Friday 2 May: The role of cash in a world where digital payment systems are vulnerable

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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586 thoughts on “Friday 2 May: The role of cash in a world where digital payment systems are vulnerable”

    1. Morning Johnny, I can't help but think it should have been more decisive, but for some reason people still vote Labour. Spite, I assume

        1. In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, they still believe that Labour is for the “working class “.

      2. When you meet labour voters its easy to see why they vote that way.

      1. In GE24, Jess Phillips scraped in with just over 700 votes and Wes Streeting with just over 400 votes. Both runners up were 'independent' which may help to explain why Phillips will NEVER hold an inquiry into the subcontinental mooslem rape gangs that are still operating throughout the land.

  3. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for this morning's new NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,413 5/6

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  5. Good morning, Johnny. A good day to do some washing after my three days away.

      1. Alas, I got bogged down with other jobs, so perhaps tomorrow will be my washing day..

  7. Good morning all!
    Well done Reform, but a VERY close call.
    A warm start (!!!) with nearly13°C on the Thermometer and a trip to Stoke to check up on Stepson planned.
    Also, after a Double Zero month last month, I've got £300 off ERNIE this morning.
    Sadly, the DT was still Zero.

    1. Guten Morgen, Herr BoB. Very strange; after adding the umlaut to Güten Morgen, when I changed normal script to italic it removed the umlaut.

    2. Envious of your win, Bob, but congrats. Be nice ot get something like that. Not a huge amount, just a 'it's been worth it'.

      Well, what I'm hoping for of course is a substantial one, to wipe out the mortgage and give Junior a head start, pay his tuition fees, get him a deposit for his own house.

      Back office was 23 before I opened the window.

      Reform was too close. I'd be interested in the demographics, to be honest as I assume the muslim block kept Labour's voting share stable.

      1. Bu**er all for me. Probably because I don't own any Premium Bonds. Lol.

        1. Same here 😀 mind you, MOH had premium bonds for decades and never won a penny.

  9. Starmer, Blair, Attlee, Marx, Stalin, your boys are taking an awful beating

    Watching on BBC almost makes the license fee worth it.

    Labour now knows what it is like to lose their backyard

    2. This isn't the bloody nose and smashed teeth it should have been. This is barely a slapped wrist – and a gentle tap at that.

  10. 404921+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,
    It does show me the sympathetic following
    DEI have in regards to the long 16 plus year cover-up and the 1400 /1600 children mentioned in the JAY report, on par with saying the abused children are the abusers in the strabismus eyed lab supporters.

    https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/1918169089182142625

    1. The Left have, from the outset blamed the abused because they've forced the pakistani muslim paedophile rapists on the country. If they are forced to accept that they're responsible for the mechanised rape of children they might actually feel bad, and Lefties can't accept reality, let alone guilt. They're psychotic.

      1. 404921+ up ticks,

        Morning W,

        “The left” is fully inclusive of the lab/lib/con
        coalition of course.

        1. At the moment, yes. They all have the same policies, the same ideology, the same rigid, unthinking arrogance.

          The Tories say 'net zero by 2050, Labour by 2030. None say 'abandon it', none say cut taxes, shred the state.

      1. A huge increase for Reform, but actually only 46.2% turnout overall. I think by-elections traditionally have small turnouts.

        1. I was being a little tongue in cheek…i didn’t know the turnout but if you can get elected with only 31,000 people casting a ballot, it’s pretty poor.

          When i rule the world, if i allow voting, it will require a minimum turnout of 75% and if that doesn’t happen the election is void and no one gets in.

  12. Where do Labour and the Conservatives go from here?
    They have both been following harmful anti nation state globalist policies for so long now, how do they win back voters that have seen themselves become collateral damage, lives, culture and living standards sacrificed to the ideology.
    Interesting times ahead.

    1. Labour voters do so reflexively, unthinkingly so those are guaranteed. Labour are also importing their voting block by the hundreds of thousands a day and, through a combination of bribery, two tier justice and sheer desperation will no doubt make sure the criminal gimmigrant can vote. That's why they're packing the in the north.

      Tory voters are fed up because their traditional party isn't offering them, well, conservative or Conservative policies. These people often won't vote Reform out of ideology.

      Given a chance to properly erase the Labour terror the recent elections didn't. That shows the degree the voting system has been gerrymandered and rigged to Labour's benefit as well as the apathy (because it doesn't change anything) and stupidity (want my bennies) of the voter.

      1. As I said to my young neighbour yesterday, if voting changed anything it would be illegal.

    2. 404921+ up ticks,

      Morning B3,

      Seeking mass survival, decency and the return of self respect, the lab/lib/con coalition party
      and addicted tribal voters
      go to the wall of eradication ASAP.

  13. 404921+ up ticks,

    Eggs in one basket gather no moss, true old saying,we would be well advised to apply the eggs in one basket to the reform party because one of leaders has a tendency to go " walkabout," build on other options as in, the FF&F party as a patriotic safeguarding for when the, expected by many event, takes place.

    https://x.com/benhabib6/status/1918176430183334360

    1. With every boat load of criminal gimmigrants – pretty much a metaphor for Labour and their voters – the country is further and further pushed away from being a democracy.

      I do not see why the state dependent should have a vote. No, that doesn't count pensioners as that is an accrual of paid monies returned. However on that same note why does someone who's lived a life on benefits get a state pension at all? Why do we let people drift through life, never working, never contributing have something for nothing that others who do work cannot afford?

      Some people cannot care for themselves. Those we should help. However there are far, far too many people treating benefits as a lifestyle choice 'someone else can pay'. attitude is far too prevalent and I am sick and tired of having £2000 stolen from me directly and another £600 indirectly to pay for them.

      It is long past time to revoke universal franchise.

      1. Emily Pankhurst would agree with you. She and her fellow(?) Suffragettes were arguing for votes for women who ran businesses, i.e., paid taxes but had no representation. Universal franchise was a knock on from the push for such representation. Returning to such a scheme would wipe out the subcontinental bloc votes at a stroke.

  15. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/05/02/local-elections-live-runcorn-byelection-reform-labour-tory/

    Farage needn't crow. He had an open goal and missed. They're not campaigning on policies, they're pushing on Farage. Rupert Lowe is right. They're not offering anything.

    Further down the page: "Labour: Voters clearly expect us to move faster"

    No, voters want you to bugger off and stop destroying the country. You want to move faster in changing this country into a sewer full of brown effluent, overrun, polluted, crippled, impoverished. The majority want you burned at the stake.

    1. Nope. I believe he has every right to gloat.
      Without him Reform would be amongst this lot.. Oh look isn't that Rod Liddle's party with 68 votes?

      Independent Michael Williams 363
      Independent Alan McKie 269
      Workers Party Peter Ford 164
      Rejoin EU John Stevens 129
      Monster Raving Loony Howling Laud Hope 128
      English Democrat Catherine Blaiklock 95
      SDP Paul Andrew Murphy 68
      Volt Jason Philip Hughes 54
      English Constitution Party Graham Harry Moore 50

      1. Why then, wasn't he winning by a clear margin of some hundred, thousand plus votes? Why were Labour not utterly erased? Why is the majority so miniscule and, no doubt at the next general to be wiped out?

        1. I imagine there are still a few die-hard Left Wing loyalists in Merseyside, hoping that Starmer's authoritarian zombie-Blair of the Right, acceptable mainly to the mainstream influencers, is temporary, and that soon a real Labour Party will emerge. How could such folk consider voting for Farage and his brand of charismatic neo-Thatcherism?

          1. I'd suggest Reform are closer to their mindset than labour would ever be, but hey ho. Lefties gonna Left.

        2. Because the average working man (and woman Reg) of Britain knows that:

          Net Zero is the future.
          The rape gang victims deserved it and should keep their gobs shut.
          Marxism will work this time.
          There's plenty of room for the dinghy men.. and their families eventually.
          Low IQ violent Muslim men are the way forward.
          Who needs farms anyway, they are boring.
          and if Reform get in, they will cancel elections.

          1. The burden of the anti Reform song appeared to be if Reform won the NHS would be killed off.

  16. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/04/28/labour-mps-sign-pledge-against-supreme-court-trans-ruling/

    Actually, Labour wasters, it does provide clarity. Clarity that wasn't needed. A man in a dress is a man. Always was, always will be. They must not be allowed to invade women's spaces. As always, you're pathetic vote grubbing from your Left wing cess pool is irrelevant. For some reason Lefties keep fighting reality and common sense. It must be their mindset of doublethink and hypocrisy.

    1. Strange how the normal slavish adherence to court decisions (eg the ECHR) goes out of the window when it comes to "woke" issues.

  17. I think people are simply fed up with being called racists for believing otherwise and seeing political enemies of the Left jailed are keeping quiet.

    It's just another 'great leap forward'.

  18. Morning all 🙂😊
    Lovely start again nature taking its course.

    My local election results are not available at the moment??
    Our plan is working insists labour. The plan of wrecking our country and its culture and social structure now including the economy and anything else they can get their filthy hands on.

    1. "My local election results are not available at the moment??"

      Results later today, as is usual with council elections.

    1. Professor Sowell is a genius. He also has colour armour so Lefties find it difficult to have a go at him. He also dismantles them without effort in seconds.

    2. He is Absolutely spot on, Imho of course. The majority of our political classes are a classic example.

    3. Shame he's a 94-year old American. Just think what a superb British PM he would have made.

  20. Here's a question. If Russia really wanted to invade Ukraine, why hasn't it established air superiority? Why is Zelensky flying all over the place? Why haven't the comms been jammed to prevent news getting out?

    It just doesn't make sense. Ukraine wants it's Northern Ireland. Fine. However that NI asked a much bigger brother to stick up for it.

    The whole conflict seems to be an attempt to force one area to be something it's not to suit the area that doesn't really want it in the first place.

      1. I’m convinced that’s why Biden went to war – to cover up his and his son’s corruption

  21. Little known fact: There are 12,639 deaf and/or blind people registered in Runcorn and Helsby.

    1. You do have to wonder just how awful Labour needs to be, don’t you???

  23. "It's very clear that people are turning to politics which is sometimes more stridently representing some of the concerns they have."

    An unattributed quote during the headlines on R4's Today. Probably a Labour johhny but it might have been Nigel Huddleston, a Tory MP who was on later and was scathing about Reform in a manner that could be descibed as, well, strident. "Reform is just a protest movement. We're the party with experience," he said. It's not often I cheer Justin Webb when he interrupts a guest.

    1. Pity that party with experience doesn't listen or take appropriate action.

    3. Aren't they supposed to learn from that, or is it just having it that matters?

  24. 404921+ up ticks,

    W,
    So in point of fact a very fifth columnist type of party, as in the lab/lib/con anti brit party has found support with these Isles these past three decades plus, and is still finding it.

  25. Morning, all Y'all.
    Sun & windy, not too cold, but enough wind to make low moaning noises – just like a Nottler!
    Moved a sack of unwanted workshop fluids, got some citrus cleaner on my shirt – jayzuz, what a pong of sweet citrus! Yukk!

    1. Ain't got no distractions, can't hear no buzzes and bells
      Don't see no lights a-flashing, plays by sense of smell
      Always gets the replay, never seen him fall…

      1. I'm all for Yorkshire Independence (but only as it used to be). These four would be among the first to be expelled.

          1. Well, yes, North Sea is bigger than it used to be, there’s land in that there sea, complete with ploughs etc discarded when the sea started encroaching…as for a Yorkshire person such as myself…I keep a bit of a gulf around me, too….😄

  30. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/jobs/american-flocking-britain-even-half-the-pay/

    It all comes down to tax. In the UK, a social democracy we are heavily taxed – it's not 37 – that's direct, it's closer to 68% as we pay the taxes of every company throughout the chain.

    Lower taxes – and regulation in the same vein – make for a more flexible economic system, one driven by markets. That makes goods cheaper. We also pay high import and export taxes – mostly to protect the failed protectionist EU tariff walls that Lefties like to ignore.

    However, those taxes are then pushed back out as subsidy – some goes to farmers for cheaper food, but then farmers are equally heavily regulated (another tax) and their materials expensive (tax), so the subsidy doesn't outweigh the taxes levied so more is levied and subsidised. It's the same with energy. Gas is heavily taxed to make it more expensive than it is, which is then given to unreliables to make them look less expensive than they are.

    It's a market manipulation enforced by the state requiring ever more money to prop up. The state is literally jamming an ever bigger iron bar in the cogs of free markets and when it shatters and the machine runs free – boom and bust – big government's response isn't to bugger off and get out of the way, it's to get an ever bigger rod to cause ever more problems until those problems become systemic (the metaphorical cogs wear down, the engine breaks) and markets are not able to recover in time before collapse.

    This is why socialism always fails. It's why our economy is failing. The solution is simple. The problem is getting re-elected afterward. As Prof. Sowell said – the problem isn't the solution. It's political and statist malice.

    1. We need a modern day Thatcher, wibbling. No-one in sight, far as I can see.

      1. Truss was the nearest and look what happened to her…

        1. The state did her in. They saw what impact her policies would have, and their grand plan collapsing and set about destroying her, then spreading the lie about the budget.

          Every single thing is worse under Labour now, but no mention of that anywhere.

        2. Yes, Thatcher had some powerful men onside..Whitelaw, Chingford Skinhead for two..something Truss lacked. Plus I don’t think Truss had MT’s killer instinct and conviction.

    2. Think it's on Daily Sceptic too. Whatever happened to my Yorkshire…answers on a postcard…

  32. Morning everyone. I am whiling away the unforgiving minute waiting for my neighbour to come so we can walk our dogs together. Lovely day and not yet too hot.
    We must not give up cash. If we do, they will have us by the short and curlies.

    1. Reason given is money laundering, as if crims haven't figured out digital theft.

      1. Well I think it will be more like hobbled than run, but that’s the idea.

    3. The recent power cut on the Iberian Peninsula should have opened a few eyes about the perils of relying on digital currency. Perhaps we'll have to wait for Milliband Minor's NettZero antics to cause the inevitable power cuts here before the general population wake up.

  34. Man died after drinking shots of ‘moonshine’.

    A man died after “competitively” downing shots of 97 per cent moonshine smuggled from abroad, an inquest heard. Karl Edgeller, 57, shared the highly flammable ethanol at a friend’s home in the village of Weeting, Norfolk.

    The liquid, close to pure alcohol and intended to be used in hand sanitiser, had been purchased by his friend, Paul Johnson, with whom he was drinking.

    An inquest into the 57-year-old’s death heard that Mr Johnson had bought the alcohol from a work colleague who had smuggled it into the country from Estonia labelled as anti-freeze. Jacqueline Lake, senior coroner for Norfolk, concluded his death was misadventure.

    Clearly the Darwin Effect was working to its full advantage with these two Norfolk halfwits: probably local inbreds! This was not a "moonshine", it was never meant to be imbibed.

    I have a quantity of an even higher alcohol content (99%) isopropyl alcohol in my workshop/studio. I use it for specialist cleaning and art purposes. Drinking it — even a minuscule amount as a sample — would never occur to me. The Americans call this substance rubbing alcohol since it has certain surgical/physiotherapy applications.

    1. Likely already alkies, Grizzly, unaware of what they were drinking as long as they got their high. Good morning, btw 🙂

    2. There were reports of people drinking "sanitiser" during the plague. Recorded as "Covid death".

      1. If it had happened in the Socialist Republic of Nippystan, Holyrood would have added it to their list of drinks suffering 'minimum unit pricing' that has worked so well.

      2. I know Weeting very well. Weeting Heath is one of the few locations in the UK to hold a small annual breeding population of the Stone-Curlew Burhinus oedicnemus.

    3. Irish folk i know bring moonshine from their homeland in lemonade bottles.

      1. Poteen: "Roughly the same after-effects as a mugging. Like being hit behind the knees with a sledgehammer!" [A.A.Gill]

        1. Had some of that years ago when visiting the highlands – your legs are controlled by another being

        2. My father brought some Poteen home once. It was awful. It soon became sink cleaner.

  35. Morning FA

    Dare I say, another bad night, I wake up at about 4am with incredible pain in rt under my ribs, and thumping head , feeling disorientated .. Have taken some old tramadol I had lurking at the back of a drawer plus prescription antiacids ..

    My good news is .. The Ad Blue delete chap did his thing , took 2 hours ..

    It seems that many bods with modern diesels are seeing warnings come up on their dashboards , not just an engine articulate thing .. My on screen warnings were graphic and told me that in so many miles the computerise gizmo would cancel my engine out after so many miles ..

    Did you know that the AD blue stuff is pigs urine .. that is why it crystallises .

    2. Hope you're feeling better now, Pigs urine? I've heard of taking the piss but……

    3. Your pain under the ribs sounds like a gall bladder problem – I had something like that some years ago (2016) – my then doctor came out to see me twice – but it cleared up and hasn't recurred.

      Good news your car is sorted and you won't have that problem again.

      It started off very cloudy here but is bright and sunny now…… more plants to get sorted and planted up. Shopping day too. Washing is on.

      1. There's a wealth of information on here regarding health. My Dad (86) has been suffering on his daily stroll, due to a touch of rheumatoid arthritis in his left knee and hip. I mentioned that one of my golfing buddies had a dodgy knee but was able to discard his knee support after taking turmeric. So my dad has been on turmeric for a short while and it has eased the pain. But it was the mention of pineapple juice (either on here or GP) that has provided a real boost to relieving his joint pain. His strolls continue…

        1. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory.

          What annoys me greatly is Doctors won't even suggest you take it.

          They will prescribe a big pharma approved drug.

          1. Isn't it a question of scale? 200mg of brufen will have more effect than 200 of tumeric.

          2. Some people can't take NSAIDS.

            You can take turmeric every day without nasty side effects.

          3. Ibuprofen – in fact all the 'fens' – can raise the blood pressure.

          4. I'm starting to understand better how that works. In the US, aspirin isn't favoured if something still in copyright can be found. Aspirin was used by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. The synthesised version is very cheap and if it weren't, there's always ye olde willow bark. Digoxin is out of favour in the US and the excuse they give is that it's too difficult to get the dose right and the benefits don't warrant the problem. But it wasn't difficult for my cardiologist to get the dose right and it helps. Again, it's a centuries old remedy derived from plants – foxgloves in this case – and it gets its name from being toxic in large doses.

          5. Any NSAID will ease the problem – including aspirin and ibuprofen. My doc has me on a low dose (and cheap) Meloxicam for a knee that does not approve of going up and down stairs.

        2. Turmeric does nothing for me . Will try pineapple juice to see if that helps.

          2. I take it in capsule form.
            To test the psychosomatic element, I stopped it for a month.
            That certainly proved the effects were not all in the mind.

          3. AI answer…Yes, turmeric works when cooked, and in fact, cooking it can enhance its bioavailability and absorption of curcumin. While some studies suggest curcuminoids can degrade with high heat, short-duration cooking can actually increase curcumin absorption. Adding black pepper when cooking also helps improve curcumin absorption.

            Indians seem to put it in most of their curries.

            Me, Dolly and Harry share the same supplement. The pill bottle has a picture of a dog on it but the ingredients are the same as for humans.

    4. Pig's urine, sounds like detritus from a Labour Party do at 10 Downing Street.

      1. Yo Richard

        May I fiddle

        Pig's urine, sounds like detritus from a the Labour Party do at 10 Downing Street.

      2. Yo Richard

        May I fiddle

        Pig's urine, sounds like detritus from a the Labour Party do at 10 Downing Street.

      3. Yo Richard

        May I fiddle

        Pig's urine, sounds like detritus from a the Labour Party do at 10 Downing Street.

    5. Urea was the first organic chemical to be synthesised, nearly 200 years ago, and the stuff used in AdBlue is the synthetic form. Much easier than taking the piss out of pigs!

  39. Same here, but we were woken at 0430 hrs by the biggest (and loudest) thunderstorm for years. I'm so happy that I got all my mowing and strimming completed yesterday.

          3. What 'pilot'?

            Dr Kelly was found in woodland (under suspicious circumstances) with a slashed artery in his wrist.

          5. You need to enlighten me a lot more than your short little soundbites. The only reference to a 'helicopter' in online accounts of his life, career and death refer to one equipped with thermal imaging that was brought in to search for him (unsuccessfully) after he died.

          6. This is the post i was responding to at the top of the thread… https://x.com/FlyaEther33/status/1917628724083843369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1917628724083843369%7Ctwgr%5E9baec716b57e16b8bc7417bf3aac17edb010f1e9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefaultf%3Dnottlt_i%3D488020https3A2F2Fnttl.blog2F3Fp3D4880t_u%3Dhttps3A2F2Fnttl.blog2Ffriday-2-may-the-role-of-cash-in-a-world-where-digital-payment-systems-are-vulnerable2Ft_e%3DFriday20220May3A20The20role20of20cash20in20a20world20where20digital20payment20systems20are20vulnerablet_d%3DFriday20220May3A20The20role20of20cash20in20a20world20where20digital20payment20systems20are20vulnerablet_t%3DFriday20220May3A20The20role20of20cash20in20a20world20where20digital20payment20systems20are20vulnerables_o%3Ddefaultversion%3D768d0663f9710c87319dbe6109f0eb99 No mention Of David Kelly.

            What are you reading?

          7. That 'X' clip was hidden to me (it seems I am blocked by the original poster). All I saw was your initial, "Question. Why would she kill herself?" Without any other clues available I thought you were discussing the topical "suicide" of Victoria Giuffre.

            Since no one (with functioning neurones) believes that Giuffre really topped herself, I brought up the similar scenario of Dr David Kelly.

            Does that make more sense?

          8. It does now.

            Why are you blocking people? Put your big boy pants on and deal with them.

          10. All the Mods have known for months that I am being blocked by Lewis Duckworth but, despite me asking frequently, not one of you has asked him why?

          12. I don’t give a monkey’s about what anyone thinks, but blocking someone without giving a reason is the act of a coward.

          13. I was just joshing you.

            Disqus does have faults. I am also blocked from rob.

            Perhaps there is a higher order interfering.

          14. I've just asked him on the thread up above (if you read from newest first).

  41. We could do with some rain overnight here – none since one night last week after several dry weeks and none forecast according to google weather on my phone.

    1. This was our first real rain since early February. Despite last night's half-hour downpour the ground has soaked up all the water and it all looks the same as it did yesterday.

      1. It did get soaked up quickly but at least was enough to fill two of the water butts. I've been able to use that when watering my young plants in.

  42. Very cloudy sun here today, we may avoid thunderstorms if lucky. I quite like them, leccy goes off but have a generator. You’re a mower and a strimmerer…I quite like the grass/wildflowers look :-)….thunderstorm in politics UK too, results just coming in.

  43. Yo and Good Moaning to you all, from a sunny, but chilly C d S

    Re Muslim Association of Britain

    Free speech is vital in a democracy, but so is the right of individuals and organisations to respond to damaging claims. The role of a free press is not just to report, but to report fairly.

    Then why are not the photographs of criminals/suspects shown in the media if they are not of white lineage?

  44. From the Telegraph

    I visited Patagonia… where Welsh culture is alive and well
    With tea houses, chapels and Eisteddfods, the Argentine province of Chubut is a peculiar gem – and well worth a visit
    Alastair Smart02 May 2025 6:00am BST
    ​​It was a Sunday evening in Moriah Chapel, and the congregation were belting out the words to the famous hymn, Calon Lân. Once their song was sung, a hush settled and the minister began to share his thoughts – in Welsh – on a passage from the Book of Jeremiah. At the same time, a few of the locals shuffled into the vestry to start making tea for the post-service refreshments.

    One might easily mistake this setting for a chapel in Caerphilly or Ceredigion. However, a sign above the doors in Spanish saying salida (exit) suggests otherwise. That’s because this isn’t Wales, but Argentina. To be precise, the town of Trelew in Chubut province, which occupies a chunk of northern Patagonia.

    In these parts, this year marks the 160th anniversary of the arrival of the Mimosa, a converted tea-clipper carrying 150 Welsh men, women and children. They had set sail intent on starting a new life in the new world, and on founding what they called “a little Wales beyond Wales”.

    They felt that national identity was being eroded back home, due to fast-growing English interest in Welsh coal mines.

    “These people travelled half way around the globe, without a clue what awaited them, and in many ways it was their sense of patriotism that drove them on through the dark times,” says Milton Rhys, an Argentinian citizen whose great-grandfather (from Port Talbot) was one of the early settlers.

    I met and chatted to him after the service at Moriah, one of the biggest of this province’s 30-plus Welsh chapels. The dark times to which Rhys refers came in the years immediately after the Mimosa crossed the Atlantic and landed at Puerto Madryn on 28 July 1865.

    Now a small city, back then Puerto Madryn was just a bay, and visitors to it today barely believe their eyes when they see the grotto-like openings in the cliffs, where the immigrants spent their first nights. Built above those cliffs and offering a fine view of the sea, the Museum of Disembarkation tells the story of the Welsh arrival. It is modestly sized, but still contains several objects of interest, such as a doll and a bassinet made by women on board the Mimosa for the first Welsh child to be born in Patagonia.

    The settlers soon moved westwards – ie. inland. The region was as empty as they had expected. However, it boasted none of the lush green terrain one associates with Wales. This was a hard and dry place of wide-open expanses, and one which Argentina’s government, based 1,000 miles north in Buenos Aires, had little interest in – a view still held in the following century when the writer, Jorge Luis Borges, asserted “there is nothing in Patagonia”.

    The local area’s only inhabitants were the indigenous Tehuelche, nomadic people whose lessons in hunting beasts such as the guanaco (a type of llama) proved invaluable. Eventually, the Welsh settled in the lower valley of the River Chubut: a semi-hospitable zone, around 50 miles long, where they set up farms.

    The key moment came, though, when one of the settlers – reportedly a woman called Rachel Jenkins – had the idea of irrigating the valley through a system of canals using waters from the river. “From then on, things really took off,” Rhys told me, with a glint in his eye.

    Wheat, in particular, began to be grown successfully, and was exported far and wide. Waves of further Welsh settlers duly arrived, and towns such as Trelew, Gaiman and Dolavon were founded.

    It’s here that the Welsh influence is most keenly felt today: each town full of bilingual road signs and flags with red dragons on. And that’s not to mention the tea houses, of which Gaiman alone has five. I tried Ty Gwyn, just off the town square.

    After admiring the Welsh dressers, containing items ranging from rugby balls to toy sheep, I politely asked for a menu – only to be ignored by the waitress. She soon placed on my table her whole trolley’s worth of homemade cakes, tarts, sponges and breads, including the biggest slice of bara brith (traditional Welsh tea bread) I’ve ever seen. “No menu here,” she said, pouring tea into my cup from a bulbous pot covered with a knitted cosy.

    Each customer gets served all the above for a flat fee of around £20. Interestingly, the waitress spoke to me in English: a sign of the rise in international tourism in Chubut province in recent years, owing chiefly to its coastal wildlife. Spotting southern right whales is especially popular.

    By the end of the 19th century, the Welsh had built a railway linking the towns of the lower Chubut valley with Puerto Madryn (newly established as a port). The railway is nowadays defunct, but the erstwhile station in Gaiman serves as the Regional Historical Museum. One can browse old copies of local Welsh-language newspapers and look at photographs of early settlers – the likes of Benjamin Brunt, who won the Best Wheat prize at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

    The settlers also went on to occupy a part of Chubut hundreds of miles west, by the Andes. However, Welsh immigration fell away after the outbreak of the First World War, and the 20th century saw an influx of Argentinian, Spanish and Italian people.i

    Today, only around 10 per cent of Chubut province’s 600,000 population have Welsh origins. Yet the Celtic influence remains strong, in part thanks to an initiative launched by the Welsh government in 1997 (and administered by the British Council) which funds the teaching of Welsh at schools and adult learning centres across the province.

    As for Rhys, he’s a retired choirmaster who volunteers at Asociación San David, a centre in Trelew aimed at promoting all things Welsh. Every October, it hosts an eisteddfod.

    “You won’t see any people walking down the street with leeks,” he said. “But here, Welsh culture here is still very much alive.”

    Essentials
    Alastair was a guest of Journey Latin America (020 3553 9647), which offers an 11-day holiday to Argentina combining Buenos Aires with Gaiman and Puerto Madryn, from £5,574 per person, including international flights, transfers, excursions and good-quality hotels on a B&B basis.

    Numerous airlines operate indirect flights between London and Buenos Aires. Aerolineas Argentinas flies 28 times a week between Buenos Aires and Trelew – each flight takes two hours.

    Posada Los Mimbres, a converted farmhouse just outside Gaiman, offers a comfortable and well-located base from which to explore the surrounding area. Doubles from £68 per night.

    2. Always wanted to get there after having read the Richard Llewellyn trilogy starting with How Green Was My Valley where they all disappear off there. Unfortunately despite my many trips to Argentina, i’ve never managed it.

    3. Fun fact:
      In the 1982 Falklands War, a Welsh paratrooper encountered a detained Argentine soldier who spoke Welsh.
      Also, during the seaborne repatriation of Argentine troops, British Merchant Navy seamen and Welsh Guardsmen also encountered a Welsh-speaking Argentine soldier. The detained troops were disembarked at Puerto Madryn.

    4. one which Argentina’s government, based 1,000 miles north in Buenos Aires, had little interest in..

      However, in 1879 they moved in quick..
      The Conquest of the Desert was the military’s campaign to annex, “civilize” and occupy Patagonia in Southern Argentina. The military executed or relocated the Indigenous Mapuche people to concentration camps, cities or settlements where they were baptized, renamed and educated to assimilate into colonial Argentinian society.

    5. one which Argentina’s government, based 1,000 miles north in Buenos Aires, had little interest in..

      However, in 1879 they moved in quick..
      The Conquest of the Desert was the military’s campaign to annex, “civilize” and occupy Patagonia in Southern Argentina. The military executed or relocated the Indigenous Mapuche people to concentration camps, cities or settlements where they were baptized, renamed and educated to assimilate into colonial Argentinian society.

    6. Sounds very tempting, but surprised they don't serve mate as well as tea after the chapel services.

      1. I was amazed by the numbers in the air. The pilots were very clever, going off with easterly wind and then ascending into westerly winds at about 4500ft to reposition and land us close to the starting point.

        1. Fantastic.
          I’ve done one balloon (birthday present) trip it was quite a wonderful experience.

    1. I think CBDC made progress thanks to Sunak's approach. Starmer likely a supporter.

        2. Me too, Grizzly. I thought it perhaps meant Clever Blackbirds Don't Crow.

  47. OT – serious gardening question:

    Have any of you planted out in the open climbing beans? I have a quantity of greenhouse grown plants that need to go out but the lower temperatures and strong wind are putting me off. The variety is "Cobra" and it is said to be hardy so long as there is no frost.

    Last year we planted out too soon and lost the whole crop I had to re-sow.

    1. Been there done that. Im keeping mine in pots till mid May and will then look at the forecast for the rest of the month. I expect extreme temperatures, drought and wild fires… With a chance of frost

    2. Over the past two years, we sowed the Cobra climbing French beans you so kindly sent us in mid-May (we are generally around a month behind the UK weatherwise). Since they are quick to germinate and grow we planted them out between the end of May and mid-June. The crops in both years were highly successful and the yield was superb.

    3. I would think it's warm enough now to not worry, so long as you keep them watered.

      1. I'm not chancing it. We have had frosts in May before. All my plants are waiting in the conservatory. Safe.

  48. British Woman is the world's oldest person at 115.
    Can anyone here beat that 🤔😆😅

  50. Thanks. Mine are now two feet high….that's the problem with keeping them in pots…

  51. Apparently the good people of Runcorn weren't gasping for more:

    free housing for hairy arsed fighting aged migrants..
    DEI CRT BLM & ESG..
    paedo rape gangs..
    Islam..
    solar farms

  52. Cardinal faces conclave ban … because he doesn’t know his age.

    AN AFRICAN cardinal could be barred from electing a new pope because it is not clear when he was born.

    There is confusion over whether Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo was born on Jan 24 1945, which would make him 80 years old, or on Dec 31 of that year, which would make him 79. The difference is crucial because only cardinals who are aged under 80 are allowed to vote in the secretive conclave, which starts on Wednesday.

    If the cardinal took part and it was later discovered he was too old to participate, it could render the result void. Regarded as a conservative, the cardinal’s vote could be important for traditionalist factions that want to roll back Pope Francis’s more inclusive stance on issues such as blessing single sex unions and showing tolerance towards gay people within the Catholic Church.

    In last year’s Vatican yearbook, the cardinal’s date of birth is listed as Jan 24 1945, meaning that he is now over 80. On that day, the Catholic cathedral in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso where he is from, reportedly wrote him a birthday message on its Facebook page.
    But in this year’s edition, it is registered as Dec 31 1945, which would mean that he is only 79 and eligible to take part in the conclave.
    The cardinal has “found the secret to stopping time”, one Italian newspaper joked. Another ran the headline: “The strange case of the cardinal who has become a year younger so that he can enter the conclave.”

    The cardinal says the confusion over his date of birth is because of the circumstances of his upbringing.“In my village, there were neither hospitals nor schools. I was born at home and was not given a birthdate,” he said recently. He explained that Jan 25 was chosen at random, for bureaucratic reasons, when he entered his seminary – a training institution for priests.

    He added that Burkina Faso’s national register office later assigned him the date of Dec 31, a common practice for people in the West African country whose exact birthdates are not known.

    This is really beyond belief and it asks more questions than it answers. For a start, how does an individual (regardless of race) get elected to Cardinal rank without ever knowing how old he is?

    If, by some strange quirk of fate and protocol, he was elected to become "God's representative on earth", surely his boss could tell him his age and date of birth, one would think!

    He is from Burkina Faso, a desolate little shithole of a country where more than 76% of its female population have had their clitorises hacked off!
    https://equalitynow.org/fgm_in_burkina_faso/ I wonder how up-to-speed the Burkina Fasonians are on kiddie-fiddling?

    Oh, what a circus.

  53. I really can't believe that working class people have abandoned their beloved Labour Party, what with all the benefits a Labour Government gave them.

    – Solar and wind farms all over the countryside
    – Net zero agendas saving the planet.
    – Millions of new arrivals putting them at the bottom of the pile for jobs, housing, benefits and access to public services.
    – Potential blackouts.
    – Unaffordable heating and food
    – 15 minute neighbourhoods and C40 cities.
    – High taxation.
    – Loss of freedom of speech
    – Rejoining the EU
    – No industrial jobs
    – Rape gangs in every town
    – Huge rises in crime
    – Two tier justice

    All that will be gone under a Reform government and then they will rue the day they gave that all up.

    I guess that some people just do not know when they are well off.

    2. Lincolnshire. Very flat. Excellent agricultural land.

      Labour announce they are going to install massive solar farms and they all look surprised when no one votes for them.

        1. Ours has had catastrophic pruning a couple of times after heavy storm damage – the last time was in February '22, when one of the named storms brought down the pergola and the wisteria was seriously damaged again; but it recovers each time by putting up new shoots from the base. The original hefty trunk is now almost gone but it regenerates from root level. The only normal pruning necessary is shortening the long shoots after it's finished flowering. I'll take a photo when I go back out.

          1. They probably vary in hardiness according to the variety. Ours has been here over 30 years – it was just a whip when we bought the house and our predecessors had garden designers in not long before putting the house up for sale. It seems to be very hardy.

        4. It may just be "resting" before recovering.

          We cut all three hard back in January – and they are all flourishing. The blue is almost over; the white has masses of flowers which are taking their time to open.

          We have a "Mile-a-minute" climbing rose which took over the west end of the house, and was an absolute bugger to prune as it fought back with its half-inch thorns. Last September, I cut the whole thing down to an 18 inch stump. It is producing massive growth……

        5. My husband killed ours a few years ago by pruning at the wrong time. Was (am) v. cross. It used to routinely flower around 26th April but i noticed a lot in London flowering much earlier this year.

          1. Next door's wisteria was cut down to almost ground level when they had new windows put in five or six years ago – I noticed the other day it has certainly sprung back into life and is travelling skywards; it hasn't yet made its way across the front of the house yet. Patience is the key, it may well take a year or so.

  57. We had a flying and unannounced visit from my elder son this morning! He was on his way to get a cannon up and running for a Sealed Knot display at an event at Charlton Park this weekend. He had a cup of tea and a chat and was then on his way.
    While he was here he had a phone call from the police about renewing his shotgun licence (for a musket) as he'd sent them the same photo as last time….. I don't think he's changed much except the beard has got longer.

    1. Keeps the police employed, I suppose.

      We don't need licenses here unless you want to own a fully automatic weapon of some sort.

      There was an episode of The Sopranos, where Carmela, Tony's wife, hears noises in the garden, so opens up a kitchen cabinet, grabs the AK-47 stored there, and heads outside. The AK is automatic, but since they were a mob family, one more "crime" was nothing much to worry about…

      1. Did she fire it into the darkness and hit someone?

        I doubt if my son's musket would do too much damage, but I suppose they were lethal weapons in their day. The Sealed Knot, in case you didn't know is a Civil War reenactment society – my son joined them when he was first a student (1987) and has been a member ever since.

        1. We have seen them "performing" in Colchester.
          We had an impressive siege here in 1648.
          I can never decide whether the "deaths and injuries" are choreographed or if the participants ad lib.
          I assume the cavalry Sealed Knotters use their own horses.

          1. I think they do, yes. My son had a girlfriend some years ago who was one of the mounted ones.

    1. “Thunberg told the Times of Malta that 'too many people are being deliberately starved in Gaza by Israel'”.

      Wonder what the right number is!

      1. If there are "too many being starved", my Goldilocks follow-up question is: what is the correct number?

        PS Whoops, just noticed VW covered this point.

        1. Lewis – why have you blocked Grizzly? I know it's your decision, but it's come up in the conversation below.

          1. Gosh, how.did this emerge? Grizzly is te only NoTTler I’ve ever blocked.

          2. He couldn’t see the top half of the X post earlier on. He knew you’d blocked him some time ago.
            Said he’d asked the mods to ask why but I either didn’t see that or had forgotten.
            Do you have a particular dislike that you’ve blocked him? We’re mostly friendly here.

      2. However many are starving there would be fewer if Hamas didn't steal all the supplies that are getting through.

      3. The mystery is that the population of Gaza is steadily increasing. Allowing for the nine month gestation period, it isn't feasible that they're breeding faster than they're being starved by Jenocidal Joos.

  59. The other day, I think I read of a rumour that the life-jackets of the illegals were being returned to France. So I thought, "What's happened to the boats?"

    If 10,000 illegals have arrived here in the last four months, then at, say, fifty per boat, that would be 200 boats. Where are they? Why is no-one asking? What about all the previous boats?

    If they are being returned to France for re-use – as I suspect – then the Governments are actively conspiring with the "gangs".

    Anyone know anything?

    1. A long time ago – I recall a news report on telly (possibly BBC or maybe not) that showed a large warehouse where they were being stored after use. What they did with them after that wasn't shown.

      1. I did read not so long ago that they were being returned to France for further use 😳

    2. The “we will smash the traffickers” mantra spouted by HMG is a gigantic lie. The supply of these boats must be well known, they’re all the same, and also the life jackets. I can only deduce HMG are colluding in ferrying these boat people to the U.K. French must be rubbing their hands with glee. Not only are they getting rid of these people but we are paying them to send them here.

      I suppose that’s where the Chagos island ruse comes from!

      1. The Chagos ruse is founded on the lie that the people of the UK are responsible collectively for the ill treatment of the Chagossians decades ago. The same lie is propounded by idiots such as Lammy in respect of compensation to the West Indians for the slave trade.

        To be clear Nuremberg established that there is only personal responsibility and no such thing as collective responsibility. We cannot be held responsible for the actions of predecessors or anyone else for that matter. We bear responsibility only for our own personal actions.

    3. Knowing how daft and utterly corrupt our governments have been they probably send them back to France.
      I’m afraid nothing would surprise me anymore.

    4. There'll be a procurement office in Whitehall. Google AI Overview has just confirmed for me that, "Yes, the UK government does use SAP software". (Formerly Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing – officially abbreviated to SAP.) So hack the system and there'll almost certainly be SAP Purchase Orders for the boats, lifejackets, mobile phones etc…

  60. The British blue zone.

    [DT Editorial.]

    Are fish and chips, steak and kidney pie and roast leg of lamb the secret recipe for a long life? The world’s oldest living person, Ethel Caterham, appropriately enough calls Surrey her home. The 115-year old, born in the reign of Edward VII, has taken over this illustrious mantle on the death of Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas. Tomes on “blue zones” – regions noted for the longevity of their residents – have in recent years become a mainstay of publishers’ lists.

    These cook books and lifestyle guides extol the virtues of local wholefood diets and vigorous exercise. Nuts and pulses feature heavily. But might they be on the wrong track? With Mrs Caterham now holding the record, it is perhaps stodgy, traditional British fare that is in fact the elixir. How long will publishers have us waiting for The Blue-zone Secret: Shepherd's Pie.

    1. She was born a few days before my mother – who died at 80 – and so she lived on the traditional British diet and through two world wars. I doubt if she succumbed to faddy foods.

      1. I agree Mr Effort. I don't think I'd like the flavour of shepherd.
        Whether in a pie or not!

    3. We’ve just had our second day of the carbonnade of beef I made yesterday. Beautifully tender beef cooked for 4 hours at 130C . Also included small potatoes, carrot and parsnip among other things.

      1. I find curry/stew/casserole improve by being left for 24 hours after cooking.

        1. A good, large, home-made pan of chilli improves each time you heat what is left over.

          Nine-day chilli is a much sought-after dish in tex-mex cuisine.

    4. Did i mention husband was Cornish Pastying last week? Not bad, but he used the wrong beef (i should also mention he chef’d his way through college). My lad is coming back from Cardiff to pick up the computer Amazon are providing him with for his internship, which starts next week (nb term hasn’t finished and he still has exams)*. He has promised me 30 whole minutes of his time before he move on again, probably to Winchester, but who really knows? So i went to the butcher and bought him a nice steak and some bavette (beef skirt) for the Big Pasty-Off: who can make the best Cornish Pasty? Well, we have half a swede in the fridge which needs eating up, so you know it makes sense.

      *you have prob. noticed I am hugely proud of both children. Lad spent a lot of time last year applying for internships and was rejected from a lot (for being an English lad). I don’t think he realised how difficult it was to get his Amazon internship; he said at the time they take hundreds and no one wants to work in Swansea. But he now realises they only take one or two, and the applications are world-wide. He is so modest. He never mentions his footballing (Chelsea academy), his captainship (u18 Surrey Cup) or how he led a group of 6 to the final of the futsal 5 years ago, where they came up against London Futsal Pro, who had brought the max. number of players and a coach of supporters. They lost by a few goals as they had no self-belief in the first half. If they’d had 5 more minutes, they would have won.

      I probably haven’t mentioned my Australian niece who lives in england (i have mentioned her sister, in Australia). Long story but she is coming round tonight. I’ll fill you in on the drama later.

        1. 😂it’s the Yank-term for work experience, as I know you know, but good joke!

          Edit: they will come for me for the so-called hate crime (sic). My children are lovely, i have no idea how.

      2. My elder son (who called in this morning) went to university in Swansea and never left. He did his Master's there ( funded by the EU) and bought his house shortly afterwards. He works from home doing contract IT work.

      3. Those pasties sound scrummy. It's ages since I made some.

        The Cornish prefer to use beef skirt but I find shin, clod, chuck or flank make quite acceptable substitutes if you can't source any skirt.

  63. So it is looking increasingly like Labour and the Conservatives are set to be turquoise after the event with all their handwringing on mainstream media

    1. Let’s hope. Like many others here i am bitterly disappointed by recent Reform antics, but there is little other obvious choice.

  65. More "spring" weather here.

    It was 24C when I went to bed last night and still 20C when I got up at 6:30 hsi morning. Looks like we will get another 30C day – at least. Mostly blue sky, but a bit hazy.

    1. Here in Woking we’re at 23C but it’s forecast that we’ll be in mid teens by midweek.

  66. I suppose the test will now be will the Reform run councils and mayoralties stop all the globalist agendas that are being tolled out

  67. Now that Reform have the full control of two councils ( so far, it's still early ) and seats on other councils they are more then a protect party saying ' we will do better then the others. People no longer trust politicians but those who have voted Reform will take them by their word ' we will do better ' . Now the real work of providing themselves starts – now more then words and throwing stones . Real work begins .

  68. What is Prince Harry doing in the UK.

    He says he feels unsafe, so if he had had direct threats to his life , stay in America .. twerp.

    2. I do not think we are being told the whole truth about this royal debacle. I get the feeling it is edited to present a certain scenario to the public in order to manipulate their perceptions of Harry. We are discovering that the media either a) stays silent or b) presents a certain side of a story or c) tells outright lies. Why should it suddenly start telling the truth for this piece of royal theatre, any of it.

  69. Over 2,000 illegals arrived in the past 5 days ..
    Why , why can't we protect our coastline by torpedoing them /

    I mean , previous UK governments didn't think twice about sending tanks, troops, armed aircraft , artillery to Afghan , Iraq , Kuwait , Syria etc , killing people , so what is the problem with us for protecting our borders from scumbags who want to harm us here in the UK?

    1. Good question, Maggie. Doubt you (we) will get a satisfactory answer. I think similarly was asked during recent US election, they got the right answer there.

    2. Once invaders were repelled with bows and arrows, stones, sling shots, catapults, cannon, guns and barbed wire. Now we can't even call them names.

  70. Back from Stoke.
    Stepson is holding his own at the moment, but he does tend to be a bit up and down.

      2. Me too. Trails often lead to the queen who is laying eggs, the workers store them carefully…..

    2. A 6' (2 metre) band around the walls of the house, well soaked with insecticides will keep ants out long term, because they won't (can't) cross it. At the last house, brick walkways would show signs of ants – a splash of petrol and a match does the job. As it does for wasp nests.

          1. Ah. Not possible here. Part of our house is underground and the upper story that side abuts our neighbour's garden. It's a steep hillside.

          2. Don't know about next door, but it certainly works on housse with basements. which is normal where we live.

  73. Just been out to have a look at the greenhouse where everything is already almost TOO far on. Sunny – but a really bitter north wind – which is discouraging.

  74. I said i meant to update you with my inside intell into Welsh Reform. Short version: Curate’s egg. Some very good people, impeded by the usual psychopaths.

  75. Reform seems to have done quite well. Let us hope and pray that it isn't a nine days wonder.

    1. I don't think it will be, Bill, because Farage seems to get himself out and about – talking to and listening to his potential voters. Not just old curmudgeons like me (and you?), many younger people especially men are voting for Reform.

  76. For once, a bit of good news:

    "Prince Harry loses appeal for taxpayer-funded security"

    Harry faces paying the legal costs for both sides, which is estimated to amount to more than £1.5 million……Oh how sad!

    1. Probably already asked his brother, she can't do enough baking to cover that cost 🙂

    2. His point was he could afford to hire private security but they wouldn't have access to intelligence. A bit like him really.

    3. Perhaps the loss will keep the twerp away from his constant litigation for a while. He can always take upon the role that Johnny Craddock played in Fanny's kitchen. The ideal cuck really..

    4. HHa Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
      Perhaps he'll realise now that you can't buy the police.

      1. Unless you are a diverse (or trans) person who feels you have been “hated”.

  77. Re the world’s oldest woman, b. 1909. My (abandoned by her husband) grandma was born in 1909, in Lewisham of all places. She died in 1982.

    1. I lived in a flat opposite Catford bus depot back in uni days, travelling into Kensington each day. I could only really go up in the world from there, thankfully I did.

    2. The year my mother was born – a few days after the “oldest woman” but Mum died in 1989.

        2. My Norfolk Nan was born in 1883 – 20 years before the first flight. She died in 1969 shortly after the first moon landings. It's is astonishing to consider the developments she must have seen.

    1. Lovely.
      We've got one at the front it's covered in blossom. And back garden, large hawthorn in full bloom and a lovely Wigilea just about starting to flower.

    2. If it was like the cbc when Trudeau resigned. The announcer cried. It was mandatory viewing for that snippet alone.

  81. This simplified diagram shows how solar arrays are connected to an electricity grid:

    https://arka360.com/ros/solar-farms-grid-connected-pv-plants/

    The article also points to a disadvantage of a such solar array connected to a grid due to output instability:

    Even though grid-connected solar parks are advantageous, there are also some disadvantages to them. For example, grid-connected PV systems can cause problems regarding voltage regulation. Feeding electricity into the grid increases the voltage. This can drive the levels outside the acceptable range of ±5%. Grid-connected PV can also compromise the quality of power. This is because there is rapid change in voltage because of PV’s intermittent nature. This wears out voltage regulators due to adjustments which happen too frequently. This results in voltage flicker as well.

    Does this mean that countries relying largely on photovoltaic grid electricity generation must necessarily take the risk of power outages due to intermittent component failures of voltage regulators that cannot be addressed by the former manual intervention of grid load balancing which previously would have been carried out manually in an inertial fossil fuel powered energy system?

    1. I think it's more a case that there will have to be new or improved voltage management, specifically designed for instability, deployed – today's tech pretty much assumes consistent power delivery from the generating plants. Taking turbines on or off line is a carefully managed event unless something catastrophic occurs.

      Yet another case where the politicians wave their arms and expect a miracle.

    2. I think it's more a case that there will have to be new or improved voltage management, specifically designed for instability, deployed – today's tech pretty much assumes consistent power delivery from the generating plants. Taking turbines on or off line is a carefully managed event unless something catastrophic occurs.

      Yet another case where the politicians wave their arms and expect a miracle.

        1. Wat Tyler and his chums beheaded the Archbishop of Canterbury.
          (Ponders deeply.)

        1. So you are saying, Ndovu, that I'll now have to wait until late December for my birthday present. Drat and double drat!!!

  84. Just watching some British Movietone footage of bombed out Berlin in 1945 and it reminded me of an Austrian woman I worked with many years ago who told me that as a child she'd asked her mother in all innocence, "Why do we go over there and bomb them and they come over her and bomb us – why don't we just all bomb ourselves"?

  87. Just had a call from the Doctor about my 'insufficient venous return'.

    No further treatment will be made available because i am a smoker. No increase in medication or treatments.

    To get around this problem i am converting to Islam.

  88. Obvious BBC question to any Reform spokesman:
    "It's all very well making a noise about your gains but how will you cope in local government? What experience do you have?"

    1. When you look at tangible results from those ‘experienced’ in local government, I reckon it doesn’t make a blind bit of difference! Let’s just wait and see!

      1. But this IS the BBC!

        "Why did you vote to leave the EU? I just don't understand."

        1. It’s a real crying shame that the sainted national broadcaster fails to understand the way we think! Not a huge surprise, but a real shame!

  89. I wonder how long it will be before we read of "Reform councillors struggling; local government staff refusing to co-operate with Reform " etc etc…

  90. Really hope 2TMao stays on and makes a rousing speech..
    Starmer admits results 'disappointing'
    “If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face, will see us through!”

    Tom Harris has just penned one of the most chilling sentences in political journalism writing: “Mark my words, Miliband has a shot at becoming PM.” LOL

  91. Wordle No. 1,413 4/6

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

    Wordle 2 Apr 2025

    'Snot yours, Par Four?

    1. My streak will end soon.

      Wordle 1,413 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
      🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. At last a birdie – they are rarer here than on the golf course.

      Wordle 1,413 3/6

      🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      Oh that Canadian voters were not as scared of the right as the Reform voters!

    3. Another pretty straightforward par…..

      Wordle 1,413 4/6

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

    4. Better luck here for a Birdie on account of middle letter.
      .

      Wordle 1,413 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    5. I seem to be on a roll.

      Wordle 1,413 2/6

      ⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  92. Welder Son's boss won the Wirksworth Ward and Reform now control Derbyshire as well as a swathe of county councils across the Midlands.

    1. Uggh, I remember Camp coffee, it was often made with hot milk and served as a treat. it is still available over here and not just in English specialty shops.

      Apart from that all was good.

      1. I like Camp coffee and still drink it, preferable to the instant or skin removing crap on the market

        1. Delicious on Mackie's white ice cream, and good for making icing for cakes.

          1. Never tried it on white ice cream, Tim, but still use it for making icing for cakes from time to time.

      2. As a poor student in Manchester I drank the stuff! It was one degree better that the dried and ground dandelion root stuff the guy downstairs let me try!

      3. Years and years ago , as a sweet pud treat , Moh's late mother , Sunday tea time ..

        Blobs of ice cream sitting on top of either chunks of tinned pineapple or tinned peach halves in an individual glass dish and topped off with a few drops of Camp coffee .. those were the days !

        Hard boiled egg salad , home grown lettuce , radishes , freshly cooked beetroot and brown bread ( it was different then ) and proper butter .. .. simple , eh?

        1. Hovis was never for poor people, as it was more expensive than white bread. The big difference with modern bread is that ist lasts much longer than bread from that era. All those chemicals…

        4. Tinned pineapple with Carnation milk for Sunday tea – absolute heaven.

      4. I can't stand chicory, so Camp coffee was revolting as far as I was concerned.

    2. Coffee also came in a tiny tin from Nescafe. Then there was Ricory – horrible muck.

      Last sentence needs work – "one thing" is singular, "our elbows" is plural, and in the '50's, our English teachers would have immediately marked us down for bad grammar. Just as they did for bad spelling.

      1. My mother used to buy Lyons ground coffee in a green tin, never instant. She used to make it in a brown coffee pot which I still have.

    3. Except that seaweed has always been a food in Welsh Wales 😁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

  94. And starmer still seems to believe he's good but needs to go further and faster.
    Well worked out now get going.
    Unfortunately for them the people don't trust the tories, perhaps it's time for them to grasp reality. They spent 14 years swinging the wrecking ball. Letting our country suffer the aided continued invasion.

  95. Late counts in Northants with Reform well ahead in both councils. Labour might just have enough in Northampton itself to prevent Reform taking the West.

  96. The Limp Dumbs seem to be doing quite well…. Need watching – snakes in the grass.

    1. Understandable though, you are a lefty who is annoyed with labour, no way do you vote conservative or reform so it will be lib dem, green or a spoiled ballot.

  98. Labelling the AfD ‘extremists’ will backfire. 2 May 2025.

    By officially classing the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as ‘right-wing extremists’, the German establishment may have scored an own goal – or even shot itself in the foot. The domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), announced its decision today after keeping the insurgent party under close observation – including by state spies – for years.

    The parallels here with pre-war Germany are quite startling. The Social Democrats of the Weimar government were deeply unpopular and sought to suppress the growing influence of the Nazi Party by various means, some extra-judicial. Ironically the banning of Free Speech was one of them. Since Hitler was campaigning on matters in support of popular opinion this simply added to his growing influence. Socialists never learn anything; even from their own history. As it was then, so will it be now. The AfD will grow under this persecution.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/labelling-the-afd-extremists-will-backfire-on-its-opponents/

    1. All the while the traditional German political parties refuse to face reality on immigration, AfD will flourish.

      Ditto for Britain, hence the growth of Reform..

  99. Bubbling along in the background is the bad smell that won't go away for Jess Phillips..

    Talk’s Kevin O’Sullivan is joined by Ian Piper, the father of rape gang survivor Ellie Reynolds who reviewed the recently aired Channel 4 documentary “Groomed: A National Scandal”.
    Ellie appeared live on Kevin’s show previously to tell her story and how she felt let down by the government’s decision to scrap grooming gang inquiries.
    Kevin says, “Guess what, the next day, Jess Phillips' office got in touch.”

    1. I understand Jess Phillips has anorexia, a mental health issue. Surprised she can do her job at all.

    2. Jess is really worried about those girls. She has said so on many occasions in her acceptable BBC persona.

      What i don't understand is why she thinks she won't be the subject of being raped multiple times until she shits herself and her vagina looks like the channel tunnel.

      Brummies !

  101. I know it is rather late in the day…..but what exactly does the Mayor of a county DO?

    1. I'm not even sure what MPs do apart from PMQs, any queries dealt with by office staff.

    2. They look after the local cats Bill calling them into be fed. It's known as Fur call.

    3. The Mayor has budgetary control over spending. Not sure what else but that alone should give some idea as to their performance in office.

      1. I don’t imagine many of them would recognise a budget – even if it came and sat on their knee.

    4. Swan around looking important. Cutting ribbons to new housing for migrants. Flying rainbow flags and banning Church fetes because they haven't erected crash bollards to deter muslims running over people in cars and lorries.

      Why do you ask?

      1. Silly me. Of course, it was a post created by the fuckwit Tories, n’est-ce pas?

    5. Mayor of a County … yes that is strange ..

      I always though the Lord Lieutenant's role was sufficient ..

      A Mayor though .. shrieks of Khan and other foreign twerps like the non English thing representing Brighton etc

    7. The face of democracy, whilst the blob keeps running things the way they want. Also see, 2TK and government in general plus various elected slammers.

      1. Used to be that only towns and cities had mayors. Still that way here.

    8. A superfluous layer of local government in my opinion. We already have overpaid CEOs, CFOs etc on local authorities, adding a Mayor is quite unnecessary. Bring back the town clerk.

  102. It's a amazing when you actually see through our TV coverage just how many people seem to be involved in British politics.
    And also amazing how none of them seem to have the ability to run a bath with any success.

  103. We have all found out what the London version of a mayor has been up to.

  104. Good early evening everyone.
    A delightful spring day and eventful.
    Time for the end of the week pre dinner G& T .

    2. I simply long for a drink , a chilled G&T or a glass of wine , but Moh and I have not had a decent drink for 25 years, we are taking too many pills ..

      We have bottles of wine in the house , and totally untouched , people buy us wine , despite the fact we don't drink , so many think we are strange .. and a pub experience is now , well, like being a fish out of water .

      We were never ever great imbibers of a glass of something , Moh might have a special half when his golf game has finished .

      1. A milkshake using frozen fruit, or perhaps a glass of ice cold tonic water with a slice of lime?

      2. If everyone over the last 25 years bring wine….why haven't you told them not to?

        I am not surprised they think you strange.

        Drink the damned Gin !

      3. Good tonic water over ice with lime or lemon is a pretty good substitute – OK not a substitute exactly but it’s drinkable! Fever Tree is a nice one, or ALDIs own!

      4. I buy 0% G&T (Gordons) for the times when I have to take strong painkillers and can't have alcohol. Zero Guinness is pretty good, too.

      6. We like our glass of wine with a meal, not every evening, but quite often. G&T is good, but very seldom these days. I'm on no medication but OH has a few pills every day. It does more good than harm in moderation I think.

  106. Radio 4 PM, interviewer to Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and MP for Wolverhampton SE: "How much will your position on Gaza hurt you…in six wards declared so far where more than 4% of the electorate identified [sic] as Muslim, Labour's vote was down, on average, by 28% since 2021…"

    McFadden: "I don't think the position on Gaza will decided the next election…"

    It bloody will for a lot of you, mate!

    1. Oh my parents were talking about Pat just last weekend. But I can’t remember what. They were members of the Conservative Party for a while when the members could decide on candidates.

      Edit. Judging from the context, I think it was along the lines of, whoever the Party chose didn’t win and Labour foot in instead. But why they would have mentioned his name in particular I don’t know. Maybe he’s their MP!

    2. Oh my parents were talking about Pat just last weekend. But I can’t remember what. They were members of the Conservative Party for a while when the members could decide on candidates.

      Edit. Judging from the context, I think it was along the lines of, whoever the Party chose didn’t win and Labour foot in instead. But why they would have mentioned his name in particular I don’t know. Maybe he’s their MP!

  107. Posted yesterday..
    Farage had better win 522 seats today.. or he's a busted flush.
    Already 586.

  108. It's all good.. good, says BBC.
    Just the wake up call we .. I mean the Labour Party.. needed.. to get us back on track.

  109. So from what I'm hearing, Starmer intends to double down on all the mad policies to win public support.
    How insane is that?

    1. Just proves how completely out of touch and lacking in self awareness he is.

      1. He is being deliberately disingenuous; he has his WEF masters' plans to follow, or else…..

    2. The policies are fine, and are actually very popular.. it's just they have been communicated badly.
      Is the current official stance taken by MSN. LOL

      1. It seems you can't fix stupid. Shropshire seems to have gone for the LDs; I think they are now in charge. That will be debt and council tax through the roof, then.

        1. Yes. They did for us in the sunny uplands of Richmond upon Thames.

    3. Reminds me of the old aphorism that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

  112. That's me for this sunny but COLD day. More follows – until Christmas, I believe…. Tomorrow, after wrapping up well, will be doing tree/hedge/ladder work – in preparation for a bonfire on Bank Holiday Monday,

    Have a spiffing evening counting the Reform successes. (Though, read my caveats, below – passim)

    A demain, Prolly.

  113. That’s you done for – the sharia court police are on their way……..

        1. Some causes of a Warning Light include, but are not limited to:
          Loose gas cap
          Fuel Injector that is dirty
          Faulty ignition coils
          Bad oxygen sensors
          Broken or loose hoses
          Misfiring spark plugs
          Faulty mass airflow sensor Emission control system malfunction
          Turbo
          Fuel emissions

      6. When I had that sign come up on my Aygo, it meant that the engine emissions sensor had gone wrong and needed to be replaced.

      7. Toxic fume filter system warning light I think – possibly particulate filter warning if it's a diesel. You need to contact your dealer or garage

      1. It was my son. Luckily he was off the motorway and in the area where he went to school/has friends. I offered to go and help him but he has limped on back to Cardiff. I will tell him to take it to the garage tomorrow. He starts his internship in Swansea on Tuesday and needs his car. I wish he had told me be a use I would happily have taken the computer too him to avoid him having to drive 120 miles/3 hours here, and then back. Or met him half way. But he is like his mother was at his age and won’t ask for help. (I do now, sometimes).

  116. 404921+up ticks,

    A word of caution,

    Lets not forget as we always do in very short order that the glittering aura of success has been witnessed before on the 24 /6 / 2016 with many of the same main players in place… again.

    Look as the fall- out since No backup party to safeguard against treachery, as in 2 May 2025 history is repeating itself rapidly.

  117. I can see an email going off to my MP Simon Hoare, the mate of Call Me Dave, this weekend.

    hahahahaha

    *breath*

    hahahahaha

    1. Afternoon, GQ.

      I was so sad to hear that Dave (Dorset K) passed while I was away. He was a lovely bloke.

      1. Yes mate, not good, not good at all.
        I hope you and yours are OK?

        1. Yup – Mrs DC and the dogs were fine whilst I was away – and I'm about to pour my third gin since I got back this morning. Made enough visible/legit income in San Diego to keep the taxman away for 2025 and won't be doing any more gigs this year.

          Can't ask for better than that!

          Cheers! :raises Empress gin:

          2. Heavy week of work, or booze? I'm suspecting the latter, as the former would call for a pint or three….

          3. Booze and work. Work was in a prison so it’s a pain before you even start.

          4. Lawks! I guess you have to get all your gear searched every time you come and go from Teh Van? Where ya off to this coming week – or did they lock you up? 🙂

          5. You have to do a tool list so rather tan take it all in I try to remember what I’m going to need. This never ends well.
            Got a job in Leicester on Tuesday and then Porton Down for the rest of the wee.

  118. Afternoon, Nottlers!

    Back in North Ontario, and relaxing on the farm after a couple of weeks in San Diego. Took the first 7 days walking (and Uber'ing!) around the downtown area checking out the restaurant and food scene (it's a hell of a tough job, but someone has to do it!). Talked to plenty of cafe/restaurant owners and cooks/Chefs – and even stole one of them to work for the client who engaged me for their pre-opening night fortnight. The owner of the restaurant was thrilled I did – because the one I stole was her daughter. A true talent with great enthusiasm who is now earning twice what she earned with her Mum. After that, met up with a couple of the local suppliers – meat, fish, cheese, and produce – and they were all very, very good at what they did. No tricks, no bullshit, no over-marketing. Just good solid businesses. Wish the same could be said for the local IPA 'brewers', several of which were doing nothing more than shipping stuff in and rebranding it as local. Dumped one, kept the other two for continuity with a plan for my client to migrate away over the next month or two.

    Opening night went well – the Chef-Owner got to do what he needed to do on the night – which is get out of the kitchen and schmooze in the front of house with the VIP's, food critics, local politicians, media etc while I worked the pass in the kitchen with his team. The team was pretty good, with one exception who I recommended he get rid of – not because of skills – but because they had a real toxic siege-mentality nature about them.

    What I will say, is holy crap you need to earn a lot of money to live there. It's a young dynamic, mostly health conscious tech-industry types who are happy dropping $8-$15 for coffee, $18-$30 for a pint or single-ounce cocktail, and $75 a head for a two-course plat du jour – maybe $150 a head for a la carte. Dining out is common for both lunch and dinner multiple times a week. Margins aren't as good as you might think, because business rates and building leases are the highest I've seen.

    Loved the warmer bug-free climate, and sitting out on street-side patios reminiscent of Tuscany but with Mexican architecture backdrop.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1657cbdafde23ec58794295f4d461da183dfcaf32236d34357ab58c396baf979.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6e8f32f510a243c6029e89c9e8e36ce74d574390be7a23b908d7a970ab2f0527.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/66486f5791e8eeb85315ded04117669eac51ad5f39aa68ce5a6c3a5ac24bc951.jpg

    1. Great city, San Diego. I’ve spent quite a bit of time there over the years. As for IPA, I would recommend Stone Brewing or Ballast Point. Sadly, my absolute favourite, Green Flash, have gone out of business.

      1. Hello, Harry!

        When were you last there, if you don't mind me asking? I ask, because everyone I spoke to in the industry said "Prices have doubled since the Covid years." Opinions vary on the causes, but the general consensus was silicon valley types flooding the place with WFH.

        You're dead right with Stone Brewing! I visited them for a brewery tour at their Escondido location, and went to lunch at their Libery Station venue. Great people and a damn fine pint!

        1. Last time was 2 years ago (post Covid). The price of everything in SoCal has gone up, sadly. At that time San Diego had 143 breweries, I suspect that figure is now considerably reduced.

          1. Cheers, Harry. That was the theme of many conversations! I chatted with a fellow sat outside having breakfast at what used to be his cafe – he’d sold up when he got what he called a crazy offer to buy it out. Made a tonne of money.

      1. Sadly, no. I meant to, but didn’t quite find the time. It seemed close to where I was staying when you mentioned it, but there was a lot of other things in between that drew me in! Most of them in Little Italy…..

    4. My friend was the UK’s first beer sommelier and has been knighted (or some such) by Belgium for her service to beer. She represents the American brewing trade in Europe I.e. she flogs their beer here (and there). I like beer so she’s a great friend to have!

  119. I am going to retire and put my feet up; I've had an active day. Firstly a long walk with my neighbour and the pug (plus my two) and then a tramp round a stately home and the grounds this afternoon. I'm feeling my joints.

  120. Reform has taken North Northants. It's also leading in West Northants but the Tories (not Labour as I suggested earlier) might prevent it having a majority.

    1. I can go home from Porton Down so it’s a good site for me.

  124. Great day up in the Northern Lakes – top bacon butty in Ambleside to start, then most of the day on the steamer from Glenridding to Pooley Bridge and back (basically the length of Ullswater, around 7 miles each way) and the most jaw-dropping views in the Lakes – Helvellyn etc.
    Stopped off at Pooley Bridge – very pretty tiny little village and my kind of place – three excellent pubs…… didnt want to come back….

      1. It is Eddy – if you've not done it I can thoroughly recommend it. The weather helped today also – I've got a beaming red face like a farmer's arse….

  125. Heh heh! Thanks for the thought! Where did you grab your breakfast butty? Perchance The Copper Pot?

    1. I know the Copper Pot well but it wasnt there – it was at Hayes Garden Centre, the cafe there is excellent ('er indoors had smashed avocado and poached eggs on sourdough bread…. ehhh??)

      1. Very nice! Also glad to hear Hayes is still going strong. My old man (90, now living in Cornwall), mentioned he heard they had had some trouble and might not make it. That was a few years ago and I forget to follow up on it.

  126. Yes, there were some rumblings but it survived – it's a bit pricey but it's generally worth it – 'er indoors buys all her bloody plants there (she's banned me from getting them from B&Q at less than half the price!).
    Send your old Dad my Best Wishes and hope he's not getting too homesick in Cornwall….

    1. I shall, thank you! All I need to do now is to stop him telling people in Cornwall he misses The Glory Hole – which as you might know was a rather oddly named veg and produce shop up there…..

  127. I think I'm going to pop orff very soon.
    I'm still not back to normal after my bout of gastroenteritis. No usual Saturday treat bacon and egg sarnie for breakfast in the morning.
    Number two son came this afternoon and cut all the grass front and back.
    Well done Daniel. 🤗👍
    Nice and short no silly rewilding.
    I've been watching snooker Ronnie O'Sullivan has just lost his semi. He made so many mistakes. But his opponent was excellent, made in China. A very nice modest young man.
    Good night Nottlers. 😴

  128. The young Chinese lad looks about 12 – but what a talent! And Ronnie was very magnanimous at the end and seemed genuinely pleased.

  129. Hey Mola! Neither had I. In fact I'd never been to California before which is one of the reasons I took the gig. I really liked the place. It wouldn't make it to my 'If me and the Mrs went away for two weeks where would we go?' list – but not for any specific reason. Although maybe prices play a part in that – I enjoy seeking value. The people were friendly and welcoming – and the Brit accent always starts a conversation wherever you go in North America.

    1. The British accent did help me out one early morning (think 2am) in Houston 30 odd years ago.

  130. Yes agreed totally.
    Ronnie is/was the Chinese lads hero it must have been strange to have to play him for a place in the final.

  131. From Coffee House the Spectator

    03 May 2025
    Spectator Life
    Alexander Larman
    McDonald’s isn’t worth it any more
    It’s sunset for the Golden Arches
    2 May 2025, 5:01am
    From Spectator Life

    When did you last eat at a McDonald’s? If I’d asked this question a decade or so ago, I imagine the answer would probably have been ‘more recently than I’d care to admit’. The Golden Arches were the ultimate fast-food guilty pleasure, where, for considerably less than a tenner, the hungry, hungover or intoxicated could gorge on burgers, chips, milkshakes and chicken nuggets – served swiftly and efficiently. It was never designed to be Michelin-star standard, but everyone knew what they were getting with a Maccy D’s: comfort food that hit the spot and did so with unerring, machine-like competence.

    Yet now the company seems to be caught in an inexorable decline, as consumers tire of the belly-filling delights. It was announced this week that McDonald’s first-quarter sales had fallen by 1 per cent, confounding analysts who had predicted growth. The organisation’s CEO, Chris Kempczinski, blamed ‘the toughest of market conditions’, and there were briefings about how Donald Trump’s tariffs had hurt overseas sales – as well, potentially, as damaging America’s international standing in several markets. This may well be true. Yet it’s also likely that the reason for the decline of McDonald’s is that it simply isn’t very good any more.

    In my home city of Oxford, the McDonald’s recently changed premises from one end of the unlovely Cornmarket Street to the other. It has not been an improvement. The original McDonald’s was a cramped, vaguely dodgy-looking place that tended to become quite interesting at chucking-out time in the local pubs. Its replacement is a dark, cavernous-looking place that makes it almost impossible to see what is going on in the crepuscular gloom. And if the words ‘crepuscular gloom’ are not ones that you usually associate with a fast-food chain restaurant, then you haven’t been doing your homework.

    I would no more eat at a McDonald’s today than I would become the founding member of a Meghan Markle fan club

    There is a depressing aspect to McDonald’s now that all the Happy Meals and Big Macs cannot erase or change. Although I have a certain fond nostalgia for it as a childhood treat, I would no more eat at a McDonald’s today than I would become the founding member of a Meghan Markle fan club. Should I wish to get a burger and chips, there are countless superior places to buy them from. Within a short walk of the McDonald’s in Oxford, there’s the excellent Shake Shack and that old reliable GBK, and London is thronged with the successful likes of Honest Burgers, Patty & Bun, Tommi’s Burger Joint and many more places that offer similarly speedy food at far-from-bank-breaking prices – and at vastly higher levels of quality.

    When I used to go to McDonald’s reasonably regularly, the old jokes were that the burgers were constituted of the unspeakable parts of a cow, minced up and served with a smile. Today, these jokes have rather died out – not because McDonald’s succeeded in its pained and humourless campaign to educate its diners as to precisely what parts of the animal their burgers are drawn from, but because people no longer care enough to take the piss out of it. It is a sad indictment of the company that it has ceased to be an iconic rite of passage in every child’s life, but the quality of what it is offering has declined so precipitously that it has now become largely irrelevant.

    I refer to personal experience in this matter. My nine-year-old daughter has long been curious about what goes on inside the crepuscular gloom, so I caved in and bought her a takeaway. It was not a success. She pronounced her chicken nuggets tough, the chips limp and flavourless, and the milkshake one big stodgy disappointment. She then uttered the words that every middle-class parent longs to hear: ‘Can’t we have Pizza Express instead?’ Sorry, McDonald’s – when the kids are asking for something else, the writing’s clearly on the wall.

    Written by
    Alexander Larman
    Alexander Larman is an author and books editor of Spectator World, our US-based edition

    1. My local McDonald’s is a small dingy takeaway. It’s no longer a restaurant. There aren’t any tables and chairs. I’ve only once bought a burger there and it was execrable. Back in the 80s eating at McDonald’s was a pleasant experience but no longer.

    2. A sad reflection of modern life. I've had a takeaway coffee from a McDonald’s, but that's it. I remember when the first pizza restaurant arrived in Richmond. I make my own pizzas and burgers for the family when requested.

      1. I read the OP and thought "Not for a long time.". But I didn't think of coffee as 'being a McD's', I just thought of it as a quick and convenient place to grab a coffee. I did that in the last 2 weeks. Road trip to Toronto, not hungry, drive through coffee.

        :shakes fist at sky and cries:

        1. I didn't mean to sound snooty or anything, but I was a fussy eater as a child which meant I was skinny as my mother couldn't cook to save her life.

          1. Hey Mola – I hope what I typed above didn't come across the wrong way, but think it might have done. You didn't come across that way at all! In fact it made me realise I was feeling a little too smug when I read Rob's comment!

            Me: "Oh, no, not been to one since I was a know-nothing teenager. Terrible place. Wouldn't give them a penny."

            My brain after reading your comment: "Ohh, so about that stop you made for coffee the other week, eh? Excuses? Have you any? Thought not."

            🙂

          2. Hey Mola – I hope what I typed above didn't come across the wrong way, but think it might have done. You didn't come across that way at all! In fact it made me realise I was feeling a little too smug when I read Rob's comment!

            Me: "Oh, no, not been to one since I was a know-nothing teenager. Terrible place. Wouldn't give them a penny."

            My brain after reading your comment: "Ohh, so about that stop you made for coffee the other week, eh? Excuses? Have you any? Thought not."

            🙂

    3. I watched 'The Founder' a couple of months ago (I really like Nick Offerman). Well worth the time spent I thought.

      Although it's a 'based on' film, not a documentary, I found it interesting enough to then go on and find out more about the reality.

      Surprisingly, there wasn't that much artistic license on the key points of how they evolved.

    4. Yet again we have initials with no explanation. What on earth is "that old reliable GBK"? Great British Kaffs? Or Grotty Burger King, perhaps?

      1. Hey Elsie! I think they mean Gourmet burger kitchen. But given how small and relatively unknown they are, it struck me as a really odd example of IWNE. 😉

    5. I have no personal experience of this precipitous decline of 1%. Fortunately, I have been spared this giddy plunge by not having visited a McDonald's for something like 20 years. Mind you, this is not so much due to a snooty disdain for something popular as that my niece and nephew became too old for Saturday matinee cinema. I have not done a vehicle count of late but, had I done so, I'm sure a 1% reduction in drive-thru vehicles at a nearby McDonald's outlet would have been self-evident.

      1. My children grew out of McDonald’s preferring Chinese and Italian restaurants and so we never returned. My son lives in California and takes us to In&Out which must be the closest to popular burger restaurants. I love hamburgers but there are great places to buy them here in Spain where I live and in the US. My favourite in LA is Pinks Hollywood in Melrose. 100 percent Mexican I think, cheeseburgers with chili sauce.
        McDonald’s doesn’t even get a look in.

  132. Snooker is now very popular in China, so I guess we'll see more and more Chinese players.

  135. Good question, G! I took to google to find it (and wasn’t that a trip into hell), and couldn’t find a single mention. Definitely a case of false memory syndrome on my part – all I can think of is that he described it as such, and I took it as read. From the pictures I found, it looks like it’s actually called Granny Smiths!

    :searches for psychotherapy professionals in north Ontario:

    1. Tremendous! – maybe he just had a particularly good time there in the past? Sounds like it….

  136. Well, chums, I really need to have an early night tonight. So Good Night to you all, sleep well, and see you all tomorrow.

Comments are closed.