!

        1. I’m downstairs as I don’t want to wake D. In an hour or so I’ll go back upstairs and probably sleep until 10…:o(

          1. I had a good walk last night.
            Left home about 19:15 and went up Clatterway & through Slaley onto the road over Bonall Moor.
            Cut across via an old quarry road to Upper Town before dropping down for a pint in the King’s Head.
            Took a little over an hour & a half, so given the brisk walk I must have done 5 mile that point.
            Then over to the Barley Mow for a 2nd pint, by which time it had started raining.
            Raining heavier as I left the pub and dropped down home.
            A good six and a half mile all told.

  118. Jack Reacher is just the man to take down the literary snobs

    By Judith Woods

    I have a confession to make; there are three of us in my marriage. Me, my husband, and a righteous avenger for our troubled times. And if you haven’t guessed who that might be – then you don’t know Jack. Reacher that is. Jack Reacher. A Renaissance Man for all seasons, a 6ft 5in, 250lb taciturn anti-hero who has taught me everything I know about unarmed combat, ballistics and the swift execution of natural justice.

    SHE HAS NOT SEEN THE FILMS

    Jack was acted by a 3′ 7 tall short midget Edited bit

    PS Uptick Jill Backson, all those who want to be Jack for a day

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/08/jack-reacher-just-man-take-literary-snobs/

    2. Inspector Alan Banks (in the Peter Robinson books) is 5′-6″ tall. He is portrayed in the execrable ITV series by the actor Stephen Tompkinson, who is 6′-5″ tall.

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