Saturday 11 May: Energy firms should at least be honest about why they want to impose smart meters

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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706 thoughts on “Saturday 11 May: Energy firms should at least be honest about why they want to impose smart meters”

  1. Morning all. It’s a glorious morning here in Co. Durham, sunny, with a gentle southerly breeze.

    I wonder what punishment God has in store for the gormless old biddies who tried to attack the Magna Carta, very inexpertly, with hammers and chisels, as it seems there will be no earthly punishment.

      1. Test Paper Rubric

        Name ………………………………………….
        Father’s name………………………………
        Mother’s name …………………………… (if nun write none)

    2. Fancy attacking her. What had that poor, defenceless Hungarian girl ever done to them?

      (With apologies to AA Hacock)

  3. Morning all. Going through today’s Terriblegraph and have a few things to comment on. First, I am quibbling with the use of the word “inherit” (fourth para) in this article. I need to get up and find my dictionary.

    “The Prince of Wales revealed that his wife was “doing well” as she continued her cancer treatment.

    He made the remark as he arrived at St Mary’s Community Hospital on the Scilly Isles. The Prince was met by Tracy Smith, who is in charge of hospital administration, and asked: “May I ask how Princess Kate is doing?”

    “She’s doing well,” he replied. “The children are very jealous that I’m here.”

    Earlier, he could not resist stopping to buy a Cornish pasty as he arrived on the Scilly Isles for his first official visit since inheriting the Duchy of Cornwall.

    The Prince, known locally as the Duke of Cornwall, arrived on St Mary’s

    by boat, having travelled from Tresco, one of the smaller islands. As he disembarked The Pegasus, which bore the flag of the Duke of Cornwall, a cheer went up from the onlookers on the harbour.

    The Prince hailed the “glorious” weather before strolling to the On the Quay cafe, where he bought five pasties for £5.50 each. He was served by Joely Dearman, 22, and Zachariah Fox, 28, seasonal workers from north Devon.

    The Prince told the staff how difficult he had found it to leave Tresco earlier, in such glorious weather. “I got in the sea yesterday, it was very nice,” he said.

    The Prince asked Joely and Zachariah if they both lived on the island before

    chatting to them about the World Pilot Gig Championships that were held there last weekend.

    Eventually, he was encouraged to buy the pasties, aware people were waiting outside to meet him. “What kind of pasty would you like?” Zachariah asked. “I’ll take the traditional one,” the Prince replied. “Five… they’re not all for me.”

    Outside, the heir to the throne was greeted by tourists lined up on the harbour to meet him as he admitted to them he wished he could stay. He asked if they were waiting for a boat. “We’re waiting for you!” one woman said. “I’m never sure,” he laughed.“

    1. Were the children ‘jealous’ or envious? Two adjectives which I try to avoid.

      1. 🙂 I was forced to read it. And forced to eat it. And forced to listen to it etc. The Terriblegraph’s ubiquitous and egregious use of the verb “force” drives me mad!

        1. and me – I was at a concert in the local hall watching and listening to a Cuban Duo called The Bridge playing classical guitars

  8. The second, which has made me laugh, is that “eco friendly brake cables” made with soy and peanut oil are being eaten by foxes, causing thousands of pounds’ worth of damage. Oops!

  9. Good Moaning.
    When you are bored with Jilly Cooper and knitting has lost its allure, here is a time filler to help pass the long weary hours; courtesy of the taxpayer.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/10/taxpayer-funds-phd-gardens-cultivate-queer-anti-racist/

    Taxpayer funds Phd in ‘how gardens can cultivate queer anti-racist communities’

    Techne are sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, a subsidiary of the taxpayer-funded UK Research and Innovation

    10 May 2024 • 6:00pm

    Techne is a consortium of nine universities in London and the South East, including the University of Brighton Credit: View Pictures

    The taxpayer is spending at least £1 million a year on postgraduate courses such as the “garden as a site to cultivate queer anti-racist communities” and “spiritual activism”.

    Techne, a consortium of nine universities in London and the South East, awards 57 doctoral studentships annually, all of which are sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), a subsidiary of the taxpayer-funded UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

    One student exploring “the garden” suggests that “interaction with plants – contrasting lived experience and practices by people of colour with received exclusionary Western approaches to engaging with ecology – allows for histories of suppression and marginalisation to come to the fore.”

    The research involves “developing an actual garden” in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham, and monitoring “the active participation of diverse stakeholders … invested in the site”.

    ‘Racializing assemblages’

    Other studentships are in “poetic responses to climate grief under patriarchal and anthropocentric hegemony” and “biopolitics of Right-wing populism: the people, the population and racializing assemblages”. Techne universities include the University of Brighton, the University of Westminster and Kingston University.

    UKRI is sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and was given a budget of £8.9 billion for 2024-25.

    Techne’s doctoral studentships cover tuition fees and a stipend of approximately £18,622 a year. With 57 studentships awarded in 2023, the costs are likely to be at least £1 million for that year. The scheme has been running since 2016.

    Matt Goodwin, an author and Professor of Politics, told The Telegraph “This is what happens when universities lean strongly to the Left.

    Jane Stevenson

    Jane Stevenson is the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton North East and said she would ‘have trouble convincing taxpayers’ to fund projects like these Credit: David Woolfall/UK Parliament

    “For every eight professors who identify on the centre or radical left, there’s now only one conservative professor. So we have a very strong ideological imbalance on campus and that’s reflected in the research that is being funded partly by the taxpayer.

    “What we need to do is to get back to genuine ideological diversity on campus, and have a much greater range of both academics and students joining higher education, so we can begin to fix this glaring imbalance.”

    Rupert Lowe, Reform UK business spokesman, said: “Taxpayer money needs to be treated with far more respect. We’re all paying more and more tax, and an increasing amount of it is wasted on tripe like this.

    “When the country is literally crumbling apart, this is a spit in the face of decent men and women working hard and paying their taxes. Any civil servant pushing this nonsense should be out of a job by the end of the month – let’s start setting some standards when it comes to public money.”

    ‘Hard-working taxpayers’

    Jane Stevenson, the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton North East, said “I’m a proud grammar school girl who does value learning for learning’s sake.

    “I want to back research and academia, but I would have trouble convincing the hard-working taxpayers of Wolverhampton North East that money taken from their wages to fund these projects is being well-spent.”

    A UKRI spokesperson said: “UKRI invests in a diverse research and innovation portfolio. This includes awarding block grants to Higher Education Institutions to support PhD studentships.

    “The institutions make decisions and allocate the funding to specific studentship proposals, following an application process.” ”

    Techne was approached for comment.”

    2. It’s morally criminal. The public should be able to sue public organisations which waste taxpayers’ money like this. This isn’t merely ideological; it is insane. Who is sanctioning our money being shovelled at Professor Stupid and his well-fed cohorts, like this?

      I read that 13% of govt expenditure is spent on grants. And there is no publicly available list as to what these grants are spent on. It makes me utterly sick that these idiot thugs can get away with spending our money like this. Cancer could have been cured with a fraction of the money our government wastes, I reckon.

    3. I know someone who is doing that very course. He’s a professional singer/dancer and is doing a degree in horticulture – his thesis is on racism in public gardens or some such b/s.
      He is not of a pale skin colour.

  10. Good Moaning.
    When you are bored with Jilly Cooper and knitting has lost its allure, here is a time filler to help pass the long weary hours; courtesy of the taxpayer.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/10/taxpayer-funds-phd-gardens-cultivate-queer-anti-racist/

    Taxpayer funds Phd in ‘how gardens can cultivate queer anti-racist communities’

    Techne are sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, a subsidiary of the taxpayer-funded UK Research and Innovation

    10 May 2024 • 6:00pm

    Techne is a consortium of nine universities in London and the South East, including the University of Brighton Credit: View Pictures

    The taxpayer is spending at least £1 million a year on postgraduate courses such as the “garden as a site to cultivate queer anti-racist communities” and “spiritual activism”.

    Techne, a consortium of nine universities in London and the South East, awards 57 doctoral studentships annually, all of which are sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), a subsidiary of the taxpayer-funded UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

    One student exploring “the garden” suggests that “interaction with plants – contrasting lived experience and practices by people of colour with received exclusionary Western approaches to engaging with ecology – allows for histories of suppression and marginalisation to come to the fore.”

    The research involves “developing an actual garden” in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham, and monitoring “the active participation of diverse stakeholders … invested in the site”.

    ‘Racializing assemblages’

    Other studentships are in “poetic responses to climate grief under patriarchal and anthropocentric hegemony” and “biopolitics of Right-wing populism: the people, the population and racializing assemblages”. Techne universities include the University of Brighton, the University of Westminster and Kingston University.

    UKRI is sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and was given a budget of £8.9 billion for 2024-25.

    Techne’s doctoral studentships cover tuition fees and a stipend of approximately £18,622 a year. With 57 studentships awarded in 2023, the costs are likely to be at least £1 million for that year. The scheme has been running since 2016.

    Matt Goodwin, an author and Professor of Politics, told The Telegraph “This is what happens when universities lean strongly to the Left.

    Jane Stevenson

    Jane Stevenson is the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton North East and said she would ‘have trouble convincing taxpayers’ to fund projects like these Credit: David Woolfall/UK Parliament

    “For every eight professors who identify on the centre or radical left, there’s now only one conservative professor. So we have a very strong ideological imbalance on campus and that’s reflected in the research that is being funded partly by the taxpayer.

    “What we need to do is to get back to genuine ideological diversity on campus, and have a much greater range of both academics and students joining higher education, so we can begin to fix this glaring imbalance.”

    Rupert Lowe, Reform UK business spokesman, said: “Taxpayer money needs to be treated with far more respect. We’re all paying more and more tax, and an increasing amount of it is wasted on tripe like this.

    “When the country is literally crumbling apart, this is a spit in the face of decent men and women working hard and paying their taxes. Any civil servant pushing this nonsense should be out of a job by the end of the month – let’s start setting some standards when it comes to public money.”

    ‘Hard-working taxpayers’

    Jane Stevenson, the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton North East, said “I’m a proud grammar school girl who does value learning for learning’s sake.

    “I want to back research and academia, but I would have trouble convincing the hard-working taxpayers of Wolverhampton North East that money taken from their wages to fund these projects is being well-spent.”

    A UKRI spokesperson said: “UKRI invests in a diverse research and innovation portfolio. This includes awarding block grants to Higher Education Institutions to support PhD studentships.

    “The institutions make decisions and allocate the funding to specific studentship proposals, following an application process.” ”

    Techne was approached for comment.”

      1. Morning Anne. Is there not a wonderful saxophone version of Roses In Picardy?

          1. What a peculiar looking saxophone he is blowing into. It looks like a beautiful woman’s ear. lol.

      1. We nave some in the house. They are early this year and we have improves th soil over the last few years.

  12. Good morning, chums. I’m a little late working on today’s Wordle, so I shall return to this post once I have finished it. I hope you all slept well last night.

    Wordle 1,057 3/6

    🟨⬜🟩🟨⬜
    ⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Remarkable similarity…
      Wordle 1,057 3/6

      🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. I always start with AUDIO, BB2. If there are none (or only a few) of these 4 vowels, I can alway try to use E or Y (which sounds like I).

  13. How is using taxpayer money to promote racism even remotely `Left Wing’?

  14. Police officer shot in the leg with a crossbow. 11 May 2024.

    A police officer has been shot in the leg with a crossbow after reports of a stabbing in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Thames Valley Police said.

    Police attended School Lane, Downley, at around 6pm on Friday after a man in his sixties suffered a stab wound.

    A 54-year-old man, from High Wycombe, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

    The Sherriff of Nottingham’s men were always armed with crossbows in Robin Hood. I assumed that this was to emphasise their foreign origins and villainous nature. Perhaps the police should be issued with longbows and clothyard arrows?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/11/police-officer-shot-in-the-leg-with-a-crossbow/

    1. I can’t remember the Sheriff of Nottingham’s men in the proper television version of Robin Hood (Richard Greene’s and Alan Wheatley’s version) using crossbows.

        1. Let me guess. Philip Mark, putative Sheriff of Nottingham during the reign of King John, brought back some purloined crossbows — a whole century before the battle of Crécy — to use in Sherwood Forest against renegade supports of his brother, Coeur de Lion?
          It was quite weird to see Alfie “Bootsie” Bass playing a merry man too.

    2. A crossbow is one of the few weapons that is legal and unrestricted in the UK. I hope they aren’t stirring up a new law forbidding crossbows.

      2. Crossbows were condemned in1139 as being unsuitable for use against Christians.

  15. Good morning all.
    A pleasant 7°C outside on a beautiful sunny morning.

  16. Good morning, all. Misty and overcast at 06:00 with a forecast of fine sunny weather later this morning.

    Courtesy of Wayne Dunlap’s X account.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9204eb44a09d9d2641052e4739695d6418411e554dd50195d34d6b12893fa306.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/00d551d04d13bd4f7afeba37ec71d346742d30f30c4332a3a9541feb450d573e.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b7308e8d681949cc4bd77613bbd8da110d0a3df4eb27101617c9aa278d66c7f6.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cc59f253626a7987e7d01fe85507d2b1145b6abad9851309dc0ecc131ff3b049.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4a402291d340637c222d46605c89a3528093f3e5c14be2ccf4fb00856f2f878c.png

      1. How much does a Nurse make in United Kingdom? Average base salary £36,317 The average salary for a nurse is £36,317 per year in United Kingdom. 36.9k salaries reported, updated at 29 April 2024

        Example: Newly Qualified Nurse, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford
        £29,828 – £36,311 a year.

        Is that a poor wage? The full rate for the basic UK State Pension is £137.60 per week – that’s £7155 per year.

    2. Why do the most mediocre employees get selected for promotion?

      Bosses are always seizing the means of production…

    1. For Sidney Bechet – by Philip Larkin

      That note you hold, narrowing and rising, shakes
      Like New Orleans reflected on the water,
      And in all ears appropriate falsehood wakes,

      Building for some a legendary Quarter
      Of balconies, flower-baskets and quadrilles,
      Everyone making love and going shares—

      Oh, play that thing! Mute glorious Storyvilles
      Others may license, grouping around their chairs
      Sporting-house girls like circus tigers (priced

      Far above rubies) to pretend their fads,
      While scholars manqués nod around unnoticed
      Wrapped up in personnels like old plaids.

      On me your voice falls as they say love should,
      Like an enormous yes. My Crescent City
      Is where your speech alone is understood,

      And greeted as the natural noise of good,
      Scattering long-haired grief and scored pity.

  21. Why is Russia’s economy booming despite sanctions? 11 May 2024.

    Over two years on from the invasion of Ukraine, Russia is the most sanctioned nation in the world. And yet the country’s economy is set to grow faster than any G7 democracy this year. How is this possible?

    Back in 2022, Boris Johnson vowed to ‘squeeze Russia from the global economy piece by piece, day by day and week by week’. President Joe Biden promised that sanctions would ‘impose a severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time’.

    Yet these dire warnings never materialised: Russia’s economy has proved resilient in the face of sanctions.

    Long may it be so! A victory for Vlad is also one for the native peoples of the West. Only he and Russia are standing up to the Globalist Tyranny that rules through the medium of their political lackeys.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-is-russias-economy-booming-despite-sanctions/

    1. The general populations seem to be turning away from the “guidance” (= instructions) given by their overlords – looks like Israel is due a stonking great vote in Eurovision, based on the trial run, and now Russia hasn’t crashed and burned.
      (Although, TBH, why Israel would want to compete in Eurovision, God knows…)

      2. I think the overlords’ agenda in the middle east is to stoke up fights about it across the west, and in that, they have succeeded.

    2. This is because we’re pathetic cowards. Russia has resources we need. What’s happening is simply. Russia sells to a country that isn’t sanctioning it, we buy the goods from them, at mark up. That’s contributing to inflation, of course.

      It’s sodding tiresome. SAme as having windmills built in China lets big fat state pretend they’re ‘zero carbon’. It’s all lies and deceit.

  22. Morning, all Y’all.
    Cloudy & cool. Missed the Northern Lights last night due to sleeping – all this heavy farm work is very tiring.
    Just finished a bacon butty, made with sourdough bread and good, salty baon. With strong coffee, can’t get a better start than that!

    1. Morning, Paul. Substitute that coffee for a pot (or two) of Assam tea for a perfect start.

      I hope you didn’t put any butter (yuk!) on that bacon sandwich.

      1. NO! No butter. Nor marge, “non-fat vegetable spread” or anyhing else. Just quality bread and bacon. There’s flavour enough and fat enough in the bacon.
        I can’t be doing with tea first thing. Makes me feel nauseous… don’t know why.

        1. I drink real (espresso-based) coffee in the morning when I’m abroad.

          The vile stench of instant ‘coffee’ every morning, when I was married (donkey’s yonks ago now, thankfully), made me retch.

    1. I had no idea that the Queen Trash was Nigerian. News to me. I thought she was American; or Maltese….

      1. On the front page of the Daily Mail yesterday, she was black, which was quite a surprise to me.

      2. Apparently the bulk of her Black DNA is from Nigeria from whence, of course, her forebears were sold off into the Atlantic Trade BY OTHERS OF HER ILK!!

    1. I wish the chap could do something about his awful, grating voice. Elocution lessons, perhaps?

  29. 387250+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Is this market already operating in the United Kingdom as is shiria law courts,slicing & dicing, honour killings, will the majority voter consent to it if introduced as ten quid a kid a vote winner under the guise of, “the party before Country politico’s know best”

    https://x.com/BuzzkillF/status/1260804689567899648

    By the by,

    Think and judge if you have the capability to do so, that handing a new born child to a tranny in a HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENT is a act of aiding & abetting gross child abuse and should be seen as such.

      1. 387250+ up ticks,

        Morning TB,
        Sad to say ” their mucky culture ”
        has been introduced to the United
        Kingdom via the polling stations
        and the idolisation of party names,although false in content.

        Their culture is now embedded
        deep in the fabric of our nation.

    2. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/delhi/story/ten-controversial-statements-by-zakir-naik-327810-2016-07-06

      Naik’s reported controversial statements have ruffled many feathers in the country:

      Naik says Islam is superior to all other faiths. Non-Muslims should not be allowed to have places of religious worship in an Islamic country.
      Muslims have the right to have sex with their female slaves.
      Sania Mirza should dress modestly while playing. No Indian politician would like to send his daughter to play beach volleyball even if it becomes an international sport.
      Girls shouldn’t be sent to schools where they lose their virginity by the time they pass out. Schools should be shut down. They should not be allowed to wear gold ornaments.
      In the West, they are selling their daughters and mothers in the name of women’s liberation.
      Wife-beating in the Muslim world is not necessarily a bad thing. Naik says the use of condom during sex is akin to killing a human being.
      Death by stoning or lapidation for having sex outside marriage is acceptable according to Sharia law.
      Based on teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah, Naik says homosexuals should be killed.
      Suicide attacks advised by clerics is not bad. He refuses to condemn Osama bin Laden and claims that 9/11 was an inside job.
      The Islamic scholar says Muslim should seek help only from Allah and no one else, not even the Prophet – a belief which supports the Sunni view. Islamic State has used this particular understanding to justify violence against Sufis, Shias and Ahmadis.

      1. I thought a lot of girls lost their virginity just after they had passed out.

  30. Good morning all,

    Sunny morning , 15c already .

    Son no1 off to run in the Poole Park run 5k. His knee problem is still causing gyp , but he is determined to run !

    I liked the comments to the DT letters .

    This particular thread is interesting .
    ———————————————————————————————————-
    Julyan Coe
    1 HR AGO
    Good morning everyone. I hope the sun is shining as much on you all as it is in Dorset.
    I have a birdsong I can’t place this morning. It’s a lovely 3 x hahas, very small break, then repeat. Slightly above a medium octave.
    I could ask one of my addicted (understatement) but I’m hoping to cheat and impress them.

    Reply by Elaine Macfarlane.

    EM

    Elaine Macfarlane
    1 HR AGO
    My cousin told me about app Merlin Bird ID Julyan, developed by Cornell University. You open it up and push a button to listen for birds, and it will tell you exactly what birdsong you’re listening to. I’ve heard Sedge Warblers and Cetti’s Warblers this week, it’s a real treat to be able to identify them.

    Reply by Julyan Coe.

    JC

    Julyan Coe
    1 HR AGO
    Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. You have made me sooooo happy. Thank you very, very much. It’s downloading now.
    Have a lovely day.

    Reply by High Time.

    HT

    High Time
    59 MIN AGO
    Please let us know once you have identified the bird.

    Reply by Julyan Coe.

    JC

    Julyan Coe
    44 MIN AGO
    Sadly can’t hear it at the minute. I am addicted to the App already. I’m going to leave the phone out with the App running .

    So , what is the answer , and what is that bird call?

    1. It’s a great tit: ‘teacher, teacher, teacher’. Every skool boy kno this.

  31. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7f55a1b61981e780439462f2e39e849c8236ff5e4ac60a1be5e7077fa5c36618.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/62d5a525aa2e640a22d079588b1a8c4df43ddb8cff209a11a241bf457dfbb857.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/266e3a01e0ca29182467434bbab7b630aed23242d666ea748bf4050fbcdbe2aa.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6c2bc46ee1443647bbb18baa796b9ddef328ac9aaa07698cfde53a5849dc4d1c.jpg It was fairly quiet on my local flooded field birding patch, yesterday evening. This is the fourth out of five summers now that a small group of wood sandpipers Tringa glareola has rested for a few weeks on their northward migration. The shot of one of them resting on a rock alongside a white wagtail Motacilla alba makes an interesting study.

    The pair of red-necked grebes Podiceps grisegena are busily nest-building; I hope they breed successfully before the field dries up completely, as it tends to in a hot, dry summer.

    Apart from the resident coots and a pair of mallards, a visiting pair of greylag geese Anser anser were the only other species providing a reasonable photo opportunity. Just a mile along the road, a minimum of 50 pairs of those geese were jockeying for breeding positions in a field adjacent the small lake.

      1. I certainly agreed with you when I first heard him but as Bob has said it is ironic impersonation (a literary device much used by Jane Austin) i.e. he is sending himself up. Once I stopped worrying about his horrible voice I started to enjoy his sense of humour.

        1. I don’t agree. When he first appeared on the scene he used to pretend to be a policeman and did a very good line in spoof “police speak” plus the weird delivery that the plod use. However, this now seems to be the default delivery. He may be taking himself off – but the ghastly, grating noise emerging from his lips is completely off-putting.

    1. Identitarian Neo-Marxists, a solvent to civilised society. One of their tricks is the “If she floats she’s a witch” manoeuvre. In this case call bullsh*t on their bad faith Race Marxism…you’re a racist.

    2. Only visible (I think) on the ‘X’ version picture, is that she is sweetly giving the Black Power clenched fist salute.

    3. 1. She isn’t black, she’s brown.
      2. Why do mixed race people always favour the black half of their heritage over their white half?

      3. She is only 23% ‘black’ at the most! Her mothers past is a bit murky!

      4. It increases their ‘victim quotient’ which allows them to moan and shout louder and entitles them to maximum reparations.

      5. Not sure she’s even brown. The early clip of her in that Netflix docu from a couple of years ago, shows her as more white. Looks more like an enhanced tan with the face always darker, v tan like. A bit of help from the tan bottle, I think.

    4. I’m with Jon. If they don’t want to integrate then they should leave. I’d bet she’s very happy with the welfare and housing bennies though. The wasters always are.

  34. Morning all! Energy companies be honest? I got another email from EDF yesterday trying to push a “smart” meter on me. It was 100% dishonest because the truth is 100% negative and nasty. They’re hardly going to say, “submit you snivelling peasant, we want you cold, hungry and sitting in the dark with no means of communication” but that’s precisely what Agenda2030, aka Net Zero, does want to achieve.

    1. I’m with EDF and notification came that meter was at end of service life and had to be replaced. Was told there were no non-smart Economy 7 meters available, so we compromised with replacement smart meter being run in ‘dumb’ mode. Installation engineer showed me two LEDs that indicated dumb operation.

      All was well for two weeks but then an extra light came on and energy costs started appearing on the meter. Also had an email congratulating me on acquiring my new smart meter!

      To cut a very long story short – including EDF offering me £100 to keep things unchanged, which I refused – an engineer was despatched to assess the situation. They had, inexplicably to me, previously suggested that it might not be possible to put this new meter back the way it was and that any change might put the Economy 7 element out of action. All bluff I felt, and so it turned out. Took the engineer all of 15 seconds to put it (permanently he said) into dumb mode. Several months later it is still that way although I keep a close eye on it.

      1. They told me back when smart meters were introduced that my meter was at the end of its life and would soon stop working but it hasn’t of course nor is it showing any change in my usage so I doubt that it’s becoming inaccurate and unreliable as per their claims either.

        1. The line they take is that it is a legal requirement to replace meters at what is considered end of service life. No idea if this is true or not.

          2. ‘Please show me the statutory instrument to support your claim’…That will shut them up.

        2. I had the same warning from Scottish Power – I needed to book an appointment to replace my meter. When I looked at it, it was for a smart meter so I ignored it and all subsequent emails about the age of my meter. They seem to have given up for the moment as I haven’t had any recently.

    2. Today had an email from EDF offering a much cheaper rate fixed for a year. At the end of the small print it said the offer was only for use with a smart meter.

    3. They’re just pushing government policy. Until the state is collared, chained and permanently restricted nothing will change.

  36. More on this “boiling” Planet.

    Appears that the Sun and the Planet’s slowly changing orientation to that rather hot body has an influence on warming. A revelation, no less!

    The outcome and implications of this analysis took me by surprise. As I was citing the work of Professor William Happer I asked him to perform a sanity check. He replied that the analysis “looks reasonable to me”. He added:

    What has caused the warming of the past two centuries is still open to debate, but I think the evidence is pretty solid that much of the warming was a natural recovery from the Little Ice Age and had little to do with increased concentrations of greenhouse gases. Others have pointed out that the warming has been more pronounced at nights and at near polar latitudes. But it is nice to see this quantitatively confirmed in this analysis.

    It is good that you point out strong evidence that the dogma that CO2 is the control knob of Earth’s climate is certainly wrong. But it is being used as an excuse for suicidal economic policies supported by glassy-eyed fanatics and clear-eyed opportunists. This is bad news for humanity.

    Full article at Daily Sceptics

    1. Bringing science to a discussion about climate change is pointless. The Left aren’t interested. To them, the hoax is their best chance of permanent retardation of the country and enforcing socialism – with them in charge. This isn’t about science, economics or anything sensible. It’s solely about the Left getting and keeping power.

  37. Walked the Springer in the forest at 0630 and heard the first cuckoo. The final part of greening is occurring as the ferns grow. They are 3 to 4 feet high and will grow to 6 or 7 feet.

      1. The beautiful county of Dorset. I’m 6’4″ and last year ferns grew taller than me.

    1. There’s a very good piece today from the Mid Western Doctor. Explains a lot of what is wrong with vaccines generally, and why they cause disease. I’ve had many in my life and have been lucky not to have any reactions from them. But I shall avoid having any more.

      1. 387250+ up ticks,

        Morning N,
        The very same, but they had proven track records.

        1. There’s a lot of detail and history of the polio vaccines, amongst others. Well worth reading. I remember queuing up for my polio jab at the District nurse’s house when I was about eight. I didn’t need the TB jab because I reacted to the Heaf test.

          2. I know I had the smallpox one as a baby. Probably diptheria too. Polio as I have said. But the other diseases like measles, chicken pox, whooping cough I had them all as a child, apart from Mumps when I was 25, which was very painful and nasty. I don’t think I had a tetanus jab till I was an adult. I have a record of every jab I’ve had since 1990.

      2. 387250+ up ticks,

        N,
        I had a booster jab I think it was for
        cholera in Uganda, when BIG DADA
        general Amin ruled the roost.

        Him the best footballer, swimmer,
        dart player, lover, soldier, etc,etc.
        No one, but no one, said otherwise.

  41. Interesting developments in Kuwait:

    Loay Alshareef لؤي الشريف
    @lalshareef
    Insight: The Emir of Kuwait has grasped what the West has yet to understand. 🇰🇼

    The dissolution of the Kuwaiti Parliament and the suspension of many of its articles for up to four years reflect his remarks in a historic speech that some are using democracy to destroy Kuwait.

    I have often told my American and European friends that democracy does not suit us as Arabs; we are tribal people who follow a just leader who genuinely cares for his people. Personally, I am a monarchist; I don’t believe democracy works universally.

    What does the dissolution signify? It indicates a recognition that “certain radical groups” are exploiting the freedoms granted by democracy to destabilize the country and create chaos. Once they achieve their ultimate goals, they intend to alter the laws to conform to their ideology.

    This is already happening in the West! Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups misuse the laws and democratic freedoms—systems in which they do not believe—to advance their political agendas, which ultimately aim to dismantle democracy itself and destabilize the very countries they once fled to for asylum. Now, this influence extends to the second, third, and fourth generations.

    The actions taken by the Emir of Kuwait tonight should serve as a loud wake-up call to Western leaders, urging them to take measures to prevent radical groups like the Muslim Brotherhood from eroding their countries’ foundations.

    As I always say, listen to credible voices from the region, those “who know”

    God bless the Emir of Kuwait, and God bless Kuwait.
    11:15 PM · May 10, 2024

    1. What were we told? It won’t affect our way of life at all. What’s happened? Endless laws to protect muslim. Concrete bollards. Monuments boarded up. No. The vile creatures should be burned out of this country – them and all their blue haired, stupid socialist fools. Then the Left will understand the enemy of your enemy is NOT your friend.

      But hey, forcing muslim to exist with bigoted Lefties is probably a match made in heaven. Both mental, ideologically ignorant, illogical, psychotic fools unwilling to accept they are wrong. Let them kill each other.

  42. Good morrow, gentlefolk. Today’s (recycled) Story
    TV CHANNEL HOPPER
    An elderly married couple were at home watching TV.
    The husband had the remote and was switching back and forth between a fishing channel and the porn channel.
    The wife becoming more and more annoyed, finally said:
    “For god’s sake! Leave it on the porn channel. You already know how to fish!”

  43. The Muslim Brotherhood state openly that they regard democracy as a one stop shop. They get elected and that removes the need for any more elections. The Egyptians keep them under lock and key. I don’t suppose the king of Saudi Arabia wants any truck with them either.

    1. It’s a shame we don’t see Sguest here much these days – I’m sure he’d have something to say on that topic.

      1. On those lines, has anyone heard from Damask Rose?
        I hope she is all right.

  44. It’s amazing now with an election looming how Labour has suddenly started behaving like a proper opposition for the first time since 2019 especially towards the small boat problem

    1. Starmer hasn’t changed his allegiance to the Trilateral Commission. Just as Johnson locked us down because the Bank of England ordered him to shrink the economy, Starmer will do whatever the wankers, sorry, bankers demand.

      1. Banks just move money around. Yes, they’re greedy, monolithic, likely corrupt to the core, dishonest, arrogant, spiteful and have far too much power but the problem is government.

        While government can create money on a whim it can destroy the currency. Banks are the beneficiaries of that directly but ultimately the problem is government’s ability to destroy the economy. It needs to be kicked, repeatedly like the bully it is and to learn who is master and who slave.

    2. Once in power they will do nothing about the boat problem, Islam or anything else that threatens our country.

      2. Yes they will. They’ll completely ignore any public dissent and bring any vermin here and give them vastly more money and time.

        As for muslim, that’ll be pandered to increasingly and laws pushed to ensure absolutely nothing can threaten it. I’d expect a blashpemy law within months. The Tories have done everything wrong, Labour will double down on that.

        It’s going to be genuinely miserable.

  45. Good Morning all. It is going to be a warm day here which means I will spend most of the day inoperable. Heat no longer agrees with me and causes me problems breathing. Do other have the same problem?

    Anyway, here is a good article about our past sadly being tampered with by the jackbooted left.

    ‘Anglo-Saxon’ isn’t racist. It’s a source of English pride
    The term doesn’t refer to a race, but to a magnificent culture with a powerful legacy for these islands

    No one who visits the Sutton Hoo gallery at the British Museum ever forgets the magnificent artistry of our Anglo-Saxon predecessors. We may think of the fourth to the 10th centuries as a “Dark Age”, ruled by crude barbarism and economic collapse, but the gold and bejewelled treasures they left behind are utterly spellbinding – in their way as good as anything produced by the Roman conquerors who came before.

    Which is why it is regrettable that a distinguished journal that dominates the study of Anglo-Saxon history – simply and inoffensively entitled Anglo-Saxon England – is to be renamed by its no less reputable publisher, Cambridge University Press, under the bland new title Early Medieval England and its Neighbours.

    Many believe it is due to the hue and cry about the term “Anglo-Saxon” in the US, where white supremacists have mobilised it as a variant of the term “Aryan”.

    If that is the reason for the change, then as a historian I must protest. For a start, the term “Anglo-Saxon” is not a racial label, but a cultural one. Many English people are the product of a fusion between the Angle, Saxon, and Jute settlers, and the native Britons; the invaders coming from a wide arc of coastline stretching from the Netherlands to Jutland. Anglo-Saxon Britain was no apartheid state, but one fundamentally of rapid synthesis.

    Indeed, the language we speak today was one noticeable product: just under half of the words we use remain of Anglo-Saxon origin. The Anglo-Saxon interpretation of Christianity, too, lives with us still: the Sutton Hoo treasures indicate Christianity was making inroads by the early seventh century, not long after the Jutish king of Kent accepted baptism from the first archbishop of Canterbury. Christian art of this period features stunning iconography derived from the pagan religions that came before.

    Anglo-Saxon culture flourished in a myriad of ways: English monasteries produced startlingly beautiful manuscripts and Anglo-Saxon literature flowered, including rich alliterative poetry; the cultural ties extended to the royal courts in France and Germany.

    King Alfred is the only English king to be known as “the Great”, not just for holding his own against Danish invaders but for his patronage of learning. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged, divided and merged again, but out of their rivalries rose a large and wealthy kingdom, rich in wool sent to the looms of Flanders, and therefore highly attractive to waves of Viking raiders, followed in 1066 by William, duke of Normandy, himself of Viking descent.

    The desirability of this kingdom reflects the high standard of artistic production, learning and prosperity that by the 11th century had few rivals in northern Europe. Its legacy has been extremely powerful. For if we dispense with the Anglo-Saxons, what happens to the name of England, the country of the Angles, or Essex and Sussex, territories of the Saxons? Can we talk any longer of the Anglophone countries? It is telling that even today Russian propaganda mockingly refers to us Britons as Anglosaksy, thinking it a term of derision. Such an insult makes one quite proud.

    Any suggestion of broad ethnic or cultural cohesiveness inevitably generates suspicion in an academic world, where the fantasies of Critical Race Theory find racism under every ancient stone. Yet that is to forget that, even at the time, peoples saw each other as distinct cultures, with unique traits and practices.

    Cambridge University Press would do well to acknowledge that its headquarters are in East Anglia. Instead of erasing the term “Anglo-Saxon”, it is far better to accept that our forebears oversaw a flourishing and fascinating period of this island’s history. It deserves a proper name, and it already has one.

    1. Stupidly I never connected Jute with Jutland. I was born in Jute Road, Acomb.

      1. The Jutes are sort of treated like the brother no one wants to talk about! I think I will make it a mini project to find out more about them. I did know, at least, that they were from Jutland but that is all I know about them.

        1. From The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of The English Language (1995, David Crystal): “[The Venerable] Bede describes the invaders as belonging to the three most powerful nations of Germany — The Saxons, the Angles, and the Jutes. The first group to arrive came from Jutland, in the northern part of modern Denmark, and were led, according to the chroniclers, by two Jutish brothers, Hengist and Horsa. They landed at Ebbsfleet in the Isle of Thanet, and settled in the areas now known as Kent, the Isle of Wight, and parts of Hamphire.”

          1. Memorable among the Saxon warriors were Hengist and his wife (? or horse), Horsa. Hengist made himself King in the South. Thus Hengist was the first English King and his wife (or horse), Horsa, the first English Queen (or horse). The country was now almost entirely inhabited by Saxons and was therefore renamed England, and thus (naturally) soon became C. of E.

          3. Hengist and Horsa, I remember from way way back when I was a child and starting to learn history. But I had forgotten they were Jutes. Perhaps, way back in mu unused section of old memories I know more about the Jutes than I realize.

        2. The estate I grew up on had Viking Road, Ostman Road, Dane Avenue, Jute Road, Tostig Avenue and Danebury Drive so I got the context but not the detail! Yes, it would be interesting to find out more.

      2. The Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes were all close neighbours in Jutland and Schleswig-Holstein. My very first trip abroad, in 1964, had me sailing (aboard the converted troop ship, M. V. Dunera) along the Kiel Canal deep in the homeland territory of my ancestors.

        2. I’ve always wondered if, when you travel abroad and you feel particularly at home in your destination, if that country is the birthplace of your ancestors.
          Strangely enough, I felt my most at home in St. Petersburg.

          1. You must be the great great great great great great granddaughter of Cathy the Great.

            I was born and lived in Chesterfield for 36 years. I last returned in 2015 and felt no affinity for the place whatsoever.

    2. I also find hot air hard to breathe (which is odd as it carries more oxygen) and direct sunlight gives me massive headaches so while the Warqueen is outside I’ll be indoors.

      On the upside, Junior will make sure Mongo and Oscar are properly drinking and not out all day (because she won’t think of it). He’s already filling their pool up. I checked the paw drinking fountain yesterday.

    3. If I could award more than one upvote for that excellent and verifiable potted history then I would do so.👍🏻

  46. Having not watched the Eurovision jamboree for years, I recall it was always a show of light-hearted fun and comedy.

    I remember the great Terry Wogan referring to one of the contestants as being; “like an explosion in a parrot factory”!!

  47. A good three – I didn’t win the Lotto though
    Wordle 1,057 3/6

    ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
    ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Three for me too. Don’t do Lotto.

      Wordle 1,057 3/6

      🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
      🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Four here

      Wordle 1,057 4/6

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

  48. Morning all 🙂😊
    A bit late today lovely and sunny again.
    We had a lovey evening at the U3A 10th anniversary in our village hall more than 100 members were present. Great 60s band, drinks and snacks, perfect.
    I’ve been fighting our energy suppliers for years over their annoying attempts to force a smart meter on us. I read and send in our usage on a monthly basis. But I’ve noticed Octopus are not so demanding as Shell energy were. Perhaps its part of the ploy.
    Water companies are about to if they haven’t already, increase their prices. I suspect to cover their losses due to handing over millions to share holders. But still no new reservoirs veing built despite increasing our population by hundreds of thousands. Apparently if you pay by the general assessment method the price will simple increase no matter how much water you use. But customer’s like us where only two people live in a four bed home and had a meter installed because it halved our costs. Will be forced to pay more for actually using less water than the average household with out a meter. Typically another bloody British scam.

  49. ‘Morning All

    Ooh look at the pretty lights in the sky what could possibly go wrong………….

    A Carrington Event today would utterly desroy our modern civilisation and cause mass extinction

    “When a huge
    plasma ejection from the sun hits the Earth’s atmosphere, the resulting
    EMP pulse fries electricity grids and disables fragile electronics.
    Transmission wires melt, transformers explode and modern vehicles cease
    working. In less than a minute, the world is taken back two centuries.”
    Trillions spent on Eco-Bolleaux and yet our transformers remain totally unprotected from EMP as with all the risk factors in our world “It’s the sun stupid” is totally ignored replacing fried transformers would take decades!!

    1. Has Senna the Soothsayer taken over the media? Woe! Woe! The end is nigh!

    2. Yes. We had a huge geomagnetic storm last night. Aurorae seen in southern England. We were warned it could cause the grid to implode and satellite disruption. As far as i am aware… nothing happened except for pretty lights in the sky.

  50. Good morning all! I thought I’d share a little example of great service with you. As I said yesterday, we’re going to a posh wedding in Portugal in June, and I bought my dress online. It took about 10 days to get here, but I’m delighted with it. Husband doesn’t like shopping, so I bought him a pair of dress shoes yesterday in Stirling. Very nice but he decided to buy a pair online and ordered them yesterday afternoon. At 8.50 this morning they arrived! No delivery charge!

    1. We will be expecting some pictures. Of the food. Forget the bride and groom. They all look the same. :@)

        3. That’s not the gorgeous ye in that posh frock, bonny lass.😘

          [But the wee lassie wearing it is still a canny boiler, though but.]

        6. It looks lovely and will be even more beautiful on you.

          However, does the woman wearing it know you want it?

    2. I bet you’ll both look the bees knees 😘
      Sad day today – 3 years since I lost B

  51. Medley Time

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cef42b0fe78592ffbf8fd72dc448c3549b351b01c878e87d3c2b2f1edfb7dd77.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5fc47c8cad1d4713c52889a1bac4db76fb3bd4db50c764d142be120fff6242dc.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3663a6a44493df1aa0a13c92f4bacf54898925a61b58f83950e7a28b33f529e2.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fce7f3db9a0f4ee6947a982106a0e4cf0efc0fa396f540aed3fdcdc70a5f7ad9.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dea2e2848bb52028e4cd5b34d6cbdf02ddb0ee83df34ff42fd79d4d33b2b6689.jpg

    Finish with Neil Oliver

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=050ZIckq0Eg

    1. The Left do not like to be reminded that Clinton did the same and lied under oath. It’s an ideological blindness. The difference is that was a legal trial. Trump is being attacked because the Left are terrified of him.

      1. When a Tory politician self-destructs, it is usually about sex. When a Labour one does, it is usually about money. For some inexplicable reason, Liberals go down when they outed as gay.

        2. What’s genuinely weird is I doubt anyone cares – the crooks have got better at hiding the corruption.

  52. Energy companies don’t want to impose smart meters. Oh, they like the billing information but when I called them up they were still struggling to implement them. A unit had been set up solely to understand them.

    Government sold them to energy companies as a way to increase profits by per hour charging. The state wants them for the same reason – to force down demand. This has failed, as Canada (which has already done this) has shown. Peoplle cannot change their habits. They just have to pay.

    Until the state is dragged kicking and screaming to the block, and the axe raised it will persist in the tax scam hoax that is the lie of green. It’s a farce designed solely to retard this nation. Imagine being so desperately mendacious that all scientific evidence, all logic, all common sense is thrown away to force socialism, an ideological aim, for solely political reasoning to destroy the country so wasters can line their pockets with other tax payers money.

    1. If they were serious about reducing consumption, they would have put the increases on unit price. Instead, they have slapped the price rises on standing charges which have to be paid, even with nil consumption. It was Ofgem that did this, not the energy cartel, so this travesty purporting to promote Net Zero is nothing of the sort – it is another “business-friendly” way to transfer money from the public to favored (sic) corporate interests.

  53. Are you a free thinking contrarian who believes in freedom and national sovereignty? Then download the Eurovision song monstrosity app and vote for Israel. As I understand it, you don’t even have to watch the bloody rubbish.

    1. Afternoon Tom. I caught one of these acts by accident when switching channels. It was even worse than I had imagined. Some posturing pervert singing falsetto. Bring on the end of the world. It will be a relief.

      1. You have my sympathies. Last time I watched it, the UK singer was Cliff Richards! Can’t remember if he won.

  54. Sergeant Thomas Frank Durrant VC (17th October 1918 – 28th March 1942), No. 1 Commando.

    His Victoria Cross citation reads:

    For great gallantry, skill and devotion to duty when in charge of a Lewis gun in HM Motor Launch 306 in the St Nazaire raid on 28th March 1942.

    Motor Launch 306 came under heavy fire while proceeding up the River Loire towards the port. Sergeant Durrant, in his position abaft the bridge, where he had no cover or protection, engaged enemy gun positions and searchlights ashore. During this engagement he was severely wounded in the arm but refused to leave his gun. The Motor Launch subsequently went down the river and was attacked by a German destroyer at 50 to 60 yards range, and often closer. In this action Sergeant Durrant continued to fire at the destroyer’s bridge with the greatest of coolness and with complete disregard of the enemy’s fire. The Motor Launch was illuminated by the enemy searchlight, and Sergeant Durrant drew on himself the individual attention of the enemy guns, and was again wounded in many places. Despite these further wounds he stayed in his exposed position, still firing his gun, although after a time only able to support himself by holding on to the gun mounting.
    After a running fight, the Commander of the German destroyer called on the Motor Launch to surrender. Sergeant Durrant’s answer was a further burst of fire at the destroyer’s bridge. Although now very weak, he went on firing, using drums of ammunition as fast as they could be replaced. A renewed attack by the enemy vessel eventually silenced the fire of the Motor Launch, but Sergeant Durrant refused to give up until the destroyer came alongside, grappled the Motor Launch and took prisoner those who remained alive.
    Sergeant Durrant’s gallant fight was commended by the German officers on boarding the Motor Launch. This very gallant non-commissioned officer later died of the many wounds received in action.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/Durrant.jpg

    1. We saw his grave last September. The cemetery is immaculate, of course. There is also an interesting history to it.

      “Escoublac-la-Baule is 13 kilometres west of St Nazaire and the Cemetery is south-east of Escoublac and east of La Baule, and will be located behind the small airport. The cemetery is well signposted.

      The cemetery was begun with the burial of 17 British soldiers killed in the area during 1940, 21 others who died in local hospitals, and a number of British servicemen whose bodies were washed ashore after the sinking of the troopship “Lancastria” in the Bay of Biscay on 17 June 1940. Subsequent burials include men killed in the St. Nazaire raid in 1942, and airmen shot down in the area.

      The cemetery now contains 325 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 74 of which are unidentified. Three Polish servicemen are also buried here and one man of the Merchant Navy whose death was not due to war service. Throughout the German occupation, Louise Jaouen, a resident of La Baule, dedicated all her time and energy to maintaining the graves. With money collected secretly from the generous local people she provided a cross for every grave and a small monument, had hedges planted, and employed a permanent gardener to tend the cemetery. Her devotion to this work was later honoured by the award of the King’s Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom.”

      1. I have visited a few of the CWGC cemeteries and, as you say they are immaculate, although very dusty.
        I would recommend them to anyone if you are in the vicinity.

        1. I suppose, over the years, we have been to dozens. In France Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Egypt. Essential for anyone who has the most tenuous interest in British history.

      2. Visited the Commonwealth War Graves in Siracusa, Sicily, a long time ago.
        Immaculate; and as you came through the gate, the birdsong and the traffic became silent.
        All those white stones, lined up.
        The emotion still gets to me even now, 30 years later.

        1. Every single one does that for me, Paul. One simply looks at how old (or, rather, young) so many of the were…and weep.

    1. Of course you do dear.
      Anything to try and ‘poke the world in the eye’.
      Take Harry and the kids with you. I’ll give you a generous six weeks.

    2. Bet she can’t wait to get back to her luxury mansion in California. Who does she think she’s kidding?

    3. Very fake tan – but why wasn’t it a bit darker? But I believe you can get permanent dark skin melanin treatment.

      New suntan drug makes your skin naturally darker and protects you from burning.

      https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/suntan-drug-skin-darker-stop-burning-cancer-sun-shine-melanin-scientists-massachusetts-general-hospital-a7789796.html

      I hope that Harry will buy his wife a starter home in Abuja and if she has trouble fitting in as she is not dark enough she can always use the method my mother used when I was four years old and was in a carnival as a minstrel – burnt cork. Justin Trudeau will doubtless be happy to advise.

      1. I bought a paper copy of the Telegraph this morning. The very pink cheeks looked rather unconvincing.

    4. Ironic that it was the forebears of the current population of Nigeria that sold her forebears off into the Atlantic Slave Trade.

    5. As far as I can find, she didn’t say that. She thanked the Nigerian people for “welcoming me home”, in reference to her discovery of having Nigerian ancestry.

    6. BTL on the Speccie article some 5 days ago

      WooHoo
      5 days ago
      Dear Spotify and Netflix

      I am married to a Prince and will be visiting Nigeria, please send $$$$$ to my bank account so that I can release precious content to you.

      Princess Meghan

    7. Problem is, she sells papers – either those misguided idiots desperate to be Echo’s or folk who actively dislike her and want to say so.

  56. Boring par
    Wordle 1,057 4/6

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

    1. But success all the same
      Wordle 1,057 4/6

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

  57. The Welsh press giving a ‘red alert’ for the appearance of northern lights tonight. The gods are obviously angry with us and the fear factor must be maintained, what with all this warm weather, the end of the world must be just around the corner. Did anyone in southern UK actually see the lights or is it just clever photography. The DT prediction vid suggested only seeing the event in northern uk.

    1. Clearly these are a sign from the Gods that the end is nigh. Incredibly I have ceased to worry.

    1. That’s handy. My electricity meter is right next to my gas meter. Least it will be quick.

      1. What bright spark thought it was a good idea to colocate a gaseous mixture device with an electrical appliance?

  59. You’ll lose it if you’re not careful. The most important choke point in Europe.
    Lord Cameron desperately trying to finish off Jack Straw’s work before Sir Keir of Rotherham can grab the glory.

    planned agreement between Lord Cameron and the European Union would mean Gibraltar’s border with Spain was British in name only.

    2. That’s why Cameron was brought back. Sunak, Starmer, the lot are fully paid up members of the woke globalist cult. Why should anyone expect anything else?

  60. Russia ‘captures five border villages’ near Kharkiv. 11 May 2024.

    Vladimir Putin’s forces have taken five border villages in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, where Russia launched an offensive on Friday, its defence ministry has claimed.

    In a briefing, the defence ministry said that Russian forces had taken the villages of Pletenivka, Ohirtseve, Borysivka, Pylna and Strilechna, all of which are directly on the border with Russia’s Belgorod region.

    Hmmm. Is it the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning? Alas we have to wait and see. .

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/11/russia-ukraine-zelensky-putin-war-latest-news6/

    1. No, no, no, no AS. The Russians have nowt better to fight with than shovels, and are scraping convicts out of the gulag to fight for them, remember? They are running out of shells, bullets, drones, tanks, socks, the lot, and are quaking in front of Nato-led Ukraine and its far superior men, equipment, tactics and socks. How can they be winning?

          2. OurvKev discusses it in episode 91 of “the history of English”: the Old English word for an herb (sic) was “wyrt,” which is the original version of the modern word “wort” as in St. John’s Wort. The word is discussed in ‘Episode 137: A Rose By Any Other Name.’

          3. OurvKev discusses it in episode 91 of “the history of English”: the Old English word for an herb (sic) was “wyrt,” which is the original version of the modern word “wort” as in St. John’s Wort. The word is discussed in ‘Episode 137: A Rose By Any Other Name.’

          3. I do the eye-un-ing, like normal folk. At least where I come from it’s normal. Do you say fillum and al-mund too? Mind, the worst is athulete. Seems to be trendy and winds me up. There’s also a station announcement on London Overground that refers to Brondesbury (correctly pronounced bronds-bri) as bronders-berry.

          6. It always puzzles me why the Americans pronounce ‘nuclear’ as ‘nucular’ and ‘glacier’ as ‘glaysher’.

          7. Fillum (which is how my Norn Irish boyfriend used to pronounce it) is the old way we used to pronounce it. Really, everyone should listen to Kev!!! We are on episode 176 now but the episodes which deal with 800 – 1400 AD are fascinating!

          8. Fillum (which is how my Norn Irish boyfriend used to pronounce it) is the old way we used to pronounce it. Really, everyone should listen to Kev!!! We are on episode 176 now but the episodes which deal with 800 – 1400 AD are fascinating!

          9. Fillum (which is how my Norn Irish boyfriend used to pronounce it) is the old way we used to pronounce it. Really, everyone should listen to Kev!!! We are on episode 176 now but the episodes which deal with 800 – 1400 AD are fascinating!

          10. The joke all those years ago about the man in the dog house. He had bought his kids an iPad and an iPhone but his wife did not like her iRon.

        4. And words with T in them as Dee? Give your dorder some warder, Peeder. Make her bedder.

  61. 387250+ up ticks,

    Just heard this political top ranker on radio four, I do beg to differ
    the common sense, believe what you see,hear & witness,
    NOT what you are TOLD to see, believe, and witness.

    A faction of the electorate, are seemingly a parallel society watching the lab/lib/con coalition supporter / voters taking the same well worn steps leading up to a General Election.

    Watching the same gullible, party before Country idiots, accepting as true the same lies, deceitful vows promises & pledges via the ,manifesto’s.

    Voters not in love with Starmer’s Labour Party, warns Kinnock
    The country is not yet convinced, says former leader, as insiders fear general election could become a repeat of shock 1992 defeat

    I do believe that the decent indigenous peoples believe the initial treachery was down to labour when the devils number one political activist lifted the countries entry latch, NO one of a patriotic stance can forgive that.

  62. This guy makes some fascinating videos about language. This is one of my favorites. He also does one about French and English.

    I have a book too, The Loom of Language, that covers sound shift and other rules about European Languages and their relationship to English. It claims that, if you study the book you will be able to read any European language to the level of reading a newspaper. Some languages are excluded because they don’t belong to the Romance/Germanic languages.

    How anyone (including YOU) can read German.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VebSZrHmsI4&t=5s

    1. A fascinating video. I think because English is a mongrel language of Latin, Germanic, Anglo Saxon, frog that we’re able to ‘brute force decode’ other languages.

      1. It’s fascinating how Anglo-Saxon German, Old Norse, Norman French and Bad Latin melded into English as we know it. Henry IV was the first of our kings to speak English as his first language and his grandfather Edward III was the first to address parliament in English. Mid to late 14th century.

        1. French and Italian are great for making love. German is good for bollocking someone, but for clarity and conciseness, use English.

        2. French and Italian are great for making love. German is good for bollocking someone, but for clarity and conciseness, use English.

    2. Wonderful! I wish i’d come across this before learning German…🤣🤣 (I worked these out for myself, but it took.time.)

      I shall rummage around to see if he has any useful insights into Spanish; thank you!

  64. Good afternoon everyone. A bright and beautiful day and I’m about to start food preparations for a dinner party this evening. A large roasted Red Snapper for the main course, a pudding and cheese with biscuits.

    1. I’m doing Hake with a Provencal sauce. Chocolate mousse with macerated strawberries.

      1. Sounds sublime. I always think macerated strawberries sounds rather rude 🙂

          1. I decided not to click, I’d rather live in happy ignorance of urban dictionary .

    2. Snapper goes very well with spinach or, even better, samphire. I have no idea how to cook it though, as that’s not my department.

      1. Red Snapper comes from Asian waters ( and exotic climes ) Hong Diā yú in Chinese. Can’t remember what it’s called in Malaysia. Very popular with Australians who pop it on the Barbi . It’s probably best steamed Asian style or cooked on the barbecue. A nasty big devil with sharp bits to cut off – ill pop him in the oven with various herbs. I do have samphire which I do love of which goes especially well with bass or bream fillets .

          1. My goodness, I never knew food was obtainable from around the world 😅

      2. Gut fish.
        Lay a square of greaseproof paper on a square of tin foil. Place whole gutted fish on the paper. Add herbs and slices of lemon. A glug of white wine.
        Make a parcel.
        Bung on barbie or in oven at 180 for 15 minutes.

        1. or I could tell Mrs Armstrong to cook it how she likes. It’l turn out well.

          1. Samfur (as they caal it in yer Naarfuk) is best lightly steamed and then drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil. It is delicious hot, or cold in a salad.

            It is certainly best before the middle of July, after that it gets very woody.

          2. I wonder if the illegal immigrants gather it on the cliffs of Dover?

          3. I only came across it a few years ago so am no expert. I tried to grow it as a cut and go but it soon turned woody.

          5. I’d move the ‘s’
            It’s like wet, marshy soil.
            Can’t stand the stuff.

          6. Go down to the marshes and pick some in May and June when it’s not too big. It will be succulent all the way through.
            It is particularly nice in a sandwich of crab and prawns (with a little mayo, seasoned with paprika) on buttered wholemeal bread.

  65. I see YouTube have deleted the footage of the violent swearing outburst & drama by Jocelyn Agyemang in Croydon.. when politely asked to show her ticket by spot-check inspectors plus one unfortunate Met officer (whitey). You know the drill..

    PC Perry Lathwood, 50, of Norman’s Bay, East Sussex, denies one charge of assault by beating during the arrest of Jocelyn Agyemang in Croydon. BBC headline reads.
    Translation: aggressive black lady tries to walk off.. policeman touches arm.. Stormzy, Dianne & “British” Rights Activist Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu organise protest.. Met arrest officer, CPS inflates charge and sends him for trial.

  66. I forgot to mention that last night we had a rather spectacular display of the aurora borealis. Did anyone else see it? Might be on again tonight.

    Other news: an anti-Hamas Iranian, who has been arrested several times for waving a placard pointing out that Hamas is a terrorist organisation – the position of the UK government – has been arrested again. This time for eating a banana while waving the English flag.

    Is anyone still deluded enough to think that is is anything other than an anti-British police state?

    4. Not here in Stevenage, sadly. I looked at the night sky about 23:15 and there was no sign of it. I’m probably too far south.

      1. Friends in east Anglia sent me their photos of it. The Sapolas turned in straight after the end of Sale V Leicester so would have had no chance of seeing the night sky.

      2. The DT published a photo taken in Great Horkesley; a village just to the north of Colchester and where we lived for several years.

  67. “A man has been charged with the murder of a 66-year-old woman in north London, police have said.

    The woman died after being stabbed on a busy street, in Edgware, on Thursday.

    Jalal Debella, 22, was due to appear at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, charged with murder and possession of an offensive weapon, the Metropolitan Police said.”

    And there was I expecting the perp to be John Smith.

    1. Don’t give them ideas, they’ll be changing the criminals names straight after arrest.
      But why Willesden ?

      2. Willesden was once the location for the Trojan reggae record company. The building has since been demolished. What looked like a post-war pre-fab has been replaced by nondescript flats. It didn’t have the caché of Abbey Road but it’s a bit of a shame to have lost an icon of Anglo-Caribbean history.

        1. Have you ever thought of going on “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire”?
          And no, I will not be your “Phone a Friend” because it’s bound to be a sports question.

        2. My father was born in Willesden where he lived with his six brothers.
          They all lived in a large house in Ranelagh Road. Since demolished.
          He absolutely hated what Willesden had since turned into.

    2. The de Bellas from Milan? A very old family who have provided at least one Pope.

      1. A warlike family? Bella Bella Bella Bellarum Bellis Bellis

        Does the de imply a genitive case?

        We had some friends called Bridges and their email address was pontibus@ server – dative (to or for Bridges) or ablative (by, with or from Bridges.)

    1. Not without a bit of further information, pet. That report doesn’t say very much.

      1. The West Midlands Police statement is no more enlightening.

        Arrests following fatal house fire in Wolverhampton

        We’ve arrested two men on suspicion of murder after two women have died following a house fire in Wolverhampton this morning (11 May).

        We were called to Dunstall Hill, alongside other emergency services, just before 2am.

        Two women, understood to be in their early 20s, were tragically confirmed dead at the scene and our thoughts are with their loved ones at this terrible time.

        Three men and a woman were taken to hospital, with the woman currently in a critical condition.

        Following initial enquiries we’ve arrested two men, aged 19 and 22.

        The men, who are understood to be known to the women, will now be questioned.

        We’re working with fire service colleagues to establish the cause of the fire and a scene currently remains in place.

        We have officers in the area as our enquiries, including reviewing all available footage, continue.

        Anyone with information can contact us via Live Chat on our website, or by calling 101, and quote 360 of 11/5/24.

        https://www.west-midlands.police.uk/news/arrests-following-fatal-house-fire-wolverhampton#

      3. The less they say the more obvious the conclusions to which we jump.

    3. Interesting that the adult perpetrators have not had their names or nationality revealed by the BBC.

        1. Particularly that when it is a white British perpetrator their name is always revealed.

          As Sue said, very odd.

      2. It’s not a BBC thing. No news outlet has revealed the suspects’ names. The police statement doesn’t either. Perhaps the names of the arrested are not known beyond those immediately involved.

    6. Ah. Now the recent post on Dunstall Hill makes sense.

      Edit. When I was at school i had an after-school job at a local doctor’s surgery which is close to Whitmore Reans (next road over). The doctor (who was quite famous in the BMA from memory) once told me that there was a lot of “honour killing”, which was proved every tome we did the dead filing (removing the files of people who had not been to the surgery in over five years. They were mostly between the ages of 17 and 30 and had the surname “Kaur”. Back in the early to mid80s.)

      1. My great uncle was also a GP in Wolverhampton. I believe it went on in the ‘70s as well.

    7. Ah. Now the recent post on Dunstall Hill makes sense.

      Edit. When I was at school i had an after-school job at a local doctor’s surgery which is close to Whitmore Reans (next road over). The doctor (who was quite famous in the BMA from memory) once told me that there was a lot of “honour killing”, which was proved every tome we did the dead filing (removing the files of people who had not been to the surgery in over five years. They were mostly between the ages of 17 and 30 and had the surname “Kaur”. Back in the early to mid80s.)

    6. In the last 361 days i have lost 3 stones and 11 lbs. I am hoping to get to a round 13 stone 14 lbs by my goddaughter’s wedding at the end of this month; but my (unwanted) social life keeps getting in the way.

      Bah humbug! (And apologies for the use of the word “humbug”, in the back of my mind I have a feeling it’s a naughty word now following the first witch hunt against BoJo, although i can’t remember why).

      1. That’s what cracked me up, Del. We’ve known that all our lives, but these youngsters are clueless.

  73. I know that you have all been dying to read this breaking news:

    ” Prince Harry and Meghan Markle smile as they attend volleyball event on Nigeria tour”

  74. Radio 4 Question Time: Alistair Carmichael Scots Lib Dem MP, Kevin Hollinrake Tory MP (Anti Brexit), Jonathan Reynolds Lab MP, and Sarah Swindley Greenie activist.

    Strangely all of them think immigration is good for Britain – fancy that!

  75. S.S. Empire Heath.

    Complement:
    58 (57 dead and 1 survivor).
    Iron ore.

    On 1st November 1942 the Empire Heath in convoy HG-91 launched her Sea Hurricane Mk.I V7070 (MSFU, pilot F/O Norman Taylor, DFM, RAF) to chase the German Focke-Wulf Fw200C F8+DS (7./KG 40, pilot Oblt Arno Gross) which was shot down, leaving no survivors. Return fire had damaged the fighter and the pilot had to bail out over the convoy, being a non-swimmer and he almost drowned before picked up by one of the escorts. It was victory number 6.5 for F/O Taylor and he was awarded the DFC for this action.

    At 14.45 hours on 11th May 1944, U-129 (Richard von Harpe) fired a spread of three torpedoes at the unescorted Empire Heath (Master William Thompson Brown, DSC) east-northeast of Rio de Janeiro, but missed. The U-boat surfaced and overtook the vessel firing one FAT torpedo at 23.00 hours. The ship was hit after 6 minutes 20 seconds and sank within a few seconds. The Germans rescued one of the survivors, the chief steward Frederick Wakeham, for questioning and took him prisoner. He was landed in Lorient on 19th July and taken to the POW camp Marlag und Milag Nord. The master, 46 crew members, one passenger (DBS) and nine gunners were lost.

    Type IXC U-Boat U-129 was decommissioned in August 1944 at Lorient and scuttled south-west of U-boat pen Keroman I on 18th August 1944. Wreck captured by US forces in May 1945 and handed over to France. Raised and broken up in 1946.

    https://uboat.net/media/allies/merchants/br/empire_heath.jpg

    1. A Sea Hurricane pilot who couldn’t swim? There’s a man with more confidence than I have!

  77. We remember a number of cases when there was almost indecent haste in revealing the accused’s names, but they were all English.

    1. It’s possible that the police have withheld the names from all news outlets.

      1. If names are withheld it means that the names are not indigenous English names. I wonder why this is, don’t you?

  79. Good afternoon folks.

    Some of you will have noticed my absence since Wednesday. It has taken me a couple of days to process the consultation with my oncologist on Thursday where I challenged him to sell me the benefits of chemotherapy. He never attempted to try. Said there was nothing more that they could offer me at the present time and that he though chemo would be a mistake.
    I thought i have already got to that point but it seems not – just felt abandoned to my own devices. Drastically missing the support of certain friends who have run away – just when I needed them.
    Anyways – am now in a much better place. After all – nothing has changed and I will now concentrate on trying to live the best life I can whilst I can.

    Tears and commiserations are not what I need – maybe a miracle but don’t think much else would be useful 🙂

    Lets all do what we can.

    I have a project idea burring and I will b back here asking for your help in due course. I have to make that change before I go!!

    1. Afternoon, Nagsman.
      I suspect friends don’t quite know what to say or how to react. The British are all too good at not wanting to be a bother. Are there any that you feel confident you could contact without awkwardness getting in the way?

      1. Well put, I think a lot of people do not want to intrude or be a bother unless they have had experience with caring for others.

      2. It’s difficult not knowing what to say. From being totally schtumm, I changed my approach and let my friends and family know where they stand, how much I appreciate them and care for them.
        Mind you, it’s really easy – there are so few of them now. Whether one is cause and the other effect, who knows?

    2. Oh, blimey, N. Words always fail me.
      Here, we’re your friends: be sure to lean on us when you need to.

    4. There is a belief that herbal remedies can shrink cancerous tumors. Naomi Wolf has recently been devoting her energy to finding out more and she seems convinced.

    6. I think you’re great, Nagsman. Love your accounts of your horse exploits. Don’t think I could even get on a horse. What an example you are of someone who makes the most of things. There are few who can really do that. When down I sometimes think, I have a choice. I can wallow or choose to make myself happier by doing something else. People with your kind of outlook set the example to choose not to wallow if you can. You’re more of an inspiration than you know. Every moment should be treasured and the most got out of it we all learn but some really do this. I’m sorry you are feeling blue today and I send my thoughts and love to you and hope you manage to grab a bit of happiness soon. That’s the best we can hope for I sometimes think: some happy moments. Hope it’s a nice day where you are and it’s not too hot. Best to your beautiful pup.

    7. Nagsman. If you have a project, get to it so you will be certain of finishing it. My worst mistake has been always thinking I had time. Now I find myself, after cancer and still with COPD circling the drain and now unable to do what I wanted to do as some sort of legacy. It is the only thing of any use I have learnt in this sort of situation.

      The rest, I have learnt, is to use my illness to grow spiritually. To learn that no matter how terrible thing are, I do not suffer as much as another, always there is someone worse of. It may seem odd, but keeping to that theme I am learning what love is. The most important thing in life as far as I can tell.

      There is much else that I could say but, I hope, you will figure out that for yourself if you take the path of creativity and not despair.

      Another thing. Do not hide you illness it neither helps you anyone else. Just be honest about it.

  80. Michael Deacon in the DT:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/11/eurovision-israel-protest-greta-thunberg-ugly-new-low/

    “This Eurovision protest with Greta Thunberg is an ugly new low for the anti-Israel Left

    Why is a young female Israeli pop singer being treated as if she’s somehow to blame for what’s happening in Gaza?

    11 May 2024 • 7:00am

    The time has come for our leaders to face the horrifying truth: a possible genocide is under way. Since this awful conflict began last year, countless thousands of innocent people have been killed, many of them children, while thousands more are now desperate refugees.

    No, I’m not talking about Gaza. I’m talking about Sudan. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch published a report detailing the atrocities that have been committed during the ongoing war in Sudan, which broke out in April last year.

    Yet here’s a curious thing. Despite that conflict’s savage brutality, I don’t recall seeing any mass protests against it in the West. London is not swarmed every Saturday by hundreds of thousands of enraged demonstrators brandishing placards that liken the RSF (a Sudanese paramilitary force) to the Nazis. Nor have university campuses in the US and the UK been overrun by students shrieking that they stand with the Masalit (an ethnic group the RSF is accused of massacring) and calling for “ceasefire now” in Darfur. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I can recall Western Left-wing activists even mentioning the RSF.

    So furious is their hatred of Israel, however, that thousands of them have taken to the streets this week to rage against a young, female Israeli pop singer.

    Eden Golan, who is just 20 years old, is Israel’s representative at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. And for days, the city of Malmo in Sweden – where the contest is being held – has been overwhelmed by anti-Israel protesters, demanding that she be expelled from the competition. Spotted among the crowds on Thursday, as it happens, was Greta Thunberg, proudly wearing a Palestinian-style keffiyeh scarf. Previously famed for her campaigning against climate change, Ms Thunberg has recently expanded her repertoire by campaigning against Israel, as well.

    “Young people are leading the way,” she told Reuters, “and showing the world how we should react to this.”

    Is she quite sure? Are young people “leading the way” by treating a 20-year-old female pop singer as if she were somehow responsible for the actions of the Israeli military? Are they “leading the way” by leaving this poor woman with no option but to stay holed up in her Swedish hotel room all day, surrounded by security guards, for the sake of her own safety? And are they “showing the world how we should react” by booing her as she sings a song whose lyrics were reportedly written as a lament for the Israeli civilians who were kidnapped, raped and murdered on October 7?

    Personally, I’m not convinced. In fact, I would say that, for the anti-Israel Left, this week’s scenes from Sweden represent an ugly new low. And it may grow uglier still, as Ms Golan is due to perform at tonight’s Eurovision final.

    Given that their behaviour is only likely to undermine their cause, perhaps these blinkered bullies should consider taking the evening off. And if they need something else to be angry about in the meantime, they could always try googling Sudan. Country in Africa. Great big landmass, just below Europe. They can’t miss it.”

    2. Protesting about Israel gets you on the news; rather less likely if Sudan is your cause.

      1. As someone posted yesterday, maybe she should go & live in a country that meets the most of her political and personal restriction requirements. North Korea, for example.

    4. I fear that the Eurovision Song Contest final in Malmo presents a unique opportunity for an horrific terrorist event. All the ingredients are there.

      I hope that Swedish security, police and special forces are up to the mark.

    5. You can add to that the 50,000 Christians killed in Nigeria by Islam since 2009. The killing continues but you wont find much outrage on the internet.

    6. She appears to have invented a new word! ‘Artswashing’!! What a dimbo she is!

  82. It’s evident that the following information will be of interest to several on this forum.

    Ethnic Group

    Dunstall Hill, Wolverhampton can be considered more ethnically diverse than the UK average. As whole, the UK population claims itself as approximately 82.2% white, with residents of this area being 32% so.

    As a country with a diverse population, the UK is home to other sizable ethnic groups, with mixed ethnicity (2.8%), Indian (3.1%) and Pakistani (2.7%) being the largest groups reported.

    There is considerable division of ethnicities within the UK, with ethnically diverse addresses uncommon outside of urban areas.

    Ethnic Group
    White 108
    Mixed Ethnicity 11
    Indian 51
    Pakistani 95
    Chinese 5
    Other Asian 2
    Black African 20
    Black Caribbean 11
    Other Black/African/Caribbean 18
    Other 18
    Total 339

    Country of Birth

    In this area (Dunstall Hill, Wolverhampton), 62% of the residents were born in the United Kingdom, which is significantly below the UK average.

    At the time of the 2021 census, approximately 83.4% of the resident population of the United Kingdom were born in the UK. The other major groups were 6.9% from European countries, 5.4% from Middle Eastern or Asian countries, 2.6% from African countries, and 1.7% from the rest of the world.

    Country of Birth
    United Kingdom 207
    European Union 53
    Africa 12
    Middle East And Asia 56
    The Americas
    (North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean)
    6
    Total 334

    Length of Residence

    At the time of the 2021 census, approximately 83.3% of the resident population of the United Kingdom were born in the UK. Some 9.7% have resided in the UK for 10 years plus, 2.9% for 5-10 years, 2.2% for 2-5 years, and 1.9% for less than two years.

    The length of time a person has been resident in the UK has been calculated from the time a resident most recently arrived in the UK (excluding holidays/short stays outside the UK). However, residents that were born in the UK but emigrated and then later returned will still be counted as “Born in the United Kingdom”.

    Length of Residence
    Born in The United Kingdom 207
    10+ Years 65
    5-10 Years 29
    2-5 Years 19
    Less Than 2 Years 15
    Total 335

    Passport(s) Held

    Note that an individual may hold one or more passports. The data may include people living in adjacent addresses to WV6 0SP

    Passport(s) Held
    None 18
    United Kingdom 238
    Republic of Ireland 2
    European Union 61
    Rest of Europe 1
    African Countries 6
    Middle East or Asia 8

    Religion

    The largest religious group in England and Wales are Christians – 46.2% of residents. However, a sizeable portion of the population (37.2%) claim to have no religion, which has increased substantially from the 25.1% reported in the 2011 census. Some 6.5% identify themselves as Muslim, 1.7% Hindu, 0.9% Sikh, 0.5% Buddhist, 0.5% Jewish, and 0.6% as other religions, while the remaining 6% did not state their religious views.

    Religion
    No Religion 39
    Christian 122
    Buddhist 0
    Hindu 8
    Jewish 0
    Muslim 128
    Sikh 21
    Other Religion 0
    Not Stated 21
    Total 339

    https://www.streetcheck.co.uk/postcode/wv60sp

    1. Why are mongrels/mulattos/half-castes/half-breeds now labelled as “mixed ethnicity”?

      Why not “compound colouring”, “amalgamated ancestry”, “randomised race” or “jumbled genealogy”?

        1. Nah! I’m a mucky-pinky-beige.

          But, I suppose being half-Yorkshire and half-Derbyshire, I’m a mongrel of sorts.

          2. I’ve got a smidgeon of Nottinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Ireland in there, if my relatives are to be believed.

            I intend to go down the DNA route to determine the full extent of my mongrelicity.

          3. I’m kind of tube-train-ceiling nicotine yellow. I’m sure you remember the colour, back in the day when everybody smoked.
            I blame the anti-malarials when I were a kid in Nigeria.

      2. Half-caste was the expression I grew up with. Fist encountered mulatto in Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. It has a nicer sound but isn’t fashionable?

      4. On my father’s side I can trace back to 1580 – pure English all the way.

        On my mother’s side I can trace back to 530 – and what a mixture. Starting with Egil, King in Sweden, Uppsala, and thereafter, Swedes, Norwegians, Normans, French a wee drop of Scottish (Queen Matilda) , Cavaliers and then countless navy personnel.

        That’s my heritage.- and I’m very pale.

    3. Whitmore Reans is the same. Very close to where i grew up and where my parents still live. Our Enoch’s famous constituent was from round this area.

    5. This area is becoming increasingly “diverse”. I went into my nearest town today to have a coffee and catch up with friends and it seemed every third person was tinted. This has happened over the last twelve months. When the “diverse” pupils come out of school they clump together and jabber away in their foreign language. It isn’t good for community cohesion.

  84. Afternoon all. It seems many of the impressive photos circulating today were taken on mobile cameras with their ‘night time’ mode which it seems exaggerates things a tad. Don’t think my usual, normal, camera has such a facility. So it may be that the purple colour is a figment of ones imagination. Here in Bracknell I was well aware of what was going on with my amateur radio interests. I looked out a few times between 10.30 and 1am and saw nothing as being on a housing estate there is a big street light problem. But there again it did seem a bit bright towards the north which I assumed was streetlights or possibly the residual light from the set sun. Maybe that was in fact the aurora. I wasn’t go wandering around outside that time of night.

    It certainly has affected our amateur radio bands, they are totally dead at the moment and the K index, which indicates geomagnetic activity, has been stuck above 8, peaking 9, for nearly 24 hours now, I can’t ever remember that happening before. But then again we are in the solar maximum stage so it is to be expected.

    1. Here in Woking, at about 9 last night after our bowls club night, there was a purple streak in the western sky, really beautiful. Unfortunately none of us thought of snapping it. But it was definitely purple and shades of.

      1. It was supposed to be spectacular in North Shropshire, but I’m afraid I was tired and slept through it.

    3. Exacto. I saw those beautiful colour photos people had posted locally on Facebook. I headed away from the town lights to a spot where people were congregating and like you just saw lighter bands across the sky but I could not distinguish any colour at all. My camera picked up zilch. The last big display was when I was very young and I hid under the bed so I wouldn’t see it! 73’s from another if inactive amateur.

    4. I shan’t bother tuning round, then 🙂 Some years ago I remember working aurora. It was quite the thing.

      1. My ex-wife told a tale about her grandmother coming to stay. When she returned home from work one day she found her grandmother holding a very shiny frying pan. She complained that it had taken her three hours, using half a box of Brillo pads, to scour off the ‘black stuff’ coating the inside of it!

        1. Snap !
          I did something similar when i ran my sister’s guest house for a month while they were in Bermuda. The two large frying pans used to cook breakfast had a build up of carbon on the outside of the pans half an inch thick. It was like black coral.
          They had taken ‘never wash the pan to the extreme’. I also considered it would make putting a pan fire out more difficult. So i chipped it off. They weren’t impressed. They thought i was an idiot and the feeling was mutual.

      2. Was putting an access point on the 2nd floor ceiling and a stair board broke. Fell through up to my knee. Oh delightful.

  88. I was 8 stone 12 denari this morning. For me, that’s heavy. I’m only a little over 5 pints tall. Need to go easy on the chocolate for a while.

    2. I don’t know what I weigh but today I’m wearing a pair of trousers I’ve had for over 20 years. I did feel a bit porky a year or so ago so I cut down on carbs – I eat very little bread or potatoes but as much as I like of everything else.

  89. I can speak and be understood in Plat Deutsche..And in French. I can get by in Swedish and Spanish

    1. At school, college and university I’ve had tuition in French, German, Italian and Russian. I’m now far from fluent in any of them. My Russian has all but expired. Then again, I was last taught it at grammar school 54 years ago. I still have collections of text books, dictionaries and audio tapes – gathering dust – in the other 3 languages.

    1. Yes, I had two goes in the garden (weeding a seating area, then coming in for lunch and afterwards sowing some more salad veg in the veg plot). It’s been a scorcher here today.

      1. Warm here but I wouldn’t say it was scorching. Good to see you back – Internet sorted now?

        1. I was roaming and motorhoming so not connected. Back to find I’ve no hot water (the immersion has died and my plumber has moved house and can’t sort it for a while, so I’ve got the Rayburn lit – something that adds to the scorching effect!), the garden has turned into a jungle and the bills have piled up. Sometimes I wonder why I bother to go away!

  91. Islamophobia?
    That’s so unfashionable.. so passé. Get with it, it’s now Islamphilia..
    ..the bizarre act of heaping slabbering praise upon someone that absolutely despises you and your way of life.
    Douglas Murray.

    2. Edit: This is supposed to be a reply to JohnathanRackam above. My keyboard skills mean it’s been put in the wrong place. Sorry. :-((
      “Coventry’s cathedral ruins stand as a stark reminder that open-plan was a concept even in the medieval times. It’s an ambitious DIY project waiting for someone with enough scaffolding and optimism”
      WHAT?!

    1. Painful, but I persisted until I had seen all the ‘Landmarks in desperate need of restoration’. Only at the end does it become apparent – For transparency, this content was partly developed with AI assistance and carefully curated by an experienced editor to be informative and ensure accuracy.

      You can understand AI getting it wrong, but the ‘experienced editor’ is obviously totally clueless.

      1. Arts graduates think that AI is very, very clever because it can turn out grammatically correct sentences. Programmers know that it isn’t because its code suggestions are usually wrong.

    2. Perhaps it’s what passes for tongue-in-cheek amongst today’s 20-somethings…

      1. Perhaps, but not funny even if tongue in cheek when you couple it with the consequences for Dresden too.

  94. Red wine or white wine with Red Snapper for my dinner guests this evening 😕

    1. White with fish. It isn’t an arbitrary rule, it’s because the tannin in red wine effects the taste of the fish. Bon appetit!

      2. Said like a Yorkshireman 🙂 Thank you Grizzily I shall do just that .

  95. A pedestrian Par Four!

    Wordle 1,057 4/6
    ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
    🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Birdie today.

      Wordle 1,057 3/6

      🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Likewise….. pretty straightforward….
      Wordle 1,057 4/6

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

      1. We’ve been doing wordle for quite awhile at home, usually over breakfast,
        seeing who competes it first. The American spelling they sometimes use is really annoying . My usual starting word is choir and second word is Altar but Soare is a good one and so is Irony .

        1. Altar is a waste of a tile – two As

          I usually start either with ATONE or PIOUS

        2. You’re overdoing the ‘r’s Kitty.

          My openers are ‘Taser’ ‘Opium’ and ‘Lynch’ (Yes, I know that says a lot about me!) – but it gets the most used 15 letters out up front!

    3. Three today.

      Wordle 1,057 3/6

      🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
      🟨⬜🟨🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. #metoo.
        Wordle 1,057 3/6

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

  96. Back from slave labour – sawing logs. 28 C degrees here – 142 according to the Met Office.

    Russians haven’t a clue what they are doing, the BBC keep telling us they are being driven back but they seem to be retreating in the wrong direction – they have just taken over another five Ukrainian villages, DOH!! Who give their officer a compass? (sarc).

    1. Busy with your chainsaw in the heat of the day , it’s not that warm here but it’s 22c . There is a 🎵 somewhere ‘ I’m a lumberjack and i’m okay ‘ 🙂
      Have a cool beer – you deserve it .

      1. JUst had the beer, following the chainsawing – we’re releasing a 40-year-old combine from it’s graveyard in the forest, so it can go to Combine Harvester heaven – but there’s one hell of a lot of trees and the like to shift, so the combine can be pulled out by the sort of tractor that could pull Heathrow Airport into the 21st century…
        Utterly wrecked now, rehydrated with some cold beer, beginning to feel a bit human.

        1. Beer was created for such an occasion, I hope it replenished you.

    2. Was just reading an article in Aftenposten, interview with the Ukrainian soldiers on the ground. Poor bastards, I have enormous sympathy. Their commander was reported as saying that if Tsjasiv Jar is lost to the Russians, then it’s all over. Kharkiv has been pounded to gravel; Pletenivka, Ohirtseve, Borysivka, Pylna & Striletsjna have been taken by the Russians (not confirmed). Ukies lack ammunition, mostly.
      I hope this means that it’s all over shortly. The senseless waste of life is horrific.

      1. Those guilty of poking the Bear will never admit they are the cause of this pointless bloodshed.

    1. Just had putter-offer here – huge trailers of last winter’s cowpoo spread over the fields!
      Sure is offputting!

      2. Console yourself that it’s getting close to fly season at the Thomas estates.
        You wouldn’t enjoy that part of life in Norfolk

  98. @squirewestern:disqus I asked Helios to bring you sunshine, after my dinner guests have gone could you find for me suitable music for spring evening. Thank you most kindly 😁

    1. Thank you……Helios appears to be your obedient servant as we have enjoyed three days of excellent weather. I can even feel a tingle on my back and shoulders indicating the arrival of my summer tan😁

      Spring evening music eh?………how about something as a counterpoint to all the fecundity of nature at this time. Elgar’s cello concerto?

      1. Helios is indeed my obedient servant and I the muse of primordial God’s, poets and mere mortals 😁. Took his time 🙂 . I’m pleased your summer tan is making an appearance, you’d look splendid in shorts but please no socks and sandals 😆. Elgar ‘s cello concerto, a rather good choice – rich and noble, broad and lyrical very much a counterpart to all the fecundity of nature at this time . Good 🌄 morning it’s now the past the dawn of a new day and the baby birds are making such a noise in the next box just below my bedroom window.

        1. Sandals and socks are indeed a terrible sartorial faux-pas. I normally wear deck shoes or loafers with shorts. Definitely no socks!

          1. I’m pleased to hear you wear loafers or deck shoes, only Lib Dems or Englishmen from many generations ago who wore knotted handkerchiefs on the head wore socks with sandals. I would hate for you to make a faux – pas , Squire, standards must be kept at all times .
            Today I shall wear ballet shoes with a floaty dress and one of my many straw hats as this afternoon I’m attending a function and shall have high tea 😊.

          2. Lib Dems can often be seen here in the summer months wearing socks and sandals. Sometimes they ride bicycles as well. No doubt the socks are hand-knitted by a collective of vegan feminists.😂

            The floaty dress and straw hat sound very elegant, have a nice time.

          3. The Lib Dems are watermelons – they pretend to be green and friendly but they are socialist red inside. We have a Lib Dem council – they intend to rip up this area of outstanding natural beauty,to build hundreds of homes in the fields and much worse they intend to build 20 gypsy and travellers parks making this place more inclusive – it’ll be destroyed.

            Yes the Lib Dems are tin foil hat wearing yogurt knitters and probably have bells on their bicycles- they also ride in the middle of the road holding cars up . Yes I shall, thank you, the first time this year a summer dress has been worn – it’s been far too cold. I shall be on my best behavior as it’s being held by some old landowner of the titled type 🙂

  99. 387250+ up ticks,

    English pride was at its strongest in 1939 /46 after 1946 pride tempered with sorrow, these last four decades very, very, little to be proud of, if anything at all.

    To get to this state as a nation in such a short space of time is a success story, that could only be improved if it had be done in the same space of time to benifit the indigenous peoples agenda, and not the WEF / NWO agenda.

    COMMENT
    ‘Anglo-Saxon’ isn’t racist. It’s a source of English pride
    The term doesn’t refer to a race, but to a magnificent culture with a powerful legacy for these islands

  101. A dozen Shin Bet agents have flown into Malmötistan to keep an eye on the safety of their contestant.. 2nd favourite & hottie Eden Golan.

    Of course, Lefties, Greta and the Islamphilias wouldn’t know that the Pallys have form in these type of events.. Munich 72. Course not.. they don’t do history n stuff.

    1. I was in Munich in 1971. It was quite a shock to find what happened a year later. Sadly, just the start of the madness.

  102. I read this morning that two stop oil people in their 80s were smashing a glass cabinet to get to the Magna Carta – I wasn’t sure whether it was a wind up .

      2. No, you cretins, YOU are breaking the law! Glue them to Rockall and leave them there!

  103. I have had a beautiful few hours attending our village fete.

    The weather is glorious , a good turn out and lots of interesting stalls, weaving , , lace making , cider , hurdle making , wood turning , all sorts of crafts, jams , Morris dancers , Sea shanty singers and so it goes on

    Lots were wearing Victorian dress, but it was very warm and too warm for me to dress up in regalia , so I wore a bob hat and a frilly apron and my jeans !

    Lots of cider for those who enjoy the home made stuff , and the usual Nom nom food ..

    I went down to help set things up at 10am and got back after 4pm , tables gazebos and chairs needed dismantling .

    1. Blimey, they struck lucky.
      A fete in May is often asking for trouble.
      Literally a wash-out.

      1. We prayed to the almighty , and stayed positive , we had been planning this before Christmas ..

        The Charter was issued by King Edward in the year 1280 to the Abbotts and monks at Bindon Abbey.

    2. Hope there were lots and lots of diverse people and stabbings and things. Oh and a Gaza protest.

      2. Funny you should mention all those things , because Dorset Council issued a huge manual re elf and safety for the use of a couple of pretty streets with a brook running through and thatched cottages .. where the previous fairs had been held .. Sadly fair not financially viable any more , security and insurance phenomenal! So the County Council scared us rigid by writing about the threat of terrorism and blocking off roads properly because of the fear of a drive through terrorist attack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if we held our own fete/ fair there .

        Bollocks to that, so we changed the venue to a lovely green grassy secure area , easy access for everyone and roomy , gazebos and chairs and a few mature trees .. perfect.

        1. I wonder how they would react if you wrote back saying:
          “We are having our village fete as usual.
          We do not propose to do anything special and we welcome all people to enjoy the day.
          It is YOUR responsibility to ensure those people are safe.
          And we most certainly are NOT paying for the privilege of supporting our local community and neither should that community.”

    2. It won’t bother the Telegraph of course but there are credible scientists who dispute the classification of oil and gas as fossil fuels and claim that the supply is not finite since the natural process that creates oil and gas is ongoing. We’ll never find out while dissenting voices are silenced.

      1. The science is settled, Our Susan. Stop being a far-right, foam-flecked…(I give up) {:¬))

      2. The science is settled, Our Susan. Stop being a far-right, foam-flecked…(I give up) {:¬))

    3. The Foreign Office plans to immediately withdraw the five research and logistical stations, with 250 staff, and Royal Navy, and RSS David Attenborough. Lord Cameron to negotiate surrender. Islam exhibition at the V&A claims to have invented oil & gas.

    4. The Foreign Office plans to immediately withdraw the five research and logistical stations, with 250 staff, and Royal Navy, and RSS David Attenborough. Lord Cameron to negotiate surrender. Islam exhibition at the V&A claims to have invented oil & gas.

  106. It’s the season to reminisce . We are off to yet another wake this afternoon, it is the third in a month. I wish that our friends were not so old.

    No not vaccine related, all three have been suffering from progressive illnesses for a long time

    1. I’m sorry about the wake, Richard. I so hate funerals… it’s the final goodbye, and I so hate goodbyes. I never say “goodbye”, only “Slayders” or similar.

      1. Sad but we also learn more about people that we thought we knew. We knew that friend David had been a successful lawyer but in todays eulogy, another partner from the firm talked about his national and international recognition. You would never have guessed from his quiet demeanor.

  107. 387250+ up ticks,

    Deport them? surely lets not be to hasty think of the party numbers, sure we are going to have a few killings a few rapes and some kiddie fiddling but we have supported this type of action these past forty years so, as I say lets not be to hasty maybe in another four decades if things don’t improve.
    As long as it is not your kid, or the odious incident happened other side of town it’s not so bad,is it?

    https://x.com/DaveAtherton20/status/1789223414743400848

    1. Tell me again why you don’t agree with the death penalty for these animals?

    2. Tell me again why you don’t agree with the death penalty for these animals?

      1. 387250+ up ticks,

        Evening S,
        Let me ask you one, how do you
        think Timothy Evans felt on his last night on earth.

        My thinking currently is life internment is life, if a foreign nation jail it then deport the family also, we are at war regardless of the eyes tight shut brigade.
        Incarceration expense cannot be seen as a burden we send overseas aid to china plus,

        1. There is a view that Timothy Evans actually did kill his daughter, but in this case it is irrelevant.
          Your Somalian stabber is bang to rights.
          Why shouldn’t he be hanged, electrocuted, Guillotined or whichever method one might choose?
          The Timothy Evans case is always trotted out: tell me why the killers of Lee Rigby should not already be dead?

          1. 387250+ up ticks,

            S,
            In my mind the safe side is best because the hanging punishment
            will always be abused.
            Check out our present political overseers would you trust them
            with a capital punishment
            verdict ?
            They would stitch up and bring in a guilty verdict, a black cap job, on their grannies.

            Where you are living Ruth Ellis would never have hanged they would see it as a crime of passion.

          2. You still don’t answer my question.
            Why, when ALL the evidence shows that a maniac has killed another human that they should not be executed?

            I agree that politicians et al can abuse the system, but in the meantime let’s kill the killers.

            AND when the politicians are shown to have abused the system, let’s kill them too!

          3. 387250 + up ticks,

            Tis the only answer I can give as it is my belief.

            If justice of a kind is found inside
            well and good, I would stipulate that they serve their time within the main prison population and not in isolation.

            Same for politico’s.

          4. As suggested elsewhere; never mind a hung parliament, let’s have a hanged parliament.

          5. Everyone who was hanged was found guilty beyond any reasonable doubt, yet we know that many were, in fact, wrongly convicted for one reason or another. I really wonder how many people who claim that they would pull the lever, make the switch, or fire the gun would be able to if faced with the task.

          6. Remind me, how many who were not executed and were released killed again?

            The killers of Lee Rigby, the killer of that old woman and many, many more similar cases are clearly guilty.

            If you want a puller of the trap door, after I’ve looked at the evidence, I’ll do it!

          7. A jury decided that all those who were executed were guilty beyond reasonable doubt – except that they were wrong in some cases. It’s not the puller of the trap door who looks at the evidence and, in any case, you are not infallible.

          8. I’m not claiming to be infallible.
            But you have not answered my question, why should clear cut cases such as Lee Rigby’s killers, or the killer of the woman in this case, where all the evidence is clear to see what the perpetrators did, not result in execution? The costs of their incarceration are enormous, the money might be better spent elsewhere.

            What would you say to those families whose loved ones have been killed by released killers? Although one cannot be certain of numbers, studies suggest it might be 1% go on to kill again.
            In the United Kingdom, there were over 8,000 life-sentenced prisoners as of June 2018, the majority of which are murderers.
            https://gitnux.org/murderers-in-prison-statistics/

            It’s a long read from a group that whilst not anti-prison isn’t supportive of it as a solution.
            https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/prison_the_facts_2023.pdf

          9. I regard myself as fairly right-wing but I don’t think that it is morally right to take the life of another human being in cold blood. I spent many years in the military so I am not against killing in total.

            There’s nothing I can say to those families whose loved ones have been killed by released killers and I would not try – my conscience would be clear, though.

            There is no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent to murder. Countries that have abandoned it have had no increase in murders and those who have it have often have the highest murder rates.

            The monetary cost of keeping murderers in prison is part of the price we pay for being a civilised society.

          11. That’s OK, it would be a strange world if we all agreed about everything. I am comfortable that the vast majority of people in almost all civilised countries of the world agree with me.

          14. Everyone who was hanged was found guilty beyond any reasonable doubt, yet we know that many were, in fact, wrongly convicted for one reason or another. I really wonder how many people who claim that they would pull the lever, make the switch, or fire the gun would be able to if faced with the task.

    1. And just look at the so-called tent city.
      Notice any similarity with the tents?
      Who is supplying them?

  109. HMS Iron Duke was a dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class, named in honour of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, and her keel laid in January 1912. Launched ten months later, she was commissioned into the Home Fleet in March 1914 as the fleet flagship. She was armed with a main battery of ten 13.5-inch MK V guns and was capable of a top speed of 21.25 knots.

    Younger posters may be shocked to learn that this ship was designed and built in British shipyards, owned by British companies, by British tradesmen, using British produced steel and armour plate, engined with machinery also produced in Britain, and with no input or even permission sought from the EU.

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/HMS_Iron_Duke2.png/1920px-HMS_Iron_Duke2.png

  111. So I understand the order of this evening is to download the Eurovision app and vote for Israel’s entry.

    1. It might be interesting to see an analysis, after the event, on how the votes came in.
      I hope that the anti-Israel contingent can’t decide amongst themselves who to vote for.
      Presumably Ukraine will be in the driving seat.

  114. Question for the evening.

    Israel wins the shitathon, will Malmo be torched?

        1. Indeed, not using one is simply a spelling mistake. Å, Ä and Ö (or Ø) are separate letters of the alphabet in their own right. Spelling Malmö as ‘Malmo’ is no different from spelling it ‘Malma’, ‘Malmz’ or ‘Malmq’.

          1. Some of us, however, have to make spelling mistakes because we don’t have the letters on our keyboard.

          2. And/or are too lazy (yep, that’s me) to go hunting around the search engines to copy and paste the letter/mark ©

          3. Holding, for example, the A key on an android qwerty keyboard rattles through the various versions. 👍

            I only found out by mistake and have yet to utilise this function.

          5. I have got a laptop with built-in keyboard (I can get them no problem on my tower machine with plug in keyboard). If you can enlighten me as to how to get them from this QWERTY laptop keyboard, I’d be grateful.

          6. Only if it’s a Mac. like mine. [alt U then o gives ö. alt U then a gives ä. alt a gives å.]

          7. Of course it isn’t. I can’t stand Macs. So your original statement was false; I don’t have the keys on this keyboard!

      3. If there is a/an ö (which I copied from your post) I can’t be bothered to find it.
        Most Nottlers are sufficiently astute to see what I meant.
        I guess you might not be.

          1. I look at posts in context, and unless there is a little humour, (another man’s offence), I ignore such things.

            I bt yu cn rd ths qukly, nd tl wt I mnt.

    2. Prolly has been – but it’ll be put down to an unexpected forest fire. Or – better still – global boiling….

      1. The sun shone out of Greta’s arse and burnt the city to ashes.

        I must have missed that…

    3. Israel will not win. I would be very surprised if there were not a contingency plan in place in case it receives more votes than any other country. So even if it won, it would never be announced and some other country would be said to have won.

  115. Evening, all. Back on line now. I hope you’ve all been nice to each other while I was away.

    At least my energy firm is up front about why they want me to have a smart meter; they admit it will allow them to turn the power off if there is a high demand. Mind you, that is hidden in the small print about fifteen pages down in the T&C.

    1. I wonder how long rolling blackouts will continue for before the public simply say no and there’s riots.

      We’ve already seen discontent over salads. Imagine if food simply stopped being produced because of mental ‘green’ policies? Why, for example have we not got a fertiliser plant in the UK? Because big government is trying to shut down nitrogen use.

      1. We should withdraw the 78% nitrogen that makes up our atmosphere from these lunatics.

  116. I’m honestly not homophobic (honestly!) and some of my best friends etc etc but seriously, is it possible to watch Eurovision without feeling a deep revulsion to the endless promotion of ‘alternative’ lifestyles and unnatural tendencies? Bleedin’ faggots (Shit! I knew I’d let myself down………)

      2. Thankfully, I’m English. British is a catch-all phrase to cover those who have been given a British passport, but have no connection to this country.

    2. The enforcement of ‘the diversity’ is a sign of utter abject decadence. On the one hand, we’ve reached a nadir of luxury that this is all we have to worry about. On the other, the dross pour out of the woodwork to indulge their anti social fantasies.

      1. Absolutely JD – I’m guessing (hoping?) a lot of gay people might have a problem with it also….

        1. They’ll love it but pretend their enjoyment is ‘ironic’ as they are frauds.

    5. From what I have read in the msm on-line, I am thankful this show is not shown on American tv!!

    7. I’m still trying to work out what those things were representing Spain!! 🤮

    9. No apology needed. Depraved, satanic nonsense that interests only a very few people.

    1. It could be just the lighting, but I raised my eyebrows at the second picture too. It’s all so silly as she has the skin tone that most people in the world want – the reason why dark women* use skin lightener and white women* lie in the sun for hours (*not all of them obviously!)

      1. It is completely beyond my understanding as to why he wanted to have anything to do with her.

        As his grandfather said: “actresses are for a bit of fun NOT for marriage.” But I cannot understand that the poor doltish dupe has even had much fun out of the liaison!

    2. These idiots should be stripped of their “Royal” titles forthwith. These two are a complete embarrassment to our old country. They are performing seals, clowns even, pretending to Royalty whereas in fact they are now despised by the people of Britain.

      God knows we have sufficient problems in Britain having lost our true Queen and Duke of Edinburgh only to wind up with the well meaning but intellectually deficient (woke) Charles III and the prospect of his equally woke son, poor bugger.

  119. I’ve just looked up how Eurovision voting works.
    In previous years, the public couldn’t vote until all the artists had performed but now voting will open before the first act enters the stage.
    FFS it’s even worse than voting for the European parliament

    In case you’re not au fait with how points are allocated in Eurovision, let’s recap how the system works.

    After all 25 songs have been performed from each country participating in the final, every nation in the competition including one ‘Rest of the World’ country, will give two sets of points ranging from 1 to 12 to their chosen song.
    The first set is given by a jury of five industry professionals from that country and the second is provided by viewers watching at home. Votes for your own country are not prohibited.
    In previous years, the public couldn’t vote until all the artists had performed but now voting will open before the first act enters the stage.
    The voting window will shut around after the final song before countries then reveal their points live on air. Viewers’ points are then added up, and read out from the lowest to the highest
    Viewers can submit their vote by telephone, SMS message and through the official Eurovision app.

    1. I have just voted 15 times for the Israeli entry, despite the system telling me I have no sim in my iPad! I have received a pre recorded ‘thank you’ from the artist each time! I fear the system may be compromised!🤣

      2. Defo compromised. I voted four times for Israel but the recorded voice told me I cast one of them for Luxembourg.

    2. I have just voted 15 times for the Israeli entry, despite the system telling me I have no sim in my iPad! I have received a pre recorded ‘thank you’ from the artist each time! I fear the system may be compromised!🤣

    1. For the record, Hamas would butcher most of the non-binary, gay, deliriously freakish contestants in a minute.

      What would take them so long?

      1. Esther Ofarim could sing. She’s 82 now but just having real talent and some dignity would surely bar her from the contest these days?

    1. A friend of a friend of mine was at drama school with him. I’m not sure she had a high opinion of him but then Sally never made the headlines.

    2. Hanks has done mostly movies, Clunes mostly TV – light comedy TV at that.

      Hanks seems a decent fellow – he is certainly the least complained about actor I know of. Clunes also leads a decently quiet life, not bashing himself around or making a fuss over the latest fad.

      He also likes horses and we’ve ‘met’ him in that he was at a horse fair and as we came around one side of a pony we saw him showing off his Clydesdales.

        1. He’d brought a little chariot type thing with him – although it could have been held on his field, I don’t know. I just went along while the Warqueen looked at hooves and fetlocks and horsey things.

      2. The film where he effects the release of the American fighter pilot from East Germany in exchange for the repatriation of a Russian spy was excellent. It might have been called Bridge of Spies (after Checkpoint Charlie) but I cannot recall the exact title.

    4. Tom Hanks is OK is small doses. Martin Clunes is to be avoided as much as all those in ITV’s stable of ITV clones.

      My mother was obsessed with watching ITV. I’m persuaded that it damaged her mind. Moronic television for the hard-of-thinking.

  122. Another strange day in the life of us all.
    I’m just a twirly (to bed) and have seen so many photographs today of the sky at night. And news clip of effing morons in Mal homo. I just know when I’ve had enough. Another early night. Out to lunch big sister’s birthday tmz.
    No connection, but the Wicked Lady, at Nomansland.
    Night all.
    Well done England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ladies cricket team at Edgbaston today.

  123. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/11/wasteful-whitehall-diversity-inclusion-spending-at-an-end/

    I simply don’t believe this. ‘Like all Conservatives, I believe people should pay less tax…’ – so why do you keep hiking it then? Why is every single thing that moves, taxed? Why have you not abolished IR35? Why have you not scrapped fuel duty, insurance taxes, green taxes?

    You see, you’re lying. I know you’re unfamiliar with the term but it means ‘to not tell the truth’. It’s disgusting beyond reason. You could repeal the nonsense laws that wokers rely upon. You haven’t. You’ve added to them.

    1. Wonderful BTL.

      tony moore

      9 MIN AGO

      Stopping Woke is not even a discussion
      The question now is “how are the Tories going to repay us for Woke?”
      – How are they going to compensate the millions of white working class boys who, through Tory education policies, have been consigned to a miserable second class existence?
      – How are they going to give us safe streets and towns again, and give us our homes back, ridding us of Muslim racism and tribalism? How are they going to repay us for the welfare they’ve taken off us to fund Muslim women staying at home on the state, while their husbands boast that they are using our benefits system to overthrow us?
      – How are they going to restore our democracy by upholding their 2019 election pledge, therefore deporting millions of people, and refunding us the tax bill?
      – How are they going to compensate the 1m+ older workers forced from the workforce after 2019-20 by HR teams who discriminated against them en-masse, because they represented a threat to fragile woke values?
      Stopping the civil service … well fine. But the costs of the above are measured in huge financial and psychological costs of Woke, borne by millions of people, with many having their lives demonstrably made worse.
      The Government could have stopped their £260bn funding of quangos at any moment. They could have made constitutional changes to return powers to Parliament. They could have repealed, changed or made new laws.
      They just didn’t “tolerate” this: they paid billions to quangos, left wing activist charities and organisations, and sat in committees where everyone around the table nodded at the same reckless, myopic madness. And they congratulated themselves on creating one policy after another that irrevocably damaged our society and futures.
      We want compensation, not more lies.

      1. Would you accept a better class of commitments for the next election?

        That is probably all that you will get.

        1. These are not commitments they’re downright lies. They’ve got plenty of time to implement them before the next election if they were serious.

          1. What? Did you expect politicians to follow through on promises?

            No politician is going to do what is needed. Any potential leader suggesting immigration cuts and benefit reductions wouldn’t get the party nomination as caretaker, let alone leader.

    2. Wow. What a looming General Election can do – galvanise Tory MPs to spout more lies. ‘I will … and I will …. – pull the other one.

          1. Hi vw – thanks for your reply regarding the WHO a couple of days ago, unfortunately by the time I saw it, comments had closed. They really are unbelievable, aren’t they – this lot are the most corrupt, self-serving low-lifes I have ever encountered and blasé with it. We are still discovering new depths to their immorality and treasonous betrayal. Still, if the bus (to use an allegory) is going in the direction we want to go we must get on to further our journey and hop off before it arrives at their destination, we have to use whatever we can, wherever we can by any means possible. Just as they use us.

            Dear peeps, anyone else reading this reply I am of course referring to the present incumbents in our House of Commons, and not right thinking Nottlers.

  125. Goodnight, all. Will be going outside before I go to bed to see if I can spot the Aurora.

  126. A very relaxing day today, chums, so I will now wish you all a Good Night. Sleep well, and I shall see you all tomorrow.

  127. Going to have a look outside, then if nothing’s happening, I’m off to bed.
    G’night all.

    1. I’m perplexed, to say the least. At about 23:15 last night I looked to the skies and saw no evidence of the Northern Lights. This evening, a lady at my social club showed me the photos she took from the same neighbourhood at about the same time. The images were spectacular. How can it be that she saw and took photos of this magical display but I saw nothing of consequence?

      As for tonight, there was, once again, nothing to see.

      1. I didn’t see anything either. Perhaps they only show themselves to believers!

    2. Nothing happening here, either, Bob, So, another day is done so, I wish you a goodnight and may God bless you all, Gentlefolk. Bis morgen früh.

  128. Just back from my very good friend’s lovely dinner party. My strawberry moussey-pudding thing was very tasty. It was a test for the home event I have planned for my daughter’s 21st in June. She won’t be here for her 21st – she will be at my brother’s in Perth – so we will have it before she leaves for Oz, on our 22nd Wedding Anniversary (15th June). I only planned the 21st when it became clear a few weeks ago that my dad (now 85) may not be here forever. Both my children (obvs) have all 4 grandparents; which they take for granted and which is very unusual given I was 37 & 38 when they were born. Of course having a much younger spouse helps here, plus the fact my mum had my brother and me when she was 21/23. Whilst I am pragmatic, and know my parents won’t live forever, dad was really ill just before his birthday (when our dog was on his last legs) and I thought I would lose them both; I had a lucky reprieve but it made me realise I am not as pragmatic as I thought I was.

    Anyway; Richmond Park was carnage tonight at midnight with people searching for the Northern Lights – without any luck.

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