Saturday 4 July: China’s treatment of Hong Kong shows that it is not to be trusted

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2020/07/03/letterschinas-treatment-hong-kong-shows-not-trusted/

790 thoughts on “Saturday 4 July: China’s treatment of Hong Kong shows that it is not to be trusted”

    1. Saxon Queen will surmise that you might have cheated
      by the means of bribery and corruption to be first again 😉

        1. Morning again. Me have polished the axe and Longbow before putting them in handbag.

      3. Nope. Just got up this morning (well, got breakfast in bed courtesy of SWMBO).
        :-))

        1. Hmm, my husband had Saturday morning breakfast in bed
          made by me too. Maybe you men can make wives breakfast on
          Sunday’s.. a full English ( without beans ).

          1. I make breakfast every day except Saturday, and tes, SWMBO can have her Sunday breakfast in bed if she wants.

  3. David Starkey dropped by publisher and university after racist remarks.

    HarperCollins has dropped David Starkey as an author, saying that the racist views the bestselling historian expressed in a recent interview were “abhorrent”.

    “The views expressed by David Starkey in his recent interview are abhorrent and we unreservedly condemn them,” said the publisher. “Our last book with the author was in 2010, and we will not be publishing further books with him. We are reviewing his existing backlist in light of his comments and views.”

    I don’t suppose that it is as bad as burning at the stake but the principle and motivation is the same!

    https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/jul/03/david-starkey-dropped-publisher-racist-remarks-harpercollins

      1. He argued that slavery could not be a form of genocide because the damned blacks were still here, weren’t they?

          1. Logic is racist. Abject racism, however, gets millionaires on their knees to worship The Thug because he is Black.

          1. Slavery never had a colour and is as old as time itself.
            BLM is just a weapon for hard Left anarchists who’ve been
            planning this for a very long time.

        3. Would he by the same token argue that the goings-on at Auschwitz were also not a form of genocide?

          1. He might well consider Oskar Schindler, who was a slave owner who actually did all he could to stop his Jewish slaves being sent to Auschwitz. Is his statue to be torn down, and Steven Spielberg’s wonderful and moving film to be removed from the back catalogue?

          2. I doubt it.
            The big difference is that in the case of slavery there was no intention to kill the people en masse. They were regarded as a commodity with a value and, as far as I’m aware, they were not killed when past their “useful” lifespan.

        4. My suspicion is that he used damned unthinkingly as an adjective in the way many people in his age group might if they were getting into a heated discussion. It wasn’t right but was understandable.

          I hear similar use of what I regard as far stronger swear words in a similar fashion all the time, from the younger generations.

    2. Let us then revisit the wisdom of letting Rupert Murdoch get control over our national broadcaster, same as he got hold of the venerable publisher. Consider the eagerness of his empire burning books just because some dissident historian is cross about these monuments being toppled and history erased by order.

  5. Britain and America must work together in the pursuit of liberty. 4 July 2020.

    Earlier this week, President Trump and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II spoke by phone and reaffirmed the central importance of the special relationship in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis.

    The term “special relationship” is worthy of reflection, particularly on this day which in 1776 marked the charting of a new course between our two nations. It is an enduring friendship built on the ideals that define both our countries – freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human dignity. These values guarantee our shared prosperity and security, and make the special relationship a global force for good.

    This is a 4 July address by the American Ambassador so it takes a rosy view of everything; the UK and US being united in fellowship and mutual good feelings. Unfortunately it is a view that is false in almost every detail. There is no “Special Relationship” and Liberty and Democracy are now just distant memories. The rule of law; in the UK at least, has now been replaced by the Rule of Laws that are legal forms of oppression administered by a Police State and designed to suppress dissent.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/07/04/britain-america-must-work-together-pursuit-liberty/

    1. Since WW1 the US has worked very hard to wreck everything British. Our politicians did not seem to notice. We led the world in lots of things and we gave much of our knowledge and expertise to the Americans for nothing.
      They have acted towards us, when they were not actually at war with us, like spoiled and very jealous children who deeply resent their parents.

  6. I see tomorrow at 5pm they have organised another Bohemian Clapsody for the NHS

    1. ‘Morning, B3. Count me out…and when someone eventually has the guts to set in train a proper independent enquiry (yes, I know, dream on…) into how it conducted itself then stunts like these will, I hope, become a thing of the past.

    2. Might be some sore heads tomorrow. I’m going up this evening to witness the Barhemian Collapsody.

  7. Good morning all.

    Cloudy, also indoors – I’ve had an overnight update which has turned everything upside-down & I’m having to feel why way around it.

      1. Thanks, I will; it’ll just take time, but I can tell you there has been a dramatic improvement to the Nottlers’ page.

          2. I’m doing that Turkish-spiced chicken thighs recipe tonight – just finished the marinade and doused the chicken with it. Grating the garlic was tricky, I now have grated fingers. I usually finely chop garlic but wanted to stick to the detail of the recipe first time out.

          3. ‘Morning, Harry. You could have ground the garlic with a little salt to a paste in a pestle & mortar – easier on the fingertips.
            I’ve made the recipe twice & enjoyed it both times. Good luck.

            I’m doing another chicken recipe tonight.

    2. Good morning Mr Viking, you’ve reminded me to log on to
      my laptop which I’ve not used for a few weeks. I’ll have updates too,
      hope you sort your ones out.

    3. 320914+ up ticks,
      Morning PTV,
      “Feel why way around it” whyfor you post
      in chinese P ?

        1. 320914+ up ticks,
          Whatever it is I hope you make a full recovery.
          By the by I only really do English ( after a fashion)
          and a smattering of Diddycoy.

  8. Morning all. Chinese again.

    SIR – My wife and I worked in China from 2006 to 2008, and although we experienced some restrictions, there was a general feeling of well-being in Chinese society and a sense that China was moving in the right direction as far as individual freedoms go.

    Since coming under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, everything has changed. Uighur Muslims receive abominable treatment and people of other faiths, particularly law-abiding Christians, are experiencing harassment from the Chinese authorities and harsh imprisonment is the penalty for practising their faith.

    Lawyers who dare to investigate crimes that embarrass the Chinese authorities have been arrested on trumped-up charges and received ill‑treatment in prison.

    Now that the Chinese Communist Party has ridden roughshod over the “one country two systems” agreement, it is plain for all to see that China is not to be trusted.

    Geoffrey Allen

    Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

    Advertisement

    SIR – I have banked with Midland Bank and its successor, HSBC, for more than 50 years. I closed my account this week and would recommend all who believe in democracy and the rule of law to do the same, following the bank’s support of the draconian new security laws that China has imposed on Hong Kong.

    David Page

    Croydon, Surrey

    SIR – Excluding Chinese companies from our 5G network would be a much greater protest message to Beijing over Hong Kong than granting UK citizenship rights to Hong Kong residents.

    Roger Strong

    Orpington, Kent

    SIR – Where are three million people from Hong Kong going to live?

    There is not enough housing for our current population – in short, we are full.

    Charles Micklethwaite

    Leeds, West Yorkshire

    SIR – You report today that a historian has resigned his honorary fellowship of a Cambridge college for making racist comments, but why haven’t we seen Wolfson College, Cambridge, revoke the honorary fellowship of Carrie Lam, Beijing’s puppet in Hong Kong, who has overseen the breach of the Basic Law and imposition of the draconian national security law that will affect the lives of millions?

    Paul Rust

    Swansea

    SIR – Nick Rose (Letters, July 2) asks how many of the 53 countries that signed a joint statement at a session of the UN Human Rights Council in support of China’s imposition of laws on Hong Kong were beneficiaries of Chinese aid or investment.

    Of the 53 countries, 45 are involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while others (Syria, Central African Republic) have deals that loosely replicate elements of BRI.

    Sam Hogg

    London SW1

    1. I can understand them wanting to keep the moslem population down. You can see in this country what happens when you don’t.

      1. I saw a clip of a (south) Korean girl being asked what she thought about muslim immigration, and she openly said “we don’t want them. We don’t want to be like Europe.”

    2. What is Syria and the communist corruption fest that is CAR doing in the United Nations?

  9. Good morning from the daughter of Alfred of Wessex with Longbòw and Axe.
    a cold and murky day, cloudy too.

    Happy independence day to Americans living in this country
    ( and my American blogging chums In the US ) .
    But remember that most of you have European ancestors and
    you speak English, so not quite that independent 😉

    1. Can we sue the septics for cultural appropriation of our language?
      Mind you, I’d better be careful what I say, being Welsh an’ all.

  10. Cheers…

    SIR – Roy Bailey (Letters, July 1) is pleased that propping up the bar will be banned under the guidelines for pubs to reopen. As a widower living on my own, sitting at the bar in the pub means that I can have some human interaction with the bar staff, as well as with people I know well, those I know slightly and those I have never met before.

    The new procedure, by which I must sit behind a plastic screen on my own, effectively means that I am as cut off from society in the pub as much as I am at home. Mr Bailey would appear to prefer café society, while I prefer the pub. He, however, has a choice.

    Paul Rutherford

    Alresford, Hampshire

    SIR – Today is just like it was on a Sunday in the Fifties: Welsh pubs shut, English pubs open. Coachloads of Welsh are planning to cross the border and enjoy English hospitality. It’s a shame we can’t enjoy the Welsh coast.

    Ian Pinson

    Clun, Shropshire

    SIR – The local lockdown in Leicester began just a few days before the first weekend of pubs and restaurants reopening everywhere else. It is hard to imagine a better way of causing the coronavirus to be carried to the towns and villages immediately surrounding the city, as its citizens seek refreshments nearby.

    Alastair Tweedie

    Lechlade, Gloucestershire

    SIR – After every match, the players of my cricket club adjourn to the bar for a well-earned pint and a chat about the game. Today, they will be at liberty to have their post-match pint, but won’t have had the pleasure of playing. Why?

    Geoff Cleworth

    Eagley, Lancashire

    1. Ian Pinson should be aware that the Welsh will only be able to travel 5 miles to visit an English pub.

  11. SIR – I am head of Spanish at Colchester Sixth Form College and have taught languages for 37 years. The plan to scrap oral exams in GCSE French, German and Spanish (report, July 3) is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Students might as well be doing ancient Greek.

    When I learnt French in the Seventies, we were discouraged from speaking the language, and everything was done through grammar and translation – the oral exam was pretty much nonexistent. Do we really want to go back to those days?

    David Huggon

    Wivenhoe, Essex

    SIR – In my forties I studied for a GCSE in Italian. In my oral test the examiner asked me if I enjoyed school and going on holiday with my parents.

    Simon McIlroy

    Croydon, Surrey

    1. Teaching todays kids to speak English properly would be a better use of resources

    2. In the 1960s I took Latin, Ancient Greek and French ‘O’-Levels and French at ‘A’-Level. The approach to learning both the ancient and modern languages was the same – great emphasis on grammar and written translation. There was very little practice in speaking French, so consequently I passed the French orals with a low grade. The best way to learn a modern language is to speak it rather than learn it from a book.

      1. While we ploughed our way through the French of the Academy most of the time, we also had conversation lessons from a French Assistant.
        Usually a young lady only slightly older than ourselves on loan from the French Institute. This was in the 60s and Edinburgh was lucky to host a very active French Institute, which offered lessons in language and culture. I attended lessons there after school. Years later when working for a business that sold most of its output to France, I attended conversation lessons on Saturday mornings.
        I was astonished to learn that fewer pupils took Higher French in 2010 than in 1965.

      3. I took Latin A and O levels as well as French. We didn’t do much conversation in Latin 🙂

  12. SIR – I first experienced electric scooters (report, July 2) in Brisbane, Australia. They were everywhere: roads, pavements, paths and even on the grass in parks. They travel at high speed, and silently.

    Any engineering or physics pupil will know that, with a high centre of gravity and nothing in front of the handlebars, scooters cannot stop quickly; if a sudden stop is attempted, the rear wheel flies upwards and the driver heads for the ground.

    Electric scooters must not be allowed on our pavements or in our parks, and preferably not on our roads.

    Walter Bryan Davis

    Ashtead, Surrey

    SIR – Bicycles can go faster than the 15.5 mph limit for electric scooters in the Department for Transport 12-month trial (report, July 2). Do they have to have horns, indicators, brake lights or a certificate of roadworthiness? No. That is why nearly 20,000 cyclists are killed or injured on Britain’s roads every year.

    Miriam Thomas

    Honiton, Devon

    1. We have lots of the damned things around here and they certainly can and do travel at more than 15.5 mph.

      And, as a matter of interest, why 15.5 mph, is 16 mph significantly more dangerous?

        1. Yes, I did the 25kph conversion before posting but why not use 15 mph?

          Apart from 50:80 I can’t think of a single common road speed limit that is used similarly; mph : metric.
          Ignoring decimal places.

          20 = 32 the continent tends to use 30
          30 = 48 the continent 50
          40 = 64 the continent tends to use 70
          50 = 80 and tended to use 90 until recently

          60 = 96 the continent tends to use 90 on dual cariageways or over-taking lanes, if they have an equivalent.

          70 = 112 they use 110

          What makes scooters need 15.5?

          Stupid bureaucrats, unless all scooters’ limiters will be made in metric based countries.

          1. And their speedometers will be calibrated in kilometres per hour. they didn’t think we’d leave…

        1. Indeed, but I thought we had left the EU, so why use mph if the whole number is metric?

  13. Seven police officers are injured as they aeare showered with bottles and chased away by crowds as they try to break up an illegal block party in west London
    Police came under attack while breaking up a block party in White City
    A group of youths pelted officers with bottles, stones and other objects
    Up to 200 officers equipped with riot gear were deployed to the estate
    Two helicopters circled the area while officers tried to restore order

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8488739/Police-showered-bottles-try-break-illegal-block-party-west-London.html

    1. Beat me to it. The video clearly shows the ethnicity of the people attacking the police.

      1. London and all our once great busy cities are lost . No wonder African and American cities are the dumps they are.

        Tribal London is getting there very quickly and all respect for the police re this BLM movement is now irretrievable .

      2. We are lost if the politicians and the police neither want to nor can control BAME crime.

        No wonder Sad Dick and Evilbitch May got rid of the water cannon – they were united in their aim to destroy Britain.

  15. Ghislaine Maxwell ‘won’t sell Prince Andrew out’. 4 July 2020.

    Ghislaine Maxwell will “never” offer any information about the Duke of York as part of a plea deal, one of her closest confidantes has revealed.

    As a new photograph on Friday night emerged of the socialite sitting in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, Laura Goldman, who has been friends with Ms Maxwell for several years, told The Telegraph she would “never sell out” Prince Andrew.

    Morning everyone. With friends like this you don’t need any enemies. The inescapable deduction here is that Maxwell does have information about the prince and my, admittedly distant, judgement is that she would sell her own daughter to a brothel for a couple of years off her sentence.

    I’m afraid Andrew’s toast and Harry isn’t in much better shape.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/03/exclusive-ghislaine-maxwell-wont-sell-prince-andrew/

    2. Would it be tasteless to run a sweepstake on the date of her suicide in prison?

      1. I believe the correct term is ‘arkancide’, as Prince Andrew, and young girls over the age of consent, is very small fry when compared to some of the leviathans alleged to have partaken of the ‘fruits’ of Epstein Island.

        1. Yes, it seems strange that the only incident concerning Andrew that I am aware of, who I view as a total arrogant arsehole by the way, allegedly took place in the UK with a young woman, who at 17 years old, was not only over the age of consent, but, as the law stood at the time, was also over the age where she was classed as an adult and thus permissible to legally engage in prostitution.

          2. That may have been a bit iffy in US law, but did it break UK law at the time?

    3. I saw the photo’ of Maxwell and Spacey sitting on the Brenda and Phil the Greek’s thrones.
      How dare they?!

  16. “The mainstreaming of transgender ideology has had a “corrosive impact”
    on British society and has had a negative influence on the wellbeing of
    children, a study from think tank Civitas has found.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/07/02/transgender-ideology-has-corrosive-impact-society-says-study/#

    Nothing like stating the obvious that most ordinary people have known all along – I suppose it’s good that some body with a bit of influence might be coming to the same conclusion.

    1. I doubt it’s an outbreak of common sense.
      More like a minor skirmish in the new left-eats-itself war.
      The lefties who are against the excesses of the trans lobby believe that the trans lobby is converting gays and lesbians, by trying to subvert them into being a pastiche of what society expects, i.e. heterosexual.

      1. You may be right. It would still be good if it helps curtail the abuse of young minds.

        1. mumsnet is the internet focal point of resistance, I think – a mixture of feminists and gay rights supporters.
          They see trans men as “all those poor little lesbians”. They have some interesting views on trans women – some of which I don’t really agree with – but they do have the insight of soul-baring posts from trans widows.
          The trans stuff is under chat / women’s rights. It’s an interesting read if you are involved with these issues, but you can easily get too much of it.

          1. I have no great interest, but I don’t think children should be exposed to all the brainwashing and have the agenda pushed on them.

            I’d be more inclined to see trans men as “all those poor little tomboys” – far more likely than lesbians. Are trans widows male or female (in real terms) (or even a new variety of spider)?

          2. Trans widows are wives of men who decide to transition, so wives or ex wives of trans women. Their stories have been ignored by the mainstream media, who only ever publish variations on the theme “I was shocked at first but now I totally accept the transition.” You read their stories in their own words on mumsnet.

            Agree re the tomboys. I hate to think how a zealot of today would have labelled me as a child!

    1. The randy Duke of York,
      he fancied younger girls
      he marched them up to the royal bed
      And straightened all their curls.

    2. The randy Duke of York,
      he fancied younger girls
      he marched them up to the royal bed
      And straightened all their curls.

      1. And when he was up
        he was up
        and when he was down
        he was down
        But when he was only halfway up
        he was neither up or down……

        1. And when he is up, he is up
          and when he goes down, he is down
          But when he is either up or down
          They’re required to squirm around

          1. And he’s still dining out on tales of what he did with his chopper…..in the Falklands.

  20. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    More on the crazy attempt to appease BLM. Fortunately this one came badly unstuck. We need more people like Toby Young, and we need fewer organisations like Manx Radio. And the latter can put their proposed “diversity and ethnicity” training where the sun don’t shine. They are bad losers and obviously don’t accept the outcome

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/07/03/radio-host-suspended-for-denying-he-had-white-privilege-reinstated/

    1. What they want is genocide of Western history and culture as the whitewash facts
      distort history ( of which slavery was / is never about one race or colour).
      They’ll use violence and stop debate for their own agendas.
      Surely ethnic cleansing should mean they’d have the freedom to return to African
      countries of which they believed they were stolen from. And of course sold
      by Black African slave traders who were very much involved in slavery before
      Europeans even thought of it. But the fact is BLM is far too European and
      privileged to fit in with and regressive African dictatorship, they have freedoms
      here to bleat as they like. An African country would just lock them up.

      1. I have a couple of old Dilbert cartoons that I cut out of a paper 25-or-so years ago (I’ll have to look them out). They are so apt and cutting.

    1. Wasn’t part of the cause of the War of Independence that in order to respect the natives, the British loyalists did not wish the colonies to expand west of the Appalachians. The colonists pushing for independence did, hence the war and the ensuing killing. This bit of great American history is, apparently, not often recounted.

    1. Simple response President Trump may give to the Sioux Nation and similar, in two words. You Lost!

  24. Good morning all

    Strong breeze and slighly damp but mild morning . The sweet peas and runner beans are abit battered.

    The deep cleansing of all things dear continues.. the nonsense is gathering momentum. The BLM lot are a niggardly bunch!

    Memorial for dog named the ‘N word’ which died in 1902 is removed from graveyard
    A dog named the ‘N word’ passed away in 1902 and was given a gravestone
    Coventry City council have removed the memorial due to racial insensitivity
    The gravestone sat in Coombe Abbey Park in Warwickshire for decades

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8488865/Memorial-dog-racist-died-1902-removed-graveyard.html

      1. He’s buried in the Netherlands. Perhaps his dog will have to be interred beside him.

  26. For those who can’t open Twitter right now…………

    Dr. David Samadi @drdavidsamadi

    I want to ensure that everyone understands the gravity of the situation here.

    Hydroxychloroquine worked this whole time.

    The media said it would literally kill you if you took it simply because POTUS promoted it as a cure.

    Thousands of people likely DIED because of this.

    1. I believe that warnings were simply issued that hydroxychloroquine might cause heart irregularities, use with caution but don’t let that get in the way of a good conspiracy.

      The whole media and political circus around this drug is typical of how the US has split into us vs. them camps. It needs a leader who will focus on breaking down barriers, not reinforcing them.

      1. Well it ain’t Biden and it ain’t Ms Clinton when they bump him off to shoehorn her in.

      2. My daughter takes it for her lupus. Had the plague, recovered. But it does have side-effects (as do most drugs).

      3. I think Polly is right a number of states forbade its use for Covid patients. I distinctly recall one US medical practitioner having to argue forcefully to get the drug for her patients.

        1. Oh definitely. The whole pandemic has become nothing more than a political circus.

          Canada stopped its use, going for a long drawn out trial and that was probably just a petulant reaction to Trump backing it.

          1. Richard, I think it is more than a political circus. Potentially there is a great deal of money to be made from either therapeutic dugs or an annual vaccine should one become available. As you know the therapeutic drug of choice Remedisvir is priced at $3600 per course of treatment and from what I’ve read the results are not exactly stunning. It would be more re-assuring if all the key players were to openly declare their interests. There is also the very strong suspicion that the Dems want to ensure the incumbent president doesn’t succeed in getting on top of the pandemic given the election is now only a few months away.

          4. Ach an awa’ mon. Dinna ye ken that a wee dug, up in yer Caledonia, will snap aroond yer ankles?

          5. Please don’t, Grizz. I was married to a Scot whose mother had to ghastly small, yapping, drooling dogs….

            28 years on, I am still haunted…{:¬))

          8. I read some time ago that there was a view that a different corona virus was being manipulated in the Wuhan laboratory to develop a vaccine and make a fortune if something similar should “appear from the wild”, like SARS or swine ‘flu or Asian ‘flu.

            The French had an interest giving monetary and technical support, because of the potential financial benefits. They fell out with the Chinese because security standards were not good enough. The mutated virus escaped from the lab, with the consequences we are now enjoying.

            Who knows what the truth may turn out to be.

          9. As they say, Follow the money. The media are following the script quite nicely.

      4. You are so out of date about US politics.

        The crooks in the Dem Party have changed everything. Many of them have been soaking up loads of bribes and kickbacks and they need clearing out, and Donald’s going to do it.

        That’s why the Dems are so desperate and will try anything to stop him, though they can’r.

        President Trump will prevail.

        1. Oh Polly, you jump to Trump is great at the slightest encouragement.

          Trump has no chance of bringing down the Clinton’s of this world unless he can encourage middle of the road Dems to fight the corruption charges, his rantings will only force the left to retrench behind whatever leadership they might have.

    2. For those who didn’t fully read the original reports it should be noted that hydroxychloroquine has a long track record of the prolongation the heart’s QTc interval. For those whose QTc is bordering on the condition known as long QT syndrome there is a very high risk of the drug inducing torsades de pointes arrythymia – a potentially fatal ventricular heart rhythm.

      That is why Trump was monitored for his QTc interval before taking the drug.

      https://www.dicardiology.com/article/covid-19-hydroxychloroquine-treatment-brings-prolonged-qt-arrhythmia-issues

        1. And the only warning about its use; “Who should not take hydroxychloroquine?
          People with psoriasis should not take hydroxychloroquine.”

      2. I bet that I am the only one who had to look up what a QT interval, yet everyone with a Twitter account has opinions.

        All I am seeing so far is “Don’t try this at home”

      1. I wonder if it’s because of the quality of woman attracted to and wanting to be active in left wing politics, as opposed to racism per se.

      1. Morning Anne ,

        This is through the looking glass stuff, the Cheshire cat is grinning and the Queen of hearts is saying off with their heads .

        Mr , Mrs and Master will soon be trashed as well.

        2020 is the age of utter madness.

    2. I presume car mechanics will be instructed to use different terminology when they refer to hydraulic systems ‘master’ and ‘slave’ cylinders.

      1. Beat me to it,but there is an upside,all these virtue signallers will surely insist on these master and slave cylinders being removed at once
        The subsequent carnage may improve society considerably,just warn us normies which day to stop driving for 24 hours……………….

      2. Or indeed anyone who has ever programmed or designed logic circuits. I suppose it merely confirms the low calibre of ‘Twitter’s staff. Unless it was intended as a joke…

      3. “Dogs have masters, cats have slaves”.

        Oops…another front door off its hinges…

    4. Pathetic! Anyway, in our family it has always been referred to as “main bedroom” but I shall now make a point of referring to it using the banned m-word.

      ‘Morning, Belle.

  29. “A council spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm the historical gravestone in memory of a loved pet was removed.

    ‘Our stance on racism is clear and although the gravestone was from another time it is not appropriate today.’

    The

    reason why the memorial was not taken down last year was due to it

    being located on listed land, while the council also believed it could

    educate locals and tourists about racism.”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8488865/Memorial-dog-racist-died-1902-removed-graveyard.html
    I’m sure all the thugs and gangstas rapping on about niggas,ho’s drugs and guns will be delighted
    Pah

    1. Morning Rik,

      I beat you to it .

      Did you see the police fleeing last night after they tried to apply the law to an illgal music event in London.

      1. Yes.

        It was pathetic to see. The rot started when instead of breaking up the black looters are mindless yobs they cowed to them.

        The first and only response should have been brutal violence to restore order and sanity. Now the yobs know they can behave as they want to.

    2. Was the dog called “Nigger”? Just asking as the DM, part of the free speech-loving MSM has censored the photo.

  30. NHS cleaners, porters and office staff were secret coronavirus super-spreaders within hospitals, new tests reveal
    Sir John Bell, who runs the nation’s screening drive, said NHS cleaners at risk
    Background workers in hospitals have ‘sky high’ level of coronavirus antibodies
    Health bosses are planning to better protect cleaners and porters in the future

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8489263/NHS-cleaners-porters-office-staff-secret-coronavirus-super-spreaders-hospital.html

    May I give my answer to these .

    Is it not possible that the teenage children of these people are super spreaders.. They meet up with their rapper pals , go to parties , create mayhem and their parents ,poor things are infected , who then in turn infected others..

    Quite simple really , it is the lifestyles of others that affect us all .

    1. The problem TB it’s far too obvious for our political classes to understand. Menial and manual workers are 90% likely to be from foreign countries.
      If they live near a large city such as London they will be on the outskirts living in squats and garden sheds sometimes as many as 4 or more to a single bedroom. Hygiene standards would be non existent and of course they would have been traveling to work on public transport picking up and spreading the virus, with no lockdown or isolating, it would never work in such over crowded conditions. And before the order was given (far too late) not wearing face masks on public transport.

    2. “…planning to better protect cleaners and porters…”
      Ignoring the split infinitive, I would like to point out that the four hospital sites I work in have abundant stocks of PPE available all around the sites. On the other hand, I have seen plenty of cleaners and porters pay lip service to PPE, wearing their masks under their chin, taking them on and off, sitting in huddles on their breaks etc.

  31. Is President Trump sometimes rude,blunt,crude and careless of his wording??
    Yes
    Does President Trump love his country and all its citizens?
    Damn straight
    Frankly if i’d had to put up with all the dung throwing monkeys.rabid attack media and endless lies thrown at him I’d be a damn sight ruder and cruder
    It has been an attempted coup,let us pray it fails and the rule of law prevails

    2. “Dung throwing Monkeys”? Be ashamed of yourself, Rik – they are just being exploited by dung makers.

          2. Caca is baby talk. Caca d’oie is a muddy, olive green colour resembling what the name says.

        1. You said it was a cloudy day in Prospect…..I just wanted yo know how you knew?

    2. Good morning Uncle Bill! How did it go yesterday, and more to the point, how are you feeling?

      1. Exhausted. New tablets to replace the killer ones; steroids to help with breathing. Had to sleep sitting up.

        Apart form that – fine, thank you.

        1. Please, please …. take it easy.
          It’s been raining, so the plants can look after themselves.
          Other stuff can just wait.

          1. I know, dear heart. I MA taking it easy. The MR is sawing down trees and watering etc. I am sitting quietly doing the crossword.

    1. He is nothing , he got to where he was by black privilege

      Has no one questioned him about the diamonds in his ears.. blacks mined them , probably under slave conditions !

      1. He’s a typical Lefty socialist. Spoiled, ignorant and utterly lacking in self awareness.

    1. Well we’ll eat a different type of fish then. As for the chips, I don’t think they can stop us growing spuds.

    3. That sort of bullying attitude is precisely why we voted to leave. They just don’t get it, do they?

  36. Apropos the “master bedroom” malarkey.

    There goes:

    Mastermind
    Masterchef
    Master at Arms
    Post Master

    and, of course,

    A Masters degree.

    1. Caroline has a Mâitrise-ès-Lettres in linguistics from the University of Rouen. The French are now calling such degrees Masters’ degrees – will they have to change back to mâitrises?

    2. Morning Bill

      I hope your breathing has improved, and you are feeling perkier.

      Dare I be forward here, but you omitted from your list

      Master Bates !

      1. 320914+ up ticks,
        Morning TB,
        Sorry, great minds.
        We had a bates an on site engineer once
        -orrible basket
        and he earned his nickname the first time he was called over the distorted tannoy.

  38. 320914+ up ticks,
    Morning Each,
    I wonder if in their infinite wisdom the Tw@tologist brigade will ban
    their DIY pursuits as namely master bates.

  39. So the Formula 1 Grand Prix season is about to start in under a week’s time in Austria.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-1/2020/07/03/f1-can-afford-another-year-crushing-mercedes-dominance-2020/

    I have posted the following under the article about Formula 1 in the DT :

    When Lewis Hamilton complains about slavery which the British started the fight to have abolished over 200 years ago he should be reminded that his employers, Mercedes Benz – who pay him and estimated £40 million a year- used Jewish slave labour to build their vehicles within living memory during WW2.

    If he continues to take Mercedes money is he not a hypocrite?,

    Since slavery and racial activism are the current media obsession should there not be mass demonstrations in Austria about:

    i) The Holocaust;
    ii) Mercedes Benz using Jewish slave labour in living memory.

    A nice gesture would be for Lewis Hamilton to give all his winnings and earnings since working for Mercedes to the descendants of the Jewish slaves who were not slaughtered in the genocide and had descendants. Such an act might remove some of the accusations of hypocrisy that everybody should be levelling at him.

    1. Morning Richard

      Hamilton is a thick twit .. He is nothing , has no charisma , represents badtaste and a twitchy right foot ..

      A Mr Blinged up Big of motor racing that blacks , whites and browns in souped up cars emulate.. who cause mayhem on the roads .

    2. Lewis Hamilton likely won’t bother with that becaause the slaves were not black.

      He’s an ignorant hypocrite, just like the rest of the entitled wasters.

    1. I’m sure Ben Jeffreys, the CEO of Pontypool Rugby Football Club who posted the attack, will live to regret his astonishing tirade.

  41. John Redwood.

    The U.K. and Switzerland have signed a document to complete a financial
    services Agreement to make trade easier on our exit from EU controls.
    The U.K. is the largest net exporter of financial services and
    Switzerland the third in the world.

  42. Botswana investigating mysterious sudden deaths of 350 elephants. Jul 3, 2020.

    However, investigators say the carcasses were found with the tusks intact. And while cyanide poisoning is sometimes used by poachers, “it is only elephants that are dying and nothing else”, says McCann said. “If it was cyanide used by poachers, you would expect to see other deaths.”

    Instead, the cause of the death could be a parasite – or even coronavirus.
    “There is no precedent for this being a natural phenomenon but without proper testing, it will never be known,” said McCann.

    Until test results are available, “it is impossible to rule out the possibility of a disease crossing into the human population – especially if the cause is in either the water sources or the soil”, says the BBC.

    Elephants Lives Matter.

    https://www.theweek.co.uk/107431/botswana-investigating-mysterious-death-hundreds-elephants

      1. Ulndoubtedly, as they are everywherre else in Africa. They probably have an interest in the diamond mines.

        The main trouble there is the change of government since Ian Khama stepped aside. They are back in the old despot mould of the late Mugabe. Masisi has legalised trophy hunting again and had a sale of licences to shoot elephants. Unfortunately for him the hunters have been kept away by the virus. But they will be back and more elephants will die.

        2. When I was a lad we had a science teacher who was remarkable.
          We discovered that he had lived in Africa, and we asked him about shooting Big Game.
          One day he read us a story about killing an elephant; no idea as to who wrote it, but the author admitted that it was the worst, most tragic, act that he had ever committed, and probably always would be.
          Could have been Jim Corbett perhaps.

          1. I think Georger Orwell also wrote about killing an elephant.
            My current reading matter is the earlier of George Adamson’s autobiographies, in which he desribes his life as a Game Warden in Kenya and was often called upon to “deal with” crop raiding lephants and man-eating lions. He found it the worst part of his job.

          3. Thanks, it was probably Eric. I confess that my philosophy is Wild Animals’ Lives Matter, aka ‘two legs bad’.

          4. Definitely! Mine too, though Africcan communities do suffer from crop raiding. There are mitigation measures which would help people overcome the problems, but many would seem to prefer the killing method.

    2. They have been dying for months, and it’s only now, with increased numbers of deaths and the resulting publicity, that the authorities there are actually getting round to having specimens tested in labs to identify the cause.

    3. ELM – they certainly do. There aren’t many of them left, unlike the appalling humans who wreck everything they touch and breed worse than flies.

    1. Seen stuff like that in Africa.. you can take an African out of Africa, but you will NEVER take Africa out of an African .

      Herd tactics , they just love to shout and riot .. They are thick as planks .. The police should NEVER ever have taken the knee … where the hell is their dignity ?

    2. Oh sh*t, it was White City. Right on my doorstep. Reminds me of Greg Dyke lecturing on the BBC’s duty to help the people on the estate, as Television Centre sits on a hill overlooking it and we literally look down on those people. I don’t see any rush to intervene now.

  45. How interesting it is that former Prime Minister May and former US President Bill Clinton should present very highly paid speeches at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island in March 2020. Theresa May is reported to receive approx $150,000 plus expenses per speech, and Clinton at least $250,000 plus expenses. Both speeches were free to attendees, though Clinton’s was postponed due to C-19.

    This is extremely evocative of Peter Schweizer’s well known book ”Clinton Cash” which strongly suggested that the Clinton’s are guilty of corruption………….

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Cash

    ”On any fair reading, the pattern of behavior that Schweizer has charged is corruption.”[18] James Freeman reviewed the book for The Wall Street Journal, writing that “Almost every page of the fascinating Clinton Cash… will be excruciating reading for partisans on both sides of the aisle”.

    So what are the possibilities about the Brown University speeches ?

    I think it’s possible there might be a ”financial conduit” here to reward politicians for past services rendered or business deals which require keeping out of the news.

    Certainly I think it’s extraordinary that Theresa May should have this very highly paid public speaking link to Bill Clinton at the same venue, and scheduled so close together.

    2. Blair’s charities and assorted financial interests are so convoluted that everyone seems to have given up; or been bought off.

  46. Good morning all

    The week before last I had a biopsy on a lesion on my right leg. I was referred as it may be cancerous. I have this morning received a letter that ends with this statement.

    If the patient has not received their results within eight to twelve weeks of the procedure, they should contact the department on the above numbers to ask for a results letter. They should not assume that all is well if they do not heat from us.

    **Please note that secretaries are not able to discuss the results over the phone**

    What am I to make of that statement? Is it a ‘you’re too old to worry about so FOAD’?

    Our wonderful NHS?

    Edit – you’re for your

    2. I sympathise. The request by my useless GP for an “urgent” X-ray – sent by e-mail on 24 June – was “vetted” by the Radiology unit on 1 July – and “scheduled” on 3 July. I have yet to hear what date they have in mind – I hope before Christmas. Useless GP suggested phoning Radiology. One just gets a recorded message saying, in effect, FOAD.

      1. May I suggest you contact The PALS service for the hospital in question. My experience is that they are very good at tracking down what is going on in a particular discipline and will get back to you. One of the key goals of The Patient Advice and Liaison Service is to minimise the number of formal complaints. Their office numbers are normally listed on the hospital website….

      2. May I suggest you contact The PALS service for the hospital in question. My experience is that they are very good at tracking down what is going on in a particular discipline and will get back to you. One of the key goals of The Patient Advice and Liaison Service is to minimise the number of formal complaints. Their office numbers are normally listed on the hospital website….

        1. The very fact such an organisation has to exist when there are secretaries, bureaucrats, administrators, nurses, and vast ranks of functionaries shows just how wrong things are.

      1. No phone calls Belle I will be emailing the CEO with a copy of the letter and ask for an explanation and what she’s going to do about it. Thanks for your concern.

    4. So much for “urgent referrals” – this virus will end up costing far more lives from untreated conditions.

      I do hope you get the results soon and that it’s just an ulcer, and not cancerous.

      1. It’s not an ulcer as it’s not broken. It was mooted that it might be Bowen’s Disease.

        1. I don’t know what that is – but it sounds nasty – I hope you get the results soon. Belle’s right – make a fuss.

          2. Thanks for that, Alf. I have made a note of the website for possible future use.

          4. It sounds like a rodent ulcer. Is Bowen’s Disease the latest name?
            So many diseases seem to change their name nowadays.

          5. No, a rodent ulcer is quite different. Alf has no ulceration. Google has quite a lot of info.

    5. Our wonderful NHS was much better 25 years ago – I have no complaints about the treatment I received.

        1. Not overloaded now – with surgeries closed and the Nightingales unused. What are they doing?

      2. Their emergency treatment is excellent but this sort of thing is beyond the pale. Their not exactly busy at the moment as the Government advertising about Covid has scared most of the population sh*tless about attending hospital.

        1. I had treatment for breast cancer – my GP did a biopsy and sent it off – I saw the surgeon the following week, just before Christmas 1996. I had the surgery in January.

          1. I had a similar experience in 1998 when I was diagnosed with cancer of the rectum. Well done survivor, we are becoming more common.

    7. What bothers me is that the patient is merely an annoyance, a troublesome waste of their valuable time that they can’t really be bothered with.

      You have to do all the running. You have to do all the work. They will not tell you anything if they don’t want to. If you do ring them, the person you speak to won’t be willing to help you.

    1. Pretty song – but Randy Vanwarner’s voice is far too high-pitched for my range. He must be a counter tenor (or what used to be known as castrato in more barbarous days) I shall work out a finger-picking arrangement, put it down an octave or so and put in my repertoire.

    3. At my visit to Dr Stupid yesterday, at the surgery – it was extraordinary. Apart from Drs, Nurses, dispensers, receptionists – there was NO ONE. Normally, the place is heaving with patients.

      Dr Stupid* – of course – kept me waiting until five minutes after the appointed time; and the dispensers (all four of them) took 20 minutes to find two packs of tablets…. I did win a face mask, though, because I had a coughing fit!

      * And for the fourth time asked me what my symptoms were and how long I had had them…..

        1. Very good!

          Nah – that stopped in 2011 when we stopped living there full time.

          1. Ah.
            Fear of the NHS is doing a pretty good job of stopping many expat Brits coming home, as far as I can see.

      2. I hope Dr. Stupid sorted the antibiotics Clarithromycin you were prescribed.
        I finished the course and felt ill….
        Previous visit the waiting room was empty apart from one other patient I still had to wait
        40 mins.
        Finally got to see Dr Stupid2……!

  48. Hopping mad that footballers are still ‘taking the knee’, with some giving black power salute also. Thought that since someone in the Premier League had looked up BLM on the Internet last week – and seen their publicly proclaimed aims – all this nonsense would stop.

    What an insult to the fans and ordinary people that not (as far as I know) one single PL player has made a stand against this. Suppose they are all frightened of it affecting their careers. However, in many cases because of their hugely inflated salaries they could finish playing today and still live a life of what to most people would be unimaginable luxury.

    1. The Premier League has painted itself into a corner. I think the ‘taking the knee’ will continue for the rest of this season. I’d like to think that it doesn’t happen at the FA Cup Semi-finals and Final, but I’m not hopeful.

    2. Footballers are now pathetic creatures. Are they Practicing diving in the box ?
      Can you imagine proper players, the like of the Charlton’s, Dave McKay, Bobby Smith, Chopper Harris etc behaving as these over valued tattooed soppy hair cut over paid ponces are.

      1. My last iota of respect for football was the 2014 world cup final, watched in a pub in Berlin. Players diving & rolling about in agony, only to stand up & run off unscathed when the ref avoided noticing. It was completely pathetic. Even the pubgoers were booing… and Germany was in the match!

        2. I agree Obs.
          I’ve long been of the opinion many games are predetermined before the kick off.

    3. 320914+ up ticks,
      Afternoon VOM,
      Open goal for the fans to do a lot of good, beneficial to themselves & the game.

    4. So, Loowis Amilton’s car is going to be in black livery for tomorrow’s F1.
      Are all the others going to sport a pinkish beigeish livery???

      1. Lewis Hamilton’s team mate beat him into poll position for tomorrow’s race. Perhaps the black car will be the start of LH’s dethroning.

    5. The only option is not to give then a penny piece and refuse to pay the BBC licence fee for as long as some of it goes to the FA.

      On the subject of ‘sport’ : I read on this site earlier today that England cricketers are having to have Black Lives Matter embroidered into their cricket clothes when they go the the West Indies. The least that the ECB should have said was that any West Indies team visiting England should have White Lives Matter just as much as Black Lives embroidered on their kit.

  49. Afternoon all,
    What a day so far, so many problems with our internet ‘service’. I was sorely tempted to go to the pub for 12 pints of 5%. 😄

  53. Q: Do you know how the Leicester Lockdown illustrates the difference between Britain and the USA?

    A: That’s easy. The decision to have a Leicester Lockdown is made by the national government (in this case, England). Leicester has no real say in the matter. If it were in the USA, Leicester would decide whether it had a lockdown, the federal government in Washington DC would have no real say in the matter.

    2. So many people do not understand this. US states have more power than we did in the EU.

      2. And that is where Trump has had problems, he is not omnipotent, he has to work with state and city officials to get things done.

        Not exactly a great bridge builder with those Dem governors is he?

        1. Thats the other way round. He has offered to help them all, but they have to ask of course and that is difficult for them.

          1. Of course he did. Here is the first Trump twittering that I came across
            Governor Cuomo should spend more time ‘doing’ and less time ‘complaining.’ Get out there and get the job done. Stop talking!

            Was that just Trumps way of cosying up to a governor?

        1. You have to register and provide a phone number for them to send a text number to verify.

          3. That’s a shame – though I am finding it very slow, and still finding my way round.

  55. A million dead people received stimulus checks totalling $1.4 billion
    In response to coronavirus lockdowns, a tanking economy, and millions out of work, the US government sent $1,200 stimulus checks to most Americans.
    Over 1.1 million of those checks ended up going to people who had already passed away.

    The total amount of money which was sent to dead people came to about $1.4 billion, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

    That’s because, in an effort to rush the checks out the door, the IRS used old data that did not include information from the Social Security office about recently deceased.
    Currently the government has no plan in place to recover the money, other than simply saying anyone who receives one of these checks meant for dead people should return them.
    But they have no plans to tell anyone how to return the checks.

  56. Just about to start dinner .
    It’ll be in honour of my Texan friends on this day .
    Southern Fried Chicken with a white sauce and a Louisianna Cunjun warm
    potato salad. Followed by Kentish apple tart with clotted cream.

      1. Once made Turkish meatballs braised in milk. During the worldwide
        experimental days in my 20s. It was absolutely awful. I think the chicken
        Will be more successful .

    5. ” Aha, William thinks of all the pubs in the country, the black
      barmaid just happens to work in mine and there is a convenient
      hand sanitizer on the wall for my royal fingers too ” .

      1. Lineup of taps for Eurofizz.. hmmm, well dodgy. Only saved by the pump handle at the front.

      1. We’ve just got the red or the green.
        (heard in an offie by my father circa 1970, in the days when Hirondelle was the only wine available.)

        1. That’s hilarious! The Hirondelle in litre bottles brings back magic memories “.plopped ham and chork” sandwiches on a picnic somewhere!!

      2. Donkey’s yonks ago, when working in t’local pub, the landlord and I went to French France on a Beaujolais Nouveau race. Long story… won’t bore you with the details…but we ended up with four cases of the stuff.
        Raced from the ferry to t’local radio station at about 0630h who confirmed we were the first to report and thence to t’pub to open at 9.00am. We sold one bottle all day.
        Come the evening, things picked up and we were selling at £12 a bottle. That was in about 1988/9 so quite pricey. It turned into a right old party and we sold out quite early. Unbeknownst to the landlord (he was four sheets to the wind as well), I was taking the empties into the cellar and refilling them with the house plonk and selling them at the BN price and pocketing the difference :). Totally illegal, I know. Don’t tell Grizz.
        Ooh, what a naughty person I was.

        1. The people buying the house red probably got better value for their money too.

        2. Too late, he knows.

          I might have arrested you but, then again, I’m sure we could have come to some “arrangement”. 😇

          1. Agreed, up to a point, Lord Copper.

            Every now and then a really good one appears on the shelves.

      3. There are seven pubs closer but they lack the essential serving ingredient. A former slave.

  58. Just had a very nice Italian coffee with my 2 digestive biscites whilst reading
    the papers online, hmm .

  59. David Cameron’s recent directorship goes straight to the High Table of multi billionaire globalism, which gives a clue about the interests of UK Prime Ministers….

    ”In May 2017 the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) granted Cameron’s appointment as a Director of U2 Frontman Bono’s One Foundation which is also supported by Bill Gates and George Soros’s Open Society”.

    I wonder…. is it possible that Theresa May’s hugely well paid $150,000 speeches might be connected to Bill Gates, George Soros or Open Society, just like David Cameron is linked ?

    1. U2 started out in the 70’s as a Christian band and ended every concert with Psalm 40. Remember the concert tour in the 90’s when Bono dressed in a gold suit with red horns on his head? At first it was just play acting.

        1. Sorry I’m forgetting you’re much younger than most of us on here! I saw him do that act at Wembley Stadium. That was when I realised U2 were past their sell by date.

          1. When it comes to age groups, I find it’s easy to confuse Nottlers with U3A. Quite different outlooks, though.

          4. Ah, but is that only Cambridge U3A people? The Shropshire ones I know are friendly and enquiring.

          5. You’re lucky. St Ives U3A has a reputation for being very cliquey, which I have experienced myself.

          2. Same as my eldest daughter.
            Sorry, I somehow got the impression you were a cat lady with a parrot in a cage in the corner of the sitting room, and antimacassars on your dark green easy chairs….
            It’s hard for conservatives in your generation.

          3. Goodness, younger than my son. I do hope you are not left all alone as the last Nottler when the rest of us have reached our demise.

          4. I hope you aren’t offended, Polly! It’s just that usually only single women have the energy you’ve got. Now I know you are younger, it makes sense!
            I think you are particularly on target asking recently why all these ex PMs are getting so much highly paid work. In the past, Britain (the Crown) kept them on side by giving them peerages, where they could mingle with the magic of the upper classes. But that was ruined when Blair destroyed the delicate House of Lords structure, and replaced it with a gravy train for cronies. So now, the Crown has nothing to offer ex PMs. This vacuum appears to have been filled from elsewhere.

          5. By Soros, Gates. Bono and Steyer by the look of it.

            The new world order overlords.

          6. I think Gates is just an imbecile. He has come out with some pretty daft stuff. He’s not a programming genius either, Microsoft’s early stuff that they made a fortune with was bought from other people. I think he is good at the deal, but no intellectual.
            I suspect a lot of power resides with people that we’ve never even heard of.

    1. My Texan chums who are Republicans and Trump supporters have said
      America is in an awful state with this virus and that it’s been handled badly.
      It doesn’t help that BLM protesters are allowed to protest without bring stopped
      whereas my chums wear masks and are careful. I do think all this will play into
      the hands of Biden and whoever he has as the BLM feminist hard Left vice president.

      1. Until all the BLM marchers and demonstrators start to croak from the virus…

        1. Hope so but I’m not sure. The hard Left anarchists have been planning this for awhile,
          and this police officer / criminal situation in the US was an excuse and a shroud
          for the hard Left which are using BLM. Even the lock down situation is playing into
          the hands of the Democrats. Biden is hidden away, not appearing much in public
          and not putting hid foot in it. Trump needs to be on his guard, not make slip ups
          and behave like a president instead of shouting and rattling on Twitter like a child.
          ” Make America Great ” might have worked last time but America is still very
          divided and the hard Left are very organised, ruthless and determined,
          Joe Biden is their tool in the same way Jeremy Corbyn was their tool.

        2. I sincerely hope so, Johnny. (Good morning to you and all NoTTLers, btw.)

        3. Hope so but I’m not sure. The hard Left anarchists have been planning this for awhile,
          and this police officer / criminal situation in the US was an excuse and a shroud
          for the hard Left which are using BLM. Even the lock down situation is playing into
          the hands of the Democrats. Biden is hidden away, not appearing much in public
          and not putting hid foot in it. Trump needs to be on his guard, not make slip ups
          and behave like a president instead of shouting and rattling on Twitter like a child.
          ” Make America Great ” might have worked last time but America is still very
          divided and the hard Left are very organised, ruthless and determined,
          Joe Biden is their tool in the same way Jeremy Corbyn was their tool.

  64. 320914+ up ticks,
    breitbart,
    Female Muslim Convert Who Plotted to Blow up St Paul’s Cathedral Smiles and Salutes ISIS as She Is Jailed.

    14 years, out in seven if that then a haggling period of how much compo.
    The whole justice system, incarceration etc, is seemingly allowing the
    unwritten rules of submissive pcism & appeasement to tie the long arm of the law / courts behind it’s back.
    Nothing will improve until this insane usage of sub.pc, app is kicked into touch.
    The way I see it is if a vast multitude of peoples can & do accept a GE
    lab/lib/con manifesto knowing it to be a lie then why not accept the lie that each & everyone is a far right racist ?
    Sticks & stones & bombs WILL break my bones but names will never hurt me.
    Then bang them up in a serious manner along with any submissive pcism & appeasement jockeys.

    1. Its often the converts who are most extreme. Now, where do we think all this fire and brimstone is being preached (with back-ups on the internet).

      1. 320914+ up ticks,
        Afternoon KP,
        In the main in the mosques but not far behind in the heart & belly of parliament via the politico’s
        in-house, in canteen. ( menu).

    2. “14 years, out in seven if that”. No, she has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years before being eligible for parole.

      1. 320914+ up ticks,
        Afternoon A,
        Then I stand corrected but, to my way of thinking
        in 14 months time let alone 14 years the political scene will change more so for the worst.
        The instruction manual resting between the dispatch boxes & the parliamentary canteen menu
        tell me so.
        The continuing voting pattern will do the rest.

      2. Of course, of course. Unless five years from now the sentence is reviewed…

        1. I don’t see why it should be. She can appeal now against the conviction/length of sentence. Who would ‘review’ it in five years time, and why?

          1. I do not know. However, when one considers the numbers of those who have not been charged with crimes that we know have occurred, when we know that criminal actions are not investigated or pursued, arrests are not made, and those few arrests and conviction are followed by sentences imposed on the guilty that are generally very lenient, nothing would surprise me.

            Five years was a figure plucked at random. Let me revise that to “I’d be surprised if she is still in prison in five years.”

          2. Depends on who is in charge of the review process and where their allegiances lie.

        1. Getting over it. Took some pleasure in burning the packet last evening.

    3. We may not always see eye to eye, but I do not want you in pain. Ever!

      Love and Peace, Sister. 😘

    4. We give a Fk, Plum. Just not much help in doing anything about it :-((

    7. I care Plum. What about giving Synergy a call as I suggested a few days ago.

      1. Thanks Alf….Now I’ve finally found a physio it’s a matter of time.
        Tendons can take a while to heal so I must be patient!!!

    8. Poor you Plum , so sorry for you.
      Poor Maud , your doggie is alright I hope?

      Remember there are millions of visitors stuck on the motorway trying to get down to the West Country.

      Today is SuperspreaderSaturday.

      1. Maud had a cyst? which was just above her eye …so I was concerned

        I phoned emergency vet and arranged app. but had to cancel as I couldn’t
        walk. My daughter took her when she came down to stay with me.

        Thanks for asking…. can’t bear animals suffering Belle

        1. One of my spaniels , Jack has a few horrible male problems , he is 12 years old and thankfully still quite energetic. An op was not recommended. He will be okay for a while yet.

          I am glad the vet sorted Maud out , it is a pain visiting the vet these days, consultations are done in the carpark.

          1. I know you feel for animals as I do Belle. We cannot continue to abuse
            animals the way we do. The virus is a wake-up call …are we listening….
            Sure Jack gets lots of TLC…hope he is ok..

  66. It’s wine o’clock but I have to go cold turkey until Guinness o’clock at 2000 hrs at my local auberge. Cooking dinner, so hopefully will take my mind off it.

  67. Indian proof of China’s incursion across the Sino-indian border (the Line of Actual Control) and its attempts to dam the river flow into India. Shows evidence of vehicular access into a narrow gorge from China and the success of Indian troops in forcing a Chinese retreat.

    An overly long video with repeated information but by the end it of you know everything about this narrow gorge down to the last pebble.

    https://youtu.be/T7NlHN2SYX8

    1. This looks like a complete fabrication to pacify India’s electorate!

  68. Now that Waitrose has removed all coconuts from its stores due to monkeys being used as “slaves” to harvest them, may we now expect a proliferation of similar virtue-signalling events from other areas? For example:

    A ban on dogs being used as “slaves” to: guide the blind, catch rats, guard buildings, race against each other, perform tricks, retrieve game and dig out avalanche victims?

    A ban on horses being used as “slaves” to: pull carts, race against each other, dance on command, carry humans for transport and tow barges?

    A ban on donkeys, mules, camels, yaks, buffalo and elephants being used as beasts of burden and carrying humans for transport and pleasure?

    A ban on sheep being used as slaves and having their coats shorn from their backs to make comfort items for humans?

    A ban on rats and mice being used as slaves to be captured and injected with all manner of substances to test for safety on humans?

    A ban on lions and tigers being “tamed” in a cage and taught to do commands by a man with a whip and chair?

    I am a great believer in the ethical treatment of animals and I abhor animal cruelty. My point is that it seems all a bit too politically correct to censure the use of one particular animal species that is being put to use for human gain, yet arbitrarily ignore all the other routine abuses of animals simply because it suits their purpose to do so.

    1. Don’t forget bees, Grizz. they literally work themselves to death…

      2. And worker Ants ( worker doesn’t mean socialists who don’t actually work
        preferring benefits ). Ants are very busy.

      3. And worker Ants ( worker doesn’t mean socialists who don’t actually work
        preferring benefits ). Ants are very busy.

    2. Of course you are a racist if you make monkey noises and throw bananas at certain football players.

    3. Not forgetting the cutting down of vegetation in the Andes to grow more quinoa and therefore depriving the llamas and alpacas their food and the dung is, apparently, used to feed the quinoa plants. Stop selling quinoa.

        1. I’ve never eaten the stuff but it’s popular with the vegan terrorists, I understand. 😀

    5. The thing about the monkeys is that they appear to be kept in apalling conditions and are exploited in a way domesticated animals are not.

      1. Go and have a chat with the RSPCA about the way that hundreds of thousands of domestic pets, in the UK, are treated.

      2. More people are killed each year by aggressive coconuts than are eaten by tigers. I’m sure some of those coconuts are thrown on people’s heads by monkeys. They should get life, or at least ten years hard labour.

    6. Cat food must be next. The domestic cat is notorious at enslaving humans. Not that human lives matter much, but some of them might identify as Black.

  69. Quote of the day from Guido

    Asked by Michael Portillo what are the chances of a deal to leave the EU transition period in December, Gove shot back:

    “I am not very good at predictions. I once wrote a book with the title ‘Michael Portillo – The Future Of The Right’.”

        1. An honour for a poor feckless dipshit like me to be considered to be in your esteemed company.

          Anyhoo…That’s enough soap for one day…. 🙂

      1. Be warned. Look at those paws. The little bugger will turn into an ENORMOUS dog.

    2. I would bet good money on it that Ed Davey can’t go for a drink in any Pub. Even if they were open.

    4. Farage’s ex media advisor:-

      “Dear Ed Davey, The police have better things to do, you sad little man. Getting an officer to go to Nigel’s house to tell him he shouldn’t have gone to the pub is a total waste of resources and makes you look like a pathetic, attention-seeking twerp.”

    6. Davey would go back to school to refresh his arithmetic skills, except they are closed.

      1. It’s marginal.

        With the time difference, Davey might be right, but what a turd he is.

    8. The incumbency of the despicable Ed Davey will ensure indefinite oblivion for the LibDums …

      Hurrah !

      1. Who is, or was, Ed Davy? Wasn’t he some kind of passed-over politician?

        1. Davey was the energy secretary in Call-me-Dave’s wretched coalition. He was an absolutely committed champion of The Mad Milipede’s Climate Change Act.

  72. Just a thought, are we still allowed to call the tape that holds the Army together ‘black and nasty’?

    1. This is the type of society that politicians (you know, those people you have voted for for the past seventy years) want.

      They made sure it happened.

    3. Oh dear yet Another riot based around rapp and deeply coloured music.
      Must be a mistake, none of those people were from that area !!

  74. Channel 5. 21:15. Fergie & Andrew. The Duke and Duchess of Disaster.

  76. Erm…. Mocked for being dyslexic?

    Been there, done that, got the tree shit.

    🙁

  77. Did Leicester need to be locked-down – or did testing panic the government?

    What has happened to the city shows that, if you don’t want to be locked down, try not to get tested

    ROSS CLARK

    Seek and ye shall find, in the words of St Matthew. A simple enough principle: look hard enough for something and you should discover it; don’t look and you won’t. So why can’t Matt Hancock – nor, it seems, many others in government – seem to grasp it? Leicester, this weekend, is back in lockdown. Why? Because of a “surge” of new cases of Covid-19. A couple of members of the Cabinet are reported to have even gone so far as to demand that the city be closed off with roadblocks.

    But what if it is all an illusion – the rise in recorded cases purely a result of more people being tested? A report by Public Health England isn’t sure, concluding: “Evidence for the scale of the outbreak is limited and may, in part, be artefactually related to growth in availability of testing.” The report revealed that the rise in cases was purely down to “Pillar 2” tests – tests carried out in the community, which have increased rapidly in recent weeks. In Leicester, it transpires, four mobile testing units have been deployed.

    On the other hand, there has been no rise in cases of Covid-19 in Leicester identified via “Pillar 1” tests – those conducted in a clinical setting, typically on people admitted to hospital with severe symptoms. Nor has there been any rise in admissions to Leicester hospitals, which have been running at between six and 10 admissions per day for the past month.

    There has been a rise in the percentage of tests on under-18s turning out positive. That is true only among this age group and it is surely the case that so few children suffer serious symptoms that very small numbers of them would have been tested until community testing was ramped up.

    Did Hancock, or anyone else in Government, look at the full data before Leicester was sent back into a hugely damaging lockdown? If they did, it is hard to see that they acted upon it – rather, they seem simply to have looked at the headline figure for new recorded cases and panicked.

    However, the figure for recorded cases is meaningless on its own, without knowing how much testing is going on, because it takes no account of the large number of cases of Covid-19 which cause few or no symptoms. According to the Government, 283,000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since January. Antibody tests, however, indicate that 6.78 per cent of the population – 4.5 million people – have been infected. In other words, testing has only managed to pick up around one in 16 cases of the disease.

    If we suddenly tested everyone at once, we would pick up the missing cases. The trouble is that we would then have an enormous spike in new recorded infections and Mr Hancock would order us all indoors for the next three years.

    The perverse moral of the Leicester story is that, unless you want to be locked down, try not to get tested. The more people in your town who get tested, the more confirmed cases there will be and the more likely the Government will panic and close you down. The people of Leicester are being punished for faithfully trooping into those mobile testing units.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/04/did-leicester-need-locked-down-did-testing-panic-government/

    1. I saw a suggestion elsewhere that it’s actually related to the mass arrests that took place earlier this week, and to people trafficking. I have no idea if that’s true. It was an ex-copper who suggested it.

        1. In principle clearly so.

          But if by any chance they are stupid enough to stand in front of a speeding car who is really at fault?

        2. In principle clearly so.

          But if by any chance they are stupid enough to stand in front of a speeding car who is really at fault?

        3. No, but standing in the road, deliberately blocking traffic? My sympathy is not overwhelming.

          1. Watch the video. No hi-vis jackets, the roadblock was personal vehicles, no signs, not a clever move to stand trying to block an interstate. The driver could have thought he was getting mixed up in a dangerous situation, panicked and tried to get the hell out the area.

    4. One can’t feel they’d be much loss to the world if they don’t survive.

  79. Good afternoon all. ** Choose your own location …

    At a high school in Montana **, a group of high schoolers played a prank on the school.

    They let three goats loose in the school. Before they let them go, they painted numbers on the sides of the goats: 1 ,2, 4.

    Local school administrators spent most of the day looking for #3.

    1. In Silicon Valley High they would have been running a search for number 8 (the one that bytes).

  81. Completely and utterly off topic.

    I wish I was a better photographer.
    It’s a clear night here, and the full moon is just rising above the opposite side of the valley.The last rays of the sun are lighting the sky and the shadows across the moon make it look as if it’s grinning.
    Unbelievably beautiful.

      1. Indeed.
        What is surprising to me as a non astronomer-type is how quickly it is moving above the land horizon.
        It is rising a few degrees a minute, even as I watch it.

        It will appear to slow down once it’s higher in the sky.
        It’s moments like these when I really appreciate where we live.

          1. What’s that in mph? Quite a lot I suspect.
            {:-O

            But seriously, I’m amazed, every time I see such things, at how quickly they move across the sky.

            As I look at it now, the trajectory has been like a rocket launch, and it’s moving from straight up to going left to right.and apparently (but not actually) slowing down considerably.

        2. I had a similar experience when I first moved to Sweden. The crescent moon didn’t set, it skidded along the horizon.

    3. The moon is just rising here, not a clear view from the house because of the tall oaks. Sun is long gone.

      2. I’ve got one.

        They still end up looking “wrong” somehow.

        It’s down to composition and the result seldom looks like what I’m watching. {:-((

  82. DM Story

    Memorial for dog named the ‘N word’ which died in 1902 is removed from graveyard

    The gravestone of a dog named the ‘N word’ based in Warwickshire has been removed by Coventry City Council in light of the Black Lives Matter movement. The animal died nearly 120 years ago.


    Britain is finished. It’s all over. Look no further than above for the evidence.

    1. The tomb of the Black Prince will be removed from Canterbury Cathedral, as it is cultural appropriation and offends BLM supporters.

        1. They are selling off Scampton (how could they?) so guess whose grave will be removed. The guides say they hear ghostly noises in Gibson’s office. That’ll be nothing to what’ll happen if they remove the dog’s grave!

  84. I got a rejection letter from the Origami university in the post today.
    I’m not sure what to make of it…

    7. Sounds a cut and paste job.

      Anyway, I thought that university had folded.

  86. Good night all.

    Wonderful supper…

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/chicken-provencal-recipe/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1262123&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Foo_New&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Foo_New20200701&utm_campaign=DM1262123

    I gave the simmering over an hour & the chicken was meltingly soft, the sauce wonderful. Watch out for the salt. I found it OK, but some may find it too much. I shudder when I see how much salt TV chefs pour into their pots.

    Swilled down with a white Rioja & followed by goosegogs & creme fraiche.

    1. Looks fantastic, Peddy. Alas, tonight’s meal for me was a simple bangers and mash with baked beans, washed down with Aldi’s Chilean Merlot and followed by home-made rhubarb crumble and cream.

      (Goodnight and sleep well, btw.)

      1. Are you still getting fresh rhubarb, Elsie, or was the crumble frozen?

        1. It was one I made earlier with rhubarb that Korky brought me. I keep it in the fridge and am now down to the last portion, which I shall eat tonight. Still some rhubarb in my own garden.

          1. The rhubarb season seems to be over as far as w/rose is concerned, but I was able to snap some gooseberries the other day.

  87. Evening, all. The Connemara left his brain in the stable today and the chasing jockeys in the Derby did the same. The winner not so much won it as the others were asleep at the reins and lost it!

      1. Weather here has been fine, if a bit cool and windy. We were riding indoors as well. He had no excuse (he can do the exercises perfectly well if he puts his mind to it, but his mind was out in the stable, if not actually out in the field!).

        1. But isn’t the great thing about horses that they have their own personality and stick resolutely to it? (Sorry, I’ll bugger off now; I know how irritating that sort of comment can be!)

          1. I agree. I do like his quirks, but it’s frustrating and hard work to get him to concentrate. Tomorrow he will probably have come out of the stable the right side and will be forward-going and switched on.

    2. Yo Conway

      I was driving down the A50, near Derby today, I did not see a lone pedestrian and/or a lost horse

      1. They all let him go, thinking he would come back and by the time they realised he wasn’t going to they had far too much to do. I expect the winner will go for the Leger. A mile and three quarters will probably be well within his compass.

      2. Good morning corim. Calling on your expertise if you don’t mind.
        Over the past couple of weeks we have heard, in the evening, sounds as though something is falling down the cavity of the wall. We have guards on the chimneys to stop birds and this sound is a couple of yards from the chimney. We would like to have it investigated but don’t know who we should ask. Can you advise please.

        1. ‘Morning, Alf.
          I’ve experienced that. You may have a bird’s nest (Starlings?) somewhere in your eaves & the fledglings are falling down into the cavity. Any attempt at rescue would be futile & expensive.

          2. Our starlings fledged a couple of months ago. They make very messy nests though, so the wind may have dislodged some debris.

        2. If a traditional unfilled brick and block cavity construction the cavity should be sealed but with ventilation bricks top and bottom to encourage air flow. If the cavity is not covered by bricks under the eaves then animals or birds might gain access via the roof space.

          I have known of birds, rats and in one case a squirrel getting in via missing or damaged vent bricks. I suggest you give it a week or so as anything trapped will die. You could also keep an eye on the area from outside to check on any comings and goings.

          Without knowing more about the wall and roof construction it is difficult to predict.

          1. Thank you for your prompt reply. The house was built in 1938 of brick and, I understand, all internal walls are ‘engineering bricks’, does that make sense to you? There was an extension added in 1991 but the opposite end of the house. The roof is tiled and in the loft there are wooden slats between the tiles and the rafters. I don’t know if that helps? We really appreciate your guidance. We had a bird’s nest fall down the chimney last year and have had a cage put around both chimneys.

          2. Are you sure that your external walls are cavity construction? The way to check is to determine the actual thickness of the external wall construction. In 1938 this might have been solid 9” walls plus internal plaster (say 250mm) or else two skins of brickwork with a 2” cavity ( say 280mm).

            Early cavity wall construction will have allowed cavity vents at the base only in order to ventilate suspended ground floors.

            Solid wall construction will have allowed vents to the suspended ground floors viz. air bricks positioned in the zone of the floor joists.

            You could check whether the flue from your chimney has an offset which would mean that any blockage might not be directly beneath the chimney position.

          3. I know there are air bricks at the bottom but am not aware of any at the top. I’ll have a look.

          4. One other thing.
            A few years ago we did have a wasps nest in the general area I’m talking about. We were told they don’t reuse the site. Is it possible that the nest might have collapsed an fallen into the cavity? I have checked around the outside and can only see a couple of air bricks at the bottom.

  88. Just picked three pounds of strawberries. So we’ll have a little drinky poo to celebrate.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain.

    3. What a coincidence. I switch the computer on to see what’s being said and have brought a big dish of fresh strawberries and Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream to scoff while I read.

        1. That’s right. However my Saturday evening treat will not be repeated until next Saturday.

    1. The man is quite simply a genius. If he had been a fighter pilot, he would have been an ace.

        1. Thank you Mr. Grizz! I didn’t know that! Very witty man and writes wonderful musings (I think he calls them contemplations!) on the oddities and foibles of modern life!

      1. I finished off the whole lot (4) while I was waiting for supper.

        Btw, I think we can safely say con tu permiso.

      1. Côte did a Negroni last year. I don’t think anyone enjoyed it. I didn’.t
        .

    5. Turkish-spiced chicken was good! I served it with a small tomato and shallot salad (basil and balsamic) and hot pitta bread. The relish was excellent and, if anything, carried the chicken. It was an all-round nice dish, complemented by Bulldog IPA. Thanks for the recommendation!

    1. “The need to cry, like a child, for all the stupid wasting of the thousand chances life has offered me”.

      Kenneth Williams.

      Luvvies never change do they……….

  93. Please, help them.

    These people are so poor they can not afford to feed themselves.

    They have no basic sanitation or amenities.

    Many were just like you and me, working hard to get by and able to
    manage life’s basic needs.

    But now they have lost everything, their
    income, their homes, their very reason for existence.

    Yes, these are the people who are giving £3 a month to so many charities
    they no longer have the means to survive on their own.

    Please, send us £3 a month, to make a real difference.

    Thank you from a Nigerian Princess……

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