Monday 10 October: The Government needs a plan to tackle the huge costs of dementia care

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

666 thoughts on “Monday 10 October: The Government needs a plan to tackle the huge costs of dementia care”

  1. Good morning all.
    Dry with calm air and the sky getting lighter with one star visible to the South West.
    A cool 3½°C.

  3. ‘Morning, Peeps.  A heady 15°C on yer sarf coast, with a max of 17° and lashing rain forecast for mid-morning.  The CH remains firmly off, which must be a record for October.  Long may we continue to deny our grasping energy provider their excessive profit – at least from this household – but it doesn’t prevent them from wanting to double our DD yet again. Priority task today is to remind them that even on the new rates there is sufficient credit on our account to cover at least a couple of months before any increase is required, so they can just get lost and take their begging bowl with them!

    This is today’s leading letter.  It is a heartfelt plea for better funding of dementia care, something we all hope and pray that we can avoid:

    SIR – I cared for my wife with semantic dementia for 10 years, then employed a carer for two years, before placing her in a care home for her final two years.

    The cost of dementia care is well-nigh impossible to meet. Governments don’t tackle this problem because, if it is to be adequately funded, it will make a huge and ever-increasing demand on taxpayers.

    My wife died from Covid in 2020 and, if I am completely honest, her death was a happy release for both of us, as I found it very distressing to watch her deterioration, and there was no longer any quality of life.

    I had placed her in a wonderful purpose-built care home which helped to assuage the guilt I felt in the final years, but that came at a cost of £85,000 per year. With the annual rise in the minimum wage I faced cost increases of more than 5 per cent a year and a rapid drain on my resources.

    It may seem heartless, but Covid provided relief to me and my wife, as she died very quickly, did not suffer, and relieved me of the funding worry.

    The cost of care is a ticking time bomb, particularly as standards vary considerably, and you get what you pay for. Care in the home is eventually impossible and the misery and worry of funding and finding residential care puts an intolerable burden on the family. I found care homes with vacancies that would not take my wife due to the nature of her dementia, which added to my difficulties. Now she is at rest and I can remember her as she was before the years of sadness.

    I hope that any solution to this problem takes account of the needs of those who face, in some cases, the disruption of their lives over many years, and involves consultation with those who have first-hand experience of this disease.

    There will never be an ideal time to resolve this problem and with the current demands on the public purse there will be a need to increase taxes, despite the current Government’s ambition to reverse the trend.

    Roger Howard
    Southampton

    For what it us worth, Mr Howard, you have my  sympathy.

    2. The only real solution to this, and no one is prepared to even talk about it, is assisted suicide!

      1. On the contrary Minty, the government loses no opportunity to push assisted suicide in the mainstream media, where the articles are usually biased strongly in its favour, and comments censored to disallow pulling holes in the pro narrative.
        It would clearly be a very cheap solution to most of the health problems of old age, and if it gets legalised, I expect it to go the same way as abortion within a year, from “safeguards” to a huge industry.

        1. Ironically, it may be that the care home ‘industry’ will provide the largest opposition to an assisted suicide scheme.

          After all, it will deprive them of one of their main funding streams.

      2. We all used to pray to be spared from sudden death. But to be frank most of us would prefer a painless sudden death to a long drawn-out misery causing the burden of looking after us to fall upon the people whom we love the most.

        When my father died I found a file which he had left giving me advice as to what to do. In this file he wrote two quotations:

        Nothing is here for tears (Milton’s Lycidas) which had me in floods,

        and from “Julius Caesar”:

        Of all the wonders that I yet have heard.
        It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
        Seeing that death, a necessary end,
        Will come when it will come.”

        1. “Fear, and be slain—no worse can come to fight;

          And fight and die is death destroying death,
          Where fearing dying pays death servile breath.”

          (an earlier Richard)

      3. We all used to pray to be spared from sudden death. But to be frank most of us would prefer a painless sudden death to a long drawn-out misery causing the burden of looking after us to fall upon the people whom we love the most.

        When my father died I found a file which he had left giving me advice as to what to do. In this file he wrote two quotations:

        Nothing is here for tears (Milton’s Lycidas) which had me in floods,

        and from “Julius Caesar”:

        Of all the wonders that I yet have heard.
        It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
        Seeing that death, a necessary end,
        Will come when it will come.”

    3. I went through a similar experience. I made the mistake of putting money into my late wifes account which, when I was forced to put her in a home, the NHS took it all at over £1000 a week. Thankfully the home, and care, was excellent. It annoyed me that there were others in the home who had never contributed anything in the way of taxes and got their stay for free. She passed away 18 months ago but not with Covid. All Covid did was to stop me being with her although the rules were relaxed for me in her final days.

    4. Mine, too. I was lucky as MOH was only in a home for ten days before dying and that was funded on medical grounds after a stay in hospital. I was looking at bankruptcy otherwise.

  4. Good morning, all. Raining. Will end by 8.30 when I leave.

    The MR realised last night that this is the first face to face meeting for work she has had for THREE years….. Thanks, SAGE….(not)

  6. SIR – Ten years ago, unprompted, my wife bought me a leaf blower for Christmas. Its two-stroke engine is deafening and pours out blue smoke.

    It is highly antisocial, completely pointless and enormous fun. They are banned in California, quite rightly.

    David Bryce
    Norwich

    Mr Bryce, if it is indeed pouring out blue smoke then it is either faulty or, more likely, you have messed up the measuring out of your 2-stroke oil.  And “deafening”? Noisy, probably, which is why I limit the use of mine to days when there isn’t time to clear up a vast quantity of acorns and leaves, in the hope that visitors to Janus Towers will not have a reason to sue me if they take a tumble.

    2. I have occasional squirrels. But I yearn for a cordless leaf blower, which might be useful for starting bonfires.

    3. I get a bit possed off when i see users blowing the leaves off their drive/garden into the public road

  7. Irish premier says ‘entire nation is mourning’ as tributes paid to blast victims. 10 october 2022.

    Friday’s blast at the service station in Creeslough, Co Donegal is being treated by Irish police as a “tragic accident”.

    The huge explosion claimed the lives of four men, three women, two teenagers – a boy and girl – and a girl of primary school age.

    One can see that this is a tragedy to the victims friends and relatives and indeed understand the Irish Premiers sentiments if only for political reasons. Why it should be the lead story on the BBC News and in the headlines of the UK MSM is more difficult to comprehend. We have suffered worse at the hands of terrorists both Islamic and Irish and received no sympathy from either group.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/micheal-martin-irish-mary-lou-mcdonald-james-sinn-fein-b2198694.html

    1. I might be being very cynical here, but the picture of the victims on the BBC news website, made me squirm a bit.

    2. I am often cynical about items in the news, but the death of any child is tragic. In this case I wonder if modern building regulations facilitated the build up of propane & butane.

  8. SIR – After numerous offers of a smart meter, I finally agreed to have one fitted. The engineer duly arrived and quickly concluded that the mobile-phone reception was effectively non-existent. My fibre broadband is apparently of no help.

    This rendered the installation pointless and he left. In my chilly, old, rural property I’m wondering how I and many others are to benefit from off-peak cheaper electricity.

    John Williams
    Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex

    “…off-peak cheaper electricity…” or perhaps, more accurately, what will probably turn out to be more expensive rates at peak times?  He should be thankful that he has, for now, avoided the cunning plan behind these devices!

    1. That dog cartoon could be Oscar thinking. If Kadi doesn’t finish his food, I have to scoop up his bowl before Oscar can woof it all down.

  10. Sex and Good English!

    On his 74th birthday, a man got a gift certificate from his wife. The certificate paid for a visit to a medicine man living on a nearby reservation who was rumoured to have a wonderful cure for erectile dysfunction (it means he couldn’t get a hard on).

    After being persuaded, he drove to the reservation, handed his ticket to the medicine man, and wondered what he was in for.

    The old man slowly, methodically produced a potion, handed it to him, and with a grip on his shoulder, warned, ‘This is a powerful medicine, and it must be respected. You take only a teaspoonful, and then say ‘1-2-3.’ When you do that, you will become manlier than you have ever been in your life, and you can perform as long as you want.”

    The man was encouraged. As he walked away, he turned and asked, “How do I stop the medicine from working?”

    “Your partner must say ‘1-2-3-4,'” he responded, “but when she does, the medicine will not work again until the next full moon.”

    He was very eager to see if it worked so he went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine, and then invited his wife to join him in the bedroom. When she came in, he took off his clothes and said, “1-2-3!”

    Immediately, he was the manliest of men.

    His wife was excited and began throwing off her clothes, and then she asked, “What was the 1-2-3 for?”

    And that, boys and girls, is why we should never end our sentences with a preposition, because we could end up with a dangling participle.

  12. Modern Life………

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ca0204cd706b16c40a660287ad4ba6adb1692d05300e4036200b479fe1c990f4.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/70970750cce36deb0b1614fb3ff0d051df611c3405d218f63685c5cfd455eea0.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/073d1c37287a7178d9028c45ad40a926e9fa4f5955faa10712bcaa9215b7f9a4.jpg

    Every cloud………

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/49b0f740a93b2d9e72bc37bf9a9317013f893c8501d7de3ab97a79c46fb78bfc.jpg

    1. What ludicrous sums! I’m willing to bet that they are…and what a disgusting insult to those who, like the chap whose letter leads today’s crop, will have spent their savings on dementia care.

      1. A JCB would be good at clearing the road. Scoop them up and deposit them in a landfill site.

    3. Very dispiriting to read the comments at the bottom of the tweet. All along the lines of, “you shouldn’t hurt the poor protestors”. I despair.

  16. This is the final paragraph of today’s DT leader after yesterday’s bucket of vitriol from the Fishwife:

    “She said in her interview that she “detested” Tories and everything they stood for, a grotesquely divisive sentiment that will be noted by the 700,000 Conservative voters in Scotland. Hers is the authentic voice of dangerous, intolerant, tribalist nationalism.”

    I had to set the radio alarm last night and this morning awoke to some loon on Toady trying to excuse what the Fishwife said yesterday He tried to explain it away by saying that she detested Tory policies. No, idiot reporter, she said, very clearly and unambiguously, that she detested the Tories. I’ve seen the clip and that is precisely what she said, so stop trying to dig the bloody woman out of a hole that is of her own making!

      1. I really don’t know, but she does seem to have a hold over the media. This is by no means the first time that the MSM has been seen to go soft on the Scottish Nasty Party.

        ‘Morning, B3.

        1. I understand that she threatens injunctions and libel actions if any newspaper says anything that she doesn’t like.

    3. Stop calling her the “fishwife”. She is the diametric opposite. She has never known hard work. She has no children. She is incapable of managing money. She surely cannot knit ganseys ,or socks in the round on four pins.. I doubt she goes to the Kirk on the Sabbath. And I’d stake my life that she has never mended a net or baited a long line. Nor has she ever charmed a customer.

      2. I agree, Elsie McSelfie/Foghorn Dreghorn/Nippolean are all far better descriptions.

  17. Ministers launch back to work drive for people signed off with mental health problems. 10 October 2022.

    Number 10 has pledged that £122 million will go towards helping put recipients of mental health support in touch with jobs advisers.

    Therese Coffey, the Health Secretary, said: “The good health and well-being of the nation is also good for the economic health of the nation. Offering employment support to people under the care of NHS mental health services will help them start, stay and succeed in work, improving their well-being and resilience as well as growing our economy.”

    It is thought that helping 100,000 people with mental health problems to either stay in or join the workforce could boost GDP by up to 0.25 per cent.

    The Marxist State at work. The triumph of Doctrine over Common Sense!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/10/ministers-launch-back-work-drive-people-signed-mental-health/

    3. I believe “Occupational Therapy” used to be a major part of the rationale in the old mental asylums for those capable of work and many had farms or market gardens attached.

  19. I’ve a retinopathy check up this morning, will be off to Bakewell in an hour.
    A bit of a bugger. Can’t drive because of the drops and it’s a bit of a walk through the town on Market Day to get to the clinic on the other side of the town!

    2. Hard luck. Here is me and my cousin in August 1952 by the bridge there. I note with horror my ‘bryleemed’ hair…I’m not the one with the ribbons. Sadly my cousin does now have dementia/Alzheimers and is in a care home.

        1. My Uncles were collectively called the brylcream boys. Always smartly turned out. They were all in the Military.

          1. I hated going to the barbers.’Short back and sides’, and Brylcreem and a wooden plank across the seat. Thank goodness for the 60s.

          2. Some of the boys in my year smeared their heads with Brylcream (or Brylgrease as we called it) when they were getting confirmed in the school chapel by the Bishop of Exeter. They thought it would be amusing to see the poor old chap’s sticky hands after he had laid on his hands.

  20. Morning all 🙂
    It’s been chucking it down here. But our new area of seeded grass is doing rather well.
    I managed to keep the bloody wood pigeons off the plot with vertical bamboo canes some horizontal light rope and several small pieces of bubble wrap secured to the rope with wire.
    Blowing in the wind.
    I think of pigeons as the politicians of the bird world. They fly in anywhere, strut around pecking at anything they can get their beaks into. And visit the birdbath for a drink, after taking the lions share they turn around to fly away and crap in the water.

    1. Nothing illustrates the point more than this article in the DT.
      The author was an advisor to Treasonous May and every time I read his scribbles in the DT I think he would be better suited to The Guardian!

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/09/tories-must-end-reckless-experiment-face-electoral-disaster/

      The Tories must end this reckless experiment or face electoral disaster

      Nick Timothy 9 October 2022 • 9:30pm
      6-8 minutes
      When I was 17, I did something deeply subversive. Shortly after the 1997 election – when Labour had routed the Tories so comprehensively that Tony Blair worried he had “done something unconstitutional” – I knocked on the door of No 36, High Street, Sutton Coldfield, and asked to join the Conservative Party.
      A lovely man named Martyn Punyer welcomed me in. He was the party agent, and he wore a look of startled enthusiasm. Not many had joined the Tories that year, and I sensed I might have been the youngest to sign up for some time. For the Conservatives were badly broken. They had lost their reputation for economic competence, were mired in impropriety and sleaze, and had been reduced to a rump of MPs, many of whom had little idea of what life for ordinary people was like.
      Defeated parties recently turfed out of government rarely bounce straight back, and so it proved in the 2000s. The Tories found no comfort or solace in opposition. Leaders tried to change but retreated into core vote strategies. The party flirted with ideology, proposing unpopular policies that would part-fund those opting out of public services. Suffering a string of defeats, it had to look on as Labour vandalised the constitution, opened the borders, signed away sovereignty, joined disastrous foreign wars, sacrificed yet more of our manufacturing industries, and, eventually, left the economy in ruins.
      This is more than just history. It is a warning to the Conservative Party today, which finds itself in a terrible mess. Following the disastrous start to Liz Truss’s premiership, and in particular the disastrous and unnecessary mini-Budget, Tory MPs have started to compare the next election to 1997. And they have good reason to do so: poll after poll shows Labour leads of 20 and even 30 percentage points. According to one, more voters under the age of 50 say they would vote Green than Tory. MPs representing constituencies that have always returned Tories worry about their chances of re-election.
      Nobody doubts that these are difficult times. There is a war in Europe, and an energy crisis. The world is still suffering the after-effects of lockdowns and Covid restrictions. There is inflation and – after years of super-low interest rates and quantitative easing – tightening monetary policy.
      Yet all this makes what the Government has done even more reckless. Remember, there was no reason whatsoever to announce a new Budget on September 23. But drunk on their own ideology, egged on by their libertarian think-tank cheerleaders, and unwilling to listen to anybody casting a doubt on their plans, the Prime Minister and Chancellor turned their radical talk into radical action – and in doing so unleashed a terrible financial, economic and political crisis.
      Unbelievable as it may sound about the party of sound money and prudent economic stewardship, even now the Government lacks a fiscal plan. On top of the energy bailout that had already been announced, Kwasi Kwarteng cancelled scheduled tax rises he had inherited from Rishi Sunak, cut the basic rate of income tax and abolished the top rate altogether – leaving an enormous black hole in the public finances.
      At the time of the Budget Kwarteng simply announced he would let government borrowing increase. But since the market reaction – with gilt yields rising and the slide in sterling stopping only when the Bank of England suggested steep interest rate rises were on their way – he has changed course. The top rate of tax will remain after all. Spending cuts are on their way. There will be further details about the Government’s growth plan. And there will be a fiscal rule that says debt as a percentage of GDP should fall in the medium term.
      Thanks to the mini-Budget, interest rates will now rise further and faster than we would have otherwise expected. Government borrowing costs are increasing. Public services and in-work benefits will be cut. These are all serious consequences for the lives of ordinary people. And, worse, the panicky new plan might not work anyway: Tory MPs will not vote for controversial cuts and supply-side reforms. The tax cuts will not stimulate growth. And the fiscal rule on its own is weak, and risks encouraging decisions that are bad for growth, like cuts to capital investment.
      Conservatives are not supposed to be reckless, but then this is not really a conservative government. Conservatives eschew ideology, but those at the top of the Government are ideological. They are libertarians. This explains the desperation to cut taxes, in particular those paid by the rich, without bothering with anything as boring as an accompanying fiscal policy. It explains the miserable new immigration policy, which is designed to allow even greater numbers to come to Britain, regardless of what it means for our culture, infrastructure or labour markets. It explains why No 10 has ruled out a public awareness campaign to help households to reduce their energy costs.
      Ms Truss says her ideology is about freedom. “I’ve never liked being told what to do,” she says. “And I don’t like to see other people being told what to do.” But this reductive belief is far removed from real conservatism, a rich and sophisticated body of thought that encompasses identity and belonging, community and commitment, market economics, prudence, national resilience and good government. In just a matter of weeks, libertarian thinking has brought the Conservative Party to the edge of disaster – and the country to economic pain and insecurity.
      And so Tory MPs now face the dilemma about what to do with a leader less than a third of them supported. It would be ridiculous, many say, to depose Truss quite so quickly. But no more ridiculous, many counter, than watching her lead the party to a landslide defeat and a lost decade in opposition. The Government has created a fiscal hole it cannot fill, lost the confidence of the markets, and repelled millions of voters with the values it has shown. Whether it is by removing her or constraining her, Tory MPs need to save their party, and the country, from the libertarian ideology emanating from Downing Street.

        1. Yes. Her tax policies need to come in soon so people can actually physically see the difference they make.

        2. I agree – it is ludicrous to suggest that someone isn’t up to the job after just 4 weeks! There is of course another agenda in play here…

        3. Well said.
          Million upticks.
          This behaviour is the very reason why so many people avoid politics.

      2. The Cons took far too long in electing a new leader and then, to add insult to injury, had a ridiculous conference! The choice to which the leadership contest was reduced just showed what a dearth of talent there is in the party. Not that Labour are any better. But Nick Timothy is the last person to “advise”.
        ETA: Sorry, forgot me manners! Good moaning one and all.

      3. A regular columnist on the DT. Another reason why I’m not renewing my sub to the Telegraph.

      4. He’s right though.

        It’s like parking alongside a large puddle next to the driver’s door. Open the door, foot into puddle and gets soaked. What next?

        Option 1 is to press on and hope that there is dry ground before the other foot get drenched.

        Option 2 is to shut the door and drive on a few feet and hope the door opens onto something better. This isn’t always an option if the car in front won’t get out of the way. There’s always the Russian Approach, and simply blow the thing up and blame the fragments for being dangerous and aggressive before driving over them.

        Option 3 is to turn the car round, and hope that the door now opening into the hedge will open wide enough to get out, or simply use the passenger door, which of course now opens onto the puddle.

        Meanwhile, time has to be given to removing socks and shoes, and drying everything out before catching pneumonia, long covid or whatever is going round eager to lay into those with compromised immune systems.

      5. Yes, the reckless experiment of being Conservatives.

        The man needs a slap. His politics was a failure. No one wans high taxes, waste and state spending – except those benefitting from it. Those paying want small government and less tax.

        This waffling about libertarianism – he uses it as scorn yet every nation that is more libertarian has a better quality of life. Smash the state, cut the balls off wasters like this.

      6. The problem we have with the political classes is, they live in their own self constructed bubble.
        Most of them left university and went straight into politics in one way or another. They have never and never will experience the ups and downs of every day life. And even when they live in doubt they have the party whips to guide them.
        And as Francis Urquhart said in the House of Cards. Every one has their price Mattie.
        I they do well from it. How could they be bothered about what the people who fork out for their privileged existence think of them and their absurd annoying behaviour.

        1. The choice of candidates being imposed by Con HQ on local associations was the start many problems, as you say, all contained in political bubbles.

      7. This twerp seems to be making the case for a real Conservative Party rather than slamming them.

    1. Something similar happened to me about 6 years ago after I’d been for a ride in a MGB.

          1. Was it you who gave a hitchhiker a lift (15 yr old me) from the Dorchester roundabout to Southampton?

          2. No, but I did give a guy a lift just before Christmas once he was on the A1 with a guitar case. I dropped him off at Mill Hill East Station so he could get into London for the weekend.

          3. It was the first time i had been in such a car. Still remember it.

            I wouldn’t pick up a hitchhiker now though. Too many loons about.

    2. If he’d gone to the Lucy Clayton School he would have learnt to exit the car without showing his knickers.

  25. BBC Radio 4 Newsreporting that John Cleese has been given a slot on the GBNews starting in the New Year. JC said GBNews was a Free Speech Channel and that appealed to him. BBC radio 4 added that JC had made adverse remarks about GBNews in its infancy. JC appears to welcome the freedom GBNews will allow him. I look forward to his programme but GBNews could rue this decision.

  26. More Dopey Wokies around, two stupid left wing activists arrested for pouring milk on the floor and displayed goods in London shops.
    Thick as shites.

    1. I really do think they should be beaten thoroughly and kicked about a bit. Not only are they hypocrites, they’re also malicious vandals.

    2. Thank goodness. What a waste of our money. The tide has got to be stopped and those here returned, pronto at gunpoint if necessary. Yes, the BBC will post pictures of crying children – but for every small frightened child there’s a dozen vicious rapists, murders, thieves and druggies.

      Get rid of them.

      1. Active Patriot
        @ActivePatriotUK
        ·
        1m
        1065 MIGRANTS in 25 BOATS were escorted into ENGLAND from FRANCE yesterday

        OVER 34,000 HAVE NOW MADE IT ACROSS THIS YEAR ALONE

          1. …and the illegals from 2015 on. If you can find them – track and trace might get to work – in the National Interest, of course.

          2. Quite easy to trace the lazy ones:

            Hang around the Dole Office on payday.

            Those unwilling to work can go home.

          4. Dole is sent straight to bank accounts now. You would be unlikely to see any of the be-robed ones anywhere near a Jobcentre.

          5. Phizzee, most bank accounts require a residential address.

            Even easier to find the loafers and scroungers and return them to the land of their birth.

          1. …and who pays that? Let me guess, the oh, so generous taxpayer as well as all the rest of the wonga shoved down their nasty jihadi throats. Kick ’em out – one and all.

      2. “The tide has got to be stopped …..”

        King Canute knew that he could not do it even though his sycophants tried to tell him he could. Why do our hubristic politicians think they have a Jew’s chance in a mosque or a bat’s chance in hell of doing so?

        1. I could fix it, nothing unpleasant.
          By the way Mr T, did you read the recent DT article which postulates that the works of Shakespeare involved some team effort?

          2. I enjoyed that series. I also went to the Gielgud Theatre to see the live perfomance. It was hilarious.

            I waited at the stage door afterwards and met them all.

            They were gracious enough to spend a few minutes with everyone.

            Gemma Whelan was enchanting. Mark Heap is as weird in real life as he is on stage. David Mitchell was great. Very hot and sweaty with his bald head prosthetic and obviously wanted to get home.

            A memorable night. Nice cosy Theatre too.

    4. They probably noticed that a row of houses close to an illegal migrants refuge were destroyed by fire back in the summer. In Wennington East London.
      Police later came to conclusions that many of the mid summer fires were probably arson.

  29. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/749bc52d1ca0771c38e095e9ca5cac6a487560e94de65914bbfe99c0cf9bae1c.png Why? The terms ‘man’ and ‘mankind’ have been traditionally used for centuries to describe the species. They are not, and have never been, sex-specific. Why change all that now to pacify a gang of woke, uneducated, nonentities?

    Did Neil Armstrong, when he was recorded apparently stepping onto the surface of the moon for the first time, utter a banality such as: “This is one small step for human: one giant leap for humankind.” No he didn’t because, despite being an American, he spoke proper English.

    2. Your mention of Neil Armstrong reminded me, a bonus funny:

      Good luck Mr. Gorsky!
      When Apollo Mission Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind!” statement but followed it by several remarks — usual com traffic — between him, the other astronauts and Mission Control.
      Just before he re-entered the lander, however, he made the enigmatic remark “Good luck Mr. Gorsky!”
      Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the “Good luck Mr. Gorsky!” statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.
      Just last year (on July 5, 1995 in Tampa Bay, FL) while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26 year old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had finally died, and so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question.
      When he was a kid, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit a fly ball, which landed in the front of his neighbour’s bedroom window. His neighbours were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky.
      “Oral sex! You want oral sex?! You’ll get oral sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!”

    3. This nonsense reached its summit when a local government office in Plymouth changed the word manager because it was sexist. In fact the etymology of the word is from the French – ménager.

      And we mustn’t forget Hamlet – as if we would:

      And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.

      2. Some time ago, I wrote this in response to someone railing against the word “mankind”:

        ‘You will soon be wanting everyone from Personchester to Personsfield to be given a persondate to change the way we speak: today and not persoñana. You sound like a Personcunian persondarin using your persondible to persongle the language. A praying persontis with a nice personicure lurking under a personhole cover; a vertitable persontrap lying in wait for the next personikin to venture near your opulent personsion or personor house.

        Personifold are those of your ilk, who from Personhattan to Persondalay, nibbling on your persongetout and persongoes, personipulate the strangled (and persongled) vowels and consonents of your newspeak like a persongy dog-in-the-personger or personic depressive.

        Your persontra or personifesto, in a personilla envelope, would be worthy of Hilary Persontel (or even Bernard Personning). Quite simply, your personiacal personuscript is personcando and leaving you little room for personeouvre.’

        I also wrote this:

        ‘The suffix -ette means a smaller, or lesser, version of something. The proper suffix to denote femininity is –ess. If the converse were true then Actress, Conductress and Manageress would become “Actrette”, “Conductrette” and “Managerette”, which is clearly preposterous. Similarly, Duchess, Marchioness, Countess, Viscountess and Baroness would become “Duchette”, “Marchionette”, “Countette”, “Viscountette” and “Baronette”, an utterly risible concept.

        Calling a tomboy teenage girl a “ladette” is silly since “ladess” (female lad, or … lass) would be more apposite and proper. The silly word “ladette” means nothing more than a smaller, or lesser, lad; i.e. a little boy.’

      3. Some time ago, I wrote this in response to someone railing against the word “mankind”:

        ‘You will soon be wanting everyone from Personchester to Personsfield to be given a persondate to change the way we speak: today and not persoñana. You sound like a Personcunian persondarin using your persondible to persongle the language. A praying persontis with a nice personicure lurking under a personhole cover; a vertitable persontrap lying in wait for the next personikin to venture near your opulent personsion or personor house.

        Personifold are those of your ilk, who from Personhattan to Persondalay, nibbling on your persongetout and persongoes, personipulate the strangled (and persongled) vowels and consonents of your newspeak like a persongy dog-in-the-personger or personic depressive.

        Your persontra or personfesto, in a personilla envelope, would be worthy of Hilary Persontel (or even Bernard Personning). Quite simply, your personiacal personuscript is personcando and leaving you little room for personeouvre.’

        I also wrote this:

        ‘The suffix -ette means a smaller, or lesser, version of something. The proper suffix to denote femininity is –ess. If the converse were true then Actress, Conductress and Manageress would become “Actrette”, “Conductrette” and “Managerette”, which is clearly preposterous. Similarly, Duchess, Marchioness, Countess, Viscountess and Baroness would become “Duchette”, “Marchionette”, “Countette”, “Viscountette” and “Baronette”, an utterly risible concept.

        Calling a tomboy teenage girl a “ladette” is silly since “ladess” (female lad) would be more apposite and proper. The silly word “ladette” means nothing more than a smaller, or lesser, lad; i.e. a little boy.’

      4. The ‘man’ in manager comes from the Greek mane “hand,” Latin manus “hand, strength”.

        Bearing that in mind, what do you do if some female demands that you ‘man up’?

      5. The ‘man’ in manager comes from the Greek mane “hand,” Latin manus “hand, strength”.

        Bearing that in mind, what do you do if some female demands that you ‘man up’?

    1. We have grass, not a lawn. And moss, weeds, wild strawberries, mildly peeved raspberries…

      1. We have a field. It’s not ours, but as the bloke who owns it doesn’t use it (as it’s full of stones, rubble, overgrown and with tree stumps) it’s more of an obstacle course.

        We did offer to clear it once in exchange for part ownership (as our house is beside and sort of ‘on it’.

  33. Just had a quick look at the Daily Fail front page. It says Carrie Johnson shares more photos of her children. Looks to me more like she’s sharing photos of her!

  34. Europe’s new ‘Iron Lady’ Kaja Kallas says the West mustn’t negotiate with Putin
    Estonia’s PM, who calls Margaret Thatcher ‘an inspiration’, has also told Russians fleeing his draft they cannot seek asylum in her country
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/10/08/europes-new-iron-lady-kaja-kallas-says-west-mustnt-negotiate/

    This BTL comment will doubtless ruffle some feathers at the DT.

    BTL

    It does seem that the women at the top of politics in Europe are rather more attractive than the recent crop of women in the UK who go into politics – they seem to retain their femininity in a way that Mrs May, Ms Truss and Ms Rayner fail to do.

    1. Yes, she sounds like Kaja Callous, since, while she’s virtue signalling about her support for Uke Nuke, doesn’t want any Russian refugees.

  35. Extracts from an interesting article

    The biggest mistake the Russians have made in this conflict is in underestimating the seething hatred of Russia and Russians by the people running foreign policy in the Global American Empire. For the rulers in Washington and Brussels, this is now their reason to exist. Who they are is defined by their loathing of Russia. As John Bolton recently confessed, this can only end for them with regime change in Moscow.

    All wars are a tragedy of errors, and this one is no exception. What should have been settled at the negotiating table years ago is now moving the world toward the worst winter in generations. An increasingly mobilized Russia is now committed to ending the war in Ukraine, regardless of the cost to Ukraine. An increasingly fanatical West is committed to destroying Russia, regardless of the cost to the West.

    Given the people running the collective West, there is little hope that cooler heads will step forward and put an end to this madness. Given the dynamics of Russian politics, it is increasingly unlikely that such overtures will be welcomed. When Joe Biden ran for president, he promised Americans a long dark winter. It looks as if this will be one of the promises he keeps. The world is now facing a very long and very dark winter.

    https://www.takimag.com/article/new-year-new-war/

    1. From the article that you cite:
      “Contrary to the howling from Western media, the war is popular in Russia and Putin remains extremely popular with the Russian people. The public has accepted that the war was necessary to defend Russia from the West. Most Russians remember the postcommunist years and they still remember the rapacious vultures who came in to exploit Russia after the collapse of communism.”

      I honestly believe that the West hates Russia because it is the last great bastion of Christianity and supports traditional values all of which are an anathema to the Woke and decedent West. It is also the target for Europe and the USA for its riches, not the least being, of course, gas. The hatred for Putin is summed up in the remark: “…they still remember the rapacious vultures who came in to exploit Russia after the collapse of communism.” who believed, under the incompetent Yeltsin that they were free to divide the riches of Russia amongst themselves leaving an empty husk of a country to the Russian people. This is what the hatred for Putin stem from, he dared to thwart them and see them off like the pack of hyenas that they were/are.

      As for the annexed territories that Russia has occupied, what Western propaganda doesn’t tell you is that from Sievierodonetsk all the way to the Crimea are territories that are predominantly Russian speaking areas that, due to laws promulgated by Ukraine were actively discriminated against by the Ukranian government. They are not sorry, to be back with Russia at all, if anything relieved. So they regard Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s vow to liberate them as a threat, a man, by the way that far from being a “democrat” has closed all voices of opposition down in Ukraine and murdered people who opposed him, Darya Dugina, blown up by car bomb, being one recent example. Volodymyr Zelenskyy actively opposes any efforts to make peace, having had shot two of his negotiators that he deemed pro-Russian. This megalomaniac is the person that needs to be assassinated, no one else. And until he is removed this war will continue, destroying Ukraine for this little actor’s ego and greed.

      last but not least. Want more ideas for your rock garden, Rose? And pleased that your Bougainvillea is doing well Ndovu.

      2. “They are not sorry, to be back with Russia at all, if anything relieved.” – so not sorry, that they voted to join Russia just recently.

    2. From the article that you cite:
      “Contrary to the howling from Western media, the war is popular in Russia and Putin remains extremely popular with the Russian people. The public has accepted that the war was necessary to defend Russia from the West. Most Russians remember the postcommunist years and they still remember the rapacious vultures who came in to exploit Russia after the collapse of communism.”

      I honestly believe that the West hates Russia because it is the last great bastion of Christianity and supports traditional values all of which are an anathema to the Woke and decedent West. It is also the target for Europe and the USA for its riches, not the least being, of course, gas. The hatred for Putin is summed up in the remark: “…they still remember the rapacious vultures who came in to exploit Russia after the collapse of communism.” who believed, under the incompetent Yeltsin that they were free to divide the riches of Russia amongst themselves leaving an empty husk of a country to the Russian people. This is what the hatred for Putin stem from, he dared to thwart them and see them off like the pack of hyenas that they were/are.

      As for the annexed territories that Russia has occupied, what Western propaganda doesn’t tell you is that from Sievierodonetsk all the way to the Crimea are territories that are predominantly Russian speaking areas that, due to laws promulgated by Ukraine were actively discriminated against by the Ukranian government. They are not sorry, to be back with Russia at all, if anything relieved. So they regard Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s vow to liberate them as a threat, a man, by the way that far from being a “democrat” has closed all voices of opposition down in Ukraine and murdered people who opposed him, Darya Dugina, blown up by car bomb, being one recent example. Volodymyr Zelenskyy actively opposes any efforts to make peace, having, again had shot two of his negotiators that he deemed pro-Russian shot. This megalomaniac is the person that needs to be assassinated, no one else. And until he is removed this war will continue, destroying Ukraine for this little actor’s ego and greed.

      last but not least. Want more ideas for your rock garden, Rose? And pleased that your Bougainvillea is doing well Ndovu.

    3. I am reminded that one of the most affecting moments of the late Queen’s funeral ceremonies was the use of the Russian Orthodox hymn, a reminder of our Royal family’s close connections with Pre Soviet Russia.

  36. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/10/09/broadband-providers-go-battle-slice-big-tech-riches/

    I don’t understand this. They’re asking the content providers to pay for the delivery mechanism. That’s like asking Royal Mail to pay for parcels. If it costs more to deliver, then you charge more to deliver it. If they’ve not worked out that the pathetic bandwidth in the UK is insufficient and begun investing in new technology – such as fibre, because there’s bugger all fibre in the ‘super fast fibre plus ultra mega! packages they sell then that’s their problem.

    It’s time they spent the money clawed in from the horrific prices they charge for appalling bandwidth.

    2. Used to carve two Jack O’Lanterns in CT every Hallowe’en. Put them on the front step on the night with a candle inside. After Hallowe’en we’d throw them in the woods for the deer and other critters to eat.
      The smell of raw pumpkin is overpowering and the seeds are yuk. We tried roasting them one year as we’d heard they were tasty. Not.

      1. I recall being in the US one year when it was a celebration of some sort and we were offered pumpkin pie. Absolutely revolting, though I had to pretend it was wonderful

        1. Depends on the recipe. I made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving most years and it was good and lots of whipped cream.

          1. I saw a thanksgiving dinner in a film once. The table was heavily laden with all sorts of dishes. One of those dishes was a big bowl of mashed potatoes with meringue on top.

          3. I like the French version. Aligot. Lots and lots of different cheeses whipped in. I use my mixer for that job. Takes some beating.

          5. Not sure if that would have been meringue but they do add little marshmallows to some savoury dishes. I didn’t do that.

          6. One of the actors mentioned it and laughed.

            I don’t know if it is true or not but i heard some Americans put icing sugar on their breakfast bacon.

          10. It’s not bacon as you know it, just slabs of fat with (if you are lucky) the occasional strand of meat. No wonder the stuff is cooked to a crisp.

          12. And on French toast. You can get maple flavoured breakfast sausages. I used to use blueberry syrup on my breakfast pancakes.

    3. Yanks use pumpkins because they possess neither the strength nor the skill to carve out a proper, traditional, neep lantern.

    1. Something is telling me that the BBC’s reporting frauds and the Ukrainian government’s shelling of Lugansk and Donetsk won’t count…

    3. I wonder if anyone has stepped forward to report eyewitness accounts of the murders and ethnic-cleansing of Russian-speaking Ukrainians by Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy’s régime ?

    4. Does that mean all those young girls who were abused by Pakistani rape gangs can now flock to the Met Police and have their cases taken seriously and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

        1. I thought it might have been a spoof but the QR code opens the Met Police websight.
          Can we complain about the war being conducted by Pakistanis, Extinction Rebellion, Stop Oil, Net Zero and all they others you turn a blind eye to.
          What an unsavoury joke the Met is.

    5. They say they are stretched for resources. They should focus on crime in this country. Fuck Ukraine.

    6. Ha!Ha!Ha!
      I tried to make an enquiry of Glamorgan police when we were clearing Mother’s house.
      They didn’t answer the “Enquiries” phone line.
      The local nick was closed.
      The yellow phone at the door “Call us when we’re closed” wasn’t answered.
      Yet they have time for this crap.

      1. Just getting on the virtue signalling bandwagon. I thought they were going to put a stop to all this crap.

  39. Lost the house we were hoping to move to. The bank wanted a party with no chain. I think the estate agent wanted us to put cash in (it’d have meant losing the years tax savings, so about 70% of her income) rather than selling our place so they could sell ‘now’ rather than see the price fall 5% or so.

    I won’t pretend I’m not disappointed. Junior’s growing at a stupid rate and deserves a bigger bedroom. I’d have liked my own office/workshop space rather than the kitchen table. It was nearer the train station for the jaunts to London and had a much bigger garden.

    Ho hum. Just a bit fed up really. Have I mentioned I hate estate agents?

    1. So sorry to hear that. Wibbling

      Cheer up , somethings are for the best .. and I expect you will find just what you want at a reduced price

      Same thing happened to us about eight years ago..

      We were glad .. it could have been a bad move .

      1. Yes, I think you’re right. The costs, the uncertainty at this point in time is all too unnerving.

          1. Supposedly so. I think we’ll just have to sit tight. I’ll weather the complaints about the tiled floor in the kitchen for another year.

    2. Sorry about that, Wibbling. What a bummer for you.
      House buying/selling/moving my least favourite experience. Hell, tidying up is bad enough!

    3. That’s very frustrating. Still, something better might turn up, or at least something just as good.

    1. The Daily Telegraph used to be the UK’s premier and proud broadsheet newspaper. It has now been transmogrified into a deplorable tabloid-style rag languishing somewhere between the disgraceful Daily Mail and the shabby Woman’s Own.

        1. This is true. The Daily Mail actually ran a story on the fund raising campaing to restore the Lady Chapel roof at St Barts and it did help. It’s a good story because the building not only goes back to the 12th Century but the Lady herself allegedly put in an appearance there.

    1. Oh Gawd, good article

      The foodie bit reminded me that I am probably a boring cook

      I must be stuck in a 1960’s 1970’s cooking rut ..

      I haven’t a clue what a Taco is , and have never ever eaten a heavily laden shop bought pizza.. and have never ever had those green things that you peal the leaves off to dip in something.

      I am not keen on finger food , not even a sausage roll.

      Vesta food in the 70’s during all the strikes we had to endure when interest rates were 17% and money was tight and an Instant whip , luxury!

      Delia and Mary Berry are my type of culinary teachers .

      Scuse me now whilst I rush off to the fridge for a couple of ripe figs

      1. My focus has always been on food. Most of l my jobs were hospitality.

        There is nothing wrong with being unimaginative where food is concerned as long as it is wholesome and well prepared with good variety.

        If i have figs i wrap them in parma ham or bacon and bake them. Then a healthy crumb of Stilton on top.

        You see? I can’t help myself. :@)

          3. Yes, they have an allotment too so i get all sorts of goodies. I return the favour with my excess produce.

          9. Woollen. For the avoidance of doubt and not to cancel out your response, I am leaving my awful typing as is. Should be “lamb cutlets”.

      2. Do you have a name for ‘the green things you peal the green leaves off and dip in something’?
        I can’t imagine anything like that apart from a green banana.

          1. Don’t see it as being asparagus, Tom, and I’ve never eaten an artichoke but thought they would be cooked.

          2. They are cooked.
            Each leaf can be plucked off the outside and the lower part dipped in a sauce and then the fleshy bit pulled off between the teeth.
            The hearts of the flower which are left are delicious, but don’t eat the flower heads, which look a little like a thistle when over ripe.
            You can also get the separate artichoke hearts which are less fiddly.
            Not to be confused with Jerusalem artichoke, which is the most flatulence inducing substance known to science.

          3. I think I’ve had hearts many years ago and, from memory, they’re quite sweet.
            It’s a while since I’ve had Jerusalem artichokes and they’re a root vegetable aren’t they.

          4. Artichokes grow on stalks above ground. Jerusalem artichokes grow like potatoes. The bit that makes you windy can be removed by passing through a fine sieve.

          6. Farts can be good. Healthy biota.

            There are or were a couple of nice Kosher restaurants i visited in London that would boil whole heads of artichokes and then you got to peel and dip in aioli.

          7. My mother was a cook in the 30’s and she would talk about preparing artichokes with hollandaise sauce as a first course.

          2. Oh – I’m sorry! I did forget that! I have plenty of those now, after chivvying Dave the other day.

          4. No – they’re not on the PayPal bit – but they do get a mention on the fundraising page. There are four in a pack, for a fiver and £1.10 postage. Photos all taken by me – two of each to a pack in a random selection of the ones I like best.

          14. No – they’re not on the PayPal bit – but they do get a mention on the fundraising page. There are four in a pack, for a fiver and £1.10 postage. Photos all taken by me – two of each to a pack in a random selection of the ones I like best.

      2. I started the decade in the grammar school first form (a snotty nosed kid in the mandatory uniform with short trousers) but ended the decade married and working in London.

        Quite a transformation.

        1. I moved from primary to grammar school in 1959 – little girl with plaits – married woman in 1969.

    3. One of my early twenties cousins arrived at our house in his new yellow Ford zodiac. He took myself and my elder sister for a drive on the newly opened M1 he was very proud his car had achieved ‘a ton’ just over. He braked turned right and drove across the central division. And drove us back home.
      And I loved all the mini skirts, Indian food. Pubs and clubs and the music scene of the 60s and 70s.
      And our country has been destroyed.

      1. Sounds like a scary drive! My boyfriend in 1966 turned 21 and we all went out for a boozy evening – he insisted on driving his Morris Minor home and that was quite scary as he drove far too fast round the bendy country lanes.

        1. My future wife had a Morris Minor the huge front wheel arches use to flap at anything over 50 mph.

        1. That’s an annoying description of wrecking a long established culture and destruction of the whole countries social structure.

          4. Philip, D of E, had one that met him when he landed at RAF W Raynham in N Norfolk, to take him to Sandringham.

          5. He did indeed. My dad nearly collided with it when the Duke pulled out of a side turning in Datchet. The insurance claim would have been fun to do.

          2. Good afternoon Phizee – Probably they wanted a dry spot to sit on. My grandfather was a teacher and headmaster in schools around Motherwell and my grandmother was a teacher in Penicuik. They had 4 children and 3 were teachers. The photographer, my uncle, was a manager in a steel works in Motherwell and became a director in the company. The roads were very quiet in those days but punctures and engine faults were frequent. I didn’t know my grandfather had been in the Royal Field Artillery in WW1 until long after he died. Like my father, a Classics teacher, who never spoke of his experiences as ground crew in the RAF in WW2.

    4. I was reminded of the 60s in an episode of the Saint that featured a hotel in old Stevenage. It was real, and my parents used to stay there when they came with food every 6 months or so for their poor starving fresh graduate son in his little flat. I was working in the industrial estate where we were masterminding Wedgewood Benn’s white hot heat of technology. Whatever happened to flambé cooking, one of the hotel’s specialities?

      1. flambé cooking still goes on.

        My local tapas bar did crepes suzette and some git put in a complaint to the council so he stopped doing it. I told him all he had to do was carry out a risk assessment and continue.

        They used to ring a bell. Push out the trolley and the Bar man would make a big show of getting the fire extinguisher out. A bit of theatre and a laugh. All gone now.

        1. I remember William (my old boss) setting fire to something and it went ‘whoosh’ – not quite what he’d intended. Another time, we were cooking bits and pieces for a funeral tea in a client’s kitchen, and set off the smoke alarm, which brought out a fire engine………. the client said “If my dad had been here today – he’d have died laughing!”.

    5. I was reminded of the 60s in an episode of the Saint that featured a hotel in old Stevenage. It was real, and my parents used to stay there when they came with food every 6 months or so for their poor starving fresh graduate son in his little flat. I was working in the industrial estate where we were masterminding Wedgewood Benn’s white hot heat of technology. Whatever happened to flambé cooking, one of the hotel’s specialities?

    6. The sixties were definitely the best! The music, teenage fun, Saturday night dances, getting married, first daughter born, ending the decade. By the time the 70’s arrived, son born, responsibility stepped in!!

    7. Why does the picture of the TV in the article, meant to represent TV Advertising, have what looks like an American style adver on it?

  42. Phew! I’m knackered! It’s such a glorious morning here, I’ve spent the last couple of hours doing some more ivy clearance.

    1. Well done you, all the medium sized trees blown over in the local woods were infested with ivy growth. It’s a dreadful weed.

      1. We’ve allowed the garden to get very overgrown. I’ve declared war on the ivy – can’t eradicate it completely but at least I’ve exposed the little walls, which are a feature of this garden and had got completely hidden.

          2. We use very sparingly. You can get dab-on version for individual dandelions or whatever, not sure that would work with ivy, but a careful squirt might do it.

    2. After a rainy start, it cleared up and I was able to get into the garden, too. I’ve cut back a lot of dying vegetation, plants that have finished flowering and pulled up dozens of buddleia saplings from my veg plot. I also planted the last of the daffs. I think that will be it for bulb planting for this year.

      1. Daffs take a bit of effort as you need to put them quite deep. I’m thinkingg of putting in some crocus as they’re a bit easier to push into the spaces I’ve uncovered.

  43. UK sanctions Iran’s morality police following death of Mahsa Amini. 10 october 2022.

    Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: “The UK stands with the people of Iran who are bravely calling for accountability from their government and for their fundamental human rights to be respected.

    The irony! I wonder if there’s any chance of the Ayatollahs sanctioning this gang of globalist traitors?

    https://news.sky.com/story/uk-sanctions-irans-morality-police-following-death-of-mahsa-amini-12717349

    1. I see the U.K. has frozen their assets” too. By what right does this government freeze somebody’s assets? And I know it’s been done to the Russians and that’s wrong too. What right do they have to do this – I think it’s utterly disgraceful. The U.K. should look at its own record on “human rights”, viz lockdowns, mandatory experimental injections, criticism of government policy, etc. etc.

    2. And what does Mr Cleverly have to say about our home grown Mental Hygiene Police?

      ‘We need to alter your thinking’….

  44. Laughing all the way to the bank…..

    The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke and two others for their research in the 1980s on banks and financial crises.

    Bernanke served as chairman of the Fed between 2006-14 and famously unleashed a tidal wave of debt monetization by the central bank during the GFC over a decade ago to save the so-called ‘too big to fail’ banks. At the time, the Fed’s balance sheet was approaching $2.5 trillion. Multiple rounds of money printing later and a massive expansion during the Covid crisis, the balance sheet stands at around $9 trillion today.

      1. It went to Obama one year. The bloke who’d bombed a country to oblivion, invaded it then set about annoying everyone there.

        1. Obama deserves nothing – should never have been POTUS, as he was born in Kenya and his Hawaii records were faked.

          He has turned out to be yet another uppity N****r. In the old days, all he could expect was a severe whipping. It’s not too late!

    1. I hope he takes them to court for race hate and obtaining money by deception (fraud).
      If he has a certificate how can they cancel his degree?

    2. Great.
      A guy was walking along the beach, far ahead in the distance he could see a figure of a female sitting on some rocks.
      He soon reach where she was and to his surprise it was a mermaid.
      He passed the time of day and couldn’t resist commenting on her beautiful long blonde hair. She thanked him and let him stroke it. He said you have beautiful red lips,…..have ever been kissed 💋?
      No I don’t think I have, show me. So he does. Getting excited he says you have beautiful breasts may I fondle them ?
      She say yes if you want to……
      As time passes on he asks her the ultimate question, that is you’re such beautiful lady have you ever been……errr,…. you know f***ed ? No she says I don’t think I have. He leans closer and whispers I’m sorry to tell you that you have now…….the tides gone out.🧜‍♀️

  47. Charging the Kona with an AC portable charger.

    Yesterday I filled up the 64 kWh Kona EV with juice (of the 240 volt electrical type) from 80% full to 90% full with the provided domestic charger with 13 amp plug. The aim was to see how long it would take with the domestic charger at the medium charge rate of 8 amps. (nominally 2 kW) and confirm the range at 90%. (note: you don’t fill an EV to 100% because the charge rate of the lithium cells reduces as they charge up and you need somewhere to store the electrical energy created by regenerative braking).

    Well it took all afternoon and switched itself off after about five hours.
    I found this morning that I could get from Ipswich to Carmarthen (about 250 miles)

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ff080ab3f6f61b2a71698ef687c3f89e060e3a537fe00a2b52a40528da39e2ea.jpg

    I also wanted to see how safe it was to charge overnight at off peak rates as the sales guy said that a customer had blown their domestic charger up (I guess from overheating). The 13 amp plug did get up to 23 degC (a rise of 5 degC) and the charge controller to just over 30 degC.

    1. Blinkin’ heck, that is hot, especially considering the current temps. In summer that’d be dangerous.

      I don’t trust the range information. I know it’s cynical, but I take the calcs from their suggestions, factor in my own experience and go from there. The runabout should do 400 miles, ‘urban but does about 300, so when it says the motorways one is 500miles I assume 400 at most.

      1. I reckon one should estimate a realistic EV range based on a 70% (i.e 80% down to 10%) of the rated range.

        1. Temperature has a lot to do with range.
          Motor magazine here has tested EVs in summer & winter, on the same journey: 100% to standstill. Our winter typically reduces range to about 50% of the rated, and the cars were all driven in convoy at the same speed etc.

      1. I have 2 kW generator originally acquired for caravan club sites with no power.
        It will fit in the Kona’s luggage space.

    3. Have you left it inert for any reasonable length of time to see if the charge declines without being used?

      1. No, but I am using such low initial charge rates that I have I have not noticed any dropoff in the vehicles measured charge intake.
        The charge rates displayed on the vehicle are consistent with a slight loss of efficiency in the car’s 7 kW ac to dc power converter.

    4. That’s rather hot for a 13amp plug, try using a different socket on your ringmain.
      As wibbling said – those temperatures are getting worrying as it indicates a lot of current being taken for a domestic 13amp ringmain.

      1. I am using a single dedicated 13 amp socket installed by a registered electrician and fed from the consumer unit specifically installed for high current garage equipment.

        The domestic charger unit specifically says not to use on multi-ouput cicuits which would include ring mains.

        1. At keast it’s on a radial cct,
          and hopfully at least 6mm T&E (twin and earth) cable and a 32amp fuse or MCB being used.
          Just like running an electric oven and hob.

          2. Those are all earth bonding protection circuits.
            Look at you Miniature Circuit Breaker ( MCB) panel and identify the one for the garage: it should have the same rating as your electric cooker (if you have one) otherwise it should be marked probably 30 amps or more.
            If not, that could mean the wiring is not able to take the current for long periods without overheating.
            Car charging from a 13amp socket of any kind should only be used in an emergency situation and lowest possible charge rate.
            Get a proper charging circuit/ box fitted for your safety from overheating and in the summer when the garage gets hot, socket could seriously overheat, with disastrous consequences.
            I am only concerned because you mentioned the plug getting hot, if all is normal, it shouldn’t.

          3. Thanks for the advice.
            Just as well I’ve only been using a.constant draw of 2 kW for five hours. This link is consistent with your advice https://toughleads.co.uk/pages/safely-charging-your-electric-vehicle

            I have needed to test the granny charger on my test charge because Hyundai require it to be used to charge the Kona when issues arise using any other charging device.

            I intend to use a https://thirdrockenergy.co.uk/collections/all-type-2-products/products/type-2-to-commando-plug-ev-portable-charger-with-lcd-screen-8a-to-32a-variable-7-4kw-5-metre for higher rate charging through a 32 amp dedicated MCB.

    1. Seems ok here – but it does quite often jump around and they go out of sight – then you have to scroll up or down to find the comment again.

    2. Sometimes when there are lots of comments disqus does a wobbly. Try logging out and back in again.

  49. Had my flu-jab today at my GP surgery. They had also offered me the Covid19 booster, but I told them I was finished with the Covid-jabberwocky … boy was the nurse upset/discombobulated.

    Living temporarily next door in the young doctor’s house (she’s been in Australia for the last 3 years) is her father and his wife (also a nurse), caught in chain, and awaiting a house move from Basingstoke to nr Leominster in Hereford. I found myself isolated with her (whilst hubby was on a zoom call) … the Tele was on (MSM/BBC) showing the bombing in Ukraine. this gave her the intro to inform me that: (my speech in[])

    “Putin is Mad”
    [oh, isn’t Biden mad]
    Well, maybe (doubts on her face)
    [perhaps Trump would’ve been better]
    Oh, he’s really Mad; he told people to inject themselves with bleach ,,
    [you mean ivermectin ]
    Well, I don’t actually bother at all with politics

    God, I find it so difficult to restrain myself with people who restrict themselves to MSM …. needless to add, she’s a Covid19 vaccine, swallow the official line, enthusiast.

    1. The only time I’ve bothered with a flu jab was in 2020 – all the propaganda must have got to me – I’m not having any more jabs of anything if I can help it.

      1. Almost nobody was jabbed in 2020 … I started in January 2021, and had my final one in October 2021.

        1. The propaganda was that they were expecting a bad flu year – and ” if the covid doesn’t get you, the flu will” and the nurse persuaded me to have a pneumonia one as well. I had the two AZ covid jabs early in 2021 because my trip to Kenya was already booked.

          2. We both had the shingles jab last year – I had shingles in 2019 and it was very painful and debilitating. The five a day anti-viral tablets saw it off and I got no post-herpetic neuralgia – my aunt suffered with that for the rest of her life. I have no wish to experience shingles again – but apparently it’s possible to have it more than once. I think that’s probably one you should have – we had no side effects from it.

          4. In yer Weegie, shingles is called “Helvetesild” – hellfire.
            Apparently, that’s appropriate.

      2. I’m afraid the DT is another with all the jabs. She’s booked in for the ‘flu jab this Saturday.

    2. I think it is the Danes or the Norwegians who have discovered that a third shot of the so called Covid vaccination makes you 44% more libel to catch the disease. Some vaccination!
      And
      Italy, Norway and Denmark stop giving out AstraZeneca jabs over blood clot fears despite EU and UK regulators saying there is NO link
      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9350283/Denmark-suspends-AstraZeneca-vaccine-effect-fears.html

      Like you Lewis, I will not be taking any more of the stuff, 2 was quite enough. I will, however, be getting a flu jab next Saturday.
      For those interested in keeping up with all the information on the idiot vaccinations, I strongly urge people to watch Mark Stein on GB News of an evening at 8pm. He usually has some new information about it almost every day.

      1. Everone I know who has / has had covid, has been injected. Often several times.
        All those few of us who have not been injected seem not to have been infected, either.

  50. Grief what a morning!
    My bus pass has expired & I only found out when I got on the bus in Cromford. Luckily I was still allowed to use it as there is a recognition that it does happen!

    Walked the 3/4 mile or so to the hospital and was seen to and out before the actual time of the appointment. A beautiful bright sunny day though is NOT the best time for eyedrops and I was not able to face looking round the market in Bakewell so caught a quick bur back to Cromford where I had time to do a bit of shopping, apply for a new bus pass and still catch the 12:47 Bonsall bus that stops just over the road.
    By then my head was beginning to throb, so I just went up to bed!

    1. OH found his had expired a couple of years ago – but he went into the library and they got things sorted out for him there.

    2. You made me check mine (it expires next year) – not that there are any buses to use it on!

      1. Hallo Pip! Well, I finally complained to PALS, something I was reluctant to do but it got things moving. Hospital will be phoning me today. So hopefully things will start moving. The problem is that I have had bladder stones which destroy my ability to function. They are not occasionally but every day and night. Until they are dealt with treatment for Emphysema has been delayed and so has a couple of things that the Cancer people want to do.
        This has been going on now since, at least, April of last year. It has destroyed my health because I am forced up at least 8 or more times a night. So, no decent sleep. As a result, my immunity is down, and I keep getting chest infections which are the last thing I want. Result of this is I’m exhausted most of the time. So, all in all, not doing great and very angry with the NHS. As I have said before, the cancer people are superb but since them I seem to be dealing with people who are quite indifferent that they have ruined my life with their inaction. I wish you could sue them, bloody incompetent people! I regard their behaviour toward me, at this point, to be abuse. But I have decided to just pace myself and do things that I can. But it is very difficult. After I had done my first post this morning, I had to lie down for an hour to recuperate. But, you know, onwards and upwards!
        PS Hope you are well?

        1. Oh dear….. I’m sorry to hear you are so poorly. I hope things will start to be done now so that you can have the treatment you need.

        2. Sounds very complicated. Good that you contacted PALS. Get them to keep the pressure on.

          I have had some improvement in my condition but now have to wear Tena pads to save on the laundry.

          The NHS keep coming up with excuses and they should be ashamed.

          Consider contacting your MP too to see if they can get things moving faster for you.

          KBO.

          1. I had thought about complaining to my MP. But have decided to hold that unless the PALS angle doesn’t work. The big gun, so to speak. But I wonder, considering the state of the Conservative Party, whether you will be a damp squib rather than a howitzer!

          2. Depends on the MP i suppose. Mine is Suella Braverman and she fired a rocket up the bottom of our local GP service. Some improvement on what they were doing before.

        3. So sorry to hear of your health issues, I send good wishes from across the pond and hope you see improvements soon.

          1. Thank you, Jill!
            Fact is if I was still in the USA this would have been dealt with long ago.

          2. Indeed. Our health has been badly compromised by the inability to see a doctor last year and now the NHS want it all their way. We’re doing it to suit us not them.

        5. So sorry to hear of your plight, jr. I join the band of Nottlers in offering good wishes and relief from the position you find yourself in.

        7. That sounds a bit of a bugger.
          Not that it will bother the REMFs & Their NHS.

          I can only repeat, KBO.

      1. In fact, do to Kiev what NATO did to Belgrade. Funny how that was OK but these limited and carefully targeted strikes excite outrage. Short memories R US.

    2. Here is the RT report.

      10 Oct, 2022 12:56
      HomeRussia & FSU
      Russian MOD comments on results of strikes in Ukraine
      The attack was a complete success and all targets were destroyed, the ministry has claimed
      Russian MOD comments on results of strikes in Ukraine
      Police experts examine destroyed cars in the center of Ukrainian capital of Kiev on October 10, 2022. © SERGEI CHUZAVKOV / AFP
      A rocket barrage that targeted Ukrainian military objects and infrastructure has accomplished its goal, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Monday. The attack came after Moscow accused Kiev of orchestrating a deadly explosion on the strategic Crimean Bridge.

      Speaking at a regular briefing, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov noted that Russia had used high-precision and long-range weapons to hit objects on Ukrainian territory, including “military command facilities, communications and energy systems.”

      “The goal of the strike has been achieved. All designated objects have been hit,” he noted.

      His comments came hours after Russia struck multiple targets in Kiev, with the city’s Mayor Vitaly Klitschko claiming that “critical infrastructure” had been affected. The attack also apparently hit Vladimirskaya Street, where the main office of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is based, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the interior minister.

      Russian strikes a response to Ukrainian ‘terrorism’ — Putin
      Read more Russian strikes a response to Ukrainian ‘terrorism’ — Putin
      Apart from Kiev, several other Ukrainian cities were targeted, including Dnepr in east of the country, and Lviv in the west. Following the strikes, Ukrainian authorities reported blackouts in Lviv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkov and Ternopol Regions, adding that in other parts of the country power supply had been partially disrupted.

      On Monday, President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine that if it orchestrates any new terrorist attacks on Russia, it “will respond firmly and on a scale corresponding to the threats created against” it.

      The attacks follow a powerful explosion that rocked the Crimean Bridge on Saturday, killing three and causing the partial collapse of the road section, as well as a blaze on the parallel railway span.

      While Ukrainian officials did not directly assume responsibility for the explosion, on Sunday Putin claimed that it was the Ukrainian intelligence service that had orchestrated the blast.

  53. Eh?

    Octopus Energy is giving away 10,000 free electric blankets to their customers as energy prices soar.

    The free blankets will go to the company’s “most needy and vulnerable customers”, the firm says.

    The energy company says that typical homes could shave up to £300 off their energy bill every year by opting for an electric blanket instead of heating the whole house.

    Heating an entire house costs around £4 a day, but an energy-efficient electric blanket only costs between two to four pence an hour, the company estimates.

    How can you apply for a free electric blanket?

    Octopus Energy said that as they only have 10,000 electric blankets to give away, they will prioritise those who will benefit the most.

    This includes elderly people and those with mobility issues or other medical conditions that means they are more impacted by the cold.

    The company does however ask those who can afford to buy one for themselves to do so, as there may be someone else out there who truly can’t afford to buy one and may benefit from receiving a free one.

    You can apply by registering your interest online. You will receive an application shortly after filling in the online form.

    Energy price cap of £2,500 kicks in – but experts warn you could still pay more

    The average household will pay £2,500 in annual energy costs over the next two years.
    Credit: PA
    Are electric blankets really that cost-effective?

    Yes. Although electric blankets start at around £40, Octopus Energy says they’re “worth the investment” as customers could save £300 or more each year on their bills.

    To get the most out of your electric blanket, Octopus Energy suggests using it as a throw over your body instead of as a mattress topper, and heat the blanket to its highest setting for a few minutes before reducing it down to a medium setting for longer use.

    Position the connector of the blanket at your feet and keep it unobstructed to avoid overheating, and ensure children are not left unsupervised with the blanket, the company also suggests.

    London Fire Brigade says you should unplug the blanket before bed, unless it has a thermostat control for safe all-night use.

    The fire service also says they should be stored flat, rolled up, or loosely folded to prevent damaging the internal wiring. Electric blankets should be avoided if you have an air flow pressure relief mattress, or use emollient creams. Don’t use the blanket if it gets wet, and never switch it on to dry it.

    Second-hand electric blankets should also be avoided, and you should check regularly for wear and tear, London Fire Brigade says.

    https://www.itv.com/news/2022-10-10/octopus-energy-is-giving-away-free-electric-blankets-heres-how-to-get-one

    How to spot a fraudulent message as £400 energy bill support scam warning issued
    Thousands protest across the UK against soaring energy bills and climate crisis
    What are planned energy blackouts and what can be done to avoid them?
    Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know

    2. Another warning – don’t come home pissed and go to bed with the electric blanket on – I was nearly cooked

    1. This is only a static model, though. There was a bloke that built one that has a certificate of airworthiness and can fly.

    1. Nice idea , but what happens if the power is off for ages ?

      I bought 2 LED battery lanterns and 2 more torches yesterday .. I was also looking for a BBQ , as some of you know, I hate BBQs.. but we all agree we need an alternative to gas and electric..a facility to cook stuff in the garden in the mean cruel winter .. if need be.

      1. And think about an old-fashioned propane cooker, the type that is one ring you attach to the cylinder. Like this
        https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403712043909?hash=item5dff1ceb85:g:x5AAAOSwfg5ipLgk&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4LyWobspxkyGRB%2BhrThQhuQJVk4OZurKgEOx92IIZ84XEWNmCjw%2BMQIilnzpjl14qE2nheEaD6iRop20nKSqYzNl92WyKmJ5%2F5i6cYi1KKVXqj1DtsY5RC40WmFl0xSLB2uB9b%2BhSfMGIHcqx607VHT5O%2FWSx3SslNdOfAcviXHRPtwtRqBDQpw1OEs3Yc9hbBgNBQ%2BXNk7tHxPMgqARwF%2BV6mEnnLpRjj8h04MFtyqareRG9CYCCUHBivGlySHRfk9zh%2FW1yrpoZzRyb3E7qZjOWWdweC12o3H%2FsMtXM1lI%7Ctkp%3ABFBMrMurqPhg

        Great for making a stew or fry something.

        1. That is similar to the one I have. It is wonderful when cooking with one of my two large carbon-steel Chinese woks.

          1. I remember them and paraffin cookers, in fact we used a paraffin cooker in Africa. Slow cooking but because of that makes delicious food. And, of course, they were designed for the kitchen, not outdoors. Looking on line those don’t seem to exist anymore other than the little ones for camping. The one we had included a stove and four rings, just like a regular cooker. The paraffin was in a thick glass container on the right of the stove. If that had not been on the stove you would have thought it was an ordinary gas cooker.

      2. And think about an old-fashioned propane cooker, the type that is one ring you attach to the cylinder. Like this
        https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403712043909?hash=item5dff1ceb85:g:x5AAAOSwfg5ipLgk&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4LyWobspxkyGRB%2BhrThQhuQJVk4OZurKgEOx92IIZ84XEWNmCjw%2BMQIilnzpjl14qE2nheEaD6iRop20nKSqYzNl92WyKmJ5%2F5i6cYi1KKVXqj1DtsY5RC40WmFl0xSLB2uB9b%2BhSfMGIHcqx607VHT5O%2FWSx3SslNdOfAcviXHRPtwtRqBDQpw1OEs3Yc9hbBgNBQ%2BXNk7tHxPMgqARwF%2BV6mEnnLpRjj8h04MFtyqareRG9CYCCUHBivGlySHRfk9zh%2FW1yrpoZzRyb3E7qZjOWWdweC12o3H%2FsMtXM1lI%7Ctkp%3ABFBMrMurqPhg

        Great for making a stew or fry something.

      3. How sad. We’ve gone from electric ovens, hot food, clean water to cooking over a wood fire. Truly, civilisation is going backward. No doubt the communist Left are crowing how this is a good thing.

      4. I have a two-burner gas barbecue in the workshop as well as a large stand-alone single-ring gas burner stove, both working from a bottle of liquid gas. I also have a small barbecue and a larger smoker/barbecue that both work off charcoal.

      5. If you buy a BBQ with a pull down hood you can roast joints/chickens easily enough. Just make sure there is no flame or smoke from the coals.

        1. I have a fold out kitchen from when i went trailer camping. Two burners and a grill. Two sides to stand pots and 3 draws each side for whatnots.

    2. Nice idea , but what happens if the power is off for ages ?

      I bought 2 LED battery lanterns and 2 more torches yesterday .. I was also looking for a BBQ , as some of you know, I hate BBQs.. but we all agree we need an alternative to gas and electric..a facility to cook stuff in the garden in the mean cruel winter .. if need be.

    3. My wife’s late uncle Don was a rear gunner in a Halifax bomber in WWII.

      I asked him what was the closest he had come to death. He had removed the scratched Perspex from his gun turret to improve vision and gave reliance on his heated suit and gloves. On a high altitude night raid he saw smoke coming from his gloves. That was the closest he came to death.

      1. That is scary.
        However, I suspect that the safety of electric blankets etc. might have improved a little since WWII. I’ve had an electric blanket on my bed for a few years now and not had a problem so far. The instructions say I can wash it in the washing machine but I must admit I’ve been reluctant to do that!

        1. I know from when i was a biker you can by pads to fit in your gloves which keep your hands warm. A chemical reaction so they are probably banned now. Camping supplies might be worth looking at.

          3. You’re right! I can’t even manage fingerless gloves as they change the space between my fingers. Years ago I made myself a muff with fake fur and I put my hands in that in between hymns. Phizzee’s heated pads for gloves might well just be the thing for my muff; I’ll certainly look into it.

        2. My wife Carol has heated blankets and even wears bed socks. I rarely feel the cold except in my legs owing to blood thinners.

          I was reminded of uncle Don because yesterday we visited the small museum nearby on Yeldham Road, contained within a surviving Nissen hut, recording the exploits and artefacts of the RAF and USAAF men who flew missions from Ridgewell Airfield during WWII.

          The RAF flew Short Stirlings until the airfield was handed to the USAAF who flew B17B (Flying Fortresses) from there. Many aircraft were destroyed in combat and hundreds of men lost in operations.

          The museum is run by volunteers as is the case with much of true value nowadays. The exhibits contain everything from scraps of aluminium from wrecked aircraft found in the fields hereabout, uniforms and medals, examples of instruments and radios etc., and personal letters and notebooks of the men involved.

          1. Visited RAF Davidstow Moor museum a couple – three years ago.
            Only a small place, no funding for huge aircraft or panzers, so they focused on the personal – and it was completely overwhelming! So much “small stuff” directly related to people’s life and death, it was absolutely fantastic, and in parts, very moving!
            https://davidstowmemorialmuseum.co.uk/

      2. Respect! Not only for being Halifax crew, but a Tail End Charlie. They got the chop on a regular basis.

        1. Had an uncle who was mid-upper gunner on Sunderlands. Never returned one day. They all got the chop.

          1. Coastal Command, I presume. They were a long way from home if anything went wrong and the sea was unforgiving.

      1. My special chair will be the organ bench! With our local church’s electricity bills going up by a factor of 5 in 2023, I no longer feel that I can justify my little personal heater that I always place by my feet during services. But I have to have something to keep me warm, otherwise I simply can’t play. So this poncho seemed a good idea… As Rastus said, it’s my Christmas present so I’ll report back in the New Year.

        1. Whoops !!!

          There is another option if there is a handy plug socket. Heated mats from the pet shop. They get nice and toasty for your feet but only cost what a light bulb would.

          1. While you’re in the shop you could but a very large hamster treadmill wheel. Rig it up to a dynamo.

          3. Are they settling down now? Oscar and Kadi were sleeping in the same (big) bed this afternoon. That’s a first.

    5. Yes, i’ve seen those, they look good. I would like one. Except not, for me in grey (or black). I have soft autumnal colouring. Heated throws are also a good idea.

  56. A diversity orchestra has been accused of “woke nonsense” after refusing to play the National Anthem.

    The Chineke! Orchestra did not play God Save the King at a performance in Switzerland during the period of mourning for the Queen, at the direction of its founder and artistic director Chi-chi Nwanoku.

    In an email seen by the Mail on Sunday Ms Nwanoku, 66, wrote “The Chineke! Orchestra is full of musicians who are not from the UK and many who are the direct result of their ancestors being enslaved. We will not be playing the National Anthem in Lucerne.”

    The orchestra had been invited to play at the prestigious Lucerne Festival, in central Switzerland, just a few days after the late Queen’s death in September.

    A 62-strong group of young musicians, it was founded in 2015 as the first professional orchestra in Europe to be mostly made up of people who are black or from other ethnically diverse groups.

    It has previously played at the Proms and has received hundreds of thousands of pounds in funding from Arts Council England.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/10/09/orchestra-refused-play-national-anthem-accused-woke-nonsense/

    4. How ofen does it play in Africa and the Middle East? The natural home(s) of black slavery.

      Not a penny more from the Farts .Council.

    1. That has to be from the US? Looks like a school bus with an American registration on the grey car.

    2. The number of times I got held up trying to get to school in CT by families of turkeys crossing the road. We lived in a state forest and wildlife abounded but those turkeys had no road sense!

      1. Yes, have no sense at all!! We have to be careful driving around these parts, especially the wooded areas, with ma & pa shepherding their young chicks across the road!!

          1. Yes, our white tail deer are a pain, but I do love seeing the youngsters, groundhogs look furry and cute but are very wary of people.

  58. Bogey five today

    Wordle 478 5/6

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

    1. Par Four for me.

      Wordle 478 4/6
      ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
      🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩⬜🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. Par for me too.
      Wordle 478 4/6

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

  59. Ooh ooh ooh. Ocado M+S do Pornstar Martini mixes. £3 for two ! That’s my winter warmers sorted. Must get in some more Russian Vodka.

    1. Having 1 ruddy glamour model in the house is bad enough without some pornstar called Martin loafing about.

    1. Offer it. Offer it under terms so onerous, so painful, so destructive that Scotland would be reduced to penury and poverty overnight. Crush the wretched harpy under economic facts.

      When she complains and tries to spin it, publish it in full, with explanations of what the cost will be.

      Obliterate her publicly. Then force the vote. Don’t give her a way out. Make them vote to remain part of the UK and forbid any further referendum for 50 years.

  62. Well – that was a swizz. The delightful looking church in Old Hatfield – was, despite the sign saying: “Welcome we are open”, firmly shut. Very disappointing. Everything else in Old Hatfield – pubs, shops etc – was also shut. Most peculiar.

    Also most peculiar was being the only white person on a full single deck bus… I felt very diverse. Sill the buses ran every few minutes and were – thanks to my Narfurk CC Bus Pass – FREE…. And the sun shone. And I bought a new road tlas. And the MR finished early so we awere able to get home easily in daylight.

    Have I missed anything today?

          4. As always, you misrepresent me. I like NoTTLers very much – on the page – in the forum. I do NOT like meeting people. I am deaf, shy and anti-social. I have no small talk. I am not actually interested in other people very much.

            There – now others can judge objectively.

          6. I do keep trying to tell him that over lunch i talk mostly nonsense which is in no way memorable and it wouldn’t matter if he couldn’t hear a word. Smiles, nods, company would suffice.

            *Then i would get the low down from the MR what a bad boy he has been recently!

          10. Very good, thank you, Bill. BCP and the choir were magnificent as ever. Very peaceful end to the day.

  63. I made a rather nice Uitsijter for lunch, I used German ham as couldn’t find Dutch ham,
    used to eat them a lot when living in the Netherlands. .

          2. Hollandaise is a recipe worth learning properly. Far far superior to any from a supermarket. Versatile too.

      2. I always knew it as Strammermax. Toast or bread, sliced ham (not bacon) and a fried egg (or two) on top. Yummy, loved ’em.

          5. Eggs is good for ya. I’m working my way through a tray of boiled quails eggs at the moment. They help with my irregular movements. Heavy on the salt.

          6. For most healthy adults, it’s safe to eat 1–2 eggs a day depending on how much other cholesterol is in your diet. If you already have high cholesterol or other risk factors for heart disease, it may be best to eat no more than 4–5 eggs per week.

          12. Bodily cholesterol levels have little or nothing to do with ingested foodstuffs such as eggs, Bill …

            I eat a dozen eggs a week; my cholesterol levels are low 🙂

          13. #SWMBOtoo.
            My cholesterol varies quite a bit, but I eat the same stuff pretty well all the time.

          15. I’d be crippled with cramp if I ate anything heavy with salt. I indulged in salted pistachios not long ago and boy, did I suffer!

        1. I always loved the ham & cheese croissants I had for lunch when I would go into Das Haag on market days. Have never been able to replicate in my own kitchen somehow!!

  64. I made a rather nice Uitsijter for lunch, I used German ham as couldn’t find Dutch ham,
    used to eat them a lot when living in the Netherlands. .

  65. That’s me for this slightly disappointing day. I was looking forward to visiting an historic church.

    Still – the sun shone and there was an excellent mutilés loo in the University building.

    A demain.

  67. Prevening, all. I thought the government had a plan to cover the costs of dementia care; they intend to kill them all off one way or another. I have to say, I am immensely proud of Oscar and how far he has come; this afternoon, as I was hurrying about trying to sort things and tidy up, I accidentally stepped on his paw and made him yelp. I immediately apologised profusely and made a fuss of him (including giving him a biscuit), but even before that he did NOT even ATTEMPT to bite me! I wouldn’t have blamed him if he had, but he didn’t even go for me and draw back (as he has done on previous occasions). Such a good boy! I wonder if he thinks, now that I’ve got Kadi (who is extremely amenable) that if he doesn’t mend his ways he’ll be sent back to the dogs’ home.

    1. Glad to hear he has settled so well.

      I have a new puppy to keep Dolly company. Play fighting and stampeding from room to room over wooden floors. Rat a tat tat all day long. There are occasional breaks where they just fall asleep where they are. The extra exercise is good for Dolly too as she was beginning to look like a Walmart customer.

        1. Sometimes i Allow her a Winter wardrobe but i draw the line on her using my Amex to book flights.

          1. Kadi has a fleecy onesie that his previous owner bought him. I haven’t put it on him yet. He has an extensive wardrobe of coats, but at the moment it isn’t cold enough (he hasn’t been clipped, unlike Oscar) for him to be wearing them. Oscar goes out in a lightweight fleece lined coat or a mac depending on how wet it is.

    2. Poor paw, but good on Oscar for controlling his reaction!
      Your love and training seems to have borne fruit, Conners. Good on you, too. Respect!

    1. Just to explain; when I did my art degree we had an assessment called “transformations”. We were given a list of artists (on which Stubbs figured) and had to choose one, choose a painting from their oeuvre and copy it. This was Bay Malton, a little known Stubbs. From that I went on to create mobiles, sgraffito, prints and all sorts of other nonsense.

      1. My immediate thought was Stubbs, when you posted.
        I know you’re very rich but hesitated to suggest you had bought and framed a Stubbs!
        };-))

        1. Well, that’s very encouraging that it looked enough like a Stubbs to be mistaken for one. When I picked it up, two other customers were very complimentary about it, which is gratifying.

          1. On the downside, I thought the clouds were a bit OTT.
            I wondered if they were transmogrifying into the horse.

          3. Perhaps the back-lighting does it an injustice.
            I have a Pocock water colour which in most light looks bland, in clear sunshine it looks what it is, a Royal Academy award winner.

  69. Oberstleutnants First Law of Undemocracy:
    The law goes: «The higher the kerbstones, the more totalitarian and undemocratic the government”. Add extra points for the kerbstones painted in alternate colour & white
    Picture from Teheran a day or 2 ago, copied from Aftenposten.
    Look at the height of the kerbstones, and that they are painted alternate colours…
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/39835a7a74a378d04db8f23eeff8458bbf403d357914357332647af582f2b222.jpg

    1. Second Law goes:
      “The size of the disk on officials hats is directly related to the lack of democracy in the country”
      Was met in Kazakhstan a while ago by a customs official with a peaked cap with a disc the side of a sombrero on it. QED.

    2. My first law of ideal democracy:

      The smaller the bastard’s tombstone the more they deserved to be under it

        1. That’s can’t be true.
          I had the same face at 30 that I had at 50 and at 70.

          It frightened children, soured milk, and still does!

          Nobody deserves that

          Do they?

          Oh, OK, I do

  71. If this is true then surely it is a War Crime?

    RE the Crimea Bridge Explosion:

    The truck driver was identified by Russian media as 51-year-old Mahir Yusubov of Azerbaijan.
    Yusubov reportedly received an order to transport fertilizer through the internet and may have had his truck wired with explosives by Ukrainian special-ops units who used him as an unwitting suicide bomber…….

    1. Nah, if Zoophile ordered it, it was acceptable.

      No different from Mohammed al Explosion doing the same for Islam

  72. It’s a hard life living in France.

    We’ve just received, yes really, delivered by hand from the Mayor’s office, our invitation to the oldies’ lunch.
    The age has moved to over 70’s. When we were first here it was 60’s but the amalgamation of 3 communes pushed it up, so we missed one of the lunches.

    The meal is usually six or seven courses, aperitifs, wine until it comes out of your ears, spirits to finish, singing, dancing and just jolly good fun.

    Cost?

    Nothing!

      1. I suspect that you would absolutely love it.
        The food is local, cooked and eaten in traditional ways.
        For example, they “chabròl” the soup.
        Everything is “of the season”.
        I expect there will be 150 of us, now there are three communes.
        It’s one of those events that Covid regulations tried to destroy, I’m certain it will bounce back even better.

        We have a superb Mayor.

          1. Indeed.

            The first time we were at one of the autumnal village functions we saw most people were doing it and asked about what was going on.
            They explained the tradition and we certainly gained a few Brownie points because we asked before we joined in.

            Your picture isn’t quite the same as what we see here, the dregs of soup in the bowl is topped up with a small glass of wine, swished around and then drunk from the bowl as in the picture, the quantities are far less..

      1. There is here.
        It’s the only one, but I suppose one might argue that the oldies have already paid for it.

      2. Actually, there is. Next Sunday at noon, after Seale’s Harvest Festival, the Untied, sorry – United Parish of Seale, Puttenham & Wanborough will assemble en masse at Myrtle’s Courtyard, Hampton Estate, for a Harvest Lunch. Should have been last month*, but a certain monarch threw a spanner in the works.

        It’ll be bloody Sheperd’s Pie. It always is. But there might be Hog’s Back TEA.

        *The Estate being managed by a couple who are both ex High Sheriffs and current DLs, I think they were reluctant to be associated with an upbeat festival, during a period of mourning.

        1. The lunch is ol’ Sheperd’s
          Pie shall not want.
          It makes me down and sigh;
          With Copious greens they feedeth me
          with still table water close by…..

      1. If I remember I will, it’s not until mid November, they are getting numbers now.
        I worry that being in the younger echelon, we might not make the cut.
        }:-((

    5. Richard was invited to our local one but declined when he found that his (much) younger wife was not welcome unless she paid a considerable whack… He gave the lady who came to give him his first invitation such a hard time over this that he has never been asked again!!!

      2. I know that younger spouses have attended in the past, but now the commune has been amalgamated with two others, they may have changed the rules. It was 60 when we first arrived and the commune was a lot fewer inhabitants.
        We are the same age, so it didn’t arise.

    1. I think this is one of his better ones, very spontaneous and far less scripted than many on GB news and the like.

      1. He does a lot of these thinking-out-loud videos on his Patreon channel, often lasting 20 minutes or more. Some of them become the subjects for his shorter and more formal GBN appearances.

    3. Yes, but we know that.

      The saddest ones though “For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”

      That story came to me as I read about that awful nurse killing children.

  75. BBC4 just now;

    Nicola Benedetti …

    The talented, beautiful and charming Scottish-Italian violinist from Ayrshire.

    She makes a sharp contrast with her poisonous namesake ..

      2. “Tonight” (12 seconds in)? Doesn’t look anything like Cliff Michelmore to me. Lol.

    1. What does that make me? I have a fox terrier and a cairn x westie. Neither of which I actively intended to get.

      2. I found it a bit of fun. The article exists to flog adverts, nothing more. However there’s no mention of Newfies, so I made mine up – dim, drooling and fluffy.

    2. No! The Daily Mail is the modern-day equivalent of the Beano, but without its intellect, wit and humour.

  77. We have arrived at our north Norfolk destination. We have gone from the sublime (s. Devon) – champagne, strawberries, cream tea, three types of cake – generous slices – each, i.e. 6 slices. Milk in the fridge. All on arrival. Here we have zilch…. and the veg peeler has to be seen to believed. It is like something out of a christmas cracker. The place is, however, clean. But so tiny… Kitchen and living room is small bed-sit size, all in one. On top of all this poppiesdad was stung by a wasp on his face when we were out with our son, dil and two little grandsons on Saturday. We were in the orchard of Wimpole Hall. The left side of his face has swelled up like a puff adder. He looks as though he has a satsuma tucked in his cheek. He got some Piriton from the pharmacist this morning who said give it 48 hours and if its not down check with a medic. I suppose now it’s not going to impede his airways but I am worrying about infection and septicaemia. We may be seeing the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital this holiday. Fingers crossed (that we’re not, natch).

    Oh, and Poppie threw up on the carpet not long after our arrival.

    1. Well Poppy, your life ain’t dull. Poor people. I do hope it all works out OK. Good luck!!

      2. And at this time of the year the wasps are really dopey, drunk on rotting apples. Poppiesdad thinks he was stung three times within a one inch diameter.

          1. It has subsided a little today, now he looks as though he has a boiled sweet in his cheek, and the area is not as red. There is a central part that looks a bit ‘manky’ – for want of a better description! – which worries me somewhat but he is not displaying other signs of infection. Lovely day with clear blue skies this morning, and considerable high-level aircraft activity.

    4. Six slices of cake? Hmm… depends on the slice I suppose!

      I go with ‘cut a little bit… and hand me the rest.’ sorry to hear the recep. wasn’t sufficient – hopefully the experience will improve.

    5. Oh dear…….. not good – is this another holiday let? I hope it goes down ok and he feels better in the morning.

      1. Yes, we are away on another self-catering holiday-let jaunt. Just five days this time Mon-Fri. Lovely sunshiney weather on the way here, glorious autumnal colours. If the weather is good all will be well, if we are confined to barracks because of rain the mood will be grim. Poppie’s face says what are we doing here? Again? (Not again here but ‘again’ away from home.) Hopefully pd’s face will have improved in the morning.

    6. Sigh… Hope it all works out for the best, PM.
      I was doing other stuff in East Anglia (mainly a Sainsburys) while my colleagues were building the N&N horse spittle.

      2. I was working in the Norwich office of Feilden + Mawson when the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital was being built. The CAD manager in the Norwich office took a more lucrative job organising the construction information for the hospital build.

        I thought the whole development shouted PFI by which I mean cheap and nasty, yet very expensive (for the taxpayer).

      3. I was working in the Norwich office of Feilden + Mawson when the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital was being built. The CAD manager in the Norwich office took a more lucrative job organising the construction information for the hospital build.

        I thought the whole development shouted PFI by which I mean cheap and nasty, yet very expensive (for the taxpayer).

    7. Hope pd is recovering from his wasp sting…they can be nasty.. Good luck for the rest of your stay.

      1. Thank you – his wasp sting has gone down a little today. We awoke to cloudless blue skies and more than a little jet aircraft activity high overhead.

  78. Goodnight, everyone. I’m off to fill my hot water bottles to warm the bed before retiring.

    1. I suggest acquiring a large dog and having him sit on it for a while – while playing ‘roll over!’ Why they don’t get bored I don’t know.

      1. I have two medium sized dogs, but the rule in this house is “I don’t sleep in your beds, you don’t sleep in mine” 🙂

  80. It’s 10.10 on the 10th day of the 10th month………. we’re home early from our table tennis match as OH was not feeling well.

  81. Christmas nearly over. Two of three presents down. Cards bought, addressed and stamped.

    The it’s a smooth run down to the end of the year.

    1. Good grief! That is well-organised. I’ve got as far as getting the cards and booking the supermarket delivery slot (22 Dec in case they have run out of stuff I want, if so I can make a quick dash in on the 23 Dec). Puddings to make end October. No presents bought as yet.

  82. Good night, everyone. Today 11 of us watched THE LOST KING (i.e. finding the body of Richard III in a Leicester car park) and almost all of us found it to be a really enjoyable (“Thumbs Up”) film. Only 1 of us gave it a “So-so”, which baffled the rest of us. He left the cinema before I could ask him why.

    1. I surveyed and was involved in the conversion of the adjacent building to the famed car park viz. the former Parr’s Bank, subsequently acquired by RBS and ‘Nat Wested’, by which I mean wrecked internally to distinguish their modern banking arrangements.

      The building, a fine edifice worthy of any site in the City of London, is now a Middletons Steak House.

      I was aware at the time of the discovery of the bones of Richard III and watched the shenanigans on TV. The woman who claimed to have discovered the remains was in my view mad. The archaeologists should be applauded for having to put up with her.

      1. An interesting take on that, corinmobile. The film suggests she had ME problems which put people off her.

  83. Tuesday 11th October 2022

    Hardcastle Craggs

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8b2128823adda6763e47ab1a51f8a68256dfc7379e2f9f9d957ce1679fd9fc9c.jpg

    And very many joyous returns,

    With best wishes,

    Caroline and Rastus

    Hardcastle Crags is a wooded Pennine valley in West Yorkshire, England, owned by the National Trust. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies approximately 2 miles north of the town of Hebden Bridge and 10 miles west of the town of Halifax.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0b95d294bdf76a746158b158889f8665a91e1179bd99244912d27d122fa0e558.jpg

  84. The story of the day for me is concerning PayPal. I asked my wife to cancel her account, used I believe for payments on eBay, Etsy and Apple and other sites.

    Carol reports that attempts to cancel have been met with rebuffs along the lines of ‘your account cannot be changed at this time’ or other words to that effect ‘try again later’ or that sort of thing.

    I checked the stock position of PayPal and noticed this is presently on a precipitously downwards projection. I suspect the bastards will be insolvent in due course as more and more people and companies quit its platform.

    This situation emanates from the expressed aim of PayPal to charge users a large sum if posting disinformation where the supposed disinformation is decided by PayPal.

    It came as no surprise to me to note that PayPal was acquired by a Chinese company.

    We should remain acutely aware of the extent to which globalists and their Chinese chums have attempted to assert their malign influence on the West. If we remain unawakened to this evil pincer movement our wealth and property will be stolen from us and we will have to seek permission to purchase a loaf of bread.

    This is a serious proposition and we all need to wake up to what is being foisted on us by our own government and those representing most of the western sphere. Our western leaders are all bought by Soros, Gates and the folk who own the Central Bank, Bank of England, European Bank, IMF and their supporting cast.

    3. Paypalis a public company. Nobody owns it. The biggest shareholder owns about 2%. And they are not Chinese.

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