Tuesday 23 July: If Joe Biden isn’t fit to fight an election, he should leave office now

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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635 thoughts on “Tuesday 23 July: If Joe Biden isn’t fit to fight an election, he should leave office now”

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

    The Adjutant

    In the great days of the British Empire a new commanding officer was sent to a remote African bush outpost to relieve the retiring colonel.

    After welcoming his replacement and showing the usual courtesies, gin and tonic, cucumber sandwiches etc., decreed by protocol, the retiring colonel said, "You must meet my Adjutant, Captain Smithers. He's my right-hand man and is really the strength of this entire post. His talent and energy are simply boundless

    Captain Smithers was summoned and introduced to the new CO, who was surprised to meet a hunchback, one-eyed, toothless, hairless, scabbed and pockmarked specimen of humanity, a particularly unattractive man less than three feet tall.
    "Smithers, old man, tell your new CO about yourself".
    "Well, sir, I graduated with honours from Sandhurst, joined the regiment and won the Military Cross and Bar after three expeditions behind enemy lines.

    I've represented Great Britain in equestrian events and won a Silver Medal in the middleweight boxing division of the Olympics. I have researched the history of….."

    At which point the colonel interrupted, "Yes, yes, never mind that Smithers, he can find all that in your file. Tell him about the day you told the local witch doctor to fuck off.

  3. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff for Tuesday's page.

    Wordle 1,130 4/6

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  7. Good morning all.
    A bright and sunny 9°C start, but clouds moving in from the Northwest.

  8. BTL Comment:-

    The memories people have of British Rail are forever blighted by the way it operated for the first 35 years of its existance when it was run for the benefit of Regional Management rather than the passengers.

    After Sectorisation was forced through in 1982, stripping the operating side from the Regions and creating the Business Sectors, services were vastly improved and, for a brief time before John Major threw it all away with Privatisation, BR became on of the more efficient rail administrations of Europe.

  10. For any NoTTLers who remember the days when the Proms were enjoyable – BBC4 repeated an extract from the one in 1992…. Announcer was white man in dinner jacket. Crowd amusing but orderly. NO EUSSR flags. And – best of all – Shostakovitch Piano Concerto No 2 played by Tatiana Nikolayeva.

    Available on catch up. Brilliant skill.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0021d9y

    You'll love it. It was the first "Last Night" that I spent with the MR – and we were so taken with the piano concerto that we bought the CD a day or so later.

    3. "Announcer was white man in dinner jacket…"

      And the conductor was a white British man in a white jacket who properly entered into the spirit of it, the last one to do so.

      1. Indeed – and, sadly, is no more. I have long since given up on the Porms – hideous music; diversity in spades (if you’ll forgive the term); braying totty “hosts”. And, of course, anything remotely patriotic dismissed as being “upsetting”…

        1. I was trying to conjure up an image of traditionalists standing against the flood of 'progressivism' but had to stop at the thought of fingers in dykes…

    4. Drat and double drat, Bill. Since I don't own a TV because I object to paying a fee to the BBC, I cannot view that "Last Night" on iPlayer.

  11. Good morning all,

    Dull here at McPhee Towers but it should brighten up later. Wind North-West, 16℃, going up to 23℃ by late afternoon.

    Apparently the Olympic Games are due to kick off on Friday in Paris although some events start tomorrow. Can't wait for the opening ceremony. Forecasts seem to be that 'Team GB' should lower its medal expectations. Is that because DEI has ruled selection? Could it be a first failure for Starmer administration?

    I'm really looking forward to the breakdancing. Whatever breakdancing is.

    1. A second failure, surely? England failed to win the Euro wendyball cup UNDER LABOUR…!!

    2. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/63d7ab72fb2d810f11cd68f9712bba3893b917ab845ef46091e72c42efefaab1.png

      My Uncle Hugh became fascinated by African music and dance, founded the African Musical Library, lectured at South African universities and wrote several books on the subject.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/17301b2bf5405b109da206e7a144f4f08181b73486cb70a140a8624022c39e94.png

      His sons, Andrew and Paul, with their friend Jeremy Taylor, brought a musical show to London in the 1960s – Wait a Minim – which celebrated African music and dance.

    3. Is break dancing when you dance on a greasy floor, slip, and break your neck? :-))

  12. Good mornming all,

    Dull here at McPhee Towers but it should brighten up later. Wind North-West, 16℃, going up to 23℃ by late afternoon.

    Apparently the Olympic Games are due to kick off on Friday in Paris although some events start tomorrow. Can't wait for the opening ceremony. Forecasts seem to be that 'Team GB' should lower its medal expectations. Is that because DEI has ruled selection? Could it be a first failure for Starmer administration?

    I'm really looking forward to the breakdancing. Whatever breakdancing is.

    3. a couple of wordies missing..
      "deliberately" & "in preference to more worthy people you despise.."

  17. Perhaps Zelensky forgot to pay for his advertising, or Putin cancelled his subscription?

  19. Good morning, all. Raining.

    I've visited several USA sites this morning and there is no conclusive information on Biden's whereabouts; state of health(!) or whether or not he's alive; whether or not he signed his stand-down missive; the manner of his stepping down i.e. an informal document and not speaking directly to the people as expected from an outgoing POTUS.

    TPB would have USA citizens believe that Biden flew to Delaware from Las Vegas while suffering from CV-19. He departed without a mask and he arrived without a mask; Biden was very much supportive of wearing a mask when CV-19 is suspected(?). The videos of his departure and arrival throw up some further questions. Speculation that the MSM are using previous videos from stock e.g.

    Did Air Force 1 have a paint job during the flight back to Delaware? Both the aircraft's fuselage and steps are different colours, blue in Vegas and white/grey in Delaware: can lighting make that much difference?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d9d2f21c7760079547675b00bb1feaafbfb067b2c1e9fa712063915b99e59087.png

    A POTUS, especially one in Biden's state of health, despite Smarmer's sycophantic statement last week, and who hasn't been seen publicly or heard from for 5 or more days poses a security threat. The people running this shit-show are beginning to reap the whirlwind they sowed when they stole the 2020 election.

    1. Something that I have noticed is how the MSM now appears to be turning on Biden, quite aggressively, and dragging up all sorts of reasons why he isn't suitable.
      All those reasons actually predate his election as POTUS, so it's an admission he was unsuitable in the first place.
      It really is very nasty, and underlines how extremely unpleasant the Democrats really are.

      1. The MSM is foul, the Democrats are foul, the FBI is foul – the only unresolved question is that before Sleepy Joe became an incompetently senile sick joke was the whole Biden Family just as foul, malignant and malign as the rest of them?

        1. Heaven help us if the USA goes socialist. Wow! what a 'special relationship' that'll be.

          1. They did actually come up with a good, electable socialist in Bernie Sanders, who did astonishingly well in his race, considering how anti-socialist America is.

      2. BTL Comment:-

        "SIR – If Joe Biden is not fit to stand in the US election in November (report, July 22) then he is not fit to be president now." Writes John Hicks of Manchester.

        Joe Biden was not fit to be President 4y ago and was only placed (note I say "placed" not "elected") into Office as a glove puppet for someone else to operate.

      3. They had this horrible woman on just now on R4'x Toady crowing how her protected category were pushing for the rights – that of bold, aggressive ,empowered women, implying that the non-compliant better watch out for their "misogyny". My reaction to Harris is that she is another Meghan Markle – they look and talk similar, and neither I would consider "black" in the way Kemi Badenoch or even Michelle Obama is.

        It would have been a much better look if she had spoken out for the rights and interests of downtrodden men, and that they have nothing to fear from Democratic women minded to honour inclusivity, rather than give lip service to it as they push their own supreme group interests.

        Yet, that wouldn't have been very American, would it?

    2. White balance does make this sort of difference in photographs. I took a series of pictures the other day when it was out, and gave this pink tinge over everything, similar to the blue tint on the first image. The photographer probably set it for indoor light, but mid-day, it would be much bluer.

      The brain compensates and adjusts for this, which is why it is not noticed in real life.

      The album cover for Paul McCartney's album 'Band on the Run' was ruined by a yellow cast, when the photographer used the wrong film for the shoot. McCartney loved the yellow cast though, so they used it. It looked as if the prison wall was lit by sodium lighting.

    4. Laura Loomer on X, posted about Biden's flight to Vegas. Apparently, en route, a medical emergency was declared on board and a cleared route to a local hospital was requested. However, Airforce One never actually landed in Vegas but returned to the East Coast to seek medical attention, without informing Vegas of the change of plan
      Airforce One has significant medical facilities on board. Perhaps Sniffer Joe's team thought it would be easier to manage the media message from home turf?

      1. If AF1 never landed in Vegas then the picture I put up earlier showing Biden boarding AF1 in Vegas is a stock photograph. What a tangled web they are spinning. When things become this complicated it’s more likely that someone will commit a gaffe.

        2. Hands up, i committed a gaffe when speeding through my feed.

          I've checked back on Laura Loomer's tweet; Charlie Kirk reported that as Biden was due to leave Vegas a medical emergency was called and LV Metro were asked to clear a route to University Medical trauma unit.

          Someone then made a command decision to fly Biden back east and put out the story that the trip was cut short as Biden was suffering from 'covid'.

          It is unclear whether Biden suffered his 'medical emergency ' on the ground or onboard.

          Charlie Kirk posted on 17 Jul 24, without crediting Laura Loomer with the original story from 5 Jul 24.

          Kirk is suggesting the discrepancy in reporting dates is down to there possibly being numerous medical emergencies. Or he's just covering his butt for failing to credit Loomer with the 'scoop'. After all, how often has Biden flown to Vegas recently?

          So a bit of circular reporting as Biden's team attempt to spike/rebut the story.

          Loomer appears to break a lot of stories, much to the chagrin of the supine media outlets.

          As to imagery/video of Biden, I expect that, just like the bBC, many media outlets revert to stock footage of Biden not falling up the stairs again.

    2. Jenrick is the closest they can come up with to Starmer. Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Didn't he get done once for some dodgy dealings with a property developer?

      Is there an honest Tory out there who is not a black woman?

  21. 'Morning All
    "May you live in interesting times" Medley……..
    https://i.imgflip.com/8xunxw.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8f45d3a9cb30072fc757b482307f259dc0eb4fc99a50552e4f0440357e8d9436.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a056922bd48ccb9c8b2196c86925075d4818f2ca7d8f7c1df9dae0c06411b432.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/14a1b4de52ad013f114055675c2a6c10b06a9156802d1dfeb4a3455699b6be9c.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c7aa5f6f43d114fc40c229dd33802a5d5b7bb7d6ea02ebe54b89c9be6170d40b.jpg

    1. Mornin'.

      I keep hearing from the Left that Trumps lies all the time but they don't mention what. It should be an assertion easy enough to prove as what he says is recorded.
      Can anyone find a specific example of an out and out Trump lie?

        1. They said that Farage lies all the time. As far as I can see he is not a liar – indeed he tells the truth far more than most politicians do.

      2. The lefties, on the other hand, do it all the time: men are women; mass immigration is good for us; co2 is killing the planet; electric cars are the best…on and on and on…Their lies are literally toddler level. The kind of lie in which an icing covered face denies eating the cake.

    2. Regarding the image of Zelensky, I wonder how much Hunter Biden's paintings are worth, now that Sniffer Joe is circling the drain?

  22. This from Michael Deacon. I didn’t read this in last week’s news anywhere. But truly, what a shit show of a world we live in, where we have introduced segregation in England in the name of “progress”.

    “Given the furore that erupted when the plan was announced, you might have thought the organisers would have abandoned it. But no. They went determinedly ahead. And so, last week, London’s West End played host to a historic “Black Out” night.
    That is: a performance intended explicitly for a black audience.
    The aim of “Black Out” nights, a phenomenon that originated in the US, is to “free” black theatre-goers from something called “the white gaze”. In this case, the performance was of the Tony-nominated Slave Play, written by the American dramatist Jeremy O Harris. Mr Harris has dismissed all criticism of “Black Out” nights as a “moral panic”.
    We can of course only speculate as to the reaction there would be if a white dramatist proposed to hold “White Out” nights, in order to free white theatre-goers from “the black gaze”. Since it seems somewhat unlikely that anyone would dare do such a thing, we can’t be certain, but I’d be surprised if objections to it were waved away as a
    “moral panic”. In any case, the concept of a “Black Out” night prompts some intriguing questions. For example: what should you do if you’re mixed race? Should you watch only half the play, and then leave at the interval?
    Whatever misgivings some may have, however, last week’s “Black Out” night in London received an effusive write-up from the favourite newspaper of America’s liberal elite, The New York Times. “Black spectators praised producers for creating a safe space,” wrote its reporter. What exactly the spectators had been made safe from, his report did not make clear. Still, it just goes to show what a fast-changing world we live in. Segregation used to be racist. Now it’s woke.
    Thankfully, the event passed off without incident. If the idea spreads, though, I worry it may lead to unrest and division. And then some poor theatre manager may find himself having to deal with a white Rosa Parks, refusing to give up her seat.”

    4. Are the box office staff and ushers issued with colour charts which they hold up against the punters' faces to decide if they are a shade of cafe au lait or nearer to ebony?

  23. This from Michael Deacon. I didn’t read this in last week’s news anywhere. But truly, what a shit show of a world we live in, where we have introduced segregation in England in the name of “progress”.

    “Given the furore that erupted when the plan was announced, you might have thought the organisers would have abandoned it. But no. They went determinedly ahead. And so, last week, London’s West End played host to a historic “Black Out” night.
    That is: a performance intended explicitly for a black audience.
    The aim of “Black Out” nights, a phenomenon that originated in the US, is to “free” black theatre-goers from something called “the white gaze”. In this case, the performance was of the Tony-nominated Slave Play, written by the American dramatist Jeremy O Harris. Mr Harris has dismissed all criticism of “Black Out” nights as a “moral panic”.
    We can of course only speculate as to the reaction there would be if a white dramatist proposed to hold “White Out” nights, in order to free white theatre-goers from “the black gaze”. Since it seems somewhat unlikely that anyone would dare do such a thing, we can’t be certain, but I’d be surprised if objections to it were waved away as a
    “moral panic”. In any case, the concept of a “Black Out” night prompts some intriguing questions. For example: what should you do if you’re mixed race? Should you watch only half the play, and then leave at the interval?
    Whatever misgivings some may have, however, last week’s “Black Out” night in London received an effusive write-up from the favourite newspaper of America’s liberal elite, The New York Times. “Black spectators praised producers for creating a safe space,” wrote its reporter. What exactly the spectators had been made safe from, his report did not make clear. Still, it just goes to show what a fast-changing world we live in. Segregation used to be racist. Now it’s woke.
    Thankfully, the event passed off without incident. If the idea spreads, though, I worry it may lead to unrest and division. And then some poor theatre manager may find himself having to deal with a white Rosa Parks, refusing to give up her seat.”

  24. My choice for Funny Letter of the Day.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4d8098eee230aa911b0f8c9693cb03589f961a563a7c20f944b2524ada211aa5.png
    Mr Murthy doesn't acknowledge that they are WEF colleagues, puppets, intent on taking Britain to the same destination albeit at slightly different speeds. Some of us would like to see a bit of animosity between political opponents who, let's face it, are supposed to oppose each other.

    I wonder if Mr Murthy is related to Sunk's father-in-law? And why did Sunk's wife drop the 'h' from her father's name to become a Murty? These and other banal, irrelevant questions will never be answered.

  25. My choice for Funny Letter of the Day.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4d8098eee230aa911b0f8c9693cb03589f961a563a7c20f944b2524ada211aa5.png
    Mr Murthy doesn't acknowledge that they are WEF colleagues, puppets, intent on taking Britain to the same destination albeit at slightly different speeds. Some of us would like to see a bit of animosity between political opponents who, let's face it, are supposed to oppose each other.

    I wonder if Mr Murthy is related to Sunk's father-in-law? And why did Sunk's wife drop the 'h' from her father's name to become a Murty? These and other banal, irrelevant questions will never be answered.

    1. Plenty of speculation in the USA, both in words and cartoons, about certain of her proclivities.

  27. Morning all 🙂😊
    From wet Ripon. Beamish museum later, not a good day for an out door museum.
    Oh well.
    Slayders.

          2. He's being very coy and softly spoken this morning…just peeking at you through the eye-slit in his burka

      2. I got pished in the Blackamoor in Ripon in 1961 – it was close to where I was stationed

      3. Before we left Ripon we did a shop at Booths, we’ve been to the chain previously, but what a lovely supermarket.
        And I would recommend the Ripon Inn to all.
        Now at Lucker Hall (HPB) settling into our two bed two bath two story for a week weather superb right now.
        Called in at the Beamish museum on the way it was packed. School holidays. There must have been 250,000 people there today. It’s a wonderful place to visit, full of so many important parts of our culture and possibly a huge learning curve for interested youngsters.
        We might try and call in on the way back.
        The entry tickets last 12 months.

    1. If all Iranians were like this chap there would be far more harmony in the Middle East.

    2. One of the congresswomen uses language that to be delicate about it is certainly not parliamentary. Worth watching for entertainment value and to see the evisceration of an official that imagines herself untouchable.

    3. There are numerous videos of the proceedings with various Senators suggesting Cheatle is (at best) useless, if not culpable, and should resign. I believe Nancy Mace actually called her out for her bullshit, just before the Chairman restored order.

      Cheatle's defence appears to consist of; there is an ongoing internal SS inquiry, there is an ongoing FBI inquiry, and she has not been able to view many facts from the assassination attempt due to these inquiries. This stated with a straight face nine days after the event.

      As per Eid Davey or Nicola Sturgeon (henceforth known as Chairman Maw), it is politically (financially?) preferable to look uninformed and incompetent rather than take any responsibility for any of their decisions or actions.

      Cheatle, most of all, knows it's a slippery slope once the truth pries open the bureaucratic armour. She'll be well rewarded for her trouble.

  31. SIR – Is this Joe Biden the same person who was described by our Prime Minister as “on good form”, and definitely not senile, after a recent meeting?

    What does that assessment say about Sir Keir Starmer’s judgment?

    John Hinchsliff
    Longridge, Lancashire

    Keir Starmer's judgement , ha ha ha

    His minister selection is a good example of poor judgement .

    2. For someone who's trade is words, Starmer should have come up with meaningless comment that didn't cause a diplomatic incident.
      I realise that he couldn't say outright that Biden is a senile old coot.

  32. Neglected verges
    SIR – Here in Hampshire it is very obvious that the “no mow” initiative was adopted for all the roadside verges.

    Its purpose was to encourage butterflies, but sadly this year’s spring had different ideas. The uncut verges allowed plants to flower, including ragwort.

    This is highly poisonous to horses and ponies, irreversibly damaging their livers. In the New Forest, horses and ponies are numerous. The huge amounts of ragwort left to flower will sow seed along the verges of Hampshire, encroaching on grass fields used for keeping equines and for hay-making, and the management of this poisonous, invasive plant will be much harder than usual.

    Sometimes the old way of land management is the best way, as this new idea has highlighted.

    Tina Simmens
    Lyndhurst, Hampshire

    Giant Ragwort has invaded everywhere here in the Purbecks , there is a sea of yellow weed on verges, fields , grass lands , heathland .. and is now infested with stripey caterpillars which will turn into Cinnabar moths .

    Are cinnabar moths dangerous?
    Cinnabar moths do not pose much of a threat to humans, but they do absorb toxicity from the ragworth they consume and can cause a rash if handled.

    Their food plant ragwort can be a risk to livestock, particularly when it is dried and mixed in with hay (grazing animals tend to avoid it while it is growing but can inadvertently eat it when mixed in with hay).

    2. Belle. Where this idea comes from is "wild life corridors". The idea is to produce corridors through the urban mess for plants, animals, birds and butterflies to thrive. They are a great idea. The trouble is that what you are describing is a gross distortion of what is supposed to be done. The roadside verges are supposed to be cleared as you would a garden that has run wild. Then you are supposed to seed the verge with wild flowers suitable to the place you are in. Thus what would be good for the Scottish climate would not be good for Hampshire, like us in Wests Sussex, you would use cornflowers, poppies, hawkweed, pimpernel etc, etc. Special attention would be taken to preserve wild orchids or other rare flowers that are already growing. Then the verge needs to be maintained until everything has taken hold and is well established. This can be done and has been done in many places. It simply takes the will of a council that isn't into the sort of cheap pretence at preservation you are describing and the will of the public to chip in, weeding out such things as ragwort. Once done such areas need very little maintenance, just as the wild meadows of our youth took little maintenance. The trouble is, now a days, is that everyone is into quick fixes and cheap tricks that, in the end, don't work but make things worse. The important thing is that these corridors have to connect with larger areas were the fauna using the corridors can live. It's no use just doing corridors that lead to no where anymore than there is any point to building a road that goes nowhere.

      Here is an example of the idea from Australia. It has been done extensively in the USA. In Texas the idea was implemented long ago by Lady Bird Johnson, the wife of the President after Kennedys assassination, in the 60's it isn't a new idea.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbajc6JDZZs&t=33s

        1. When I write I don't pay attention to what is being printed. I simply write and don't edit. I tend to get fixated on the topic I'm writing about. This isn't an excuse it is simply an explanation. Of course when I am writing things that are not 'throw aways' I edit, otherwise I don't bother because in my condition, health wise, it isn't worth the effort. I get exhausted very quickly and need to rest throughout the day. After effects of escaping stage 4 cancer last year and now dealing with glaucoma and stage 4 emphysema. I am not complaining, just explaining. I have learnt there are more important things than the niceties we value when healthy.

          1. Sorry for being pedantic about the language I love, but I would sincerely recommend proof-reading before posting. It may save a lot of embarrassment.

          2. Hardly embarrassing unless you are embarrassed on JR's behalf.
            Remember Peddy began to piss people off with his constant nitpicking.

          3. Nitpicking doesn’t enter into, Philip. I merely try to correct language errors. Particularly in this day of Americanisation – another bastardised language. Could you get ‘acclimated to being burglarized’?

          4. I don't let it bother me. No point in worrying about the small things, And certainly no point in worrying about the big things you can't change.

          8. But I am Anglo-American! Born English but lived in the USA for forty years. English is no longer the special province of the English people. It sailed off to warmer climes and became the worlds most used form of communication by losing its provincial origins.

          10. As an aspect of education I have long thought that people should go and live in a foreign country for a minimum of 5 years and then return to their own. I have lived in three, born in Germany, the German language was my first, although I no longer remember it. Then spent most of my childhood in Libya and after that, as an adult, the USA for 40 years. What it has done is given me a sense of proportion about the UK and a fierce loyalty to England and her institutions. I take non of it for granted because my horizon is large. It is why I believe strongly in the British Empire and its virtues and the genius of the English people. An attitude most modern English people would tend to distance themselves from.

          11. As a Business Consultant, I’ve lived and worked in many different countries, sometimes for much more than 5 years. During my service in the Royal Air force I spent several years in Germany and as a result, I speak Plat Deutsch and now can include French. I can also get by in Swedish and Spanish. I am very aware of the different cultures from Chinese to Norwegian. I still retain my love of, what maybe referred to as the ‘King’s English’, the language I was brought up with from 1944. I’m hardly a provincial!

          12. I think Johnathan has explained why he posts without correction – it can't be easy with glaucoma.

          13. My point is that I just don't care about that sort of thing anymore. I think others will agree with me that there is a point you reach in your journey toward death that you realize it is all trivia. It doesn't matter. I have had my body invaded in the most humiliating ways, I have been probed, fiddled with and had to endure people helping me with the most private acts in which the only thing to do was rise above it or be miserable with the humiliation of it all. I cannot be embarrassed, that sort of silly emotion just don't matter. I have learnt that happiness comes from love, people are wonderful, people are glorious. Preoccupation with yourself is what drains us, makes us unhappy. Guarding ourselves is exhausting, it steals everything of any importance from us, it steals love. Don't sweat the small stuff, keep your eyes on the Trinity or however you conceive the prize. Or at least, that is how it is for me.

          14. Along the 419 between here and Cirencester, I love to see the great banks of Rosebay Willow Herb and Cranesbill together. They are just at their best now. When the Willow Herb flowers reach to end of the sticks, I know the summer is over.

    3. From Defra:

      37 There is concern about the risk to human health associated with hand pulling of ragwort
      plants as a means of ragwort population control. It is not known if PAs can be absorbed
      through the skin, although anecdotal evidence indicates that they can. It is therefore
      advised that suitably protective gloves and trousers be worn when hand pulling and
      handling ragwort plants.’
      166 Ragwort is a toxic plant and suitable precautions must be taken when handling live
      and dead plants.
      167 When handling ragwort plants (fresh and dried) hands must be protected by wearing
      sturdy waterproof gardening type gloves and arms and legs covered to prevent ragwort
      plants coming into contact with the skin.
      169 Suitable facemasks should be made available so that they may be worn to avoid the
      inhalation of ragwort pollen and to reduce the risk of hayfever.’
      .

      **Should I point out that because small children are breathing at the same height as yellow ragwort flowers
      they easily get lung problems and apparent asthma from breathing the poisonous pollen. Yet parents are often too lazy to eliminate yellow ragwort from their gardens and children's playgrounds.

    4. The grass verges here are getting high. They should certainly pull up the ragwort before making hay.

    5. Colchester Borough oops – City Council allows ragwort to flourish on all its land.
      No doubt if a private landowner was that remiss, they would get at least a snottogram from the council. Possibly a visit from a desk pilot if the weather was nice.

  33. SIR – When the new Government gets round to renationalising our railways, might I suggest it adopts the Swiss system?

    I don’t know how they do it, but their (nationalised) trains are spotless inside and out, smooth-running and punctual, with good signposting for the befuddled traveller, helpful staff, and clear, undistorted announcements. There was even a decent restaurant car on one leg of a recent journey. The seating is comfortable, too.

    Jeremy Nicholas
    Great Bardfield, Essex

    You don't know how they do it, Jerry? I do. The Swiss still possess the two most necessary traits of a civilised society, namely: discipline and national pride.

    The British discarded those two positive attributes in the decades following the second world war. The rise of influence of the unions, especially during the benighted 1970s — that were given succour by the less-than-useless Wilson/Callaghan administrations — imbued the nation with a couldn't-care-less attitude and an "I'm in it for myself" mindset.

    Subsequent political events that have led to the unstoppable decline in public (and private) standards clearly show that we, as a nation, are a risible and pathetic crowd of ill-disciplined, ignorant and apathetic nonentities when directly compared to other, more proud and industrious nations, such as Switzerland.

    1. I had mixed feelings when returning to Switzerland in 2018 after having last been there in 1984.

      A lot of it still is about cuckoo clocks and cow bells, but I had noticed other influences creeping, in the same manner vinegar and oil mix when dressing salad.

      For the first time, I noticed graffiti. If there was any before, it would have been cleaned off within the hour. Now, it seemed to spread everywhere. The next was how incongruous and ugly brutalist building was springing up alongside exquisite Alpine traditional chalets with no concept of town planning. It was as if they revel in the shock value of the modernist, and something quite odd to those more used to King Charles's reforms since the 1990s.

      Maybe (and I have seen this throughout Europe since the EU have been pushing for ever closer union), the Swiss were becoming less Swiss, in the same manner the French less French, the Germans less German and even the Polish, when I last looked, were uncharacteristically sober.

      3. I've been to Switzerland many times since my son moved there in 1999 and there is certainly a lot of Graffiti in Basel. The trains were on time though.

  36. And now for something completely different:

    Free Speech reader Reader Mark Smith shares how, in his 60s, he regained the fitness levels of his 20s and 30s to cycle the world in 452 days. Nip over for a few minutes and read his account please, and then leave the lad a comment of encouragement or a thumbs up in the comments.

    https://www.freespeechbacklash.com/

  37. Please take a moment to examine this link , we are now living in anarchic times .

    What do they mean and what are they up to .. doesn't look as if Starmer is safe .

    https://peoplesmomentum.com/

    A new Sky investigation has revealed that MPs are making millions on the side, often from dark money donors.

    We’ve come to expect it from the Tories. Mired in sleaze, they top the list.

    But it doesn’t stop there. Labour MPs, including Shadow Health Minister Wes Streeting, Yvette Cooper and Dan Jarvis are revealed to have accepted hundreds of thousands of pounds of dark money from mysterious shell company MPM Connect.

    If we’re to restore faith in politics, Labour must lead from the front.

    Allowing dark money into Labour sets a dangerous precedent, opening the door to corporate interest before the public good.

    That’s why we’re demanding that:

    Labour recommits to the pledges made in the 2019 manifesto to clean up politics – including banning the funnelling of dark money through shell companies.
    Labour MPs in receipt of funding from dark money groups should return the donations immediately.
    Here’s what you can do to support the campaign.

    What you can do
    Use our Lobbying tool to write to Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting voicing our demands.
    Pass our model motion in your CLP.

    1. "…opening the door to corporate interest before the public good…"

      'Twas ever so, and shall remain thus, until we all REFORM it.

      1. As you're probably aware, Jules, I don't have a TV, so I'm insulated from the BBC and other nonsense. I get my info' via GB News on my laptop and often mute that as well.

        1. I hardly ever watch telly these days though we still have one. Husband likes to watch the sport. We also use it for the swift box cameras.

      2. The last time I saw it was the final when Bill Bailey won.
        Just checked – that's 4 years ago and the final was the only episode I watched that year.

    2. Pleeeease let it be so. Not that I have watched tv for years but it does rather pollute and numb the nation's collective brain.

  43. Morning all! Another dark day with the lights on but not cold.

    I was watching some guy called Jeremy Kyle this morning on You Tube. It concerned illegal aliens. So, I wondered if someone could answer a question for me. I can understand why people fleeing war torn countries would use any means they can to get into Britain. What I don't understand is how it is that there are thousands of Albanians flooding into Britain illegally and stay. Albania is a democratic, peaceful country, people can't plead a threat to life from the government or war conditions, so what is the problem in shipping these people back, why can't they simply be put on the first plane out of here and sent straight back to Albania? What prevents our government from sending these people back when, at airports, people are denied entry if they try to get in here illegally.

    2. The customary lame excuse is that we can't send them home because we don't have "an agreement" with the country in question to the effect that they will take back their own citizens. The problem with this excuse is of course that these people do frequently go home on vacation, so clearly they're not barred from entry. "International Law" and "The Rules Based Order" are basically whatever the globalist institutions find politically expedient. Consistency and logicality not required.

        2. Why do we even have to have an agreement to send their citizens back, especially if their Albanian citizenship has not been revoked? It's called deportation and all countries do it.

        3. Why do we even have to have an agreement to send their citizens back, especially if their Albanian citizenship has not been revoked? It's called deportation and all countries do it.

      2. Similar happened here – once. Having been granted asylum from being persecuted back home, the bastards went back on vacation. On return to Norway, they were arrested and informed that their residency was cancelled, and put on the return flight back to whatever shithole they came from. No messing. That's how it should be done.

  44. Dear Rwanda Dictator for Life

    The previous government of the UK gave you £270 MILLION. For nothing. We'd like that money back, please – or we'll send a gunboat…

    2. Dear Sir Keir

      Minor detail…Rwanda is landlocked…Get stuffed

      Luv

      Pres Paul Kagame

      P.S. How about a knighthood just like yours?

      1. Hah! Landlocked you may be – but you have plenty rivers. We'll send one up from Lake Victoria.

  45. Good Morning all.
    20C. Rain overnight, now dry with broken cloud and a little sunshine.

      1. Good late morning. Just returned from shopping including the 4 beers for £7 offer,
        2x landlord. 1X Old Peculiar. 1x 1698 Sheperd Neame..

        1. I picked up an assorted 8 bottles of Hook Norton on the way back home on Friday.

      1. Anythig over 23C we are not happy. Our son lives in Malta and works the High Commision and when we spoke on Sunday it was 36C…… normal for Malta.

        1. We live in the Spanish interior where the temperature is now close to 44 degrees. Here on the coast we spend the day swimming and enjoying sea breezes.
          I prefer good weather up to 30 degrees. Over thirty it can get uncomfortable.
          Next month it’ll be hotter everywhere. August is a wicked month.

        4. 36C is getting towards the top end of comfortable for me. The rest of the family get overhheated at about 28C.

    1. What an appalling hWite supremacist far-ultra-extreme racist patriarchal gammon that man must be. His toxic masculinity has made me feel unsafe. I must now complain and hopefully he will be cancelled. That will teach him. Bigot!

      1. The man arrested looks a bit mixed-race. If so, the likes of Sago Lou will be upset.

    2. Just as I think the police can get no lower, they do just that. They are beneath contempt.

  47. Hungary stripped of EU meeting over Ukraine stance. 23 July 2024.

    The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borell, has stripped Hungary of the right to host the next meeting of foreign and defence ministers over its stance on the war in Ukraine.

    It comes weeks after Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, a role in which it would normally host the event, and amid anger over a meeting Prime Minister Viktor Orban held with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month.

    Obviously being President is not all it’s cracked up to be. Here we have Orban being overuled by an EU apparatchik. One wonders where the order came from? The United States or some anonymous Globalist Cabal?

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgr542l753po

      1. It sounds a bit tin foil hatty, but after the past four years, quite frankly I have so lost faith in anything to do with government or its apparatchiks, that these theories now seem plausible.
        In short; all trust is lost. Dead. Defunct. At one with Nineveh and Tyre.

  49. Funny weather this morning – grey and heavy cloud gave way to rain, now it's bright and sunny. Unfortunately we'd booked a trip to the tip and had to unload it all while it was raining.

    1. Rubbish disposal is becoming a major element in people's lives.
      Every week, at some stage, an Allan is booking a trip.
      Tomorrow a friend and I are having lunch and then walking our dogs. In that order, because she has a morning of sorting and carting rubbish.

      1. Sun has been crackin' the flags all day, washing done and dried and a loaf made, in fact it's getting too hot

  51. Military intervention in Ukraine is now essential. 23 July 2024.

    They are right to do so. Ukraine is fighting for its existence; Russia for its “greatness”. Russia will continue the war until victorious or it risks being defeated. As stressed in my report for the Centre for Defence Strategies Why the West cannot let Russia win, the consequence of a Russian victory would be devastating.

    Russia is not fighting for its “greatness”. It is fighting to maintain its security against a hostile NATO led by the EU and US.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/23/military-intervention-in-ukraine-is-now-essential/

    1. Given the US ambition to break up Russia and plunder her resources, Russia absolutely IS fighting for her existence. If Russia succeeds, the Great Reset meets a major stumbling block. The first Trump presidency was seen as merely delaying the programme but of course he may be wiser now. We can but hope.

  52. ………………..and now for something completely different:-

    https://dailywrap.uk/uk-strengthens-air-force-with-new-f-35b-fighter-deal,7040988631070849a

    If you work all the way through this article you will see that both British aircraft carriers will be rebuilt

    to have catapults and arrester wires.

    We remember hearing long and detailed explanations why Britain should buy the inferior F35b model

    "because it doesn't need arrester wires or catapults".

    It now appears that the purchase of the B model was an absolute waste of taxpayers' money.

    Will any civil servant or politician be admonished for this waste of money?

    1. Canadas brand new offshore patrol boats are all in dock waiting for estimates on repairs to stop them leaking.
      A bargain at an overbudget price of $% billion, they were accepted from the builders without warranty.
      No calling to account here either, just cheers for the liberal votes bought.

  53. One day it is just going to be too late..
    latest in a string of rapes to take place in the French capital.
    The police have given up even trying to control the situation, as government is doing all they can to cover up attacks on women in France.

          1. I don't think it was a lampoon, Sue. More like child protection/justification.

    2. You just beat me to it! Cruel, but so apt. If only mummy could see herself and her daughter as others see her. Sacking the gardener at the daughter's behest because he wouldn't give up his strimmer for a scythe takes some beating in the virtue signalling stakes.

      And missing her brother's wedding? It looks like Karma was listening in.

    5. My BTL comment:

      "Face up to it. The child is a radicalised eco-terrorist and should have received a longer sentence."

      1. If her parents had been responsible parents they would have sorted her out by now.

    1. I remember the days when the only red bits on a map were parts of our Empire.
      And the ex-pats stoically coped with the heat and humidity.

  56. Good afternoon.
    Traumatised MB. His laptop is refusing to open and we're waiting to hear from Pet Pooter Nerd.
    At least MB got a chance to catch up on the Poole Harbour Ospreys before things went t!ts up.
    Currently unsure if a Facebook video (we are not subscribers) is the culprit or if the issue is pure happenstance.

      1. Done that. Even allowed a 2 hour breathing space for its addled brain to settle down.
        Grandson is at work and his father doubted he could sort it.

    2. Have you tried soaking it in vinegar for half an hour?

      That was malicious advice put out on social media about an iphone not working properly. Of course the sap did as advised.

  59. The smothering of a nation.

    The dark heart of Starmer’s Labour has been revealed: total surrender to unelected elites

    This King’s Speech saw a doubling down of the trend that began under the Tories – handing power to bureaucrats and quangos

    DANIEL HANNAN • 20 July 2024 • 5:00pm

    So much for “taking the brakes off”. The King’s Speech was full of proposals that will expand bureaucracy, reduce freedom and distract people from productive work.

    There’s the “Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill”, which will require even the staff of the George and Horn here in Kingsclere to be trained for the eventuality of an attack by Islamic State – something that, to be honest, has never struck us in these parts as an imminent danger.

    There’s the plan to regulate football clubs, which are currently world-beating precisely because they don’t have some quango nagging at them about ticket prices, gender quotas or net zero.

    There’s the partial nationalisation of railways. There’s the ban on importing hunting trophies acquired as part of approved conservation schemes. There’s the prohibition of disposable vapes. There’s the “Renters’ Rights Bill” which forbids landlords to enforce the expiry date on contracts freely entered into with their tenants. There’s the phased criminalisation of smoking… No, wait, hang on. That was the last government.

    In fact, come to think of it, every one of the proposals I have just cited is a holdover from the previous session. Labour is simply pushing ahead with a series of illiberal measures inherited from the Conservatives. The anti-growth coalition wins every time.

    To list these Bills is to understand why the Tories were hammered so badly. They had lost sight of their principles, lost touch with their supporters and lost whatever reforming zeal they began with.

    “Well, duh”, you might say, “the party is run by a clique of LibDem wannabes”. But that explanation requires us to ignore the fact that Rishi Sunak voted Leave, dropped the most unrealistic decarbonisation targets and passed tough laws against immigration. It requires us, too, to forget Liz Truss’s attempt genuinely to take the brakes off, and the way the Blob reacted when she did.

    No, the problem is not that the Tories were secretly Left-wing. It’s that they never properly got on top of the administrative state. And it is here that we can expect the biggest shift in how we are governed. For Keir Starmer is not simply an ally of the Blob; he nestles at its gloopy heart, a fully paid-up member.

    People sometimes say that the new prime minister has no core beliefs, that he says whatever his audience wants to hear at that moment. But he does have one irreducible conviction, a conviction he maintained through his days as a student Trot, Corbyn yes-man and Centrist Dad. Starmer believes in functionaries.

    He never sounds more passionate than when arguing that MPs should be subordinated to judges, whether at home or at the European Court of Human Rights. He doesn’t phrase it like that, of course. He calls it “the rule of law”. But what he means is “the rule of lawyers”.

    This managerialism, this trust in standing bureaucracies, runs through everything he does. It explains his fanatical lockdownery, which took him so far as to oppose the lifting of restrictions in July 2021 and demand that they be reimposed that December. And it explains his Euro-zealotry, for nothing so neatly embodies the elevation of the fonctionnaire over the elected politician as the EU.

    The trouble is that, as those two examples show, unelected officials are not nearly as clever as they think they are. Or rather, even when they are clever, they end up doing stupid things.

    The lockdown was a textbook case. At every stage, bureaucrats over-reacted disastrously. The safetyism that animates our quangos and agencies did not simply lead them to inflict needless ruin on our economy. It failed in its own terms, leaving Britain with a higher excess mortality rate than Sweden.

    Naturally, the official enquiry has taken the predictable line that we should have locked down harder and earlier, and that everything is the fault of ministers, not of scientific and public health bodies. The Blob never criticises its own.

    No one has held SAGE to account for its demonstrably wrong advice to close down again at the end of 2021. Indeed, Starmer has just made Patrick Vallance, who wanted that extra lockdown, a minister, the latest official to follow Sue Gray into Labour politics.

    Those who have stayed in the civil service are naturally delighted. Permanent Secretaries share pictures of themselves grinning alongside their Labour ministers, and promising great things. The Guardian’s anonymous civil service contributor wrote a column headlined “After years of being gaslit by government, we civil servants can breathe again under Labour”.

    Well, of course they can. What, after all, is the difference between the high-spending, market-sceptical, risk-averse, DEI-obsessed culture that dominates our public bodies and that of the Labour Party? In Sir Keir, the Blob has one of its own, a human rights lawyer who, after years of extending the power of the courts vis-à-vis Parliament has come to politics determined to continue that work.

    Hence the King’s Speech. As well as keeping various civil-service-led Bills that the outgoing government had wearily accepted, Starmer has, to the delight of Official Britain, added many more. One will give the Office of Budgetary Responsibility even more power over the Chancellor. Another will establish a new body to run skills and training. A third will legislate for racial equality in the workplace – not in response to an identified problem, since it is already illegal to pay people differently on ethnic grounds, but as part of the general expansion of quangocracy.

    Even in the areas where Labour could achieve the most, its first instinct is to expand the state. Instead of liberalising planning law, it has hired 300 more planning officers. Instead of liberalising healthcare, it is creating a new public health quango.

    This is not socialism exactly. Rather, it is a kind of dirigiste corporatism, what the Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, calls “purposeful interaction between governments, business, and institutions.” Labour has worked out that it doesn’t need to own private companies in order to tell them what to do.

    Far from lifting the weights from the productive part of our economy, Labour is piling them higher. The problem is not so much the direct cost – though the impact of mandatory terrorism training for pub staff and church volunteers is estimated at more than £2 billion – as the opportunity cost.

    The sheer hassle of taking time off work to comply with regulations, and then prove your compliance to the authorities, is beyond the imagination of people who work for the government, for quangos or for charities, as most Labour MPs used to do.

    Katy Chakrabortty, the Head of Policy and Advocacy at Oxfam, reacted to the election with a revealing tweet. “NGO sector for 15 years: ‘Who sir? Us sir? Stuffed with Labour types sir? How very dare you! 2024: ‘Yeah.. so we’re all Labour MPs now”. Ms Chakrabortty was not being sarcastic. On the contrary, listing several newly-elected Labour MPs from the charity sector, she enthused that they were ideally suited “to end poverty on a planet that can sustain us”.

    What actually ends poverty, of course, is a competitive economy, which pushes wages up and prices down. Such an economy flourishes when regulations are light and when taxes are flat, low and simple.

    The Conservatives understood this in theory, but failed to deliver it in practice. Labour doesn’t believe it at all. Starmer thinks that businesses need to be encouraged, monitored and hectored by bureaucrats with enlightened views on race and gender – by people, in short, like himself.

    The truth, though no Tory minister admitted it for fear of sounding pathetic, is that the last government was forever dragging its officials back from even worse excesses of regulatory intervention and identity politics.

    Ministers were at least trying, however inadequately, to bring the vehicle back under control. Labour ministers, by contrast, will be flooring the accelerator. It’s not the economy where they’re taking the brakes off; it’s the quangocracy.

    The notion that they’re all the same, a LibLabCon uniparty, is about to be tested. I doubt we’ll like the outcome.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/20/starmers-labour-revealed-total-surrender-unelected-elites/

    1. Rishi Sunak voted Leave, dropped the most unrealistic decarbonisation targets and passed tough laws against immigration.

      Yet he also dismissed removing 4000 EU bills. He did nothing to unravel the EU's bureaucracy. He gave away Northern Ireland with the Windsor agreement.

      No, he didn't drop them. He postponed them. Dropping them would have meant saying no to net zero entirely. He refused to. He hiked the subsidy for heat pumps and, yes he did remove the tax on boilers (but only because it would backfire on him). While he didn't slap any more wind mills up, he did hugely increase the subsidy – money that went from the tax payer into Labour coffers.

      He passed no laws on gimmigration whatsoever. The invasion continued unabated. He gave France some money and they took it and did nothing. He did nothing to unravel the welfare benefit system, didn't repeal the HRA, modern slavery or all the other acts that give them free reign to get here.

      Sunak, bluntly, did nothing.

      Truss was done in by a spiteful state machine that wanted the gravy train to keep going – a stitch up between the BoE, the OBR and the pensions industry. They could have warned her, they didn't.

      Starmer might know how to bill but as he's only ever been a government lawyer his money has just 'arrived' without having to do any marketing. He has no idea how to run a business.

      The entire state simply wants to expand, cancerously as without more and more of our money, it dies.

    1. I quite like Tate. The fact that the Left accuse him of misogyny and toxic masculinity makes me think he is a good role model for young men.

      1. Without watching the video, my first thought was is he just stating the natural biological differences between men and women? That men have stronger muscles? Women have a higher pain threshold? (Though a retired midwife I used to know told me that also varies with race). That hormone levels can cause a difference in our emotional reactions and propensity to aggression?

        1. I think he could be considered to be mysogynistic as he does have certain ideas about a woman's place. The homemaker, the child raiser, the bedroom.

          Though some women who haven't been brainwashed or pressured by feminists find that life attractive.

          Then there are women like Becky Calder. TopGun.

          1. ‘Inhalation and ingestion of lead can be hazardous to health.
            When a weapon is fired, the hot gases produced by the propellant burns the lead from the base of the bullet…’

            MOD Government Regulations

          1. Well, yes, but if I want to see a boy like that I look out the window.

            The problem there is it usually comes with a demand for another iced tea or another pot of Hagen Das, or to move the umbrella.

  61. I found a £20 note on the street yesterday and i asked myself 'what would Jesus do?'

    So i turned it into wine.

    1. I found a lost Blackberry yonks ago. I went all the way into town to drop it at the plodshop.

      They had me sit there for over an hour staring at the ceiling before bringing out a form where the bloke was clearly utterly uninterested in finding the owner. On handing it over he asked me why I was handing it in. I said, confusedly 'it's not mine.'.

      1. Similar happened to me. Complete disinterest and huffing because the forms had to be filled out in triplicate. Not sure why such people are police officers in the first place.

  62. Ireland’s Sinn Fein toughens immigration stance after election drubbing. 23 July 2024.

    Ireland’s Sinn Féin has toughened its immigration stance after performing poorly in local and European elections.

    The country’s main opposition party will set out its new policy on Tuesday, which will include a pledge to audit local services in any area earmarked for an asylum reception centre.

    I’m sure that will convince, well, nobody really.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/23/irelands-sinn-fein-toughens-immigration-stance/

    2. 'Spelt' I believe is a type of flour. The English word (and tense) is spelled.

      1. Spelt and spelled are two different spellings of the past tense of the verb 'spell'. The spelling tends to vary based on the version of English you're using: In US English, 'spelled' is standard. In UK English, both 'spelled' and 'spelt' are acceptable.

        It seems you are using the U.S version.

          3. The first answer on Google is the correct one is it? Have you looked at the second answer that relates to the actual bloody topic in question !

          4. Are you going to accept you are wrong or not? Check the dictionary if you don't believe me.

          6. Very well. I am not prepared to be gaslighted by anyone. Look it up. I am unfriending you on Facebook and will shortly be blocking you on here.

            I know how these things work. You will moan and complain to anyone that is still prepared to listen and when any of those people choose to ask me why i will just reproduce the conversation and the time line. Then they can decide.

  64. I never had any pain at childbirth. The mother of my sons complained about it – and was told that what she was feeling was not "pain" but bearable discomfort"… True story!

      2. The midwife when I produced first son was lacking in empathy – put it mildly.
        The one present for the spare was lovely.
        I had both of them at home and for the first birth our GP, whose specialism was gynae .and obst. was there most of the time.
        Yes, the swinging sixties when everything was so socially and medically backward compared with the 2020s.

        1. Daniel (elder) was born in the old Charing Cross Hospital – operations were frequently delayed because of plaster falling from the ceiling in theatre! Wonderful place – brilliant atmosphere.

          24 hour a day visiting. Mothers kept in for a week. Last evening, Sister ordered me to take wife out for a meal together. “Last time you’ll have peace and quiet for 20 years…” We’ll manage Daniel!

          1. As soon as the boys were old enough to eat properly, they were sat at the table with us. Before that, we had a portable seat we called the Baby Bucket (due to it's shape), and that would be placed on a seat, or if the occupant was asleep, on the floor under the table.
            So, the boys quickly learned how to choose, how to wait, how to behave. Never been any problem (that's all SWMBO's expert influence). Boredom alleviated with coloured pencils and a pad of paper: "Draw Daddy's wine", for example.
            One of life's biggest pleasures is to go out with the whole crew.

  66. A dose of reality…………
    "Look, it's simple. The police don't go in heavy handed because they know it will provoke something larger than they have the manpower to contain, that will have lasting repercussions and make the job even more impossible than it is now. We all know how this works. Immigrants riot and then we get all the usual horseshit from "community leaders" about underinvestment, and they play it for more political control. That's why American cities are now ungovernable shitholes.

    Essentially, if the police attempt to assert their authority, they will lose because they are outnumbered. We have two options. We can either manage it and contain it, or we can confront it. If we're doing the latter, then we're going to have to put the army on the streets and use armoured land rovers to patrol the cities, so that every city is policed like Belfast in the 80s. Essentially, a low grade civil war.

    We won't call it that, of course, and will use a euphemism like "the troubles", but soon after follows police murders, and all the sectarian/jihadist gang crime that goes with it. Once that happens, normal life comes to an end, with cities becoming demilitarised zones because there aren't enough patrols, and out of daylight hours, cities become urban deserts and the economy collapses. Ultimately, the police are skirting around the unspoken – that short of mass deportations, there is no solution.

    The answer, until fairly recently, was glacial integration, but Tory mass immigration has tipped the balance in urban areas so that there's nothing British to integrate into, and the rapid pace of immigration has sent the integration process into reverse. They completely fucked it basically. Thus, as a voter, you have two options. Either you concede that Britain has sown the seeds of its own annihilation, or you recognise that Steve Laws is right and vote accordingly. Either way, it's not pretty."

      1. One of the items picked up on "Salvage Hunters" was an old banner reading
        "Disperse or you will be fired on"
        Time it got another airing……..

    2. Suppression is all that we're left with – or subversion.

      The massive hordes of unworking, dangerous, violent, utterly antithetical immigrants from backward muslim cultures has caused untold damage. As the pandering has increased the ability to oppose the small stuff and prevent the big stuff has been conceded. They're told they can do what they like and they have.

      That leaves either pandering further – and they'll never, ever stop demanding – or leaving behind blood and bodies. It's got to be the latter. They have got to go and they won't go willingly.

      Sadly we have a government that actively hates the natives. That sees them as nothing but a tax base to be fleeced to pay for the demands of the savages. If that were to be reversed the muslim would go.

    3. Suppression is all that we're left with – or subversion.

      The massive hordes of unworking, dangerous, violent, utterly antithetical immigrants from backward muslim cultures has caused untold damage. As the pandering has increased the ability to oppose the small stuff and prevent the big stuff has been conceded. They're told they can do what they like and they have.

      That leaves either pandering further – and they'll never, ever stop demanding – or leaving behind blood and bodies. It's got to be the latter. They have got to go and they won't go willingly.

      Sadly we have a government that actively hates the natives. That sees them as nothing but a tax base to be fleeced to pay for the demands of the savages. If that were to be reversed the muslim would go.

  67. I felt pain during childbirth. The Warqueen broke two of my fingers and bruised my knuckles from her grip.

    1. The least you deserve ! You were lucky you didn't have two black eyes too. When someone is in a lot of pain the last thing they need to hear is they are being overly dramatic. :@)

    4. The horse had been looking stressed for quite a while, head tossing and ears laid back. It wasn't so much as a bite, as moving her out of his way. He'd had enough of idiots for the day.

      Edit: typo

    1. Breaking
      Security Guard charged with violent assault,fired from job and gets 3 years chokey……..
      Modern Britain

      3. Nah, he's black.

        On that note, it's surprising that the security man is black and the thief white!

    1. I just let Mongo and Oscar play. They can draw quite a crowd as you sit there reading a book as a dozen or so people say 'oh, aren't they adorable!'

      Yeah, all yours mate! You can have an 150 kilos of wet, stubborn, disobedient terrors!

    2. And after the flock of sheep had disappeared over the skyline – a couple of dozen slammers were waiting with lorries…..

      1. Too true. A farmer in the Lake District is asking for info regarding 10 Asian women seen rounding up a small flock (!) and shoving them into the back of an estate (!) car in a carpark at Marhead. Asians account for 22% lamb consumed in the UK. Courtesy of X (formerly known as Twitter).

        1. And of course they can't buy lamb at ther butcher's, like everybody else. No, like our country it is just there for their taking.

          2. I have arranged for a few select libations. Some fine Chablis and Brunello for the Nottlers. For the Navy types Magners, Guinness and Gin. And for those of a more discerning taste VodkaTini's.

        1. I did say it wasn't to scale ! You do remember your camping holidays don't you? More like that…

      5. Can anyone think of a joke about migrants leaving Poole Harbour and heading towards Fareham's arbour?

        1. Fareham at one time was a trading port. Silt dontchaknow put a stop to that when they started farming. We also had a foundry, Henry Cort and Iron and we are also famous for bricks which to this day are part of the Albert Hall.
          We are ripe for takeover as all those things are now lost and we already have two Mosques.

          Are you coming to my Arbour in August so i can give you one?

  73. Mark Steyn on fine form,it's all Kabuki Theatre
    "Oh, My God! The President Is Brain-Dead!" would have been a news story in February 2021. When it becomes one only three-and-a-half years later, it's not a real news story but, per Neil Oliver, something that is happening because "they want it to happen".
    Rest well worth a read
    https://www.steynonline.com/14465/unburdened-by-what-has-been

      1. Who has just resigned, KJ? The director of security in charge of Trump's security when he was shot, or Kamala Harris?

    2. "Go Gaurd Doritos!"

      I wonder what that means if translated from Gibberish into English?

        1. Even that version — with the absence of the necessary “and” between Go and GUARD — is just as retarded.

          These chumps cannot speak proper English nor can they write it. Yet it seems the world is following suit!

          2. Go and guard doritos’, would destroy the intentional alliteration. It is an intentional error . The sort of thing that is done intentionally by newspapers etc to catch ones eye. It has nothing to do with American English. Such things are done all the time in English media for effect.

          3. Of course it has everything to do with American ‘English’. Go figure is just one of many instances where the Yanks routinely drop conjunctions and prepositions. It’s become a feature of their national psyche.

  75. Military intervention in Ukraine is now essential. 23 July 2024.

    BELOW THE LINE.

    Red Rosie.

    There is no value in negotiating with Russia. They lie as they breathe, and would only eat the paper any treaty is written on as a change from cabbage.

    I would counter the suggestion that Russia thinks of itself as “great”. Their lives are rubbish, by every measure. What motivates the shrivelled twitcher is what the rat catcher saw in his days in East Germany. “He” fears Ukraine moving to the free world because then the people on “his” side of the fence has to watch as Ukrainians lead full, happy and increasingly prosperous lives. That’s why the Uruks see the total destruction of Ukraine as the only feasible goal.

    There is no question that, during the life of this Parliament, we will be in a hot war with Russia. And the prize for razing St P or Moscow would be very very great indeed. Imagine a world without la Puta’s Russia. In an instant 100s of millions of lives – very many of them within Russia itself – would be immeasurably improved. Russians will thank us for it.

    This is a typical response of a Nudge Unit Troll on the subject of Ukraine. Yes they really are this barmy.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/23/military-intervention-in-ukraine-is-now-essential/

    1. I have been watching Alex Christoforou podcasts from Russia, Moscow and St Petersburg, where he broadcasts whilst walking through the parks and streets. The streets are clean and well kept, the buildings beautiful and well maintained, lacking graffiti, and paths beautifully cobbled using stone and granite setts. Trees and planting are attractively maintained.

      The Russian people are well dressed and smart. A few months back Tucker Carlson was filmed buying groceries from a large supermarket in Moscow. Tucker reckoned his bill at checkout was a quarter or less of the equivalent cost in the US for the same product.

      Russians enjoy an increasingly high standard of public life. There are no shortages, fuel is cheap compared with the west, and the people have a high standard of living.

      The writer of the article wishing war with Russia is an idiot blinded by a century old prejudice. The Russia of Putin is not the USSR of yesteryear.

      1. Husband visited Moscow on business quite a few times, he says exactly the same – especially as compared to say, London.

      2. I think it was RT that produced a live broadcast from a car driving along many roads in Moscow including past the Kremlin I was amazed at the amount of expensive new metal on the roads …..Such a change from when the roads were empty apart from a few Zils and tatty trucks.

        1. We used to watch the traffic police shake down motorists for "offences".
          Funnily enough, the traffic violators were always driving modern western made cars.

      1. I did the St PetersburgLeningrad tour back in August 1964, just a couple of months before Nikita Khrushchev was unceremoniously defenestrated from The Kremlin.

          1. As a 13-year old schoolboy it was a wonderful experience. The people were poor but friendly. The Hermitage Museum (and Winter Palace)was astoundingly beautiful. For the five-day duration of our visit, our cruise ship was “guarded’ by three gunboats (I suppose 800 schoolchildren from the UK, France, Switzerland and Canada posed a huge potential threat to the Soviet bloc!). I had a personal adventure with an armed Soviet trooper who was guarding the gangplank. I’ve related the story once before on here.

        2. Then it must have been genuinely grim.
          We first visited in 1998, and the beggars squatting in the snow were ….. memorable.
          I'll never forget the disabled army veteran wheeled in and positioned at the entrance to the Nevsky Prospekt metro. He sat there all day in this wind tunnel, armless and legless, begging. I suspect most of his 'earnings' were collected by the people who dumped him there.

  76. Thought for the day…

    "Jesus loves you" is a comforting expression.

    Unless you happen to be in a Mexican prison.

    2. You are awful, Phiz, but I like you. Do you recall the grandmother arrested on drug trafficking…she took her knitting with her, quite the weapon…

        1. Jeepers, anne…didn’t know that. Still, what else could she expect if caught, other than to be made an example of…not an experience I’d ever want.

          1. There was an article a week or two back about her.
            I must admit I forgotten about her.

        2. Should have been shot. Drug runners deal in death, and in that part of the world, the sentence is death.

          1. In the West they are given the drugs and clean needles. Which is why our country looks like a total shithole with competing gangs and people caught up in stabbings and shootings whilst at the same time their town streets are safe to walk. It is not fucking rocket science !

  77. The Bibby Stockholm is to close, the Home Office says
    Live reaction from Dorset, where the barge is based at Portland

    https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/24470729.bibby-stockholm-barge-close-portland-port-dorset/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2-3pLxB1_rCLXrAyHkoK0tbHvwCC-geQBcT2BQ4Cc9h_YSaGzy3ZK31_o_aem_6AMzGd0Bo1GbW0p79FNkhA

    3:14pm
    Imran Hussain, executive director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said: “Clearing the backlog of asylum decisions reduces the numbers of people in the system who need to be accommodated.

    “And ending the use of the Bibby Stockholm, and barges and hotels more generally, will make hugely important savings that help Government to fix the asylum system.

    “For too long we have heard first-hand from refugees about life on the Bibby Stockholm, that it is prison-like, horribly overcrowded and isolated, with people unable to access the essential specialist support they need.

    “Let’s remember that people onboard are people from conflict and war in places like Syria, Afghanistan and Iran, and simply want to be safe.

    “This is an important step in the right direction towards fixing our, costly, chaotic and dysfunctional asylum system.”

    3:09pm
    Lynne Hubbard, co-chair of Stand Up To Racism Dorset, said: "I wish it was tomorrow, but I am delighted that there is an end date, and it can't come soon enough.

    "It is a shame that it has not come sooner, but it is to be welcomed and I'm sure it must feel like a sigh of relief to the men on the barge.

    "On top of this, there is the end to the Rwanda policy which has been a really positive change."

    2:58pm
    Cllr Carralyn Parkes, a former mayor of Portland, challenged Dorset Council’s decision as an independent citizen in July 2023 not to consider using enforcement powers over the barge housing asylum seekers, which is moored in Portland Harbour.

    She said: "It's really good news that the contract has not been renewed. I'm disappointed however that it is still going to be in use for six months. Ideally, it should close immediately as in my opinion, the barge is overcrowded."

    "I'm encouraged and pleased that it is finally going but I am disappointed. The most important thing to remember is that people are still on board the barge right now. I will expect there to be no more new arrivals and hopefully the barge will be phased out within the next six months."

    2:32pm
    A spokesman for Portland Port said: “We can confirm that we have been informed that the government has decided against renewing the contract for the Bibby Stockholm beyond its original 18-month period.”

    2:25pm
    Cllr Nick Ireland, leader of Dorset Council, said:

    “We very much welcome the news that the Bibby Stockholm barge will no longer be operational in Portland after January 2025. Our thanks go to the new Labour government for taking an early decision on this.

    “Since the Bibby Stockholm arrived a year ago, we have worked hard to support the residents of the barge and also tried to mitigate the impact on local communities. Dorset Council has been opposed to the barge being sited at Portland Port from the very beginning as this was never a suitable location for this facility.

    “We will work closely with the Home Office and other partners to ensure the smooth running of arrangements over the final few months.”

    2:22pm
    Steve Smith, chief executive of refugee charity Care4Calais, said: “The Bibby Stockholm became the physical symbol for the last Government’s inhumane treatment of people seeking sanctuary in the UK.

    “The despair and suffering the barge has caused will live long in the people who were residents of it. Nor will not renewing the contract bring back Leonard Farruku, whose family have lost their loved one forever.

    “Whilst this is a sensible decision, at this very minute, we are in the High Court challenging the Government over the inhumanity being inflicted on over 500 men inside the Wethersfield camp. The current Government is choosing to fight this case when the solution should have been to end the suffering and close this camp too.”

    2:21pm
    The barge, which can house up to 500 people, has faced a series of setbacks since it was commissioned in April 2023.

    The discovery of dangerous bacteria led to its evacuation last summer just days after the arrival of the first asylum seekers, and it remained vacant for two months.

    READ: Sadness voiced after death of man on Bibby Stockholm

    An Albanian asylum seeker, who died while living on board the barge in December, is thought to have taken his own life.

    2:19pm
    Dame Angela Eagle, minister for border security and asylum, said: “We are determined to restore order to the asylum system, so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly; and ensures the rules are properly enforced.

    “The Home Secretary has set out plans to start clearing the asylum backlog and making savings on accommodation which is running up vast bills for the taxpayer.

    “The Bibby Stockholm will continue to be in use until the contract expires in January 2025.”

    2:18pm
    The vessel was one of several sites, including the military bases RAF Wethersfield in Essex and RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, used by the previous Tory government in a bid to cut the cost of housing migrants in hotels.

    But the new Labour Government said continuing the use of the Bibby Stockholm would have cost more than £20 million next year, and that scrapping it forms part of the expected £7.7 billion of savings in asylum costs over the next 10 years.

    2:17pm
    The Bibby Stockholm first arrived at Portland Port in July last year under then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's bid to 'Stop the Boats'.

    READ: Bibby Stockholm barge set to arrive at Portland Port

    2:03pm
    Following the announcement, the South Dorset MP said: “This is fantastic news for South Dorset."

    Read his reaction in full here.

    2:01pm
    South Dorset MP Lloyd Hatton welcomes closure of barge.

    The new MP says he made it clear that the barge is an "unworkable, expensive and ineffective gimmick".

    1. Stop funding the refugee council for a start. The barge is not a gimmick. Fill it with all the criminal gimmigrants and float it out to sea.

    3. Stayed on many a version of the Stockholm, when I was younger, working in the North SEa. It was alright. If it became a shitheap, that was likely as a result of the dirty bastards living there.

    4. "Steve Smith, chief executive of refugee charity Care4Calais, said: “The Bibby Stockholm became the physical symbol for the last Government’s inhumane treatment of people seeking sanctuary in the UK."

      I see men abandoned on the streets of London for whom a safe, clean and warm room on the barge would be a luxury.

      1. Sadly, yes. One also thinks 'if they were seeking sanctuary then they should have applied legally.'

          1. According to that prat Millipede , there won't be any more oil workers .. nothing ..

            Incidentally, husband was based on Safe Gothia , amongst others , many decades ago . Hope I have spelt it correctly .

          2. I was on several Safe accommodation barges – don't remember the Gothia.

      3. Ah, Mr Smith. But your big pay packet depends on there being a continuous supply of illegal immigrants, doesn’t it?

    5. Did it not occur to the thick Govt and all the hand-wringing Dorset wonks, that it would make an ideal home for umpty-tump homeless veterans?

      1. It was good enough for oil rig workers.
        i.e. people not only with a job but doing worthwhile work.

    6. There's plenty of homeless British who would be grateful for a room on the Bibby Stockholm, but

      the Government loathes the British peasants, and wouldn't give them anything.

  78. Seen on farcebook

    "One day you'll realize that the people most capable of running the country
    are too smart to get into politics.”

    1. Or too busy doing something useful.

      It is a sad truth that venal, vicious, arrogant people seek political office.

    1. Mother should be ashamed of herself. She has no insight, no self-reflection; the sense of entitled privilege is strong in this one. One can see where the problem lies. Daughter looks as though she doesn't possess two brain cells to rub together. A lib-dem drip.

    5. What puzzles me is why the protesters couldn’t have just been left up there with the traffic thundering along. (I suppose they could have had missiles of some sort to throw down but, on balance, I don’t think so). It might have been a good idea just to lock their way back down! These people at last got their just desserts. And how they get to the gantry, did they walk? Like hell they did. Hypocrites the lot of them.

    2. Bet she has another nice little earner already lined up. With the NRA, perhaps?

    1. I have a mission for you. You have two weeks to learn how to play the piano like Rachmaninoff or Les Dawson. I'll even put a hat out.

  82. Do I merely shrug and say "mustn't grumble"?
    Or do I torch a mosque?
    Choices; choices.

    "Clapham chemical attacker police hunted for days ‘killed himself just four hours after assault’
    Abdul Shahpour Ezedi threw himself off London’s Chelsea Bridge as officers launched search………..

    ………. Following the attack it emerged that Ezedi had successfully secured asylum in the UK despite being a convicted sex offender and Home Office officials believing his conversion to Christianity was fake."

    2. if she had any sense she would have tendered her resignation within the first hour of her grilling by the Senate Committee….

      3. That would admit guilt. She should have resigned as soon as Trump was shot ! Think about it.

  85. A scoop for Birdie Three?

    Wordle 1,130 3/6
    ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Similar pattern but my customary starter word was useless today!

      Wordle 1,130 4/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Well done, same here but lucky 2nd word.

      Wordle 1,130 3/6

      ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
      🟨🟩🟩⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Well done, just a par here….
      Wordle 1,130 4/6

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

    1. Following serious disorder, Nigel Farage’s cynical response was an attempt to import Trump-style discord into our cities

      1. Fraser nelson wrote something very similar in the DT recently. They are closing ranks now.

    4. This must be a joke. Even Mrs Balls cannot be so completely blind to the truth.

      1. I think you'll find she can be.
        Note to self: check if any rooms are available chez Cooper-Balls.

  89. We can stop the next pandemic, but only if we act now. 23 July 2024.

    Four years after a previously unknown virus brought the world economy to its knees and led to the deaths of more than 20 million people, the threat from Covid-19 may have receded – but the risk of new epidemics and pandemics has never been greater.

    It is only a matter of time before the next virus comes for us, with potentially even more devastating effects. That is why the world must act now to establish a robust preparedness and response system, enabling us to head off future infectious disease outbreaks faster and more equitably.

    I've spent most of my life without worrying about the return of the Black Death and I’m not going to start now.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/we-can-stop-the-next-pandemic-but-to-do-so-we-must-act-now/

    2. "…enabling us to head off future infectious disease outbreaks faster and more equitably."
      In other words – the whole world goes into lockdown at the first hint of a new virus.

      1. Afternoon A. The whole thrust of this argument is dishonest. No one knows, except in an historical sense, when, or even if, a new Pandemic is going to arise. Even the use of the term is misleading since influenza outbreaks can be legitimately described as pandemics. It is scaremongering and nothing else.

    3. I could stop the next pandemic too if I had a large jail and a bunch of arrest warrants for the right people.

    4. Ah, but the bubonic plague is a very different kettle of fish – more like yer Red Herring!

    5. I'm not worried about any pandemic.
      I am worried about the hysterical and illiberal reaction to it by government and MSM.

  90. The (over)reaction to a previously unknown virus brought the world economy to its knees…

      1. Excellent! Pictures and description look good.
        Hope to be over late summer. Already saving to buy you a pint or several.

  93. Bonsoir everyone! Anyone know what Charlotte Dujardin is supposed to have done, or have a link to the video that shows an "error of judgment"??

      1. Have you got a link to the video, Ndovu? I do find this very hard to believe, even though she has grovelled. She is a most brilliant rider and trainer. Her partnership with Vallegro was so beautiful it always made me cry to watch them perform. Maybe the video has been misinterpreted? I want to see it.

        1. I haven’t got the link handy and I haven’t watched it but you’ll find it in today’s Telegraph. I read the report but decided not to watch the video. Apparently she beat the horse around the legs and drew blood “like a circus elephant” – and elephants suffered a lot of abuse and should be nowhere near a circus.

          I did enjoy watching dressage – maybe cruelty is how they are trained. Conway might be able to explain it better.

          1. Ndovu, I have watched the video and it is not as you say. It is bad, in that it shows ineptitude and crass misuse of the whip. I don’t believe there was any damage to the horse, certainly no blood drawn. People who don’t train horses misunderstand the use of the lunge whip, which is largely a visual, sometimes aural and also a light-touch training aid. Horses are taught early on not to fear the whip, which will never, ever, ever be used as punishment by any decent trainer.

            I am at a loss as to why Dujardin appears to whack the horse in that video clip. On the evidence of her beautiful riding and her wonderful partnerships not just with Vallegro but also with subsequent
            horses I would say it is impossible to achieve what she has through cruelty. I suspect misunderstanding, and isn’t it odd that this little clip has been sat on for 4 whole years and is now put forward by one of the Dutch rival Olympic team?

    1. Then, in a year or so, when a child is found dead or badly abused – a massive and expensive enquiry will find "Social Services failed but lessons will be learned."

      1. Talking of dead children, it's gone very quiet on that poor little lass who was found dead in the empty house when her 'parents' went on holiday.
        The 10 year dressed up like a tart for the family photos.

        2. Yes , I was wondering the same ..

          I reckon the PTB are terrified of upsetting Muslims , all of them .

          We could all end up with spears / knives through us .

    2. Farage got it in the neck for blaming Ropers. Just imagine the fuss if he had correctly identified the rioters as Wagoners…

      1. It's Labour's problem now. Not one that they inherited from the Tories [sic] but one that they began in 1997 (or 1946 if you want to stretch a point).

        1. He is not. Many regard TR as a no-go person. But he isn’t afraid of exposing events that the msm ignore. He is blunt and doesn’t mince his words.
          As MH used to say to our offspring, ‘It’s not what you said, it’s the way you said it.’

  96. A privately owned company in India produces 1 in 8 of the World's child vaccinations. They also committed $100 million to produce 40 million doses of the first 70-80% effective malaria vaccine before getting formal WHO approval. Said vaccine developed in Oxford in association with Astra Zeneca (I've heard that name before). The vaccine is currently being rolled out to under 5s in a number of countries in Africa.

    BBC2 Horizon iPlayer….

    2. Malaria is survivable. The fatality rate is just 0.01% to 0.4%. Natural selection is much kinder than the damage these injectables will do.

      1. Covid too, Sue. It seems Pfizer developed both the virus and the vaccine, apparently in Wuhan lab with American funding. Sounds sufficiently bizarre to be the truth. Lot of money to be made, presumably.

        1. After the past four – coming up for five – years my tinfoil hat is now a very sensible piece of headwear.

          1. Quite right. I’m just eating supper, with Hodge Twins on in the background..diversion..they can be very funny..:-D

  97. A little par four today

    Wordle 1,130 4/6

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

    2. While I have a bit of sympathy for the genuine (if they ARE genuine) wimmin – WHY don't they vote with their feet and boycott every sodding race?

      It's no good just moaning while the men win, win and win again.

      1. I think they should too; but the young people have been so brainwashed and the backlash from the trans lobby is probably regarded as too fearsome to their careers and lives outside sport.

        1. Then they are the authors of their own misfortune.

          A GROUP effort is what is needed. Them or us…

          1. The way forward may be to set up a new organisation for real women only.
            No trans athletes under any circumstances.

        2. I passed a comment to a young family member about a neighbour's daughter (she is about 23) looking like a boy (haircut, clothes, even gait), and the response was, 'Maybe they are a boy now.' Gullible, indoctrinated and unable to accept biological science.

          1. Or playing the male role in a lesbian relationship?
            I think people should be allowed to live as they choose, but that that does not include taking away other people's rights, safe spaces, jobs etc, on the back of those personal choices.

          2. I’m just curious about the girl. OK, flippin’ nosy.
            It’s the fanatical, in-your-face, shouty, militant ones that most people find to be a problem.
            Years ago, there was an adult I often saw in the local chemist. At first glance, most assumed this was a woman, very tall and muscular, but wearing a skirt, high heels and lots of make-up. I was told by one of the locals that it was a man who lived as a woman. Very quiet and unassuming, harming nobody, no problem with that.

  100. Just been in the local town (Newbury) this afternoon. It's not an uplifting place to be in the afternoon at the best of times but, I think, it is heading for the worst of times. The Great Replacement is proceeding and it has opened up a new theatre of operations. The 'Not Made in These Islands' count, which has been on a slow but steady increase these past few years, was noticeably higher. Spotted the first full burqa and worked out which part of Newbury the slammers are planning to take over. Time to go?

    1. Yes. But where? And, to be honest, i resent being driven out of my own homeland by colonisers.

      1. I do too, but, until the younger people begin to take up cudgels (metaphorically speaking), as they are in Ireland, what can we old fogeys do?

  101. Just been in the local town (Newbury) this afternoon. It's not an uplifting place to be in the afternoon at the best of times but, I think, it is heading for the worst of times. The Great Replacement is proceeding and it has opened up a new theatre of operations. The 'Not Made in These Islands' count, which has been on a slow but steady increase these past few years, was noticeably higher. Spotted the first full burqa and worked out which part of Newbury the slammers are planning to take over. Time to go?

  102. If the RNLI insist the migrants need rescuing , then they should rescue them as soon as they leave the French shore in their fragile boats , and then return them back to France. Simple isn't it ?

      1. No need to, they have plenty stashed away for the management bonuses and pride flags. So d the volunteers.

    1. That's incredible. Thanks for posting the link. Also, a bit of normal nature.

    2. One in the front looks a bit tired, Belle, possibly already eaten? We'll see next time, look forward to it – thanks for your posts:-)

  106. But but – they'd all fall out. You cannot imagine the dozens of categories…..

  107. They wouldn't join.
    Part of their pleasure is the humiliation of the real women.

  108. There is a lesbian couple in our village. Nice(ish) women, apparently, though they don't care for men.

    The butch one has had her breasts removed, has a man's haircut (but not a proper one) and is often seen in suit, collar and tie….. The "wife" is seven foot tall and, er, odd. AND they have managed to acquire a male child whom they treat as a sort of surrogate girl. Boy's cloths – well, unisex. Girly hairdo.

    They give me creeps. The MR – generous to a fault – thinks they "contribute so much to the village…."

    1. Well perhaps she means they are contributing to the 'gaiety' of life in the village……..or providing something to laugh about.
      Most gay people I know are quiet and discreet and just get on with life.

    2. Disgusting. The very tall clearly must be a man. (Very tall women are rare) The butch one is still a woman, regardless of what she has had chopped off. They aren't lesbian at all, just perverts pretending to be.
      Psychiatric treatment is needed, and a total ban on being anywhere near children.
      Poor child doesn't stand a chance of a normal life.
      Can you imagine any other child in her class being allowed to go on a 'playdate' at that house?

    3. I remember reading The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall fifty years ago. Then I started to notice the butch types wearing Tweed suits and waistcoats often with a felt Fedora.

    4. I remember reading The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall fifty years ago. Then I started to notice the butch types wearing Tweed suits and waistcoats often with a felt Fedora.

  109. That's me gone for today. My best view of events, is that Kamel Toe will drive millions of Americans to vote for Trump. And if, as has been suggested, O'Bama (the IRA candidate) decides to run as her "Vice"-president – that'll send many nmore millions to vote for Trump.

    Let us hope and pray that the Deep State doesn't manage to kill Trump….

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain. Prolly.

  110. Nor us. No more of our cash shall it have. It's a real shame. It was the one charity I was always happy to contibute to.

    1. Indeed – in my youth, raised quite a bit for them through, for example, sponsored swims through canals in Bedfordshire. No more.

      1. They get £100 for each extra wife.

        If we scrapped welfare they would go – or starve.

        1. Aye. RIP Shane McGowan. (Their initial name Pogue Mahon translates as 'kiss my a*se or similar.)

    1. Been a long time since I heard a peal of tuned bells – we used to live on the High Street in Newport Pagnell (above the best butcher in the world, Douglas), where we'd get bell practice from the church just a few yards away, and Aston Martins on test drive in the road (one of SWMBOs friends' husband was a test pilot for Aston Martin). Utter bliss!

      1. We used to have them every Friday am (apparently I'm too much of a short 'ouse), but not since Lockdowns…another loss.

    3. Unfortunately, he is British (sic), born in Welling, South-East London. However, his parents are Pakistanis, so I wonder if we could do a Shamima Begum and withdraw his citizenship.

    4. The Isle of Jersey has a solution to miscreants who have committed a felony. They are given a choice they can either be bound over to leave the Island or spend time in jail. Most choose to leave. Faced with a 30 year prison sentence or being bound over to actually leave (under escort) I suppect this chappie would choose to leave the country….

      1. It's funny. They're given a free house, endless money, the state protects them from their perversions, rape, paedophilia and criminality and still it's not enough.

  116. Thought for the day.

    Harris should select Jill Biden as her VP running mate.

    At least Jill knows how to be President!

    2. She'd replace her soon as. Perhaps that's the cunning plan…or at least one of them:-D

        1. Maybe they’ll role-share so they can include Kamala…just think about it, sos…great idea eh…

      2. Remember how Ken Livingstone became mayor in London… long time back, but lessons still to be learned.

        1. I do, realised a long time since I’d heard/seen him, being cared for now has Alzheimer’s – first time I’ve felt sorry for him.

          1. How can anyone feel sorry for a guy who boasted that he had had a prosecutor sacked because he was investigating corruption in a company (that was paying his son $thousands) and that if the prosecutor wasn't sacked he would withhold $billion of US aid to the country…

          3. Didn't know that. Poor man. I lived in Milwall when he was first "elected". Long time back now. According to SWMBOs mother who moved in those circles, he often held one-on-one meetings with females clad only in his underpants.
            So, dirty bastard as well.

          6. You say it well, Sir Jasper. Hope you’ve had your Ovaltine…..seriously, hope you have a good night, see you tmrw, Kate 🙂

          7. No ovaltine, just a Bloody Mary. Will start on the Tamnavulin the morn's nicht.

    1. A Birmingham mum, Monica Ngarambe???
      As the 1st Duke of Wellington is alleged to have said, being born in a stable does not necessarily make you a horse.

    2. She has had her asylum application rejected and her leave to remain ran out last month. Why is she still here in the first place? No doubt, there will be appeal after appeal (at great expense to us), and she will win in the end.

    1. It shouldn't be forgotten that it was not only Muslims and their demand for halal meat but Hindus with their peculiar attitude to eggs that led to the Birbalsingh school going vegetarian.

    2. It shouldn't be forgotten that it was not only Muslims and their demand for halal meat but Hindus with their peculiar attitude to eggs that led to the Birbalsingh school going vegetarian.

    1. What Britons don't understand about democracy could fill pages. It isn't simply voting for one bunch of fools or another every five years, only to have the uniparty continue the same stupid, destructive, ideologically moronic policies.

    2. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      Will president Biden pardon Hunter?
      Comments Share 23 July 2024, 3:21pm
      After President Biden announced he would be standing down on Sunday evening, it’s been all go in the White House. But while speculation about the next Democrat nominee continues, there is a separate side plot that Mr S is rather interested in – involving Biden’s son.

      Robert Hunter Biden has spent a fair amount of time in the limelight over the years, for scandals both personal – crack cocaine use, infidelity and a two-year relationship with his late brother’s wife – and professional, with his dealings in China and Ukraine. Last month, the eldest son of the US president was found guilty of lying about his drug use when purchasing a handgun and was convicted of all the charges against him – which could result in a jail sentence of up to 25 years. Hunter has been keeping a rather low profile since then, but after Biden’s rather significant weekend announcement, he has decided to put his head above the parapet. In a statement about his father’s decision not to seek a second term on Sunday, Hunter said:

      Over a lifetime I have witnessed him absorb the pain of countless everyday Americans who he’s given his personal phone number to, because he wanted them to call him when they were hurting. When their last hopes were slipping through their hands. That unconditional love has been his North Star as a President, and as a parent.

      How sweet. But is there more here than meets the eye? Alongside his criminal conviction, Hunter is facing a separate federal indictment which alleges he has evaded $1.4 million worth of tax, with the trial set to start in September. Under Article II of the US Constitution, a president can grant a pardon for a federal crime – but back in June, President Biden maintained that he would not pardon Hunter, vowing to respect the jury’s decision. However now that the President is stepping down, might he U-turn on that promise?

      Hunter’s gun charge sentencing will be no later than 9 October, giving the President a short window to change his mind if his son has to serve prison time. Perhaps he’s considering it – he’s certainly been spending more time with his son, with NBC News reporting that Hunter has been joining White House meetings with his father much to the surprise of the President’s aides. Their relationship may become more important than ever in the coming months…

      There is certainly precedent for pardoning your own family. In 2001, on his very last day in office, Bill Clinton pardoned his brother Roger for a 1985 cocaine possession conviction he served a year in prison for. Clinton’s pardon cleared Roger’s criminal record, although he would go on to be arrested for reckless driving under the influence less than a month later. And, oddly, Trump’s own run-in with the law could play to Hunter’s advantage. Last Monday, Trump’s classified case was dismissed after the judge ruled the special counsel had no legal authority. Clearly the President’s son has been paying attention to this turn of events – on Thursday he asked a federal judge to throw his cases out on the same grounds.

      Hunter’s fate hasn’t been sealed yet, so he might not need his father to bail him out. But if he does receive a sentence, might President Biden’s last act in office be to pardon his eldest son? Watch this space…

  121. Back to UK politics , don't be distracted by the Yank politics.

    Labour suspends seven rebels who voted to scrap two-child benefit cap
    Former shadow chancellor John McDonell among Labour MPs who have had whip suspended for six months

    Seven Labour MPs have been suspended from the parliamentary party after voting against the government on a motion to scrap the two-child benefit cap, the Guardian understands.

    Keir Starmer suffered his first rebellion the Scottish National party brought an amendment to throw out the measure, which has been widely criticised by child poverty charities and campaigners.

    Despite there being no question of Labour losing a vote on the issue given its majority of 174, parliamentarians said they were alarmed by the strength of warnings from whips about rebelling early in the parliament. The amendment failed by 363 votes to 103, a majority of 260 for Labour.

    Among the seven who voted for the SNP motion were key figures from the left of the party, including the former shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, who said ahead of the vote: “I don’t like voting for other parties’ amendments but I’m following Keir Starmer’s example as he said put country before party.”

    Along with McDonnell, Apsana Begum; Richard Burgon; Ian Byrne; Imran Hussain; Rebecca Long-Bailey; and Zarah Sultana all voted for the amendment, and 42 Labour MPs did not vote.

    All seven have had the whip suspended for six months, when there will be a review.

    The vote has also caused deep tensions between backbenchers, and a number who are supportive of the change have been angered by the fallout and believe that the rebellion will make it harder for the government to now concede on the issue and is likely to alienate new MPs. One MP said the tactics had been “all stick” rather than any real discussion of the issue.

    In what appeared to be a move to mollify potential rebels, Keir Starmer indicated for the first time on Monday that he will consider scrapping the cap, which had previously been said to be unaffordable. Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said that removing the cap was among measures the government would look at as part of a review into child poverty.

    The SNP amendment was signed by 21 MPs – including from the Green party, Plaid Cymru and three independents, one of whom was Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader. Introduced in 2017, the restriction prevents parents from claiming benefits for more than two children, with some exceptions.

    Keir Starmer had indicated for the first time on Monday that he would consider scrapping the cap. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

    Though the majority of Labour MPs who had been pushing for scrapping the cap were on the left of the party, there is support across the party. Rosie Duffield, the Canterbury MP, said she would have rebelled to vote for the SNP amendment but was prevented from doing so because she had tested positive for Covid.

    Kim Johnson said she decided to vote with the government “for unity”, but had previously submitted her own amendment that was not selected. Speaking in the chamber on Monday, she said her Liverpool Riverside constituency was the most deprived in the country, with 47% of children living in poverty.

    “It is not a question of whether we can afford to adopt vital policies to alleviate child poverty, such as lifting the two-child cap; it is a question of whether we can afford not to,” she told the House of Commons, saying her focus was “debate not division”.

    After the vote, she stressed on X: “We moved the dial. The campaign will continue … The massive strength of feeling in undeniable. It must be a priority for our first budget.”

    The Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome, who abstained during the vote, said the Conservative legacy belonged in the “dustbin of history” and added: “We should start by scrapping the two-child benefit cap, which would immediately lift 300,000 children out of poverty.”

    Duffield said there would be continued pressure within the party for the government to scrap the cap. “I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to speak against the two-child limit but most returning Labour MPs, on the front and back benches, have been fighting against this nasty legislation since it was introduced,” she said. “We will continue to push for it to be scrapped in line with Labour’s strategy to reduce the current unacceptable levels of child poverty.”

    Removing the cap is backed by the SNP, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and Reform. Suella Braverman, who also abstained from voting, told the House on Monday that it had not worked as a measure to stop people having more children. “I believe that the cap is aggravating child poverty, and it is time for it to go,” she said.

    The SNP’s Kirsty Blackman said that the so-called “rape clause” – where women who have a third child as a result of rape must apply specifically to receive the extra benefit – was demeaning. “Even if the government are unwilling to move on the two-child cap they should be doing something about the rape clause and what people are having to prove in order to get the exemption,” she told the House.

    Also selected was a Lib Dem amendment, which was focused on health and social care but included a call to scrap the two-child limit. The Lib Dem MP Sarah Olney said it “would have a direct benefit to families struggling with the cost of living crisis”.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/23/labour-mps-vote-to-scrap-two-child-benefit-cap-in-first-rebellion-for-starmer

      1. It reminds me of French public toilets in the 1960's.

        Clearly these are designed to accommodate Muslims.

        Not to worry, they'll still shit all over the cubicles.

          1. They believe that their guardian angel deserts them if they sit down to offload. They swear it’s cleaner this way but of course it’s very dirty. They mean clean in an ideological sense.

          4. Because they are uncivilised, and think everything should remain as it was at the time of their vile 'leader.'

      2. Crouch pits – they are most unpleasant and are always dirty and smelly.

      4. This ablution facility was designed especially for Secret Service agents who are part of the squat team.
        New recruits have been known to puzzle over its function by remarking "What's this 'ear?"

      5. This ablution facility was designed especially for Secret Service agents who are part of the squat team.
        New recruits have been known to puzzle over its function by remarking "What's this 'ear?"

      6. I suppose the intent is that the individual doesn't spend a lot of time in there, there's no toilet roll to buy (or have stolen).

        But it is disgusting, yes.

      7. Ahh. Wudu. As seen at Birmingham airport. Don’t worry, we’ll all have them soon.

  124. Another day is done, so, I wish you a goodnight and may God bless all you Gentlefolk. If we are spared! Bis morgen früh.

      1. "Winter draws on, Professor". "How sensible of you, my dear". Joan Sims to Frankie Howard and his reply to her, in "Carry on Up The Jungle".

      2. "Winter draws on, Professor". "How sensible of you, my dear". Joan Sims to Frankie Howard and his reply to her, in "Carry on Up The Jungle".

      3. I thought that earlier on today – it's over a month now since the longest day and the nights are drawing in.

  126. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/23/without-real-change-britain-stuck-on-path-to-bankruptcy/

    For the first time in some time we're receiving 'benefits' for Junior. The problem is, as a higher rate tax payer we lose most of it. We're paying for other people to have what we cannot, with our money.

    This is patently wrong. The tax system is not there to 'socialise' good. It is there to provide essential services and nothing else. You want something, you pay for it.

    For some bizarre reason this concept of merit, achievement and property rights is deemed 'unfair', in some comical world where those who can't be bothered are subsidised by a group punished to work.

    1. "…this concept of merit, achievement and property rights is deemed 'unfair'…"

      Social Darwinism! Sink or swim! You're on your own! No such thing as society! Trickle-down! Rising tide!

    2. Thomas Sewell: What is your fair share of something you didn't work for?

  127. Well, chums, I shall now wish you all a "Good night" as I head to bed. I hope you all sleep well, and awaken tomorrow full rested. Bonne Nuit.

      1. Yep. I went looking for it because I again heard Kameltoe referred to as African American. Her dad is West Indian I think but definitely looks mixed race, while her mum is 100% East Indian not West.

        1. Both a tad pale by the standards required in the USA these days. All could "pass".

        2. So what you are saying Sue is that she isn't a professional but a cowboy African American?

  130. I have given up trying to find it (much too lazy) below, but whoever did paste the video of the Tate bros: I do hope that you realise that they have converted to Islam as it concurs with their views on women.

    1. Selected because they are best for the job?
      Or simply because they are women?

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

Comments are closed.