Friday 3 March: Boris Johnson should have stood up to Nicola Sturgeon instead of foisting masks on pupils

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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429 thoughts on “Friday 3 March: Boris Johnson should have stood up to Nicola Sturgeon instead of foisting masks on pupils”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Stolen Car

    The light turned yellow just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

    The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection… dropping her cell phone and makeup.

    As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

    He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

    After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

    He said, “I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally…

    …I assumed you had stolen the car.”

    1. Excellent, Tom. I unfortunately logged in to today’s comments in “Newest” order so was treated to a whole series of perverts performing drag acts in front of tiny tots with their mother’s apparent approval. Your joke post has now cheered me up just a little.

  2. Good Morning Folks,

    Another cold grey start here, snowmageddon next week for some, so they say.

  3. Boris Johnson should have stood up to Nicola Sturgeon instead of foisting masks on pupils

    Boris has turned out to be a wet lettuce globalist just like all the others.

    Not sure why we are have this internalised analysis now when it is clear that virtually every Western country did the same thing and were just following orders.

    Don’t look inwards for the reasons things happened as they did, look outwards to the big global institutions.

    1. Morning, B3.
      I think we should concentrate on the major eff-up of this country. If johnny foreigner chooses to be as daft – or even dafter – that is his problem.
      All too many of our current travails are the result of successive British administrations bothering themselves about events out of our control and concerning themselves too little with the welfare of Blighty.
      Channel dinghies/asylum seekers/Ukraine etc……

      1. I think that is what the people at the WHO / WEF would want.
        They have plenty of replacements that will ensure we do exactly the same next time.

  9. Morning all.

    Thought this was interesting today, from 100 years ago:

    “Picture 1,200 men, women, and children in the rain, at the foot of a bleak hillside where the Bosphorus joins the Black Sea. Try to imagine 1,000 more crammed into a single-storey, windowless, doorless building which, reckoned even on refugee standards, had been officially reported on as capable of holding a maximum of 400. Then you may form some faint idea of the conditions of life at the very latest dumping ground selected by the Turks for some of the thousands of Ottoman Greeks who are still pouring in from Black Sea ports, a “settlement” which was, when I visited it to-day, just four days old. Rain had fallen steadily all night, and the fourteen miles of the Bosphorus which I covered on my way from Constantinople were mist-shrouded. On the hills it hung as a pall. Damp but mild on my start from this sheltered city, the air grew colder as I neared the Black Sea, till, just I beyond Ketchili Pasha, on the Asiatic side, where the camp is situated, it was bleak indeed. There was not a tent or scrap of shelter for the 1,200 except what they could improvise from the clothes and bed-coverings they had managed to seize when they hurried from their homes.

    It was wet, but not so bad as the soaked ground around on which the others had to spread their bedding. And to be just to the Turks, an old ammunition store housed a few more. Most had managed with bits of string and sticks to erect some sort of covering over their beds – which might have been all right in dry weather, but nothing they possessed could keep the wet out. Some wandered aimlessly about, but many still lay there, though it was noon, huddled together for warmth, whole families, fully clothed, on one bed, with everything else they possessed in the way of bedding or garments piled on top. Over the broken gear behind one of the guns I was spread a coverlet perhaps 2ft off the ground. Underneath it was a bed with a scrap of blanket over a cogwheel for a pillow. In the bed were an old couple, obviously very ill – too ill, indeed, to reply to a question, except that the man opened his eyes, pointed to the red pimples on his wife’s face and on his own, and then closed his eyes again. Behind, further in under the exploded gun, almost in the dark, I could see a family in another bed. On the second day of this camp there were nineteen small-pox cases; on the third day twenty-four more.”

    It is scarcely surprising that an unusually communicative member of the Turkish guard expressed the opinion that, unless the camp was soon moved, everybody, including the guard, would die.

  10. Good Moaning all,

    Cloudy at McPhee Towers this morning with that dratted NE wind still there, 3℃. Off to see daughter and grand-daughter today. For those who missed this last night here are the good folk of Thetford again. We ALL need to do this.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnJaymafZP0

    1. I’m still unsure why there is a town meeting. I don’t understand why we have to go to them. The council is staff – nothing else. If we say no, we don’t want that then their job is to implement it. No ifs, no buts. They don’t get the opportunity to impose what they want.
      Good grief, they’re servants!

      1. Somebody is going to have to knock their block off. This is not acceptable behaviour.

        1. As I often say, when I was a lad they’d have been in the local loony bin. It’s still the best place for them.

          1. It is a form of schizophrenia. Believing something false to be true is a sad state of the insanity of our times though.

    2. Maybe they were a troupe of church flower arrangers.
      Remind me about the purpose of the DBS again.

  13. Good Moaning.
    I will start the day by upsetting fastidious NOTTLers.
    As I staggered out at sparrow fart with the black bags, the chap opposite was sweeping his front path.
    Uncharitably, I thought “You are just the type who would be sweeping his path at 7.0 am on a Friday.”
    I’m sure he’s a fun guy at any other time.

        1. I beg your pardon!
          That’s enough of that lascivious talk at this time of day.😲

    2. Get back indoors and make yourself a cup of coffee, Annie. It’s not at all like you to be uncharitable. Lol.

    5. Maybe he was up very early due to not being able to sleep. Maybe he has huge money worries and found the monotony of clearing his path a way to escape the constant strain. Perhaps he’s finding satisfaction in the one thing his hen pecking wife allows him to do?

  14. Preventing the terror threat. 3 March 2023.

    While Sir John criticised MI5 and counter-terror police for failing twice to refer Abedi to the Prevent deradicalisation programme, it is apparent that more also needs to be done to root out extremism before it becomes a threat. William Shawcross made a series of sensible recommendations in his review of Prevent. It remains important that they are implemented as quickly as possible.

    TOP COMMENT BELOW THE LINE.

    malcolm scoggins.

    Part of the problem here is the obsession with ‘far right terror groups’. You do remember all the far right terror attacks we’ve had in the last 10 years, don’t you? No, me neither.

    Meanwhile, focussing on the real threat, people who are ‘not like us’ is hampered by the fear of being called racist.

    Yes that’s about it Mr Scoggins and of course we should never forget that there would be no threat at all if the government hadn’t imported it!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/03/preventing-terror-threat/

    1. Nobody is going to believe in civil service impartiality any more, that’s for sure.

      1. Declan O’Mahony
        14 HRS AGO
        I wonder when Sir Keir and Sue first had discussions about this position. Was it before or after she completed her report on conduct in Westminster during COVID restrictions?

        Warren Alexander
        13 HRS AGO
        We all owe Sue Gray a huge vote of thanks for being the personification of the evidence that the civil service is biased, anti-Conservative and an entirely political organisation that sees its role as thwarting government policy.
        No longer can the civil service get away with pretending to be impartial.

        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/02/sue-gray-getting-new-job-labour-stinks/

      2. What ever the election results have been for decades, because of the multi party system the winners collectively have rarely received the most votes.
        Therefore all we ever have is an elected dictatorship. And because of this, as we have seen for decades, they don’t have a clue how to manage anything, except their huge expenses claims. The senior civil service run the set up. And it appears due ‘certain aspects’ of those in their employment are forcing a huge drift in our once fairly stable culture and social structure.
        All here should Watch Bob’s video clip.

      4. It may have escaped your notice but the late Sir Bernard Ingam had been a Labour Party member, a Labour Candidate and had served a couple of Labour Ministers as a Civil Servant. However he too the job as Margaret Thatcher’s Press Officer and served her loyally throughout the remainder of his life and hers.

    2. Officials ‘seize confidential papers and IT equipment’ from the home of ‘Partygate’ investigator Sue Gray as calls grow for Rishi Sunak to block her move to Labour’s top team

      Gray sparked fury among Tories as she resigned today to take a job with Labour
      Tory MPs are urging PM Rishi Sunak to use powers to block or delay Gray’s move

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11814243/Officials-seize-confidential-papers-equipment-Partygate-investigator-Sue-Grays-home.html

    3. A display of messenger bashing by the baying mob. Ms Gray was praised for her impartiality by no less than Boris. If there had been any hint of partiality on her part, it would have been shouted from the rooftops.

      Never forget: senior politicians and top civil servants broke the rules that they were imposing on us. Does the fact that Ms Gray did not do a whitewash job imply bias?

      1. Do we trust her findings now?

        Yet for crying out loud, the fools brought booze into Downing street by the suitcase. They clearly were not bothered about the public. They thought they’d get away with it because they were special.

        What can possibly defend that arrogance? ‘Oh, I’m sorry guv, it was just resting there for a stag do after lockdown.’?

        1. Quite so! They were the bad guys in this piece. You don’t need to be a socialist to see that.

    4. Her real value to Labour will be all the non-partygate dirt she will also have dug up about numerous Conservative politicians and aides.

    1. What does he mean by “merit” – best person for the position, or they “merit” it due to their disadvantaged status of being a woke?

      1. Read the paragraph above. He has directed them to remove references to Diversity and Inclusion.

        1. Indeed, then goes on to say “merit”. That doesn’t necessarily mean “best person” depending on how merit is defined / limited, and the presence of diversity statements or otherwise could mean that wokery is going underground.

        2. It should always be spelled DIE, as that is the ultimate goal of all Left wing ideology: the slaughter of others.

    2. When I first arrived in NYC in 1972(?) an American colleague called Norman XXXX kindly invited me and another fresh arrival from the UK to join him and his wife for Saturday lunch followed by watching his [alma mater] beloved Aggies (Texas A&M American football team) on the telly.

      After an uninspired first quarter performance, Norman blurted out “Dem Aggies have only got three plays…n*gger runs left, n*gger runs right, n*gger runs up the middle.” Hence my fascination with the NFL was born.

        2. Well, the most shouty one has a huge afro. He’s also been unemployed for some time though.

  22. 371759+ up tickds,

    Morning Each,

    Friday 3 March: Boris Johnson should have stood up to Nicola Sturgeon instead of foisting masks on pupils

    A major segment of the repress,replace ,RESET was / is to
    destroy the family structure and with the herds help they are succeeding, we still have in power politico’s who oversaw the rotherham plague of paedophilia spread throughout the nation
    still finding support & votes.

    If he and co had done that that would have meant that there was
    political feelings for children as a whole and the prisons would have been bursting at the seams with paedophiles many the products of the Dover, politically orchestrated, morally illegal, immigration invasion.

    This is such a serious cross party odious issue ( coalition) that it would be no surprise to me if a new department was opened up under the leadership of a minister of paedophilia.

    1. We all know if Boris had dared say anything to St Nicola, Al Beeb would have been down on him like a ton of bricks.

    2. Labour only have all the answers in hindsight.
      Let’s be honest, the whole of Westminster needs clearing.
      All ukip ever manage is lots of talking.
      What and effing mess our country is in.

      1. When it’s managed by egotistical, stupid, blinkered, arrogant little boys it’s no wonder.

        1. It’s pretty obvious these days that many people in politics are only in it because it’s easy money. For doing very little.

          1. Yes Eddy, and they’d like to be back in the EU which would mean that they do even less.

          2. Except frying to Brussels for lunch and claiming it on expenses. No wonder they got rid of Elizabeth Firkin.

      2. 371759+ up ticks,

        Morning RE,

        Of course you are referring to the current ukip are you not ?

        1. I don’t understand who is sponsoring these people..
          I would loved to see a radical change in the way this country is run.
          The only chance we had was Nigel and he bottled it.

          1. 371759+ up ticks,

            RE,
            Gerard Batten as one of the last genuine leaders of UKIP farage does NOT enter the equation on treachery grounds.
            The party was skint when Batten took up the reins initially for one year he asked the members for £100000 & in reply got £300000.he gained 13000 new members with more joining daily.
            The party was financially in the black & gaining rapid forward momentum.

            He applied to re-stand after a year in the leadership election the ukip NEC said he was not of good standing within the party. The NEC was aided and abetted by farage who then triggered his pro tory (ino) brexit party whos only asset was hill marching and running defence for the johnson cartel.

            These political cretins ukip hierarchy & farage, are still in with a shout for the unwary.

          2. I don’t think he stands an earthly ogga, it’s all fixed against anyone with an inlking of commonsense.

          3. 371759+ up ticks,

            Afternoon RE,
            he was a founder member of UKIP now no longer active, as with many of us patriotic sorts after the 2019 treachery meted out by the party nec & farage
            we left.

            The farage chap thought so highly of by tory( ino) party marched HIS brexit member candidates up the hill. back down again then stood them down in the best pro johnson / tory (ino) party manner.

            The farage chaps view at that time of UKIP members the very peoples that gave him a platform for many a year.

            https://youtu.be/Fc7iuUHk3Yk

      1. Good morning. Dry and sunny. Taking Mrs D’s venerable C-RV in for what we think is a slipping clutch.

  25. Early doors birdie here

    Wordle 622 3/6

    ⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜
    🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. “John and Sarah’s real names have been changed.” Yeah, right. From Abdul and Fatima.

    2. Typical bbc bolero.
      Trying to sideline the truth from the real people behind the Manchester bomb murders.
      That young man didn’t have the capability of constructing that rucksack bomb. Who ever set him up and forced him to carry out that disgusting and despicable act against innocent British families are still out there. But MI5 seems to be keeping schtum. Probably because they don’t want to upset the local community.

    3. On the Beeb this morning in relation to Oxford’s fascist restriction on movement: Robinson said something something ‘overtaken by the Far Right group… ‘ then, without a hint of irony, the *organisation* hate not hope…..

      Not ‘Hard Left troublemakers’. Not Left wing extremists. Not vicious bullies and thugs who went there to hijack an event and cause trouble, no just ‘the organisation’.

      Plod should have stopped them at the train station from their London enclaves and kept them there. The people inn Oxford should have been allowed to rightly protest about the intentional restrictions on their travel.

      1. Apparently Thetford has made serious objections as well.
        St Albans are trying it on and they keep removing comments against their stupid ideas on the fb page. Far left Limpdems.

      2. Dickhead Robinson is very well know for his outstanding and continued leftist BS.

  27. Morning all 😉 😊
    Grey again, hopefully it might rain and fill my pond after all the hard work..
    Bore-us in the headlines again and as always never in the right context. But he now has his Misses’ reading his speeches. Look out he’s trying for a comeback.

  28. – The little sods are out again on Normanby road this time they threw three bottles of Omega 3 at me, hitting my head. I’m alright though as my injuries are super fish oil!

  29. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0aa624edff9bd803adc3ca363b72873ba298db3899d64ce799d5d8beb0762db9.png It appears that Pakis may call other Pakis ‘Pakis’, just as Niggers may call other Niggers ‘Niggers’, but Whitey is not permitted to use either term under any conditions. However, there is no embargo on Pakis or Niggers calling Whitey, ‘Whitey’ [or ‘Honky’, or ‘Lilywhite’, or ‘Pale’, or ‘Gammon’, or ‘White Trash’, or Redneck’, or any other nickname associated with race or colour].

    If the former members of Yorkshire Cricket club are convicted of ‘racism’ over referring to a gold-digger Paki as a ‘Paki’, then I hope they appeal using the ‘Paki Power’ example as a defence.

    1. This cricket business at the moment was just harmless banter to start with. And now has become an extended pack of absolute lies, that that has been turned into a stupid race war by the accusers.

      1. Is there an argument for apartheid in county cricket so that you have only whites and blacks in one side and only Pakistanis and Indians in the other?

        1. It might save a lot of travel arrangements and air miles. How’s that..😊

    3. Surely the solution is simple. If you don’t want to hear racial banter, don’t live in this country. It’s quite easy – they can leave.

    5. The answer is to self identify as a Paki but without opening a corner shop

      1. When we visited Fethiye in SW Turkey on Mianda we used to visit a very lively market. One of the stall holders used to shout out: “Cheaper Than The Paki Corner Shop.”

  30. 371759+ up ticks,

    May one say,

    Culture should never override safety I do believe a law should have been past long ago the pertinent question being, before the search, “have you anything to declare under your burka” this should be asked whilst we are still a majority in our own Country.

    The lab/lib/con / current ukip are minority culture appeasers,as are their supporter / members.

    Rhetorical appeasement can/will & has killed peoples of innocents.

  31. Police Smash Organised crime gangs.
    Dinghy facilitators? Drug Barons? Grooming gangs? Arms smugglers and suppliers to the underworld?
    No they’ve done even better, they’ve taken down illegal TV streaming services!

    Police compare Britons who stream Sky TV illegally to organised criminals as officers raid homes and make arrests in clampdown
    Police have cracked down on an illegal streaming service selling Sky TV

    ‘Money from such activities are often used to fund other crime, so people need to be aware of that
    ‘This is, without doubt, a form of organised crime.’.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11815733/Police-compare-Brits-stream-Sky-TV-illegally-organised-criminals.html

    Good to know where their priorities are /sarc

    1. Yes, superficially it is a petty crime, but, given the way that profits from one minor illegal activity are often used to fund more serious wrongdoing, I’m keeping an open mind on this one.

      1. Indeed so, an extension of “broken windows” theory.
        But I also look at the way statistics are manipulated to show solved crimes when those solved are at the bottom end of the seriousness level while the more serious stuff isn’t being dealt with. I would be happier if they could demonstrate how the minor crime eventually took out the bigger criminals. And yes I am aware how they caught Al Capone

        1. And how the reports hide the ‘diversity’ involved in most of the televised crimes. It’s been known to stir up firmal complaints. Using free legal aid.

          1. If the diversity of the criminals, (not just their colour but also educational levels, income levels, family background) and the types of crime committed was reported in pro rata terms to the total population, the figures would clearly show which are the most criminal elements.
            Pareto would probably feature strongly.

          2. I didn’t watch ITV news last night m but apparently the senior Imam of Manchester hated with utter contempt the suggestions made by the the female reporter. I believe as seems pretty obvious, she was asking if the mosque had been involved in the Bombing.

    4. This BTL seems fairly typical of the feelings of those abandoned by the police farce when subject to real crimes …

      Thank GOODNESS the Police are keeping us all safe! We don’t want them
      wasting their time with assaults, or burglaries…..we want them hiding
      in bushes with speed cameras, stopping people from watching tv, and
      lurking on twitter in case an incorrect prononoun is used or somebody!
      Rest easy, the streets are now safe.

  32. Ken Bruce’s last beeboid show has just started. I’ve known him for 33 years.! Complicated private life – but as nice a Scot as you are likely to meet.

    2. I met him once briefly at the centenary of ‘The old’ Mid Herts Golf Club.
      Wogan couldn’t make it.
      Pauly Wally was there of course.
      I believe Ken moved to a house in a lovely village in Berkshire where some friends of mine used to live.
      He had probably the best programme on radio 2. They should have got rid of that AH Vine and extended Ken’s prog.

    3. What did you make of Derek Jameson? I found it impossible to listen to him because he just infuriated me.

  33. Re the video of Thetford video below.
    I’ve been told that yesterday in Colchester’s Red Lion Square a group of 10 or so people were handing out leaflets highlighting the ‘plans’ to implement digital IDs, digital money etc. I will see the leaflet later today and hopefully find out who is behind this publicity campaign against those who are working to control every facet of our lives.

    1. Save Our Rights UK have been campaigning and leafleting. Might be them? They can be found on Twatter and Faceache.

      1. Thanks, Sue. I’ll check when I get to my friend’s home. Good to see people getting the news out. Election in May and I’m planning to write to each of the candidates re sustainability (red herring for 15 minutes cities?) and ask for their stance on this matter.

  34. I don’t know if anyone else has read the Telegraph’s favourite colonel’s latest piece of analysis? Apart, from his lack of grammar- I counted two mistakes in paragraph two, he mentions the destruction of the Russian surveillance and electronics aircraft which, apparently, never happened!
    He suggests that the Russians are using “WW1” tactics in a modern war of movement but fails to mention that the Ukrainians are in massively fortified positions, while in many respects what this is, is a classic conflict of attrition- which is sucking in resources into a relatively small area which the Russians are bombarding with apparent success, as it has forced the Ukrainians to commit their relatively scarce resources to be destroyed by artillery and missile fire.
    The sooner there are peace negotiations, the better- but it seems to me, certain parties want this conflict to continue for a very long time.

    2. Mongo outweighs his siblings by about 10kg. When he goes to visit his Mum and siblings he looks like a small bear beside them. They look like normal dogs though. The other owners always ask how he is so much bigger. Marion tells them it’s all down to diet.

    3. One of my former neighbours used to breed golden retrievers to show at Crufts. When she walked her “tribe” as she called them (she had German as her first language) in the field and Charlie my late terrier was there, they used to do that to him. He would come out looking like a drowned rat when the grass was wet, but he loved it.

  36. Constance Marten and partner charged with gross negligence manslaughter after baby remains found. 3 March 2023.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/84a6afcf4c19dbce762589221bd2eebe997ee5b1d16765edfdb77fe57d41ae28.jpg

    Constance Marten and her boyfriend Mark Gordon have been charged with gross negligence manslaughter following the death of a baby.

    The couple were arrested in Brighton on Monday night after an exhaustive search for the pair and their newborn infant.

    The body of a baby was found two days later on Wednesday afternoon on the edge of an allotment on the South Downs after police were tipped off by a passing member of the public.

    Let’s face it. He’s an evil looking beggar1

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/02/constance-marten-partner-charged-gross-negligence-manslaughter/

    3. This is a bit odd.
      They have been on the run for nearly 8 weeks and it’s only recently they’ve been in the Brighton area.
      It is claimed that the infant corpse is several weeks old.
      Have they been carrying a dead baby for a month or so, or is it a different baby?

      1. Wait for the trial.

        Funny that there was not the same hue and cry as there was with the river lady….

      2. According to my local rag they touched hands when it was reported how the baby’s remains were found!

    4. Why do women find such scum bags attractive?

      There are several accounts in the MSM of female prison visitors having sexual affairs with male inmates and then smuggling in drugs for them.

      To be honest when I was in my late teens it was considered cool to appear to be rebels and Marlon Brando and James Dean were considered sexy icons. Sadly our faux attempts at being dangerous, mysterious, unconventional rebels did not get us as far as we would have liked with the girls! The worst accolade one could get was to be called sweet!

  37. Ken Bruce’s last morning on Radio 2 – he’s off to Greatest Hits, and so are we! Well done BBC – you’ve lost another couple listeners. We’ve already given up on the afternoons sice the appalling Scott Mills took over, and as for the “half wower” and its wall to wall Ibiza/[c]rap music ….

        1. Too many characters added by, one presumes, disqusting.

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          It’s putting =”” instead of /.

    3. Split it in two seems to be better luck

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      uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f16aca4b2d3b7e54f8025b3eee468c261be9ba180d280e7f3c1f2a9edd383097.jpg

      uploads.disquscdn.com/images/60e2373f3327d15faa9c72166960c46f62f756de213f27d30083994c311257f8.jpg

      uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ff760634279531d9fe5e473296ab67be9abf7ab1794d1fa9386e92a90d76c79d.jpg

  39. The Caliph of Londonistan accuses opponents of his new car tax of being “far-right” and “covid deniers”.

    He has such a way with words, eh?

    1. He forgot waycist, anti-vaxxer, conspiracy theorist and tin foil hat wearer. Losing his touch.

      1. He is quoted as saying

        “Let’s be frank, let’s call a spade a spade. Some of those outside are part of the far-right. Some are Covid deniers. Some are vaccine-deniers. And some are Tories.”

      2. The only way to describe him is Khunt.

        I apologise for my language. It’s not a word i ever use, except for this miserable excuse of a man.

        Though now i am wondering what i call Bliar. I think I normally just call him a narcissistic war-mongerer and country-wrecker.

      3. The only way to describe him is Khunt.

        I apologise for my language. It’s not a word i ever use, except for this miserable excuse of a man.

        Though now i am wondering what i call Bliar. I think I normally just call him a narcissistic war-mongerer and country-wrecker.

    2. So do I,……….. he is the prodigal son of a london bus driver, defender of the london bombers, chief kant is such consummate and a complete and utter tosser.
      His aim is to establish the whole to area inside the M25 to be controlled as a london zone.
      None capitals on London because his aim is the destruction of.

      1. He’s well in the way and with more than half the population not effnic whites I can’t see it changing.

    3. He really needs to be sacked. I a democracy someone would stand up and say simply ‘Get out. You’re a liar, a cheat, a fraud and a crook. Get out. You’re sacked.’

        1. How does Khan get away with his support for LGBT rights when these things are an abomination to true Moslems?

          The answer is TAQIYA.

          In Islam Taqiya is a precautionary dissimulation or denial of religious belief and practice. Generally, taqiya is the action of committing a sinful act for a pious goal.

    4. And supporters are a coalition of the far Left, communists, Marxists, and socialists. Two can play at his game. Horrible, lying bstd.

  40. Spiked

    “The slow death of Europe

    Industry is being strangled by sky-high energy bills and mountains of bureaucracy.”

    A few days ago, BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, announced plans to downsize its production in Europe,

    closing several of its German production facilities and shedding around

    2,600 jobs. The German chemicals giant cites increased energy prices as

    one reason for this, but it omits some crucial other factors – namely,

    that Europe’s excessive bureaucracy and sky-high taxes means that it is no longer a globally competitive market. In the future, European customers will be supplied with chemicals from China, South Korea and the US.”

    Rest here

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/03/02/the-slow-death-of-europe/
    What could possibly go wroing…………..

    1. Today Sky Business News pointed out that energy costs in Britain are the highest in Europe.

      The comment was that “Green hysteria” will cause the collapse of the car industry.

    2. I asked a remoaner chum of mine and he said ‘obviously Brexit’. I said ‘you’re kidding?’
      He said, without a hint of irony, ‘well, you’ve made it harder to buy their chemicals so of course they’re closing down.’

      It’s almost hilarious. However, at that point Mongo stuck his head and paw through the gap between car seats to try to get in the front so we had other things to worry about.

    3. And to make sure that Britain does not become more competitive than Germany or France Hunt is going to raise Corporation Tax from 19% – 25% which is a rise of 30%!

      Sunak has now made trade in Northern Ireland better in the short term but far worse in the longer term and there is no longer an escape clause. Effectively the EU has a stranglehold that the so-called Stormont Brake will be impotent to get out of.

      In my view there should be a referendum on independence in Northern Ireland. If the vote is to leave the UK then the UK should have no further financial, legal or moral obligations to the country; Northern Ireland will then have to sort out whether it is part of The Republic of Ireland and thus a part of the EU. If the EU and the Republic don’t want them they can be totally independent and self-sufficient.

      On the other hand if the vote is for Northern Ireland to remain in the UK then the EU and the ECJ must get out completely.

      This half-in, half-out nonsense must be resolved.

      1. In my humble opinion, Hunt is a Manchurian candidate, ie a shill for the CCP. Why else impose a budget that will kill businesses??

      2. I think pushing it into international law and as you say outside of article 16 was the great coup that the EU wanted. While article 16 gave us a way out of the abomination, pushing it to international level, but still controlled by the ECJ completely chains us.

        Concessions over trade are irrelevant compared to that crippling.

        1. Sunak’s claim that he voted for Brexit and was philosophically a UKIPPER has certainly been put to the test by the EU.

          And the result is that they have stitched him up like a kipper by getting rid of Article 16 while keeping the ECJ as the final arbiter in all legal disputes in Northern Ireland.

          This matter really must be sorted out asap. Either Northern Ireland is part of the UK or it is not. If the majority of people in Northern Ireland want to leave the UK then they should be allowed to do so but then the UK should have no further financial, legal or moral obligations to the country;

  42. One for the NTTL experts – we have a thriving bird population who grace our garden, and most of them I can identify, however in the last week or so we have what looks very much like a standard house sparrow visiting, except that it’s several shades lighter in colour – no photo as yet, but I’d love to know what it is.

    Internet suggests leucism?

    2. We live on the edge of farm land and I haven’t seen a sparrow, Tree or house, or a thrush in our garden for years. We have quite a few Red Kites, far too many wood pigeons and we have a flock of red neck green parrots flying around occasionally. Apparently escaped for an aviary in west London a few years ago.

      1. It is indeed a leucistic house sparrow, Bleau. Leucism is quite common in many bird species. I have a partial-leucistic blackbird visiting my garden, which has white patches on both wings.

        2. Many thanks – we also had a similar blackbird, but in his case it was just a few white feathers!

        3. Ah; that’s great to know. I always assumed the blackbirds with white patches had been ineffectually got by a cat at some point and felt sorry for them! 🤣

          1. It’s a lesser ‘diluted’ form of albinism in which certain body parts display a ‘bleached’ look due to a decrease in the pigment melanin. In true albinism, all body parts are white and eyes are pink. The opposite of leucism is melanism in which body parts acquire darker hues due to an increase in melanin.

  43. As if we didn’t already know, it is becoming obvious that the Jan 6 “insurrection” was a set up:-

    By the time Trump supporters arrived at the Capitol from the Ellipse where Trump had spoken, the barricades around the Capitol (that would indicate the Capitol grounds were off limits) had already been ripped down by undisclosed individuals (undercover US intelligence agents?). As a result, most people had no idea they were breaking the law when they walked up to the Capitol building to join what they believed was a lawful protest.

    The older woman and her husband were told there would be speakers at the Capitol starting at 1 PM. But, instead of seeing the promised speaker at the Capitol building, Capitol Police shot her with a rubber bullet and doused her face with pepper spray.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/j6-bombshell-doj-video-shows-capitol-police-holding-open-upper-west-terrace-doors-on-jan-6-over-250-individuals-allowed-to-walk-into-capitol-by-police-then-later-arrested-and-abused/

    There is a video, taken at the time, on the page.

    1. I’m still confused as to why having the public in a government building was so terrifying to the statists. It’s their property, not the government’s. If they want to hold a bash in there that’s their choice.

      1. Have you been in the Palace of Westminster? I found that once inside it seemed to be fine to wander around to your heart’s content but actually getting in was like airport security only worse. They stop just short of a strip search. I was tempted to quip that I’d left the gunpowder at home but I figured the leftist statist guards are probably paid not to have a sense of humour.

        1. A friend of my brother was flying into JFK some years ago. On the customs/immigration form he filled out on the plane, one question was along the lines of- “Are you coming to the USA with the intent of overthrowing the government? ” (Or words similar.)
          The bloke wrote, “Sole purpose of visit” as a joke. Security was waiting when the plane got to the gate and he was led away.
          All ended well but those people do not have any humour whatsoever.

        2. Considering you could level the place with two colourless liquids mixed together it’s all a bit pointless. The problem isn’t destroying it. It’s getting out alive.

      2. As the article explains, the entire set up was to smear the MAGA Republicans and give the authorities the excuse they needed for not taking action on the obvious voter fraud.

  45. This caught my eye:

    HERGÉ (Georges Remi dit) 1907-1983 Tintin en Amérique Encre de Chine, mine de plomb, crayon bleu et gouache correctrice pour…
    HERGÉ (Georges Remi dit) 1907-1983 Tintin en Amérique Encre de Chine, mine de plomb, crayon bleu et gouache correctrice pour…

    Estimation 2 200 000 – 3 200 000 €

    Sold 2,158,400 €
    * Results are displayed including buyer’s fees and taxes. They are generated automatically and can be modified.
    Lot 12
    Hergé (Georges Remi dit) (1907-1983)
    Tintin en Amérique

    Sold 2,158,400 € [$]

    Sale’s details

    Sale: 4235
    Date: 10 Feb. 2023 19:00
    Auctioneer: Arnaud Oliveu

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b1fdfa3a531e95a0373128cdf87cc7f404e081f6b519f2683849e65fc9bafc03.jpg

    3. Wow!
      Love Tintin books, me. Excellent stories, and I keep on finding new jokes in there.

  47. 371759+ up ticks,

    German Defence Minister Admits Military Not Capable of Defending Country

    Much in common with England then, hollowed out by political termites and helpers with no reinforcing to maintain a sure footed stance, point of fact likely to implode any time within the 24/7.

    1. Remember when Little Bear fond of Lying bought subs that were not seaworthy and planes that wouldn’t fly and sent her troops in to military exercises armed with broom handles? I guess she thought they were playing Quidditch.

        1. So us Brits are being slagged off for being under defended militarily, but everyone else appears to be the same? So why are we sending things to the comedian?

  49. 371759+ up ticks,

    As with England there cannot be any indigenous people in need
    in either Country,

    U.S. Approves Fresh Ukraine Military Aid Boost: Total Now at $32 Billion (and Rising)

  52. Well done Rishi!

    Your failure to get a decent deal in Northern Ireland and the fact that you have been so easily outwitted seems to be giving a great moral boost and a great incentive to Argentina to see how easily they can outwit you as the EU has done.

    If the EU can take you in so easily then why shouldn’t the Argentinians think they have a chance too?

    Will you be claiming a magnificent victory after handing the Falklands over without giving a toss about what the islanders want?

    Argentina RIPS UP Falklands pact with the UK and demands ‘renegotiations on the islands’ sovereignty’ – but James Cleverly insists they ‘are BRITISH’

    The UK-ruled Falkland Islands, known as the Malvinas in Spanish, were the subject of a short but brutal war after Argentina invaded in 1982.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11815889/Argentina-RIPS-Falklands-pact-UK-demands-renegotiations-islands-sovereignty.html

    1. It can shout for all it likes. I am deaf until the temp reaches 15C and it’s therefore sensible to go into the garden. It’s 5.7C here at present.

        1. We have barbecued in snow, rain, sleet and every other weather Scotland throws at us! My dear old man and the rest of us love it!

          2. Horizontal snow in spring! Magic birthday memories of our elder daughters 18th! 2 tents and a very soggy ‘marquee’ on the swamp! Ah! Memories…

    2. I’ve just managed to cut our grass in the back garden. I was going to use the petrol mower because its self propelling. But it wouldn’t start. And smashed my nuckles pulling the starter when it back fired.
      You should have heard the language.
      Cutting remarks.
      Had to dig out the electric jobbing.
      I’m knackered now. But job done as it started to rain.

        1. I’ve got three sons but they are always too busy. I’ll keep digging at them.

  54. Just to mention that case where a woman was found guilty of manslaughter after she waved and shouted at a female cyclist on the pavement; the video appears to show that the victim was not wearing a helmet and was carrying a shoulder bag which must have made her less balanced. The pedestrian was criticised for showing no remorse, but the cyclist was 77 and would have known that she was in breach of the Highway Code, ie not a first time offender.

    1. I heard on the radio this morning that the path was set up for dual use and she was entitled to cycle on the path.

      1. Pedestrians have priority over cyclists, as per the HC. The cyclist was unable to avoid the ped safely and fell into the road. Wanton and Furious cycling, I would suggest..

        1. “wanton and furious cycling” Not at 77 years of age Kaypea. The pedestrian was at fault. Children cycle on the pavements, people in electric wheelchairs use the pavements, people with several dogs use the pavements. At 83 years of age I have to resort safely, to use an empty pavement now and again to allow emergency vehicles, articulated cattle trucks and huge agriculture machinery to get past me. Bollards in the middle of the road make it impossible for these vehicles to get past me. Young racing cyclists in town can keep ahead of the traffic but elderly cyclists cannot. Wide loads used to be preceded by an escort vehicle but they are rarely seen these days. The police understand the situation on pavements and the roads and use their common sense.

          1. “…and use their common sense.”

            Since when did plod use common sense in this day and age?

            Cavorting about, improperly dressed in high heels and rainbow hat bands – it doesn’t even come within good sense, let alone common sense, which ain’t that common.

          2. It stilll does not make it right. Cyclist have become a total menace on the roads.

          4. Absolutely with you on this, clydesider. The pedestrian, no matter what her mental capacity, and I assume she knows right from wrong, should never be wafting her arms anywhere near an old lady.

          5. Highway Code Rule 64
            You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement.
            Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & R(S)A sect 129

            Highway Act 1835
            72 Penalty on persons committing nuisances by riding on footpaths, &c.
            . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1 If any person shall wilfully ride upon any footpath or causeway by the side of any road made or set apart for the use or accommodation of foot passengers; or shall wilfully lead or drive any horse, ass, sheep, mule, swine, or cattle or carriage of any description, or any truck or sledge, upon any such footpath or causeway; or shall tether any horse, ass, mule, swine, or cattle, on any highway, so as to suffer or permit the tethered animal to be thereon;. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F2; every person so offending in any of the cases aforesaid shall for each and every such offence forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding [F3level 2 on the standard scale], over and above the damages occasioned thereby.

          6. With due respect you should then dismount and walk alongside your bicycle. If the PTB can’t be bothered to invest in road safety for all road users, including horses and pedestrians, they should accept responsibility for fatalities. Senior politicians and Royalty have police escorts or helicopters.

          7. I actually agree with the pedestrian woman’s complaint, but she could have stood aside and not acted as she did. In my view that death was mostly down to her.

        2. Exactly. No crash helmet, no high visibility clothing, carrying an unsecured shoulder bag and going too fast. It is almost a miracle that both women were not killed.

      2. The trial was told that police could not “categorically” state whether the pavement was a shared cycleway.

        Cambridgeshire County Council subsequently reiterated that and said it would review the location, but in his sentencing remarks Judge Sean Enright said it was a shared cycleway.
        https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-64824436

        There appears to be confusion about whether or not the path was a shared cycleway. If this is the case, surely the benefit of the doubt must go to the pedestrian, as people cycling on the pavement are breaking the law. The Defence lawyers are going to appeal. The judge’s comment, which conflicts with the police report, is bound to be highlighted.

      3. Dual use was bound to end in tears. Who on earth decided it was a good thing.

        1. The same sort of wassock who thinks a ‘smart’ motorway is a good idea🙄

    2. Even if she was entitled to cycle on the path, she made a conscious decision to go into the road. The judgement and sentencing is appalling, and underlines that cyclists are a privileged species that is permitted to do whatever it wants and can never be held responsible for anything.

  55. A fake news frenzy: why ChatGPT could be disastrous for truth in journalism. 3 March 2023.

    To be clear, it is not possible for AI such as ChatGPT and Sydney to have emotions. Nor can they tell whether they are making sense or not. What these systems are incredibly good at is emulating human prose, and predicting the “correct” words to string together. These “large language models” of AI applications, such as ChatGPT, can do this because they have been fed billions of articles and datasets published on the internet. They can then generate answers to questions.

    For the purposes of journalism, they can create vast amounts of material – words, pictures, sounds and videos – very quickly. The problem is, they have absolutely no commitment to the truth. Just think how rapidly a ChatGPT user could flood the internet with fake news stories that appear to have been written by humans.

    Lol! This blog contains more truth than the entire MSM on a good day!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/03/fake-news-chatgpt-truth-journalism-disinformation

    1. What a dumbo!

      Typical socialist but then the CON party is also stuffed with ’em.

    2. He sings like a crippled camel giving birth to an obese infant – but that is several shades better than his political and scientific acumen.

      1. His brother, I shouldn’t wonder.. Anything David WEF Milipede can do to diss his bro – is worth doing.

    4. I think I know why Grant Shapps is campaigning against the turbines.
      I’m not suggesting he has an interest. But there are proposed to build a 32 hectares (nearly 80 acres) solar farm on green belt farmland in his Welwyn and Hatfield constituency. To supply the town with energy/power. The farmer is a Tennant, easily kicked off, on land probably own by a local dignitary. It’s in close proximity to a large hall with two golf courses.
      Why can’t the property owners in WGC Invest in their own solar panels on their own roofs.

        1. I thought that’s what I said Conners the tenant farmer. That’s what I meant.
          The land is adjacent to where George Bernard Shaw use to live. This is just another classic example of corporate greed. I don’t think the two golf (decent to play on) courses are as financially successful as expected.

  57. Author who claimed to be professor at Oxford and Cambridge loses academic visitor status

    Students complained about Onyeka Nwelue’s social media posts including one in which he reportedly said ‘no poor person has any value’

    By Louisa Clarence-Smith, EDUCATION EDITOR and Freya Jones
    3 March 2023 • 8:00am

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/03/02/TELEMMGLPICT000327414027_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqssjkdbGNWgmqptl2tWJWf_EM2IiF63Wx_19gpCEIWO4.jpeg?imwidth=680
    Onyeka Nwelue: “I have always been called a professor from when I was a teenager”

    A Nigerian author who claimed to be a professor at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge has lost his academic visitor status after students alleged he “fabricated” his role.

    Onyeka Nwelue, a writer and filmmaker, was invited to join the African Studies Centre at Oxford as a visiting fellow for the 2021-22 academic year.
    *
    *
    *
    *************************************************
    Simon Watson
    5 HRS AGO
    This twit obviously goes to the same dressmaker as Ngozi Fulani. Most of my Nigerian friends prefer Marks & Spencer.

    Wisam Musleh
    2 HRS AGO
    The excellent Lady Susan Hussey would have sussed him out in a moment

    2. He tip of the huge iceberg. There’s probably a few thousand who fit that category.

  59. BBC Red Button News Headlines

    The European Union is creating legislation to ban desflurane starting in 2026. It will likely be the first medication to be banned because of climate change.

    An anaesthetic gas called desflurane turns out to be so harmful to the planet that it makes cow burps seem harmless. The EU is turning its focus on human medical treatments that will spell doom for the.planet which will just hasten the extinction of the humans that are trying to live on this planet:

    https://eos.org/articles/should-inhaled-anesthetics-be-swapped-for-ivs

  60. I’ve just been chatting to our next-door neighbour. He told me he wrote to our mp regarding stopping all of this illegal invasion.
    Asking him how he voted. He wrote back saying that he wasn’t in Parliament that day.
    Really it’s your job matey if you’re not sure how things are supposed to work. Do us all a favour and Resign.

    1. Mention to your neighbour to ask the MP if he has bought an anti-muslim waistcoat, on expenses.

    2. Our MP received a reply from the Immigration minister back in December 2021, saying the government understands the concerns of constituents and has a “New Plan.”

      i think we can all say that their New Plan has spectacularly and utterly failed, assuming there ever was such a plan in the first place.

        1. Or The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl.
          “I have secret plans and nasty tricks.”

  61. Just watching Sky News and the sentencing of some guy who I have never heard of. Not particularly interested in the case (and I don’t know why Sky is) but the judge is remarkable. He sounds like he just doesn’t want to be there, he can hardly be bothered speaking. Weird.

  62. How the Wuhan lab leak went from crackpot theory to the most likely scenario. 3 March 2023.

    Just as the virus, in the natural spillover scenario, sprang from species to species, so the lab-leak theory has jumped from political group to group: marginalised to mainstream, kooky to conventional. Early on into the pandemic, the theory emerged that the virus had originated in the lab, which is a 40-minute drive from the Huanan wet market. Donald Trump said he believed it and others suggested the virus could have been engineered as a biological weapon. The Lancet medical journal rejected the theory, saying it was on a par with climate change denial and anti-vaxx theories. It printed a statement signed by 27 scientists asserting their solidarity with Chinese scientists and saying: “We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that Covid-19 does not have a natural origin.” Some scientists stuck their heads above the parapet and said there could be a case for the theory but for a long time they were in the minority.

    Now, what once was vilified as xenophobic Trumpian hyperbole is today the sober conclusion of US government agencies in Joe Biden’s administration – including the FBI (which has sparked a diplomatic row with Beijing accusing Washington of political manipulation). Information, it seems, can evolve too. How did it happen?

    Actually this is a pretty good demonstration of how complete the control of the MSM is! Everything is reviewed as it comes up and then the most acceptable version (to the elites) of events is the one that is written up. It also works the other way. Anything that might produce a negative response gets crushed or never appears. It’s also pretty obvious from the way some stories appear in multiple outlets simultaneously (Vlad’s girl friend last week) that briefing papers must be sent to the editors to be modified by their own staff for publication. When this virus story first appeared; the United States was still trying to remain on good terms with China and they didn’t want anyone rocking the boat, so they killed It. Now the New Cold War beckons and they are happy to see it published.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/03/03/how-wuhan-lab-leak-went-crackpot-theory-likely-scenario/

    1. Not over yet.

      Just before Wuhan flu was released, two Chinese researchers were expelled from a Canadian bio-lab and sent home to China (ok, Wuhan). There have been serious roadblocks to access to any information on what the miscreants had done and what they were working on.

      However, a parliamentary committee has just passed a motion demanding an investigation into Chinese interference in Canada- it’s not just election fixing! Hang on to your hats, if this investigation gets going we might end up talking about Winnipeg flu instead of Wuhan flu.

    2. The Chinese lab was funded by the Americans! Something the mainstream media seem remarkably shy about reporting.

          2. I wouldn’t bet my house on that, but I would if it was a six degrees of separation!

  63. While I was having the second bonfire this week, I pondered on the wise words of the London Caliph. That anyone who objects to any of his madcap schemes is “far-right” and a “covid denier”.

    With the revelations from WhatsAppGate – it seems to me that to call someone a “covid denier” is – from now on – recognising a sensible, well informed person.

        1. Not long after he ‘managed’ the ballot to become re-elected. I was having a couple of pints with some old friends.
          One use to be a senior police officer. He told us one of his son in laws had just been selected to be an armed body guard to kahnt. All four of us reach for our wallets saying how much ?

        1. I suspect a whole lot of the self important SOBs forewent the jabs. I don’t remember any casualties.

    2. It’s the usual leftie response – “You don’t agree with me, so you’re a bigot”. Designed to shut down any debate.

    3. You might have been more considerate Bill and brought him home after your recent London jaunt, for a visit and offered him a steak. Tied to it of course.

    4. I thought that some labour MPs objected to the cash grab. Are they far right as well.

  64. Weakness causes far more trouble than strength.

    Biden was weak in Afghanistan with disastrous consequences which have encouraged the war in the Ukraine – had Trump been president I doubt if the war would have started.

    And Sunak’s weakness in his negotiations with the EU have destroyed all chance of Northern Ireland ever becoming a full member of the United Kingdom again.

      1. Should get professional negitiators, brief them carefully and let them get on with it. Final agreement by the PM and Parliament, but otherwise stay out of it.

      2. They probably hope the British government will just hand the islands over. Must be worth a try.

          2. Only if the Falkland RNLI brought them in, the distance is slightly longer than the channel!

          2. We never get anything back. They’ve just, thanks to not doing Brexit properly, taken NI away.

  65. Afternoon all, a morning spent being walked around the shops in Bath by Mrs VVOF, what fun.
    At least I managed a pub lunch afterwards and while I was eating I looked out the pub window at the never ending stream of traffic clogging up the road and thought to myself we could do with another lockdown
    Anyone seen Witless and Co?

    1. The flaw in your reasoning is that if we have another lockdown, you wouldn’t be able to go out for a pub lunch.

        1. Why not a lockdown for young, fit people. After all oldies are susceptible to the dreaded lurgy, they need to be allowed to roam free and avoid lockdown syndrome.

          Makes no sense? I am writing on behalf of a government lacking in dense.

  66. A bright Birdie Three today.

    Wordle 622 3/6
    🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Same here.
      Wordle 622 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
      ⬜🟨🟩⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  67. Evening reading for you – Rod Liddle – Spectator. Interesting in the light of my “covid denier” comment below:

    “You want some tomatoes? Come up here, we’re inundated. We’ve got a tomato mountain. That’s because nobody in the north of England eats salad vegetables, yet the government keeps sending up vast lorry-loads of the stuff to stop us dying of diabetes.

    It’s an actual fact that nobody who lives north of Stamford, Lincs, has ever knowingly eaten cucumber. I watch the northerners sometimes in the Tesco at Chester-le-Street, shuffling hurriedly past the vegetable section, eyes averted, nervous lest a pak choi reach out and grab them. There are even tomatoes for sale in our local bakery – they’ve been placed next to the pasties and steak bakes, presumably in the hope that someone will buy one under the misapprehension that they are filled with meat and gravy. But still nobody eats salad veg up here. At least, not in bloody winter. We get through the cold season on pies and insulin.

    A few locals, meanwhile, are continuing to wear face masks – people who refuse to accept that they were misled (unwittingly at first, later not so unwittingly). The first definitive meta-study on the efficacy of masks has been produced by the Cochrane Library, which is often described as the world’s best resource for evaluating health care interventions, and which works in partnership with the WHO. The lead author of the review, Tom Jefferson of Oxford University, summed up the findings: ‘There is just no evidence that they [masks] make any difference.’

    Have you heard this reported on the BBC? Nope, me neither. I wonder if that gloriously arrogant tankie, Susan Michie – clinical psychologist and Sage adviser – is still wearing her stupid mask? I would guess that she is, because, as with most of the berserk left, hard facts play no role in her worldview. In 2021 she suggested we should wear masks indefinitely, despite the growing evidence that they were useless. She was still tweeting pictures of herself masked up on public transport in June last year. And now, faced with the truth, she will probably buy a new batch and put up another asinine tweet.

    The UK Covid inquiry is under way and I suspect it will not get to the nub of the issue, which is that, under the guidance of people like Michie, our entire economy was wrecked, children’s education stopped for 18 months and our future health seriously jeopardised as a consequence of the government’s actions.

    I had – and have – no great objections to the first lockdown, or even the requirement early on to wear a mask and rub your hands with raw alcohol every few seconds. We didn’t know what we were up against, after all. Still, given that we didn’t know what we were up against, the rapid stifling of opinions which did not accord with Michie’s point of view, and the collusion in this by the big tech social-media companies and the likes of the BBC, the police and even the bloody army is a scandal which should not go unpunished – but almost certainly will.

    So much of what we were forbidden to say, on pain of being banned from social media or sacked from our jobs, has turned out to have had considerable substance. As we now know from that Cochrane study, masks were of no use whatsoever in curtailing the spread of Covid – yet those who argued as much were silenced or vilified. Hand cleanser was of no use either, because – as we discovered towards the end of 2020 – Covid wasn’t transmitted by touching a shop counter or the handrail on a Tube escalator.

    If you had proposed in 2021 that the Covid vaccine might be a bit risky, or that there was a connection with blood-clotting, your posts would have been taken down and your ideas certainly wouldn’t have been heard on the BBC. Nonetheless, we later found out that there was a relation between the vaccine and blood-clotting (much as there is between the virus and blood-clotting, it should be said) and we are still not entirely sure of the health ramifications of taking a vaccine tested in haste. You may have noticed, by the way, that we are no longer enjoined to get the jab: except for people over 75, it seems to have disappeared from our lives.

    Opposition to lockdown was similarlysamizdat-like. The suggestion that our immune systems were being compromised by lockdown isolation was a view which Twitter and Facebook considered fake news – and yet it is now commonly accepted that our greater susceptibility to flu viruses may indeed be the consequence of that long period under lock and key. You will have your own anecdotal evidence of the much greater susceptibility – I certainly do – and it shows up in the figures for hospital admissions this winter. Then there are the cancers and other serious illnesses that went undetected and will be revealed in future death stats.

    Another view which was simply not allowed was the notion that the virus had leaked from a Wuhan lab. This was ‘racist’ and ‘unhelpful’ – but it seems it was also almost certainly correct.

    My objection, though, is not that the government, or Sage, got it wrong. It was the authoritarian mindset which demanded that countervailing opinions should not even be heard and that the people voicing them should be silenced as ‘Covid deniers’. This totalitarianism was quite explicit, such as when the BBC ran a debate on herd immunity and agreed with one of the participants – Michie, natch – that it should not be ‘even-handed’. As she said: ‘I’d got prior agreement from R4 about the framing of the item. I was assured that this would not be held as an even-handed debate.’

    These people – the same ones who don’t know what a woman is and want to rewrite Roald Dahl – run our lives. They will not be gainsaid and they will stamp on you if you speak up. We need shot of them, sharpish.”

    1. Face masks?
      To my surprise there are a few people wearing masks down here in South Carolina. Boy they stand out in the crowds of normal people.

        1. We have snow coming down at the moment…forecasters said rain. But I don’t think it will last long as it is not settling.

          1. We had snow twice in NC- second time there was about 5 ins. Henry, my Golden, went nuts. Such excitement and when he discovered he could eat it- wow! He galloped round the yard like a nutcase.

          5. He is a nutter! Glorious, loving, daft and nearly 8! Shows no signs of growing up!

          7. In CT we often had very heavy snowfalls. One night, I put on my parka, boots and gloves etc and went out the back to clear a path off the deck, so Fred, Golden, could get out for a tinkle. He went galumphing off and then ran back onto the deck and knocked me onto my back. I wasn’t hurt because there was so much soft snow but then Fred jumped on me and I couldn’t get up- mind you, I was laughing my head off. Finally shoved him off and we went back in.
            Ex was still snoring on the sofa….oblivious.
            I really miss having a dog.

  68. That’s me gone for today. Useful small bonfire. More garden work tomorrow before the Great Cold arrives for Mon-Thurs.

    At Christie’s there was a very nice painting by Berthe Morisot (one of my favorite Impressionists). It was sold this arvo (despite my frantic efforts!!!) for £160,000 – but the buyer has to pay £226,000 – £46,000 in commission and VAT. No wonder they can provide free the best coffee in London…

    Anyway, another opportunity missed.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain.

      1. Quite. Though, according to a chap who is in the trade and who gave a fascinating lecture a few weeks back, there are many different types of skullduggery that go on about commissions, “unsold” paintings etc etc.

    2. It is not just “the Great Cold”, Bill, it is the “Beast from the East” Mk2.

    1. I wasn’t aware that the words “Hershey’s” and “Chocolate” belonged together in the same sentence.

      Hershey’s is to chocolate as soya protein is to beef.

      1. Hershey’s kisses, the kiss of death?

        Probably the worst “chocolate” sweet that I have ever tasted

        1. Yet yer Merkins like the flavour of babysick in their chocolate.
          Weird…

          1. I’ll defer to your superior knowledge on that one, never having tasted babysick.
            Each to their own

          2. Sometines, as a parent, one isn’t given a choice. The taste, the smell…

          3. Ah, that must be a generational thing.
            I keep a wife/grandma to cope with that…
            };-o

  70. Well ladies, whaddayagotta say?
    TOP 10 TABLES FOR MOST ATTRACTIVE MEN AND WOMEN
    WOMEN

    1. India

    2. Japan

    3. Sweden

    4. Poland

    5. Italy

    6. Brazil

    7. Ukraine

    8. France

    9. Israel

    10. USA

    MEN

    1. UK

    2. India

    3. Italy

    4. USA

    5. Sweden

    6. Japan

    7. France

    8. Ireland

    9. Belgium

    10. Brazil

          2. Well, they’ve done a grand job with those ‘faces’. Oops! Typed faeces!

          2. Mole eyes are even more useless than my right eye. When I was looking after the churchyard, I had a few successes with mole traps. But I returned from holiday one year to find 76 bluddy molehills in the lawn.

          3. Ho ho

            I have a similar problem, I’ve tried traps too but also with limited success.

      3. All the good looking women in the village turn up at my local at 11pm for some reason I can’t fathom.

          1. I do tend to actually sing along with the songs as the ‘girls’ get prettier.

    5. The list is almost utter nonsense because physical attraction is a function of perceived fertility, but it is interesting that no African country makes the cut.

  71. That “wind off the North Sea” doesn’t half make the winter longer and colder, and discourages late winter/early spring pruning.

    1. Boris a strong leader???
      He’s one of the biggest wankers on the planet and even the wankers wouldn’t choose him as leader!

  75. This will be fun:
    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/foxes-torture-newham-east-london-police-b1064585.html

    Animal rights vs black animals.
    Which way will the woke jump?

    Officers said the men regularly go to the area in the early hours of the morning and reportedly capture and torture foxes.
    The start fires to smoke them out of their dens and set dogs on them, police said.
    The gang could possibly operate further afield, police warn. The group is described as four black men, aged about 18 to 20.

    1. Strange how the gang can be labelled, yet if they were doing the same to young white women, do you honestly think they would be so described?
      Do you?

      1. A camouflaged military sniper is needed to wait patiently in the area for couple of nights. Just shoot the bastards and say, “Job well done.”

        Edit: And their colour wouldn’t come into it, just dead will do.

          2. I was particularly horrified about the description of the fox and the lighter fluid.
            That really was upsetting.
            How many cats and dogs got the same treatment? Pigeons, crows, seagulls…

          1. The way ‘society’ treats animals is a mirror to what we are. These little sh*ts are lower than scum.

    5. Where are the sabs? Hunting is conducted with fairness – leeway and the fox often gets away unscathed. The object is vermin control, not torture.

    1. Has the school been referred to the Information Commissioner for naming the Head Mistress?

  77. Evening, all. Bojo should have done a lot of things, but he didn’t. First and foremost, he should have delivered a genuine Brexit. After all, it was why he was elected.

    1. These people’s egos are also revealed in this text/whatsapp/(whatever) exposé. They truly regard us as plebs and underlings. I’d give a lot to see them all get their comeuppance.

      1. They also have no concept that there are people in this country who have functioning brains. Not those who watch Strictly Come Prancing and similar trash. Apologies to any here who do watch that stuff.
        I am so mad about what is going on right now.

        1. I woke up this morning with the children’s drag stuff that is going on whirling around my head. Sometimes it is the jab and the side effects that disturbs me in those semiconscious moments between sleep and wakefulness. Other times it is ‘where are we all going to end up?’ There is no peace to be found at the moment.

          1. In my library in GA I had a programme called Doggy Tails. These dogs were all therapy dogs and they came in and selected children came in and read to them. The dogs didn’t dress up, they were well behaved and the kids loved them. I have related here before how moved I was to hear a selective mute girl read a whole short book to Clancy, a lovely Golden. There were two Dalmatians, Dottie and Maggie and a little terrier whose name I have forgotten.
            Of course, the dogs all knew I had biscuits in my office and that’s where they came first;-)
            That is acceptable with children; all this perversion is not.
            Time for sanity to prevail.

          2. I keep having a subconscious feeling that we will wake up one day and the insanity will be over. Then I have to remind myself that that’s not going to happen; every inch will have to be fought for.

          3. I wish I was younger and fitter but that’s not the case so will KBO as best we here can.

  79. Is it my imagination or has the Press suddenly gone very quiet over the Ukraine?

    One might be forgiven for thinking the Russians are winning.

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