An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its commenting facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning. Persistent offenders will be banned.
Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.
Good morning.
Still dark but dry and a not too cold 11°C this morning.
A letter with a couple of responses:-
SIR – Stamp duty land tax raised £11.6bn between 2023-24. Given the dire financial straits the UK is in, where will the funds be found to replace this “black hole” if the tax is abolished?
Simon Paynter
Brede, East Sussex
R. Spowart
3 min ago
Message Actions
OK, so Stamp Duty land tax raised £11.6bn between 2023-24 and Simon Paynter wonders "where will the funds be found to replace this “black hole” if the tax is abolished?"
Quite simple Simon, CUT GOVERNMENT SPENDING TO MATCH TAX INCOME.
David White
5 hrs ago
I have a radical suggestion to answer Simon Paynter's question of dealing with any reduction in tax revenue from abolition of SDLT.
Absolutely nobody* has thought of it before.
And that's for HMG to stop spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave.
I know. What a concept.
*When I say " absolutely nobody", obviously I mean "no politician".
Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site. Managed a Wordle Birdie today.
Wordle 1,574 3/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Good Morning All. 14C Cloudy.
Morning Johnny, a dull damp 12C
Thick overcast sky.
Thick overcast Sky? Is that the TV company? The BBC beats them hands down.
Evil BBC.
https://x.com/sharrond62/status/1976314868384035057
The Fourth Reich.
Dr Mengele lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele
Total insanity, what on earth is going on? Very sinister and creepy.
One would want to call in child protection services, but they would all be on board with the lunacy.
At times, when they were little, my children wanted to be dinosaurs or lions, but at that age, they don't even know if they like carrots/cabbage or whatever on any particular day.
The world has gone mad. Evil people.
What makes you think that Starmer won’t sign up to it, Sharron?
Good morning all , fine October morning , the weather forecast anticipates another 20 fine days this month due to high pressure .
Another golf day, will Moh be wearing shorts?
For me another short sleep, why am I waking up so early , before 5am ?
It's overcast and grey here. And that's just the weather.
No wind for the turbines then?
BTL Comment:-
The day after the sausages are released.
Exactly!
That's the wurst scenario.
https://x.com/Basil_TGMD/status/1976320363241013401
And our Government refuses to even consider there is a problem here.
Our apology for a government is a very big part of the problem, endlessly appeasing, supporting and encouraging the filth.
HUMZA YOUSAF – First Minister for Scotland. Says a lot about the politicians in Scotland if this is the best of the bunch.
They are now openly stating their aims; we should be very afraid.
They are quite open about it. There’s none so blind as will not see.
Good Morning all
Mild, cloudy, still
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2025/10/09/TELEMMGLPICT000443833733_17600321829920.jpeg
413931+ up ticks,
Morning Each,
Dt,
NHS in ‘state of emergency’ despite Reeves cash boost
Waiting lists are on the rise and hospital staff are threatening to strike over pay disputes
I could be wrong BUT, could the potential arrival of currently
500 / 1000 new patients, as in illegals, arriving daily be causing a problem ?
I personally believe that the second raters ( the indigenous ) as
being fully paid up NI payers position on the pecking order be higher than the foreign, hit the beach of a GOOD lifestyle via no input invading illegal.
Otherwise these political overseers should admit to running a NI scam lubricated with indigenous tax monies.
The NHS doesn’t need more money, it needs to be more efficient and stop treating people who haven’t paid into the system.
Sherelle Jacobs
Trump’s Gaza deal is the ultimate humiliation for the West’s woke Left
Starmer rewarded Hamas terrorism, but the US president’s robustness is bringing peace to the Middle East
09 October 2025 7:00pm BST
Sherelle Jacobs
This Gaza ceasefire deal is a prodigious diplomatic achievement for Donald Trump. It is a win for Israel, which gets much more and has been forced to concede less than any of its critics thought possible. The surviving October 7 hostages are set to be released on Monday or Tuesday. If the next phases of Trump’s deal work out even in part, the art of Western diplomacy will have been revitalised, courtesy of Trump.
But the happy news is an awkward development for Leftist anti-Zionism, which finds itself on the wrong side of history. The Greta-loving, keffiyeh-wearing activists who denounce Israel as evil and defend Islamist terrorism in the same breath have never looked more out of touch.
The deal and release of the hostages is also an embarrassment for Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and all of those who stated their unconditional, premature recognition of a Palestinian state, a move which exposed them as posturers out of their depth, only made the real negotiations more difficult and demonstrated the geopolitical irrelevance of the fading European powers, including Britain.
The return of the hostages is a reminder of this war’s origins. Hamas started this conflict when it committed the war crime of invading Israel, massacring civilians and taking others hostage. Their return is a vindication of Israel’s zero-tolerance attitude to terrorism, a stance that Western countries like to pay lip service to but are squeamish about in practice. Terrorism must never be allowed to triumph.
Trump’s ability to secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and broker a comprehensive ceasefire deal between two existential enemies is an achievement that cannot be denied even by his enemies. It proves the power of the president’s trademark “wrecking ball”, which treats diplomacy as a series of high-stakes commercial transactions. Trump’s ability to co-opt the support of many Arab and Muslim nations left Hamas with little option.
The president unilaterally declaring victory after Hamas submitted a response to his 20-point peace plan riddled with conditionalities and caveats was a stroke of genius. It is hard to understate what a personally instrumental role Trump has played in getting a deal, which would have likely eluded a more conventional American leader. His chances of securing the Nobel Peace Prize are now much higher, if not this year then next. If his peace deal is successful then it would mark a decisive shift from the conventions of multilateralism and soft persuasion towards transactional brinkmanship, and real(estate)politik.
Contrast this with the approach of Macron and Starmer. They simply rewarded terrorism. Trump’s robustness looks set to achieve peace.
There are big unresolved issues that could scupper hopes of lasting peace. While Israel will not sign a final deal unless Hamas disarms, the latter has managed to delay an agreement on this until the second phase of talks. It may in the end refuse to play ball.
Still, none of this should take away from the scale of the breakthrough.This ought to be a humbling moment for “anti-Zionist” Leftists – proponents of the omnicause – who have been opportunistically drawn to the tragic war. The Israel-Palestine conflict is to progressives what Vietnam was for the hippies – a convenient rack on which to hang their dizzying panoply of causes and hang-ups.
Still there is something particularly vacuous about today’s generation of activists. In this era when political views tend to be more an expression of identity than an articulation of a coherent position or principled belief, logic has become irrelevant. It’s how you end up with such absurdities as Queers for Palestine. Palestine has become a fashionable cause, with coffee-shop socialists lovingly pairing their keffiyeh scarves with their Vivienne Westwood Greenpeace T-shirts. The Palestine flag has come to serve the same function as a Birkin handbag or a Grind coffee cup – asserting one’s bourgeois status and affiliation to a tribe
In the era of “fast slacktivism”, causes, like clothes, are disposable. First, in wake of the financial crash, it was the bankers and “the evil corporations”. Then when dreaming of a unifying socialist world vision “beyond neoliberalism” became too intellectually taxing the hard Left moved onto portending the climate apocalypse.
Then they immersed themselves in the whirling carnival of minority causes, showing “solidarity” with BLM and railing against “systemic racism”. After they tired of listening to slavery podcasts and sharing viral TikTok videos of “racist Karens” they moved onto slapping gender neutral stickers on women’s bathrooms and tweeting bile at JK Rowling.
It is hard to see what activists have achieved, apart from fuelling anti-Semitism in Britain and the West. Weekend marches have become hotbeds for anti-Jewish hatred, with people making genocidal “from the river to the sea” chants and spreading conspiracy theories. The boundary between legitimate scrutiny of the Israeli leadership and open hostility towards Jewish people has collapsed.
The aggression and simple-minded worldview of radical pro-Palestinians has proved self-defeating. The fact that Hamas is genocidal does not absolve Israel of all criticism. As the late Israeli novelist Amos Oz pointed out, what distinguishes the 77-year Israel-Palestine conflict – and makes it so difficult to resolve – is not that it’s a battle between right and wrong, but rather right and right: an ancient, deep and tragic Jewish right and an ancient, deep and tragic Palestinian right. But radical Leftists have fomented such a confrontational – and brain-dead – atmosphere in the public square that it is impossible to have a balanced discussion.
At last, we can dare to hope that a wretched two-year war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives could be coming to a close. The Middle East deserves peace and the families of the hostages deserve an end to their ordeal. Let’s hope radical-Left opportunists will soon have to find another cause.
************************************
FLM Kendall
12 hrs ago
When the Swedish Doom Goblin displayed a picture of a 'starving Palestinian'( not verifying its authenticity first) then you knew the game was up for ignorant 'activists'.
The picture showed an emaciated Jewish man in an underground Hamas tunnel.
No word from Gazan Greta since.
Lynda Franklin
4 hrs ago
Reply to FLM Kendall
Still, she got a nice sun tan from her little jaunt to feed the whole of Gaza.
Delta Bravo
4 hrs ago
Reply to Lynda Franklin
… in a boat which has no "aid" at all in it. None.
As always when the Left are defeated.. they seethe with anger and vow to come back more organised, more angry with more funding.
As for the Muzzies.. they continue with what they do best; being lazy, procreating, praying, preparing for the next Jihad against the Jew.
I'm surprised Lenny hasn't converted yet.
There's a hole in his bucket!
And look what happened when the Hamas equivalent won. And recall the Biden abandonment of Afghanistan reflecting the end of Saigon's regime.
Hamas and the Muslims will never be satisfied until the last Jews have left Israel, either dead or fled.
Well played Trump, so far so good, but I remain a pessimist over this.
The increasing fear felt by Britain’s Jews
Douglas Murray
https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/antisemitism_colour_003-house.png
If you walked down the Strand in London on Tuesday this week you would have been greeted by hundreds of people outside King’s College London. The gathering was organised by students from KCL, the London School of Economics and University College London. They chanted ‘Intifada, intifada’ and ‘Long live the intifada’. They had chosen the day well – Tuesday was the second anniversary of the 7 October massacre, in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds more taken hostage.
Tuesday’s hate-fest was not, of course, an unusual event. The first demonstrations in support of the 7 October massacre of Jews took place in west London on the day of the massacre itself. And the protests have not stopped since. In fact, they have only swelled in number.
For two years now, people in London, Manchester and other cities across the UK have had to put up with weekly, sometimes daily, parades of people celebrating the killings and spreading the libel – the lie – that the Jewish state of Israel is carrying out a ‘genocide’ in Gaza. Indeed, even during the first major protests in the UK these same protestors were already spreading the claim that Israel was committing genocide. This was before the Israel Defence Forces had even entered Gaza with the aim of finding the hostages and destroying Hamas.
The seeds sown by these lies flowered quickly. On 15 October 2023, a 45-year-old asylum seeker from Morocco – Ahmed Alid – broke into the bedroom of his housemate, a Christian convert from Islam, in Hartlepool. He hacked at Javed Nouri while he slept. ‘Allahu akbar,’ shouted Alid. Fleeing the scene, still armed with a knife, Alid then ran into the street to target whoever he could find. He ended up stabbing to death a pensioner called Terence Carney. Alid subsequently told the police he had attacked Nouri because he was an ‘apostate’ and had killed the passing pensioner because Alid wanted ‘Palestine to be free from the Zionists’ and ‘because Israel was killing children’.
Last week in Manchester the desire of the protestors to ‘globalise the intifada’ had another success. On 2 October, 35-year-old Jihad al-Shamie chose the Jewish religious day of Yom Kippur to carry out an attack on the Heaton Park synagogue. After trying to access the building as the congregation was heading in, he ended up going back to his car and ramming it into the Jewish worshippers, then getting out and stabbing at them. His shouts included ‘Allahu akbar’. A 66-year-old congregant, Melvin Cravitz, was among those killed and wounded as a result of al-Shamie’s murderous spree. As al-Shamie was trying to break through the synagogue’s doors, held shut by security and congregants, he shouted that this was what the Jews ‘get for killing our children’.
Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian origin, was subsequently shot dead by police. His family said that they condemned his actions. But it soon became clear that his father – a trauma surgeon – had responded to the 7 October massacre by praising the terrorists of Hamas as ‘Allah’s men on earth’ and claiming that the actions of Hamas’s rapists and murderers that day ‘proved beyond any doubt’ that Israel would be destroyed.
In the immediate aftermath of al-Shamie’s attack, police said that they were searching for a motive. Until the attacker’s name came out and turned out literally to be ‘Jihad’, the BBC speculated that the attack may have occurred due to an increase in rhetoric from ‘the far right’. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told GB News: ‘The only person responsible for this attack is the attacker himself.’ In fact, attacks like this happen for a whole range of reasons – not least an increase in the rhetoric and lies of people who have spent decades spewing hate against Jews in general and the world’s one Jewish state in particular.
Hate crimes against Jews in Britain have almost doubled in the two years since 7 October 2023. The peak came in the six months after Hamas’s bloody attack (2,019 incidents) and reached the second highest on record in the first half of this year (1,521 recorded incidents, according to the Community Security Trust).
https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GettyImages-2239314982.jpg Demonstrators outside King’s College London, 7 October 2025 Getty Images
Even in NHS hospitals, Jewish people no longer feel safe. A top doctor was suspended last month after a series of ‘anti-Semitic’ tweets. Dr Ellen Kriesels, a consultant paediatrician at a north London hospital, described Hamas as ‘oppressed resistance fighters, not terrorists’. The account linked to Dr Kriesels also claimed that efforts ‘to frame the Jews as victims’ were ‘ridiculous’ and ‘excruciating’. Another NHS surgeon was this week struck off after referring to another social media user as ‘circumcised vermin’, while a junior doctor who made a ‘slit your throat’ gesture to Jewish protestors escaped suspension after an initial tribunal found she had a ‘right to freedom of expression’.
Security at schools has also been beefed up. ‘No other faith group, as far as I know, has to have a level of protection in its places of worship, in its schools, in its community buildings,’ Richard Verber, from the United Synagogue charity, told Reuters. ‘We’re talking fences, we’re talking spikes on rails, we’re talking barbed wire, we’re talking CCTV, we’re talking about them all being plugged into local police forces.’
In reality of course any hate crime figures only scratch the surface of the problem. They do not take into account cases such as the ongoing trial of Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein, from Wigan, who appeared in court in London in May last year. They stand accused of planning an Islamic State-inspired machine-gun terrorist attack against Jewish communities in north-west England. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charge of preparation of terrorist acts.
Data on anti-Semitic incidents also necessarily cannot cover the unknown number of Jews who have felt unable to go into the centres of British cities for the past two years because of the weekly anti-Israel protests which have continued unchecked – or the number affected by the police stopping visibly Jewish people from being allowed in the vicinity of such protests.
From early October 2023, it was clear where all this would lead. The first marches on the streets of London and elsewhere included open calls for ‘jihad’, ‘intifada’ and for ‘Muslim armies’ to arise. The incitement has only escalated in the two years since. In June this year the still un-banned Khomeinist Islamic Human Rights Commission held a march which included an image of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, accompanied by the slogan: ‘Choose the right side of history.’
https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GettyImages-2225083765.jpg The Islamic Human Rights Commission hold placards of Ayatollah Khamenei while marching on Downing Street, London Getty Images
Back in late October 2023, the then home secretary Suella Braverman described the weekly protests going through British cities as ‘hate marches’. She was roundly condemned for this by – among others – our now Foreign Secretary. Yvette Cooper claimed that Braverman’s use of the term ‘hate marches’ was ‘irresponsible’.
In the wake of the Manchester synagogue attack last week, our current Home Secretary Ms Mahmood finally joined the growing number of voices calling for protestors to think again about the following day’s planned anti-Israel demonstrations. The organisers of these events – in Manchester and London – were told that their actions could divert police resources at a time when synagogues and other Jewish sites required an increased police presence for protection.
Even Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley suggested that ‘some might say’ the planned anti-Israel demonstrations ‘lack sensitivity’. But of course the protests went ahead anyway. Indeed, within hours of the Manchester synagogue attack, hundreds of protestors organised a rally against Israel on Whitehall. One of the protestors was quoted summing up the mood: ‘I don’t give a fuck about the Jewish community right now.’
Nobody in the Jewish community of Manchester was much surprised by what happened last week. Many had been warning the authorities in this country for two years about the increase in violence and hatred against Jews. But political leaders have been deaf to these cries. The police have admitted to being overwhelmed by the size of the protests and unable to arrest even a portion of those who have incited terrorism on our streets. The proceedings of parliament were changed at the hands of an anti-Israel mob in Westminster last year. But all the time those in power have remained deaf to even the clearest examples of this hatred being sown.
Since 7 October 2023, countless mosques in this country have hosted sermons praising the Hamas attacks. Most of these entities have charitable status, and yet neither the police, the charity commission, the Home Office or anybody else has bothered to do anything to seriously challenge it.
To take just one example, in the days immediately after 7 October, Harun Abdur Rashid Holmes of the Nottingham Islam Information Point gave a sermon in which he offered Islamic justifications for Hamas’s massacre. In a rare intervention, this year the Charity Commission finally issued a ‘warning’ to the Nottingham mosque.
In July, another preacher, Asrar Rashid, addressed anti-Israel protestors on the streets of Birmingham. This is part of what he said: ‘We take up armed struggle and we are not ashamed of it. We have jihad in our Quran, and jihad is standing up against oppression. What the Palestinian people are doing today is armed struggle, to stand up to the bankers’ state, which is known as Israel.’ Rashid had previously been on video saying that ‘Hitler did a favour for the Jews’ in the 1940s and that the Jews ‘held all politicians in their pockets’. But nobody did anything about this preacher.
Some might observe that Asrar Rashid is lucky not to be a middle-aged white woman, and that he is lucky not to have made his comments on social media but merely on the streets of Birmingham. But the truth is that the events of the past two years have revealed a clear problem that has been ignored for too long: a culture of open incitement, lies and hatred by people who hate not just the Jewish State and the Jews of Britain, but our society as a whole, and consider it a worthy target for terrorism and destruction.
As it happens, it was fitting that the pro-intifada protests this week should have congregated outside King’s College London. The university is one of many British institutions to have in recent years received huge sums of money from the government of Qatar – the same government that also funds Hamas. But it is doubly appropriate because in April 2003, during the Second Intifada, two British Muslims – Asif Hanif and Omar Sharif – went into a busy Tel Aviv bar named Mike’s Place and detonated a suicide bomb. Three people were killed and 65 wounded. The two perpetrators had been students at KCL. In fact they met there.
The Jews of Manchester are just the latest victims of the intifada that people on our streets have demanded for so many years. It is their misfortune to be in a country which, however loud these cries are, and for however long, refuses to hear them.
**********************************************
Roddy Campbell
a day ago
When will we wake up to the viper we have been nurturing? These protestors wish our country and way of life nothing but harm. They don't belong in a peaceful, tolerant, kind society.
Neither do the Marxist omnicause activists, who will support anything that harms our society.
Tom Bartlett Roddy Campbell
a day ago
Many of us have, but left-wing and liberal white people don’t seem to see any problem with this, nor do they look beyond the end of their nose. I woke up to it on 9/11, when many of my Muslim co-workers at the supermarket where I worked suddenly seemed to shift from being friendly to being antagonistic.
White people will be a minority in the UK sooner than most seem to think. Can you imagine how we – and Jewish people – will be treated in 50 years’ time and before that? I predict mass emigration, if that’s even possible, though it’s hard to say where to. Much will depend on whether countries in Eastern Europe resist mass immigration. We couldn’t vote our way out of this – even when the Conservatives were asked by their own electorate to change course, they did the opposite, and on steroids. In the future, we won't even have a say in the matter.
Margaret Robinson Tom Bartlett
a day ago
Your first paragraph describes just what will happen with so called ‘moderate’ Muslims when their violent relatives really start pushing. They’ll join in willingly. If they’re not willing they will face the same fate as us infidels – convert, become a dhimmi or die.
Halloween Jack
a day ago edited
Islamic Human Rights Commission – it's beyond satire.
Who are the biggest threat?
The focus shifts from Islamic mentals to the Enablers.. the progressive lefties.
Trump administration knows the Enablers aren't spontaneous.. they are organised, coordinated, and funded.
And sooooo the biggest threat are the funders.
Yesterday I posted the US table of Shysters.
Soros we all know about. But what the hell are Buffet, Himesh Bhise CEO of Arabella Advisors, Janiece Evans-Page CEO of Tides, Neville Singham up to?
Who are the biggest threat?
The focus shifts from Islamic mentals to the Enablers.. the progressive lefties.
Trump administration knows the Enablers aren't spontaneous.. they are organised, coordinated, and funded.
And sooooo the biggest threat are the funders.
Yesterday I posted the US table of Shysters.
Soros we all know about. But what the hell are Buffet, Himesh Bhise CEO of Arabella Advisors, Janiece Evans-Page CEO of Tides, Neville Singham up to?
Look at the quality of writing and argument Douglas Murray makes here. Then look at the Left and their pet religion. Nothing the angry screeching mob has yelled into a megaphone has brought me any closer to their point of view since October 7th. It has pushed me away even further.
As some of you are aware. The Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, resides in Istanbul. For years, since the take over of what was the holy city of Constantinople the patriarch and his church has been a constant presence. Every year, for centuries there have been pogroms of Christians. Today it is still commonplace for Priests to be murdered and beheaded, it happens every year that a lay Christian is murdered. My point is that what has been going on for centuries has nothing to do with a mythical 'far right' but it has everything to do with Islam and its vilification of both Jews and Christians. In fact, in Turkey, the Jews are not persecuted because there are non. They all left for Israel and safety.
HM Treasury mandarins warned that making public information from the "comprehensive" analysis of China's influence in Britain could wreck trade and investment links.
Oh dear.
The Prime Minister is now under fire to reveal the full extent of China's stranglehold on Britain.
Why should he? The CCP are an ally and committed partner in "Five and half Eyes security" the intelligence alliance between five English-spleaking cookie boys.
Trigger warning: Incoming Bill Thomas joke about eyes.
Key Infrastructure and Utilities
Airports: The China Investment Corporation (CIC), a state-owned Chinese fund, holds a 10% stake in Heathrow Airport, a major aviation hub.
Energy:
The China General Nuclear Corporation (CGN) holds a significant stake in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
The CIC also has a stake in National Grid's gas distribution network.
Water: A company controlled by Hong Kong-based industrialist Li Ka-shing owns UK Power Networks (electricity distribution) and a large stake in Northumbrian Water (water supply). Thames Water also has Chinese investment.
The state-owned Huaneng Group funded and operates the Minety battery storage facility in Wiltshire.
Companies and Real Estate
Steel: The Chinese firm Jingye is the owner of British Steel.
Pubs and Retail: Chinese-owned firms have acquired large parts of the UK's pub sector, including the Greene King pub chain.
Real Estate: China has acquired hundreds of properties across Britain, including distribution centers vital to the supply chain.
Finance: Chinese investment has flowed into various sectors, including the fintech company Skyscanner and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Sports: Chinese investors own football clubs such as Wolverhampton Wanderers and a stake in Manchester City.
Commercial buildings: Chinese investors own several high-profile London skyscrapers, such as the Leadenhall Building ("The Cheesegrater") and the "Walkie-Talkie" building.
Automotive:
Geely, a Chinese automotive company, owns the London Electric Vehicle Company, which produces electric black taxis.
Geely also owns British sports car company Lotus
Education: Some independent schools in the UK are owned by Chinese companies, though this has led to debate regarding influence over the curriculum and free speech
Indeed.
However, it is worth noting with floating exchange rates the UK has.. for nearly forty years.. been swapping engravings of HM Queen & King for China goods.. day in day out, every year. That leaves the CCP with two choices; dig a hole and stash the £s, or spend it in the UK. They chose the latter.
The question now is; Can the UK buy up national infrastructure in China? Can you buy a property freehold? Answer: even the Chinese can't buy a freehold it's on a 70 year lease.
Summary: wake up time.
HM Treasury mandarins warned that making public information from the "comprehensive" analysis of China's influence in Britain could wreck trade and investment links.
Oh dear.
The Prime Minister is now under fire to reveal the full extent of China's stranglehold on Britain.
Why should he? The CCP are an ally and committed partner in "Five and half Eyes security" the intelligence alliance between five English-spleaking cookie boys.
Trigger warning: Incoming Bill Thomas joke about eyes.
Did anyone watch Question Time on the Beeb last night ?
We turned it off after five minutes.
Moh is so indifferent to everything now , his mind is totally fixated on golf scores and his handicap and getting out of bunkers properly without losing his cool .
The chap in charge of the Greens is powerful and a mind changer for another generation .. A Lord Haw Haw of extremism .. A very loud voice , and persuasive ..
It seems to me that the majority of the British public the Beeb chooses as an audience and panel are walking blindfold into disaster .
I suspect in a year or so, the Beeb will be inviting Hamas to sit on one of their panels .
walking blindfold into disaster .
You'll be surprised of the %.
Analysts reckon about 60% of the populace currently has the stigenace virus.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4aab59cded7c570b1dfa0a9e81b817a5c9ba96765e288f12ba99255418bd6f8b.png
Thanks to Stig, I learnt the Anglo-Saxon name for Stevenage.
stiþen āc – Pronounced stithen ak – place of the stiff oak.
Haven't watched it for years. In fact I never watch any telly these days. It's on in the background when OH is watching footie but that's all.
The QT audience always was chosen for its leftist bias.
Don't watch TV Belle. I delight in getting their demands to pay up and ignoring them. Looking forward to the day that one of their thugs comes to the door so I can let go a flood of abuse on the cheek of Commies demanding money for their propaganda tripe.
I still get the letters but no goon visits for about 15 years. I think I am on an avoid list. 🙂
I see the Starmerites are trying to claim some of the glory for the Gazan peace deal:- https://x.com/BeardedBob7282/status/1976543658238177508
That's today's "odious sycophant" award sorted!
They are desperate, aren’t they?
Note to the mods, we appear to have two pages today. This one has the most posts.
Delete Thursday's page, sos.
The link to the other Friday page is visible on this one and vice versa
Now that's what I call Deja Preview!
Morning sosage and all!
Apropos the Gaza peace.
I wonder if it occurs to Starmer, Macron, Carney et al that their recognition of a non-existent Palestinian state has almost guaranteed future conflict? A Hamas Palestinian state requires the destruction of Israel.
My money is on aid being converted into arms while Gaza is rebuilt and that it will all kick off again.
Probably sooner rather than later, i.e. before new Gaza is complete.
But now in blood and battles was my youth,
And full of blood and battles is my age,
And I shall never end this life of blood."
[Matthew Arnold: Sohrab and Rustum]
Peace returns – perhaps only temporarily – after the epic battle in which the father, unknowingly kills his own son.
There has always been strife in the Middle East – we are naïf to think that it will not return.
Brendan O’Neill
What will the Israel haters do now?
10 October 2025, 5:45am
https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GettyImages-1813401864.jpg
Normal people are cheering the prospect of peace in Gaza. Some might even raise a glass to Donald Trump for his valiant efforts to end this horrible war Hamas started. But there are others who will be feeling forlorn. The anti-Israel mob, to be specific. Won’t you spare a thought for this tragic community that built its entire personality around hating Israel – what are they going to do now?
There is an eerie silence in anti-Israel circles this morning. The people who spent the past two years hollering ‘Ceasefire now!’ seem strangely downbeat about the prospect of a ceasefire. No doubt that’s partly because they would rather eat hot coal than credit Trump with a geopolitical win. But it’s also because they feel the rug of relevance being pulled from under their feet. The brutal truth: peace will rob them of purpose.
It’s been clear for some time now that the fashionable animus for Israel is more than a political position – it’s a religious crusade. These people see Israel not only as a nation fighting a war they don’t like, but as a demonic entity, uniquely barbarous, the poison in the well of humanity. Israel has become a Satan substitute for a godless activist class, the devil against which they measure their own decency. If this war ends, so might their false religion.
They wear the holy garments of Israelophobia so that others will know the depth of their devotion to the cause: the keffiyeh around the necks, the Palestine flag draped like a pashmina over their shoulders. They repeat Israelophobia’s mantras, with little thought but great bombast. Witness how ‘From the river to the sea’ usurped ‘Trans women are women’ as the mating call of woke’s true believers.
They have their ritualistic ceremonies. A solemn march every weekend, the purpose of which is less to shape events in the Middle East – as if – than to make a spectacle of their own ethical rectitude. There is a millenarian feel to these depressing weekly trudges. At some they’ve even held up baby dolls wrapped in bloodstained shrouds to let the world know Israel is a baby-killing machine. It’s a grimly medieval ceremony masquerading as political activism.
Perhaps the most dangerous thing for the genuflectors to Israelophobia is that Trump’s peace deal shatters the founding lie of their fake faith – namely that Israel is hell-bent on genociding the Palestinian people. In truth, Israel has signed up for a deal that envisions a ceasefire soon and which expressly says that not one Palestinian will be forcibly expelled from Gaza. And so their church crumbles under the weight of its own calumnies.
If the deal works, if Trump and Israel bring peace and banish the anti-Semites of Hamas from public life in Gaza, what will these people do? How will they get their moral kicks? By what means will they advertise to the world their implacable virtue? What will occupy their every waking thought and inform their every political utterance if not that dastardly Jewish State and its ‘genocide’?
Think of poor Sally Rooney – will she now have to pontificate on some other global calamity? Sudan, perhaps? Or, indeed, the Irish government, which is maniacally obsessed with Israel – will it now have to worry its empty head about more trifling matters, like Ireland’s housing crisis and migrant crisis? And the keffiyeh classes, those turbo-smug appropriators of Arab headgear who you see in every coffee shop and art gallery – which garment will they don now to let onlookers know how amazing they are?
And poor Greta! She’ll have to go back to talking about climate change, won’t she? Having failed to ‘Save Gaza’, she’ll have to content herself with that oh-so-Nineties mission of saving the planet. Boring! One thinks, too, of the YouTubers who have monetised their hatred for Israel, spending every hour of every day slamming the Jewish State for clicks and bucks. Blessed be the peacemakers, sure, but won’t someone think of the videomakers?
I, personally, am looking forward to the looming crisis of meaning among a left that foolishly and feverishly devoted itself to hating Israel. In the absence of this infernal war, these people will be forced to peer into the cavernous depths of their own souls. They will have to shake themselves back to reality, leave behind their half-formed faith, and re-engage with the world anew. It will be tough, but it will be good for them. And for the rest of us too, who might finally be spared their anti-Israel caterwauling.
Of course, there’s another possibility – that they will double down. That they will carry on traipsing against Israel, zombie-style, even when peace descends. Indeed, Your Party, the Zarah Sultana/ Jeremy Corbyn freakshow, is advertising a march in London this weekend. ‘We march on’, the flyer says, ‘until apartheid falls’. For two years, they screamed ‘Ceasefire now!’ – so why are they still marching? I’m tempted to go and laugh from the sidelines. Who’s with me?
*************************
Marius
2 hours ago
if Trump and Israel bring peace and banish the anti-Semites of Hamas from public life in Gaza, what will these people do?
We are a long way off peace (as opposed to a ceasefire) and the end of Hamas. My suspicion is that Hamas will agree to stand down, to be replaced a something hailed as peaceful and democratic, which will turn out to be Hamas 2.0.
I suspect the protestors, in the UK at least, will turn on the 'fascists' of Reform, as that will be the logical way to keep the interests of Islamists and the hard left aligned. I sincerely hope Nigel is taking precautions.
T X
2 hours ago
No doubt that will keep protesting against Israel. Maybe even harder. It was never about pro Palestine. It was all about Israel hate. So it will go on.
The Neo-Marxist Left is a religion, a Gnostic cult. This is why it always get weird with them. O'Neill is picking up on it here.
I'm sure the Doom Goblin's parents are scanning world affairs for their next nice little earner.
The other thread is now closed.
In a startling revelation that challenges prevailing narratives of ecological catastrophe, a landmark new study finds that the Amazon rainforest's iconic trees are not just surviving in an era of climate change, but are actively thriving.
The research published in the journal Nature Plants represents the work of nearly 100 scientists from more than 60 international universities. By meticulously tracking changes in 188 plots of pristine, intact forest across the vast Amazon basin over 30 years, the team discovered a consistent and remarkable trend.
Average tree size, a measure known as basal area, has increased by approximately 3.3% per decade. This finding indicates a fundamental shift in forest structure, driven by the abundant availability of a key resource for plant life. (Related: “Climate Change: The Facts 2017” challenges the prevailing narrative and encourages a more nuanced debate about climate change.)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-02097-4 .—
https://www.naturalnews.com/2025-06-08-book-questions-prevailing-narrative-on-climate-change.html ,….
In the ever-evolving debate about climate change, few voices have been as persistent and provocative as that of climatologist Patrick J. Michaels. His latest book, "Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media," has sparked a contentious debate, challenging the prevailing narrative about global warming.
Published at a time when climate change dominates headlines and political agendas, Michaels' work questions the very foundations of what we think we know about the planet's changing climate. Through a close analysis of scientific practices, political influences, and media portrayals, Michaels argues that the narrative around global warming is not only exaggerated but also distorted by the very institutions that claim to provide clarity and solutions.
Michaels quickly focuses on the culture of hype that pervades the field. According to Michaels, the competitive nature of scientific funding creates an environment where alarmist predictions are often prioritized over more measured assessments. This, he argues, leads to a cycle of distortion, where the most extreme scenarios receive the most attention and funding.
https://climatealarmism.news/2025-09-16-meltdown-patrick-michaels-uncovers-global-warming-controversy.html
In a landmark decision that signals a dramatic shift in national energy policy, Italy’s government has approved legislation to revive nuclear power after more than three decades of stagnation.
On Thursday, Oct. 2, the country’s Council of Ministers gave the greenlight to the bill – with the bicameral Italian Parliament approving it in the coming months. The move, championed by Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, aims to secure Italy’s energy independence while meeting climate commitments through advanced reactor technologies.
The enabling bill lays the groundwork for a National Program for Sustainable Nuclear Energy, marking a decisive break from past referendums that rejected atomic power in 1987 and 2011. According to Brighteon.AI‘s Enoch engine, Italy had operational nuclear power plants until 1990, when all reactors were shut down following the 1987 referendum. The country currently imports nuclear-generated electricity, but has no active domestic nuclear power plants.
Rome’s pivot toward nuclear energy aligns with broader European trends, where nations like France, Poland and Hungary have doubled down on atomic power as a low-carbon solution to rising electricity demands. The Italian plan focuses on next-generation reactors – including Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), microreactors and fourth-generation fission – while also investing in nuclear fusion research. Government projections suggest nuclear could supply up to 22 percent of Italy’s electricity by 2050, slashing decarbonization costs by €17 billion ($19.96 billion) and reducing reliance on volatile fossil fuel markets.
https://rmx.news/article/italy-moves-to-revive-nuclear-power-with-landmark-bill/.–
https://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica-economica/l-italia-torna-nucleare-ecco-piano-2545710.html.—-
Teacher indoctrination is a threat to education, highlighting the ethical responsibility of educators in their education. Education and indoctrination are opposites. One way to deepen our understanding of education is to study indoctrination as a pedagogically antagonistic socio-educational phenomenon. This is a way of producing knowledge that differs from the usual Western approach, traditionally focused on the positive and desirable qualities of human beings and society.
The most paradigmatic cases of indoctrination occur when states, religious groups, etc., use force and manipulation to induce people to accept their ideology. This ideology is not necessarily political, although it has been shown that autocratic governments lend themselves to greater political conditioning than democratic states. Indoctrination of all types should be avoided: religious, national, cultural, military, sexual, scientific, etc. The teaching of certain social norms and values (content, doctrine) does not necessarily lead to indoctrination if there is no intention and the content is open to debate and critical thinking.
Unfortunately, formal education today includes very little original research by students, nor development of critical thinking, nor cultivation of original intellectual synthesis, nor defense of individual intellectual sovereignty. In a better world, educational systems would focus much more on these aspects. Students need to be taught to inquire, question, and analyze, rather than repeatedly inculcated with approved ideas.
Teaching these days is indoctrination.
"PANDEMIC PREPARATION" – A GOVERNMENT PROTECTION FAILURE–SASHA LATYPOVA, Meryl Nass.—– The good folks at the U.S. Department of Defense are here to "protect" you from the future. Meet Colonel Matt Hepburn, who in 2020 is leading an effort for the Department of Defense called Enabling Technologies.
Enabling Technologies is rapidly developing new vaccines and treatments against future (!) infectious disease challenges. The first thing Matt needs is for you to be worried. Emotional. Panicked. Afraid of the little things. Especially little unseen things. Suspected case on campus! Uncertainty. Anxiety. Worst-case scenario. Ventilators. Please turn off your brains and be afraid, okay?
https://merylnass.substack.com/p/pandemic-preparedness-a-government?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=746368&post_id=103095009&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email
Is this the Guillermou page?
If he keeps it up i'm going to blank him.
This is not a name or a word that I am familiar with so I had to look it up:
Guillermo name meaning and origin:
The name Guillermo originates from the Germanic name Wilhelm, composed of two elements: 'wil' meaning 'will' or 'desire' and 'helm' meaning 'helmet' or 'protection'. This combination creates the meaning 'resolute protector' or 'determined guardian'. As the Spanish variant of William, Guillermo emerged during the medieval period when Germanic names spread throughout Europe following the fall of the Roman Empire.
Guillermo gained particular prominence in Spain and Spanish-speaking regions through historical influence. The name's journey from its Germanic roots to its Spanish form reflects the cultural exchanges that occurred across Europe during the Middle Ages, especially through royal lineages and the nobility who often adopted names with strong martial connotations. The name has maintained its popularity throughout the centuries, appreciated for its strong etymological significance and dignified sound.
I assumed from the avatar it was the name of a sailing ship. It copies and pastes large amounts of text on various sites.
Talking of sailing ships I love this song of Ralph Mc Tell's about the ship, Peking
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoolPwZ8Kz0
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d23cbdccfc42ce86078013bfdaa04f8022938af2178f8c462e72511d32ae9350.png
Sounds like it is the Spic for 'Billy'.
Billy Bunter? (Good morning, btw, Grizzly.)
Yarooooo ……
Billy Bunter? (Good morning, btw, Grizzly.)
A diminutive of Billy – Little Willy?
They marketed a cream goat's cheese in France which they called Petit Billy – rather absurd when it is the nanny not the billy who produces the milk!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e0bc402abdcc8e13f8327d483471390cc95a567ded0ba78163fe4af9e34d1101.png
🤣🐐
French cognate "Guillaume" happen to know because an aunt gave the name to her son. He goes by the rather splendid moniker of
Guillaume Alejandro Baronovski.
Kevin Stroud (History of English) podcast had any interesting episode yonks ago about how we got “W” and the Frogs got “Gu”
He's at with the same copy paste text over at the Parish of Free Speech Backlash.
And TCW.
Fancy that.
Interesting snippets and links.
Gets tedious as he copies and pastes with no comments on various sites.
I’ve only noticed him here.
It’s certainly an odd approach, but most of the stuff I’ve seen has been OK and not utterly off topic.
He has several sock puppet uptickers.
Wordle No. 1,574 3/6
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Wordle 10 Oct 2025
Well done, a 'phew' moment for me.
Wordle 1,574 6/6
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩
⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Is it 5.00pm already?
'Early' par here……
Wordle 1,574 4/6
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcFtVCn-ZZI
Odds slashed on Trump winning Nobel Peace Prize
Faked image showing US president wearing overlarge Nobel medal posted online by Israel
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/10/09/odds-slashed-on-trump-winning-nobel-peace-prize/
We shall see – but I am not confident that the MSM and the institutional left are prepared to eat so much humble pie and they will do all they can to stop it
BTL
Nothing and no-one is more belligerent, hostile, vindictive and aggressive than a left wing pacifist intent on generating hatred!
I suspect they will claim to have examined Trump's case. They will announce they will decide to wait until next year as it's too soon to be sure it worked.
In the sure and certain knowledge the ceasefire will break and he can be blamed.
Where is the last sentence from Rastus? I rather like that. And if it is you, well done!
Mine own.
OGGA1,
are we operating a comment overflow page ?
No, the other page is closed. Geoff had problems creating the new page today and a duplication happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFJ8uxRkeA4&list=RDrFJ8uxRkeA4&start_radio=1
Thank you Johnny. Listening now. You should make this your regular feature. A musical interlude. 😊😊😊
Seconded. BoB often posts nice stuff as well.
Keep an eye out.
I’ll keep an ear out instead 😁
EYE EYE.
https://x.com/snook_magg88153/status/1976561044035445230 Males wearing nail varnish?
What standards? Don't see much evidence of them other than in PC harassments of innocent people making factual remarks about things the political masters of the police don't like.
Don't investigate them. Sack them! Then investigate the recruiting teams.
"They've just completed their policing degrees."
WTF is a "policing degree". When I decided to join, way back in Ted Heath's deplorable days of mismanagement (three-day-week etc) in November 1973, all I needed to do to join up was:
● Not have any criminal record. ✔️
● Be fit, healthy and strong [just finished seven years working with steel in a fabrication workshop]. ✔️
● Pass a written dictation test. ✔️
● Pass an IQ test. ✔️
● Pass a medical examination. ✔️
● Give the correct answers to the Deputy Chief Constable, on interview for recruitment, when he tested you with hypothetical scenarios you might come across on duty. ✔️
Strong, honest, fit and not stupid. You're in — but only for basic training.
Two years later, after proving your worth on the streets, you are accepted.
I expect none of that applies these days. The right answers will be woke.
Coloured nail varnish on a man is making a statement.
Clear nail varnish on a man after a manicure is good grooming.
I chose the wrong page earlier on. 🙃 Life can be confusing.
https://x.com/EnglishLaydee/status/1976374594266345508
Of course they are supervised – slammers in charge supervise slammers. Job done.
When one has no skills at all, anyone who flips a burger looks skilled.
I wonder what jobs other than being a civil servant those handing out the visas have undertaken.
700 strong (at the last count) Muslim Network in the Home Office.
Perhaps they meant 'skillet' workers.
Out of the frying pan into the hire…
But maybe they can keel a few pots as Greasy Joan used to do when it got a bit nippy.
Muslims handing out visas to Muslims?
Exactly.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e9b375d86817da837fa6280ea3ce2cd24422577538ac7118788838b08f644e7.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d37419dc986876dcb652d3ddbfff5c4dc4938684e57c0d567beeb436d208bb3.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8bca1c069066047e5a5fd4afc9b0e11b96b7f09fa2bf32d8f13e21f496694bb2.jpg
Shirley Knott.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a7238fc1b3e95dac6a874aacc9f98b71171952fa05630b73579dbf26489d0b96.jpg Some of you will find this useful!
I repeat my earlier post. On another Friday page!
Good morning, all. Sunny. Chilly. Still is chilly…
How on earth does this "doubling" of pages happen? Just asking. Best to delete (or close) th other one.
They've already done so.
But how does it happen? I think we should be told! Is there an infiltrator??
Probably in the same way that comments appear more than once because of a disqus glitch saying they are having a problem posting the comment, try again, yet the comment has been posted.
Scrapping stamp duty will stimulate Britain’s flagging economy.
SIR – Scrapping stamp duty on primary residences, as Kemi Badenoch has promised to do (report, October 9), will likely push up house prices – but it will also free up the housing market.
Today, a retired couple in their family home won’t downsize because they face a large stamp duty bill when they do. Removing this obstacle will benefit the economy as a whole. Young families will be able to move up the housing ladder and older people will more easily move sideways or down. This creates activity where there is currently stagnation.
The Labour Party will probably argue that this proposal only benefits the rich. This misunderstands the benefits that society as a whole reaps from activity in the housing market.
Let’s hope eliminating this tax is just the start of Mrs Badenoch’s plans.
Iain Stewart
Setúbal, Portugal
SIR – Stamp duty raised £11.6bn between 2023-24. Given the dire financial straits the UK is in, where will the funds be found to replace this “black hole” if the tax is abolished?
Simon Paynter
Brede, East Sussex
Scrapping the fucking Labour Party will do a much better job at stimulating Britain's flagging economy!
What I don't understand is why people are whittering on about what Kami and the Konservatives are going to do. It's pretty obvious that excluding some truly cataclysmic disaster, Reform is the next government. People should be putting pressure on them, not on the has been's of the legacy party. Where is a manifesto of promises, a pledge of what they are really going to do. If they are going to deport, how? If they are going to do something about Islam, how? What are they going to do about the Swamp, the bureaucracy that really controls what goes on in this country? And etc, etc, etc, the list is long and I have seen few, if any real answers.
JR, whilst Reform are talking re policies, pledges etc. Lowe's Restore have been busy putting together their plan for mass deportation. In Lotus Eaters' podcast No 1270, co-author of the plan, Harrison Pitt joins regular members to discuss the published plan. Detail on the repealing of legislation is interesting and must have taken an age to research.
An earlier podcast discussed the position of Reform and how the latter has to start generating plans, policies and, if they really are serious about becoming the next government, getting some heavyweight characters, political and otherwise, on board now.
Pootling along at the top of the political polls is all very well…
Lotus Eaters 1270
Thanks Korky. I don't think I have seen this particular episode of the Lotus Eaters, will go and look after finishing this comment. I am a member of 'Restore' and 'Advance' but I don't think Ben is going to be in a position to serious threaten Reform. Would help tremendously in my opinion if Ben and Rupert made common cause. Ne reason that I can see why Restore couldn't continue as the think tank for Advance or anyone else who wanted to make use of its findings.
Reform won’t work with anyone else. Of all the right leaning parties they were the only ones to refuse when invited. Says it all.
I think that actually boils down to Farage wont work with anyone else. I suspect most people are well disposed to working with others, including Tommy Robinson for that matter.
A politician's promise will dissipate as quickly as a puff of smoke in a gale when power is in his/her grasp.
Morning, Grizz.
Morning, Korky. Never a truer word spoken there.
My favourite politicism (i.e. load of cobblers) is the word "pledge". You know whenever it is spouted that it will never come to pass.
Wasn't pledge some form of spray polish?
Furniture polish, Paul.
In spray form in the UK; just a bottle of liquid here in Sweden.
So, it does have some use!
Like tears in rain?
Aha, good one! Apt for wet Tories.
Dear Simon Paynter
The
Laffer
Curve
Love
Mir
I expect Mr Paynter lives in rented accommodation.
Bog standard foursome: Not bad though:
Wordle 1,574 4/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Two things in the paper to make me even more depressed today.
The Marxist Phillipson has stopped the payment of a modest fee to state schools that follow the International Baccalaureate exam programme. Sheer evil vindictiveness and an attack on excellence.
Woke Willie is to save the planet by flying to Brazil for a "Climate change" jolly. And will make a speech – which has agreed, apparently, with the JWK.
Not to mention Brash and Trash's world humanitarian award.
I couldn't find out from the article who is sponsoring the award.
I believe it was “Project Healthy Minds”
https://www.projecthealthyminds.com
I heard on Talk yesterday, that the Brazilians chopped down large swathes of Amazonian rainforest to make way for a 4 lane highway, so the gazillions of visiting delegates could get from the airport that little bit quicker! How green was my valley…..!🤦🏻♀️
I do hope the Swedish Muppet joins them – walking all the way, of course.
That was in the 'news' a few months ago. Obviously plenty of rainforest so it doesn't matter if they chop a few miles of it down for a conference.
And there are 670 British delegates going this November! Why??
Well they'll all have a fun time at our expense and achieve absolute zero.
Net Zero?
No. Just achieve nothing.
Free holiday?
Yurse! All those spads and experts need a break….
That's a lot of aeroplane seats, taxis, trains, hotels…
Not the only shaving they indulge in.
They've razed a landing strip for the delegates?
So I’ve heard…
Aha …… found it.
Bring back the quill pen.
Phew!
5 x concrete blocks lugged to where they are going to be stored for the foreseeable future and 6 x bags filled each with 5 shovels of sand and ready for hoiking on top of the woodstack and taking up ready for tipping into the mixer when required.
19 blocks and a tad under half a builder's bulk bag of sand still to shift.
I want the blocks shifted by close of play to give me space to get logs sawn for refilling the wood-stacks once we start burning wood, but the sand can stay where it is for now.
I think I need to take my fleece lined shirt off when I restart work.
Also have a load of fallen apples to sort out and press for juice.
How do you prevent the apple juice turning a sickly brown colour?
Drink it!
Or you can pasteurise it.
Exclude oxygen. Fill the containers right up.
lemon juice stops apples from browning.
Morning all. Gloomy day here in West Sussex, rain later apparently but at least it isn't freezing.
Most important news to day is not in the Telegraph, as far as I can ascertain. It is that President Xi has had a stroke in the last 24 hours and been rushed to hospital. How convenient! Said a couple of weeks ago he was on his way out and during the forth plenum, which is this month, he would be replaced. Why that is particularly good is he will be replaced by Wang Yang, his position in the hierarchy is frankly confusing and I'm not sure what he is at the moment. He seems to be retired but powerful, for want of a way of putting it. Was Vice President. Anyway, this is good because he is a proponent of the free market and a political liberal. He seems to think that the CCP has hit the end of the road and it is time for the party to gradually loosen its power. So, if true, all round good news for all of us, not just China. Major threat to peace is possibly over and, of course, it means peace for Taiwan.
Nothing in the MSM about this.
Unfounded Xi Jinping ‘Stroke’ Rumors Fanned by Russian Media
https://www.newsweek.com/unfounded-xi-jinping-stroke-rumor-fanned-russian-media-1927416 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5040330f23edb6b74cff3f3efad93805f32024c31ea345b580b0402e84ee8eea.png
This woman is never mistaken. She is 100% reliable due to her connections in China and she has the information from three separate sources that don't know each other.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdwHMookiK4
Newsweak are on a par with the bBC or CNN.
6pm Hong Kong time. (yesterday).
Don't forget he's had two heart attacks already.
6pm Hong Kong time. (yesterday).
Don't forget he's had two heart attacks already.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to a Venezuelan called Maria Corina Machado. Who she? Does anyone know? Does anyone care? The Nobel Committee have given the prize to so many warmongers and terrorists that I’m inclined to think the worst.
Morning, Sue.
I hold the Nobel Prize Committee in the same contempt as:
The World Economic Forum
The United Nations
The World Health Organisation.
The Labour Party.
The Harvard University School of Medicine/Public Health
Ansel Keyes
Vegans.
Socialists
Arthur Askey.
Good morning, Grizzly
I was never a fan of Arthur Askey but is there anything specific that you have against him?
Good morning, Rastus.
I just picked someone randomly from my childhood who I couldn't stand at the time. Askey fitted the bill.
[Having said that, I did enjoy Askey's ice-cream wafers and cones (the biscuit bit).]
If I didn’t correct my typos, directly after I’d made them, then ALL my text would resemble Finnish, Hungarian or Esperanto!
There is a movement, among many scholars, to abolish ‘whom’. I hasten to add that I am not part of it!
I knew someone who spoke Esperanto like a native…
I’m bi-lingual – I speak English and perfect bullshit.
Might it be this?
https://youtu.be/OockiHUZfiA?si=pVoCM3VXIQIS2Zrd
Obviously a founder member of the BBCLGBT Association.
He seems somewhat effeminate – but maybe he is just sending up homosexuals?
Where's me washboard?
Arthur Askey could be quite a nasty sod with anyone he thought was about to upstage him.
The Nobel Peace prize has about the same relevance as peerages and knighthoods issued by our government.
It saddens me that the Nobel Committee are based in Norway… and have seen fit to expose their Trump Derangement Syndrome for all to see.
https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/press/press-releases/nominations-for-the-nobel-peace-prize-2025
On this basis, Trump's efforts to secure peace would need to have borne fruit by the beginning of this year and certainly no later than February. I think it too soon to judge the success or otherwise of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement, although it should be much clearer by this time next year. I certainly think he should be nominated for 2026 but, for 2025, he ought to be judged on his previous record as peacemaker.
Looks as though people were jumping the gun a bit if the winner had already been chosen – but perhaps he'll be in the running next year.
If he achieves a peace deal in the Ukraine. That was why many voted for him.
People don't actively seek these honours. They are thrust upon them.
Dame Edna always discouraged applause for her bridesmaid, citing that it only encouraged her. Maybe we should adopt the same attitude with Trump.
Thanks.
Trump was reported as wanting to put heavy tarriffs on Norway is he wasn't nominated, but that's likely the Trump Derangement Syndrome propaganda as well.
If true, it would be highly petulant. The Nobel committee is nothing to do with the Norwegian state or its people.
Indeed. I decided it was yet more TDS from the right-on folk at the newspaper.
She's quite a figure in Venezuela and Latin America as part of the Venezuelan opposition
Trump's Gaza Deal has only just begun and isn't finished until it's over. We'll wait and see. Maybe next year they might give him a prize. Or maybe not.
Most people would be humbled by receiving such an honour. I don't think such emotions form part of the Trumpy style
Opposition leader.
A fair question? https://x.com/BeardedBob7282/status/1976580124184301722
These people are in our midst, there are women in the UK very much like her. Until we have dealt with them, made common cause with Israel, we will never have peace.
https://www.memri.org/reports/islamists-uk-espousing-pro-hamas-jihadi-and-antisemitic-ideology-calling-annihilation-israel
She seems a reasonable lass.. let's sit down and have a chat about integrating into the British way of life.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/96729fc769fdec821d7e59cd77d53f7d5a0ac970e3756e5a4eb5100d22784423.jpg
My father-in-law used to say there are four types of people:
a) The intelligent who are the lazy;
b) The intelligent who are industrious;
c) The idiots who are the lazy;
d) The idiots who are industrious.
and it is s those in d) who wreak the most damage.
Reminds me of the categorization used back when I worked in the car industry to assess accident risk.
There were drivers who who aware of whar was around them.
There were drivers who were unaware,
There were drivers who were passive/non aggressive
There were drivers who were active/aggressive.
Needless tio say, the active but unaware group were most likely to cause accidents,
Reminds me of the categorization used back when I worked in the car industry to assess accident risk.
There were drivers who who aware of whar was around them.
There were drivers who were unaware,
There were drivers who were passive/non aggressive
There were drivers who were active/aggressive.
Needless tio say, the active but unaware group were most likely to cause accidents,
'Morning All
"Millioaf killed them every one"
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8bf93052888254766b9b801b19a5d0bdd30ebd9a5cfc3b26ddc18c39ba29c077.png
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
They paved Paradise, put up a parking lot.
"Beauty in the eye of the beholder". I'm glad that I'm fairly normal in what "beauty" means: it isn't the crap that Miliband minor is forcing on our landscape and seascape.
From the Thames estuary to the Lincolnshire coast via Clacton-on-Sea, Cromer etc the wind farms destroy the view to the horizon. An empty horizon is much more preferable to gaze at that than the monstrosities planted there by governments.
Powerful article. Thanks for posting.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/nobel-peace-prize-goes-maria-corina-machado-despite-calls-trump-receive-award
It was never going to go to Trump.
1 TDS
2 They know that Hamas will break the truce.
Ah.. of course everyone knows. But it's there for all to see in b&w.
The question that begs to be asked in QT, on MSN, on every chat show..
You do realise we are all in the middle of an urban Jihad in real time on our smart phones..
You do realise they are sayin behind your back in every mosque in every city up & down the country.. "Bide your time.. read your Koran.. get good jobs.. enter the offices of the state the caliphate will come."
You do realise.. you are funding this madness..
You do realise.. Muhammad was an Islamist..
I am currently reading “Hurricane “ and The attitude of the government in the thirties reminds me of the attitudes towards islam today.
I read that nominations for the prize have to be in early in the year anyway.
For now, Trump has got an agreement, but before he could be nominated, wouldn't this cease fire have to last and lead to peace?
Apparently the committee can accept nominations after the cut off date.
You learn something every day. Thanks.
Trump was definitely too late for 2025.
https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/press/press-releases/nominations-for-the-nobel-peace-prize-2025
I think the ceasefire will be measured in days rather than months or years. Every time Israael has agreed to a ceasefire previoiusly, the Palestinians have broken it.
It’s in their murderous DNA.
They never respect it, not ever, and the Israelis bake this in to any plan made. But there are lines that are not to be crossed.
If I were POTUS Trump, I wouldn't wish to join the ranks of Al Gore and Obama!
This Norwegian Nobel Nonsense is an attempt to expiate the Evils of Alfred Nobel's explosives!
Rather like our ‘honours’ lists – too frequently awarded to the undeserving.
Speaking of undeserving, I read that the Harkles have been given some sort of ‘humanitarian of the year’ award.
I have strong doubts that there are 20 + living hostages. I note that some of their spokesman are saying it will take weeks or months to gather the bodies of the dead hostages. More delaying tactics.
I think you're right, I made a similar comment elsewhere and also that Israeli bombing will be blamed.
If the peace holds he may win it next time.
Good morning, all. Overcast earlier but brightening up.
Statins: good or bad? I gave up taking this medication years ago after discovering what their effect could be on my body. My GP did not comment when I told him I no longer wanted the medication.
The debate continues. Plenty of information under the "Show more" link.
https://x.com/ValerieAnne1970/status/1976525994170163642
The doctor prescribed them for my wife, she never took them, and the doctor didn't press the matter
My husband was prescribed them after his heart surgery but I persuaded him to drop them last year.
Yes I persuaded my wife. But it’s always a responsibility especially as I’m not a doctor and only know what I read.
If you want the truth about cholesterol and statins, please google Dr Stephanie Seneff. She has conducted research over a number of years.
If you read her research you will stop taking statina as I did.
I've only once had my cholesterol level measured and that was over 30 years ago at a works 'health' session. It was 5. I think the UK measurements are not the same as US ones.
Which is why I hate these figures being bandied about without the units!
Now there is a real national treasure.. of Australia.
Statins are dirt cheap compared to most prescription drugs.
In for another break.
Aforesaid bags of sand lugged up to worksite and the last 19 blocks either on top of the woodstack or alongside ready for hoiking into the woodstack.
As we have cream, now enjoying a cafetiere of real coffee and have just enjoyed last night's baked apple that I was too full for after my Aldi Meatballs and Spaghetti meal!
Doing "Mini Tandoori Chicken Pakoras" with rice and a Sharwood's "Dragon Kick" sauce. Tried their Kung Po sauce I found Yellow Flashed a while ago and found it was rather nice and akin to a spiced sweet and sour sauce.
Ocado had crab raviolo at 40% off so i am having that in brown butter and sage.
Let me know how it is. I need to do an order for next Wednesday.
Okay. The water is on.
With the discount i paid £3.84. Enough for four starters or two main course if served with garlic bread.
They were seriously good.
I am often tempted by their flash sales.
Thanks Pip. On my to order list.
That sounds rather good. Enjoy.
Thanks. We shall see. It does say Cromer crab so it should be okay.
Crab is in season right now.
Hope it was as good as it sounded.
At least with it being from Cromer, it should have been safe from contamination from invaders …..
My ex made me some sandwiches one day – they tasted awful so I asked her what was in them. She said "Crab paste" I told her it was horrible and asked where she got it . She replied "The chemist"
:-O>
Ha, ha!
Could you only afford one, or was it a huge one?
There are nine in the pack. I don't know why they called it raviolo. They are quite large though.
One could probably get away with serving one in a three course lunch.
"Off" no doubt being the operative word…
The use by date was 18th October.
2024
Stop being err, crabby..
That's a bit rich coming from someone who buys knock off cheeses.
Cheese is supposed to smell & taste off. And be blue at the same time. Not furry, though.
Hmmm – delicious they are, too.
I used to enjoy Cromer crabs when I lived nearby.
I suspect, like most seafood, they lose something with being frozen and transported for many miles.
The worst thing about supermarket crab is that it is pasteurised. Kills the flavour. Buy fresh off the boat and it tastes much better.
Yes its good to eat local when you can.
I had fish and chips (plebs me plus it’s Friday).
Yes indeed. We wouldn't want him weeping and peeing his panties again:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7a979f1884c7c4818ef0b6384488bdbcdabf3236a9745ea59b57c9b53898d7a6.png
Follow the money..
services rendered.. keeerching.. taking Qatar’s $.
This contains the clip of this odious pillock refusing to sing the National Anthem before an England football match
https://www.givemesport.com/why-gary-neville-refused-sing-national-anthem-playing-for-england/
Anti Xi camp say a Xi Jinping 'body double' will attend opening ceremony of Global Woman's Summit in Beijing in 3 days time to cover up ill health rumours.
"Why you kleep repleatin evleryfing I say?
.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/86e0e7089b61b22f203b4f2e23b1534250de6e6bffa19ebc313ce48ddcbd79bf.jpg
"Sirry breeding iriot" I remember the show
Is this true? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/f7n9os0Ab94?feature=share
I doubt it is true, it's been rumoured for years on and off. (ho ho)
Wouldn’t it be nice…
I would much rather hear that the BBC is to be shut down.
If the taxpayer funded arm is shut down, the commercial wing would still continue. For BBC Studios (formerly BBC Enterprises and latterly BBC Worldwide), its most successful brand is Bluey, which is not a BBC production. BBC Studios has the distribution rights. The format rights for Strictly have also been sold around the globe.
I have no problem with the bBC having a commercial arm. It's good business practice for when they go to subscription.
Bugger! 🤬
Agree Grizz. Getting rid of that propaganda channel should be a priority for any democratic party.
This is the first I've heard of Kay Burley's departure. I've since discovered she retired in February. I hadn't noticed.
https://news.sky.com/story/kay-burley-retires-from-sky-news-after-36-years-13303416
I understood that Sky Newz was kept on when Comcast became the new owners of Sky. Comcast were pressed to continue the news programming for 10 years as part of their deal. Sky Newz will be no more by 2028. It would be difficult to squeeze a cigarette paper between the output of Sky and the bBC. I expect the bBC will provide newz services via bBC Global News, which already supports many of the commercial broadcasters, though, in true bBCstyle, they omit bBC and label it simply as Global News
State school kids will pay for Labour’s International Baccalaureate crackdown
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/state-school-kids-will-pay-for-labours-international-baccalaureate-crackdown/#comments-container
Bridget Phillipson is evil – she is guilty of a nasty type of paedophilia – not necessarily sexual and physical paedophilia but a paedophilia which aims to harm children by deliberately eliminating all she can find that is good and encourages learning and individual aspiration.
She is clearly a foul sadist who gains a thrill out of inflicting pain on children.
I used to know an otherwise very nice person who was convinced that IQ doesn’t exist. He believed that there are just people who have the advantage of an expensive education and people who don’t. No hereditary or other elements, therefore if everyone has the same education there will be equality of outcome. It’s a crackpot theory of course but the belief was sincerely held. Sadly he is no longer with us. He was medicated for HIV and terrified of Covid.
A better education does improve your chances in life but there are some people who are either too thick to learn or just lazy. My mother had to show my father and two brothers how to sign their names on cheques.
Sorry about your friend.
And that, Sue, is the epitome of the "One Size Fits All" theories that have been behind the decline and collapse of our education system since the '60s.
That was the essence of the ol "nature vs, nurture arguments way back when.
I remember when Hans Eysenck came up with his study of IQ which indicated where higher qnd lower IQ's were to be found in terms of race and geography. He was beaten up for his views when he went to present at the LSE and there were death threats to his family.
The accepted "academic" view at the time was in favour of nurture – give everyone the same opportunities and education and they will all have the sane IQ. As you say, patently wrong, but a stalwart belief of the Left, and it apparently still is.
I had a state education but it was a good one. No family leg up.
It's clear that Starmer doesn't link what he said in the recent past, laughingly in the case of DID, it was necessary to stop illegal immigration. Now he has wedged the door to total control a bit wider. He really is useless, both as a politician and as a prime mover for dystopian control.
https://x.com/ArchRose90/status/1976376246507602139
A bit like a bank debit card, then?
Not exactly. Your debit card will allow you to pay for things if you have enough money to cover it, the DID is will stop you buying things the government doesn’t approve of.
true…
I see now that to open and comment on Friday's page you need to click on the new day that Geoff didn't open which is the one with more comments.
I see now that to open and comment on Friday's page you need to click on the new day that Geoff didn't open which is the one with more comments.
The price of gold has reached 4000 dollars per ounce. When I was young it was only 3.5 dollars per ounce. We couldn't afford it then and I can't afford it now. I have never owned any gold in my life – except perhaps on plated watches. Though I did find some specks of gold on a stone in the American river, downstream from where the Gold Rush started. What is driving the price of gold so high?
July 2023 a gold sovereign was £346.84
August 2024, £430.94
Current price £702.72
Wish I'd bought a load back when I couldn't afford it.
Oh, well.
I did. I have 400gms. Bought for £18,000 now valued at £38,612.
Smugness is my middle name. :@)
I have a double sovereign which I buried in some building work I did a few years back. Only I and anyone with a metal detector knowing where to look can find it, until dementia sets in and they carry me away.
Then it will be some lucky demolition contractor after I am gone, and they clear away my existence and it's spotted before it all ends up in the skip destined for landfill, such as my memory deserves.
The Eeyore gambler in me wishes I sank my life savings in gold, rather than in the savings account!
I once gave a sovereign to a former girlfriend when she was travelling around India, as a safeguard in case she got into trouble and needed money to get home safely. She sold it for £50!
I've 20, bought with £8,000 worth of hoarded fivers. I did have the idea of buying more, but at the current price I don't think I'll be able to.
The governments and banks are not trusted.
Garden calls – work to be done. Back later.
An interesting chart. You have to guess the result of the last one – Not easy!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b356547c312a7ca992a63dd4bed2f3203f6447754e7d27f4cf96355cdb4b7101.png
Let's eat. (I pinched that from my brother-in-law's parish magazine that suggested that all Jewish festivals comprise three parts:
1. They tried to wipe us out.
2. They failed.
3. Let's eat.
Israel may have won the Military War, but I'm afraid Hamas has won the Propaganda War.
Only amongst the pink haired, beardy weirdy, soy latte Guardianistas, and we all know they’re bonkers!
No I don't think so. Lots of very ordinary people here in Spain empathize with the Palestinian cause. And they never read the Guardian.
Spanish public TV constantly giving out propaganda about genocide.
On the 80th commentation of the liberation of one the German concentration camps they suddenly remembered the Spanish republicans who died in them and as an afterthought mentioned the 6 million other 'peopñe' who perished forgetting to mention they were Jews.
Hamas has certainly been winning these public sympathy battles.
But the Spaniards have always had a problem with the Jews! I hate to say it but my wonderful brother in law also has a problem, and he’s a very devout Orthodox Greek!
I would wait until the real figures come out about the deaths and the true state of affairs in Gaza, such as the population in themselves are happy to kill and commit terrorism. Then a lot of people will change their minds.
Somehow I doubt it. Some people never touch reality.
"Lots of very ordinary people here in Spain empathise with the Palestinian cause."
Is it 'cos they've all got Moorish blood running through their veins?
Well Grizz, they expelled the Moors in the 15th century and then at the end of the 16th century the Moriscos. Popular surname here in Valencia is Matamoros.
I think they have an old antipathy to Israel and the Jews, they tend to wallow in liberal compassion, one diputada even compared Gaza with the Basque country arguing that it was as if the central government had bombed and starved the Basques because of ETA. Hardly a valid comparison but it was made during a Parliamentary session.
More probable is the current government is more afraid of Islamic terrorism remembering the attack in Atocha in 2004. Condemn Israel and you can’t go wrong with the Moorish population.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wax15NklZh4
That’s why Italians from the north dislike Italians from the south. They always come out with that if you dig deep enough
But in Spain it’s not the Moors in the south. They were expelled. The culture from the south that is Andalucía is Gypsy.
Which proves that Grizzly has a point when he talks about the terminal stupidity of the human race.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d18a1f26a322397eb401a68f7882332b1e4b055e2806e0c9299d2bce2dd0a464.png
Some people might want to remind themselves that in a hole it's probably best to stop digging at some point?
BBC – "Former MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace is seeking up to £10,000 in damages from the BBC, claiming the broadcaster caused him "distress and harassment" by failing to comply with his request for copies of his personal data, according to court documents.
Wallace is taking legal action against the BBC and BBC Studios after being sacked from the cooking show in July. His dismissal followed a report that upheld more than 40 allegations about his conduct on MasterChef, including one of unwelcome physical contact and three of being in a state of undress. Wallace previously said he was "deeply sorry for any distress" he caused and that he "never set out to harm or humiliate"."
Did you ever hear of someone digging up something?
I seems that if you are in a hole it is possible.
A computer once said there could be two different NOTTL Fridays on the same day – I couldn't possibly comment!
I had difficulty up ticking this because my mouse kept jiggling around due to my laughing. Definitely my sense of humour Angie.
A bit blunt!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9a9f0242f5db9b989202b36739655b6110c1ac05edaf3702029427a89d886dc0.png
https://i7.cmail19.com/ei/j/18/C01/BCA/csimport/Screenshot2025-10-10at11.02.49.110300.png
So sweet…not.
Oi Bigots..
All apples are the same. You is well greenophobic.. Gary says so.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/f_Fdf626Ajw
He gets to the core of the matter.
You pipped me to the post!
He gives me the pip…
God didn't make the little green apples suggests that the devil did!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnhrBGzcN3Q
Good.
But he isn't long for this world
Good. It was outrageous that the judge convicted him in the first place. That judge should be removed and educated about Islam.
The impartial judge who referred to the koran, as the holy book! 😂
Bet an Islam follower would never be convicted for burning a Bible – or a copy of the Torah.
Is that the UK, US, or…?
UK
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15180897/Protester-Koran-conviction-appeal-win.html
Wow. Amazing. And good I hasten to add.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/10/10/sadiq-khan-from-the-river-to-the-sea-chant-not-anti-semitic/
Well! I’m totally amazed!
On the basis that the Arabs are also semites, it isn’t. Was he asked the right question. Does Sadiq Khan concede that it is an expression of Jew hate?
Does he hell!
If Keir Starmer was seriously against anti-Semitism then he would see to it that Sadiq Khan was taken to court for a hate crime. His home secretary should back him up.
If a housewife can be given a prison term of 31 months for a tweet she took down a few hours afterwards then surely Khan deserves a much longer sentence.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6sNOvZ6bg3Q?feature=share
Why does this bloke wear a hat indoors?
He's taking a lead from all those gormless Yanks who routinely wear a rounders' cap on their YouTube videos while screeching a vacuous, "Whaaaaazup, guys!" to everyone clicking on to the video.
My reaction is to immediately switch off.
“rounders’ cap back to front….”
Wearing one halves the IQ, back to front halved again, indoors, halved again
Even worserer.
I use a cat flap, me. Tweed, mostly. But not indoors.
I have four of those. A waxed-cotton Barbour; a tweed 'newsboy'; a light canvas summer version; and a wool winter version (with extendable ear-flaps).
Surely the last named is a deerstalker?
Because he has a head cold.
Because he’s uncouth.
"Will no one rid me of this
turbulentfacile priestess?"She wouldn’t have got the job if she hadn’t been right on woke. Being Christian would have prevented her selection.
Well, dinner was nice!
And I've just lugged 8 x blocks up to the storage area and hoiked another 8 on top of the woodstack ready for going up to storage.
Dinner tomorrow (at teatime) will be nice.
Two big, freshly-butchered, lamb shanks will be pressure-cooked in red wine, etc, until meltingly tender.😋
I leave meat uncovered in the fridge for a week before cooking.
We did that, but for a bit longer. As reported yesterday, there was a deal of turquoise fur involved… 🙁
It is also testament to how often you clean your fridge !!!
Don't understand the concept…
Failed Under Continuous Teasing?
;-))
It's what you do when looking for lost keys.
Penicillin?
I remember being served a large joint of roast chicken in a café at Aviemore (back in 1988). Underneath it was covered in blue fur! When I took it back they asked me to choose something else (no apologies). I chose a full refund. They demurred but I won (I always do).
Urgh!
These have been left uncovered for two days (since I bought them).
Ooo… my invite seems to have been lost in the post, Grizz!
I think you are building accommodation for illegals to occupy at the expense of the taxpayer…!
I feel exhausted just reading that!
And presumably never front to back.
Not unless pressing my eye to a telescopic sight.
https://twitter.com/RevBrettMurphy/status/1976669980998644209
Doubtless that will encourage further desecrations in other churches by
graffiti artistsmindless moronsMarcus was sounding off about that. He’s in Vienna this weekend to preach at the wedding of some friends of his. Their church below.
https://x.com/WalkerMarcus/status/1976559936084587002 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/191541a31118227c5a8c1722081267349861416d83e8e8139023f4a2643567b1.jpg
From my brief visit there last Saturday I noted Vienna too has succumbed to mindless graffiti….
Is it actually sprayed on? Vandalism of a protected building?
Words fail me!
On reflection, perhaps “forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do” might be appropriate.
Truly awful and shameful.
Wordle No. 1,574 3/6
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Wordle 10 Oct 2025
Lift for Birdie Three?
Par for me. Wrong choice.
Wordle 1,574 4/6
⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I've just experienced a massive deja vu – I'm sure you posted this (much) earlier today.
Unfortunately my response is that it's still a par……..
Wordle 1,574 4/6
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Yes – accidently – in my hunt for the 'Right Friday', GGGG!
Is that like like the hunt for red October?
Yes, but I'd hope a little less stressful……
Is Sean Connery there……..I'll get me coat…….
Yesh, Mish Moneypenny……
Thank you James, Kind Regards Jane x
Birdie here. Choice of three with two obvious words.
Wordle 1,574 3/6
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Well done, cori!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15181165/Transgender-group-vandalise-feminist-conference-Brighton.html
Delightful thugs, aren't they?
Why do we pander to them?
Quite.
They're the panderers
Toy Boy will announce another prime minister before 7 pm (UK time). He had a meeting with "the leaders of the main parties" – but excluded Mélenchon and Le Pen (whose followers represent about a third of all French voters).
Will the new premier be gone by this time next week?
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asterix-obelix-menir-ideafix-on-600nw-2552215447.jpg
Not if he or she has some Gaul…..
Surely the person should have all Gaul? 😀
Ah * …..
A couple of Muslims died and were mistakenly admitted to Heaven.
"Ah, souls"
As they walked through the pearly gates they spotted angels and said
"Ah, angels"
To which the angels replied:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdr61pyzxpgo
Another part of my youth leaves the stage. RIP John.
https://youtu.be/89ZQnWvWcAE?si=6LU_ZYwXDq5WVgoV
Fabulous stuff! We saw Justin Hayward playing in Edinburgh a few years ago. Magic voice!
So much talent…
He's got that little yodel in it, like American country singers. Qv:
https://youtu.be/w0q4CuYk2TE?list=RDw0q4CuYk2TE
Wonderful.
Good to see and hear, thanks Paul 🙂 x
Sorry to hear that, Pet, but my fave was Denny Laine (as posted above).
Mine too, but I thought it was sad with another oldie gone! I also loved Barclay James Harvest, but my darling husband always tells me they’re a tribute band to the Moodies! 🙄
That's the humping, hoiking and lugging done!
24 concrete blocks lugged up and stacked together with 6 bags of sand.
The apple pressing will hold off until tomorrow.
I think I'll be having a bath tonight!
Sounds like a good plan, BoB!
Humping… I say! No wonder you are knackered!
When I worked in Greenock, there was a distinction between humping and humphing.
I’m hoping there still is! Nice to see you, Mr Bee!
It’s a distinction I have always made, but so many others do not.
Been bizzee.
Good for you, honey!
Harrumphhh
Has he been doing a bit of Kipling?
The Camel's Hump
The Camel's hump is an ugly lump
Which well you may see at the Zoo;
But uglier yet is the hump we get
From having too little to do.
Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo,
If we haven't enough to do-oo-oo,
We get the hump-
Cameelious hump-
The hump that is black and blue!
We climb out of bed with a frouzly head,
And a snarly-yarly voice.
We shiver and scowl and we grunt and we growl
At our bath and our boots and our toys;
And there ought to be a corner for me
(And I know' there is one for you)
When we get the hump-
Cameelious hump-
The hump that is black and blue!
The cure for this ill is not to sit still,
Or frowst with a book by the fire;
But to take a large hoe and a shovel also,
And dig till you gently perspire;
And then you will find that the sun and the wind,
And the Djinn of the Garden too,
Have lifted the hump-
The horrible hump-
The hump that is black and blue!
I get it as well as you-oo-oo-
If I haven't enough to do-oo-oo!
We all get hump-
Cameelious hump-
Kiddies and grown-ups too!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5977607fc0f237ac1d8f20a04a94e7ad695cab7433ba744e3bd0068ccfd5e830.jpg
The sexual life of the camel,
Is stranger than anyone thinks,
At the height of the mating season,
He tries to bugger the sphynx,
But the sphynx, by the wisdom of Allah,
Stuffs its arse with the sands of the Nile,
Which accounts for the hump on the camel,
And the sphynx's inscrutable smile.
The sexual life of the ostrich,
Is hard to understand,
At the height of the mating season,
It buries its head in the sand.
And if another ostrich finds it,
Standing there with its ass in the air,
Does it have the urge to grind,
Or doesn't it bloody-well care?
The sexual life of the elephant,
Sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare,
With lots of roaring and screaming,
In order to get anywhere,
It's all done at a very high level,
With two years to get a result,
Any mating's a huge undertaking,
'Twixt two parties who rarely consult.
In the process of syphilization,
From the anthropoid ape down to man,
It is generally held that the Navy,
Has buggered whatever it can,
Yet recent extensive researches,
By Darwin and Huxley and Hall,
Conclusively prove that the hedgehog,
Has never been buggered at all.
We therefore believe our conclusion,
Is incontrovertibly shown,
That comparative safety on shipboard,
Is enjoyed by the hedgehog alone,
Why haven't they done it a Spithead,
As they've done it at Harvard and Yale,
And also at Oxford and Cambridge,
By shaving the spines off its tail!
So come on all you sailors,
To the occasion rise,
Just grab yourself a hedgehog,
And give it a real surprise,
The following simple instructions,
Will ensure that you do not fail,
Simply ream out its ass with a hose pipe,
And shave the spines off his tail.
My name, I shall tell you, is Cecil,
I cum from Leicester Square,
I go all around the place,
With flowers in my hair,
For we're all queers together,
That's why we go around in pairs,
For we're all queers together,
Now excuse us while we go upstairs.
I went for a ride on a choo-choo,
And found I had to stand,
A little boy offered me his seat,
So I went for it with my hand,
For we're all queers together,
That's why we go around in pairs,
For we're all queers together,
Now excuse us while we go upstairs.
It was Christmas Eve in the harem
The eunuchs all standing there,
A hundred dusky maidens,
Combing their pubic hair.
When along came Father Christmas,
Striding down the marble halls,
When he asked what they wanted for Christmas,
The eunuchs all answered, "Balls!"
Oh, the old men were having a birthday,
Standing at the bar,
Thinking about the old times,
Thinking back so far.
When along came a dusky maiden,
By Christ, she was so fair,
When she asked what they'd like for their birthday,
The old men all shouted, "Hair!"
Very comprehensive Grizz! You must have been a Rugger Bugger yourself! You've only left me with one;
I've got a friend called Basil
And he's got a friend called Bond
They're always seen together
They're known as Basildon Bond
And we're all etc etc
The sexual life of a bullfrog
Is stranger than anyone thinks
At the height of its mating season
It tries to bugger the sphinx
But the sphinx's anterior passage
Is full of the sands of the Nile
Which accounts for the snout of the bullfrog
And why it goes croak all the while.
Edit snout for croaks and snout etc
All you've done there is juxtaposed camel and bullfrog? (I've never heard the bullfrog version before).
Indeed.
I made a mistake, now edited.
It was "accounts for the snout on the bullfrog" etc
Seeing as Bullfrogs live in the US of A, it doesn't make any sense at all.
As you are aware, the authorised Camel version comes from The Book of Rugby Songs, Volume II.
The sexual life of a Grizzly
Is easy to comprehend
His favourite nightly companion
Is also his very best friend
Be it left hand or right hand, no matter
He'll tug on his foreskin all day
But the spurt of that squirt
Will go all up his shirt
'Coz women just don't want to play.
Steady Tiger………
PS Dont take the rise Grizz, he cant help it, bless him!!
That arrogant know it all, who can never resist the opportunity to tell us all how superior he is, needs challenging.
How often do you see a “whoosh” implying the rest of us are not on his “level”
How often do you see a ” the rest of the human race” followed by an insult where he is the exception?
Grizzly is a bully.
He hates it when anyone has the temerity to challenge him.
Once he even suggested he would discover where I lived and would visit, with the obvious implication.
You’ve not been on Nottle all that long.
A word of advice:
Grizzly never accepts he may be mistaken.
Calm down, sos!
We all have our little 'peccadillos' and I (and you, as I recall) can be as crabby as the next man.
I enjoy Grizzly's input and nobody should get too worked up about postings on this site (or indeed any other).
The two of you may well have 'previous' of which I am not aware, but, at the end of the day, life's too short.
You dont have to be bosom buddies, if necessary just ignore each other!!
PS apart from the potential inflammatory nature of that one, it's pretty bloody good!
Yes, I know it, it's kind of 'the Bible' for Rugby songs but they are dying out (some metro twats might think that a good thing).
I learnt all mine on coaches to away games, coming back after the game after having had a few (?) beers.
Latterly, the cost of coaches became prohibitive, so when we travelled away a few of the lads would drive (usually those who had company cars!) and get recompensed for petrol, at a fraction of the cost…..
Some had all their petrol paid for so they'd buy a couple of jugs of beer from the expenses when we got back. Everybody agreed however that we had lost something……
I expect you will be having a gallon of tea, too!
I wonder sometimes whether he doesn't bathe in tea…{:¬))
Doesn't want to be mistaken for a Brownie.
Only a pint mug together with a couple of my Aldi Special apples and one of my Egremont Russets
Bob, what will you do if a cardiac nurse tells you no heavy lifting for three months? They’ll need to strap you down!
Now don't get kinky on us.
I know you have recently had general anaesthetic but there is no call for that !
I had a general anaeshetic once whilst under a consultant surgeon but he didn't say anything like avoiding heavy lifting whilst under.
When I had my heart attack 5y ago I was building The Shed and had I'd just bought a load of wood to more or less finish it and carried up to "garden".
Consequently to took a bit longer to get it finished.
Must be something to do with shifting wood.
1,000 wheelbarrows full of wood shifted.
One coughing fit, one heart attack.
I'm still burning the wood, so it wasn't all bad.
Other than on the top level bit, a wheelbarrow is not very practicable. Too much up hill, lumps of rock and rough ground.
I had a small (10 m) slope which was easy with a run-up.
Less so as the rain came.
One barrowload gives me a day's wood for the two woodstoves.
I'm very lucky to have a lot of mature wood: oak, pine, chestnut etc that needs thinning for the newer trees. A decent sized oak from one of the coppices will give many months of burning and the remaining trees will give years and years of habitat..
Is that 10m long or a 10 meter vertical rise?
Long, the rise will have been 3 or 4, so not too bad.
In English:
The slope was about 10 yards long and the higher level was about 10 to 12 feet up.
It needed a “brace, charge and chase” to get the barrows to the top.
The track became very well marked and the “steps” created by numerous trips were well defined.
Hope you enjoyed the humping.😉
Who doesnt?…….
Dunno. I've quite forgotten!
OK, here's a good one for Nottlers!
A couple, both age 78, went to a sex therapist's office.
The doctor asked, "What can I do for you?"
The man said, "Will you watch us have sex?"
The doctor looked puzzled, but agreed.
When the couple finished, the doctor said, "There's nothing wrong with the way you have sex," and charged them £50.
This happened several weeks in a row. The couple would make an appointment, have sex with no problems, pay the doctor, then leave.
Finally, the doctor asked, "Just exactly what are you trying to find out?"
"We're not trying to find out anything," the man replied. "She's married and we can't go to her house. I'm married and we can't go to my house. The Holiday Inn charges £90. The Hilton charges £100. We do it here for £50…and I get £40 back from Bupa!"
Are you building the Hanging Gardens of Bonsall??
This popped back into my YT feed. From my youth…
Says it all for me.
I tried, my God, how I tried. And that was just the lyrics, not the music…
https://youtu.be/7WBpN1htubI?si=tzHTRtPGxkSsg7Wu
One of my favourites.
Caroline posted it on this forum on my birthday a couple of years ago.
This year she posted this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJWM5FmZyqU
You do like that one, dont you? I agree, it's terrific!
I never 'hated' them, Paul, but could never enjoy their stuff.
Nor I.
Evening all. Been busier today; did some work in the garden (dry and even sunny), planting bulbs and shovelling up the leaves for compost and either storing or covering the parasols ready for winter. Went for coffee and a catch up with a friend, which was very pleasant.
Lowering taxes generally would stimulate the economy, but such a sensible policy is beyond Labour.
That's me for today. Yet another barrow load of apples shoved onto the compost. A large container of kindling picked up and stored. The leaf mould frame moved. Fun that was – like fighting an eight-egged beast!
Time for a warming glass. Have a jolly evening being glad you are not French.
A demain.
I am always glad I am not French, Bill, dearly as I love my French friends.
Got it in one!
Each and every time I venture abroad, I'm spoken to by someone in French (which I don't speak), because I 'look French'. Perhaps like the bulldog, I'd like to own one of those.
Ditch the beret and onions.
That would be an idea if I was a man, mola…and rode a bike (my dad’s idea of teaching me to ride a bike was for me to get on the bike and then give me a big push, feet not even on the pedals…..)
My daughter has a very clear memory of the day that the training wheels were taken off and she was really bicycling . She was cycling happily around Bishop's Pond in Richmond Park ( originally a bomb crater apparently and circular) in ever decreasing circles. The end result was a summersault over the handle bars into the very very deep mud. Had to carry her, bawling her eyes out, and the bike back home. Unfortunately, her main memory is of my laughter.
Apparently I look Dutch.
Is it the clogs give you away, Conway 🙂 seriously…we’re all mongrels….
I actually do own a couple of pairs of Dutch clogs (I use them for gardening), but I wasn’t wearing them when I was asked if I came from the Netherlands.
The hat you were wearing, then? I have a condition loose joints can be painful but at least won’t get arthritis…wooden floor for first time here, I couldn’t walk after a few days…bought some FitFlop sandals, the ones with thick soft sole, have worn them daily ever since, very comfy.
That's capped today's thread…
Me too.
I've thrown away a load as well.
We walked past a house in Cartmel yesterday that had a big basket of apples and a small table with plastic bags and a sign saying 'Help yourself to the apples'.
I was quite impressed but I felt like adding to the sign 'Do you want any more?'……….
We have many, Scots Bridget good all rounder…cooks, cider, eater…also Ambleside pippins ….also hundreds of acorns, an exceptional season perhaps reflecting both the mild season and also the one we still have to live through……
https://cf.eip.telegraph.co.uk/responsive-image/content/2025/10/10/1760115010945.jpg
https://hs-146483074.f.hubspotemail-eu1.net/hub/146483074/hubfs/G24vtosXkAAEPZw.jpeg?width=1120&upscale=true&name=G24vtosXkAAEPZw.jpeg
Yvette Cooper spoke to the Today Programme about the Powell spy scandal. She was asked if the National Security Adviser was responsible for withholding evidence that would have branded China an enemy:
“Well, let me be clear that we know China poses threats to UK national security from things like transnational repression and espionage to hostile cyber activity as well… But you know that I am deeply frustrated about this case because I of course wanted to see it prosecuted. But ministers were not involved in any of the evidence that was put to the Crown Prosecution Service or the Crown Prosecution Services independent decisions because this was a criminal case.”
Insiders say that Olly Robbins’ FCDO and Powell have been pushing for closer economic ties and not to rock the boat with an ‘enemy’ designation. Starmer looks to have been kept in the dark. He also insisted ministers – and ministers only – were innocent yesterday. Powell in the firing line…
October 10 2025 @ 09:45
Olly Robbins, eh? Now where have i heard that name before in conjunction with treachery against GB?
'Arch' Remainer, opo…they walk among us, still.
He was Evila May's toyboy.
Something else that didn’t cross TT/FG/NH Kier’s desk?
Clown world —- Suicidal Empathy The Danger of Compassion Without Limits
Iris Stalzer German Mayor Tortured For Hours In Basement By Her Own Adopted Daughter, Leaked Police Docs Show
New information now reveals that her 17-year-old adopted daughter reportedly tortured Stalzer for hours, nearly killing her own mother. Despite these details, the daughter still has not been arrested.
.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/abe120a84e77207e08638da5c0139e3df8ebb100e88e087264dc79df4faacd07.jpg
If that's unconfirmed please don't post such insinuations.
I know what I suspect, and I would regard it as Karma, but if you're not 100% sure, it's wrong to do so.
https://7news.com.au/news/shocking-twist-in-attack-leaving-herdecke-mayor-iris-stalzer-fighting-for-life-as-police-investigate-her-teenage-children-c-20305676
Still not the picture (blanked out) that was posted.
As noted, I suspect what I suspect, but if it's wrong it's stirring.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/98662ab1cfbabc5c79a4d59cdb915b299dc706cf6265ef744584c4fa93b489c9.jpg
Update on younger sister after she had her new hip 2 months ago yesterday .
As you know she lives alone nr Cape Town .. an active 74 year old , still being tasked to do complicated desk work by a well known oil company and is chair of various other organisations as well as U3a and various trekking groups .
I spoke to her today , she had been away on a group mountain trek for a few days .. she managed to stay erect with out falling , with the aid of one crutch and managed to walk and stagger over 3k , they travelled by car further up country where there are Springbok , Zebra and Ostrich and other four legged creatures, birds and 8 legged creatures as well, which I would avoid . They stayed in self catering lodges , and she had to put up with the South African version of Brie's (BbQs) which she hates , so do I . We are not ravenous carnivores!! South Africans love their meat, Grizzly would do well out there .
One of the group picked up what he thought was a dead ostrich egg , only to be chased off by an angry ostrich , she said she clicked her tongue at a group of zebra , and they turned to look at the group and thought they were going to charge forward the way that cattle do .
Her hip op was a success despite the bad fall she had 24 hours after the op, and her scar is minimal on her thigh.. She is also driving .
So if any of you are due for a hip op , take courage , and get on with it .
Good grief, Belle! Good for her! I thought I made a quick recovery, but she she sounds like a real Billy Whizz!
How long was it for you Sue ?
When did you have your op.?
She is so fit , lean , energetic and positive .. I knew there was something not quite right when both sisters visited us earlier in the year .. climbing stairs … we have regular stairs , but 2 up from the hall way regular z type of stairway upstairs then two more steps , .. I struggle , but they say my hip isn't a problem , just my L4/5 !
The girls really ached .. years of tennis/ hockey and dancing and gymnastics took their toll, not like me having lugging shopping babies , garden stuff and the rest..
One has more help with everyday life in SA, so not like workhorses like us here in the UK.
I had the op just before the convid closed the hospital! January 2021 and I had to get on with it because the twins were little, SiL had the stroke and our daughter went back to work! And they had to move in here! So I had to get back to driving and stuff! Needs must, and all that!
Brilliant you , yes I sort of remember , strong and resourceful Sue x
Fait accompli, Belle but thank you for your kind words!
Well done that Lass!
South Africa may have many problems, but it's advanced healthcare/surgery is some of the best in the world.
Husband had his, driving tractor two weeks later. Never a problem. Find a good surgeon, Wrightington Hospital recommended.
Good to hear she's doing ok.
The only way Trump will ever get the Nobel Peace Prize is if he invades Norway or simply buys it.
They could even throw in Canada and Greenland as a Brucey Bonus.
Uptick for Brucey Bonus!
Personally, I don't think Trump gives a toss. The award, like all other such vanities, has been grossly devalued to the point of becoming a mark of shame.
Hmmmmmm…. I think you're wrong O – Trump is doing some great stuff but he does have an ego the size of a planet, and the Nobel prize is the sort of 'upmarket' recognition that he craves, as a form of validation.
Good luck to him, however, Obama got one and all he ever did was start wars!!!
The thing that drives Trump to want the Peace Prize is the fact that Obama got one – which he got given at the start of his presidency for reasons unknown – except that he was not George Bush., who had started wars.
Obama got it for having a black absentee father…didn't he?
George W Bush had PO'd most European countries by invading Iraq, which was seen by them as unnecessary. Even Bush Senior had warned him against it, but Cheney, Rumsfeld and company regarded the liberation of Kuwait as unfinished business and talked him into it, inventing Hussein's non-existent "weapons of mass destruction" as an excuse. Hence dislike of Bush. So, Obama got rewarded just for getting elected.
Probably Blair joined in because Maggie had had her war in the Falklands and he didn't want to feel left out.
Nothing to do with the colour of his skin, then?
They should have finished the job first time around, when there was cause, As it was, they allowed Saddam to wipe out whole ethnicities (eg the Marsh Arabs). There was no excuse for the second war. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Tony Blair & co lied. David Kelly died. The whole region was destabilised.
You need an ego at least that size to do the job he's doing, Deux Chevaux,
Possibly in public, opopanax, but I think he must feel some resentment. TDS lives and breathes. Me? love, respect, support him.
Something as a mark of Leftist approval.
Ride My See‐Saw..
Tuesday Afternoon..
Nights In White Satin..
.
Let's play the first one.
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQ3MwA4Nws
🎼If you gotta go , go now , go now , go before you see me cry🎶
I much preferred The Moody Blues when Denny Laine was the lead singer.
I wasn't too keen on the Justin Hayward and John Lodge version. Their long-winded anthems were 'overblown and pretentious' (to quote Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express).
Denny Laine is in my ears and in my eyes
There beneath the blue suburban skies
I sit and meanwhile back
I know what you mean.. Peter Green preferred to the top hat and tambourine era.
Just a singer In a Rock n Roll band
Close enough
it's a tape machine.
Oh go on then..
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WzxBv-ZMrM&list=RD8WzxBv-ZMrM&start_radio=1
Knights in silk panties also works here.
Each to his own, AA, each to his own……
There’s an image, rather Pythonesque. A man with a knight’s helmet on wearing silk knickers playing Nights In White Satin on the Melotron.
I think you may need to tone down your medications, AA ……..
You wanna watchit, AA
it's a tape machine.
Oh go on then..
.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WzxBv-ZMrM&list=RD8WzxBv-ZMrM&start_radio=1
Never miss an opportunity – my version https://app.box.com/s/mpj65g20wfd0p71dkpxa1qqzxa1tkkzw
A chortle:-
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3079dad1702be7cbe41fc4afefde4940febd05fd87ec15d94bb61c8d4ad472ac.png
Mummy:"But junior, you must understand the both I and the babysitter act as relief valves"
Brilliant!
Did Thatcher win the Nobel Peace Prize?
Rescuing the Falklands from an evil dictator must have been worth it, surely.
But "everybody" hated her – Thatcher Derangement Syndrome… so, no.
Not me, first time I ever voted with any sense of conviction. She lost track eventually tho. But don't they/we all. At least she had it in the first place.
Very popular in the US, This was the civer of Newsweek at the time of the Falklands.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c729c93728d170bf8647ac1c280b82d83ca1e4f1e1f8d84637956b73c767cdcf.jpg
I worried about it at first, the distance to travel. A neighbour ex-Navy told me 'don't worry, them Argies r gonna gerrit up em'…so I didn't.
But, but, that was colonialism at work. Can't possible reward such an effort.
The Nobel Peace Prize commitee remind Trump that winning a prize is not just a piece of peace.
So, you think they're taking the piss of a piece of the peace
O’Barmey did that!
And won a prize I believe…
O’Barmy got the Peace Prize before he’d done anything and when he went on to bomb seven countries, no one demanded it back. Yet the Gaza peace will have to be proven to hold before Trump is even considered eligible. Double standards, no?
I don't think thr peace in Gaza will last that long. Every time there has been a move toward peace, Hamas has kicked off. As they will again before too long.
I will be very surprised if the peace lasts to the new year.
If it isn't Hamas, one of the other ME terrorist groups will be lobbing rockets into Israel.
I think the peace will last for the reason that Israel came close to its own destruction in the recent conflict with Iran. The Iranian response to the Israeli assault was devastating.
The Israelis now have turned to Putin who has announced that in discussion with Netanyahu Israel has no further intention of fighting Iran. This statement by Putin can only have been endorsed by the Israelis.
I don't think thr peace in Gaza will last that long. Every time there has been a move toward peace, Hamas has kicked off. As they will again before too long.
It must be remembered that piss was once a valuable commodity in the production of gunpowder and that Nobel invented dynamite to make explosions much safer. – hence the Nobel piss prize.
Wasn't there a fad at some point of people actually drinking their own piss first water, touted as a health thing…
Well it’s still certainly a current way of keeping your compost heap healthy – what a relief!
I thought that was just what the Kiwis call it.
I didn’t know kiwis could talk.
I spent four months on exchange with the NZ Army in the late 70s. One day I was a passenger in one of their Land Rovers headed for another garrison. The driver told me to look out for a "marker pig" at the side of the road.
After my initial confusion, it turned out that he meant "marker peg".
That Obama was given it despite starting at least one war is a farce.
He got it well before he started anything.
Given the history particularly in recent times with the Peace Prize given to Obama just for getting elected (first black President etc.) I am surprised that anyone would actively seek the award which is plainly politically motivated.
It is frankly bizarre to witness Trump seeking the Nobel Peace Prize. I hope someone takes him aside to explain that this award is usually given to scoundrels and has little if anything to do with achieving peace anywhere.
The Venezuelan given the award this year is an activist placement from the days of the Bushes. She was put in place to ensure a regime change years ago.
Any other Tw@terati noticed a flood of comments about Zack Polanski (Not His Real Name) after his appearance on Question Time?
Oh man! He’s a bright one, isn’t he?
An, unfortunately, not rare, pair of twats?
Dave Paulen is his real name i think. And yes it needs to be appended to every mention if his new name.
There's a beautiful full moon, but attempts to photo it with phone camera were totally unsuccessful – lots of verical turquoise stripes… after I'd turned off the flash! Idiot machine.
Silly question.
Does Norway's full moon appear a few days after "mine" in France?
PS the silly disqus posting repeater has returned.
Evening, Sos – I saw this comment of yours on the duplicate 'I wonder if it occurs to Starmer, Macron, Carney et al that their recognition of a non-existent Palestinian state has almost guaranteed future conflict? A Hamas Palestinian state requires the destruction of Israel.
My money is on aid being converted into arms while Gaza is rebuilt and that it will all kick off again.
Probably sooner rather than later, i.e. before new Gaza is complete.'
My reply which I couldn't post on the other page: 'My money is always on Blair, apparently already on the move.' (or at least leaning back in a boat, wearing his usual get-up, black suit/white shirt/no tie.)
The Blair "foundations" will always, but always, find a way to cream off more than they give.
He's a 'one' isn't he, sos.
one who should be shot…
There might be too many volunteers….
The Moon 's the moon isn't it?
But presumably phases differ in the same way seasons do depending where one is.
I was pondering this with my daughter the other day. Is the moon the same the world over? Surely not? I also still don't really understand the phases of the moon – why it looks as it does – and, contrary to appearances, I'm not stupid.
I am told that one half of the moon is always lit, so that what we see is the bright bit – but why? And how? (nb: I have studied the models but still fail to understand.)
Something to do with the earth’s shadow I believe.
Why take a picture of it, you should know what it looks like by now
Quite arstic, in the mist and through the trees.
Never hurts to be reminded – like, how much I love SWMBO. Never hurts to be reminded.
Oooh! Arstic! Is that painful?
Only if you're trying to take a picture in the dark with a proctoscope lens attachment.
Did you have it in the fridge with the turquoise fur?
Another ugly bastard who sang like an angel, and is no more…. RIP, Shane McGowan. What a voice!
https://youtu.be/s11BuatTuXk?si=qX1vQI8dsXT6TFzR
He looks quite good here, an early recording. Quite a wreck later due to demon drink. RIP good old boy. Thanks for post, Paul.
Oh bugger, I'll start going on about the cost to repair my shite teeth again!! (£2,800 for anybody who isnt yet bored to death)
On that basis if Shane went to my dentist we'll be talking about the GDP of a small to middling country……
I don't think he had a great, or even good, voice – not at all. But he did know how to sing with conviction, and he always had a fabulous band behind him with some wonderful songs.
Not my bag, Paul.
Another sunny day, going home the Calais way is gettting closer.
Have you got a lift in a rubber dinghy?
We will buy one and get a refund from Jet2 for the missed flight
Don't get in the dinghy with mothers and children, they never get here.
Revealed: Taliban sells £40 fake death threats for asylum seekers to UK
Home Office can’t spot fraudulent letters created by corrupt Afghan officials, say migrants https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f0ddad984a9169c6e119ee182402acc6e0ebe72b834d2190938d254494f6b14b.jpg Fake death threat letters from the Taliban are being used to dupe the Home Office in asylum applications for Afghan migrants.
A Telegraph investigation can reveal how corrupt officials in Afghanistan produce government letters threatening to kill asylum seekers. The letters are then used as evidence in asylum applications.
To demonstrate how easily such documents can be obtained, an undercover Telegraph reporter paid Taliban officials £40 to produce three fake letters from different regional offices on official headed paper, signed by local administrators.
The letters can be published in full, but have been redacted to protect sources.
They include warnings that the Taliban will “deliver justice upon you” — shorthand for execution — for co-operating with the “evil government of England”.
One letter says: “The mujahideen monitor all your activity on social media and will deliver justice when they see you. God will be pleased and you will be freed from this shameful life.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, your contact with the evil government of England has been proven to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. After several acts of Islamic kindness by the mujaheddin, your work continued. The mujaheddin monitor all your activity on social media and will deliver justice when they see you. God will be pleased and you will be freed from this shameful life.
The practice of purchasing fake letters raises fresh questions about the integrity of the asylum system and whether genuine refugees are being disadvantaged by forgeries.
Multiple migrants housed in Home Office hotels and Taliban officials in Afghanistan told The Telegraph that the use of fake letters is widespread.
In one case, a rejected asylum seeker said they submitted a fake letter in an appeal as evidence of facing danger in Afghanistan.
The new application was then approved, although it is not clear if the letter was the only piece of evidence that judges took into account.
In 2022, more than 100,000 Afghans applied to come to Britain, claiming to have helped or fought alongside UK forces before the 2021 withdrawal.
But multiple sources told The Telegraph that the vast majority had no such connection. The Ministry of Defence believes only a small proportion of asylum claims are genuine.
‘Premium’ letter includes Taliban stamp
The fake letters often cite the destination country by name, accusing applicants of “co-operation” with that government and warning of death if they return to Afghanistan.
The undercover reporter requested letters from a Taliban official in an unnamed Afghan city for three fictional Afghans seeking asylum in Britain.
The official offered two versions: a standard letter for £40 and a “premium” version — complete with an official stamp and a “100 per cent approval rate” — for £200.
One letter says the Taliban regime has proven the applicant’s contact with the British Government. “After several acts of Islamic kindness by the mujahideen, your work continued,” the letter says before threatening to kill them.
Another letter warns: “Be aware that your family is under arrest and surveillance by the Islamic Emirate, and we have proof of your co-operation with England.”
It demands the recipient surrender as soon as possible, adding “otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences”.
In the third letter they wrote: “This is to inform you that the Islamic Emirate is aware of your activities with the Government of England … We will deliver justice upon you soon.”
Asylum seekers in Home Office hotels confirmed the widespread use of such fakes.
One said: “These things happen and it’s a reality. Some people even write these letters themselves in Pashto, and since there is no way of verification, the Home Office accepts them.”
He added that the Home Office lacks the capacity to scrutinise such documents properly.
“There is no way they can read those lines. The Home Office asks them to translate and summarise the letters and include them in applications. Most of them are fake.”
A second person at a Home Office hotel described being repeatedly contacted by a fellow asylum seeker desperate to obtain one of these letters.
The migrant, who originally entered Britain on a student visa before abandoning his university studies and moving into a Home Office hotel, said he did not know whether the person calling him succeeded in finding a corrupt Taliban official.
A third source acknowledged using such a letter in his own asylum application after his initial claim was rejected because of insufficient evidence that his life was at risk in Afghanistan.
Following submission of the threatening letter, his application was approved, though he could not definitively attribute the success of his application solely to the letter rather than other changes in his circumstances.
“I have a close relative within the Taliban,” he said. “I called him to write me a letter threatening me with death if I returned to Afghanistan. He wrote the letter, stamped it, and sent it back to me, which I then used in my application.”
He did not disclose the date of his arrival or when he applied for asylum, fearing repercussions from the Home Office.
He emphasised the scale of the corruption, saying: “Listen to me – lots of people are doing it, and some of them are successful and are granted asylum and the right to work.”
Taliban security personnel on a military vehicle
A Taliban official suggested that its low-ranking members are faking the letters Credit: Wakil Kohsar/AFP
A Taliban official in Kabul acknowledged that some local Taliban members were producing these letters without authorisation from senior leadership.
He said: “Some mujahideen do this kind of work, but it is not legal and they face consequences if caught.”
He suggested the practice is done by low-ranking Taliban members either wanting to “help” fellow Afghans or to supplement inadequate salaries.
“I understand they mainly want to help our countrymen or they are not being paid enough – it is a problem and plans are under way to provide better living conditions for local officials so they stop getting involved in such practices.”
Small boats contained more migrants from Afghanistan than any other country in the year up to June 2025, according to Home Office data
Small boats contained more migrants from Afghanistan than any other country in the year up to June 2025, according to Home Office data Credit: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
The official added that the Taliban regime, which took full control of Afghanistan in 2021, no longer uses letters to threaten people in any case.
“We don’t need to send letters anymore – that was a tactic when we were not the government. Now we are the government: if we are sure someone has committed an illegal act, we can simply go to their home and arrest them.”
Threat letters from the Taliban are referenced in multiple UK asylum tribunal cases, though it is unclear whether they were genuine or forged.
One case published on the website read: “The Appellant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal. He produced what he claimed to be a threatening letter from the Taliban, sent to him by his family. He maintained that the garage had been raided and that the Taliban wanted the men who worked there because they had been engaged in supporting the Afghan Army.”
Another tribunal case specifically referred to “threat letters” submitted by the applicant. The ruling said the letters were verified by an independent expert using a researcher in Afghanistan to help confirm their authenticity.
In 2022, more than 100,000 Afghans applied to come to Britain, claiming they had helped or fought alongside British forces before the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan
In 2022, more than 100,000 Afghans applied to come to Britain, claiming they had helped or fought alongside British forces Credit: Elke Scholiers/Getty Images
The Home Office said no asylum claim is approved solely on the basis of such a letter.
A spokesman told The Telegraph: “No asylum case is assessed solely on the basis of one letter. Every asylum claim is assessed on its individual merits, and decision-makers receive thorough training to ensure all cases are properly decided.
“A strong system of safeguards and quality checks supports this process, helping to ensure all claims are properly reviewed and decisions are reliable.
“We take any abuse of the immigration system extremely seriously. Where there is evidence of wrongdoing, we will take firm action to challenge it and protect the integrity of our borders.”
Mary Treacy
14 min ago
Ben Wallace and the Home Office must be the dumbest people on the planet.
Goat herders from Afghanistan ran rings around them.
I imagine the troops who served there could have put them straight about the locals, if they cared to listen.
Secret flights flying in the duplicious.
Comment by Ja Ma.
Ja Ma
21 min ago
The Taliban would never pre warn someone. They would just be assassinated by the regime, if they had a connection with the UK as described in the so called Death Threat Letters. UK Government officials should be experienced in these matters, unfortunately they are blinded by incompetence and Woke.
So we follow the Historical events of The Downfall of Rome.
And just what are the demographics of the 'Home Office' staff?
Muslim. A most terrible own goal.
Not an own goal at all, unfortunately, more like a beautifully planned attack from the left wing.
Of course. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e9b375d86817da837fa6280ea3ce2cd24422577538ac7118788838b08f644e7.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d37419dc986876dcb652d3ddbfff5c4dc4938684e57c0d567beeb436d208bb3.jpg
I dont think they need to 'dupe' the Home Office, do they??
We need to bring more Afghan translators into the country to help us sort out this deception.
I should imagine there are 700 Home Office officials who are quite happy to be "duped".
I should imagine there are quite possibly 700 Home Office officials who are quite happy to be paid to be "duped".
700 muslims at the last count.
I believe that that is the number who acknowledge their team, I suspect that there are many, many more within the civil service as a whole.
Those are just the ones who are signed up to whatever they call their Muslim Brotherhood within the NHS. There are many more.
In my industry, we hand a unofficial saying "As fake as an Indian* engineering diploma"
*Insert nationality of choice.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/57f4a027b28b1b24044452013dae67942fca180b7416c80d621bb198a8f86464.jpg
Well, if you must hire Mr Thomas, you bring it upon yourself!
But it was only a brief encounter!
Of the third kind:
Fee, VAT, no win no fee or VAT?
Yes, you must judge for yourself.
Are the pro Zack supporters depressed?
Oh very good, Bob3!⭐️
https://unherd.com/2025/10/britains-free-speech-shame
The last paragraph is especially notable. If people are silenced it does not meant they are not still screaming. The Left have always hated the message, so they set about destroying the messenger. The moronic laws that have people refusing to say what they think, however poorly phrased must be repealed. It must be right to insult, abuse and belittle.
Equally it is the responsiblity of society as a whole to challenge that behaviour. But the Left don't want any of that. People choosing how they live? What nonsense. They might not do and say what we want. It is all very sad that Starmer lies so openly, so blatantly and so obviously.
His discussion of 'free speech' is limited to what he considers acceptable.
His is a classic example of someone who has destroyed his own conscience, He sticks to the letter of the law, the small print, and ignores the spirit of the law, which he would clearly like to be abolished. Islam (as practised in the UK) does something similar, in that the command is to obey all sorts of external rules whilst doing one's utmost not to change internally (or to challenge one's actual mindset), which would be the basis of any true religion. The CofE has similarly lost all ability to ignite paths to transcendence.
Iain McGilchrist writes extremely eloquently and with great wisdom on this subject, which is to do with the two hemispheres of the brain, how they function and how they should operate in harmony but, nowadays, don't.
Your comment puts me in mind of the film “The Enigma of (K)Caspar Hauser”.
Your comment puts me in mind of the film “The Enigma of (K)Caspar Hauser”.
Mr Bond, you’re wet!
Yesh, but my Martini’sh dry……….
Can’t recall the last time I had a dry Martini…lovely…currently Brewdog and watching Stewart Lee- perhaps you’re not a fan of either, Vlad/Sean/James?
Unfortunately Katya, I think Stewart Lee is a about as funny as a fire in an orphanage…….
We’ll agree to disagree 🙂 ?
It's a free country! (it still is, isnt't it??)……
Just about, G4…not so much free speech perhaps?
Deja Vous!?
"Leaving his decision to the last minute on a Friday night, President Emmanuel Macron reappointed Sebastien Lecornu to be France’s prime minister (less than a week after his stunning resignation plunged the nation into chaos), giving the centrist ally another shot at naming a new cabinet and getting a budget through a fractious parliament."
What was it about doing the same thing and expecting a different result?
Interestingly it's always attributed to Albert Einstein (the definition of insanity) but there is no record of him ever having said it!
Rinse, repeat.
Jupiter (or Napoleon) could have invited discussions with his opposition parties and found a person capable of stabilising the budgetary crisis. He did not for the reason that he is a very small person with none of the diplomatic skills necessary to enact compromise.
It's a very unfortunate name, isn't it? "Sebastian the Cuckold"
Un flew over the Cuckold's nest?
Is that what it means? Like El cornudo in Spanish? I can't imagine this being a Spanish surname. Sounds terrible.
Looked for it. No Spanish surname exists like this. More dignity than the French perhaps
I suppose that it literally means “the horned one” (another unfortunate association) , but we all know what that means, especially on the continent.
The expression in Spanish poner los cuernos. To put horns on. Cuckold is something in England one learns studying Shakespeare but in Spain it is a living expression used to describe someone with an unfaithful spouse.
And that is me off to bed.
Goodnight all.
Goodnight, all.
If Mr Justice Bennathan wasn't instructed to 'throw the dog a bone', he'll be relegated in the next month or two.
Farmers offered up to £50k if they don’t object to UK’s biggest solar site
Island Green Power admits letter to landowners was a mistake after ‘almost akin to bribery’ claim
Flora Symington
Related Topics
Solar power, Net Zero, Farming, Planning, Clean energy, Ed Miliband
10 October 2025 9:10pm BST
A developer that wants to build the UK’s largest solar farm offered landowners up to £50,000 on condition that they did not object to its plans.
Island Green Power sent letters, seen by The Telegraph, offering farmers the payments for access to land for up to five years as part of its Lime Down Solar Park proposal. About 45 of the letters are believed to have been sent out to farms where the company would need to dig cables into the ground.
The terms of the payments include an agreement not to object to any application for the scheme near Chippenham in Wiltshire and to write to Ed Miliband withdrawing any previous objections. The firm has now admitted the condition “should not have been included” and said it would send a corrected version of the offer.
As Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Mr Miliband will have the final say over the application. Wiltshire Council, which has no say in the project’s approval, voted unanimously in July to oppose Lime Down.
Councillor Martin Smith, who represents Sherston on Wiltshire Council, said the letters were “almost akin to bribery”, adding: “This is familiar behaviour, it’s big business trying to trample over the democratic process and the people being affected.”
Campaigners in Westminster in London holding banners saying 'Stop Lime Down' in protest at big solar farms
A protest in Westminster last year showed the strength of feeling against the solar farm plans Credit: Jeff Gilbert
And a farmer who received the first version of the letter said recipients felt “threatened” by it and that they had “no option but to sign”. The letters included the offer of up £3,500 to accept the agreement quickly, making some recipients feel pressured.
If Lime Down Solar Park is approved it will become the biggest solar farm in the UK, covering more than 2,000 acres with solar panels over five sites, plus a route about 14 miles long where cables to the National Grid would be buried.
Richard Tanner, 62, a farmer whose family has lived on Park Farm near Grittleton since 1913, said it was “sad” that developers were “playing hard ball” to try to get residents to comply and “advance their own interests at the expense of others”.
The solar sites would surround the village of Norton in Wiltshire and affect villagers in Alderton, Corston, Foxley, Grittleton, Hullavington, Rodbourne and Sherston, as well as the town of Malmesbury.
Linda Anderson
1 min ago
The Stop Lime Down signs are all over this area, showing how much opposition there is here.
We are worried about the number of large articulated lorries that will have to come through our small roads as they ferry the panels and concrete needed to hold the up.
We don’t think the business case stacks up any more as the price of copper and concrete have doubled.
Also is all this good for the environment?
Comment by Stephen Bolton.
SB
Stephen Bolton
2 min ago
Miliband is a completely misguided lunatic.
Not far from here. Narrow roads and beautiful villages.
https://x.com/snook_magg88153/status/1976761049635279299
Yet it has been a 'bumper' harvest for fruit?
Who or what do you believe?
Well, the fruit here is beyond belief, both wild and cultivated. There have never been so many acorns, either. Berries. The lot. Other plants are, in my opinion, behaving abnormally (flowering when they shouldn't). But the other crops – cereals and so forth, also winter fodder (the cash crops for farmers) – are dire.
True!
We have an oak on our property. I have never witnessed so many acorns and everything else shed by our tree.
Something I've noticed on my travels.
It’s called a mast and happens from time to time when conditions are right. Good morning everyone. Really sad news about the site. Thank you to Geoff for all his hard work over the years. It’s like losing one’s family.
Rain in August and September boosted fruit growth. Grain and some vegetable crops were badly affected by the dry spring and early summer.
I think we should re-establish the orchards we lost owing to EU directives. I include tomatoes in my definition of fruit. We can grow many varieties of apples as well as pears, damsons, medlars and quince. We used to grow acres of Hops.
We should also be growing grapes for wine. We can make sparkling wines and dry whites which can equal French wines for taste, character and quality. Apples also lend themselves to fruit juices and cider making and frankly all make excellent vinegar.
Edit: Most of the produce grown nowadays is intended for bio-fuels and some is given over to animal feed.
Not enough rain for other crops.
https://x.com/snook_magg88153/status/1976761589471887562
What an absolutely revolting PoS that creature is
Thankfully President Trump has his measure.
https://x.com/snook_magg88153/status/1976762227022549411 The Rev Marcus Walker, rector of St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London and chairman of the Save the Parish campaign group, told The Telegraph he would like to set Canterbury Cathedral a challenge to “not embarrass the rest of the Church of England for one clear calendar year”.
Anyone committing graffiti — anywhere — should be shot on sight. No arrest, no trial, just shot!
The same goes for members of gangs.
I'm a bit soft like that, me!
Just what I said yesterday, Grizzly.
It is certainly a new low. But I guess that it will sink further. We live in dark times. But good will triumph over evil, it always will. Even if not in our lifetimes, dear friends on here, good will triumph. In that, I have complete confidence.
The idiotic C of E did it on purpose .. as an art form to make minorities feel at home !
Was the new Archpillock of Canterbury involved in the planning of this graffiti outrage?
Some years ago a colleague and I were discussing whether there was a female version of the word 'pillock'. In King Lear, Shakespeare's Edgar, when he is disguised as the mentally deranged Tom O' Bedlam utters the strange gibberish:
"Pillicock sat on Pillicock Hill"
Perhaps the etymology of the word 'pillock' could reveal that the word 'pillock' is derived s from the term 'pillicock'. In which case the new chief priestess of the Church of England should be referred to as the Archpillihen of Canterbury.
Precisely. The script tells you that some wog was commissioned to write the scrawl on the stone columns. Those clergy ordering this blatant disorder should be sacked from their “jobs”.
I know the actual Architect of the visitor centre next to the Cathedral and that shows signs of a disordered mind. So many materials and attempts to be clever but failing at an artistic level.
https://x.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/1976578485842792771
Disgusting people. FFS, if wypippoo did that we would be prosecuted for fly tipping. FFS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Camp_of_the_Saints
The Camp of the Saints (French: Le Camp des Saints) is a 1973 French dystopian fiction novel by author and explorer Jean Raspail. A speculative fictional account, it depicts the destruction of Western civilization through Third World mass immigration to France and the Western world. The name of the book comes from a passage in the Book of Revelation depicting the apocalypse. Almost 40 years after its initial publication, the novel returned to the bestseller list in 2011. It was first published in French in 1973 by Éditions Robert Laffont. It was first translated into English by Norman Shapiro, and first published in English by Scribner in 1975.
Saturday 11th October, 2025
Hardcastle Craggs
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9095c6ed3cfdbb646d207f22e68cace7697f5783601da89d6b44a809ebf51928.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f15108925be65a9a2608d8e25edca14c950fe7218c958fddb1d38927a117d0b9.png With best wishes,
Caroline and Rastus
Happy Birthday, HC.
He's another we never see here now.
Sadly.
:-((
Goodnight dear people , sleep well .
Enjoy this little piece! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx7RWW36wes
Chums, I've had an extremely challenging day today (including a morning dental check-up and a lengthy funeral service with a following wake) so I plan to sign off now. I shall be back tomorrow morning, but perhaps rather later than usual.
Sleep well, dear Elsie! x
Long day for me. Will catch up on your news now…so it had better be good!!!
AI Overview
I awoke early this morning thinking about how best to control my central heating. One Nottler suggested I needed help after I called my central heating installer about my boiler breakdown. I thought my boiler had been 'working' for a week but actually I had found, on one occasion, that it had been working when I told it specifically not to.
I used AI to see if intelligence could provide the answer – I asked Google why boilers with thermostatic radiator.valves (TRVs) needed a room thermostat and got this answer:
https://www.google.com/search?q=why+do+boilers+with+TRV+ratiators+need+a+room+thermostat&oq=why+do+boilers+with+TRV+ratiators+need+a+room+thermostat&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQIRgKGKAB0gEJODY5NDlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&client=tablet-android-asus-tpin&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#sbfbu=1&pi=why%20do%20boilers%20with%20TRV%20ratiators%20need%20a%20room%20thermostat
I didn't agree with this ezplanation because my boiler was starting to do its own thing and I was definitely not in control of it.
I drew a diagram on my tablet to see if AI made any sense because as far as I could see my boiler had been wasting energy and my money in the middle of a warm night.
Here's the diagram:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/922f0c865c4becea7f3651ce829ec62f5b9041d2e8540b6278d7a463e7eceecb.jpg
Do you have a condensing boiler . If you do you may find it 'cycles' even when the room thermostat (s) is / aren't calling for heat. As you probably know rad TRVs will close off their individual radiators at the predetermined temperature setting (1-5). If that setting is below the set temperature of the Room thermostat then the boiler will continue to run and the hot water will simply bypass the 'closed' radiator via the return flow circuit. Good luck. S
It is a condensing heat only system boiler and you have put your finger on thr issue I’m trying to address.
Sounds like it may be your time controller if its switch to be off, and it comes on I canot see what else it could be. You need a good plumber or elevtrician to test it.
I too thought it could be the timer but I had already taken the timer off the wall when I sent this video, in one take, of the boiler working without a command for heat:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3bbbe260ffdaf9d4b17b04febac67821cb8dbbc741b969720c767b98b5bea5ad.gif
Good morning all. Site seems to be even more broken this morning. Can't open the host page at all. Best stick with this page while I seek a solution. Sorry.
Morning Geoff.
Not your fault, it's the bloody system!
There sustem failures are growing its downhill from here. some are moving back to manual systems. many should never have changed.
Thanks Geoff,
This morning I found one of yesterday's two Frifays that worked and used AI to try and fathom out why I had lost control of my boiler.
The stupid thing is that AI told me that the boiler controls were necessary to stop the boiler overheating and use gas more efficiently whereas the complete opposite was true.
What is even more stupid is that the installer'ss technicican came and replaced a part of the heating system that apparenty had nothing to do with the boiler not working as I had intended.
Good morning, Angie. I can understand your frustration, however I have no idea as to what to do to fix it for you. I would if I could.
This is a bit a mystery but Nottlers have made some useful comments like how a working actuator valve can actually be FUCT (Failer Under Continuous Test).
I struggle with finding any professional competent at anything more than making out the bill, which is after all the only bit of the job that makes any money.
Without a better description of the symptoms, it's hard to make an amateur diagnosis here.
The first thing to do is to make sure the water pump(s) are not seized. Put a tray under it when unscrewing the cover plate in the middle, and then work the axle in the direction of the arrow shown with a screwdriver in the slot until it's freed itself and turns properly. Replace the cover and test.
If there are unexplained changes in pressure, it may be the bladder in the expansion chamber needs pumping up. They do go down after about five years, and all it needs is a bicycle pump. Edit – you may need to drain the expansion vessel if it's full of water.
Another might be that it needs a good clean-out of the crud that builds up over the years from internal corrosion in the radiators. Find the various drain cocks and then flush out the system with clean water. Drain this and also the boiler's heat exchangers and tanks, check the boiler's air valve is working properly (replace if not) and refill with inhibitor first into a handy radiator, and then with clean water. Cycle the boiler and bleed the rads.
Good advice, Jeremy.
Inhibitor most important.
I came to the conclusion I needed to call the installer. After all he put it in in the first place and it ran faultlessly for seven years with annual servicing.
It has now continued working but I need to know how it works so I don’t have to report a fault whilst it’s still working.
Not your fault, Geoff.
The "spare" Friday page has very few comments, is it possible to change its name to Saturday?
Sorry, can’t log in to WordPress today
Bring back the quill pen and a well trained pigeon.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/99fc8acc0ce32d46d9f4a876b440c3d8d1250d477e7900c7dd9a3689f50601a8.jpg
Well, in the absence of a new page, Good Morning all.
10°C this morning, Dry, calm air, a clear lightening sky with condensation trails plus a waning gibbous moon hanging high up and owls hooting.
A Letter:-
Lets have another layer of management, that will sort it out.
That is not exactly what he is saying, but it has been obvious for decades that the upper echelons of the NHS run it for their own convenience.
You must have medical people in top management roles to bring insight and balance to the bean counters.
Good Morning All. Sat. 14C. Overcast.
Very grey here too.
Morning Johnny. a very wet 13C
Dry but overcast.Very grey.
https://x.com/Basil_TGMD/status/1976641232404398126
Reminds me of the children's finger paintings on British Airways circa 1998.
Well, chums, as Oliver Hardy might have said: "Here's another fine mess, Disqus has got poor Geoff into!" Anyhow, my Wordle today was a Double Bogey. I quickly got all the correct letters in the correct order except for the penultimate one. But there were so many options for this one that after several attempts I had to turn to "Hints and Tips" when the only way to get the correct answer was by the final hint which said in effect "The meaning of this word is….." so not a good day for Wordle today I'm afraid.
Wordle 1,575 6/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Good morning, all. Dull with the trees becalmed.
TTK hoist by his own petard from 24 years ago. Coskun's case may not have crossed his desk but the ramification of his successful defence from 2001 should have crossed his mind when attacking peaceful free speech and actions today. The man's a bounder!😮
https://x.com/SpeechUnion/status/1976656177694986551
Good Morning, all
Cloudy and calm
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/PortalPictures/october-2025/443946819_adams.jpg
Good morning, all. Grey and dreary. Me too – having had a very bad night. I'll look it later.
Good morning all,
Mild , but dull , no blue sky . No breeze , quiet!
https://x.com/stuUFC304/status/1976675496902742434
Is anything still British?
Chuck III ceased all pretence of being British years ago.
HMRC?
Edit: with the exception of its employees.
Maybe but the staff aren't
Good Moaning.
Has Disqus been indulging in a dreaded "improvement"?
Anyway, over in Frogland, the adults are really running the show. (Apols if some smarter NOTTLer has beaten me to it.)
Emmanuel Macron reappointed Sébastien Lecornu as France’s prime minister on Friday night, four days after he stood down.
Mr Lecornu said he accepted the role “out of duty” and had been tasked with forming a new cabinet following meetings with the main parties, excluding the far-Right and the far-Left.
Following his surprise return to front-line politics, he said that “we must end the French political crisis” and pledged to make “improving French public accounts” a priority, with next year’s budget due to go before parliament on Monday.
Only two days ago, he had indicated that his “mission is over”.
Élysée Palace said in a statement: “The president of the republic has nominated Mr Lecornu as prime minister and has tasked him with forming a government.”
I'd give him a week.
As long as that?
Morning, all Y'all. Beautiful sunrise earlier, followed by more zeds.
Found the secret to not being woken at 06:00 by cats desperate for food is to give them a sachet of supper just as I go to bed.
I hope very much that the graffitti inCanterbury Cathedral isn't spray paint on the stone, as if it is, it will stain and be as close to impossible to remove as you can get without dynamite. What / were they thinking? Defacing a national monument like that? A great start for the new Archbishop!
They are such woke buffoons that I would not be surprised if they will argue that there is centuries old graffiti on the walls reflecting our heritage over the years, so the modern equivalent is a good thing.
413958+ up ticks,
Morning Each,
I just cannot figure out how we got into such a state as a nation
with such leading political, fully supported via the polling stations
three victorious times in mr blairs case, we went so wrong.
NOT BLEEDING MANY BENNY.
Dt,
Tony Blair met Jeffrey Epstein in Downing Street
Secret memo reveals prime minister agreed to meet the financier in 2002 after encouragement from Peter Mandelson
I believe the initial meeting was in a park public toilet.ironical really with " miranda" being the only one being ID and found guilty of daisy chain construction thoughts while on a cottaging
mission.
One really must ask is there a paedophile / bend over covert think tank operating within the palace of westminster ?
Is there no new page today?
413958+ upticks,
Morning N,
Seemingly GG having disco problems.
Good morning. Perhaps Geoff’s message below needs to be pinned to the top of the page?
It was later on……….
Morning, Jools. Here's the situation – the WordPress site is hosted by Bluehost. So I attempted to log in to my account there. It accepted the site ID and password, then sent a two-stage verification code to my old email address, which has been defunct for years (Plusnet b*ggered that one up).
So I'm working on a solution. But first I'm having my breakfast…
Very best of luck to you.
What a pain! Sorry Geoff I wasn't complaining at you.
No offence taken.
Good man yourself, Geoff. Good luck!
I cannot access my original Grizzly account for the same reason! Trying to contact Disqus for an explanation is like drilling through flint.
It's a good job we have secondary accounts for such eventualities.
All in the name, undoubtedly, of “protecting” you…
I don't seem to be able to feature comments. CAn some kind Mod please "unfeature" the comment above, and feature my latest one? Ta muchly.
I tried to send a personal email, I have the wrong address.
Thank you. It has been great fun. It had it's sadnesses, too, of course. We lost quite a few regulars along the way.
Just caught up with the sad news, sos informed me. I have been really busy going back and forth to the South West, house hunting.
NoTTL has become almost like a family and we will miss it a lot. Thank you so much Geoff, for your hard work and effort – it is much appreciated and has brought so much pleasure to many.
Hope to see you soon on FSB.
Thank you, Tine. I’ll be dropping into FSB from time to time, I’m sure.
I hope you will be migrating with us Sos.
Good Luck Geoff
We are so grateful for all your efforts on our behalf.
If only the PTB could bring us half as much fun as you do!
Geoff has been unable to get in.
No, Ndovu, Disqus is leading Geoff a merry dance.
How hackers forced brewing giant Asahi back to pen and paper
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly64g5y744o
This is happening more and more. All firms need an alternative manuel system up and running. We did when I was in retail.
I have a full-sized, lockable, four-drawer filing cabinet in my workshop/studio office. I bought it, second-hand, it from an office suppliers in Nottingham thirty years ago.
I keep all my "back-ups" and personal records in it. I'm a bit old-fashioned like that, but it is safe from "phishing".
Very wise.
"FamilyMart said its Famimaru range of bottled teas, which are made by Asahi, were expected to be in short supply or out of stock."
'Bottled teas?' Ugh!
Never drunk it. not my type.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d6496e1953b0887afcc2f95c0a7df52c1ae15d7981bb190dd145262b9ddad5b.jpg
Benny Hill made the same obsevation a few decades ago:
The Folk Singer came from America to sing at the Albert Hall
He sang his songs of protest and fairer shares for all
He sang how the rich were far too rich and the poor too poor by far
Then he drove back to his penthouse
In his brand new Rolls Royce car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ptqhjyykW0
click on Watch on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8fRcH8CbPA
Thank you Johnny!
Nothing quite like Bach for me.
413958+ upticks,
A proven case of plagiarism as in, copying the English to the letter.
https://x.com/JamesMelville/status/1976923697928962101
This is old. George was yelling about the state of society long before Covid, Trans, Palestine etc came along. He is long dead. Probably merciful for him. God knows what he would make of todays world. It would probably send him into a death spiral! Another good critic is Bill Burr, still alive, I believe.
What has happened to Saturday? Who, what, were, how, brandy for gods sake. Were did this disturbance in the force come from? What do we do?
'Were'? 😉
Why is why (and which) not included?
Rite, spelling crap American as in Rite-aid. A drug store.
Is that next to the Nite-Club?😊
Yep and the Gas Station.
And what has a bottle of brandy got to do with it? (Good morning, btw.)
Good morning, Auntie Elsie.
Well anyway. Some Good news copied and pasted for those who do not sub to the Telegraph
Koran burner cleared as judge says he has right to cause offence
Overturning of Hamit Coskun’s conviction welcomed by free speech campaigners
Free speech includes the right to offend, a judge has said after clearing a man who burned a Koran outside the Turkish consulate in London.
Mr Justice Bennathan said freedom of expression was a “precious right” as he overturned Hamit Coskun’s conviction.
Mr Coskun shouted “f— Islam” and “Islam is a religion of terrorism” while holding a flaming Koran aloft in a protest in February.
The 51-year-old was convicted in June of a racially aggravated public order offence after he was filmed burning the book.
But Mr Coskin won an appeal against the conviction on Friday when the judge ruled free speech “must include” the right to offend.
“There is no offence of blasphemy in our law,” Mr Justice Bennathan said. “The right to freedom of expression, if it is a right worth having, must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb.”
He said Mr Coskun had acted alone and had not aimed his “political speech or conduct” at a person.
The judge added: “We live in a liberal democracy. One of the precious rights that affords us is to express our own views and read, hear and consider ideas without the state intervening to stop us doing so.
“The price we pay for that is having to allow others to exercise the same rights, even if that upsets, offends or shocks us.”
Speaking outside court, Mr Coskun said he came to Britain to “speak freely about the dangers of radical Islam”.
“I want to thank the Free Speech Union, the National Secular Society, all my lawyers, the MPs who have supported me and the judges for the decision today,” he said.
“I am reassured that, despite many troubling developments, I will now be free to educate the British public about my beliefs.”
Mr Coskun was attacked after the protest by Moussa Kadri, 59, from Kensington, who told the protester “I’m going to kill you”, before slashing at him with a bread knife.
Kadri was given a suspended sentence last month after pleading guilty to assault.
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, welcomed the successful appeal, saying the conviction had reintroduced blasphemy laws “by the back door”.
“I didn’t like what Mr Coskun did. Burning a religious text was not pleasant,” he said. “But it was also never criminal. So, this is an important victory for free speech.
“Parliament voted to abolish blasphemy laws 20 years ago. It was disgraceful that the authorities attempted to recreate them by the back door.”
Blasphemy laws were abolished in England and Wales in 2008, and in Scotland in 2021.
The Free Speech Union, which helped fund Mr Coskun’s legal case, said the ruling sent a message that “anti-religious protests, however offensive to true believers, must be tolerated”.
Lord Young of Acton, the group’s founder, said: “We’re delighted. Had the verdict been allowed to stand it would have sent a message to religious fundamentalists up and down the country that all they need to do to enforce their blasphemy codes is to violently attack the blasphemer, thereby making him or her guilty of having caused public disorder.
“Instead, the Crown Court has sent the opposite message – that anti-religious protests, however offensive to true believers, must be tolerated.”
Stephen Evans, the chief executive of the National Secular Society, said the judgment was “an important victory for freedom of expression”.
He added: “Hamit Coskun’s protest was a lawful act of political dissent. There is no need to condone the nature of his demonstration. What is important is that it was not criminal.
“Today’s decision reaffirms the vital principle that free speech protects the right to offend, shock, or disturb, even when it challenges deeply held religious beliefs.”
A Humanists UK spokesman said: “We are delighted and relieved to see Hamit’s conviction overturned. While we do not agree with the appellant’s prejudicial views about Muslims, he did not express these at the time of the act for which he was previously charged and the judge has now found he shouldn’t have been convicted.
“We are concerned that this case has highlighted gaps in the law that could allow vital free speech protections to fall by the wayside. We will continue to campaign to uphold the fullest freedom of expression laws limited only to prevent harm to others.”
Eliot Wilson
A judge has finally seen sense over the SAS’s ambush of three IRA men
10 October 2025, 1:46pm
https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GettyImages-1011939118.jpg Masked IRA gunman pose with their weapons (Getty Images)
It didn’t take long for a judge to deliver his withering verdict on a judicial review application into the use of SAS force in an IRA ambush. The legal challenge over the killing of three Provisional IRA (PIRA) men in June 1991 was described as ‘utterly divorced from reality’ by Mr Justice McAlinden. At the High Court in Belfast, McAlinden pulled no punches:
‘This Court is being asked to slow the passage of time down, to analyse events in freeze-frame and to address the issue of absolute necessity in slow-motion… It is ludicrous to suggest that this court should analyse the events of the day in question in that manner.’
It is a refreshing change to read of a senior judge executing his office with brisk common sense which brooks no mealy-mouthed opposition. It’s also about time: Soldier B, an ex-special forces soldier at the centre of the case, has been through hell, despite having already been cleared of wrongdoing on a previous occasion.
Roisin Nugent sought a re-examination of the killing of her father, Tony Doris, by soldiers of the SAS at Coagh in County Tyrone in June 1991. Concluding that Nugent’s case ‘fails to get off the ground’, the judge refused the application for judicial review. He added, sharply, ‘I cannot conclude this judgment without expressing my surprise that legal aid funding was made available to mount such a challenge’.
The circumstances of that fateful day, thirty years ago, make it clear why this is a case that should never have got as far as it did.
Briefly, what happened that day in Coagh is as follows. Three PIRA terrorists drove a stolen car from Moneymore, County Londonderry, to Coagh in order to murder a part-time soldier of the Ulster Defence Regiment who was a contractor to the security forces in his civilian life. British intelligence was forewarned of the attack and a detachment of the SAS had prepared an ambush, one trooper posing as the intended victim.
When the stolen car came within range, the SAS began sustained automatic fire, immediately hitting Doris, who was driving. The car, out of control, crashed into two others parked nearby and caught fire; the three PIRA men, all shot dead, were badly burned in the blaze. In Republican mythology, these ‘Volunteers’, on ‘active service’, were ‘brutally slain’ while fighting ‘a war of liberation’.
The coroner’s verdict was more prosaic. In relation to Soldier B, one of the SAS personnel involved who fired at Tony Doris, Mr Justice McAlinden recorded that the coroner had found ‘the use of force was reasonable or proportionate in the circumstances’. Moreover, noted the judge, the coroner’s ‘reasoning is clear, comprehensive and flawless. He has not missed out on any piece of relevant evidence.’
This is good news for British heroes who served in Northern Ireland. The joint framework for dealing with the ‘legacy’ of the Troubles, agreed between the British and Irish governments and announced last month, has given rise to considerable anxiety that ex-members of the security forces will be subject to vexatious claims and malign persecution for their actions while doing their job: protecting the public, defending the realm and upholding law and order.
While former soldiers and police officers should never be given carte blanche, there has been a sustained attempt to create a ghastly and pernicious moral equivalence between those maintaining law and order, and those carrying out killings, maimings and intimidation.
Mr Justice McAlinden’s robust judgment is heartening, because it demonstrates that judges are not strait-jacketed by political agreements, compromises and considerations. It is open to them to see objective facts as any rational observer would, and to shut down egregious legal exploits accordingly.
But there is a warning for judges, too. This week’s case in Belfast proves that those who do reach judgements which are muddle-headed, topsy-turvy and founded on fundamentally mistaken priorities do so actively and of their own volition. They are not mere cogs in a machine but independent actors.
Blaming the judiciary is both wrong and simplistic. And, like any concentration on a group rather than its members, it absolves individual judges from responsibility. They are not prisoners of an inescapable machine. They make their own decisions. Mr Justice McAlinden demonstrated this week that those decisions can be clear-eyed and commonsensical. He has done us all a great service.
Written by
Eliot Wilson was a House of Commons clerk, including on the Defence Committee and Counter-Terrorism Sub-Committee. He is contributing editor at Defence On The Brink and senior fellow for national security at the Coalition for Global Prosperity
*****************************************************
Ridcully
19 hours ago
The IRA considered themselves to be soldiers on active service, yet when any of their members were killed on such service they would claim that they had been "murdered" by the British forces. They really liked to have it both ways, didn't they?
Jolly Radical
19 hours ago
For an organisation with the word 'Army' in their title who said they were fighting a war, the IRA seemed to have a surprising objection to being shot at with guns.
A small victory for rational common sense. But i’ll take it.
Any chance he can be appointed to be head of Blair's Supreme Court?
I see Hamas are rejecting any interference by Bliar, in the process! I can’t imagine why! 🙄
In some ways it's a pity.
Some aggrieved Muslim might have "negotiated" with him.
At the working end of an AK-74
Are they fitted with bayonets?
Blimey! It's taken me an age to find my way here. Good morning, everyone.
It is all part of Starmer's plan to destabilise us.
Good morning. Welcome home.
Will you be going to Free Speech Backlash Pip?
I have a solution. It may not be to everyone's taste, but in the spirit of Eccleastes 3 (A Time for Everything), This will be the last ever Not the Telegraph Letters page. No. 3479 if you're interested.
I've been neglecting the site due to vision issues, which I'm happy to say are improving, slowly. I was made to retire from my church organist position at the end of September (they think they can manage with volunteers). The sky didn't fall. So perhaps I'm in the mood for retirement.
Some will be aware of Tom Armstrong's excellent site – Free Spech Backlash, which has gone from strength over the last year or so. I had conversations with Tom last year about joining forces. He was keen; the few I quietly consulted with here, less so. Folk don't like change, but change we must.
So here's the plan. Tom's site has a "Daily Gossip" section, which is very similar to this site. You will find familiar faces there.
Here's the link, please bookmark: https://www.freespeechbacklash.com/daily-gossip .
Thanks for the support over the years; hope to see you at Tom's site…
We can only say a big Thank You for all you have done Geoff. See you over at FSB.
Seconded
Thirded! ⭐️
Sorry it's ending, but heartfelt thanks for a place to let off steam and be entertained.
You've done a magnificent job and certainly earned your retirement.
Rather it ends this way than the site vanishes without trace overnight, me having been run over by a bus. Not that that's likely, the local bus having been withdrawn last year. Thanks, sos.
True.
Rather it ends this way than the site vanishes without trace overnight, me having been run over by a bus. Not that that's likely, the local bus having been withdrawn last year.
🤣🤣🤣
🤣🤣🤣 And if that isn't the most quintessentially Nottl ave atque vale, I really don't know what is!
Geoff
I am worried about your loneliness and lack of mobility .
Do you have help , and aids to assist you, do you belong to your local macular society ..
A dear elderly lady I know has macular , and she has a huge large print keyboard and special screen for her office work.. She is …. guess 101 years old .. she is amazing .. was a business woman and still comments on social media , sharp as a needle but her eyesight needs some support re gadgetry available .
https://avpartsmaster.co.uk/business-solutions/logickeyboard-xl-print-white-on-black-bluetooth-mini-keyboard?tduid=3ec49e4987192912dce97b2a113b415c&progId=365525&affId=3044027&utm_source=tradedoubler&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=Redbrain+UK
I do hope you are receiving support from organisations .
Please don't sink into depression , don't isolate yourself , bad idea.
Stay around please x
Geoff. As you know I have glaucoma. And, for me, the idea of losing my sight was a bit much. Rather lose anything else but that. So in desperation I tried 'Visium'. I was thoroughly dubious about it thinking it was another scam. But it seems to be working. So here's the link if you want to try it. I brought the full course.
https://visiumspro.com/
I also have glaucoma and take Lutein on the recommendation of my ophthalmologist. I also have Latanaprost eye drops. So far, so good.
I take Latanaprost & Brinzolamide. But they were just holding my sight in place as it were, not improving it. But the Visium seems to be helping get rid of the distortion in my sight. Particularly the right eye which was worse than the left.
Thank you, Jonathan. My issue is related to diabetes. I had a retinal haemmarhage in the right eye around ten years ago. At the time, I was having rgular injections for retinopathy, which seemed to be working. When the blood failed to clear, I was offered a vitrectomy – they remove the jelly-like substabce from the eyeball and replace it with – I believe – silicon oil. Viision clear as a bell. Over the following months, retinopathy in that eye no longer responded to the Lucentis injections. Eventually, I was told that was because I'd had a vitrectomy. Now they tell me…
I haven't needed injections in the "good" eye for a few years now. How I achieved this is another story altogether.
Last summer, I had a series of bleeds in the good eye, followed by laser treatment. They've zapped every blood vessel they can, and I haven't bled again for several months. This time, the blood is clearing, albeit at glacial speed. As long as I make progress, I'm happy. For example, in the last week or so, I find I don't need to magnify tyhe laptop screen, although I still find it easier to see with inverted colours.
Thanks for the recommendation, anyway.
My heartfelt wishes of good luck to you. Hope vision does improve. I find it truly depressing without good eyesight. Iv’e adapted but much of what I did required the ability to do detail which is impossible now. AS I said. It seems that of all the senses it is the worst to lose. Wouldn’t mind being deaf or losing the sense of smell. Would happily give up both to regain my full sight. So I do appreciate how you feel, not fun, not fun at all.
My main problem has been reading music. Hymns, I’ve been able to rattle out from memory, to my surprise. Voluntaries, etc. not so much. White text on a black background I can read clearly, but I’ve failed to work out a way of displaying music this way. Having retired, it’s of less importance, now.
Many thanks for everything you've done for NOTTL, Geoff. All Nottlers will be made welcome on FSB, I've no doubt at all about that.
I’ve received Tom’s stamp of approval, all the way from China. So that’s good.
My friend from Northern Ireland is married to an optician and she was telling me her father in law, who has macular degeneration, has been having injections which has stopped it.
Geoff – how can we ever thank you enough for all the grief and admin that you have had to cope with so that we could come here and play?. It has been wonderful.
Thank you, Bill. It has been an absolute pleasure.
Sound the Trumpet and we will follow.
https://youtu.be/jUlVxmz5_tY
I prefer it sung by countertenors. Damned autofill!
I prefer it sung by countertenors.
#Me too.
Enjoyed that. Thanks for posting.
I will be sad at the end of NOTTLERS. I will follow to Free Speech Backlash but it will lack the intimacy of this site and some people may not follow and those, I will miss. But all the same. Thank you very much Geoff for all you have been doing here. Thanks may go unspoken but be assured the gratitude for this site is there.
Once NOTTLers hit any site ….. it becomes a large, gobby family.
Cyber Neighbours From Hell.
Like a swarm of wasps?
Thanks, and see you on the other side.
Thanks Geoff – take a well deserved rest
This has, indeed, been a sad week for me. First I lose my old mate, Toots, then I lose NoTTLe. 😢
I hope this is vi ses and not hej då!
Thank you, Geoff, for all your hard work in keeping this magnificent forum going for so long. It's been emotional!
You will go to Free Speech Backlash wont you?
I’m there as we speak, Johnathan.
Thanks for everything Geoff. This parish was a welcome port after sacking off The Spectator and when they messed around with their comments section. Thanks to Audrey for the directions. Keep well sir and keep playing, I hope to catch you over at FSB sometime. *tips trilby *
Thank you Geoff for all your hard work maintaining NoTTL over the past many years. You have been a stalwart of freedom of speech and have created a good number of friendships.
We’ll keep in touch and meet up for a drink or two soon.
Ah bless you Geoff
Thanks for all your efforts over the years which doubtless saved my sanity and gave us a bastion of free speech in dark times
Thanks, Rik. And thank you, and indeed all our moderators, for your efforts.
Dearest GG,
Your input have kept many of us united in the spirit of hope and well being, "your doings"have been well done over the years meant in the nicest possible way, appreciated ALL the way.
Thank you Geoff for the wonderful Nottl site and for uniting all of us racist, foam-flecked Right wing bigots! It’s been an absolute joy to be amongst so many lovely people. Hope to see you all on the other side!
Many thanks and blessings to you, Geoff and keep in touch!🌹
Thank you Geoff. I hope you keep in touch.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
And now for some Vogon Poetry…
Oh freddled gruntbuggly,
Thy micturations are to me, (with big yawning)
As plurdled gabbleblotchits,
On a lurgid bee,
That mordiously hath blurted out,
Its earted jurtles, grumbling
Into a rancid festering confectious organ squealer. [drowned out by moaning and screaming]
Now the jurpling slayjid agrocrustles,
Are slurping hagrilly up the axlegrurts,
And living glupules frart and stipulate,
Like jowling meated liverslime,
Groop, I implore thee, my foonting turlingdromes,
And hooptiously drangle me,
With crinkly bindlewurdles.
Or else I shall rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon,
See if I don't!
Cor blimey. Where’s that from? See you over at FSB Phizzee.
Hitch Hikers guide to the galaxy.
Never saw it. No wonder it didn’t mean anything.
What a load of 42.
Geoff. You should be very proud of what you've achieved.
Thanks to this site, many good friendships have been formed.
And will continue. Frothing fascists need a good bargain priced meal every so often.
Absolutely, Annie. And now, perhaps I can risk closing the front door at night without fear of it being broken down. 🤣
But it never was – so perhaps you got away with it!
It's a solution, Geoff – but not the one we would have wished for. I visit Tom's site most days anyway but Nottl will be much missed by all of us on this page.
I'm very grateful, and I'm sure others are too for your dedication over the years to putting up the page every day whatever the weather and however you're feeling. It's the first thing I go to every morning.
It's been a joy to know you and all the other regulars on this site.
I hope your health issues can be addressed and that we'll see you over on Daily Gossip and you have a well deserved rest.
I found you all by lurking on the DT letters site for a long time (about three years) without ever commenting until in 2014 the German pilot flew his plane into the mountain. Then of course we moved here in 2016 with the Referendum and the DT closed comments.
Not ideal, but as I said to Sos earlier, rather this way, albeit at short notice, than for the site to vanish overnight without notice, should I step under a bus or something. I believe Tom has assembled a team to run FSB. Speaking of which, thank you for all your efforts as a moderator over the years, too.
It’s been a great pleasure to be here, Geoff – it’s always my first port of call each morning, usually on my phone while still in bed. It’s going to take some getting used to when that button on my screen no longer works. i hope you won’t lose touch and we’ll see you on FSB as well.
Thanks, Geoff, for all your sterling work over the years, and for putting in the effort to find a workable solution. Much appreciated.
See you over there, Katie.
Thank you, Geoff, for your sterling efforts over the years. The words of appreciation from all those here stand as a testament to how much we've all enjoyed, with some ups and downs, our time here. If you've ever felt taken for granted, I hope the sentiments expressed demonstrate otherwise. Good luck and best wishes for a continuation, albeit gradual, in the improvements to your eyesight. I've admired your uncomplaining stoicism in the face of, not just of failing eyesight but also amputations, what must have been disconcerting times in your life.
Don’t forget, Stig. The site owes a great deal of thanks to you, for rounding up all the lost and lonely former DT commenters in the first place. Thank you.
Yes – I was quite bereft when the letters page suddenly closed. Stig and Garlands rounded us up.
Yup. Stig rounded me up back then.
Thank you for recommending the site to me.
Very sorry to read this. Best of luck in the future. Many thanks for all your work
My gratitude for your great work and I hope you enjoy your retirement and your vision problem continues to improve.
The sky just fell in.
🙁
How can we thank you for your sterling efforts over so many years, Geoff?
Maybe a massive NoTTLer party close by you, so we can say "Thanks!" in person?
It wouldn’t have been possible without our vast worldwide team of moderators. To whom I’m eternally grateful.
Seconded!
You can feel very satisfied for having created a great website for the exchange of opinions with great freedom of expression and aid to knowledge. May you enjoy your well-deserved retirement and may your vision problem continue to improve. A big hug to you Geoff Graham
Thank Geoff for creating a new page for Nottlers every day in sometimes almost impossible circumstances for such a long time.
I've enjoyed exchanging comments on your site and many contributors have been instrumental in solving difficult problems as well as giving fellow Nottlers something to ponder and puzzle about.
Best of health for your retirement.
Angie
Sorry to see the end of this site, even if I haven't visited for some time. It certainly helped keep me sane during the post-Brexit years, and while Covid was visited upon us.
Hope to see you guys over at Free Speech Backlash.
Sorry to see the end of this site, even if I haven't visited for some time. It certainly helped keep me sane during the post-Brexit years, and while Covid was visited upon us.
Hope to see you guys over at Free Speech Backlash.
Geoff, Many, many thanks for your diligent attention over the years for hosting NoTTL. The loyalty of so many followers/contributors is a fitting testament and NoTTL will be missed, as will the social gatherings and friendships that have been forged. I was unaware of FSB until today and will dip a toe in the water, but NoTTL will be a hard act to follow.
With best wishes for your predicament, I'm sure our paths will cross again before too long. KBO.
Many thanks
Thank you for all that you have done over the years.
Heart breakingly sad news Geoff .
A day I dreaded but it is necessary for your own good and eye health .
Thank you so much for the up lift and regular attention to your page .
Now is probably the time .
Hugs to you for everything .. and how many years , nearly 10? xxx
Fanx Boss for all your hard work for us
It was far from hard, realy. Best wishes.
I hope Ready Eddy will find us on FSB when he gets back from his cruise……….
Where is Elsie?
Poor thing will be most confused .. especially with Wordle result etc and gooseberry jam !!
Somehow it seems appropriate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjq1aTLjrOE
Denial of COVID-19 vaccine injuries is an officially endorsed and established trend. The history of COVID-19 vaccines is riddled with cover-ups to continue forcing vaccinations, defending institutions for the benefit of multinational corporations. There was no specific ICD-10 code for reporting adverse events, injuries, and deaths from COVID-19 vaccines. This hid safety signals and data from the public. The CDC should create medical codes to track COVID-19 vaccine adverse events, asserts React19, an organization representing people affected by COVID-19 vaccines, which petitioned the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics earlier this month. OSHA policies resulted in real harm by concealing the extent of COVID-19 vaccine-related injuries from the public.
In this regard, we can highlight that data contained in the government-run Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) conclusively shows that far more people have died from the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) "vaccines" than the government admits.
In about 30 seconds, researcher Steve Kirsch was able to query VAERS and determine, based on the "onset curve," that at least 676,000 Americans have died from Fauci's flu vaccines. This translates to one death for every 1,000 doses administered.
This estimate takes into account that some vaccines had a double initial dose, while others had a single dose. No matter how you slice it, these things are far deadlier than anyone is told, except by people like Kirsch, who report on them independently.
According to Kirsch, a shocking 72 percent of IUS death reports in the 33-year history of VAERS, if it even exists, all come from one vaccine category: COVID shots.
"Unlike other vaccines, COVID vaccines continue to kill people for months and years after the shot," Kirsch notes.
"The statistics I've been able to gather estimate that COVID vaccines kill 1 person per 1,000 doses. These vaccines are not remotely safe, so we don't even need to get into a discussion about whether they're effective. … They're clearly unsafe, and no one should take them."
Reports of COVID vaccine deaths in 2021 occurred 200 times more frequently than in 2020 for all vaccines combined. But that must be certain because the CDC has not raised death as a safety concern. Phew!
Doctors are told to trust the FDA and CDC when prescribing vaccines. All the post-marketing safety data is kept hidden by health authorities so not even doctors can look at the data themselves to find out if any vaccine is safe. Doctors thus have no choice but to trust the authorities since the data is kept secret. They are essentially told: “do what we tell you to do, do not question authority or we will take away your license.” Note: By data, I am referring to the patient record level data. This could be easily disclosed by the health authorities without violating anyone's confidentiality (as I provided with the New Zealand record level data) but it never is. In the second link summary of the key pieces of evidence that taken together show that the COVID vaccines are unsafe and that the medical community should not be trusted.
https://kirschsubstack.com/p/vaers-data-is-crystal-clear-the-covid (2023).–
https://kirschsubstack.com/p/a-summary-of-the-evidence-against (2024).– https://kirschsubstack.com/p/the-death-safety-signals-in-vaers (2025).–
The globalist elite imposed the dramatic Agenda 21 and the 2030 Agenda, which the UN describes as "a comprehensive plan of action to be taken by organizations of the United Nations system, governments, and major groups at the global, national, and local levels in all areas of human impact on the environment."
Using issues such as climate change, sustainability, and environmental protection to mask its real objectives, the United Nations is pushing Agenda 21 in an effort to impose a system of global government that will control the world's population and natural resources.
Under Agenda 21, people will be told where to live (easily controlled urban environments) and how to live (remember the lyrics: "we can see… what's good for you… we don't need cars… we walk"). Private property rights will be suspended in favor of "sustainable development" considerations, as determined by a central global authority.
The 2030 Agenda is a continuation of Agenda 21, which establishes the foundations for health from a broad perspective, referring to vaccines, food, energy, inequalities—in short, the freedoms and rights of individuals under the global government's takeover of all nations on the planet.
Nowhere in this document does it state that individual rights will be protected. It doesn't even recognize the existence of the human rights granted to individuals by the Creator. Even the so-called "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" completely denies people the right to self-defense, the right to medical choice, and the right to parental control over their own children.
https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
The contradictions and lies of the globalist elite are the basis for disorienting people and leading them down the path of the Agendas that define their dictatorship. The much-hyped "Great Reset" has caused a stir, promising to use the pandemic as an "opportunity" to overthrow the dollar-based global capitalist economic system and "build back better" under a more socialist and global framework, an integrated system that reflects the goals of the United Nations 2001 and 2030 Agendas for Sustainable Development. Any politician who hears the term "build back better" used might think of Biden-Harris-Trudeau-Johnson, who are repeating this lie, taking inspiration from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and its founder, Klaus Schwab.
One of the purposes of these Agendas is to empower vulnerable people. Children, youth, people with disabilities, and humanitarian emergencies are being targeted. What is being done is transhumanism with synthetic meat, depopulation, and patenting people with "vaccines," including children. This increases inequality with rampant inflation while spending taxpayer money on wars like the one in Ukraine.
The 2030 Agenda is a plan for a new world order that pushes so-called "sustainable development" around the world with 17 goals that will be imposed on all citizens of the world through the invocation of government coercion. The analysis of the "goals" of the 2030 Agenda is nothing more than codewords for a fascist agenda of corporate governance that will imprison humanity in a devastating cycle of poverty while enriching the world's most powerful globalist corporations like Monsanto. Nowhere in this document is it stated that "achieving human freedom" is one of its objectives.
We may mistakenly think, based on WEF policies and the events unfolding on the road to the Great Reset, that ending poverty corresponds to obedience to a government that provides monthly "subsidy" money for basic items like food and medicine. Call it "ending poverty." Invade the entire planet with GMOs and patented Monsanto seeds while increasing the use of deadly herbicides under the false claim of "increased production" of food crops.
The real goal is never "equality," but rather the marginalization and shaming of anyone who speaks their mind. Allow powerful corporations to take control of the world's water supplies and charge monopoly prices. Penalize coal, gas, and oil while pushing "green" energy subsidies spearheaded by friends in the White House. Destroy the free market economy and deny permits and licenses to companies that don't obey government dictates. Enslave impoverished workers. Ban most ocean fishing, plunging the food supply into extreme scarcity and causing rampant food price inflation that drives more people into economic desperation. Criminalize private land ownership, including ranches and agricultural areas. Strictly control all agriculture through a government bureaucracy corrupted by corporations whose policies are determined almost entirely by Monsanto. Use the IRS and other federal agencies to selectively punish unfavorable groups while ignoring the criminal activities of favored corporations friendly to the political elite. Override national laws and require total global obedience to trade agreements drafted by powerful corporations and approved by the UN.
They want a global empire in which they become the anointed "Philosopher Kings" described in Plato's Republic. Their narcissistic egos can't help but crave the adoration of the masses they secretly hate. Talbott falsely defines nationalism in the following terms: "All countries are basically social arrangements, adaptations to changing circumstances. No matter how permanent and even sacred they may appear at a given time, in fact, they are all artificial and temporary. Over the centuries, there has been a general trend toward larger units claiming sovereignty and, paradoxically, a gradual decline in how much actual sovereignty a country actually has."
Among the defenders of the feared and rejected global powers we have Strobe Talbott who directed the Brookings Institute for years (2002-2012), served as former deputy secretary of state in the Clinton White House, former director of the Council on Foreign Relations, was a member of the executive committee of the Trilateral Commissions and also acted as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Policy Board in the Obama White House. It was Talbott who sent Danchenko's Brookings Institute mentor, Fiona Hill, to get a job at the National Security Council in 2017, where she not only advanced a war plan against Russia but also testified at Trump's 2019 impeachment trial.
Talbott envisions the creation of a world government, stating that within the next century, "nations as we know them will become obsolete; all states will recognize a single global authority…"
One of the most revealing quotes from the agenda comes from Clinton administration Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbot, who stated in Time magazine that:
"In the next century, nations as we know them will become obsolete; all states will recognize a single global authority… After all, national sovereignty wasn't such a great idea."
To understand how the agenda works, here's a quote from globalist Council on Foreign Relations member Richard Gardner in a 1974 Foreign Affairs article titled "The Hard Road to World Order":
In short, the "house of world order" will have to be built from the bottom up, not the top down. It will look like a great "rumbling, whirring confusion," to use William James's famous description of reality, but the end of national sovereignty, eroding it piece by piece, will accomplish far more than the old-fashioned frontal assault.
Talbott lists the creation of the marvelous 20th-century innovations of the League of Nations, NATO, the IMF, and globalization. Talbott describes NATO as "the most ambitious, enduring, and successful exercise in collective security in history" and then celebrates the International Monetary Fund. Talbott said that "the free world formed multilateral financial institutions that depend on the willingness of member states to relinquish a degree of national sovereignty. The International Monetary Fund can virtually dictate fiscal policies, including the amount of taxes a government should impose on its citizens.”
https://matthewehret.substack.com/p/the-british-imperial-hand-behind?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2 .—
https://alt-market.us/the-club-of-rome-how-climate-hysteria-is-being-used-to-create-global-governance/ .—
Under OSHA's 2021 directive, healthcare employers and OSHA safety and health officials were not required to track employee adverse events related to COVID-19 vaccines.
Under the same directive, OSHA would not fine healthcare employers for failing to comply with workplace injury recordkeeping requirements regarding "COVID-19 vaccine side effects in workers through May 2022."
“Requiring employers to report asymptomatic COVID-19 cases but not serious adverse reactions to vaccines diametrically contradicts OSHA’s most basic purpose,” said Christopher Dreisbach, legal affairs director for React19, a group advocating on behalf of victims of COVID-19 vaccine injuries.
“This uncovered directive is simply another example of the systematic and deliberate blindness that permeated the previous administration,” he said.
Attorney Greg Glaser asserted that the directive was not “passive oversight, but an active and deliberate policy to manipulate public perception by withholding safety data.” He added:
This alone is an outrage: a federal agency prioritizing vaccine propaganda over workplace safety and transparency. OSHA’s mission is to ensure safe workplaces. By ordering employers not to record vaccine injuries, they violated their own mandate and betrayed the public trust.
Charlene Delfico, New Jersey State Chair of the The FormerFedsGroup Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group for people adversely affected by COVID-19-related policies, said the directive is “proof of a cover-up.”
By suppressing injury reports, OSHA denied workers their rights, erased their suffering from the record, and exempted corporations from liability. … This was institutionalized manipulation. This wasn’t about safety, it was about hiding the truth,” Delfico said.
“OSHA substantially encouraged COVID-19 vaccination, so vaccine victims didn’t feel free to choose whether or not to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist.
Scott C. Tips, president of the National Federation of Healthcare Workers, agreed: “There can be no informed consent in an environment with such data restrictions, and therefore OSHA’s actions in withholding this data were criminal,” he stated.
https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/factsheet-inspections.pdf.–
https://react19.org/ .—
https://formerfeds.org/ .—
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/exclusive-osha-admits-healthcare-employers-told-not-to-report-covid-vaccine-injuries/ (2025).–
Reposted from late last night
Saturday 11th October, 2025
Hardcastle Craggs
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9095c6ed3cfdbb646d207f22e68cace7697f5783601da89d6b44a809ebf51928.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d132c48bfb17d867190facfb1e895bf0bcedec8daec6515d2ef37c24bf9bae8.png
With best wishes,
Caroline and Rastus
I can't recall seeing him for ages.
I hope he has a good one.
I fear he is no longer with us.
I hope not, but I have a vague recollection that he had been unwell.
He sold up and moved from the country – renting a flat in a nearby town. Then silence.
Thank you.
To mis-coin a phrase, old Nottlers never die.
Geoff we salute you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSIMcypTOOs
To quote Roger Waters from “The Wall”, “Goodbye”.
I wonder whether the last page will set the Nottle all comers record for posts?
I know it's double bubble, but good to go out on a high.
"Now is the time to say "goodbye"…."
Not for ever i hope.
At one time we used to get 1000 or more on a page. Now we're down to the hard core of Nottlers…….
All time record was Referendum night, sos.
Though I may sound a bit of a drag (again), I think we NoTTLers need to bear in mind how we felt when a whole mob of ex-Spectator posters descended on NoTTL and for a brief period almost swamped us. I shall be my usual circumspect self when posting on the FSB. To begin with, anyway.
I've been there most days since it started. they're a good crowd and many you'll have met before.
Thanks, Jules.
Good point, Bill.
Things swiftly settled down, though, Bill.
Coming in through the back door – so's to speak:
(Saturday) Hard work this morning: Good programme on Radio 4 earlier with Adrian Chiles and Susie Dent. Makes a change from the cr*p they churn out by the bucket-load. Just noticed it's a repeat. Can't find Saturday's edition. Keep trying Geoff. Start a new blog if necessary.
Wordle 1,575 5/6
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
There is no Saturday page Per – we're all here – for the final time, before we move to Tom's site – Free Speech Backlash. Geoff is retiring from his daily task.
Read further down and it is sad news. Thank you Geoff for all your work. It has been a pleasure to partake in the cut and thrust, and humour here on Nttlrs. Thanks again.
Just a thought.
If any current (or even former) NoTTLers would like to keep in contact — occasionally — in private, then I would be more than happy to hear from you.
I have an old — rarely used — email address at: amosgoliathbear@gmail.com if anyone should wish to keep in touch in a relaxed manner that does not include hundreds and hundreds of 'newby's' from the new forum. I shall pass over my normal email address to any wishing to do this.
I certainly would like to keep in touch with many, if not most, of you.
Oh, I have just emailed Hertslass to tell her the news, since she is only appearing on here intermittently these days.
Grizzly.
Thanks Bamse,
I have being to-ing and fro-ing for a while, sometimes without internet coverage, looking at properties. Being in a state of flux meant that I could never quite settle down for a good old session of NoTTLing. I have been looking forward to things settling down, but hopefully we will all meet again at FSB. A bit like when the Speccie people moved over here, perhaps, in reverse.
Most of the Speccie people are also over at FSB so it's a friendly place. Will take a bit of getting used to not coming to Nottl first thing.
Yes, NoTTL will be missed. I also have popped in and out of FSB, but not on the gossip page. Most of the people there are people that I have seen before, so it’s not completely new. Onwards and upwards…
Luckily not all the Speccie people (John, for example, among others).
not sure if I met John, then. I used to read some of the Speccie comments but not always.
Lower case john, seems to live in a trailer park in a Florida swamp. Has posted under several different handles; currently Baron Greenback. He's reliably dim, though. Much worse are CARTER and Nick Harman, or whatever he calls himself these days.
Yes. I like FSB and post there but it’s not “here”. This is a little community and i feel we are all friends.
We are – and I shall certainly miss this place – but I hope we’ll all find a home there.
Thanks Grizzly – I've started a list of personal emails – Nottlers. HertsLass has mine and can add me to the list of those happy for other Nottlers to contact me.
I probably won't email, but you're more than welcome to visit us over on the FSB site, run by Tom Armstrong. Excellent site, lots of articles, plus a daily gossip page. Hope you visit. 😁
Thank you for letting Hertslass know, Grizz.
KBO Geoff!
Don't be a stranger yourself, Geoff.
I won't, Paul.
My comment isn't being accepted.
Heart breakingly sad news Geoff .
A day I dreaded but it is necessary for your own good and eye health .
Thank you so much for the up lift and regular attention to your page .
Now is probably the time .
Hugs to you for everything .. and how many years , nearly 10? xxx
9 1/2 years. Thanks, Maggie. x
Yep pre Brexit , and other things. x
What's happened? Try again……..
My comment isn't being accepted.
Heart breakingly sad news Geoff .
A day I dreaded but it is necessary for your own good and eye health .
Thank you so much for the up lift and regular attention to your page .
Now is probably the time .
Hugs to you for everything .. and how many years , nearly 10? xxx
Good. Hertslass is the honorary social secretary.
Here''s a final clue on Geoff's site of what can be done to fix a domestic boiler with a mind of its own:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/39185b61b69aaf548f8c8957a18b683fe6c2f2470c83e678926187e43ac75ca0.gif
Thanks for all your work, Geoff. I've thoroughly enjoyed NTTL and will endeavour to fit in over at FSB.
Thank you, Geoff, for all the time and expense that you have put into this page. I don’t contribute a lot but I have followed NTTL since the start. You have created a splendid community – fun, informative and perhaps most importantly with NTTLers supporting each other through hard times.
Best wishes for your retirement and good health.
I hope we'll see you over at FSB, Ken.
Thank you, I often pop over there.
Thank you, Geoff, for all your good work over nearly 10 (?) years.
I have no idea which Friday I am on but shall post my Wordlers' Sat 11 contribution at Wine O'clock – 16.50 GMT.
We've reluctantly moved on to Free Speech Backlash Daily Gossip page – you'll find friendly faces there.
Link to FSB Daily gossip page is on Geoff's valedictory post above.
Hello J, where do I go on the FSB page ?
So many choices?
https://www.freespeechbacklash.com/daily-gossip/saturday-11th-october
There are lots of tabs but try the Today tab or the Daily Gossip tab – they are one and the same and free to chat there.
I posted a link at the top (or bottom (?) of this page. But here you go, Maggie:
https://www.freespeechbacklash.com/daily-gossip
By the by – I emailed Our Susan at the only address I have – her work one – and got the auto-reply that she was on sick leave.
If anyone has a private e-mail for her – please let her know about this momentous change.
I hope she will drop in and see the pinned post above. But there are other channels where we can contact her.
She has been in touch – she already knew!
Thanks Geoff, please keep in touch.
Sorry to see it go, Geoff, but fully understand. I'm afraid I haven't been here much recently anyway as I've been fully engaged on Tom's site since it started, both writing articles and commenting.
Keep well.
Many thanks to Geoff for all you've done . I arrived about six years ago and it is the first site I visit daily. If the offenderati ever found this site, they would have a fit! It's been like an online speakeasy for me. I shall miss it.
That's me, my last NoTTL post.
Goodbye, all Y'all, see you over at FSB.
Thanks again, Geoff.
Au revoir, Paul.
Au revoir NoTTL….
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1b6f82a03bd4962fbb5bc2b19421b3086d42d2f018e6559b75d6b84937fb27d2.jpg
Today there are tears in my eyes
Today is the day that NoTTL dies
Thank you so much Geoff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT0LCc_2n4E
Farewell to NoTTL
As a former webmaster to several sites I know just how irritating it is when things go wrong 'under the bonnet' and (hopefully) nobody notices when you fix it. My hearty thanks to Geoff for his unfailing provision of this friendly, sometimes scurrilous, and very rarely annoying website over the years. It has given us all somewhere to have a rant as well as a smile and we have often learned things from the wide range of experience of NoTTL's membership.
I'm going to move over to The Free Speech site and take a look around. Bye all!
Bye from here and hallo to you over there……..
Thanks, RC.
Just finished my matxh. Turns out my husband’s match is being televised at Surbiton, Two people currently watching!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PPeTJuy1qJQ
(You are cheeiring for Barnes, in blue)
Seems our team were “Surbitoned”. Their umpires are out of control. They are a very unpleasant club to play against. But play them we must.
Wordle No. 1,575 3/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟩🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Wordle 11 Oct 2025
Pile for Birdie Three?
Noooooo!!!! Say it ain’t so!!!! We aren’t folding are we???
Yup. But from their perspective it feels that there's a reverse takeover going on a FSB!
Hosting issues. When I moved, five years ago, I asked Plusnet to terminate my broadband, but keep my email account alive. They closed it. I notified Bluehost (who hosted the WordPress part of the site that my email address had changed. They didn't make the process particularly easy, but in the end, I was satisfied that they had made the change. Following the recent problems, I logged on to my Bluehost account. Correct user ID and password. "We've sent an authorisation code to [my old, defunct email address]." I suspect the subscription may have expired.
Nothing works any more, this being no exception. I haven't exactly lost the will to live, but sorting this mess out – Ijust can't be bothered.
I had conversations with Tom Armstrong over a year ago, and, knowing that this site couldn't last indefinitely, we discussed the possibility of joining forces. SInce then, FSB has proliferated greatly, and NoTTL can easily be absorbed into Daily Gossip. So today seemed like a good time to do the deed.
https://www.freespeechbacklash.com/daily-gossip
It's Ave atque vale for us today – Geoff's giving up on Nottl for reasons he explains and we're all joining FSB instead. Many of us already visit there anyway.
And so farewell. See you all in FSBland
Farewell, Bill. Hopefully so.
"So long and thanks for all the fish"…
If anyone knows of any good fish puns, perhaps you could let minnow before it’s too late?
You must be new here. This is (or was) Fishpun Central.
Edit: Praise where praise is due. Sorry for being Damselfish.
That was Brill, Geoff!
😊
Thanks Geoff for all your hard work over the years, at least you waited until after my birthday.
Goodluck everyone, I'll give Tom's site a look.
You're welcome, Bob3. Tom's aim was to produce an independent site, with the emphasis on free speech, as an alternative to the likes of The Spectator. I looked today for the first time in over a year, and am gobsmacked. "Daily Gossip" is essentially NoTTL without the link to the DT Letters page. But there's so much more on the site. I belleive he's achieved his aim. And Michael Gove isn't the editor…
Yes, I just had a look, it looks impressive and most of the Nottlers are already there.
I've not really looked at other disqus sites apart from Going Postal, been spending a lot of time on FB groups.
Thanks again for keeping Nottler going for so long, so much has happened in those ten years or so.
Geoff, I have always marveled at your dedication to this site, never missing a single day, always on time, being patient with us when we sometimes were a bit unruly.
You have earned a long, peaceful and healthy retirement.
Thank you.
Sam, Thank you. There's less to my role than meets the eye. When the DT dropped Disqus comments from its site, many distraught regular commenters were seen wandering aimlessly in cyberspace. Happily, some met up on other Disqus sites, and plotting ensued.
Stigenace (David Wainweight) made a series of posts, listing regular DT Letters commenters. As no-one else seemed to be taking the bait, and being mildly pissed, I thought "someone's got to do it". And thus, NoTTL was born.
I streamlined the process of posting new pages, with a self-updating Word document with the main three paragraphs, to form the basis of each page. Hence, I always know what day it is.
A few mouse clicks, and the job's a good un. Hell, I can do it while the kettle boils. Obviously, on days like this, things become challenging, but on the whole, it has been an absolute pleasure.
While there's still time, here's a reminder of the humour to be found beneath the Letters page, pre NoTTL. It may be too large. And it reminds us of those who are sadly no longer with us.
Rik • 14 hours ago
"Tasty Wee Beasties" (Simon Cox)
I have always thought that the annual slaughter of these lovable critters is a stain on the otherwise civilised Scots. They should be left free to roam the highlands and glens of Scotland in peace.
Grumpy_Old_Fool Rik • 14 hours ago
'Morning Rik
It's a cruel sport. They can't fly and they can't run fast enough to escape the hunters. In fact, they don't even try to move.
Rik Grumpy_Old_Fool • 14 hours ago
Morning GOF
Exactly I always thought the phrase "the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible" was coined about Haggis Hunters
ladyofthelake Rik • 9 hours ago
The thing is, the farm raised ones just don't taste as good. It must be something to do with the heather they eat in the wild.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 7 hours ago
Certainly don't buy one from Iceland.
Phtooey!
sherrell Rik • 13 hours ago
Not in fact …. Oscar Wilde on fox hunting ….
anneallan sherrell • 13 hours ago
Well, that went right over your head.
ilPugliese anneallan • 11 hours ago
My wife is out hunting for one this morning, and I resent her being called unspeakable. I fear the Waitrose estate will have run out and she might have to go to the wilds of Tesco.
Grumpy_Old_Fool ilPugliese • 10 hours ago
'Morning Ilpugliese,
She could try importing one of the frozen ones from Iceland.
assymetric Grumpy_Old_Fool • 10 hours ago
Indeed GOF. They are hardy creatures and are apparently spreading further north and may be responsible for the shrinking of the ice at the north pole.
The Central Scrutiniser Grumpy_Old_Fool • 10 hours ago
Haggis from Iceland are an inferior introduced species. They were cross-bred with beavers, I believe, and have a distinctly "woody" flavour.
This is why some people believe that Haggis from Iceland are filled with sawdust.
Oberstleutnant The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
It's puffin in disguise, TCS.
ladyofthelake Oberstleutnant • 7 hours ago
Please don't mention birds or ducks! Were you here yesterday?
assymetric ladyofthelake • 7 hours ago
Yes, don't tern the clock back.
Oberstleutnant ladyofthelake • 7 hours ago
No.. in Wales.
ladyofthelake Oberstleutnant • 6 hours ago
If you feel brave, look at yesterday's comments and you will see about 400 puns on duck and birds! Not for the faint of heart;-)
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 5 hours ago
I wonder who will pay the (sand)piper tonight?
JohninKent The Central Scrutiniser • 5 hours ago
TCS Your creative juices have been flowing well today – I salute you!
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 8 hours ago
The climate is not conducive to them in Iceland either. They do not breed as freely. I believe there is a plan to introduce them into the northern moors of England to see if they thrive.
One Last Try The Central Scrutiniser • 9 hours ago
I always thought beavers were sweet smelling.
peddytheviking One Last Try • 9 hours ago
No, that's otters, according to Winter Watch last week.
The Central Scrutiniser One Last Try • 9 hours ago
Yes, but have you ever tasted one? I don't recommend it.
richardl_on_disqus The Central Scrutiniser • 8 hours ago
Beaver tails are good.
Or at least the sweet deep fried doughnut style concoction that is smothered in sugar and maple syrup is tastily bad for you.
sherrell Grumpy_Old_Fool • 14 hours ago
Their other problem is that their legs on one side are shorter than on the other, as a result of having to run round hillsides …; which means they can only attempt escape in one direction … which could, fatally, be straight into the line of fire!
surfaceman sherrell • 13 hours ago
Our Haggis Hounds are, in fact, trained to turn them around on the hillside so that they fall over. They can then be caught and killed without the noise, and expense, of shooting.
Grumpy_Old_Fool surfaceman • 13 hours ago
Presumably using a sharp crack on the back of the neck with a golf club – do you use a mashie or a niblick?
surfaceman Grumpy_Old_Fool • 13 hours ago
A mashie of course, in honour of the potatoes served with the haggis.
The Central Scrutiniser Grumpy_Old_Fool • 11 hours ago
The correct and time-honoured way to dispatch a haggis is by drowning it in single malt. Anything else is barbaric.
Grumpy_Old_Fool The Central Scrutiniser • 10 hours ago
'Morning TCS
Shurely you jest. I'd never use my valuable and scarce SM any way but internally.
The Central Scrutiniser Grumpy_Old_Fool • 10 hours ago
No no no. The wild haggis is such a revered beast that it is treated with the greatest of respect.
There is a particular variety of highly prized single malt from Glenbuggery which is returned to the barrel after the drowning of the season's haggis catch. This results in an extra peaty flavour, imparted by the feet of the animal which are never washed beforehand, with just a tiny overtone of haggis wee. It is utterly unique and very rare.
This particular drink is little known about in the UK as it is so expensive. It is exclusively sold to the Japanese, who pay upwards of 10,000,000 Yen for a small bottle.
There are a few very exclusive private clubs in Kyoto where only this particular whisky is served. They are the only clubs in Japan where Scotch whisky is drunk neat, as it should be. Everywhere else they drown it with water and ice and call it "misuari" which sounds remarkably like misery (very appropriately).
For a short time in the 1950s and 60s the drinking of Glenbuggery Special Reserve Haggis Single Malt was made illegal in Japan because the supply chain had been taken over by the Yakuza crime syndicate. But after a crackdown by the Japanese Police with the aid of an elite detachment of the Highlands Special Forces, the link to organised crime was broken and Glenbuggery could be enjoyed by all once more (providing one could afford it, of course).
surfaceman The Central Scrutiniser • 10 hours ago
First, eat the haggis THEN drown it in single malt – anything else is a waste! My regular SM of choice is Ledaig ( currently £19.26 in Morrisons ) … other brands are available.
anneallan The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
Does it have to be eaten with a napkin over the head?
•
Reply
•
Share ›
The Central Scrutiniser anneallan • 6 hours ago
If you can't source a Tam O'Shanter locally, a tartan tea-cosy will do.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 6 hours ago
I am glad to see you are so fully into the spirit (!) of Burns' Night;-)
madmick surfaceman • 10 hours ago
I thought they banned the hounds and one had to use Haggis pointers to flush the beasties out to be caught by a Haggis Harrier.
The Central Scrutiniser madmick • 10 hours ago
Haggis Hounds were a recent introduction after farmed haggis were introduced late in the eighteenth century. Prior to that the haggis were caught by luring them into nets.
Haggis Harriers are far more sporting than hounds though, as they replicate the natural predation.
And the present "traditional" way of serving the haggis, i.e. minced in a bag made from a sheep's stomach, is thought to be derived from the training lure that was used to train Haggis Harriers, in much the same way as the bait that is swung around on a rope in medieval falconry.
Seth F Reeker madmick • 9 hours ago
People what chase haggises are puddings.
assymetric Seth F Reeker • 9 hours ago
Is that the correct plural term Seth?
I understood it was "haggii" having been termed by the Romans when they attempted an invasion of the north but were repulsed by hoards of them.
The Central Scrutiniser assymetric • 9 hours ago
Sorry Assy, but that is an urban myth. Nobody had any hoards of haggis until commercial haggis farming was started in the late eighteenth century.
Prior to that they were a widely dispersed species, being largely solitary and spending most of their time underground, except during the mating season.
Haggis are never found in "hordes" in their natural habitat.
assymetric The Central Scrutiniser • 9 hours ago
I have been misled then TCS. I thought the Scots changed to tossing the caber after they had lobbed virtually all of their haggis stocks at the Romans and those haggis that were left scattered and became a solitary species.
The Central Scrutiniser assymetric • 9 hours ago
The chronicles of Tacitus are nothing more than Roman propaganda. The truth of the Roman invasion of Scotland is recorded in runes that were recently discovered in the basement of a wine bar in Inverness during restoration work.
When the Romans first invaded they knew little of the people of the north, and what they came to know they learned from the captured Caledonians who they dragooned into their own army. (It was common practice for the Romans to do this when conquering far-flung regions where their supply chain was stretched to breaking point).
The Caledonians were canny, however, and they started telling embellished tales about the native haggis, describing it as a fierce wild beast, standing seven feet tall with huge fangs and claws. It was a ploy to scare the Romans and slow their advance into the highlands.
When this became known by the highland tribes, they would go into battle wearing a head-dress that made them look much taller and gave them the appearance of a huge wild animal. When accompanied by wild screams as these apparitions came out of the highland mist, the Romans would believe that the haggis were after them and flee in panic.
(There is some evidence to suggest – taken from scraps of the soldiers' letters home discovered on the site of old forts – that Hadrian's wall was actually erected as a haggis barrier and had nothing to do with keeping marauding Scots at bay).
These tales were spread through the ranks of the Roman army when officers returned to Rome, and the stories became adapted so that eventually every officer returning to Rome from a stint in a far-flung outpost would tell a similar tale. This is where the stories about the Abominable Snowman are believed to originate.
The "haggis impersonating head-dresses" first donned by the Caledonians to scare the crap out of the Romans are the forerunners of today's bearskin hats that are worn by many armies throughout Europe.
Stigenace The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
You're on fine form today, TCS. That was excellent.
Grumpy_Old_Fool Stigenace • 7 hours ago
'Afternoon Stig
Is it any wonder that foreigners are confused by the erudite nature of these comments?
ladyofthelake Grumpy_Old_Fool • 6 hours ago
I tell you Mr. Grumpy, that anyone reading these comments today will come to one of two conclusions…1) That we are all pi***d. 2) That we have all escaped from a secure facility.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 6 hours ago
I cannot deny that my own stock of the Special Reserve is rather depleted after last night's birdfest and this may have some bearing on today's contributions.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 6 hours ago
I do so understand. There is rather a low level in a very large bottle of Merlot here.
zxcv1 ladyofthelake • 5 hours ago
So it Wasalot? (As I recall the 't' isn't silent down in Tar Heel country)
ladyofthelake zxcv1 • 3 hours ago
The T is nearly always pronounced…not always where you'd expect it though;-)
jillthelass ladyofthelake • 6 hours ago
Very rarely is a bottle not finished in this household once opened. But Merlot is not one of our usual quaffs!
jillthelass The Central Scrutiniser • 6 hours ago
What have you done with Cleo, has the Haggis frightened her away?
The Central Scrutiniser jillthelass • 5 hours ago
No she is still here, but considering the subject matter today I thought I would use the avatar of Bill McBen – he is one of the world's leading experts on haggis husbandry.
Flobbadob The Central Scrutiniser • 5 hours ago
He ain't heavy – he's my brother!
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 4 hours ago
At the William McGonagall Institute we refer to his works all the time. His tome on The Life Cycle of the Native Scottish Haggis is in a class of its own.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 12 minutes ago
That is kind of you to say so, I will pass on your compliments next time I see him.
I see his brother has also put in an appearance. I haven't seen him for many years! What an amazing way to get back in touch.
The Central Scrutiniser Grumpy_Old_Fool • 36 minutes ago
I am hoping it is also confounding to retired neurosurgeons.
ladyofthelake Stigenace • 7 hours ago
When it comes to haggis, Gavin is unstoppable. Years of trying to bag one I suspect.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 6 hours ago
They don't make good pets.
They chew the furniture and are impossible to house-train.
There is no problem with the poo, of course, but the wee smells disgusting and they spray it everywhere. It may be OK when heavily diluted in single malt, but rather like ambergris the raw material in its concentrated form is as far from perfume as one could ever imagine.
(edited correction)
madmick The Central Scrutiniser • 5 hours ago
I'm told there is a small horde of them in the North York Moors.
Apparently they migrated south following Scots who travelled to Yorkshire to work in the steelworks. They found it more comfortable to stay on higher ground and didn't cross the Vale of Pickering.
Seth F Reeker madmick • 3 hours ago
Ach! They couldnae get up Sutton Bank.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 6 hours ago
Yes, I see. So not a good idea to ask for one for Valentine's day. The dog would chase it anyway.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 6 hours ago
A dog would terrify a haggis and just make it wee all the more.
The Central Scrutiniser Stigenace • 6 hours ago
Thank you kind sir.
assymetric The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
I'm intrigued by the wine bar reference TCS. If this is correct then are the rumours true that the invasion of Scotland (as it was later to be called) was a failed attempt by the Romans to obtain the details of their fermenting process suitable for colder climates?
The Central Scrutiniser assymetric • 6 hours ago
I don't think the wine bar was there when the Romans invaded!
The runes were apparently kept safe on an island for many centuries and guarded by many generations of the same family. But when the English were repeatedly sending raiding parties northwards it was decided to move them to a less remote location so that they could be more heavily guarded, and somewhere that the English would not think of looking for them.
A secret band of warrior monks, rather like Celtic Ninjas, were then trained to do this job of protecting the Runes. It is believed that there is some ancient link between them and the Freemasons in England, but there are no written records that confirm this. There is however a significant overlap between some of the symbology used by the Freemasons and that on the Inverness Runes, which points to the commonality of their origins.
There are also indications of a link between the keepers of the Runes and the Knights Templar, as all such secret societies from those days tended to have communication tendrils that extended all round the world and into the strangest of places.
A depiction of a "haggis rampant" is even carved into one of the battlements of the walled city of Carcassonne, just over the Western Gate. Perhaps to conceal its significance it has always been described as a badly carved lion and it is described as such in the guide books. Those who have seen a haggis will recognise it immediately, however.
It is believed that an envoy sent to the city from the highlands of Scotland would reveal his membership of the secret society guarding the Runes by making a coded reference to the beastie on the battlements, thus identifying it as a haggis (which of course the locals and most other visitors to the city would never have seen).
This would then act as the password admitting the envoy into the inner sanctum to conduct whatever business was in hand.
madmick The Central Scrutiniser • 5 hours ago
Crikey this is good stuff. When does the film come out?
The Central Scrutiniser madmick • 5 hours ago
I had heard that Dan Brown was working on a draft screenplay for this, but the sponsors apparently kept laughing whenever he mentioned haggis so I am not sure if the project was ever funded.
madmick The Central Scrutiniser • 5 hours ago
Maybe we should recruit David Attenborough to do the documentary first.
The Central Scrutiniser madmick • 5 hours ago
They won't let him near a haggis since the scandal with the polar bears.
richardl_on_disqus The Central Scrutiniser • 4 hours ago
Especially with the episode of him attacking polar bears when he was filming the rare prairie haggis in northern Manitoba.
This variety, the only one available through government run outlets over here has adapted to the flatlands by growing an extra pair of legs that allows it to run in straight lines.
Unfortunately, the genetic modification has resulted in a port albani affliction amongst those that imbibe.
Spicy haggis legs are very popular as a snack while we pour scorn on american football exextravaganza
ladyofthelake richardl_on_disqus • 4 hours ago
Is that the haggis that was bred by crossing with a groundhog?
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 4 hours ago
Maybe a Scots writer would be better versed in the subject. Ian McEwan possibly.
But it must be handled sensitively and no haggis can be harmed.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 37 minutes ago
You should see the mechantronic haggis they use for film work nowadays – indistinguishable from the real thing, especially when filmed in natural lighting conditions because you can't really see them. Just like the real ones.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 27 minutes ago
Well that's good to know. I was wondering about the availability of haggis wranglers, I am sure they must be a rare breed as well.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 18 minutes ago
I think that is an American invention, no? If undertaken in the Scottish highlands such activity would be extremely hazardous to one's sporran.
madmick The Central Scrutiniser • 5 hours ago
Good point. Are we stuck with film-makers who only make stuff up?
anneallan The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
Are they solitary animals like pandas?
ladyofthelake anneallan • 6 hours ago
Even more shy I believe but I refer you to the expert…
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 5 hours ago
Spot on LOTL. The female generally remains in her nest for most of the year and spends her time raising her young. The smaller males are banished after the mating season and wander the hills and mountains aimlessly for most of the year. But they are extremely wary of humans and are almost never observed, coming out only at night.
The only photographic record of a haggis in the wild is a recent infra red video taken using a PIR sensor to trigger the camera, and this is how it is know for certain that haggis eat their own poo.
Even this is claimed to be a hoax by some who even deny that the haggis still exists in the wild, and they try to claim it is just an out of focus polecat. Academics, however, are convinced of the authenticity of the video evidence
madmick The Central Scrutiniser • 5 hours ago
I believe the correct term for the Haggis nest is a scrape.
The Central Scrutiniser madmick • 5 hours ago
That is indeed the English term. The original Scottish name is "crannie", which is where the familiar term "nooks and crannies" comes from.
madmick The Central Scrutiniser • 5 hours ago
Thanks for that. The terms "a narrow shave" and a close shave" are corruptions of "narrow scrape" and "close scrape" both traditional haggis hunting terms.
The narrow scrape being that of an in-calf haggis out of season. (at least it is in England).
The Central Scrutiniser madmick • 5 hours ago
I shall make a note of that. Being primarily interested in the natural history of the beastie, I am not fully conversant with all the hunting terminology, so thanks.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 4 hours ago
I have been asked to issue an invitation to you to visit us here at the Institute so that you may see our research for yourself and meet Hamish in person. He's rather fun especially at feeding time.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 4 hours ago
That is indeed what I had heard. We had to create a replica of a crannie for Hamish, our captive haggis. If we are successful in finding him a mate, it will have to be made bigger.
peddytheviking assymetric • 9 hours ago
Haggis sounds like an irregular 4th declension noun to me, so the plural is the same: haggis.
Hagii would be the genitive singular. 😉
The Central Scrutiniser peddytheviking • 8 hours ago
it is considered extremely rude to decline a haggis, Peddy.
assymetric peddytheviking • 9 hours ago
I quoted from the haggisclopedia, Peddy.
I'm unaware that Hitler (genitive singular) was involved.
Grumpy_Old_Fool sherrell • 13 hours ago
'Morning sherrell
An example of a failure of evolution.
The Central Scrutiniser Grumpy_Old_Fool • 10 hours ago
OK, I shall just have to repeat my story from a month ago then.
There was a failed attempt at cross-breeding to produce more meat and less waste. They cross-bred left-handed and right-handed haggis to try and produce offspring with all short legs.
It backfired – they produced a new breed of champion long-legged runners which promptly escaped into the wild and nobody has ever been able to catch one since.
Apparently these were the inspiration for the "Road Runner" in the Looney Tunes cartoons, although Warner Bros. adapted things so that children among the home audience would not be terrified by it. They also replaced the sound of bagpipes with a "beep beep" sound to excellent comedic effect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?…
"Enjoy"
The Central Scrutiniser The Central Scrutiniser• 10 hours ago
And to continue on the educational theme:
The bagpipes were originally developed as a haggis lure, with the drone being a representation of the female haggis' mating call (the female is dominant and much larger than the male).
However, in the days when haggis were truly wild and their highland habitat was largely impenetrable by man it was very rare to catch one. They only came out from their hiding places among the caves and crags for a very short period in order to mate, and this was the only time when they could be lured and caught, which is why they were so highly prized as a delicacy and only enjoyed by the Laird.
In order to while away the long dreary days out on the haggis hunt, the beaters and pipe players used to adapt their bagpipes by adding other flutes so they could play tunes. The dancing that accompanied this entertainment (which could only be carried out well out of sight and earshot of the Laird, because rather than attracting the haggis it would scare them away) was primarily a way for the beaters to keep warm as well as relieving the drudgery.
However, over time the playing of the bagpipes and the dancing became known to Laird McTavish of Achnasheen, and one year he asked for his beaters and pipers to put on a display performance for his guests when the haggis they had bagged was brought into the dining room. This proved to be such a popular event that word of it spread far and wide among the landed gentry, and it was eventually reproduced all over the highlands.
This is how the ritual of the piping-in of the haggis came about.
One Last Try The Central Scrutiniser • 9 hours ago
Bag pipes aka The Porridge Gun.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 8 hours ago
The things you learn in these threads;-)
Part 2:The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 8 hours ago
It's all in my book – "Scrutinising Modern History, The Myths Debunked" available from MacMillan Press and shortly to be released as a talking book spoken by David Tennant.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 8 hours ago
I shall look out for it. Good poolside reading or listening, especially with David Tennant reading….
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 8 hours ago
You can place an advance order by electronic transfer of funds to my bank account in the Cayman Islands. I will send you the details shortly by e-mail.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
Sounds good. I shall transfer the funds from my local bank…The Monopoly Savings and Loan.
gizzee ladyofthelake • 8 hours ago
I think it is a wind up lol LOTL
The Central Scrutiniser gizzee • 8 hours ago
How dare you suggest such a thing, gizzee?
I'll have you know I have an MA in the subject from Glenrothes University (the Scottish Cultural Department of Heriot Watt) and 25 years of personal experience carrying out haggis archaeology in the field.
Unfortunately there are few undisturbed remains left to be found in Scotland because most relics were scavenged by Victorian fossil hunters when the railways came north and they are now in private collections.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
I have heard that studies are underway to determine the diet of the wild haggis. Experts in scatology are scouring the evidence and will produce a definitive report in due course.
My MSc is from the William McGonagall Institute of Blaeberries.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 7 hours ago
Ha! The Americans – they think they know it all!
It is well known by Scottish naturalists (as opposed to naturists) and it has recently been confirmed by an infra red video recording made by Dr Angus Macaroon of The Fife Haggis Conservation Trust that haggis conceal their whereabouts in the wild by eating their own faeces.
That is why nobody on a highland ramble has ever stepped in haggis poop. If they say they have, it was probably a Highland Terrier that did it, not a haggis.
It may also be why haggis is something of an acquired taste.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 6 hours ago
The scat has been searched for over many years and a few rare samples are in the research lab being extensively examined. Also, a single haggis in captivity has been providing samples although the scientists did have to be quick, before it ate it.
As for Scottish naturists, unlikely. Something to do with outstanding thistles I believe…
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 5 hours ago
I'm not sure which variety of haggis they have in captivity, LOTL.
If it is the cross-bred one from Iceland I have a feeling it will mainly eat trees, since the beaver's genes appear to be dominant.
Of course, there are not many trees left in the highlands of Scotland or in Iceland. Perhaps the haggis are to blame after all?
madmick The Central Scrutiniser • 5 hours ago
I think you'll find that is a tale told by the beaver nuts. The cross-bred haggis (which was introduced to Iceland by Irish Monks) is sterile after three generations and therefore could not have caused the damage reported.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 4 hours ago
The one we are using for our research is a rare specimen. The Lesser Spotted Tree Eating Haggis. It is fed pine branches and cones thrice daily and allowed a certain measure of whisky as a condiment. Pine trees are plentiful in these parts so it thrives.
We are trying to find a female as it appears lonely and we are hoping to begin a breeding programme.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 23 minutes ago
Farmed haggis fed exclusively on pine cones do taste exceptionally good, although if anything other than Douglas Fir is used this can produce a slight overtone that is a bit like disinfectant, which can be a bit off-putting if you get a nostril full as you are tucking into your neeps.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 21 minutes ago
Hamish gets Long Leaf Pine and cones which he does enjoy. His preferred dram is GlenBogle but we are trying to wean him of that and onto something with a more robust palate.
He is very sweet and quite playful, if you catch him in the right mood.
anneallan ladyofthelake • 7 hours ago
'Twas in 1872
That I fust tasted the berries blue.
A treat so rare
That I lost mae hair and noo mae heed's all bare.
Mae sporran's noo nude
The minister told me it waer rude……
I did try to work in the Tay Bridge disaster.
assymetric The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
TCS, those are not haggis remains, they are their eggs. You may well have put the future of the haggis species in danger.
The Central Scrutiniser assymetric • 7 hours ago
Haggis eggs are a myth like dragons' eggs, assy.
Haggis are mammals.
You should try a drop of haggis milk in your single malt – it'snectar!
It is particularly good in Glenbuggery Special Reserve Haggis Single Malt. The habit of putting a drop of highland spring water in whisky is derived from this – it is an imitation of something that only the Lairds could afford to do.
Those who do this claim that it makes the whisky taste better, but they are just pretending that they are putting haggis milk in the Special Reserve.
Seth F Reeker The Central Scrutiniser • 3 hours ago
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the pudding-race!
Aboon them a' yet tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o'a grace
As lang's my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin was help to mend a mill
In time o'need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin', rich!
Then, horn for horn, they stretch an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
Bethankit! hums.
Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad make her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?
Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckles as wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash;
His nieve a nit;
Thro' blody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!
But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs an' arms, an' hands will sned,
Like taps o' trissle.
Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer
Gie her a haggis!
Stigenace Seth F Reeker • 3 hours ago
I didn't follow much of that but it looks impressive.
madmick The Central Scrutiniser • 4 hours ago
Quite right. However it was originally thought that they were egg-laying mammals.This is now not thought to be true but, as with much of what we know, there isn't a great deal of eveidence.
anneallan assymetric • 7 hours ago
Quatermass battling against alien Haggi under Edinburgh Castle. They swarm up the Scott Memorial and the SNP refuse to mobilise Trident.
We're All Dooooooooomed ……..
ladyofthelake anneallan • 24 minutes ago
Thank you Private Fraser;-)
The Central Scrutiniser anneallan • 6 hours ago
May I suggest taking a little more haggis milk with the single malt, Anne?
Stigenace The Central Scrutiniser • 6 hours ago
Well, if it isn't old Tammy Shanter.
gizzee The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
So, if I had (hypothetically) copied and pasted it to my FB page, Would you sue me?
The Central Scrutiniser gizzee • 7 hours ago
I am not litigious, but I would hope for an ex gratia payment to my Cayman account – I'll get LOTL to send you the details.
gizzee The Central Scrutiniser • 7 hours ago
Will you accept upvotes instead?
The Central Scrutiniser gizzee • 7 hours ago
Well, since it is you…
gizzee ladyofthelake • 8 hours ago
Don't you think they would make wonderful bedtime stories for the kiddies?……need to be a bit scarier though.
ladyofthelake gizzee • 7 hours ago
I don't know about that…I think it's all getting a bit scary now;-)
Grumpy_Old_Fool The Central Scrutiniser • 10 hours ago
Have you got a Loch Ness story as well?
The Central Scrutiniser Grumpy_Old_Fool • 10 hours ago
That's all made up for the tourists.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 8 hours ago
Maybe Nessie was coming ashore and eating the wild haggis…could be another reason why they are so rare.
The Central Scrutiniser ladyofthelake • 8 hours ago
Some believe that the Nessie story was another one of the tales invented by captured Caledonians to scare Agricola's navy, but there is no mention of this in the Inverness Runes.
zxcv1 sherrell • 13 hours ago
So true. And when they get to the top of the hill they topple over.
peddytheviking zxcv1 • 13 hours ago
……….so they have no choice but to spiral down again.
zxcv1 peddytheviking • 13 hours ago
That's right Peddy.. Yet another cruel sport to be condemned by Geoffrey W
The Central Scrutiniser sherrell • 11 hours ago
Did you read my post about the haggis cross-breeding experiments a few weeks back?
EDIT – I have re-posted it in here to save you searching for it.
ladyofthelake The Central Scrutiniser • 8 hours ago
I thank you for that informative discourse. The fact that I can barely see my monitor for laughing is a minor detail.;-)
A lot of sadly departed friends there. We did have some idiotic fun though.
Indeed.
Thank you, Geoff. There are some lovely reminders of those who we know have departed this mortal coil, and others who, perhaps, might still be amongst us.
Talk about a blast from the past (I was still JiK then, I see.) . How did you find it, Geoff?
Obviously I have picked up on the rather sad news today. Despite rarely (if ever) commenting these days (reasons various), I have read most days.
You may add my gratitude to the justifiably extensive list already posted.
Maybe if things improve, I'll send an e-mail to MiddleLandExile!
All the best
John
Goodnight, all, and thank you for your understamding and the supportove comments. See you soon, in "the other place".
Good night Geoff.
And thank you for all your work.
Thank you for nine and a half interesting years; it sure looks like a good lifeboat, but yet I am reluctant to depart from this island of calm.
Two weeks away lies St Crispin's Day.
Good night Geoff ,
Stay around , don't isolate yourself.
See my recent message to you re macular https://www.macularsociety.org/support/daily-life/practical-guides/home/reading-writing/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22147401966&gbraid=0AAAAADricLFfQmCC-CrFt3NEHne1XRmZr&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgKjHBhChARIsAPJR3xf4D6AWyyM5oJ0_zSHuT2yaMrXSnX759Jmapj1nf4SSPZvztkFTQgYaAjyzEALw_wcB
Bless you and will always look out for you .. stay positive .. please .
Goodnight for now.
Maggie x
My last post on this site.
Goodnight all, see you all elsewhere!
Last post from me. Thanks again Geoff, it’s been great fun. But, all good things…….
À Bientôt.
Is anyone considering taking on the task?
Sorry, William, but I think it's safe to say that our new home is to be on the freespeechbacklash daily gossip page. Please join us there, unless you've already done so. I don't always agree with you but I do value your contributions.
You done well Geoff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqLqJEIq6A8&list=RDIqLqJEIq6A8&start_radio=1