Friday 13 October: There is a word for members of Hamas – and the BBC should use it

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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472 thoughts on “Friday 13 October: There is a word for members of Hamas – and the BBC should use it”

  5. Good morning. Chickens coming home to roost for the government on its imigration policies.

    2. Having had to resort to public transport for a couple of days last week whilst my car was in for service, repair and MOT (at astronomic cost even though the main repair was under warranty), I would say that there is a large and growing roost hereabouts.

    3. And for everybody else as well, Johnny, on the government’s immigration policies. Except that everybody else is not protected by an armed policeman.
      Good morning!

  6. Mainstream British Muslims are failed by their toxic so-called representatives. Fraser Nelson. 13 October 2023.

    The battle now underway is for world opinion, and a desperate attempt to revive the idea of a clash of civilisations. That’s why the tenor and nature of the debate ahead will matter. The truth is that British Muslim integration has been a huge success, so much so that to talk of Muslims as a separate group sounds daft. It’s an incredible achievement. And it’s one that, in the coming weeks and months, is worth defending.

    This is a truly astounding piece! There’s not much you can really say about the quote in its fatuous ignorance and some of the rest is even worse! It’s a good pointer though to the utter moral decadence and wilful blindness of the Elites. Batley man, the bombings and the people murdered over the last twenty years are not even memories to these people.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/12/mainstream-british-muslims-failed-by-toxic-representatives/

    1. Fraser Eason is an idiot.

      He is always banging on about being a Catholic in a Protestant country. And his Swedish wife.

      1. And his Swedish wife.

        Morning MIR. His wife is not ethnically Swedish. I’ve attempted to discover her true origins without success!

      2. I think that’s unfair to idiots – Fraser Nelson is being wilfully obtuse, or to put it more plainly he’s writing utter bollox!

    3. Dear Fraser Nelson,
      There must be something about Muslim that makes them stand out in British or European society.
      Perhaps the way they insist on dressing is a clue. Not what most people who think in straight lines might call success. Not really fitting in with the 21st century, but retaining commitment to a medieval mindset is another clue.

    4. “Batley man, the bombings and the people murdered over the last twenty years…”

      You left out The Boy Who Dropped A Copy Of The Koran.

    5. Stupid kafir does not realise that all Muslims believe that everyone on earth should be a Muslim – achieved by subjugation if necessary. Ultimately, when Islam is strong enough, all non-Muslims will be given a choice; convert – or die.

  7. 377613+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Truly horrific,I do NOT, for one moment believe that the Israelis would sink to such depths of odious disinformation
    with this NOT being factual.

    Can this be the true factual common denominator of our species ?

    1. 377613+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Tis far to late for a multitude of the worlds political hierarchy to stand up and be counted,
      they surely must, via people power, be stood in front of a wall and receive the peoples “payment” for services rendered.

  9. “There is a word for members of Hamas – and the BBC should use it” – and the word is not polite, at all.

  10. Israel publishes picture of baby murdered by Hamas. 13 October 2023.

    The Israeli government has released a graphic photograph that appears to show the body of a baby murdered by Hamas terrorists.

    It shows a blood-stained infant, still dressed in a babygrow and nappy, lying inside a small body bag.

    The baby’s face has been blurred out. Gloved hands of two Israeli forensic workers in white overalls can be seen in the background.

    I haven’t looked at this photograph and I question not just the taste but the motives for it. It not only panders to some of the worst aspects of human nature but I’m sure it’s not prompted by anything other than a base wish to justify the path that the Israeli government are now set on!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/12/photo-baby-dead-hamas-israel-palestine-blinken/

    1. Terriblegraph in this case is right. There are too many people denying or at least questioning what has taken place. Terriblegraph has given us due warning. I don’t want to see it any more than you do – but it has happened, babies have been brutally murdered and the truth needs to be told.

      1. “In the space of a few days, humanity had lost its future, for the heart of any race is destroyed, and its will utterly broken, when its children are taken from it”.
        Arthur C Clark 1952.

        This is the Islamic intent.

    2. If you really wanta story that makes you question if they should they publish or not, try the new york post article on this event. They have a number of pictures hidden behind serious warnings about content.

      There are many pro Palestinian demonstrators out in New York but I doubt that even this story wil slow them down – Jewish disinformation and all that.

      If you really want to see the images, go to nypost.com and look for the article but be warned it is very unsettling – I had a couple of drinks after seeing that.

  12. I was just sitting here cogitating as one does, thinking about the events in Israel and wondering if something like that were to happen here on a smaller scale, especially against the native population would the powers that be try to cover it up and excuse it on mental grounds instead of asking for sympathy and support from the rest of the world to tackle , even accusing those that protested of trying to stir up racism?

    3. …cogitating as one does

      You speak for yourself, Bob3! Although, they can’t touch you for doing that and I believe Boot’s have an ointment that helps.😎

      1. Don’t stand cogitating in the street. The thought police might accuse you of silent prayer.

    4. Fire in a nine year old Range Rover destroys an airport carpark less than 100 metres from parked aeroplanes and causes insurance damage in excess of £50 million. The driver left the ignition on and appears to have fled the vehicle. Hmm, who needs explosives.

    5. It has already happened. Just over a longer time scale.

      2005, 7 July: 7/7 central London bombings
      conducted by four separate Islamist extremist suicide bombers, which
      targeted civilians using the public transport system during the morning
      rush hour. Three bombs were detonated on three separate trains on the London Underground
      and one on a double-decker bus. As well as the suicide bombers, 52
      other people were killed and around 700 more were injured. It was the
      UK’s worst terrorist incident since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the first Islamist suicide attack in the country.

      2007, January–February: Miles Cooper letter bomb campaign. Miles Cooper said he was motivated by anti-authoritarianism and opposition to surveillance.[49]

      2007, 30 June: Two Islamist terrorists drove a Jeep Cherokee loaded with propane canisters
      into the glass doors of the Glasgow Airport terminal, setting it
      ablaze. Five people were injured and the only death was of one of the
      perpetrators, who later died in hospital from his injuries. It was the
      first terrorist attack to take place in Scotland since the Lockerbie
      bombing in 1988.

      2010s

      2010, 14 May: MP Stephen Timms was stabbed
      during his constituency surgery by Roshonara Choudhry, a British
      Islamic extremist, in an attempt to kill him. She was found guilty of
      attempted murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years.
      Choudhry was the first Al-Qaeda sympathiser to attempt an assassination in Britain.

      2013, 29 April to 12 July: Pavlo Lapshyn,
      a Ukrainian student and right-wing extremist, fatally stabbed
      Birmingham resident Mohammed Saleem on 29 April. Lapshyn later detonated
      a home-made bomb outside a mosque in Walsall on 21 June.[50]
      On 28 June, Lapshyn detonated a second home-made bomb near a mosque in
      Wolverhampton, and attacked a mosque in Tipton with an improvised
      explosive device containing nails on 12 July. He later admitted to
      police that he wished to start a “race war”[51] and was sentenced to serve at least 40 years.[52][53][54]

      2013, 22 May: A British soldier, Lee Rigby, was murdered in an attack in Woolwich by Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, two Islamist extremists armed with a handgun, knives and a cleaver. Both men were sentenced to life imprisonment, with Adebolajo given a whole life order and Adebowale ordered to serve at least 45 years.[55]

      2017, 22 March: 2017 Westminster attack
      – Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old Islamist, drove a car into pedestrians
      on Westminster Bridge, killing four and injuring almost fifty. He ran
      into the grounds of the Palace of Westminster and fatally stabbed police officer Keith Palmer, before being shot dead by police. The attack was treated as an act of terrorism motivated by Islamic extremism.[60][61][62][63]

      2017, 22 May: Manchester Arena bombing – An Islamist suicide bomber, 22-year-old Salman Abedi, blew himself up at Manchester Arena as people were leaving an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 and injuring 139. It became the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain since the 7/7 London bombings in 2005. Many of the victims were children or teenagers, the youngest being an eight-year-old girl.[64][65]

      2017, 3 June: 2017 London Bridge attack – Three Islamists drove a van into pedestrians on London bridge before stabbing people in and around pubs in nearby Borough Market. Eight people were killed and at least 48 wounded.[66][67][68]
      The attackers were shot dead by police eight minutes after the incident
      was reported. All three were wearing fake suicide bomb vests.

      2017, 19 June: Finsbury Park attack – Darren Osborne, a 47 year old British man, drove a van into Muslim worshippers near Finsbury Park Mosque, London. A man who had earlier collapsed and was receiving first aid died at the scene. The incident was investigated by counter-terrorism police as a terrorist attack.[69][70][71] On 23 June, Osborne was charged with terrorism-related murder and attempted murder.[72][73] In February 2018 at Woolwich Crown Court, he was found guilty on both counts[74] and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 43 years.

      2017, 15 September: Parsons Green bombing – The London tube train was targeted and witnesses reported a flash and bang.[75] Thirty people were injured, mostly with flash burns and crush injuries, but there were no fatalities. The threat level was raised to its highest point of critical soon after.[76] Ahmed Hassan, who committed the bombing, received a life sentence with a minimum term of 34 years.

      2018, 14 August: 2018 Westminster car attack
      – A Ford Fiesta ran down pedestrians outside the palace of Westminster.
      The car then went on to crash into the security barrier, after aiming
      at two police officers.[77] Salih Khater, who carried out the attack received a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years.

      2018, 31 December: Mahdi Mohamud, a Dutch national from a Somali family, stabbed three in a knife attack at Manchester Victoria station.
      Mohamud shouted “Allahu Akbar!” and “Long live the Caliphate!” during
      the attack. Despite suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, Mahomud was
      convicted of a terror offence and attempted murder of three people due
      to his possession of significant amounts of extremist material and the
      attack’s extensive planning.

      2019, 29 November: 2019 London Bridge stabbing
      – On 29 November 2019, police were called to a stabbing near London
      Bridge, in Central London, England, at 1:58 pm. A statement said that
      one man was detained, and “a number of people” were injured. Two people
      were killed in the attack and three were left injured. The attacker, 28
      year old Usman Khan, was shot dead by police and confirmed dead on the scene.[78][79]

      2020, 9
      January: Two inmates at Whitemoor prison in Cambridgeshire wearing
      realistic fake suicide vests, and carrying improvised bladed weapons,
      stabbed one prison officer several times causing serious injuries and
      harming several others. One of the inmates, Muslim convert Ziamani, from
      Camberwell, southeast London, had been jailed for 22 years for hatching
      a plot to behead a UK soldier inspired by the murder of Fusilier Lee
      Rigby.[80]

      2020, 2 February: 2020 Streatham stabbing – Sudesh Amman, wearing a fake suicide vest similar to the one used in the 2019 London Bridge stabbing, was shot dead by armed police after stabbing and injuring two people in Streatham, London Borough of Lambeth. One of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries.

      2020, 20 June: 2020 Reading stabbings
      – On 20 June 2020, Khairi Saadallah, shouting “Allahu Akbar”, attacked
      two groups of people socialising in Forbury Gardens, a public park in
      the centre of Reading, killing three and injuring three others. On 11
      January 2021, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the
      possibility of parole. The sentencing judge, Mr Justice Sweeney said that it was a terrorist attack and that the purpose was to advance an extremist Islamic cause.[81]

      2021, 15 October: Murder of David Amess – Ali Harbi Ali stabbed MP Sir David Amess at his constituency surgery and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order.[82]

      2021, 14 November: Liverpool Women’s Hospital bombing – Emad Al-Swealmeen, carrying a homemade bomb, arrived at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital by taxi. The bomb exploded, killing him and injuring the driver. The incident was quickly described as terrorist.[83]

      2022, 30 October: Dover firebomb attack
      – Andrew Leak threw three petrol bombs attached to fireworks at the
      perimeter fence of the Western Jet Foil migrant processing centre in
      Dover, Kent before killing himself at a nearby petrol station. Two
      people sustained minor injuries.[84]

      2000, 17 November: Police arrested Moinul Abedin. His Birmingham
      house contained bomb-making instructions, equipment, and traces of the
      explosive HTMD. A nearby lock-up rented by Abedin contained 100 kg of the chemical components of HTMD.[87] In March 2020, Jonathan Evans, former Director General of MI5
      gave an interview and commented on the case: ‘The first indication that
      we had an actual, live, real threat in the U.K….the first arrest of
      anybody in the U.K. linked to al-Qaeda who was planning an attack
      here…with the fall of the Taliban and the Afghan camps in 2001/2002,
      evidence came to light which demonstrated that this was an at least
      inspired al-Qaeda plot of some sort’.[88]

      2005, 21 July: The 21 July 2005 London bombings, also conducted by four would-be Islamic suicide bombers on the public transport, whose bombs failed to detonate.

      2006, 10 August: The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot
      to blow up 10 planes flying from Heathrow saw the arrest of 24 people
      from their homes in Britain, chaos at airports as security measures were
      put in place, and numerous high-level statements from US and UK
      officials. Eight people were put on trial, and three found guilty of
      conspiracy to murder. It was shown at their trial how bottles of liquid
      could be made into effective bombs. Following this incident, carriage of
      liquids in hand luggage on aircraft was restricted internationally to
      very small amounts. Rashid Rauf, suspected to have been the link between
      the UK plotters and Pakistan, escaped to Pakistan, where he was
      arrested, but escaped again on his way to an extradition hearing. It was
      reported that he was killed in a US airstrike in North Waziristan in November 2008.[90]

      2006, 28 September: Talbot Street bomb-making haul.

      2007, 1 February: Plot to behead a British Muslim soldier
      in order to undermine the morale of the British Army. Pervaiz Khan,
      Basiru Gassama, Zahoor Iqbal, Mohammed Irfan, and Hamid Elasmar were
      sentenced to between 40 months and life for the plot.

      2007, 29 June: London car bombs. Bilal Abdullah and Kafeel Ahmed were found to be involved in planting the bombs. Both were also responsible for the Glasgow Airport Attack.

      2008, 22 May: Exeter attempted bombing in a café toilet by an Islamist extremist, injuring only the perpetrator.

      2009, 3 September: Manchester Piccadilly multiple suicide bomber plot.[91]
      In 2009, Pakistani national Abid Naseer, was one of 12 suspects
      arrested on suspicion of being part of a Manchester Terror cell, after
      arriving in the UK a year before. All were released on insufficient
      evidence, but ordered to be deported from the UK. Naseer’s deportation
      to Pakistan was prevented on human rights grounds, as he was ruled
      ‘likely to be mistreated’. In 2013, on further evidence from Al-Qaeda sources, including documents from the bin Laden Raid,
      he was extradited to the US, and on 4 March 2015 was found guilty of
      masterminding an Al-Qaeda directed plot to synchronize multiple suicide
      bombings around Manchester’s Arndale Centre and Piccadilly shopping
      centre in a coordinated attack involving other locations, including the New York Subway, with other cells.

      2012, June: Five Islamic extremists plotted to bomb an English Defence League rally in Dewsbury but arrived late and were arrested when returning to Birmingham. A sixth was also convicted.[92]

      2013, April: As part of Operation Pitsford, 11 Muslim extremists are jailed for a plotting terror attack involving suicide bombers.[93]

      2015, 7 July: Attempted anniversary London 7/7 bomb plot.[94] Mohammed Rehman and Sana Ahmed Khan were sentenced to life imprisonment for preparing an act of terrorism.[95] They had 10 kg of urea nitrate. Rehman called himself the ‘silent bomber’ and asked his Twitter followers to choose between the Westfield London shopping centre or the London Underground for the planned suicide bomb.

      2017, 25 August: Mohiussunnath Chowdhury slashed police officers with a sword outside Buckingham Palace while shouting “Allahu akbar” repeatedly. He was found not guilty of terrorism
      by a court, but was charged with a single count of preparing an act of
      terrorism. During and after release from prison, he went on to plan
      further terror attacks, and was arrested in 2018.

      2017, 28 November: In an attempt to kill Prime Minister Theresa May, Islamic State terrorist Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman was arrested in London after collecting a fake bomb and suicide vest from undercover operatives.[96]

      2018, February: Ethan Stables, a white supremacist, was arrested plotting a machete attack in an LGBT parade.[97]

      2018, 9 April: Fatah Mohammed Abdullah
      “bought more than 8,000 matches, fireworks, fuses, explosives
      precursors – or substances that could be used to manufacture explosives –
      and a remote control detonator.” He pleaded guilty to inciting people
      to commit terror attacks in Germany, and buying explosive equipment.

      2019, 3 July: Mohiussunnath Chowdhury and his sister were arrested for planning to target London tourist sites including Madame Tussauds, Piccadilly Circus, and London’s Gay Pride parade, using a vehicle, knife and gun. He was convicted of plotting terror acts on 10 February 2020.

      2020, 21 February: Islamic State supporter Safiyya Amira Shaikh was arrested after she admitted plotting to blow herself up in a bomb attack on St Paul’s Cathedral, stating that she would “kill ’til I’m dead”[98]

      2003, 5 January: Wood Green ricin plot, where police arrested six Algerian men accused of manufacturing ricin to use for a poison attack on the London Underground. No poison was found,[104][105]
      and all men were acquitted of all terror charges, except for Kamel
      Bourgass who stabbed four police officers during his arrest in
      Manchester several days later. He was convicted of the murder of the
      officer he killed (the others he stabbed survived). He was also
      convicted of plotting to poison members of the public with ricin and
      other poisons. Two of the suspects in the plot were subsequently
      convicted of possessing false passports.[106]

      2008, 14 May: The Nottingham Two were arrested and detained for six days under the Terrorism Act 2000. A postgraduate student had downloaded a 140-page English translation of an Al-Qaeda document from the United States Department of Justice website for his PhD research on militant Islam. He sent it to a friend in the Modern Language department, for printing. Both were cleared of terrorism-related offences, but the friend was immediately re-arrested on immigration grounds.[118][119][120][121]

      2011, 19 September: West Midlands Police arrested a woman who lived in the Alum Rock area of Birmingham.
      Salma Kabal, 22, appeared in court on 16 November 2011 accused of
      failing to inform police that her husband, Ashik Ali, planned to kill
      himself. The official charge was that she “knew or believed might be of
      material assistance in securing the apprehension, prosecution or
      conviction of another person for an offence involving the commission,
      preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism”.[124]

      2011, 15 November: West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit arrested four people at their homes who were from Sparkhill Birmingham, on suspicion of conducting terrorist offences. The four men appeared in court in Westminster
      on 19 November 2011 charged with terrorism offences. They were named as
      Khobaib Hussain, Ishaaq Hussain and Shahid Kasam Khan, all 19, and
      Naweed Mahmood Ali, 24. They were charged with fundraising for terrorist
      purposes and for travelling to Pakistan for terrorist training.[125]

      2012, 28 June: The two men, aged 18 and 32, were arrested at
      separate residential addresses in east London by officers from the
      Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command, at 7 am on Thursday. It was believed the men were involved in a bomb plot concerning the 2012 London Summer Olympics. A Scotland Yard
      spokesman said: “At approximately 07:00 hrs today, Thursday June 28,
      officers from the counter-terrorism command arrested two men under the
      Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of the commission, preparation or
      instigation of acts of terrorism. The men were arrested at separate
      residential addresses in east London. Both addresses are currently being
      searched under the Terrorism Act 2000”.[126]

      2018, 18 April. A 26-year-old male was arrested by Kent Police and the Counter Terrorism Police at his home address in Rochester, Kent.[129] On 1 May 2018, following a custody extension, he appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court where he was charged with planning terrorist attacks on London tourist attractions, namely Oxford Street and Madame Tussauds. He was also charged with attempting to join Daesh, otherwise known as Islamic State, in the Philippines. He was not granted bail, and was remanded in custody until he appears before the Central Criminal Court on 11 May 2018. He pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on 10 August 2018 and is due to be sentenced on 2 November 2018.[130][131][needs update]

    6. That is exactly what would happen.
      Throw into the mix Tommy Robinson being thrown into gaol (or is he there already?). And stray Christians being arrested for praying or reading out excerpts from the Bible.

  13. UK to send navy ships and spy planes to support Israel. 13 October 2023.

    Britain will send surveillance aircraft, two Royal Navy support ships and about 100 Royal Marines to the eastern Mediterranean from Friday to support Israel and help prevent any sudden escalation of fighting in the Middle East.

    Patrol flights of Poseidon P-8 aircraft and other planes will begin on Friday, Downing St announced, tasked partly with monitoring any efforts to transfer of weapons from countries such as Iran or Russia to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

    Hamas has no boats, no planes, no tanks. This can only be a part of the coming attack on Iran. There’s also a piece by Wallace the former Defence Secretary ramping up the propaganda. Expect more of this!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/12/uk-to-send-navy-ships-and-spy-planes-to-support-israel

    1. Wasn’t it only last week there were ideas that the RN would protect ships in Putin’s ‘Mare Nostrum’? Now this, spreading very little very thinly.

        1. Their willing, other people’s lives. To support the globalists’ and USA/Biden hawks’ crazy aims for disrupting the World?

    2. I know Bootnecks are damn good troops, but a hundred of them won’t go very far at all (except to Palestine, that’s quite a long way…).

      1. That speculation has been all but validated moments ago when the WSJ reported that “Iranian security officials helped plan Hamas’s Saturday surprise attack on Israel and gave the green light for the assault at a meeting in Beirut last Monday”, according to senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Iran-backed militant group.

        Morning Janet. I don’t believe a word of it. Not just because the source is tainted ( I wouldn’t trust the WSJ to tell me the time) but Mossad has almost certainly penetrated all these bodies.

        1. There will be an awful stink if it comes out that Mossad reported the plans but the Israeli government allowed them to go ahead, to either a)protect their sources or b) give a provocation to excuse a massive retaliation.
          Problem is, I can see governments doing both of these things.

          1. What is really worrying is the Israeli government suffering from an advanced case of ‘Welbyism’.

      1. Because the RNLI are managing to cope with bringing in the illegals; they don’t need the RN to help. Oh, you mean stop the invasion? Silly boy! 🙂

  14. 377613+ up ticks,

    Just what are we importing and why are we consenting via the polling station for more of the same?

    Laurence Fox
    @LozzaFox
    This man needs deporting.

    The British public should not have to tolerate the threat of beheading for holding a different beliefs.

    In Britain you are free to hold any religious belief or none.

    Rescind his passport.

    Throw him out.

    Today.

    https://x.com/LeilaniDowding/status/1712625677885673658?s=20

    1. I hope dick head kahnt is taking note of this, it is the ultimate hate crime.
      Which is something he has vowed to stop. But of course that will depend on the circumstances that suits him.

  15. Good morning all.
    A foul night with heavy rain which is continuing this morning and forecast for the whole day. Actually a bit less cold than yesterday morning, with 10°C on the Yard Thermometer.

    Not a good night’s sleep either, the DT has another bloody cold so was tossing & turning quite a bit.

  17. Morning all 🙂😊
    Grey wet windy and not nice.
    The word for hamas is scum. But the bbc live in a dog eat dog world. And their hamarse mindset is to them undisclosed, or so they believe.
    I hope everyone they seem to enjoy upsetting stops paying for the insults they seem to enjoy dishing out. Socks and pulling up comes to mind. At the very least.

    1. Good morning Eddy of St Wilfrid’s, and everyone.
      I beg to disagree: an individual belonging to Hamarse is an ‘observant muslim’. There is really no need for the T word.

      1. Begging is allowed when appropriate. 🤭
        And of course You’re entitled to your opinion.
        As I am. 😉🤗

  18. Good morning all,

    Dull, wet and windy at McPhee Towers, but the rain soon stopping to return this afternoon. wind Sou’-West, 17℃-18℃ but it’s going to turn colder.

    Douglas Murray has thrown down the gauntlet to the Government in his Spectator article this week and followed it up with a powerful speech.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cb018fc2ce3b4d92665e2afee0ac025c5e8e6219e730035d3ca882dc9e5d688c.png

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/britain-must-stand-up-against-those-who-support-hamas/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCUfNLENLZg

    He is right.

  19. An excoriating piece by Littlejohn, but to answer his question:
    A bomb.
    If not today, on some future occasion.

    There’s nothing the FA likes more than an ostentatious display of virtue signalling. So when the Government asked the football authorities to display the colours of the Israeli flag on the arch for tonight’s friendly international between England and Australia, it should have been an open goal.
    It would have been a welcome beacon of reassurance to Britain’s Jews, who have had to endure a disgusting surge in anti-Semitic hatred in the wake of the Hamas atrocities in Israel.
    Yet this evening, the arch will remain neutral, if not dark. The FA is said to fear that any overt gesture of support for Israel would provoke a ‘backlash’.
    What kind of backlash isn’t specified.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12625253/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-English-football-bosses-love-players-taking-knee-wont-offer-gesture-support-Jewish-victims-Hamass-racist-butchers.html

  22. The BBC and its IRA loving presenter, Martha Kearney, is currently working double shifts in denigrating anyone who supports the hated Zionists and their murdering military divisions, currently bombing hospitals and sanctuaries crammed with innocent mothers and children, in pursuit of their vengeful annihilation of their starving and downtrodden Arab neighbours.

    What would we do without the rigorously impartial reporting of the BBC? How lucky are we?

  24. Just been outside to pick up a datura that had been blown over. Mild as muck. Grey, damp and windy still.

  25. 377613+ up ticks,

    breitbart,

    France Bans Pro-Palestinian Rallies – Will Arrest and Deport ‘Trouble Makers’

    Surely England cannot accept them seeing as our penal system is overflowing already, WITH THEM.

  26. To the MRD letter writers on today’s letters page

    The main driver of homelessness is NOT affordability, but the unfettered immigration of people who have no interest in
    following the British way of life

  27. Fraser Nelson has made a bit of a fool of himself today it seems.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b96918d6a4b9dba624e7fad9ecc238e4e753630d504566d942da37391682554d.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/12/mainstream-british-muslims-failed-by-toxic-representatives/

    The comments generally tear him to shreds.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bca0dc6430099f108353b902426c86a726bb223a5b9471d1560b07c315bd6aed.png

    Perhaps he should contemplate handing over editorship of the Spectator to Douglas Murray.

    1. “Huge success”? Really – when a majority think that the London murders in 2005 were perfectly OK.

    3. The replies are a good read; washed down with buckets of coffee, they set one up for the day.

      1. We have had to integrate with their pagan ideas; sharia, hijabs and worse, islamophobia, no-go ghettos, mosques a-plenty … We’ve become dhimmis.

  28. It is extremely worrying that many British citizens are brazenly celebrating the barbaric actions of Hamas.

    They may ‘reside’ in UK, but are they here legally and British?

    2. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12625075/Shocking-moment-woman-says-Palestine-tears-posters-children-kidnapped-Hamas-terrorists-woman-filmed-encounter-says-Jewish-people-Britain-scared-forced-hide-religion-public.html

      Outrage as women tear down posters of children kidnapped by Hamas and shout ‘This is for Palestine’: Student, 23, who put the signs up reveals she fled Israel for Britain just days ago but is now ‘scared’ to show her Jewish faith in public
      PhD student came back to the UK on one of BA’s final flights out of Tel Aviv
      She said things have been ‘unpleasant’ and ‘upsetting’ since she returned

      1. That’s a deliberate and disgusting hate crime and littering mr London mayor deal with it immediately. Or hand in your resignation.

        1. Khan relies on those people for his career. He’s not going to risk upsetting da comooniteee, is he?

          1. Are you suggesting he’s as
            bent as a 9 bob note ?
            In thier culture they call it Taqiyah.
            So it’s allowed and obviously encouraged.

      2. And those cows will be breeding for Mo. Popping out little jihadis like rabbits on speed.

    4. They’re not British though. They muslims.Cut off the welfare and they’d leave faster than cheap bog roll flushes. After the obligatory Lefty rentamob riot, looting and stealing, of course.

  29. Nasa hunts asteroid in the sky with diamonds

    Nasa has said it hopes to find diamonds and rubies during a mission to visit a mysterious metallic asteroid that is due to launch today.

    The strange chunk of metal, named 16 Psyche, lies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and scientists think that it could be the remnants of a planet core that existed at the beginning of the Solar System.

    It is primarily made of iron and nickel, scientists believe, but it could also contain precious metals and gems.

    The spacecraft is scheduled to lift off at 3.16pm UK time from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, on board a Spacex Falcon rocket. It will take seven years to reach 16 Psyche.

    What I would like to know is, why are NASA planning to launch a ‘mysterious metallic asteroid’ today? And why, after they have launched it, will they go hunting it with diamonds?

      1. Now imagine how you’d feel if that journey turned out to be nothing more than a flight of fancy.

    2. I expect they want to keep the prices of valuable commodities down. The fabled asteroids that they are on the point of discovering, that will make gold, silver, rare earth metals and precious gemstones so common as to be worth nothing are a known part of the propaganda.

  30. I wonder how many Imams will be calling for Hellfire upon Israel and for Muslims everywhere to rise up in Jihad, at Friday prayers today, compared with Christian preachers praying on Sunday for the people of Gaza and for the Israelis to desist?

    2. The first time I visited Birmingham was in September 2022. It felt like a foreign city, with women walking around in floor-length dresses and hijabs, and a few of them even wearing veils. I have no wish to go back.

  32. Why am I not a triskaidakaphobic?

    Because this is the 126th Friday the thirteenth in my lifetime and every single one of them has been boringly uneventful.

    2. Hey Beatnik, that’s because you’re asleep in some box car in a deserted freight yard, Dude, most of the time.

          1. You got it, Compadre. Especially when I dip my cup of soup back From a gurglin’ cracklin’ Cauldron in some train yard, Dude.

          2. That’s right, Bro -as the wheat fields and the clothes lines and the junkyards and the highways come between us
            and some other woman’s cryin’ to her mother ’cause she turned and you were gone, Dude. Never in one place too long- you keep your home in your hand, Amigo- you’re a travellin’ man.

      2. Oh cripes; paracetamol and freshly squeezed orange juice on tap.
        Can you still ask for them in a fading voice?

          2. Strong curry helps: You can taste it behind a nose full of clag, and it helps the cold burn out. Hydrate with strong beer – anaesthetic & necessary top-up for the sweating.

    4. I had my hip replacement on a Friday 13th. The surgeon smiled when he asked me if the date was a problem.
      I imagine there probably are people who will throw a wobbler.

    5. Friday 13th was the day i walked out of the family home for the last time in just the clothes i was wearing. Never looked back.

          2. I did go back briefly to pick up some clothes but my mother has cleared out my room.
            You tell me.

    7. I was born on Friday 13th. I got so up with other peoples’ superstitions about this (and other things) that I would deliberately walk under ladders just to gauge the reactions of others. I fail to understand superstitions and such mumbo jumbo and treat it with the contempt it deserves.

  34. I have in my pocket a small Goniorhynchia boueti. I think it is about 162 million years old but I can’t find its birth certificate. Which of you Nottlers could confirm this?

    1. Hallo Ped!
      Can’t verify age unless you know exactly where it was found, the strata would tell you how old it is, geologist called for. But looking it up it seems to be worth around the magnificent sum of £3.50.

      1. I have several and a vertebral disc from an ichthyosaur (probably) from Langton Herring area. My post was a joke on the name of the fossil.

          1. I can’t tell the difference. they look similar to me. I haven’t come across them before. The top one is a beautiful specimen.

    2. I don’t know the answer; however, I have in my hand a piece of polished slate that contains a number of orthoceras. The person giving it to me, as a present, stated that they were “250 million years old”.

      This seems to have been a wild guess, since the data confirms that orthoceras were a genus of straight-shelled nautiloids that were alive during the Ordovician Period of the Paleozoic Era, between 488 and 443 million years ago.

      1. There are fossils from the Late Cretaceous, 100-66 million years ago, with a similar form and name but those you have is probably a genus of extinct nautiloid cephalopod restricted to Middle Ordovician-aged marine limestones of the Baltic States and Sweden.

          1. Probably Baculites then (Late Cretaceous). The two types of fossils can be distinguished by many features, most obvious among which is the suture line: simple in Orthoceras, intricately foliated in Baculites and related forms.

            As the Scilly Isles are all granitic the fossils may have been imported from southern England.

        2. At first glance I read that as the Late Cretinous era and thought isn’t that what we’re living through now?

    3. I thought it was some embarrassing below the belt affliction.
      For an awful moment you seemed to be over-sharing.

    4. Good morning Ped ,

      The Purbeck stone in our floor to ceiling fireplace hosts a few fossils , whether it is 162 million years old , I really don’t know .

    8. Cockles and mussels alive alive oh.
      Or once.
      I’ve got an ammonite and a belomite I picked up yeas ago on a Dorset beach.
      I had a bag full of other fossils, I gave them to a school in Chiswick were I was working

    1. The damned government has done this to itselfIf they hadn’t said ‘we’re going to stop you driving at any cost’ folk wouldn’t be so polarised on electric cars – or heatpumps, for that matter.

      Now we have the stupid situation where people are saying all EVs are inherently disasterous when really they’re not.The state will keep forcing electric cars – not for the engineering, but for the ideology. Same with ruddy heat pumps. Everything these useless fools do is for ideological arrogance to hold us back, not scientific advancement and the betterment of mankind.

        1. At Luton there at also quite a lot of open parking. Perhaps some brain box should thought or this……but.

        2. I hate multi storey carprks and avoid them where possible. When OH was in hospital in Gloucester I used the one there, but always (except once) parked on the ground floor as near to the exit as possible. This is also so I can find the car on return…….

          2. When I had to go to work in Bristol sometimes I used to use the one at the end of the M32 (later pulled down) and one time I had no idea where my car was.
            Fortunately a colleague gave me a lift and we went round all the floors until I spotted mine.

      2. When I was a kid there were plenty of electric vehicles- trolleybuses in the town, milk floats, small vehicles controlled by handles you saw in parks to move debris/rubbish etc or used by the GPO to move mail bags at stations. There were the Harrods delivery vehicles which were designed and built by the firm. Birmingham Corporation helped design electric dustcarts that were powered by electricity generated at the incinerators that burned the rubbish they collected. All these vehicles were practical and were devised because they made sense. There was no religious zeal behind their introduction and they worked well- unlike so many of the new electric vehicles. I was behind an electric bus the other day, at a roundabout- I thought I might be there for ever- its acceleration was so bad it could not pull out- unlike a diesel bus- because the bus is so heavy dragging around an enormous battery deadweight.

        1. My veterans meeting and lunch session was on Tuesday.

          One of our members , our ex Para 3 Suez vet , suddenly abandoned his meal , because one of the staff alerted us that a funny noise was coming from a white SUV in the carpark. He is as deaf as a post .. apparently forgotten to turn his hybrid electric car engine off ..

          I don’t know the ins and outs of the situation , but that is the 2nd time that has happened .

          1. I don’t know how hybrids function but maybe like any petrol or diesel car, that part of it needs to be switched off before you leave it. We appear to be on a downhill path to chaos but that may be the plan we know there is not the remotest chance that everyone can have an electric car- so that may be the initial plan. Better still having eliminated most petrol or diesel cars, then declare that EVs are going to be banned- and it will be Ubers for all. I am not holding my breath on “driverless cars” but here in Surrey, the traffic lights are being adapted to have motion sensors- which appear not to work- so the traffic lights fail to change or react to traffic volumes and everything stops- and that must be the planned outcome. I complained about my nearest traffic lights not working as they did and the person I spoke to said it was the new motion sensors which he helpfully said were for these driverless vehicles.

    2. 10:00 or so: Mite – it’s normal for fire extinguishers to be empty. Shooting them off is a merry jape in UK.
      10:29 Lights on are often the result of a fire burning through the wires and shorting them out. Oftem makes the horn sound, too.
      12:00 Indeed, there are so many lies and misdirections involved that one is immediately skeptical.
      14:00 No sprinklers. Not effective against an EV fire (as even directly-aimed fire hoses are ineffective), and would have to be huge to tackle a diesel/petrol fire, as there’s lots of energy available in the hydrocarbons. However, the sprinkler might well wash much of the smoke out of the air, making it easier to breathe. Followed by a list of Range Rovers that have self-immolated…
      25:15 or so – KEEP OUT OF THE EFFING CARRIAGEWAY!

    3. A few years ago I used diesel fuel to destroy a bamboo plant that was destroying part of our garden. He’s right even though the fire had started by using a blow lamp. And pour the fuel onto the flame but it didn’t ignite for quite a few seconds.
      I think the ozzie has hit the proverbial nail on its proverbial head.

    4. It’s interesting that he claims a fire caused by an electric car in Liverpool destroyed 1500 cars.

      Even more interesting is the fact that instead of insisting that all car parks must have sprinklers, the Government completely

      ignored that principle, thus hazarding all users of multi story car parks.

        1. Exactly, Egypt doesn’t want a repeat of the Muslim Brotherhood’s attempted takeover.

  38. Preparing for a shooting match on Sunday. weather permitting. An hour of bliss, cleaning guns, packing ammunition, checking the rig. Sigh!
    I will, of course, be coming last as usual, unlike a fortnight ago when I was shooting in a different class and came first! (and last – the only one in the class).
    I’m just not fast enough to compete against 25-year-old Army champions… Sigh again but it’s fun and tests ones capabilities, so that’s good.

  39. Good Moaning – if you’re a duck or pond weed.
    Someone …. had eaten all the breakfast stuff – including the croissants. (Glowers across the room.)

  40. The BBC refuses to say Hamas are terrorists because then they have to admit the driving reason being that terrorism. Muslim. Once they finally admit that, they have to accept the problems islam has created, the massive welfare dependency, the immigration problem, the pakistani muslim paedophile rapists, our jails being comically disproportionately full of muslims and on and on and on, ad nauseum, ad infinitum.

  42. Despite media reports about the Luton airport car fire being caused by a diesel, internet blogger Geoff (Buys Cars) now postulates that it could have been a hybrid car.

    He discusses the issues raised by overheating digital particulate filters in diesels and overheating batteries in hybrids:

    https://youtu.be/G-zKTqe19ss?si=xTKxXynhhmr3SzLb

      1. Good question – how do you turn off a self charging vehicle?
        You can’t even pull a plug out!

  43. “Muslim integration has been a huge success in the UK. We can’t let Hamas and its ilk undermine that”

    Fraser Nelson in today’s DT.

    I suppose he is entitled to his opinion even if he seems to be going mad.

    4. I don’t think there is any “seems” about it – if Nelson really believes what he wrote he’s full Dagenham [3 stops beyond Barking!!].

    5. Pakistan are now going through the process of chucking out all of the Afghan refugees.
      We all know what this means.

    1. The slaughter of Christians goes on unabated in Africa too and is largely ignored but when the church in Uganda states that it supports a law against homosexual assault on children, all hell is let loose.

    2. The slaughter of Christians goes on unabated in Africa too and is largely ignored but when the church in Uganda states that it supports a law against homosexual assault on children, all hell is let loose.

    2. A bit naughty here’s one……….a chap is having sex with a prostitute and she says to him .”You’re not very good with your organ sonny.”
      “Well” he says, “it’s the first time I’ve played in a cathedral.”

  47. An observation missed by many.

    Labour economies
    SIR – Philip Johnston says that, with Labour well ahead in the polls, the upcoming general election is comparable to that of 1997 (Comment, October 11).

    Yet the big difference between 1997 and now is the economy. History shows that Labour spends all the money, and the incoming Conservative government has to rebuild. A stable economy is then handed to Labour for it simply to repeat what previous Labour governments did.

    This time, though, there is no money. The cost of lockdown and the war in Ukraine mean that a Starmer government will not have the luxury afforded to previous Labour administrations. All that will happen is a continuation of the Labour way of running things – creating an even more dire situation to fix for a future Conservative government.

    Disenfranchised Conservatives would do well to recognise this point before casting their vote.

    Jon Moss
    Horsham, West Sussex

    1. The trouble with that scenario is that Cameron, like his sucessors, was not a Conservative. Why vote for Labour under a different name? May as well go for the real thing.

      1. That was, in a sense, the point of the DT editorial. ‘Dave’ could have walloped Labour in 2010 but to do so would have required him to believe in something…

  48. Slammers – the people who keep on integrating:

    “A teacher has been stabbed to death and two others seriously injured after a knife-wielding assailant who shouted “Allahu Akbar” attacked a school in northern France, it has been reported.”

  49. https://twitter.com/UK_Republic/status/1712720111675605467

    Okay , deep breaths .

    Imagine the first map is the UK in say 1952… now see the the gradual creep of migrants into GB .
    The Muslims and blacks are taking over our towns and cities , imposing their will and culture and finally our South coast might become similar to the Gaza strip in say 30 years.. a white persecuted Christian enclave .

    This is the only way I can illustrate the danger we are all in , by being overcome with people of another colour and faith moving further in and breeding like mad , and thus impoverishing our history ..

    Bradford , Luton, Sheffield , Bristol , Preston , Blackburn , Birmingham , London etc . Our major cities are in danger .

    The advantage that Israel has is that it is a wealth creator , it is intelligent and it has been successful ..

    A green and verdant country like ours would be impoverished very quickly by a Muslim / Black takeover .

    A Zimbabwe/ Venezuela/ Kabul/Teheran / Khartoum/ Lagos type of nightmare

    Do you agree , and what can we do?

          1. I remember when my two would give me a difficult time as teenagers do, I asked my Mum “when do you stop worrying about your children?” She gave me that wise, mothers’ only look, “you never do!” Now I worry about grandchildren!!

      3. I supported the trans community unquestioningly – until my sister wanted to become a boy

        My generation has been influenced to think we must support trans

        unquestioningly. And I did – until it became a reality in our household

        My older sister and I were very close throughout our childhood.
        Growing up in London, just over a year apart in age, we shared a room.
        And although our interests and personalities were different, we always
        loved playing together.

        I was drawn towards Barbie dolls and
        Sylvanian Families – what you might call stereotypical girl toys. She
        was more into superheroes. But so what? I never thought anything of it.
        Being girls didn’t mean we had to like the same stuff.

        Around the
        age of 12 or 13, things started going downhill for my sister, however.
        She struggled to fit in at school. She had never been happy with her
        appearance – tall, broad-shouldered, well-built – and towards the end of
        primary school, she was bullied quite badly for it. She decided early
        on in secondary school that she wanted to get her hair chopped into a
        short, pixie cut. If a haircut would boost her confidence, then why
        not?

        But a gradual decline set in after this. She started wearing
        increasingly unflattering clothes. Lots of chunky rings and necklaces.
        Little by little, she was making herself look less feminine.

        This
        was around six years ago, when I was still barely aware of what
        transgender meant. I assumed she was trying to find herself by trying
        out different styles. It never occurred to me that my sister was really a
        boy.

        It did occur to her. She said nothing of this to my parents
        or me at that stage, but we later found out that in her early teens she
        had told all her friends that she was trans.

        What we did know
        then was that the change in her physical appearance correlated with a
        deterioration in her mental health. She started to refuse to go to
        school. At home she was self-harming. I was desperately worried for her.
        So were my parents and she was now receiving counselling at Child and
        Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

        When we went into Covid
        lockdown in 2020, she became glued to her iPad and phone, spending
        hours a day on her own. She was 15 by then, and we thought she was
        trying to keep in touch with her friends. What she was actually doing
        was immersing herself in online transgender culture. She became obsessed
        with trans influencers, adapting her personality to imitate them. She
        bought the same trousers as one of them and wore the same jewellery.

        We
        didn’t realise what was going on until that August, when she sent our
        mum a message. “I’ve known since I was born that I am in the wrong
        body,” she wrote.

        She hated her body, she said. She wanted puberty blockers and to undergo top surgery
        – the removal of breast tissue. She told our mum the boy’s name she
        wished to be called, and said her pronouns were now he/him.

        I
        remember how my mum looked after receiving the message. Her bloodshot
        eyes, as if she had been crying for hours. The sleeplessness.

        “Mum, what’s wrong?” I asked, worried.

        “Your sister thinks she’s a boy.”

        Things
        became even worse after that. My parents were naturally concerned about
        their vulnerable teenage daughter. They didn’t tell her outright,
        “You’re not a boy, don’t be silly.” But because they didn’t affirm her
        in exactly the way she wanted – because they didn’t say she was their
        son, nor contact her school and our whole family and tell them this, nor
        agree to puberty blockers – she lost her temper with them night after night.

        Cowering
        upstairs, I heard her screaming and shouting at them, repeating what I
        subsequently discovered from my own internet research were stock phrases
        that gender-questioning teens are encouraged to use by members of the
        trans community online. “If you don’t affirm my identity, I’ll kill
        myself,” she threatened. There was something weirdly robotic about it,
        as if she had been indoctrinated and was following a script, although
        her passion and upset was clearly very real.

        I felt painfully
        conflicted. My generation has been influenced to think trans is
        something you have to support unquestioningly. And I did – until it
        became a reality in our household. Only then did I realise how dangerous
        this side of the internet is, in which vulnerable teenagers who feel
        they don’t fit in are encouraged down a route that might not be right
        for them.

        My sister seemed to think that, because she was
        struggling mentally and didn’t fit in, she must be a boy. Looking back, I
        can see how this powerful online community validated her. She connected
        with others like her – or those she thought were like her.

        I
        couldn’t go along with it. I struggled to talk to her about her issues,
        but told her I loved her as a sister (which to her, obviously, wasn’t
        the right thing to say). I saw how much she was being influenced online
        and, like my parents, I was afraid.

        It was when she returned to
        school after lockdown – she was in Year 11 by then – that we received
        the worst fright of all. My sister, who was taking antidepressants and
        anxiety medication, overdosed on paracetamol. At school she collapsed
        and was rushed to A&E. Thankfully, she was OK. But in these
        circumstances, CAMHS is alerted, and she told them she was a boy trapped
        inside a girl’s body. She also told them her parents had refused to
        accept her name and new identity. My mother received an extremely
        upsetting visit from social services as a result.

        In many ways we
        were lucky. The social worker decided the case need not be taken any
        further – she could see we were a loving and supportive family. And
        while some schools seem to allow children to change their names and
        pronouns without even telling their parents, my sister’s school did not
        go along with her new gender identity. They knew she had mental health
        problems, had been bullied and was vulnerable, and sensibly didn’t want
        to rush down the gender route beside her.

        (The same could not be
        said of her CAMHS therapist who, it turned out, was advising her to
        attend a support group for trans children, run by trans adults.)

        I
        couldn’t tell my friends about any of this. I was afraid I would be
        labelled transphobic and unloving for refusing to blindly accept that my
        sister was really a boy. I badly wanted to support her, but I knew my
        sister so well, and knew this wasn’t who she was.

        Finally, last
        year, we learned what was really going on: my sister, by then aged 17,
        was diagnosed with autism and ADHD. Her feelings of discomfort within
        her own body turned out to be not because she was actually a boy, but
        because of sensory issues that are common among those on the spectrum: a
        feeling of overstimulation brought on by her changing shape as she went
        through puberty.

        Last summer, she and I and our mum sat down and
        had a long chat. “I used to think I was trans,” said my sister. “Now I
        realise it was my ADHD and autism.”

        She told us she had felt
        vulnerable and isolated going into lockdown, and had completely immersed
        herself online and found this ready-made support system of trans
        people. The way she described it, it was more like a cult than a
        community. She recognises she was sucked into thinking she was someone
        she wasn’t. Her emergence from trans was gradual. But hearing her say
        out loud that she now knew this wasn’t who she was was such a relief, my
        mum and I burst into tears.

        Although she still struggles with her
        mental health and autism diagnosis, she is doing well today. She
        finished her A-levels in the summer and is now on her gap year.

        I
        feel like I lost my sister and have now regained her. But at age 16, I
        still can’t talk about this openly. There are strict rules my generation
        is expected to follow when it comes to trans, and I know I’d be
        breaking them if I told the full story and how it made me feel.

        This
        has made it a very isolating experience. I don’t know anyone else who
        has been through the same experience, perhaps because so few people of
        my age dare to talk about trans in any way but positively.

        It was
        so hard seeing someone I loved being effectively brainwashed. I hope
        that in speaking out, even anonymously, other young people worried about
        vulnerable siblings questioning their gender will know they are not
        alone.

        CAMHS has been contacted for a response

    1. I strongly suspect that if her son in law had the power so to do that he would expel every English person from Scotland and declare independence without a qualm.

      1. She will probably be fine. IDF don’t go door to door slaughtering husbands, wives, children and grannies like Hamas has been doing. They also slaughter their pets on the way out.

    1. Stabbed in Arras! In the BBC people they are stabbing each other in the Arras day and night but they don’t complain. They just go back for more.

    2. “involved in radical islam”, just a one off then. They are usually all such nice peace loving people, oh hang on…

      1. I wonder when people in power and in the media will finally wake up to the fact that Islam does not need qualifiers such as “radical”.
        Islam is.
        Full stop.

        1. People equate the Bible with the qur’an. However, they are entirely different in the minds of believers. One is a collection of scriptures and the other is the direct word of god and its messages cannot be changed. Its all very well to say the Bible contains verses about slaying the opposition but its a long time since that was taken as an instruction. Whereas, the qur’an is still regarded as an instruction manual.

          1. The Old Testament is interpreted by Christ in the New Testament. The koran is immutable and cannot be reinterpreted. It’s stuck in the 7th century.

      3. Erdogan nailed it; “there is no such thing as radical islam, there is only islam.” He should know.

      1. By George Wright & Gem O’Reilly

        BBC News

        A teacher has been killed and two people have been seriously injured in a knife attack at a school in France, officials say.

        Interior
        Minister Gérald Darmanin said the attack happened at the Gambetta high
        school in the northern city of Arras at about 11:00 local time.

        The attacker has been arrested and is now in custody.

        According to witnesses, he shouted “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is greatest”, during the attack.

        The person killed was a French language teacher. Those injured were another teacher and a security guard.

        The
        man, described as being in his 20s, is of Chechen origin and known to
        the security services for his involvement with radical Islam, according
        to police.

        French media reports say he was a former pupil at the school.

        The
        French anti-terror prosecutor’s office says it has opened an
        investigation following the attack for “murder in connection with a
        terrorist enterprise” and “attempted murder in connection with a
        terrorist enterprise”.

        News channel BFMTV has reported that the brother of the attacker has also been apprehended by police.

        Police say the situation is now under control.

        French
        President Emmanuel Macron will visit the school later on Friday, while
        the National Assembly in Paris has suspended its session in solidarity
        with the victims.

        The
        attack comes amid rising tensions in France’s sizeable Muslim and
        Jewish communities due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

        However, police have said there is nothing to indicate a link with the Middle East.

        The attack comes nearly three years since the murder and beheading of another teacher, Samuel Paty, at his school outside Paris.

        The
        perpetrator of that attack, 18-year-old Abdullakh Anzorov, a Russian
        Muslim refugee, was shot dead by police shortly afterwards.

        Must be your system

      2. Perhaps it’s your browser. I’ve just opened it twice successfully, but I use the “open link in another tab” facility on mine.

        1. I doubt it’s the browser, as my system opens pretty much everything else, but you never know – one of my browsers refuses to display a particular online fish ordering site!!

  55. Oh dear ………..Luton Airport fire: firm that built car park went bust – despite being in the middle of building stadiums for Liverpool, Fulham and Birmingham City
    The firm which built the burned-down Luton Airport car park collapsed five weeks ago despite being in the middle of building football stadiums for Liverpool, Fulham and Birmingham City

    Isabella Boneham
    By Isabella Boneham
    Published 12th Oct 2023, 14:13 BST
    Updated 13th Oct 2023, 10:42 BST
    The company which built Luton Airport’s car park that went up in flames yesterday (Wednesday 11 October) went bust five weeks ago – and is involved in the building of new football stadiums. Buckingham Contracting Group, based in Buckinghamshire, won the £20m contract in July 2018 to redevelop the car park facilities at Luton Airport.

  57. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    Late on parade, lots of jobs to do.

    As we all know, the Climate Change Committee is supposed to be an independent advisor to government, but as we also know it is nothing more than a pro-renewables and net zero pressure group funded – as usual – by the taxpayer. I thought this latest update from Net Zero Watch will interest many Nottlrs as it lifts the lid on this expensive con:

    https://mailchi.mp/bef8f8e71a8a/net-zero-watch-calls-for-a-clear-out-at-climate-change-committee-199168?e=02dbc7c89d

    1. I think it’s been long established that there is not one member of parliament that worth the price of a rotting carrot.

    2. And after a little more digging I found this:

      “15 Jul 2021 — The accounts show a Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure of £4,678,810 for the year ended 31 March 2021”

      There appear to be no further accounts published since then. I wonder why? Something to hide perhaps? Is the size and cost of the trough growing perhaps?

          1. The wazzock who is “chair” or “CEO” or some such twaddle recently told the world that he certainly would not get rid of his own gas boiler!!

  58. ‘Afternoon All

    Funny Old World

    Loads of calls for genocide against the moslems but when our own people were slaughtered on the streets,trains buses and concerts all we heard was “Don’t look back in anger”

    40 dead on a Tunisian beach dozens of mosques closed or demolished here? Nada

    I don’t want the moslems here dead,I want them gone,peacefully if possible yeah yeah I know it’s not going to happen but I can dream can’t I?

    Meanwhile the Medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6d54c6390ea8719610aa5966ec3f3d288daffcc3339c66a2e7ca2c8f395073fd.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bccba573350e7c0c5af3a2f12ef11bb5bfc074089d31bd900d5beb672f660c13.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b12e8e6b9f80a939991b4916201b2dc30ab27c3c893f7366eb2457af1eee45ca.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f384b9301fe10e37c5a9b1113a9be1f0c01b5303f00e8ba572bd3dceb5e9cef4.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9ab499e2f66c19d3c6f019df88958d849c74f243bc1f0e719c56684e9169e0ae.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1036e0f34835cf52c73ec8e54dc131f14f1b44236a4bfad6ef67be5477e48645.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6387fd89d1c51f22304fcb6bba8781dea6a581e025c8b27fb946dfc0ae58325d.jpg

    1. Re the last one
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12626083/Transgender-cyclists-gold-silver-Chicago-races.html

      The race organisers said: ‘The CCC has always been first and foremost about fostering a positive & supportive community built around competitive CycloCross racing, and that means welcoming and challenging everyone who wants to contribute to the series and make it better.’
      They noted: ‘Discrimination or harassment of any kind on the basis of race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, sportsball team affiliation, or any other stupid idea someone comes up with to belittle others will not be tolerated.’

      And that cheating blond bloke would make a pig puke.

        1. These yopungsters will never lift a finger to defend themselves when the going gets tough. There is no hope for them

    3. We certainly need to tighten our rules and practices when dealing with illegal immigrants or we shall certainly suffer being kicked in the arse!

  61. That’s the van’s DPF cleaned, costing an arm & a leg, now need to get a couple of sensors sorted out.
    Had a run into Matlock, the long way round to give it a good run and we actually had a bit of sunshine for a short while!

    1. I opted to keep my arm and a leg by trading in my diesel ICE for an EV after I got exhausted trying to solve the DPF problem.
      It’s safer than an HEV because it can be unplugged and doesn’t get hot under the bonnet.

    1. In time of war, and for exercise, we were issued with a small pack. It contained a silk handkerchief with a map should I be shot down and wish to walk home, authentication codes and an eye patch. The eye patch was to wear when large bombs were dropped so that one eye would not suffer flash blindness and you could fly home safely, but my map disappointingly was of Czechoslovakia, way off my target in the Berlin area.

      2. I had an amusing conversation with a fellow easyJet captain some years ago. He was German, a former Mig-21 pilot in the DDR air force. I asked him where he had been based. Neuruppin he answered. Hmm, said I, I was an RAF Tornado pilot. In 1986 I would have nuked you if the balloon had gone up. We had a good laugh and a beer over that.

      1. There are only 168 attack aircraft currently in service in the RAF and 22 attack helicopters. About 20 minutes worth in a proper war.
        At one time the RAF had more than 300 V-Bombers alone. 107 Valiants, 130+ Vulcans and 86 Victors.

  64. Good Afternoon.

    Apparently Tuesday’s ‘troubles’ were due to a JSO twonk chaining himself to a bridge over the A12 and threatening to jump.

    Layer Marney Lamb had precisely 4 customers on that day. As the manager said, it cost her more than her takings to keep the shop open.

    According to her, the Army were brought in to take out the little squirt. Maybe that changed his mind about martyrdom.

    1. Call it 100,000 people delayed for an average of 15 minutes each.
      That should be his mandatory community service work order, I’ll be generous and round it down.
      3,000 eight hour days.
      That should keep him out of mischief for a while…

      1. Given the number of lorries missing their booking slots (here and on the ferries), the disrupted businesses and lives etc…. that little rat’s ‘gesture’ has cost £millions.
        Quite frankly, we need a law whereby closing the highway/railways/airports/seaports and disrupting the lives of people going about their business is automatically an army matter and they take the idiot out.
        Maybe we could be nice and read them the Riot Act; in ENGLISH only. If the government is too squeamish to sanction a bullet through the head, then smash the kneecap or ankle. (And none of this NI nonsense that has hounded old soldiers to their grave.)
        Demonstrate/put across your viewpoint by all means, but not by closing down all normal life.

        1. He would not have jumped, of course. So the plod’s reaction was completely over the top and unnecessary.

          1. I think they just should have put a big trampoline below him and given him a push. At least all the drivers stuck in traffic would get a laugh.

  65. Teacher killed in knife attack at French school ‘after suspect shouted Allahu Akhbar’. 13 October 2023.

    A teacher has been stabbed to death and two others seriously injured after a knife-wielding assailant shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he attacked a school in northern France, it has been reported.

    Police were called to City School Gambetta-Carnot, a secondary school in Arras, on Friday morning after reports that three people were stabbed. Police have arrested the suspect.

    Afternoon Nottlers. Without in any way intending to be alarmist can I say that if you go out you should keep your eyes open and under no circumstances go where these people congregate. The UK Government and its agencies are not only incapable of deterring them but are their active accomplices.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/13/teacher-stabbed-death-arras-france-shouting-allahu-akbar/

    3. As Bill says, the young man was known to the police and classified “S” – i.e. a security risk. They were keeping tabs on him, including phone-tapping and surveillance of his internet activities. The police have said that there was nothing that led them to believe that he was planning anything like this and say that this is a case of a known potential terrorist who suddenly decides to act for reasons that are not understood. One of this chap’s brothers is currently in prison for conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism in 2019; another brother was arrested today near a different school – maybe they had planned two attacks? Time will tell.

      The Figaro reports that the whole family should have been deported in 2014. They got as far as Roissy airport and then human rights organisations put up a fight and prevented the deportation from happening.

      The French government have forbidden any pro-Palestinian demonstrations but anti-Semitism is rife and many people are feeling very unsafe. This attack could and should not have happened if the normal legal processes had been allowed to be carried out. I suspect that the justified backlash is going to be very unpleasant indeed.

      1. I always feel that in cases like these, where a reasonable deportation has been prevented, that the human rights organisations should have the names of their senior people (eg CEO, chief lawyer, head of publicity types) put into a hat and for every victim of someone prevented from being deported, a name is drawn from the hat and that individual is given the same assault and outcome as every victim; death, a stabbing, being raped, whatever.

        1. “An eye for an eye”, eh? At one level I suspect we all feel that this is one way of feeling that justice is being done. I agree that these human rights organisations should be held to account – using our own, hard-won and civilised legal processes, rather than mirroring the inflicted barbarism. But ultimately, far better to prevent the whole situation from arising by implementing much stricter immigration and asylum rules. Enoch Powell is being proved right every day of the week!

          1. Although the result might be an eye for an eye, these people need to be made physically accountable for their actions in some way.

            Perhaps a prison sentence equivalent to that which the perpetrator gets might be less violent.
            If murder, life in prison, if rape 10 years, etc. They and their families should feel the anguish of their victims and their families.

            Totally agree re stricter rules and EP.

          2. I am constantly reminded one of King Lear’s rants when he finally realises that he has not had to suffer the effects of poverty and cold that his subjects have had to suffer and that he should have been more prepared to share more of his own excessive wealth – the superflux – with them to attend to their needs for shelter and warmth.

            Take physic, pomp;
            Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
            That thou mayst shake the superflux to them,
            And show the heavens more just.

            Just as we can have no respect for the Idiot King Charles who seems perfectly at ease with the fact that his own subjects will suffer poverty and cold because of the cruel Net Zero policies he endorses unless and until he spends the whole of a cold a wet winter in a tent in the grounds of one of his castles so that he can expose himself to feel what wretches feel at first hand.

            But I agree with you that those do gooders who enable homicidal maniacs to stay in the country by preventing their deportation should be forced to confront the consequence of their actions.

          3. “We must not make a scarecrow of the law, setting it up to fear the birds of prey, and let it keep one shape till custom make it their perch and not their terror.”
            Angelo in Measure for Measure (2.1.1-4)

          4. On the other hand:
            If you would refuse all migrants don’t expect to be treated by one in hospital or in a shop.
            If you want illegal migrants take them in, house them, feed them, pay for all their needs.

          6. Caroline, if you have any spare time, please could you take over as dictator of Great Britain.
            Like Oliver Cromwell, but with a better complexion.
            It wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve had a Dutch ruler! The previous one presided over the UK becoming a commercial success.

          7. I second the motion ! We could do with a benign dictator. I’ll do all her cooking and mending for free !

          10. “Blushes…”
            Thank you, Anne. I’m afraid I have no desire to end up in politics! Had Rastus been so inclined I think he would have made a marvellous clergyman, booming from the pulpit. I prefer a more discreet, rear guard action. I suppose that’s why I like playing the organ: they might hear me, but nobody sees me!

      2. “… this is a case of a known potential terrorist who suddenly decides to act for reasons that are not understood …” How about the call for action put out by Hamas? Might that explain it? The lunatics are in charge.

      1. They did warn us they intend a global caliphate… And of course our government have complied by spreading them in groups of 100 or more all over the country. Let alone the towns and cities already inundated with them.

  68. Russia is trying to break through Ukraine’s front line before winter. 13 October 2023.

    Ukraine is on fire. Russian forces have launched an offensive across the entire front line in their final push before winter. About a hundred combat clashes took place yesterday, one of the most decisive of which is unfolding in Avdiivka. A suburb of occupied Donetsk.

    We can only hope for a quick Russian victory which will bring this thing to a close.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/russia-is-trying-to-break-through-ukraines-front-line-before-snow-falls/

    1. Use the sea if possible and flood them out.

      I appreciate that they will be keeping hostages there too, but the hostages will be killed equally horribly by Hamas.

      1. I think gas would be easier. Not lethal gas just knockout gas so they can all go on trial for murder.

      3. The hostages are probably going to be sacrificed by hamas as soon as they realize that Israel is not going to hold back in hope that these unfortunates will be released.

  73. That’s me gone – early. The news is just dire – so I shall sit by the stove and read a novel.

    Funny day – the gale plus mildness has given way to rain and cold. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny. Sunday COLD….

    Have a calm evening.

    A demain

    1. It’s just that we’re being flooded with this conflict. There are hideous wars happening all the time that we don’t really know much about because they aren’t being pushed under our noses.
      Though terrible for those caught up in it, in propaganda terms for the west, this is just the latest covid/Ukraine trick.

  74. Britain can learn from Poland’s rejection of illegal migration and globalisation

    After the Belarusian border crisis, Poles are more alert than ever to the perils of unchecked multiculturalism

    STEVEN EDGINTON • 12 October 2023 • 4:41pm

    Poland is at a political crossroads: on Sunday voters will decide on both the future of the conservative Law and Justice Party government and whether to accept migrant quotas from the European Union.

    The latter vote will be held in the form of a referendum, where Poles are asked: “Do you support the admission of thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa under the forced relocation mechanism imposed by European bureaucracy?”. The question may be biased – many in the opposition parties have pledged to boycott the vote. But it will serve as a weather vane for Polish attitudes both on Brussels and migration.

    In a film for The Telegraph, I went to the Polish-Belarusian border to find out how locals plan to vote in the upcoming referendum. Everyone I spoke to in the border town was firmly against illegal migration; one woman even said she felt unsafe when migrants came through her property during the border crisis in 2021. After the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko threatened to flood Europe with migrants in 2021 thousands of people from the Middle East attempted to enter Poland via Belarus. Since then the government has built a fence with accompanying drones and high-tech cameras to monitor the border, which has been largely successful at preventing crossings.

    The Belarusian affair alerted Poles to an issue those in European border states have had to contend with for years. The vote will likely represent a firm rejection of the liberal immigration policies that have led to conflict and division across the continent.

    Poland’s experience has historically been emigration, not immigration, though as the nation grows richer, Warsaw will likely become as much a magnet for economic migrants as Paris and London have been for decades. So far Poland has largely been a transit country for those searching for work and generous welfare in Germany and France. However, Law and Justice has faced criticism from its Right-wing rival, the Confederation, for handing out thousands of work visas to non-European migrants from Asia and Africa in the last eight years. The cries against legal mass migration are already being sounded, though if the centre-Left opposition win on Sunday, Poland may join western Europe in dabbling with the multicultural experiment.

    After the horrific attacks on Jewish civilians over the weekend, the Israeli embassies in Britain and Poland witnessed contrasting scenes: in London the building was blocked off over security concerns, whilst pro-Palestinian protests raged around Kensington; in Warsaw the embassy was open, quiet and peaceful. If Britain has experienced benefits from diversity and multiculturalism, which are greatly lauded over by politicians of all stripes, then Poland can surely boast that their largely homogenous society has some advantages too. One feels completely safe walking the streets of even the roughest parts of Warsaw; the same cannot be said of London.

    The campaign has also seen Law and Justice ramp up its rhetoric against Brussels and Berlin. The party claims Europe’s Western leaders are attempting to impose unwanted liberalism on the socially conservative nation. The general election has thus become a vote on Poland’s future in Europe: do Poles wish to maintain their sovereignty and homogeneity, or will they follow their Western neighbours down the paths of globalisation and multiculturalism? Some are tempted by the West’s relative prosperity, and argue that to replicate their economic success Poland must adopt these latter ideological approaches.

    But Law and Justice have proved that an alternative is surely available. The party can boast of strong economic growth, relatively little immigration compared with Western Europe, and maintaining an independent voice within the European Union. There are problems, increases in inflation and debt being two, and young Poles, in particular women, are increasingly tempted by socially liberal attitudes.

    It was surprising, and quite encouraging, to speak with so many young Poles who support the right-wing Confederation. Though some in the conservative group are undoubtedly cranks, most are economically liberal and socially conservative. They demand lower and simpler taxes, lower migration and are sceptical of Brussels. If opinion polls are to be believed, Law and Justice are on track to continue governing Poland, and voters will reject the migrant quotas from Brussels. Despite mistakes, after eight years in power Law and Justice have proved it is possible to govern from a conservative perspective and be rewarded by voters. Meanwhile the Tories, who are nearly indistinguishable from their Labour counterparts, face electoral oblivion next year. Perhaps their next leader can learn a thing or two from the Poles.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/12/britain-learn-from-polands-rejection-of-illegal-migration/

  76. Nice BTL comment on the Fraser Nelson article. Bang on target.

    9 MIN AGO

    To say Muslim integration in Britain is a great success is disingenuous at best. There are individuals that have integrated successfully, but they are not in the majority.

    The repression of women, cousin marriage, forced marriage, honor killings, the sexual grooming of non Muslim girls, the ghetto mindset, mosques used as bases for radicalization…all condoned by their religious leaders.

    Integrating does not mean bringing out-dated, repressive and divisive practices here …it means leaving them behind in the country you choose to leave because they are holding you trapped in a past that we left centuries ago. Bring your food, your music, art and poetry…but leave the mediaeval barbarism where it cannot harm us, the people you expect to welcome you.

    Last but not least…stop referring to ‘British Muslims’…we don’t refer to people by their religion. People here are just ‘British’…or not.”

    2. Trudeau loves to claim that diversity is our strength and that is what we pretty much have with muslims. Instead of integrating with the locals, they cluster together in little inward looking communes that are anything but friendly to outsiders.

  78. Is Israel planning to use the UK Government stategy used by the GM police in Manchester of clear, hold, build?

    Operation Vulcan is also following the Government strategy of clear, hold, build – through which officers are methodically clearing the area of criminal activity, the next phase is to hold it so other criminal gangs cannot get a foot-hold and ultimately building it into a prosperous area once more where people are proud to live and work.
    https://www.gmp.police.uk/police-forces/greater-manchester-police/areas/greater-manchester-force-content/c/campaigns/2022/operation-vulcan2/operation-vulcan/

    1. And quite a few of those cross-channel illegals would gladly cut our infidel throats.

    3. The RN just do not have enough (serviceable/operational) warships.

      Look back to the ‘Cold War’, we had 26 Leander/Type 12 Frigates, work horses at sea

      With the helicopters that they carried, initially Wasps & later Lynx, they made those ships Nuclear capable with the WE177 Depth Bomb, to attack USSR subs

      Now, we have two Carriers, with no RN aircraft, a few frigates/destroyers, (if the engines work) and promises, of more to come.

      Pompey (Portsmouth) Dockyard is devoid of a Navy

        1. We were there, last week, looking at memories.
          All very sad.
          Even the “Hotel for the Royal Navy” has gone (as is the Navy, as I knew it)

  80. Tories demanded an apology today after Grant Shapps and the BBC’s Mishal Husain were embroiled in an extraordinary spat over the corporation’s refusal to brand Hamas ‘terrorists’.

    MPs vowed to make a formal complaint, hitting out at the ‘angry’ attitude from the presenter and dismissing ‘cobblers’ claims that Ofcom rules stopped the broadcaster from using the term.

    The row erupted when the Defence Secretary suggested during an interview on the flagship Radio 4 Today programme that the BBC did not seem ‘interested’ in condemning Hamas. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12628105/Tories-BBC-Today-Mishal-Husain-Grant-Shapps-Hamas-Ofcom-terrorists.html

    1. It was always going to be a catfight. Shapp’s parents are Jews. Michal’s are Pakistani muslim. It was set up so both sides could ignore what the other side said.

    2. Waiting for the howls of “bullying” and “misogyny”. They’ll come – the Leftards cannot help themselves.

    3. Shapps: “The Israelis are trying to get hold of the Hamas terrorists whom you don’t seem to be particularly interested in…”

      Most of the country will know what he meant by that but, in typical BBC mode, Husain went after him for one word, ‘interested’:
      “Have you not seen any of the coverage on the BBC of the atrocities, of the dead, the injured, the survivors?”
      “Yes, I have.”
      “So how can you say we’re not interested in those atrocities?”

      Shapps responded feebly with a reference to legislation and the description of Hama as terrorists.

      This is how so many BBC presenters work. Backed into a corner, they’ll pick on one careless word or phrase and expertly distract the listener or viewer while driving the interviewee either into a rage or dumbfounded silence. I’m sure you’ve all been there in discussions with family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues. One lazy moment and they drag you around in the dirt. Even if you clarify your remarks, they’ll keep going after you:
      “Why didn’t you say that first time?”
      “I did.”
      “No you didn’t. Well, it didn’t sound like it to me.”
      “It was clear enough to me.”
      “It wasn’t from here. You don’t really know what you’re talking about, do you?”

      We used to have a couple of experienced practitioners on here…

    4. Shapps: “The Israelis are trying to get hold of the Hamas terrorists whom you don’t seem to be particularly interested in…”

      Most of the country will know what he meant by that but, in typical BBC mode, Husain went after him for one word, ‘interested’:
      “Have you not seen any of the coverage on the BBC of the atrocities, of the dead, the injured, the survivors?”
      “Yes, I have.”
      “So how can you say we’re not interested in those atrocities?”

      Shapps responded feebly with a reference to legislation and the description of Hama as terrorists.

      This is how so many BBC presenters work. Backed into a corner, they’ll pick on one careless word or phrase and expertly distract the listener or viewer while driving the interviewee either into a rage or dumbfounded silence. I’m sure you’ve all been there in discussions with family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues. One lazy moment and they drag you around in the dirt. Even if you clarify your remarks, they’ll keep going after you:
      “Why didn’t you say that first time?”
      “I did.”
      “No you didn’t. Well, it didn’t sound like it to me.”
      “It was clear enough to me.”
      “It wasn’t from here. You don’t really know what you’re talking about, do you?”

      We used to have a couple of experienced practitioners on here…

  81. Harvested from Twitt:
    It refers to the USA. Mercury, for example, isn’t used in the UK any more (I think)

    Dr David Cartland
    @CartlandDavid
    “I gathered all vaccine ingredients into a list and contacted Poison Control. After intros and such, and asking to speak with someone tenured and knowledgeable, this is the gist of that conversation.

    Me: My question to you is how are these ingredients categorized? As benign or poison? (I ran a few ingredients, formaldehyde, Tween 80, mercury, aluminum, phenoxyethanol, potassium phosphate, sodium phosphate, sorbitol, etc.)

    He: Well, that’s quite a list… But I’d have to easily say that they’re all toxic to humans… Used in fertilizers… Pesticides… To stop the heart… To preserve a dead body… They’re registered with us in different categories, but pretty much poisons. Why?

    Me: If I were deliberately to feed or inject my child with these ingredients often, as a schedule, obviously I’d put my daughter in harm’s way… But what would legally happen to me?

    He: Odd question… But you’d likely be charged with criminal negligence… perhaps with intent to kill… and of course child abuse… Your child would be taken away from you… Do you know of someone’s who’s doing this to their child? This is criminal…

    Me: An industry… These are the ingredients used in vaccines… With binding agents to make sure the body won’t flush these out… To keep the antibody levels up indefinitely…

    The man was beside himself. He asked if I would email him all this information. He wanted to share it with his adult kids who are parents. He was horrified and felt awful he didn’t know… his kids are vaccinated and they have health issues…”

    ~ By Iris Figueroa
    Here are just SOME vaccine ingredients present in routine vaccines:
    ◾️Formaldehyde/Formalin – Highly toxic systematic poison and carcinogen.
    ◾️Betapropiolactone – Toxic chemical and carcinogen. May cause death/permanant injury after very short exposure to small quantities. Corrosive chemical.
    ◾️Hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide – May cause damage to the liver, cardiovascular system, and central nervous system. May cause reproductive effects and birth defects.
    ◾️Aluminum hydroxide, aluminum phosphate, and aluminum salts – Neurotoxin. Carries risk for long term brain inflammation/swelling, neurological disorders, autoimmune disease, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and autism. It penetrates the brain where it persists indefinitely.
    ◾️Thimerosal (mercury) – Neurotoxin. Induces cellular damage, reduces oxidation-reduction activity, cellular degeneration, and cell death. Linked to neurological disorders, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and autism.
    ◾️Polysorbate 80 & 20 – Trespasses the Blood-Brain Barrier and carries with it aluminum, thimerosal, and viruses; allowing it to enter the brain.
    ◾️Glutaraldehyde – Toxic chemical used as a disinfectant for heat sensitive medical equipment.
    ◾️Fetal Bovine Serum – Harvested from bovine (cow) fetuses taken from pregnant cows before slaughter.
    ◾️Human Diploid Fibroblast Cells – aborted fetal cells. Foreign DNA has the ability to interact with our own.
    ◾️African Green Monkey Kidney Cells – Can carry the SV-40 cancer-causing virus that has already tainted about 30 million Americans.
    ◾️Acetone – Can cause kidney, liver, and nerve damage.
    ◾️E.Coli – Yes, you read that right.
    ◾️DNA from porcine (pig) Circovirus type-1
    ◾️Human embryonic lung cell cultures (from aborted fetuses)
    You can view all of these ingredients on the CDCs website.
    https://cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/b/excipient-table-2.pdf

    Edit: To think of those simple days when I used to think patronisingly that people in the third world who thought that vaccines were a Western plot to kill them were just ignorant and overly suspicious!

    1. Good luck to the researcher here.
      For the rest of us:
      Beware of all government propaganda:
      May contain bullshit.

      1. Excess Pinot?

        Hi LotL,
        If by any chance you’re looking in, there are some who believe that there is no such thing!
        Take care girl.

    3. I was found to be well above safe mercury levels back in about 1987 after a blood test (I found the hard copy report that was copied to me a couple of years ago).
      This was due to using mercury in testing drilled rock samples for porosity and permeability.
      It might explain why some think I’m as mad as a hatter.

      2. OT. Bought some fish, from my local fishmonger today, that I’ve never heard of before. Cusk (or Tusk) Brosme brosme is apparently a member of the ling family. Have you come across this before (or, maybe caught and eaten it)?

        1. Nope, we don’t get them down here. Ling are plentiful, some people love them, but not me. The torsk/cusk is an unknown fish in these waters. Maybe Herr Oberst has some knowledge of them, they certainly inhabit Norwegian waters. Let us know how it eats.

          1. I shall report anon. I actually love fresh ling so I’m optimistic about cusk/tusk. Strangely, ‘Torsk’ is the Swedish name for cod.

    4. I think mercury as thimerasol is still used in the UK in vaccines, it was the last time I looked, admittedly a few years ago (although not a decade ago!) when I was checking out the ingredients of the ‘flu vaccine. I could not believe they were putting these terrible chemicals and heavy metals in vaccines. Even gp’s are ignorant, one said it was not until 2010-ish that she looked up the contents of one vaccine and was horrified, she had just assumed a vaccine had consisted of some sort of saline containing a portion of the weakened or dead attenuated virus.

  82. Good evening. Lawyers acting for the largest Jewish community organisation in the UK have told the BBC to investigate complaints made against them over their failure to refer to Hamas as terrorists.

    Meanwhile, a 22-year-old woman has been arrested by counter terror police on suspicion of supporting Hamas.

    Board of Deputies writes to BBC over refusal to call Hamas terrorists
    Lawyers acting for the largest Jewish community organisation in the UK have told the BBC to investigate complaints made against them over their failure to refer to Hamas as terrorists. Tim Davie, the director-general of the BBC, has been ordered to instruct the company to look into complaints made by the Board of Deputies of British Jews by the charity’s lawyers, after the broadcaster “refused” to review editorial guidelines.

    Counter terror police arrest woman on suspicion of supporting Hamas
    A 22-year-old woman has been arrested by counter terror police on suspicion of supporting Hamas at a protest held in Brighton. Counter-Terrorism Policing South East said the woman was arrested on Thursday under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. It comes after an investigation was launched focusing on a speech made by a woman at the protest in Brighton on Sunday. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/13/friday-evening-news-briefing-board-of-deputies-bbc/

    1. The speaker in Brighton is merely the tip of a very large iceberg.
      I would prefer the police to spend their time looking beneath the surface of her supporters and sponsors.

  83. It’d be interesting to learn what proportion of our cross-channel illegals are Muslim. I notice the authorities show no wish to try to find the answer or publicly release figures. I bet 90% is a fairly good guess.

    1. I would be equally interested to learn how many non Muslims have bee sacrificed for the good of the crossing.

    2. We have a total infestation of moles at the moment.

      Of course there are hundreds of ways of getting rid of moles but if there was a way that worked there would only be one.

    1. Fine, surrender the prize and we’ll draw again.
      No?
      Arseholes
      EDIT
      and don’t worry, we’ll refund your stake

  87. Thought for the day:

    Dear Israel,

    All Jews are welcome into Europe but only if you totally abandon the promised land, and in exchange Europe will export ALL its Muslims to what was your homeland and ensure that NO Muslims are ever allowed into any part of Europe.

    Deal?

    1. Dear Mariana Trench.
      You appear to be singularly free of human inhabitants: there are a billion or so that would peacefully settle in your vasty depths.

  89. I feel so sorry for school children of today, the only Hamas we were worried about back in the day was between two slices of bread, in a sandwich with a bit of pickle if it was your birthday, the Left have so much to answer for.
    Nowadays it;’s most probably banned just in case it damages the planet and upsets our new arrivals

    1. OK here you are

      Wordle 846 4/6

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

  91. Great heavens! The English creeps didn’t do the kneeling thing! But a minutes silence for the innocents in Israel….and Palestine.😳

  92. Evening, all. Should have built an ark today; it’s been raining steadily since 22.00 last night and my path outside my studio is flooded again, despite my having had the drains done. They just can’t cope with the amount of precipitation!

    Needless to say, I got no gardening done today.

    El Bebeera is in denial over the nature of islam and its followers. They will never call it as it is.

    1. We had rain overnight, but this morning was dry – sunny and breezy – I got the washing out and fetched it in before I went to do the weekly shop – it was just beginning to spot with rain. The washing dried ok. While I was in Morrisons, the heavens opened – and it was torrential when I came out. All our water butts are now full to overflowing as is the pond.

  94. The West will only be stirred when struck by calamity…

    A true axis of evil is testing the West. Israel needs more than our sympathy

    Iran, Russia and China share an interest in weakening us. Hamas’s attacks could now murder Middle East peace

    CHARLES MOORE • 13 October 2023 • 7:49pm

    After the Hamas massacres, the first reaction of decent people has been horror and sympathy. Western leaders, such as Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak, have expressed these feelings well. The sympathy is primarily for the people of Israel but also, by extension, to Jews everywhere.

    Even in free countries such as Britain, Jewish citizens are not as safe as they should be. Anti-Semitic rhetoric and threats increase. In some cities, and for many Jewish university students and school pupils, the danger has risen.

    And what inspires something close to despair is that the spark for the anger was not really any act by Jews, but the biggest and most revolting attack on Jews since 1945.

    Tomorrow, there will be a march in central London, which will purport to want to “stop the war”. I shall be amazed if a single placard honours the victims of the Hamas atrocities of October 7.

    Protest will likely focus solely on Israel’s response in Gaza. If you knew nothing about the background – which, if you rely on propaganda from organisations like the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), you will not – you would not learn that any Israeli had suffered at all.

    We non-Jews should try to imagine what this must feel like for our Jewish fellow-citizens. The Jewish organisation which offers them direct protection is called the Community Security Trust. The fact that it needs to exist indicates that, for the Jewish community, there is not enough security in Britain.

    Not all our country’s institutions are unequivocal. Our King, I am glad to say, combined his expression of sympathy with an express condemnation of Hamas’s terrorism. Our national broadcaster, however, cannot even utter the word. Yesterday, Mishal Husain criticised the Defence Secretary for “singling out the BBC and singling out Hamas”. Interesting how she linked the two.

    So our politicians are right to unite in support of British Jews. They should redouble it. Sir Keir Starmer, who has backed Israel strongly and is fighting successfully against Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Semitic legacy, should now demand that all Muslim organisations must explicitly condemn Hamas.

    The MCB wants us to believe that it represents all British Muslims. So far, it has said only that “The targeting of innocent civilians can never be excused or justified”. The H word is not mentioned.

    It would help if Sir Keir, whose party has strong influence among Muslims, asked the MCB to agree that Hamas did exactly such targeting, in an atrocious form and on an appalling scale.

    But although pity for Israelis and protection for Jews everywhere are vital components of the response to what Hamas has done, they could become an excuse for doing little else. “Yes, yes,” politicians could say, “Of course we must look after the poor Jews,” as if this were an issue all by itself. It is not: the fate of Israel engages the values and the vital interests of the West.

    It would not be true to say that all opponents of Israel are opponents of the West. Some are sincere, moderate supporters of what they see as Palestinian rights. But it would be pretty much true to say that all opponents of the West are opponents of Israel.

    There are several reasons for this. Israel is a Western-style democracy and has succeeded partly for that reason. Its success is galling to those countries which pursue a different path.

    It can also be misleadingly presented as a “colonial” nation, since it consists in part of white people occupying land on which “people of colour” make claims. And of course, its Jewishness is an affront to all dictators, because dictatorships detest all independent communities and faiths.

    The Hamas massacres were dated to mark the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war in which a surprise Arab attack on Israel created an oil crisis for the West and induced the US and the Soviet Union to rearm the opposing sides. The frenzy of last week’s attacks was fanatical but not undisciplined. Its extreme force and jihadi rhetoric hoped to frighten the same enemy and ignite the same grievances.

    The Arabs lost the Yom Kippur war, but also gave the West a nasty fright. Arguably, Hamas has a better chance this time than did its 20th-century predecessors.

    In 1973, the then Iranian regime was friendly to the West, and China, as well as being at daggers drawn with the Soviet Union, was out of the picture. Today, Iran is run by the ayatollahs who back Hamas and Hezbollah. Russia, by invading Ukraine, has taken on the entire Western alliance, blaming us for its aggression.

    China, working flat out to achieve the status of top nation by 2049 (the centenary of its Communist revolution) is now, in theory at least, locked in “a friendship without limits” with Russia. It carefully avoids condemning Hamas, while saying it is “a friend to both sides in the conflict”. Anyone who includes Hamas as a legitimate part of one side and says he is the friend of both is lying.

    In his State of the Union address in 2002, President George W Bush famously identified an “axis of evil”. It was an arresting phrase, but it didn’t fit. The regimes he was talking about – Iran, Iraq and North Korea – were evil all right, but they did not form much of an axis.

    There is a de facto axis today, and it is not necessary for these purposes to debate here exactly how evil its component parts may be. All that needs to be understood is that the axis – Russia, China and Iran – shares an overwhelming interest in weakening, indeed supplanting, the West.

    Putin’s Russia wants to rebuild its empire. Xi’s China wants to fasten each Belt and construct each Road until it controls the world. Khamenei’s Iran wants to assert itself as the champion of true Islam, defeat the Great Satan (the United States), Little Satan (us) and dominate the Middle East.

    So far this century, the axis has watched the West, and licked its lips. It has perceived debt, division, decadence and drift. It has noticed, in matters like our deference towards Black Lives Matter or our determination to impose upon ourselves a net-zero regime that China, Russia and Iran would never dream of attempting, a sort of self-hatred. Where it can, it has therefore tested our resolve.

    Luckily for the West, Xi Jinping ruined China’s charm offensive, which had all but bought us off, by showing his totalitarian claws and by giving Covid to the world. Luckily, too, Putin’s miscalculation that President Zelensky’s leadership could be quickly decapitated gave Ukraine time to hit back and woke the West up.

    In the Middle East, the change of attitude expressed in the Abraham Accords showed that many Arab nations are ready to tone down the Israel/Palestine dispute and get on with life together.

    But the West has not definitively prevailed in these conflicts, and Iran/Hamas may now succeed in murdering Middle East peace.

    Our divisions continue. Our attention span is as short as ever. Our deficits are large, our defences are small, our energy supplies are still insecure.

    This remains a good time for the axis to make trouble. It may be an even better time next year, what with the winter in Ukraine, the Taiwan elections in January and, above all, the potential – even likely – chaos of the American presidential elections.

    As in Ukraine, human sympathy is a fine reason why we should support Israel in its suffering. But so is self-interest. Both those countries are bearing heavy burdens for us.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/13/a-true-axis-of-evil-is-testing-the-west-israel-needs-more-t/

    3. “They are all after us, we must fight back (after we have repeatedly poked the hornets’ nest)”

      I’m more concerned about the people in the West who want to destroy it and impose islam, and they aren’t sitting in Tehran, Moscow or Beijing, in fact they were brought here by our own traitors.

    4. Even in free countries such as Britain…

      Hollow laughs all round! The rest of it is strewn with these historical anomalies. The “West” he talks about for example no longer exists.

  95. G Thomas Kerr
    @gthomaskerr
    An engineer was taking a walk when a frog spoke to him and said, “If you kiss me, I’ll turn into a beautiful princess.”
    He picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.
    The frog spoke again and said, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I’ll become your girlfriend.”
    The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
    The frog spoke again and said, “If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I’ll become your wife.”
    The engineer took the frog out of his pocket again, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
    Finally, the frog said, “What is the matter? I’m a beautiful princess. Why won`t you kiss me?”
    The engineer said, “Look, I’m a busy engineer. I don`t have time for a girlfriend or a wife, but a talking frog, now that’s cool.”

  96. Evening all!
    Just earned myself a tenner! Lad on a motor scooter broke down, so we loaded his bike into the van and took him to Wirksworth!

    After the £350 the DPF clean cost me, it was welcome!

  98. Teacher tells Jewish students to stand in a corner, just as ‘Israel does to the Palestinians’

    Stanford University lecturer then reportedly called them ‘colonisers’ and said Hamas massacre was ‘legitimate’

    By Susie Coen, US CORRESPONDENT • 13 October 2023 • 6:21pm

    A Stanford University lecturer ordered his Jewish students to stand in a corner and told them “this is what Israel does to Palestine”, according to reports.

    The teacher is understood to have said “only” six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust and labelled students as “colonisers” or “colonised” depending on their heritage. He also claimed the Hamas massacre of hundreds of Israelis was “legitimate” and described the terrorists as “freedom fighters”, according to The Forward, an American newspaper aimed at a Jewish audience.

    Richard Saller, the Stanford president, and Provost Jenny Martinez said in a letter on Wednesday that non-faculty instructor had been suspended following reports he “addressed the Middle East conflict in a manner that called out individual students in class based on their backgrounds and identities”.

    The lecturer was teaching a compulsory course for first-year students before announcing Tuesday’s lesson was on colonialism. Rabbi Dov Greenberg, director of the Chabad Stanford Jewish Center, said three students in the class told him that the teacher had asked them to identify themselves. The lecturer then told them to take their belongings and stand in the corner, before telling them: “This is what Israel does to the Palestinians”, Rabbi Greenberg said.

    He said the teacher had told the class: “Hamas is a legitimate representation of the Palestinian people. They are not a terrorist group. They are freedom fighters. Their actions are legitimate.”

    Nourya Cohen and Andrei Mandelshtam, co-presidents of Stanford’s Israeli Student Association, said several students in the class told them the lecturer “asked Jewish students to raise their hands” before separating them from their stuff to simulate what Jews were doing to Palestinians.

    “He asked how many Jews died in the Holocaust,” and when students said six million, “he said, ‘Yes. Only six million,’ ” Ms Cohen told the San Francisco Chronicle. He is then understood to have told students more people died from colonisation than from the Holocaust, and that colonisation was what happened to the Palestinians.

    Ms Cohen and Mr Mandelshtam said that students claimed the lecturer labelled each student as either a “coloniser” or “colonised,” depending on where they were from. When one student reported being from Israel, students said the lecturer responded: “Oh, definitely a coloniser.”

    “I feel absolutely dehumanised that someone in charge of students and developing minds could possibly try and justify the massacre of my people,” said Ms Cohen. “It’s like I’m reliving the justification of Nazis 80 years ago on today’s college campus.”

    Joshua Jankelow, president of Chabad at Stanford, said he had also been told the story by a student in one of the classes.

    While the university would not disclose details of the report, they said it was a “cause for serious concern” and “academic freedom does not permit the identity-based targeting of students.”

    Banners which stated “the illusion of Israel is burning” and “the land remembers her people” alongside a drawing of a Palestinian flag were hung on Stanford University’s campus over the weekend before being removed.

    It comes amid growing tensions across US university campuses. Harvard University has come under fire after 31 societies signed a letter blaming Israel for Hamas’ murderous attack.

    The Telegraph has contacted Stanford University for comment.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/13/stanford-university-teacher-jewish-students-israel-hamas

        1. Remember, all the coverage is only about getting us riled up, just as covid was.
          Remind me to look up whether there’s a correlation with the sun cycle tomorrow. They’re playing us like violins. I’m off to bed too, knackered here.

    2. I saw that on Twitt, but I thought it was made up! If the DT is running it, I guess there must be some truth in it. But it’s just a particularly crass example of the bullying that is going on all the time in higher education, it’s just newsworthy because of the attack on Israel.

    4. There appears to be a lot of Palestine loving around universities in the US and Canada. Much of it is clueless students but also faculty following their leftist ways.

  99. Well ‘england’? v Australia. Switched it off. Im not being rude but two women on the panel and a female referee. Who is trying to make some sort of ridiculous point ? What an effing joke.
    Watched Doc Martin instead, we stood out side his house just over week ago.
    Before that a recorded Australian film The Dry.
    Something I’m more familiar with.
    Great acting good storyline and familiar scenery from our vast travels down under.
    But a lot of effing and blindin. As they do.
    Two and a half hours to go and Friday 13th by passed.
    Ever thought of this, Monday Tuesday as in
    M &T then WTF.
    I’ve had enough today 🤭🤗
    Good night all.

    1. Your words echoed by Moh , Eddy .

      I am watching Doc Martin now !

      We loved Cornwall, when Moh was based nr Helston in the early 70’s, we had a wonderful time , except durin that period , I can hardly remember a dry day, the Lizard area always seemed to covered in low cloud , and was very wet.

      We remember Helzephron .. Gunwalloe and Praa sands very well . I was given a gliding lesson or 2 , amazing experience on a clear day.

          1. I get ‘sent off’ for dancing.

            I was at Culdrose, on a course, when the Mayor of Helston asked, the CO of Culdrose, to let the Orficers Dance, but stop the rest of the RN Plebs from attending.

            Certainly he said, and I will put buses on, for the next few years, to take the Plebs Wivesin to Falmouth, to do their shopping.

            That was back in the early 1970s

          2. Well, sprog husband received his wings after training , gravitated to Sea kings , then 819 sq which then moved up to Prestwick ( HMS Gannet ).. 1971/2. and so it goes on .

      2. My own personal recollection of Helston was sitting in the Blue Anchor drinking Spingo Ale brewed on the premises. Strong stuff but so easily drinkable.

        We listened to a local chap reminiscing about the disaster on the sands where American forces were killed in a war exercise. The bodies were buried in Madingley American Cemetery near my wife’s relatives in Coton.

      3. My own personal recollection of Helston was sitting in the Blue Anchor drinking Spingo Ale brewed on the premises. Strong stuff but so easily drinkable.

        We listened to a local chap reminiscing about the disaster on the sands where American forces were killed in a war exercise. The bodies were buried in Madingley American Cemetery near my wife’s relatives in Coton.

      4. Our honeymoon was near Helston and other areas, just over 49 years ago.
        And we were near Indian Queen’s with two of our young sons when the heaven’s opened and Wimbledon was flooded and Cliff Richard sang 🤗

  101. Just spent the evening in a safe space for Jews, otherwise known as Wigmore Hall. The concert, by a Norwegian soprano called Lise Davidsen, was sponsored by the Rubinstein Circle.

    The last time I was there, at a Friends fundraising do, Baroness Neuberger gave a talk reminding us that many refugee Jewish musicians have graced that stage, which is very true of course. The guest of honour was the Duke of Kent, looking very frail.

    1. I read an article recently about the Duke. Him being cousin to Queen Elizabeth and how steadfast he has always been to her. I feel like a story may have been planted to forewarn us.

    2. Glad you had a lovely evening Sue .

      Duke of Kent does look very fragile , nothing much of him really, but he gets around .

      The cultural richness of Jewish musicians have provided us with beautiful music of all genres.

      We must all feel very grateful and humbled .

  102. A shortage of pluckers means pheasant and other wild game could disappear from Britain’s supermarket shelves.

    Game dealers, butchers and chefs say the birds are becoming more expensive to process because of a lack of skilled labour to pluck them.

    There has been a dramatic drop in the number of seasonal workers from Europe coming to the UK to fill game processing jobs after Brexit and the devaluation of the pound.

    Leon Challis-Davies, 39, from Eat Wild, the game brand, said game processors in the north of the country found it “slightly” easier to find British workers but in the south there was little interest in the work. “European labour is not coming back after Brexit and the younger generation in our country don’t really want to roll up their sleeves and get stuck into manual labour,” he said.

    Countryside groups want the government to increase the number of seasonal worker visas, and their duration, to make working in the UK more attractive. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/roast-pheasant-under-threat-because-brits-arent-game-for-plucking-kp6w235zs

    1. He’s not the pheasant-plucker,
      He’s the pheasant-plucker’s son.
      He’s only plucking pheasants,
      Till the pheasant-plucker comes.

      Try saying that little tongue-twister a few times quickly.

    2. but in the south there was little interest in the work. “

      Are there any Brits remining down there

      Sad Dihk khant would stop it happening…………… it is British

    3. I’m not the pheasant plucker I’m the pheasants plucker’s mate
      I’m only plucking pheasants ‘cos the pheasant plucker’s late.

      Where is the pheasant plucker when you need him?

      I’m not the pheasant plucker I’m the pheasant plucker’s son
      I’m only plucking pheasants till the pheasant plucker comes.

      I’m not the pheasant plucker I’m the pheasant plucker’s aunt
      I’m only plucking pheasants ‘cos the pheasant plucker can’t.

      I’m not the pheasant plucker I’m the pheasant plucker’s niece
      I know I’m plucking pheasants but I’d rather pluck some geese.

      i>I’m not the pheasant plucker I’m the pheasant plucker’s daughter
      It’s not my job to pluck ’em cos it’s my dad who oughter

      i>I’m not the pheasant plucker I’m the pheasant plucker’s grandpa
      And when my grandson’s plucked ’em then I put them in a hamper.

  103. There’s such a thing as a sense of proportion. In times of war we’d want a secretary of state for defence to possess it. If, just after 8am on Friday, you were unlucky enough to listen to Grant Shapps being interviewed by Mishal Husain on the BBC’s Today programme, you will not have begun your day with enhanced confidence that we’re in the hands of ministers capable of distinguishing molehills from mountains. It was a dreadful performance at a sensitive moment during a terrible international situation.

    Ten times, in different ways and always politely, Husain asked Shapps whether our government believed Israel was right to order a million people in Gaza to evacuate the northern part of the territory within 24 hours.

    Ten times he ducked the question with essentially the same non-reply (“I think it’s absolutely right that the Israeli government is providing a warning to citizens . . .”). It became embarrassing.

    Finally, perhaps flustered, Shapps shin-kicked the BBC (“. . . the Israelis are trying to get hold of the Hamas terrorists who you don’t seem to be particularly interested in and the BBC seems to refuse to call terrorists . . .”). And what should have been a conversation about a terrifying new turn of events in Gaza descended into a snide and ill-informed domestic squabble. Perhaps that was Shapps’s intention.

    This was disreputable. How dare he impugn a corporation with the BBC’s record of brave and balanced war reporting, a history with which names such as Jeremy Bowen, Lyse Doucet and John Simpson are associated? Sometimes, angry interviewees walk out mid-interview. This time it was the interviewer who should have walked out. Husain, astounded, asked him whether he’d actually seen the BBC’s reporting of Hamas’s atrocities.

    To the issues then, because there’s in fact very little in contention here — and that’s what’s so depressing about these idiotically fierce yet trivial exercises in displacement activity that characterise the politics of a gently declining world power. First, you can be sure, with no shadow of doubt, that His Majesty’s Government is very worried about Israel’s 24-hour ultimatum. Second, you can be equally sure that HMG is in principle wholeheartedly on the side of Israel in this conflict. As am I and as, I’d hope, are you, my reader.

    Third, we can be reasonably sure that even questioning Israeli strategy in public at this juncture has been judged within government to be best avoided for fear that Britain might appear to be going soft in our support for Israel. I can certainly understand the hesitation to make any open criticism and, on balance, think it’s probably right.

    So Shapps will have embarked on his round of interviews resolved, on advice, not to voice opposition to the evacuation order. He will have wanted, though, to add that the Israelis were right to give advance warning of what was to come. And having said so (as he did) what more could he say when pressed on whether Britain supported the attempted clearout itself? He must surely have thought about this and discussed it with Foreign Office advisers and — one hopes — the prime minister.

    hy not say: “It’s right and humane that Israel has given advance warning; we remain concerned, however, as I know the Israelis are too, about the consequences of such an attempted evacuation and that, Mishal, is at this stage all I’m going to say on this.”

    The headline, “Government ‘concerned about the consequences’ of evacuation order” is something ministers could probably have lived with; but if they think even this would sound too critical there was always the backstop: “I’m not at this stage going to comment.” Most listeners would then have understood if Shapps had repeated that answer when pressed. Instead, the nitwit just kept on not answering by not answering and trying to answer a different question.

    • Israel-Gaza war live: Israel confirms Gaza incursions

    Every single listener will have heard this as a clumsy attempt to change the subject. In politics you may have to be slippery, but it’s always foolish to sound slippery.

    Now to the second issue, that molehill-turned-mountain alluded to in Shapps’s final shin-kick to Husain. The BBC and other broadcasters generally stick to using the words “terrorist” or “terrorism” (which they often do) only when quoting the words of others and not as though it were their own moral judgment. Do read Friday’s Times editorial comment on this, which concludes that it’s time for the BBC to reconsider. I think that’s probably right.

    But there’s a reason why this rule of thumb was first adopted, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the corporation’s alleged “supporting” or “sympathising” with terrorist organisations like Hamas, which of course it does not. The dictionary definition of “terrorism” is “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims”.

    Understood thus, there have been many terrorist organisations whose side some perfectly respectable people might have taken. The Free French during the Second World War; the ANC during apartheid South Africa; EOKA (if you are a Greek Cypriot); Lehi or the Stern Gang in Mandatory Palestine (if you were a militant Zionist); the Mau Mau in Kenya; Chechen separatists in Russia; Uighur “terrorists” (says China); the National Liberation Front in France’s Algerian war.

    You can surely see why global broadcasters like the BBC opted not to use the word themselves as a descriptor. I believe the corporation gains rather than loses global authority by not taking sides, especially as any description of what the terrorists have done will carry its own implicit moral judgment.

    They should probably now, however, yield in the case of Hamas; but if they do, there will still have to be rules applied consistently. The rule must be that the word “terrorist” does not imply a moral judgment. So, were Ukraine to succeed in organising supporters to blow up buildings and civilians in Moscow, we should not complain if broadcasters called it terrorism — which it would be.

    Ministerial attacks on the BBC, however, should cease. It’s believed the PM appointed Shapps to defence not on merit but because he wouldn’t make any trouble. If that was his reasoning it’s already coming back to bite him. This was the transport minister who didn’t stop HS2 budgets going crazy; whose overwhelming interest (it is said within the transport department) was private piloting; and who attached his own name to a report he hadn’t written. And this lightweight is now in charge of Britain’s defence.

    Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, called him a “newly minted moron”. Hateful to chuckle at anything a Russian gangster has to say, but still . . .
    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/grant-shapps-fails-to-fit-the-bill-defence-secretary-israel-gaza-cs0k9h7np

    1. I read this on here before looking at the article. I wasn’t at all surprised to find it was written by Mathew Parris, who used more than 1,100 words to do just what Ms Husain did in her interview i.e. to micro-analyse one or two sentences and so make ‘mountains out of molehills’.

      I will agree with him on one thing – the uselessness of Shapps (and, by inference, The Fakir, who let him be interviewed). In making an arse of himself, Shapps discredited the government even more than any of us might have thought possible.

      Nevertheless, we must congratulate Parris on being able to write such guff and get paid for it. What skill!

      1. How I laughed ..

        Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, called him a “newly minted moron”. Hateful to chuckle at anything a Russian gangster has to say, but still . . .

        Mathew Parris is a lefty isn’t he.

        As our Queen used to say .. Opinions may differ … The BBC is slow and off the mark, and rather slippery with everything they report on./ don’t report on .

        Shapps is another little untrustworthy weasel , however I cannot stand the woman who interviewed him either .

        1. Ben Wallis was and remains a war-mongering moron. Shapps is even worse, as thick as two short planks bolted together and completely out of his league.

          The Russians are not war-mongering. The Americans are always seeking war along with their “satellites” in Europe. Check out Putin’s latest commentary on the issue of the conflict in Israel.

          The most shocking observation I have made is just how incompetent, arrogant and ignorant are our politicians. They have no understanding of the vital necessity of diplomacy. We should always use diplomacy to seek accommodation with our opponents.

          We do not wish war on anybody.

          1. I cannot help feeling that Wallace resigned because he knew stuff was coming along that even he balked at (British troops to Ukraine, maybe the renewed stoking up of the middle east conflict even?), and so they looked around for an utter scoundrel who would implement any policy the deep state dreamed up for Britain…

          2. If Wallace was aware of stuff coming down the line that implies that our Intelligence Services remain functioning adequately. Something the Tory shower hasn’t wrecked yet?
            A question that needs answering is: how did Hamas take delivery of hundreds, maybe thousands, of ground to ground missiles and masses of other armaments without, apparently., anyone being aware of it?

        2. Ben Wallis was and remains a war-mongering moron. Shapps is even worse, as thick as two short planks bolted together and completely out of his league.

          The Russians are not war-mongering. The Americans are always seeking war along with their “satellites” in Europe. Check out Putin’s latest commentary on the issue of the conflict in Israel.

          The most shocking observation I have made is just how incompetent, arrogant and ignorant are our politicians. They have no understanding of the vital necessity of diplomacy. We should always use diplomacy to seek accommodation with our opponents.

          We do not wish war on anybody.

    2. Why would anyone be surprised at the actions of ministers forming the current Tory government? Dressed with lashings of ineptitude from the time of Cameron taking office, Shapps is just ‘more of the same’, nay probably worse, than most that came before.

  104. Tens of thousands of pro-Palestine marchers expected in London
    Police warn they will not tolerate celebrations of terrorism at protests as Rishi Sunak says there will be zero tolerance for anti-Semitism
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/13/met-police-palestine-march-no-tolerate-celebrate-terrorism

    There’s no need for me to copy the whole article but I thought this was worth quoting:

    The Metropolitan Police warned on Friday that it would not tolerate any “celebration of terrorism and death” ahead of a march in central London and more demos planned around the country, one week after Hamas terrorists mounted a surprise attack on Israel.

    Police sources told The Telegraph they were most concerned about Right-wing and nationalist groups seeking to provoke Palestine supporters.

    Oh, just FO! They’d be outnumbered 1000 to 1!

    1. Police sources told The Telegraph they were most concerned about Right-wing and nationalist groups seeking to provoke Palestine supporters….

      They just can’t help themselves can they? We have every right to counter protest against these supporters of terrorists. That doesn’t make us far right. The Palestinians are provoked just by seeing an Israeli flag. I hope mass violence breaks out and not only the Palestinian’s but the Police get a good kicking.

  105. A Mayfair restaurant manager was sacked after complaining about “mouse-bitten salami” in the kitchen of a “Gordon Ramsay”-like chef, an employment tribunal heard.

    Tayfun Hudur, the manager of Jeru, a high-end restaurant in London’s West End, said that he was ignored, bullied and shouted at by award-winning chef Roy Ner after voicing his concerns.

    Mr Hudur had complained of finding mouse droppings in the pan-Mediterranean eatery and alleged that Mr Ner left salami out even though it had been “gnawed” by mice.

    Other members of staff were also unhappy about Mr Ner’s behaviour, he claimed. A female floor manager resigned after being sworn at and the restaurant’s resident violinist quit after complaining the chef “thought he was Gordon Ramsay”, the tribunal heard.

    Mr Hudur, who was sacked from his £50,000 a year post for poor performance, took Jeru to the tribunal claiming he had been targeted for raising hygiene issues and making complaints about health and safety. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/13/mayfair-restaurant-boss-sacked-mouse-bitten-salami-protest/

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