Monday 15 July: The attempt to shoot Donald Trump was shocking but not surprising

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its commenting facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

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

663 thoughts on “Monday 15 July: The attempt to shoot Donald Trump was shocking but not surprising”

  1. Morning all. Enjoying GB New’ “Headliners” repeat. Then on to work.

  2. Morning, all Y'all.
    Vacation / farming / building over, so off back home today. MIsty, with sun above.

  4. Good morrow, Gentlefolk, today’s (recycled) story

    Economy Always

    After 53 years of marriage, Solly Weintraub sadly passed away, leaving a grieving widow.

    Among all the other arrangements she had to make, she thought she ought to place an announcement in the Social and Personal section of the local Jewish newspaper.

    So she called them up and asked how much it would cost. "Five dollars a word," said the clerk in the advertising office.

    "Oh, dear," said Mrs. Weintraub, "that's rather expensive and I don't have a lot of money. Better just say, Solly Weintraub died."

    "Actually," said the clerk, "our minimum charge is thirty-five dollars, so you can have seven words for that price."

    Mrs Weintraub thought for a minute, then said, “All right then, put ‘Solly Weintraub died. Buick Skylark for sale.’”

  5. we do it so much better here, with knives.

    ”SIR – The attempted assassination of Donald Trump offers stark warnings for our own democracy. Above all, we must never relax our strict laws on gun ownership. But we also need a relentless campaign to root out illegal firearms.
    Physical attacks and threats aimed at our politicians, which Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, has warned are increasing, must be treated with the utmost severity by the courts and the police. And those who take to the streets to advocate violence must be punished appropriately.
    We have just changed our government by means of a peaceful election, yet the outrageous behaviour directed towards some candidates means we are in no position to be complacent as we condemn the appalling incident in the United States.
    Francis Bown”

    1. Only the crooks are armed the elite are protected by armed police we should increase gun onership at these times. to protect ourselves.

      1. During my youth, guns were licensed but not subject to the current hysterical legislation.
        There seemed to be little gun crime and the country certainly felt a lot safer.

  6. this is interesting; I was “forced” (in the Terriblegraph’s vernacular) to learn ITA and to this day I cannot spell. I am fairly good at German though, and Spanish🙂

    “SIR – As a school teacher in the 1970s, I was encouraged to teach the Initial Teaching Alphabet (Letters, July 13).
    Our school trialled this with one class, with the other two classes in the same year sticking to the traditional mix of phonics and look-and-say.
    The ITA class pulled ahead initially but fell behind in later years, being unable to switch to conventional spelling. I’m in touch with two students who now blame their dire spelling on the misconceived ITA experiment.
    Wendy Davies”

    1. My elder son learnt to read with ITA. He had no trouble switching to normal alphabet. His written work was somewhat behind his reading for a while but he still transferred to a grammar school a year early.

      1. My twin boys went to school in 1982. Bright but had some reading issues and spelling difficulties.
        The teacher handed us the same spelling book that we had in the 1950s (book was first printed in 1930s)
        5 words per night and Friday was all that week's 20 words.
        It worked! Best 30/40 minutes per night you could spend – spelling and extra reading practice.
        Bright and off to university at 17 and 2 x 1sts in Process Engineering.

  7. Wounded Russian soldiers – some on crutches – used in ‘meat wave’ attacks. 15 July 2024.

    Kremlin’s forces seen ‘staggering’ on battlefield and ‘left in positions to die’ while Ukrainian PoWs made to walk ahead as human shields.

    BELOW THE LINE.

    Al Astaire.

    There is simply no more evil world leader than Putin. He epitomises – visibly and grotesquely – Satan himself. The most vile creature on the planet.

    The dogs in the streets know there can be no resolution of Russias offences against the world until he is exterminated. So why have Special Forces (eg. from the UK, US, Germany, France etc etc not been instructed to put him to death?

    This article which makes the Ukrainian Front sound like a scene from a zombie apocalypse movie (it was written by a woman) is pretty dire but it is exceeded by the stupidity Below the Line.

    What to make of the comment above? There is the obligatory over the top ad hominem of course, but the second paragraph is a fantasy that might have been written by an immature twelve year old who has overdosed on Commando comics. Or alternatively; and I don’t completely discount it, it is genuine, which is truly frightening since it implies a complete inability to distinguish truth from fiction.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/14/wounded-russian-soldiers-crutches-meat-attacks-ukraine/

    1. Does the Telegraph provide a link to the canine survey (dogs in the street), Minty? 🙂 (Good morning, btw.)

    2. What to make of the comment above?

      The hysterically-lurid style of "writing" combined with a high-functioning standard of literacy suggests to me it's most likely a securocrat troll- but, as you say, some people do genuinely seem to hold such opinions. In 1914 they would have been kicking dachshunds in the street, and worse.
      As a general observation, has any newspaper fallen further than the Telegraph in the last four years? A sewer-outlet staffed by MI6 stenographers and gin-soaked half-pay colonels like the longstanding war criminal De Bretton-Gordon.

    2. I wonder if the poor chap will be persecuted in his retirement for doing his job?

  11. …………………………..NAGSMAN…………………………………

    I'm sorry to bring you the news that Pat died peacefully at home at 5:30pm yesterday, Sunday 14th. She had spent two weeks in the Acute Medical Unit at Great Western Hospital, Swindon and a day at the Oxford oncology department. With nothing more to be done, she was discharged on Wednesday to be with her children Rich and Lizzie and Fidget her Staffie puppy. She asked me to thank all the NoTTLers for their messages.

    PATRICIA ANNE BRYANT
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8390f18991f1c78dea887866fa11a2ea34dc6498c43699e456a7cad10821035b.png

    21 JANUARY 1945 – 14 JULY 2024

    R.I.P.

    8. Michael, my condolences on your loss. I know Pat was a very good supportive friend of yours. She will be missed. R.I.P.

    9. What very sad news. Condolences to her family and thank you Citroen. RIP Patricia, you will be missed.

    10. Thank you, Citroen.
      I think we all appreciate your keeping us up to date, even with such sad news.
      After Pat's last comment and the ensuing silence, I was wondering – and fearing.
      RIP, Pat. We enjoyed your company.

    11. So sorry to see this, and thanks for letting us know. Her last few weeks must have been hard. She was always lively and interesting company here.

    13. So sorry to hear this news, condolences to her family and friends. Nottl have lost another old friend. RIP Pat

    19. I am very sad to hear this news, RIP indeed to one of life's good people. Condolences to all her family.
      I haven't been here much lately, and only tend to skim a bit even then, so had missed the run-up to this sad occasion.

    20. I am really sorry to hear that, but thank you for letting us know. My condolences to her family and friends.

    21. I have only just seen this, I was out most of yesterday. I am so sorry to read this, yet another brightly shining light gone from these pages, she will be sadly missed. May she rest peacefully. My condolences to her family.

    22. Good afternoon, Michael. I missed your messages re. Pat, and only heard the news this afternoon. Can I add my belated condolences. Truly sad news. RIP.

  12. Good morning, chums, and thank you Geoff for Monday's NoTTLe page. I surprised myself this morning with getting the Wordle in three:

    Wordle 1,122 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
    🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  14. A good weekend for the Left overall.

    Okay Trump surviving an assassination attempt got them off to a bad start.
    But then the anti Vaxxer lost the tennis and England lost the football.

    Although I suppose England losing the football was a mixed blessing as they then couldn't claim a victory for multiculturalism.

    1. Or claim that England only wins a major wendyball tournament when Labour are in power.

      1. England's failure was the inevitable consequence of the past fourteen years of Conservative government.

  15. German city bans ‘silent fox’ gesture in schools over similarity to far-right sign. 14 July 2024.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/576b5a975303c0f681dfa2a99f4df76a743287a7da1f11d540f87af0d70ce1fd.png
    A city in northern Germany has become the first to issue an all-out ban on the use of a hand gesture used to encourage silence in the classroom because of its close resemblance to a far-right Turkish gesture.

    The “silent fox” gesture – where the hand is posed to resemble an animal with upright ears (the little and forefinger) and a closed mouth (the middle fingers pressed against the thumb) – has long been seen as a useful teaching tool by educators in Germany and elsewhere. It signals to children that they should stop talking and listen to their teacher.

    But authorities in the port city of Bremen say the symbol is “in danger of being mistaken” for the right-wing extremist “wolf salute”, from which it is indistinguishable.

    The children would know this? I applaud their political awareness. What we have here is a typical neurotic form of projection where someone perceiving something assumes that everyone else does too. The problem is that it is now institutionalised under the aegis of Political Correctness. Like witchcraft or heresy in the Middle Ages the authorities actively seek signs of these things and unsurprisingly find them. Thus does superstition and oppression thrive.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/14/german-city-bans-silent-fox-gesture-in-schools-bremen-over-links-to-rightwing-sign

  16. Good morning, chums, and thank you Geoff for today's site. I amazed myself with a three for today's Wordle.

    Wordle 1,122 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
    🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Most odd. I posted this earlier, it disappeared, and so I posted it again. Now both posts are on the page. ???

    2. Well done and Good Morning.
      Only a par for me

      Wordle 1,122 4/6

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

  17. Good Moaning.
    Something cheerful of a Monday morning.
    I wonder if the MOD is as quick at cancelling the passes as banks are at cancelling lost credit and debit cards? What are the chances?

    "Officials at the Ministry of Defence lose around 50 security passes a week, a freedom of information request has revealed.

    Over the past five years employees at the MoD have reported losing almost 14,000 passes, while close to another 1,000 have been logged as stolen.

    It means that MoD passes, which give access to key buildings within the nation’s defence institutions, are vanishing at the rate of more than 50 every week.

    The statistics, issued by the MoD, show that the problem is getting worse with the numbers of lost passes surging 38 per cent in the last five years from 2,550 in 2019 to last year’s tally of 3,488.

    Over the same period the number of stolen passes has almost doubled from 141 in 2019 to 276 being taken last year…."

  19. England suffer agonising defeat after Spain score winning goal in dying minutes of Euro 2024 final. 15 July 2024.

    The pain goes on. And on. Fifty-eight years and still it goes on for England. Gareth Southgate had spoken about wanting to win “so much that it hurts” but hurt is what England were left with and they can have no real complaint as Spain won the European Championship.

    It does? Thankfully I am spared this suffering. I have never been able to appreciate “the Beautiful Game”. The thing is, I am not alone. Whenever I carry out a straw poll on the subject there is a similar resounding lack of interest. I tend to think that the enthusiasm lies in the advertising revenue.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/07/14/england-vs-spain-euro-2024-final-live-score-latest-updates/

      1. Jeg gir blaffen.
        I don't give a flying one for football. Fortunately, it's not everywhere in Norway.

      2. Greetings from another misfit. Not pain-free but that's other causes and not Wendyball.

      1. Anyone who takes the knee is a loser. Except when our FPTP system lets them into government on much less than a mandate.

  20. Good morning, all. Clear and bright at 06:00.

    They're at it again!

    Well, just as I predicted, we’ve been told that June was the hottest on record: From the Mail: ‘Last month was officially the hottest June on record‘.

    To justify this claim, the ‘experts’ used the third trick: “claiming that, although June in the U.K. was a disaster weatherwise, global temperatures (if such a thing can even be measured) were at record levels.”

    Climate news reports in chronological order over the last 90 years show… Variations. Who would have thought that, certainly not Miliband minor who is determined to follow the narrative and damage the UK.

    What will Miliband's response be when the blackouts start to bite? "it's for the best, we're saving the World". Or will he find somewhere more comfortable to live?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/95fd6f77cab1a4fb7e07a1e2cb64b6b36906589abbe5c020942176535e849e24.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/08ad00b640f98a4bc922c4238d3611e6b9198342340dde9287ac5ce92960f790.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e0d5c7681de3a4f7968637738b9236eb6e3025707f2ac48fe420242651abe1af.png

    Six years between 'coolageddon' and warmageddon!

    Full article at Daily Sceptics

    1. Morning, Korky.

      I think that a 40 feet rise in sea level will make paddling awfully difficult.

      1. Morning, Grizz.

        I think I will survive, on the 100 foot ASL line, but the valley down the road in which the Roman River now trickles towards the River Colne and the North Sea will fill up nicely. Downside is that the Layer Fox and Donkey & Buskins pubs will be off of our list of places to visit.

      1. It's about as settled as my tummy would be after ten pints of lager and a vindaloo – and seven onion bhajis. With a nice dish of tuna and custard to top it off.

    3. There was a North-West Passage around Canada, as ships used to sail through it. What happened to that? Oh, it froze over. So, it's been warmer before, and in relatively recent history.

  21. and now the JFK style step-by-step assassination examination.. this goes on & on..

    summary:
    Almost every Secret Service security protocol seems to have been deliberately ignored, allowing Crooks easy access to a perfect shooting position and plenty of time to acquire a bead on Trump's podium.

    Donald J Trump is alive today solely due to a bad wind estimate by an evil would be assassin [sic].

  22. /Morning All
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4c998c0c307f9f2d083b9bbb8af154937e1031b0ec4a07e461500d087f494a96.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c180c6fda50dc4de54075014733180e0f81959a854138e3f2d33f60a14f144d7.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9bbe275fb46072367f5f559d49a4a04730c9e630a5249cded1b88ec7b18b9b7d.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4729a45e3e3abf9daa5099161a88bad2ef09388976c5e99bce1da0cf6e03bef8.jpg
    https://x.com/latimeralder/status/1812528763504120267
    https://x.com/wideawake_media/status/1812409038069465113?t=4kmWjQmFfEuQIuA8oxnC5A&s=19
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9234c06c911cfb275c7e27a343adfcdadedb59c9acffa010631cc5d5fb216d5d.jpg

    1. I have always had a low threshold of tolerance for spelling mistakes in print. Miliband and Savile have a single, not double L. The Nevil in Nevil Shute does not have an 'le' at its end.

      The lack of proof-reading and type-correcting, in this day and age, is teeth-gratingly annoying.

      1. I still have difficulty in spelling, Its a pity more people do not understand what problems it causes to the individual.

        1. I understand that, John, but it's not individuals I am concerned about. It is people and organisations who publish things, who have the ability to research proper spelling before publication, but fail to do so that bothers me.

          2. We used to have spelling tests in junior schools but anything goes now which is causing the breakdown in communication.
            As I said to one of my boss’s boss – an email is not a communication unless the recipient has understood it.

        1. I once had a young trainee from Sheffield whose parents were Ukrainian. His name was Puszczalowskyi and he and I were the only two people in the job who could spell it correctly.

          1. I went to school with a lad named Semczyszyn – despite spelling it for various prefects they still couldn't get it right so he never got detention!

          4. Gavin Puszczalowskyi is Paul’s son. Does he still broadcast on Radio Sheffield?

          5. Podcaster. I googled his surname because it looked so unusual and thus would probably produce some sort of result.

          6. How many people could pronounce it properly. Possibly fewer than those who could spell it properly.

          8. That seems to be the Polish spelling, which uses a Latin alphabet, although the Poles would use the crossed-out l, which is pronounced like the English w. The city that was once part of Poland but is now in Ukraine, Łwów is pronounce “Wvoov” in Poland, but is known as Lviv in Ukraine. The Polish city Łódż is pronounced “Woodge”.

            What is the correct pronunciation of the ‘yi’ sound in Ukraine? It grates with me when TV journalists refer to the capital city Kyiv in one syllable “keef”. The Russian version ‘Kiev’ was undoubtedly two syllables, but I think the same is true in Ukrainian. The y softens the k, which when spoken by an English speaker should introduce a diphthong as in ‘yippee’ or ‘bunyip’.

          9. Both Paul and his son, Gavin, pronounce Puszczalowskyi as “Poo-zhal-ov-skee”. Paul’s parents were both Ukrainian, not Polish.

      3. #MeToo, George.

        I just love my language and have interests in German, French, Swedish and Spanish.

      4. I agree with you but people and places with absurd names deserve to have them spelt – and pronounced – incorrectly.

        1. A country thoroughfare, a few miles outside Chesterfield, was called Deepsick Lane for centuries.

          It has now been changed, by the woke local councillors, to “Deep Lane” because they considered the thought of people wading through copious vomit would put them off. These chumps are far too dim to work out that a “sick” is a local vernacular for a small stream or brook.

          Sometimes the ‘absurd’ has to be embraced.

      1. Where you have rows of windmills, such as a wind-farm, the front row get 100% of the wind energy and take about 10% of it, so there's only 90% left for row #2… and 81% for row #3, and so on. So the bigger the wind farm, the crappier the output.
        Bugger in't it?

        1. Wonder if anyone has tried to explain that to Mad Monk Miliband? I expect they daren't.

  25. Anyone believe that the culture war can be resolved by a friendly debate.. a chitchat beside the fireplace.. a healthy discourse?

    Here's LaVora Celeste Vincent.. the TikTok shitLib that ranted about the failure to blow Trump's head cuz the sniper wuz a white man..
    Gentle reminder; this is a fight to the death..

    https://youtu.be/22D2WxW-J7k?t=25

    1. Donald Trump was saved because he was looking at his presentation and he swivelled his head at just the right time. The bullet would have gone straight through his head, otherwise. As close as it gets.

      1. He's just the man for President, as would be anyone with that kind of good luck.

        1. Napoleon used to ask his senior military commanders: Are you lucky?" Donald Trump was very lucky on Saturday- let's hope this continues.

  26. Morning all 🙂😊
    An hour later it's still a sunny summers day.
    On the Trump story, more attention should be aimed at those who are hiding behind security and closed doors and have never been elected to run anything, but somehow think that they have the right to run the world.
    They seriously need more publc exposure.

      2. Me too Johnny, can’t abide it, the opium of the masses.
        But other relief is to be had at freespeechbacklash.com, so why not wonder over for a walk around?

    2. Excellent, Tom.
      Please collect all 3 together and make a fixed location for them, for future reference when argufying with the Changeristas. And add to them, of course, as new materials are developed.

  28. Good morning all, raining , drizzle , dank and dark , 14c.

    Football , big yawn .

    We ate at about 17.30. I went to great effort , podding broad beans , pea pods , scrubbing new potatoes and trimming purple broccoli. Cooked a delicious small joint of pork in the air fryer .. far better result than the oven , and the crackling was just that ..

    Tender , tasty and nicely cooked . I have even roasted a chicken in the air fryer , and cooked lamb chops and sausages .. Clever versatile and cheaper method of cooking .. Easy peasy .. Okay for the three of us .

    Apple crumble cooked , yes , in the air fryer .. delicious.

    1. Good morning.

      Mine is a mini oven and airfryer. It has a rotisserie. Though i can only get a smallish chicken on it. Cooks really nice and even and comes out juicy.

      1. So pleased the weather at the wk/nd was kind for you.

        I expect it took some effort to set up your stall , it looked very attractive , re your pic on F/B and I hope the good people who attended were generous with donations buying gifts etc.

        Well done J.

        A few nights ,ago, we noticed the smallest baby hoglet and mother visiting our garden ..

        We have looked out for them again and no sign of them . I must put some food out.

        1. Lucky you to see them in your garden.
          We did very well at the weekend- people were out and about and spending their money.
          Yesterday at the local event we were the only charity stall with things for kids – most of the others were food and drinks, so the child – friendly stuff went well.

      1. We cooked at 180c for 2hrs 20mins, testing using the temp probe .. but nicely cooked , and crisp scored salty crackling .

        I do not eat pink pork.. ever .

        1. Thank you for that, Maggie but living alone, I'm unlikely to cook a joint of pork!

          3. Nope. Not for a chop. I prefer to pan fry anyway. More control. I cook as Marcus Wareing cooks chops and steak.
            Medium hot pan. Ghee or clarified butter. A bashed garlic clove and a few sprigs of thyme. Keep basting.

        2. It is safe to eat slightly pink pork. We have high standards in this country.

          Supermarket timings are too long. They do it to protect themselves.

          People also make the mistake of overcooking because once out the oven the joint carries on cooking for a while.

          Also the pork needs to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes.

          There is no charge for this unsolicited advice. :@)

      2. My air-fryer came with an instruction book that gives the times and temperatures for most foods.

    4. I'm off to buy some pork today. I love the crackling when it comes out of the air-fryer.

      My mission is to make — invent — the definitive pork sandwich. I'll publish the recipe when I've successfully made it.

      1. Good morning Grizz.
        Your sandwich must include apple sauce but can you get Bramley’s there?

        1. Good morning, Alf. Unfortunately no; and that is a problem.

          Certain 'cooking ' apples are available her but none are as acceptable as a good old Bramley. I tend to use a Granny Smith, cook it in butter, then add some unfiltered apple cider vinegar for acidity. It produces a reasonable apple sauce, but not the best.

          2. And Grizz still thinks his sandwich would be better than mine. I have Bramley apple sauce !

            A trick i learned if using it from a jar is to gently heat it until it begins to caramelise. Intensify the flavour.

          4. It certainly works. But it’s not as nice as Bramley.

            The last time I was in the UK, I bought three huge Bramleys from a stall on Borough Market and smuggled them back into Sweden in my suitcase. I had the best apple sauce and apple pie in years!

      2. I'll help !
        Slice Ciabatta or baguette horizontally. Liberally spread with butter. Then spread the bottom slice with mustard. Add slices of roast pork. Top with apple sauce, salt and pepper and stick the roof on. Hold the mayo.

  30. Going to walk Oscar now, even though it's raining, as there's a lot worse heading our way from the south.

    1. "Welease Wodger!"

      "No Rodgers, sir, just Abduls, Mohammeds and Mustaphas, will they do?"

    2. The whole tournament was a bore.
      If a football club played like England then nobody would go to watch it.

    4. Remember visiting Spain and one evening saw a small troupe of young boys in football training in the park. Sweltering early evening and they were happily running around the park several times. Climate and training conditions can make such a difference. And don't know if it is just me but wherever I went there seemed to be sophisticated sports centres even in the smallest of towns. What do our lads get? Someone's dad training them on sodden and uneven playing fields – although astro turfs are becoming more of a thing. And I'm not knocking Someon'e Dad as they are all we have and they do a great job with available resources. But let's face it, if we don't professionalise and capitalise on the early years, like Spain seem to, we don't stand a chance. No point slinging billions at them when they are 17 or so. We've lost 10 years of professional training and development by then. Yes, talent spotters might spot a few at 10 but it's not exactly a consistent or professional approach. And frankly Someone's Dad might not like their little Jimmy being outshone by another young player. Yes, it happens. So the spotters never find them. And the spotters only really get a snapshot – with recommendations sometimes from people who are not professionals. It's all so unprofessional here, until they hit later teens. And by then it is likely too late for many with real potential. And they become embedded in other lifestyles, anyway.

    1. They've done their job and now have to feed themselves before their long flight back to Africa. The two young ones will realise they have to go too.
      Our swift chicks are growing up fast as well. The single chick in box 5 will soon be gone.

      1. Good morning Jules

        Thank you for pointing out the elephant in my post! I have corrected it!

  35. Nice family and friends gathering yesterday to celebrate our lovely grand daughetrs first birthday.
    Something that was never done 'back in the day '.
    Met up with two guys about the same age as me. We all have the same sort of outlook on life. Lived and worked all our lives. Law abiding,
    paid their way etc. Hate our political idiots, sad to think people who have kept our country going for so long will not be around much longer. We got an old friends funeral this Wednesday.
    And sad news about a fellow Nottler earlier.

    1. Well, isn't it just. He could have been stopped. No question. They didn't because they didn't want to. When Trump dodged the bullet, Plan B was adopted.

      1. Well that’s possible. Or he had been put up to it. It’s not easy to see how they managed it. What is indisputable is that they’ve made a mess of it. Trump is stronger than ever.
        Can they get away with a second assassination attempt alleging copy cats? Maybe.
        Otherwise an aviation accident in some small aircraft.

  37. Statins. My GP has suggested I take them for high cholesterol. The subject's been discussed on here before now. Accept or reject?

      1. A few years ago my GP put me on Statins because a brain MRI 'possibly' revealed that I may have suffered a TIA (trans-ischæmic attack) at some undefined time in the previous 20 years. I have never been aware of suffering any symptoms of any such attack.

        After commencing this course of medication I started to suffer random pains and discomfort as well as brain fog and forgetfulness. Since voluntarily coming off them and adopting a more carnivorous lifestyle, my pains disappeared, my brain fog lifted and I feel much better, stronger and fitter, and now sleep like a log.

        2. Sirloin steak and Caesar salad for lunch today. I pushed the boat out and bought a kilo of 35 day aged sirloin from Waitrose.

          It's my neighbours birthday later this month and i was going to give him a thick slice off it.

          After handling it it is just too good to give away. He can have a truffled Cornish brie instead.

        3. Not long after my original catheter ablation nearly nine years ago. I had a TIA, probably caused by some loose particles in the blood stream. I was taken to A&E, later prescribed statins when they found my cholesterol was also higher than average. I had to change the type of medication several times because I had horrendous cramps in my legs.
          I still take them but a much lower dose than originally prescriebd.
          My cholesterol is zero.

    3. It depends on the out come and ongoing process. When you have the results from your next blood test. It might be better to reasess the dosage.
      The problem is everyone seems to react differently to certain types of medication.
      And none of it is compulsory.

        1. Apparently, high-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins. It seems that lipoproteins are "any of a group of soluble proteins that combine with and transport fat or other lipids in the blood plasma".

          2. Have a read on Dr Malcolm Kendrick's WordPress blog – lots of info there on various topics. He's just won a court case against the Daily Mail who accused him of dangerous misinformation.
            His books are good too.
            https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/

          3. I was about to post something similar, Ndovu. He is amongst a growing number of real Doctors and scientists in general who are at last getting more widely heard and listened to by those who will take no more sh*t from the lying, greedy PTB. A pleasing resource which I hope will rise above ground as more and more spot the sleight of hand – and, of course, as more and more people see the legacy media for what it is.

    5. 389712+ up ticks,

      Morning WS,
      There are a lot of carnivore doctors hold averse views on statins, even the statin inventor won't take them I think you'll find,.

      I quit long ago, just had my diabetes type 2 review, all results satisfactory, but i'm still ugly.

        1. 389712+ up ticks,

          Afternoon SE,
          Er indoors is an 100% carnivora she really does control my diet as in one roastie with the Sunday lamb
          and collie being a better option than rice when chicken curry in on the menu?
          My diabetes nurse told me years ago that diabetes was a progressive illness, I do beg to differ.

    6. My husband tried them, a number of years ago. Made his legs ache so badly he gave them up. Seems as though 'high' cholesterol is similar to 'high' blood pressure in that it's a baseline – not everyone's is the same. May interest you or not, he's on the Carnivore Diet, cholesterol not changed at all, as yet anyway, but he has come off a lot of his other meds. Edit: hes's also a type 2, as ogga1 mentions above.

      1. "May interest you or not, he's on the Carnivore Diet, cholesterol not changed at all, as yet anyway."

        That is interesting.

        1. What he has found is his brain fog has disappeared and thinking sharper – I suspect due to much lower intake of carbs, virtually nil (he loved bread). Breakfast is late, eggs & small amount of bacon, dinner (what we call supper) steak or other meats usually around 6pm. Snack might be a small piece of cheese. Milk, cheese, butter, eggs all OK. Keeping hydrated (water) is a must. Essentially, very similar to Atkins diet minus salad/green veg. He’s given up a lot of his meds, which he discussed with new GP who says he is also on a very similar diet -i.e. greatly reduced carbs – sugar is an addiction. He hasn’t lost much weight , but he’s more active now though – any other questions, happy to ask him and pass on answers:-)

          1. My husband is 81 and has always been slim, fit and active. Never overweight – but he is addicted to sugar. Since his triple by pass 18 months ago, he's given up playing tennis and table tennis but I don't think he's put on weight. He's on a lot of different meds, including statins. He's always had a fairly poor long term memory and has always made to do notes for short term things. What is less normal is his complete block of major travel that we've done together – he couldn't remember going to Malaysia, for instance.
            More recently he's been forgetting his map memory of getting to places. I've told him this could be due to statins as memory loss is a known side effect – but he 's reluctant to discuss it with the GP and certainly won't stop taking them without his say-so. He's also been told he's border line for diabetes, but he's found it very hard to cut down on sweet stuff.

          2. We are both in our late 70s, so very similar Ndovu. He was first diagnosed ’91 been on many different meds since then (Metformin the worst). Been better since injections which he’s now reduced to once daily. Perhaps he/you could make a GP appt to discuss his current meds? – I found he hadn’t had that for years, mostly due to Lockdowns. I too have memory loss and know I have, bit distressing and progress is slow, but that’s the vaccine (GP diagnosed by phone – Long Covid Vaccine is apparently a thing now). Didn’t know memory loss a side effect of statins – but all meds have something, the more we can keep off them/reduce their use the better. Seems to me GPs ready to prescribe too readily, possibly they get some kind of kick-back/benefits from drug companies. (Best for me not to go there with vaccines.) Perhaps you could persuade husband to try sugar free for a week or maybe two, see if he feels any better? It’s not easy, sugar is addictive, a drug of sorts. Good luck Kate x

          3. Thanks Kate – old age doesn't come alone, does it?
            His meds were all prescribed for him by the cardiologists when he left hospital in December '22. They were just transferred to the gp practice after he was signed off.
            A few weeks ago, we had a follow up at the hospital following the cardioversion at the end of January this year – he's now been signed off there and back to just gp care. Last year, there was a very helpful pharmacist attached to the practice, but I'm not sure if she's still there. She was able to get him off the Amiodarone that just made him feel ill.
            Anyway, I think he'd let me go with him if he makes another appointment. It takes weeks though, if it's not an urgent matter.
            I've tried to get him to cut down on sugar but he finds that a step too far.
            For myself, I just keep away from the practice and I don't take any meds.

          4. Certainly doesn’t Ndovu 🙁 We’ve had similar experiences. Covid screwed up his meds, practically a standup fight with Senior Staff Nurse who wanted to ignore me and make her own diagnosis. Fortunately – admitted where Consultant dismissed him. I hope you get to see the staff you need to see. Hadn’t heard of Amiodarone, there seems to be some side effects (as with many if not most prescription drugs). Including Stevia. I’m the same, most I take is Ibrupofen if sciatica bad, but prefer exercises if poss. Good luck x

          5. We had a busy weekend fundraising – I ached like billyoh afterwards, but a good night's sleep sent that on its way. Haven't done much today apart from catching up with admin and on here – too wet to attack the garden. We were so lucky to have two days of good weather at the weekend.

          6. Yes we were, broken here too – supposed to be storm on way complete with lightening (and presumably thunder) and downpour..British summer eh…:-D

          7. I watered my tomatoes last night – won't need to bother tonight. Husband is feeling the cold and has put his coat on – a nice warm cat has left his lap. He said we'd need the heating on this evening!

          8. Crikey…coat on, heating on…not there yet. We might all be putting on an extra layer coming days..cooler air forecast now..:-(

          9. Your poor husband, N.
            Forgetting about significant events is awful – it's bad enough forgetting the small shit. I have occasional forgetfulnesses due to short-term heart stoppage (now cured with a pacemaker), but the memory has been deleted in small patches, occasionally memory of events important to me – as, I suspect, was your Malaysia trip to YOH. As well as the feeling that one is literally losing one's mind, a very scary concept.
            Be sympathetic, he doesn't do it deliberately, and as a fellow-sufferer, please pass on my best wishes.

          12. My husband also had this type of memory loss, the map memory – he had been taking statins for a few weeks only and suddenly he was finding he couldn't work out how to get from one place to another, familiar routes, and his job depended upon this. He was also developing muscle and joint pains. Thanks to James le Fanu's articles in the DT on statins we made a few investigations; he stopped taking the wretched things and returned to normal over the following days.

            Edit: This was 25 years ago, he is now 83 and quite well. No heart problems, walks doggo daily.

          13. I think I might tell him that! Thanks PM! It’s come on quite gradually – he’s been taking them for 18 months. It might take a bit longer to see an improvement at his age now, but hopefully it would stop getting worse if he could stop them. I have to convince him somehow.

          14. I think my husband had been taking them for a few months, Ndovu – he came home one day and said ‘I think I am getting old, I couldn’t work out how to get from one side of Cambridge to another’ (it was a familiar route and then he confessed it had been happening quite regularly recently). He also looked different, I noticed, not so well. Lynne Noble on Twitter, she is a health writer, has observed that statins are implicated in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. This does not surprise me. I think I read that statins were intended to be taken by heart attack patients for a maximum of 3 months. It is all about profit, and the profit that is generated from the drugs that are required for the other illnesses caused by the adverse effects of these drugs. It is definitely not in our best interest nor the best interests of our health.

          15. I had another go at him this evening while we were having dinner. Also tried to get him to watch that short video posted this afternoon, but he managed to avoid that that by watching the rest of the footie and then sloping off to bed. He’s very against stopping anything he’s been told to take by the Dr. But several times recently he can’t remember the route to somewhere he knows well. I’ll continue to work on him though.

        2. My parents the same. Went onto a low-to-no cholesterol diet, no change to the measured levels in the blood.

        3. William – I replied to you re his current lifestyle, can't see it listed. If you have any queries at all, happy to try to answer. Bizarrely, I've just logged on to Spectator, and can see it there, but not here.

        4. I've tried to send you my reply more than once, William, giving you more detail. I don't know if you can see them, but I can't. Also had blocks on my account which I unblocked, possibly something to do with those. As I said previously, you can ask me any questions you like about his current diet/meds etc.

    7. My husband tried them, a number of years ago. Made his legs ache so badly he gave them up. Seems as though 'high' cholesterol is similar to 'high' blood pressure in that it's a baseline – not everyone's is the same. May interest you or not, he's on the Carnivore Diet, cholesterol not changed at all, as yet anyway, but he has come off a lot of his other meds. Edit: hes's also a type 2, as ogga1 mentions above.

    8. I think it depends on your situation. I have high cholesterol (too much LDL) apparently and it is a genetic thing. I eat healthily and am fairly fit but have 8 stents after a heart attack 14 years ago. The statin I take does reduce the LDL and I'm wary of stopping it completely although I do take a week or two holiday from it now and then. I can't afford any clogging up. Your situation will be unique to you.

      1. I'm worried that they have affected my OH's memory, Tom. I'm pushing him to get them stopped.

      1. Mirrors my reaction to the dreadful things. I don’t think I’ve recovered from the damage they did me.
        See my reply just above this post.

    14. MOH developed severe muscle cramps after being prescribed statins for high blood cholesterol and was forced to withdraw the medication due to intolerable pain and incapacity.

      I believe she had Statin-Associated Myopathy as reviewed in this article:

      https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/statin-associated-myopathy#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20patients%20may%20tolerate,year%20before%20statin%20myopathies%20occur.&text=Nevertheless%2C%20statin%20therapy%20in%20combination,a%20little%20over%2030%20days.

      In extreme cases this can lead to rhabdomyolysis – a serious condition involving muscle breakdown and requiring medical attention.

      I can't understand why medical practitioners keep finding more and more uses for statins considering the potential risks.

    15. Do you know what level your cholesterol is? Ear in mind that, over the years, HMG has ‘reduced’ the required number.

    16. I took them for a month about 12 years ago and they nearly killed me. My muscles ached and I slowed down considerably. I stopped taking them, went to the doctor, had a blood test and my creatine kinase levels were at 500, should be 320. A month after stopping my CK level had risen to over 500 and the month after to around 900. Referred to a Rheumatologist and finally had an Electromyogram. A Neurologist came in as the test was being done and asked that I be referred to him if the rheumatologist couldn’t progress any further. He thought I might have IBM (inclusion body myosotis) similar to muscular dystrophy. He the did more tests and finally a muscle biopsy.
      The conclusion was that I should never have been prescribed Statins and he said doctors have got to take prescribe for the patient not by government diktats. A couple of years ago after blood tests fr a hypertension review the GP phoned and said “because of my age and profile I should take statins”. I refused point blank and asked if she’d read my medical history l she said yes, and this is the worrying part, she said ‘In am obliged to ask you to take them”. I asked my cholesterol levels and she said “well it’s marvellous it’s 3.6 what sort a diet are you on” I told her none and if it’s that low why is she asking and i was told it more than just about cholesterol. No thank you not after my earlier experience.
      I now have peripheral neuropathy and, although it’s in the family, I do wonder if statins have anything to do with it. I think doctors are still paid to get patients on to them.
      https://www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/our-services/services-we-offer/pathology/tests-and-investigations/creatine-kinase-ck/
      I was told that because of my age and profile I stood a 50% chance of having a heart attack. I responded that I would stick with the 50% chance of no t having one.
      Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I would just add – caveat emptor – buyer beware.

    17. My husband rejected them twenty five years ago. He is 83 now. A few weeks after taking them, at our g.ps. request, he started to develop muscle pains, somewhat disordered thinking and memory loss. He was fortunate, a few days after having stopped taking them he was back to normal. We subscribe to the view that one's body manufactures the cholesterol that body requires, in fact not so long ago I read that cholesterol is required by the body to synthesise with sunlight to form vit D – and govt wants us to take statins to reduce this substance. Government does not act in the best interests of our health. I also had a horrible experience with statins after just one tablet. It isn't something I would ever wish to repeat.

    1. Why do such people conflate anger with madness?

      I often become angry with people, but the moment I get 'mad' I shall require a straitjacket.

      1. 389712+ up ticks,

        Morning G,

        Agreed,I wonder which politico has the franchise for straight jackets, first you create the problem then…….

        2. I hate the use of the word "insane" to mean "amazing".

          And the use of the word "incredible" as an inchoate term of approbation.

        3. I hate the overuse of the word ‘amazing’ to mean commonplace and natural. Why are people utterly astonished when coming across mundane everyday events?
          The vocabulary of the average Briton is a tiny fraction of what it was in the mid-20th century and prior to then.

      6. ……. touch me with noble anger,
        And let not women’s weapons, water-drops,
        Stain my man’s cheeks!

        When old King Lear is cruelly treated he is afraid that this cruelty will make him cry when he would rather be filled with noble anger.

        1. The last time I taught English Literature to Sixth Formers was over 35 years ago and yet most of the books, plays and poetry remain vividly in my mind. King Lear is probably the Shakespeare play that moved me most.

      7. Why do such people conflate anger with madness?

        Simple semantic inexactitude, possibly.

  39. A former sniper who has done close protection work says he believes the shooter had help from someone inside a Government agency. He said it wouldn't be possible for him to get inside the security cordon without inside help.

    2. He'd have to have done prep work in the days before. He'd have been up on that roof at least once to check the line of sight. A bit embarrassing if you turned up only to find they'd put up a hoarding overnight, or a new stand. He'd have had to have left the rifle somewhere concealed so that he could pick it up after he had entered the venue in order to get it past security, etc. He would have had to get access to the building itself on the day if he wasn't going to just obviously and riskily climb onto it in the minutes before he took the shot.

      I say all that while assuming both he and the Service were actually 'pros' of course; the weakest link in my argument I admit. I suppose he's American though, so always likely to miss.

    3. He'd have to have done prep work in the days before. He'd have been up on that roof at least once to check the line of sight. A bit embarrassing if you turned up only to find they'd put up a hoarding overnight, or a new stand. He'd have had to have left the rifle somewhere concealed so that he could pick it up after he had entered the venue in order to get it past security, etc. He would have had to get access to the building itself on the day if he wasn't going to just obviously and riskily climb onto it in the minutes before he took the shot.

      I say all that while assuming both he and the Service were actually 'pros' of course; the weakest link in my argument I admit. I suppose he's American though, so always likely to miss.

    4. How long was it known that Trump would be speaking at that rally and whereabouts he would be speaking from?

      I find it very hard to believe that the potential assassin did this on the spur of the moment, just happening to have access to explosives a rifle and ammunition, and knowing which rooftop would be unguarded and easily accessible. A significant amount of planning must surely have taken place.

      1. Almost everybody outside of Queens NY owns a rifle in the US, and the ammo to go with it. That he had explosives I'm not surprised, either – they were likely left over in the truck after his last tree-stump clearing down on Pappy's farm. Or something like that.

      2. Following crowd pointing out the guy with the rifle to security , I find it hard to believe security guy went on the roof, challenged him but then walked away when rifle pointed at him. Too many odd things here.

    7. On the balance of probabilities I strongly believe that the shooting was allowed to happen.

    9. It seems that the shooter has an association with Blackrock (he appeared in a Blackrock advertisement in 2016) – Blackrock is the Clintons, Soros, Obama). Blackrock also has a major association with the WEF. It is possible that the shooter was 'talent spotted' in 2016 and groomed accordingly.

    2. 389712+ up ticks,

      Afternoon SJ,
      Listen up your four, in the nicest possible way, keep judging a book by its cover and we are never going to win.

  41. OT – my bank "isshoo". Last week I spent several hours on the phone to the bank. This morning, another 3/4 hour. The lady assured me that the "back office" had been through everything with combs variés and that they were no problems at the bank end. She said they said it must be a problem with the internet OUR end

    I disconnected the router. Left it for five minutes. Plugged it in. No difference.

    Then my in-house IT consultant (aka Cook and the MR) dicovered that there was a firewall issue on her laptop. Cured that – bingo – all worked OK. She then attacked my desktop – with similar success.

    Phew. I can now resume normal banking…….

    Thank God for brilliant wives. It was a worry, though…..

    2. Morning Bill,

      Clever girl, I wish I was as skilful.

      I received a letter from HMRC, so I became totally flustered because tried to access some info on line , and the first thing I saw was "is your letter a scam "

      Nothing is easy.

    3. I don't know what I would without MH for such problems. He is also the on-call agent for our sons and my brother for anything remotely IT connected.

  42. Old joke but it might bring a smile to you

    Polish man goes into Specsavers for an eye test.
    After a few minutes he was asked
    "Can you read the 2nd bottom line?"
    Read it?

    I known him for years.

      1. You’re too late. I’ve already done that. I’ll give you the full recipe, along with photos, when I’ve sourced all the ingredients.

  44. I see the Scots are gloating about the Euro finals.
    Remind me, where did they come?

    It couldn't have been in last place could it; could it?

    1. Having lived in England for over 30 years and having an English wife, I was looking for and England win. BUT, do Manchester United supporters support City or Liverpool when they are playing in European competitions?

      1. I prefer it if the English team wins, even if it’s Spurs.

        If two are playing each other I have preferences.

        But I must admit that Scottish anti-English sentiments tend to make me hope that they lose. There are teams where I would support Scotland first, but not many now. Even their ridiculous “anthem” is anti England.

        1. The Scots are not doing themselves any favour with their anti-English rhetoric. It was Scotland that was riddled by clan wars way after England was a united country. It was a Scottish king, James VI , who ascended the English throne, giving his favourite Scots English lands. It was Scotland that wanted the Union, after being effectively bankrupted by their foray in Darien…

        2. When living in Joburg yonks ago I was in a pub and there was a discussion about UK football.
          Scottish supporters were also sitting around table. I just mentioned that I preferred Rangers to Celtic.
          I thought one of the sweaties was going rip my head off when he lept up and shouted "Wadda yooo feckin noo aboot Scets fitbill"? 😆😂
          He might have had a few wee drams over the limit and have been home sick as well.
          Obviously a Green supporter.

        3. I have no Spurs to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other.

          (I always try to keep an Arsenal of quotations handy for my posts)

        4. This sums up my feelings pretty well. My late mother was 1/2 Scottish, lived in Scotland with her grandmother during her adolescence, and took us there every year when we were children. By the time she died, even she had arrived at the point of hoping Scotland would lose because she couldn’t abide the ghastly combination of professional victimhood and vainglorious crowing if they ever won ‘a famous victory’.

      2. I do, as a lukewarm Man U supporter (grew up there in the early 60s) but SWMBO, who is a dyed-in-the-wool LFC-supporting scouser, will not. Hey ho …

        1. And don’t even suggest that Celtic/Rangers supporters support the other in Europe.

          1. All Premier League Football Clubs are just financial businesses and very few of the players were born and bred in the areas where the clubs are situated so the allegiance is built on commercial hype. On the other hand if I support my local village cricket or football team I am supporting non-commercial local clubs.

            I suppose supporting Manchester United or Celtic is rather like supporting Asda, or Lidl as opposed to Sainsburys or Tescos.

      3. There is a slight difference – Scotland and England are both in Great Britain?

          1. At least like Dopey Andy was once seen doing (Argentina) you didn't wear a Spanish shirt.
            I wondered whether the ref was displaying tribalism when he gave Harry a yellow card. For no obvious reason.
            Frogs have never able to forgive us and allies saving them from the Nazis. Let alone Trafalgar and all the other thrashings we've given them.

          4. Yes indeed, ericthebee: Exploited by Tony Blair's Devolution and the prospect of Scottish Independence.

      4. As a Liverpool supporter- I wouldn't go so far as to call myself a fan these days- I support United over City all day long. I accept I might be unusual 😉

    2. It's just a reminder that man is a tribal animal; we need to belong to a group similar to ourselves. That applies to a nation, a race, a town, anything really; it's how we survived after we came down from the trees!

        2. Hello Lass. I tried to reply to your post concerning True Belle but there was a padlock on the reply button. It was just to say I don't have email for Belle

        3. I can't remember the question I innocently asked a Ghanaian girl when we worked together in Selfridges back in the 80s but I recall her answer, which was a good natured reproof. She grinned and said, "No, we've come down from the trees now".

    3. In England there is a high percentage of people who have Irish, Scottish or Welsh ancestry due to migration. I have Irish and Scottish grandparents. Nevertheless, I consider myself to be English, but have no problem wishing any of the other national teams well when they are not playing against England.

      I suspect there are nowhere near as many people of English extraction living in Scotland, Wales or Ireland so the support of England is non-existent in those countries. Indeed, the green-eyed monster seems to be prevalent there

    4. When Ally McCoist was commentating I changed channels. Needed subtitles

  45. I worked in Leeds for a while and every Leeds Utd fan I knew wanted Manchester United to lose in Europe. They ignored the kudos wins would bring to English football and the possibility of more English teams being admitted to the tournaments.

    I think the press can be at fault for the way they stir things up and have an expectation that England will win, even though it is now 58 years since the last success.

    The anthem is a dirge.

    1. I didn't watch the foopball, but heard the anthem played – I thought the teutonic bang, crash playing rather lifted the dirge a bit.

        1. Exactly, that's what it was supposed to be – as any fule kno.

          PS NoTTLers are wont to quote Down with Skool periodically – one (now sadly deceased) of our number used to describe his son as Molesworth 2.

          1. Molesworth 2.

            he is uterly wet and a weed it panes me to think I am of the same blud. He is always eating and cheeks everybode.

          2. A rose by any other name – the NoTTLer was his pater not his bro … anyway blud is thicker than the old H20.

          3. The chap hoo rote this drivel was a boy and then a master at the skool I went to!

          4. Geoffrey Willans if I remember correctly.
            My favourite is:
            “He will be hon sec of tennis club when he gro up”

          1. When faced with a friteful piece of meat [or foopballer] which even the skool dog would refuse do not screw up the face in any circs and sa coo ur gosh ghastly.

          2. When faced with a friteful piece of meat [or foopballer] which even the skool dog would refuse do not screw up the face in any circs and sa coo ur gosh ghastly.

    2. The atmosphere between Leeds United and Manchester United fans has been uniquely-poisonous for as long as I can remember- and, these days, I can remember a long way back.

      1. Several years ago, our regional director, a Leeds fan, took his southern counterpart to Elland Road when the were playing Chelsea. The stewards had to remove them for their own safety when Chelsea scored first…

      3. My nephew in law is a Liverpool supporter and I think he would match any dislike of MU that Leeds fans can muster.

  46. I worked in Leeds for a while and every Leeds Utd fan I knew wanted Manchester United to lose in Europe. They ignored the kudos wins would bring to English football and the possibility of more English teams being admitted to the tournaments.

    I think the press can be at fault for the way they stir things up and have an expectation that England will win, even though it is now 58 years since the last success.

    The anthem is a dirge.

    1. Yes, that one had occurred to me just the day after. It's alright when the ignorant Brexiters get it wrong, but when lefties do it…

    1. He may even have saved Trump's life by startling the shooter into firing too soon.

      1. Who, the policeman or the assassin?
        The shooter was after Trump, and pointing his rifle at the policeman caused that threat to go away

    3. With all the modern technology available now, you might have thought at least one drone would have been used to make sure that the are was safe.

  51. Dr. Robert Redfield, the former director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pushed a false “safe and effective” COVID vaccine narrative by underreporting adverse events. The mRNA shots “never should have been mandated,” Redfield told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday.
    The Democrat-controlled Senate oversight hearing entitled “Risky Research: Oversight of U.S. Taxpayer Funded High-Risk Virus Research,” included witnesses Dr. Gerald Parker, Dr. Carrie Wolinetz, Dr. Kevin Esvelt, and Redfield.

    Former President Trump’s CDC director accused the Biden government of suppressing data about vaccine injuries in an effort to prevent vaccine hesitancy.
    “There was not appropriate transparency from the beginning about the potential side effects of these vaccines, and I do think there were inappropriate decisions by some to try to underreport any side effects because they argued that would make the public less likely to get vaccinated” Redfield testified.
    Redfield said the biggest mistake of all was the Biden regime’s decision to mandate the mRNA products.
    “They never should have been mandated,” he said. “It should have been open to personal choice. They don’t prevent infection, they do have side effects.”

    A growing number of doctors and scientists now say that the cost to society and the cost to the individual taking the COVID injection far outweighed any of the proposed benefits.
    Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) pointed out that Biden regime officials like Dr. Peter Marks, head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, continue to deny that the injections are dangerous.
    “They’re saying they [vaccine side effects] are rare and they’re mild,” Johnson said.

    “The FDA should release all of the safety data they have,” Redfield replied. “I was very disappointed to hear that they’re planning to hold on to that [safety data] until 2026,” he continued. “That really creates a sense of a total lack of trust in our public health agencies toward vaccination. It’s counterproductive,” he added.

    Johnson lamented that he has been unable to get Rep. Gary Peters (D-Wis.), the chairman of the the Senate Homeland Security Committee, to issue any subpoenas to the relevant health agencies to obtain the safety data.
    “I would suggest you do that,” the Republican told Peters.

    Johnson was poised to spearhead investigations into COVID vaccine malfeasance himself as Chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations starting in 2023, but Republicans did not gain the majority in the 2022 midterm elections.
    The Wisconsin senator said there’s “a lot more” being covered up than the COVID origin story.

    “There are many aspects of our miserably failed response to COVID that needs to be uncovered, not the least of which, the sabotage of early treatment,” Johnson said. “The public has a right to know.”

    3. I hope the remaining Osprey youngsters survive .

      Me too- I've had the website bookmarked since last year!

  53. It is nice now – but will rain about 4 pm – so risking some garden activity. Backson.

        1. And such a hot June [hem hem] that I had to get my warmer waterproof back out and light the wood burner most nights!!

  55. Watch: What Trump says to Secret Service moments after being shot
    Donald Trump said ‘Let me get my shoes’ to agents just after being hit by a bullet at his campaign rally
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/14/trump-assassination-attempt-secret-service-shoes-shot/

    Some BTLs

    Anthony Lincoln

    Fact far stranger than fiction. If a week ago someone suggested Trump would be shot straight through the upper ear by a sniper, insisted on the Secret Service letting him put his shoes back on before exiting stage left, while covered in blood and fist pumping below the star spangled banner, it would have been seen as far too far fetched a narrative, even for Holywood. You just couldn't make it up. Typical warrior, didn't want to go without his boots on. You have to give it to him, he is an amazing survivor. 100 odd yards away a light breeze could have taken that round an inch of so either way. That truly was a shot in a million to survive that. Cudos.

    David Hughes reply to Anthony Lincoln

    He was extremely lucky. If you watch the video he turns his head to look right a split second before the shot, making his head target smaller. If he hadn't that first bullet would have hit him in the head just behind the ear.

    Bryan Dale reply to Anthony Lincoln

    Exactly. People are saying the shooter was a poor marksman but he only missed because the president moved.

    Percival Wrattstrangler reply to Anthony Lincoln

    Just as Edward Fox (Laurence Fox's uncle) missed President de Gaulle!

    1. It must have been incredibly painful. No-one seems to be considering that but the pain must be excruciating.

        1. Hurt like hell when I had them pierced. Everyone said have it done, it doesn't hurt. It damn well does.

          1. It took years before my husband managed to persuade me to have my ears pierced. And then I had to have one redone as I didn’t’twiddle’ it enough!

          2. I can't abide the thought of punching holes in the body to hang decorations from. Argh! And, after being told in lurid detail as a teenager about a construction worker who jumped off a scissors frame supporting massive glass sheets, catching his ring in the criss-cross structure and tearing his finger off, I never liked rings, eiher! Have never worn a wedding band, for example.

          3. I was in my 30s when I had my ears pierced – a friend took me on a whim one day. It wasn't painful, but they did get a bit sore while they were healing. I still wear earrings occasionally – yesterday a pair of elephant ones – and although they get a bit small, the holes are still there. I wear rings as well and have never come to any harm from them.

          4. When working on the locked ward, a couple of patients jumped me and tried to grab the keys
            The blade of one got caught under my wedding ring; I seriously thought I was going to lose my finger.
            Fortunately, they were distracted by other nurses arriving.

          5. I'm with you on the body piercing. I do wear a wedding band, but there isn't too much to catch one on in the classroom and now I've retired there's even less opportunity (famous last words!).

          6. Some boys at the school in which I taught many years ago pierced their ears with a needle having used ice cubes of ice to numb their lobes.

            They bragged to their contemporaries that it didn't hurt at all but I reckon they were mimicking Peter O'Toole in "Lawrence of Arabia" where he puts his hand under a flame. One of his friends tried to do the same thing and said:

            "God, it hurts. What's the trick?"

            To which the OToole's reply was:

            "The trick is not minding that it hurts."

    2. He had been a poor marksmen at school. Now he was twenty and had obviously received some training or he was self taught.
      The secret service had already received information that somebody was on the roof of an opposite building. No reason why he shouldn’t have been detected as the buildings were low and the secret service had access to the most sophisticated equipment (drones etc).
      And then it emerged he had been one of those bullied high school kids. Obviously a loner working on his own. But shot dead immediately just in case he talked.
      But so many of us, since Biden’s catastrophic performance, have been expecting Trump to be whacked. It’s all they’ve got left, they’ve tried everything else.
      Will Trump reach the elections in November? I think not.

    3. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      It wasn’t just Trump who dodged a bullet. It was all of us
      Comments Share 15 July 2024, 6:38am
      Hard not to think that that’s the election in the bag for The Donald. Surviving an assassination attempt was always going to be a bounce in the polls, no question. Trump not only survived one but – improbably enough, given he’s a 78-year-old man and he was surrounded by a passel of burly, supposedly highly trained security guys whose only job was to put him on the deck and sit on his head till the fun was good and over – fought his way to his feet and had the presence of mind to raise a fist of defiance and shout ‘fight, fight, fight,’ to his supporters.

      I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say it might well have been the end of America as we know it
      Fair play to the man. The resulting image, captured by Evan Vucci, took its place as one defining of the images of the 21st century less than 24 hours after it came into existence. It’s iconic – in the sense of having real-world power and being an occasion for prayer – in the old-fashioned sense. It has a compositional connection to that famous shot of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima; it vibes with ‘Invictus’ (‘bloodied but unbowed’) and ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ (‘our flag was still there’); and I see in it a little echo of Thom Gunn’s poem imagining the Statue of Liberty, obscured by fog, ‘saluting with her fist’.

      That image wins him the election, doesn’t it? It may not surprise readers to hear, given my role as this magazine’s token wishy-washy centre-left liberal, that the prospect gives me no joy whatever. President Trump seems to me, on the available evidence, to be venal, vicious, stupid, unprincipled and dangerous. He is the worst possible ambassador for the set of political positions he affects to represent and which, in other hands, the likes of me might oppose but would pay the compliment of respecting. And yet, I think it wasn’t just Trump who dodged a bullet on Saturday night. It was all of us.

      Let me put it this way. If we were presented with the choice between another four years of President Trump and a second American civil war, which would be our preferred option? We may not unite around much, but we can surely unite around that. Had that bullet been the end of Donald J. Trump – every part of this story is extraordinary, and the part where the bullet nicks the top of the man’s ear without making a mess of his skull is one of the most extraordinary parts – I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say it might well have been the end of America as we know it.

      There are very many supporters of President Trump in the US. Even before Saturday, he was considered likely to win a majority. A large minority of his supporters are very fervent. A large minority of the very fervent ones are heavily armed. A boring old lost election was enough to lead to the invasion and sacking of the Capitol. It doesn’t seem at all hysterical to suppose that their guy being martyred on live TV would lead to something even more exciting.

      Double-figure percentages of the US population, according to polls, are subscribers to the QAnon view of the world – in which Trump is the hero in an existential battle against the Satan-worshipping, baby-eating representatives of the Deep State. Trump’s assassination would stir those guys up. It’s reasonable to suppose that they might think the Deep State had something to do with it, and since the Deep State’s representatives look a lot like what the rest of us would just call ‘the state’, trouble would follow.

      As it is, Trump survives. He will go on electioneering in the conventional way, burnished as he now is by the apparent hand of the Almighty, and he will very probably win the election. That will grieve the likes of me, and it will likely have all sorts of medium-term consequences we won’t like – indeed, in five years’ time we might be saying ‘we told you so, you fools’ – but it won’t cause the most powerful nation on earth to lose its damn mind altogether right here and right now.

      Indeed, if President Trump decides that the wise way to play this episode is to be statesmanlike about it, and enjoy the win without trying to weaponise it, we could see the political temperature going down in a welcome way. Though, that said, if his instincts under fire are to shout ‘fight, fight, fight’ and raise a clenched fist that might be what we could consider a data point.

      In any case, we’re better here than the alternative. That’s not to say that we’re not in for a bumpy ride. Already, social media is doing what social media does. The whackoes on one side are wondering who the shooter was working for and who allowed this to happen; the whackoes on another side are speculating that the whole incident was a set-up, like the moon landings and the assassination of JFK. Images are rhetorically powerful, but being images they can be dangerously ambiguous. There’s plenty of room to look at the near-miraculously perfect iconography of Evan Vucci’s photograph and read into it what you will.

      But Donald Trump is alive, and the machinery of US politics is still working, and there was only one gunman – and that’s something that everyone with a lick of sense, it seems to me, can be grateful for.

      Watch more on SpectatorTV:

      1. Why are the MSM suddenly pushing the "American Civil War" avoided just now? It's all over the place.

        1. Because they want to push the narrative that the "far right" (normal people) are the foaming lunatics that would ignite and attack the genuine foaming lunatics that have usurped democracy. Mind you, there is an elastic limit to toleration, even amongst the most tolerant.

    3. Oops, sorry, Belle, I didn't read under, just posted above with a further report – the police have now started pepper spraying the public. This can only end one way.

      July 27 – demonstration in London.

      1. That would put me out of business !!! Besides it's a horrible site with some really ghastly memes. I choose what i think is relevant/funny.

  60. Rain started an hour earlier than forecast. Fortunately JUST finished trimming a 20 yard hedge. Now indoors – ordering CH fuel for the winter that will beging in August….

  61. The question is.. "Have we really reached that point?" It happened.. so the answer is Yep, we are there. Thanks, shitLibs.

  62. The question is.. "Have we really reached that point?" It happened.. so the answer is Yep, we are there. Thanks, shitLibs.

  63. Better than England
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    1. Oh dear, not a good one for me today. Well done you.
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        1. That was the whole point of my JOKE…{:¬)) Lammy = thick = confuses countries…

    2. Shame on those police officers. Bet they wouldn't even think about pepper spraying the illegal savages.

  66. A fainting Par Four?

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    1. 3 today.

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          1. Me too, but then unerringly chose the only other possibility!
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    2. And me.

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    3. Bogey boy's back after a couple of embarrassing birdies…..

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      1. Accent is immaterial, it's the words that count. If I was Irish I would get him found and throw back to the shanty third world pox hole he came from.

        1. I don't disagree. Just remarking that his English is fluent and colloquial (use of effing as a punctuation rather than an intensifier) and Nigerian or possibly Carribean (both being safe places for his ilk who are not criminals). Why is he in Dublin and why is he comfortable spewing out this aggressive fighting talk on the internet.

      2. Accent is immaterial, it's the words that count. If I was Irish I would get him found and throw back to the shanty third world pox hole he came from.

    2. Castration would be a start to alleviate the world from future problems with his sort.
      Oh yes and no anaesthetic.

      1. From the way younger son wants to speak (no holds barred style) with older son in defending us against the venom that emanates from him and, especially, the wife, I think we can be fairly confident that he would protect us up should we ever have the misfortune to have to go into a home.

  71. Thanks for all your comments on statins and yes, KJ, I did see yours.

    I already have the mild brain fog and the aching legs. It was that and bouts of light-headedness that sent me to the GP. I had a mitral valve leak detected in 2016 (aged 58) which slowed me down a little bit but it's only in the last few months that I've found the 10-minute walk to the nearby shops hard work (the uphill bit anyway). I wondered if I might have diabetes. That was eliminated by the blood test but that showed my cho'l to be 6.3, hence the GP's advice.

    My diet could perhaps be better but it hasn't changed so much to produce a cho'l level up from 5.1 in five years. BP's also up a bit from a typical 120/65 to 137/78.

    Still undecided…

    1. Porridge for breakfast with a third of a sliced banana. That'll do WONDERS for your cholesterol.

        1. Hmmm – the cereal may cancel out the benefit of the oatmeal. Ask your cook to check it out…

    2. To learn about statins and cholesterol please google Dr Stephanie Seneff. She has studied statins for over ten years. I no longer take statins.

    3. Do you know what dosage of statins your GP wants to put you on? I think the lowest is 20mg, while I'm on the 80mg horse pill.

        1. One other thing, not for or against. After 8 years of taking statins I found I was starting to get more pains and muscle aches. I'd heard of statin side effects of course so I asked the surgery's pharmacist about it. He advised me to stop for a month and see how I felt. I did that but those new pains didn't go away. Probably just the arthritis going up a notch.

        2. If, after reading all the comments here, you do decide to take Statins William please let is know how you get on with them….

      2. What statin are you on, mola? Years ago I was put on 80mg of Simvastatin and before I realised something was wrong and stopped taking it my memory had been permanently damaged. I read the research of Dr Stephanie Seneff and now I don't take statins.

          1. That does not affect memory but such a large dose could possibly have other effects. I found out too late that trials on rats showed that Simvastatin damages memory and in my view it should not be prescribed.

        2. Oddly enough, over the 14 years of taking them last thing at night as directed, I have 9 boxes (28 in each) surplus. I find it easy to forget to take one before bed after a few glasses.

    4. Have you tried plant sterols supplement? My neighbour bought his from Healthspan. Worth a try, and no side effects.
      GPs get a bribe fee for every patient they put on statins, though I'm sure it doesn't influence them ….

    6. Thanks William. I guess the only way you can be sure it's the statins causing the brain fog/aching legs etc is to actually come off them for at least a short while to assess (NB …NOT recommending you should do this without checking with your GP first s/h he may agree to a short trial, or not). At one time 6.3 was deemed OK (mine was several years ago, no idea what it is now). Recommended BP was 120/80, I'm not certain how many of us would be in that category. I may be out of step here (used to that), but somehow I think one size possibly doesn't fit all, for me I try to follow eat less, move more, little to no alcohol and no smoking. I'm just a suspicious old so and so, just with a sneaking suspicion we're possibly following American trend and over-medicalising. As I say though, just my opinion, not qualified in any way at all, so speak with your GP before you make any changes and follow his/her advice. Good luck:-)

      1. "I guess the only way you can be sure it's the statins causing the brain fog/aching legs…"

        I haven't started taking them. I mentioned these symptoms because a couple of Nottlers said they experienced them after taking statins.

        The rise in cholesterol and BP is a bit of a worry after 30 years of pretty constant lower values.

        1. You may, or may not have the same experience. If your results have always been lower, possibly ask for repeat tests, to be sure? Just an idea.

      2. I have argued for years that 120/80 is ideal for a 25 year old; not a 75 year old.
        To reach such a target, an awful lot of debilitating medication has to be taken.

    7. My cholesterol was between 6 and 7 and I was put on statins (I think the doc was on commission) but the subsequent aches and pains resulted in me refusing to take any more. Just eating sensibly brought my reading down to 6 max. I take zinc, Vit D3 and Glucosamine daily and am pain free.

  72. That's me on the way out. I'll say this for the endless rain: the hydrangeas (of which we have over 50) have LOVED it. They are in fantastic form, the best ever. Rain tonight and most of tomorrow – then a little pause on Wed/Thurs…

    Have a spiffing evening. At least there is no wendyball to spoil it.

    A demain.

    4. Hydrangeas are certainly benefitting from all the wet weather this 'summer.' They remind me of one of my grandmothers, who had hydrangeas each side of her front door, and that was why I bought mine.

  73. Hi, peeps, a heads up on a possible scam.

    A message was left on my landline telephone this morning purporting to be from British Gas. The message, cultured female voice, appeared to me to be a recording and stated that it was a non-urgent matter relating to my earlier enquiry. The message then explained that my enquiry couldn't be processed at the time as all of the team members were busy. I was then prompted to phone 03 – at that point I erased the message.

    My only interaction with British Gas is to have my boiler serviced annually. As I hadn't made an earlier enquiry my scam antennae pricked up. Maybe nothing but better to be aware.

    2. I have endless of these, but in email form. From apparently, all the agencies ever created in God's little green paradise.

  74. An interesting article just appeared in the DT;
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/comment/2024/07/15/trump-statements-post-shooting-magnanimous-unifying/
    I think it safe to say that many instinctively saw these qualities in Trump underneath all the bombast and his less attractive characteristics right from the start.
    On a rather more frivolous note, it is widely reported that he insisted on putting his shoes back on before being rushed away from the scene of the crime. My question is, why did he take them off in the first place? 😆

    1. Perhaps if he'd worn his boots the outcome might have proved fatal.
      Isn't, "He died with his boots on." supposed to be a better way to go?

    3. He apparently has heel spurs and often takes his shoes off when standing! That may be a load of rubbish and I can’t remember where I read it!

    4. There's a lot that's not good about this event. For one, no female officers in future, waving their weapons around. Very fortunate no mishap.

      1. The whole thing is odd but if it was planned and not just grossly inefficient security combined with a lone loon then it seems to have backfired horribly on whoever did the planning. I couldn’t agree with you more re women in unsuitable/inappropriate jobs. Never mind women waving their weapons around at the event, it was a woman in charge of all the security arrangements. I do wish they would stop letting us down 😡😒

        1. Ah yes, the one with 25 years ‘experience’. I don’t think it was planned. I think they’re sloppy ‘because it’s, you know, Trump..’

          1. A few questions do remain though. Why wasn’t that roof secured? How did the shooter get within the security limits with a rifle? Why did it take four minutes for anyone to respond to a public alert and then why was a local policeman sent and not a member of the security team?

          2. There you go…the burning questions that must be answered and pdq. Wonder how long the wait will be? ‘Night PJ..hope to see you tmrw 🤞👍

    5. It is utterly bizarre, Peta. When did they find the time to take his shoes off? And why would they want to do that?

    1. Surely nobody would fall for that? On second thoughts, there are plenty of gullible fools around. Just like the older ladies who claim some foreign toyboy (That they met on holiday somewhere such as Egypt or Turkey) really loves them, and they send them large sums of money.

    1. Looks like you're about to receive what we've been having most of the day here in Cornwall.

      1. 🙁

        We are supposed to be going down at the weekend, to get the boat out and about. Target is either Salcombe or the Scilly Isles…

          1. I just had to drive my cleaner home. She does a good job but arrives on an E scooter. It was totally pissing down. I deducted it from her wages of course. :@)

          3. Trad Brit summer. rain and sunshine. perhaps that is why the desert bunnies think we are the promised land.

          7. She said it was supposed to be waterproof. I said she could charge it in the garden.
            I have an E bike. No way is it coming in the house. I had to explain to her that they can still explode even when not charging.

        2. Wednesday to Friday doesn't look bad but Saturday and Sunday forecasts are strongish westerlies. It would depend on the size of your boat.

          1. Thanks. It's a 34 foot 1970 Storebro cabin cruiser. I know nothing about it, being a land lubber; it's my husband's pride and joy. Suspect it won't be going on a big long trip then. The only time I have been out on it was last year when we took it out of the Helford to Foye and we had fog and waves on the way there, and 10' waves on the bow on the way back. We don't want to wreck it before we get it to France (in three years' time)!

        3. We were lucky last Saturday. We spent 11 hours 18 miles south of Looe, shark fishing. Gorgeous conditions and only a little choppy when the tide turned.

          1. Absolutely hammering down here in S wales all day, Sue. Isn't it Swithun? Or doesn't it matter?

          3. Tee hee! It's very green indeed and water over the wellies in the fields – but I guess that's Global extinction world boiling for you.

          4. I remember reading that book.
            I don't remember much about it; I got the impression the Welsh were not happy bunnies.

          5. A lot of poverty porn in Welsh literature. Which illustrates why they persist on voting only for labour (or Plaid) despite the dire track record and the corruption (see V. Gethin ongoing drama)

    3. We had to put the light on about an hour ago! Cold too and very wet outside. We're having a roast dinner as yesterday was so busy and no time to cook.

  77. – Something very strange is going on with Trump, a miraculous escape, all of a sudden the media are giving him good coverage, he appears to have changed his campaigning style and so have the Bidenites and he suddenly gets off a big court case that has dragged on for years.
    Curiouser and curiouser
    Then the two weird elections here and in France
    My tin foil hat is glowing

      1. After they got away with the insurrection false flag and the stolen election
        They must feel that they can get away with anything

        1. Given 'those' who think they are in control I expect them to 'retire' Biden. Soon. Possibly a Tesla malfunction or his E-chair throws him down the stairs.

    4. Perhaps the whole thing – potential Presidential Assassination and US Civil War II – is a failed attempt to stop the British Media talking about Wendy-ball.

      If so, it has failed miserably!

    5. This shooting has effectively put Kennedy out and given the people their hero.
      I think he had a blood pack behind his ear, sorry. There, I've said it! I think the whole thing is a con. There's actually a photo of a bullet whizzing through the air near Trump's head! When they give you too much evidence, you know it's faked.

  78. if only she had told me ! I have some big brollies. Possibly put her off her shot though as i was calling for a cocktail top up. :@(

    1. She phoned me and asked for a brolly. Being the obedient husband I took her one.

      1. And ! Sheesh !
        If Maggie asks/requires/needs ..her Prince will come.
        That sort of marriage is the only one worth living.

  80. Maybe … but I hadn't seen the word fibber in print for decades and it seemed a good opportunity to give it an outing!

    1. At a not Nottler lunch a few months back i told Geoff and some others that my posts aren't always entirely …er…true. Except for when they are…except it makes no difference and make people laugh.
      Fibber is better than liar.

      1. Henry V put it very well saying that old men forget but the Englishmen who fought at Agincourt would remember the feats they did that day "with advantages" when they told their stories as old men. We all gild the lily a bit, don't we?

        A line I enjoyed from Cook in the Peter Cook/Dudley Moore film Bedazzled in which Cook plays the Devil and Moore plays a Wimpy bar chef:

        "Everything I have ever told you is a lie including this."

      2. I know you didn’t charge your cleaner – you are not that sort of guy.

        We had a delivery an hour ago. The guy had driven from South Wales and had been surprised by the £1 each way charge on the local toll bridge. The tip compensated him for his pains…

        1. I behave in the same way. When i have had people in and they had two park on double yellows i said not to worry. I would pay if necessary. How else are you going to get people to do jobs! Then i would email Suella and bitch about it……Not that the lady is all powerfull but…

  82. Trump appears to have undergone some sort of Damascene conversion and now is promoting himself as the Second Coming – I've never warmed to him but his response to the shooting was mighty impressive.
    He's going to walk it in November and then attempt to solve all the World's problems, and he might just do that….

    1. The War in Ukraine would never have happened if the Democrats had not stolen the election in 2020 and Trump had remained as president. And when the Americans withdrew from Afghanistan they would have done so in an orderly fashion and not have left their weapons behind for the Taliban.

      1. Yes, and I suspect he will end it pretty rapidly when he comes to power, in a matter of days…..provided we’re not all vaporised by then…..

    2. The War in Ukraine would never have happened if the Democrats had not stolen the election in 2020 and Trump had remained as president. And when the American withdrew from Afghanistan they would have done so in an orderly fashion and not have left their weapons behind for the Taliban.

    3. Trump went and spoke to all those so called tyrants and enemies. Isn't that what a diplomat does? He didn't offer them billions of dollars but he did have conversations.

    4. Interesting, 2H. I warmed to him almost immediately, despite myself (ie despite the bad press) and I do now think he is our only hope

      1. Me too. I was determined to dislike Melania, too, but I warmed to her instantly, despite myself, I thought she had so much class and was so genuinely gracious. I was appalled at the way Trump was treated when he visited the UK, that dreadful blimp – it was kindergarten stuff.

        1. I agree, poppiesmum, and Melania is truly full of grace. Her speech following the attempted assassination was beautiful and from the heart.

          I also agree wholeheartedly on the oikish reception, orchestrated by the thug Khan & co, when the Trumps visited the UK. Thank God for our dear, wise late Queen, who neutralised the bile and made them warmly welcome

      2. I found him hard to warm to but I always saw his appeal. In the summer of 2016 I was at a rather tedious lunch party where his presidential campaign was being discussed in none too complimentary terms. I stayed out of the discussion because I dislike Hilary Clinton far more than I disliked Trump (or just about anyone else!) until someone asked me what I thought. All I said was that I thought he could win which was the truth, but I carefully didn't say that I would prefer him to win over Hilary Clinton. From the reaction of the other guests anyone would have thought that I had just announced that I was off to find some kittens to kill 🤣

        1. Quite. It really is bizarre how much he is hated – as bizarre as the reverence for Killary – amongst the BBC Smugocracy

          1. Bizarre bordering on insane. However, he always got up the noses of the right people so he must have been doing something right :))

          2. Well, I find him courageous, original and honourable, with a practical and patriotic agenda. I do pray that he will survive, thrive and be the next POTUS

          3. I agree, I think the world needs him now more than ever, and a few more like him if they can be found anywhere. I saw that he has asked RFKjr to drop his campaign and endorse him. I think he is right too, Kennedy is another one with courage and principles, not afraid to stand up to power.

    6. Harare (Schwab's little familiar) has said that if Trump is elected in November then that will be the end of the WEF NWO, so they are going to fight this tooth, nail and red in claw.

      1. It's none of their business though, is it? Or shouldn't be. Oh, how I would love them to lose their power base. This is why they are trying to destroy President Trump

    7. He is very hard to warm to I agree, but remove the bombast and he talks a lot of sense. His biggest plus factor – and appeal – is that he is not "establishment" and never has been. He also seems to have more courage than most world leaders all put together as Saturday's events revealed. In fact, he has been toning things down a lot ever since the famous "debate" so I think his Damascene moment has been a while in the making and the shooting has merely crystallised it.

  83. Heel spurs?? As in riding boots?! Surely this would have been noticed, photographed and published ad nauseum as yet another example of how awful he is?

    1. As I said, Peta it may well be a complete fairytale! But you’re right – it would certainly be used against him!
      I’ve just googled it and it was apparently he didn’t get called up for Vietnam. A podiatrist ‘diagnosed’ it as a favour to him! That is according to CNN, amongst other ‘objective’ sites!

      1. Thanks Sue, I have read that too but didn’t remember what the reason was. However, Anneallen has given me an explanation of medical heel spurs!

  85. There's a piece over on the Dt website about the physical suitability of women in the US Secret Service.

    As it happens I was at school with a chap who at the time was affectionately known as 'Fat Bleeder' – None of us were surprised when he was appointed to the Royal Protection Squad….

          2. Are you within an hours drive of me? Party coming up in August. If you can play Piano i will pay your accommodation. :@)

          3. Oh, Phizz I would love to! As said before, I thought you'd never ask. But I'm a good 4 hour drive away and all sorts of stuff too boring to go into make it not a goer. I hope there will be pictures 🙂

          4. I would attend but starting out from The Borders is not an option.

            Going to NTTL Northern Luncheon today.

  86. Donald Trump’s pick of Senator JD Vance (as VP) suggests the former president knows that this election will be won and lost in a handful of industrial midwest battleground states – Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
    A native of Ohio, Vance gained popular attention after the release of his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which tells of his blue-collar upbringing and how it affected his politics and worldview, With his background, Vance could be well positioned to connect with and turn out the kind of white, working class voters who narrowly delivered those states to Trump in 2016.

    Born James David Bowman in Middletown, Ohio in 1984, Vance comes from a white, working class family mostly of Scottish-Irish decent. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in the once-booming Appalachian coal country that is now one of the country's poorest areas.
    Vance joined the Marines for four years and served in Iraq before going to Ohio State University, where he received degrees in political science and philosophy.
    From there, he attended Yale Law School, and then wrote a successful memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, that some reviewers described as offering a window into a conservative white working class that is often overlooked.
    In 2017, Vance moved back to Ohio from California, where he had been working in biotech, and set up his own venture capital operation with support from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a sometime libertarian and rare Republican in Silicon Valley.
    In early 2021, Thiel gave $10m (£8m) to a committee seeking to recruit Vance as a Senate candidate.
    Once Vance joined the race, he abruptly changed his tone regarding Trump, apologising for previously calling him "reprehensible" and even repeating the president's false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
    With an endorsement from Trump, he clinched the Senate seat and has since become an influential voice in Washington.

    2. It isn't just the white working class but the black working class are turning to Trump. They don't want their wages lowered through a massive inflow of people that are prepared to work at slave labour rates. Concentrate on that.

      1. They also do not want to be terrorised by ruthless savages with a violent ethos. Far Right nutters such as me feel the same way.

        1. You are not far right. We are normals. Though i can be a bit 'queer' at times. Ask any Nottler and they would agree. :@(

          1. I was once told by a nurse that GPs would often write NFS in patients' medical records where she worked – Normal For Selby….

          2. 🎵I have never been to Selby. I have only been to me.🎵

            GP's are much more careful in their notes now we can see them. Strange that supposedly intelligent influential people think Jet logs and Whattsapps would remain invisible given these idiots posted them to the 'Cloud'.

      2. Yes, he's been popular with them for some time, more so than Obama, they like Trump's policies.

    3. "… the president's (Trump's) FALSE claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election". Why "FALSE"?

      1. We all know it was a fix, and the Demorats are aiming to do the same in November!

  87. Donald Trump’s pick of Senator JD Vance (as VP) suggests the former president knows that this election will be won and lost in a handful of industrial midwest battleground states – Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
    A native of Ohio, Vance gained popular attention after the release of his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which tells of his blue-collar upbringing and how it affected his politics and worldview, With his background, Vance could be well positioned to connect with and turn out the kind of white, working class voters who narrowly delivered those states to Trump in 2016.

    Born James David Bowman in Middletown, Ohio in 1984, Vance comes from a white, working class family mostly of Scottish-Irish decent. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in the once-booming Appalachian coal country that is now one of the country's poorest areas.
    Vance joined the Marines for four years and served in Iraq before going to Ohio State University, where he received degrees in political science and philosophy.
    From there, he attended Yale Law School, and then wrote a successful memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, that some reviewers described as offering a window into a conservative white working class that is often overlooked.
    In 2017, Vance moved back to Ohio from California, where he had been working in biotech, and set up his own venture capital operation with support from PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a sometime libertarian and rare Republican in Silicon Valley.
    In early 2021, Thiel gave $10m (£8m) to a committee seeking to recruit Vance as a Senate candidate.
    Once Vance joined the race, he abruptly changed his tone regarding Trump, apologising for previously calling him "reprehensible" and even repeating the president's false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.
    With an endorsement from Trump, he clinched the Senate seat and has since become an influential voice in Washington.

  89. JD Vance’s selection throws the future of US support for Ukraine into doubt – should he and Donald Trump win the election in November.

    The Ohio senator has previously voted against the $60 billion support package for Kyiv and said he remains opposed to “virtually any proposal” that would prolong the “gruesome” war.
    He said in a New York Times opinion piece in April that Ukraine could not overcome its manpower disadvantage, and that the US should be seeking to broker peace with Vladimir Putin. In practice, this would mean ceding large areas of Ukrainian territory to Russia.

    Mr Vance claimed Washington had sought to prolong the war “because it’s been good for American business”, saying the notion was “grotesque”.

    1. "In practice, this would mean ceding large areas of Ukrainian territory to Russia."

      My understanding is that these areas are Russian speaking and have a Russian heritage – and are no friends of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Stephenroi?

      2. Yes, precisely. The fact you cannot hold a nation by force of arms insists that these are, basically, Russians. Prior to the war Ukraine military was shelling this area.

      3. I think that the problem is that they were not Russian speaking and nor did they have a Russian heritage prior to Stalin's Holodomor of the 1930s. The estimated 3 million dead Ukrainians were replaced with Russians. Memories are long.

    2. Mearsheimer et al have been saying very similar. In the Carlson interview, Putin said he wanted the four oblasts to be part of Russia, and they wanted to be part of Russia too, and that he didn't care about the rest of Ukraine 'because it will be just rubble'.Could this possibly be the end game? If so, what kind of victory is that for Ukraine – still with Russia next door. Will America walk away, whether Biden or Trump, because of the dollar cost? We can only wait and see the agreed peace deal between Russia and Ukraine – if there ever is one.

    1. Some picture, the blood, the flag, the men in black (and women), the defiant raised fist.
      Amazing luck to capture that while bullets are flying all around

    2. Odd how they seem to be crouching down – but not Trump. You'd think they'd be forming a barrier around him, pulling his head and shoulders down out of the firing line.

        1. He is very tall. Towers over most, particularly the small fry world leaders from other countries. (His latest son is borderline giant.) No man will suffer comparison with this, particularly those with SMS.

      3. The present head of the Secret Service is a woman who was formerly an executive of some sort at Pepsi Cola. Her appointment was following a push by ‘First Lady’ Jill Biden’s ‘Office’.

        The assassination attempt on President Trump was obviously orchestrated by the Biden family and its support among Democrat politicians.

        The reason Trump is surrounded by pint sized women is a result of the Secret Service Director’s diversity hire policy. This fat woman a foot or more shorter than the protectee viz. President Trump is seen in the photographic footage to be unable to perform the most essential job of shielding the President.

        There is other footage showing another shortarse fat woman Secret Service officer struggling to place a gun, which she had been waving around dangerously, back into its holster.

        None of this is by accident. All of it has been in planning for months if not years.

        For those who believed the assassination attempt on President Trump was staged I say simply ‘open your eyes’ and drop the conspiracy theories. President Trump was a lucky survivor of their heinous crime. A good patriot man was killed and two other elderly men are fighting for their lives in hospital with serious bullet wounds to vital organs.

        Trump is a good man. Biden is an evil man. That is all you need to know when making judgement.

        1. Yes, this is all over the internet. They took his shoes off and wouldn’t let him have them back…what’s that about? I’ve read his security will in future be arranged by Jr and VP, privately. Hope it never happens again. RfKjr supporters calling for his protection too, also apparently refused by Mrs Biden – she seems to be in charge doesn’t she.

        1. I think that would be his instinct, to not cower. Also his continuing to stand with raised fist calling ‘fight’, instinct again.

    3. I've just posted that on Facebook, which I don't really use, just to show where I stand. Some of my family, (I'm looking at my daughter), won't be happy.

  92. They can be a hazard in some instances – but I've been wearing one of mine since I was a teenager – my mum told me it was her mother's (and possibly her grandmother's) a Victorian knot ring. I can't get it over my knuckle now so it stays there for the rest of my life. The other is my wedding ring.

  93. I think you’re probably right, anne. I haven’t seen a GP prior to lockdown/s, but I remember them readily giving out prescriptions. Long time since they did the basics, temperature, swollen glands etc. I’ve regularly had tick bites which become ‘bullseye’ rash, antibiotics needed – just a prescription. Last time, I phoned surgery, was told not possible and to go to A&E. During lockdowns , they actually did that – lockdown. Post-Brown’s contract, no longer weekends either.

    1. Labour proving as always they haven't got a clue.

      They do seem to especially hate those who defer spending. I know that this is down to the statist obsession with Keyenesian economics (which proven does not work) but you'd think even the entire state machine would realise that doing the same failed thing time after time is the definition of insanity.

    1. My comment BTL:

      "At least the Irish have the guts to stand against the Invaders. Why don't we all do similar?"

  96. Definitely taller than the female security. All the more reason to pull him down, again likely not possible with female security. Whole thing's a mess, he's been very fortunate.

    1. I think he has unless, of course, you subscribe to the theory that he set it up himself 😆

  97. Lots and lots of people are being fired for posting comments/memes about Trump's attempted assassination.

    They might be horrible, insensitive, aggressive, but surely that is one of the things Trump himself is standing for (or against if you prefer), the ability to say such things. Not to be cancelled for saying them.
    Not to be woke, where nothing is allowed unless it meets the norms of the woke bloke in charge.

    Let the memes rip.

    1. Agreed. But the left are coming down hard on the people doing this because it's showing the true deep seated hate that the left feel so intensely against anyone who disagrees with them and the joy they feel about the murder of their bête noire.

      2. Socialists hate anyone who doesn’t agree with them and want to wipe them from the face of the earth. Capitalists only want to show socialists the error of their ways.

    1. I've had "diversity" shoved down my throat all evening. I was at a church symposium about getting more people in and making the church "more diverse". The word "enriching" was also used about diversity. I fear I am not going to go down well in the house of laity if I don't keep my mouth shut.

  101. I think Reagan more or less said that with his quote: the most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help"!!

  102. Something awful has happened to your name and avatar, wibbling (visually), They;ve both disintegrated

    1. Diversity, Inclusion, Equality.

      Only then do you get the correct acronym DIE, And then we all will!

  104. I got back early from open mic because of a joke (by an elderly lady with a great voice) about the attempted assassination of Trump (basically, the shooter had just one job etc). I have a dark sense of humour, but the (open) jubilation of most there made me depressed. Their relish of the event made me feel quite bad. One of the musicians, who I think is very gay (not putting that very well am I?) came up to me and had a bit of a an angry rant about how would the joke have gone down if the politics of those involved had been reversed. It was good to see I wasn't alone.

    1. I had a similar experience with a friend in town, but not about Trump. When I didn't join the eulogy of the LD MP, as they used to say my friend "made my excuses and left".

  105. I am aware of that, but conquering a people doesn’t necessarily make them what you are.

    1. I didn’t think you would – a conspiracy theory too far even for you, and for me as it happens 🤣😆😁

  107. It's now almost three quarters of an hour after my bedtime, so a <b> very </b> belated Good Night to you all – see you tomorrow.

  108. Greetings from the Great Border City. Back in my native Carlisle for a couple of nights. Train journey was flawless, despite my missing the first train, 'cos I'd forgotten I had to pick up my tickets at the local station (I'm so used to using the Trainline app, but that doesn't sync with TFL. Why on earth not? Still, I reached the front carriage of my Avanti West Coast train with five minutes to spare. In other words, I walked half way to Carlisle before the train left. So close to the front end, that I offered to drive the bloody thing. How hard can it be? It's not as though you have to steer… 🙄

    Now esconced in the Station Hotel, formerly known to the likes of Sue McF as the Cumbrian Hotel. My room overlooks what used to be Platform One bar, and Diamond Lil's nightclub. They're long gone now, replaced by the back garden of Wetherspoon's.

    NOTTL North British Branch lunch is tomorrow… 😀

    1. Well done, Geoff. There's always been something comforting/satisfying about a railway station pub/hotel.
      Tell us how the NOTTL North British Branch lunch goes. Photos of course.

      1. Ah never mind, Phizzee! That’s what happens when you live in Fareham/Farnham or wherever! Life goes on above the Watford Gap! We’ll send photos!💕

  109. Ave atque vale, amici. Happy St Swithin's day – the rain fell in Biblical proportions here; so much so that I had difficulty getting back from a meeting (it finished late anyway) because the roads were awash and I could barely see where I was going even with the wipes on "fast".

  110. Another day is done, I'm still exhausted having slept most of the day away, so, I wish you a goodnight and may God bless all you Gentlefolk. If we are spared! Bis morgen früh.

    1. Think he might have been affected by certain substances to go wandering off across a volcano. Or have been thrown down the ravine.

      1. The corpse might be too far gone for a toxicology report. Those drug dealers he went off with…hmmm.

    1. 'Morning, Geoff and thank you for all the work and effort you have put in to keep us all going. Well done!

      It seems Carlisle hasn't dampened your ability to post!

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