Monday 20 January: The merits of Trump’s direct approach after Biden’s rudderless rule

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

573 thoughts on “Monday 20 January: The merits of Trump’s direct approach after Biden’s rudderless rule”

  1. Good morning Geoff, Elsie and all NoTTLers
    Here is today's Monday Chuckle

    On a mountain, a car is going uphill in reverse.
    A police officer asks:
    "Why are you climbing this dangerous route in reverse?"
    "We thought that if we don't find a place to turn around at the top, we'll be able to come back down facing forward."
    After a while, the car descends the mountain, still in reverse.
    "And now, why are you going down in reverse?"
    "We found a place to turn around."

  2. Good morning, chums, thanks to Geoff, I'm first today AND I managed the Wordle in just two. Edit, well I'm not first, only second! Drat and double drat!

    Wordle 1,311 2/6

    ⬜🟨🟨🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      I'm a genius today as well!
      A lot depends on the starter word….
      Wordle 1,311 2/6

      ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. Chose the wrong second word. Drat and Double Drat!

        Wordle 1,311 3/6

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

  3. Good morning, chums, thanks to Geoff, I'm first today AND I managed the Wordle in just two. Edit, well I'm not first, only second! Drat and double drat!

    Wordle 1,311 2/6

    ⬜🟨🟨🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  4. Good morning all.
    Still dark, but from the slightly less cold temperature of 3.1°C, I suspect it's overcast. Minimum temperature was 1.9°C. At least it's still dry.

  10. The merits of Trump’s direct approach after Biden’s rudderless rule

    What a great upbeat rousing speech Trump made yesterday, as he pledges to make the USA great again.
    Just contrast that with when Starmer got in with his dirge depressathon, which the country is still in, I think it will last until the next election.

  11. The Democrats, by cheating in 2020, shot themselves in both feet.
    Had they allowed the true result to stand, Trump's every move, every policy would have been stymied with non-stop political activism and lawfare. He would have achieved VERY LITTLE.

    Instead they not only gave him 4 years to learn and prepare, but the gave the Citizens of the USA the time to wake up, open their eyes and see what the Democrats were doing to their country.
    Good luck President Trump and Good Luck to the people of the USA.

  12. Starmer & Khan.. the two plum preserves are standing out like sore thumbs.

    Labour mayor Sadiq Khan sparks a major row by claiming that Mr Trump’s return marks the “march of fascism”.

    1. Nostalgia cubed!!
      First unescorted theatre trip with Phillipa,Christine and John was to see Hair in 1969
      I wonder where they are now………..

  14. Will MAGA push out Mandelson? 20 January 2025.

    In an unusual turn of events, it turns out that a potential UK-US peacemaker could be Nigel Farage. The Reform UK leader not only invited Lord Mandelson to a pre-inauguration party on Friday, Farage has even had talks with Sir Keir’s top team to help the Labour lot repair their relations with Trump. Yet in a comment noted by the Express that will be unlikely to thaw Reform-Labour relations, one former British ambassador noted that ‘Mandelson has the skill needed to potentially offset Farage’s influential narrative in DC’. Awkward…

    Nigel should not have done this. It is not part of his brief to aid the present Marxist government of which Mandelson is probably one of its worst examples.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/will-maga-push-out-mandelson/

    1. Can't recall where I read it, Minty, but I read somewhere that Trump said he would NOT accept Mandelson as Britain's Ambassador. (Good morning, btw.)

  15. Holding the inauguration indoors was never supposed to happen with climate change and global warming, proving the project fear scare stories are all science fiction.
    At least Trump is going to get back to pumping oil and fracking.
    No insane Far Left Net Zero for the USA.
    That just leaves us, supposedly leading the world.
    While we trail the world in economic growth, industry and wealth creation.

      1. Anyone with a brain or a memory knew what would happen.
        This time it's just quicker and more spiteful.

  17. Morning Anne ,

    As you say how do we get the same result in Blighty.

    We ring more church bells , we fly our Union flag , we do not allow the foreign hordes their marches and flag flying in our cities .

    Britain is our home , and strangers should know they are here under sufferance .. We should adopt Sir Joseph Bazalgette’s scheme

    Responsibility for realising the scheme fell upon the shoulders of Joseph Bazalgette, Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works. He and his team constructed a series of interconnecting sewers which carried the effluent eastwards and out to the Thames Estuary. Once away from the main centres of population, it would be dispatched on the outgoing tide.

    https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/photographs/the-great-stink/#:~:text=Sir%20Joseph%20Bazalgette's%20scheme,-Responsibility%20for%20realising&text=He%20and%20his%20team%20constructed,dispatched%20on%20the%20outgoing%20tide.

    1. Morning, Maggie.
      We all know what SHOULD happen.
      But for thirty years of treachery it wouldn't NEED to happen.
      But who will do it?
      20% of the electorate are responsible for our current plight, which doesn't suggest democracy is delivering the goods.
      Remember the GBP were deliberately disarmed by Blair. Now only criminals and state employees have access to serious firepower.
      And … before anyone jumps up and down, in our youth, more people possessed firearms and we did not feel unsafe.
      In fact, as an example, a visit to Ipswich town centre was a pleasure, not a fear filled experience.

      1. We do not live in a democracy. Every five years the same people change sides, implement the same policies to achieve the same goals, unfettered and uncontrolled by their employers. These policies do ruinous damage to the UK's society, culture, heritage, economy.

        While they do this damage we cannot remove them stop them or control what they waste our money on. In fact, the political class have demonstrated that they're devoted to perverting our will using our money to do it.

  19. 'Morning All
    Medley Time
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0a1e29cfe9c530f70e2db62632ba57b29ecb3d38bec30249cd8007a527e27043.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c55e07e42d7e142e3cfe8d3d36c9aec83b6083d9325ee1bb7d053d3562f62ea8.jpg
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    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5ccb0d69db546c827bfdb73b867c02c6ad34e950aef834f091214f17c402e4bb.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3116cc3f25a1041d27443efe9854414f6a52f8d0f69fe38785b1b5e3f74eafaf.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/161d75bff94c1016376d53b729a7aa2210da64bd046f44c7d45253aa7eaca539.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/177badf5cd5d02faab439c370d214bbaaaf5bdb4b5e2c7f1b6095a6e6ea673bf.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/43f501daacbb20ff708301e123efbdde28b717ca80e0ceabb794bcc97302b032.jpg

    1. My German improves daily.
      I am definitely a Morgenmuffel.
      Must be my Germanic roots – albeit some 1500 years ago.

  20. Challenged a woman last night – she'd written in Aftenposten that "Trump had enacted a law in his last presidency that made all women's lives worse", but she refused to be specific as to what law that was. So, I assume it's another example of folk on the left just making up shit about those who are Right of centre so everybody can blame that person and have a whinge fest without it actually being based in any kind of fact.
    Bastards.

    1. Same same with Tommy Robinson. "He's a racist."

      Ai ChatGPT – AGI asked to scour internet and list every single racist remark by Tommy Robinson..
      Hours later.. Tumbleweed —- for all those awkward moments..

      1. ?!?!? What does your final (italicised) sentence mean, kowloonbhoy? (Good morning, btw.)

          1. So you're saying that when you ask a question and no-one answers, you should go outside to watch the wind blowing tumbleweed down the road whilst someone plays Chopin's Funeral March? Non capisco, kowloonbhoy.

    2. I’d assume she means overturning Roe v Wade, though it was the Supreme Court that made the decision. How abortion supposedly makes women’s lives better is not something they ever elaborate on of course.

    3. Sorry old bean, but Indonesia is nearly 90% Muslim and in the province of Aceh harbours some of the most harshly Sharia compliant regions on earth.

      edit for % sign.

  23. Is this Blower suggesting that Trump as President will be a bumpy ride? A dig at the new President?

      1. Well, I personally think that the cartoon is ambiguous, Citroen1. (Good morning, btw.)

      2. Well, I personally think that the cartoon is ambiguous, Citroen1. (Good morning, btw.)

  26. G'day all,

    Cloudy at the McPhee demesne, wind South, +1℃ rising to 6℃ this afternoon.

    I've been absent for a few days just to see if I got more done if I stayed away for a bit. I did. Ah well.

    Child stealing by the state is something that UK Column, especially Brian Gerrish, has been talking about for quite some time. I listened to this interview with a growing sense of alarm, disgust and outrage that this sort of thing goes on in Britain. This young woman who comes across as articulate and educated has had two children snatched by the state and she and the children's father have had every obstacle put in their way in their efforts to recover their children and establish a family life.

    She was born a Sikh but she has converted to Christianity and that was mocked both by the judges and the social workers. The father of her children is a military veteran and that, it seems, singled him out for contempt. They have tried to use English Common Law and got nowhere, one judge even telling her that he or she did not work for the King or God. MPs, it seems, are no help. They are not alone. There are thousands of parents and their children in this predicament.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/32de30280953b39fd6ed52829c857aa869b1bfbd86dd5b6ae873b89b82adc4e8.png
    https://www.ukcolumn.org/video/child-stealing-by-the-state-a-mother-criminalised-for-speaking-out-part-1

    Who are these people who do this sort of thing? Who are these judges who are given draconian powers in the family court system (no juries are involved)? Who are these social workers? These so-called experts? These Council officials? What legislation allows them to think they can do this? Well, money seems to be at the root of it and the fostering and adoption 'agencies' which get involved are private companies, not organs of the state.

    This is a national scandal. Another one.

      1. I think I remember now that you mention it but I didn't pay attention. However, since the spring of 2020, all is changed, changed utterly.

  27. 20 January is an important date. Today we see Donald Trump re-entering the White House on what we fervently hope is the beginning of the end, if not the end, of the woke globalist nightmare we have been living through. In FSB's main article today, I t's T Day. The World's Hopes Lie With Donald Trump, we give Mr Trump advice on what he needs to do to eradicate this virus once and for all. We pray that Trump’s period in power has as lasting effect as an event that occurred 760 years ago, on 20 January 1265, when for the first time ever common people and townsmen were invited to a meeting regarded as England’s first parliament, as record in our second article On This Day – England's First Parliament . Please read both and tell us what you think – and vote on how well you thing Trump will do.

    If you missed it, Book Two of Richard Craven’s epic The Wokeiad , amusingly and wittily demonstrates the lunacies of the Woke Crew is one to savour.

    Energy watch 07.30. Demand: 39.898GW. Supply: Hydrocarbons 66.9%; Wind 7.2%; Imports 2.7%; Biomass 8.1% and Nuclear 8.9%. Solar: 0%.

    Even with relatively low demand, wind can generate only 8.9% of our need. Gas is supplying over two thirds of it, 66.9%. If gas powered stations were shut down, as Mad Miliband wants, nearly all the country would be without an electricity supply – and it’s freezing out there.

    freespeechbacklash.com

  28. 20 January is an important date. Today we see Donald Trump re-entering the White House on what we fervently hope is the beginning of the end, if not the end, of the woke globalist nightmare we have been living through. In FSB's main article today, I t's T Day. The World's Hopes Lie With Donald Trump, we give Mr Trump advice on what he needs to do to eradicate this virus once and for all. We pray that Trump’s period in power has as lasting effect as an event that occurred 760 years ago, on 20 January 1265, when for the first time ever common people and townsmen were invited to a meeting regarded as England’s first parliament, as record in our second article On This Day – England's First Parliament . Please read both and tell us what you think – and vote on how well you thing Trump will do.

    If you missed it, Book Two of Richard Craven’s epic The Wokeiad , amusingly and wittily demonstrates the lunacies of the Woke Crew is one to savour.

    Energy watch 07.30. Demand: 39.898GW. Supply: Hydrocarbons 66.9%; Wind 7.2%; Imports 2.7%; Biomass 8.1% and Nuclear 8.9%. Solar: 0%.

    Even with relatively low demand, wind can generate only 8.9% of our need. Gas is supplying over two thirds of it, 66.9%. If gas powered stations were shut down, as Mad Miliband wants, nearly all the country would be without an electricity supply – and it’s freezing out there.

    freespeechbacklash.com

  29. The potential investors will listen to the Dumb Drone from Accounts for no more than two minutes and then head for the slopes.

    Rachel Reeves to host Trump allies in Davos
    Under-fire Chancellor will attempt to woo investors and the new US administration

    Rachel Reeves will hold talks with allies of Donald Trump in Davos next week in an attempt to woo the new US administration.

    The Chancellor is set to meet business leaders including Larry Fink, the chief executive of BlackRock, who is known to have a close relationship with the incoming president.

    The Treasury said she would be telling global investors attending the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) annual meeting that Britain was “on the up” and at the start of a “decade of national renewal”.

    The trip to Switzerland comes after a difficult fortnight for the Chancellor, during which her future has been called into doubt amid economic turmoil.

    Ms Reeves will hold a series of private meetings with business leaders on Wednesday and Thursday at the forum, which takes place every year at the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

    She will attend a round table organised by the financial services firm JP Morgan. Among those present will be Mr Fink, a trusted adviser of Mr Trump whose global investment management firm, BlackRock, has managed the president-elect’s fortune.

    Ted Pick, from Morgan Stanley, who has spoken highly of Mr Trump’s pro-growth agenda of reducing regulation, will also attend.

    Ms Reeves will also meet David Livingstone of Citi, Filippo Gori of JP Morgan, along with representatives of Lazard, BNP, KKR and others.

    Elsewhere during her two-day stay she will hold bilateral meetings with Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JP Morgan and Jo Taylor, president of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

    Mr Dimon is reported to have acted as a sounding board to Mr Trump over his economic plans.

    Mr Trump is due to make an online appearance at Davos on Thursday, three days after his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States.

    The Treasury denied reports that the Chancellor was not invited to public events on the WEF programme at which her Tory predecessor Jeremy Hunt made a speech last year.

    A spokesman for the Treasury said she was invited to make a speech but instead chose to focus her time on private events.

    Ms Reeves will however speak at an event called “Country Strategic Dialogue” with up to 100 global chief executives and business leaders, alongside a CBI lunch panel, a Wall Street journal event and Bloomberg fireside chat.

    “The Chancellor will be speaking at a series of WEF-led events with top-level attendees from across business and government – as well as attending a wide range of side events and meeting a wide range of CEOs and business leaders in bilaterals,” the spokesman said.

    “She wants the CEOs and global investors representing some of the biggest global companies – to know that the UK is on the up.

    “We have talented people, a stable economy and are already welcoming investors from around the world to our shores. We have begun a decade of renewal and now is not the time to miss out.”

    Ms Reeves will also attend the informal gathering of world economic leaders at the event. She has been under fire over rising borrowing costs and sluggish growth, leading to predictions of deep spending cuts to bring the economy back on track.

    The Government came to office vowing to make economic growth a top priority. However, it has instead slowed sharply since Labour took power and there are growing fears of a possible recession this year.

    A raft of surveys have suggested falling confidence among businesses and households since Ms Reeves used her maiden Budget to unveil a record £40 billion of tax rises.

    State borrowing costs jumped earlier in January, amid fears that even this would not be enough to fund the Treasury’s spending plans, and there is now speculation that the Chancellor will be forced to increase taxes or cut public services as soon as March to avoid breaking her own fiscal rules.

    Analysts at JP Morgan on Friday became the latest to raise the alarm, saying that Ms Reeves was facing a black hole of as much as £20 billion and would be forced to announce emergency measures in March.

    Last week, Downing Street was forced to clarify that she would be remaining at the Treasury until the next election, after Sir Keir Starmer refused to guarantee her position.

    On Friday she fought back, telling the BBC “I’m not going to let them get me down” and vowing she was in the job for the “long haul”.

    On Sunday it was reported that Ms Reeves is looking to raid a sewage clean-up fund in a bid to claw back savings following a rise in the cost of borrowing.

    According to The Guardian, the Treasury is in discussions about keeping millions of pounds raised from fines levied on water companies that were earmarked for restoring Britain’s polluted waterways.

    The £11 million water restoration fund, launched by the last Tory government, was set up to help farmers, community groups and councils protect and improve the UK’s rivers, lakes, and streams.

    But the Chancellor is now said to be looking at holding onto the money in an attempt to ease pressure on the public finances.

    It is likely to spark a backlash from environmental campaigners who have been assured by Labour ministers that they will tackle the sewage crisis head on.

    Tim Farron, the Lib Dem environment spokesman, demanded clarity on where the funding was going, saying: “The Government must publish its plans for the water restoration fund now, to reassure the public that polluters’ fines will be used to restore clean water to Britain – not to plug holes in the Treasury’s purse.”

    Asked about the Treasury potentially keeping the money from the restoration fund, a government spokesman told The Guardian: “For too long, water companies have pumped record levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

    “This Government has wasted no time in placing water companies under special measures through the water Bill, which includes new powers to ban the payment of bonuses for polluting water bosses and bring criminal charges against lawbreakers.

    “We’re also carrying out a full review of the water sector to shape further legislation that will transform how our water system works and clean up our waterways for good.”

    Agreement with Switzerland
    Meanwhile, Britain has reached an agreement that will enable UK-qualified professionals such as lawyers and ski instructors to work in Switzerland.

    The UK-Switzerland Recognition of Professional Qualifications Agreement will mean Britons’ qualifications in more than 200 professions are recognised in Switzerland.

    Ms Reeves will be accompanied at Davos by Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary.

    “As a resolutely pro-business Government, we want to make it as seamless as possible for UK businesses to operate abroad,” Mr Reynolds said.

    “With the UK and Switzerland being two global leaders in services trade, this agreement is testament to our unwavering commitment to economic growth.”

    *************************************

    The Invisible Hand versus The Dead Hand
    11 hrs ago
    Some tips for a successful meeting Rachel:

    1) Share your CV with them — it’s bound to impress

    2) Tell them you worked for the Bank of England and that you know what it takes to run a successful economy

    3) Show them your track record in government

    4) Give them a copy of the photo that shows you replacing a picture of Lawson with one of some communist.

    5) Let them know you really support the Chagos deal.

    Alternatively, stay at home so as not to embarrass yourself and the country.

    Geoffrey Coles
    45 min ago
    Reply to The Invisible Hand versus The Dead Hand – view message
    That's not home at No 11, somewhere in Leeds perhaps.

    Dominic Littlefair
    11 hrs ago
    These guys are going to see her for the bone-headed dullard she is. She hasn’t got a clue and the Americans know it.

    R-Two- D-Three
    6 hrs ago
    Reply to Dominic Littlefair – view message
    A.k.a. the "useful idiot" that Klaus Schwab and the WEF have requested Starmer appoint to destroy the UK economy.

    1. Wouldn't it be more humane to hand out industrial strength Zopiclone to the poor victims? Imagine being holed up listening to Thieves drearily mouthing her delusions.

    2. Fair play.. all the right buzzwords..
      “Country Strategic Dialogue”.. a resolutely pro-business Government.. seamless.. a round table.. a “decade of national renewal”.
      means it's true. FACT.

    1. Surely they would only have to check Harry's DNA for the right results.
      I'm not trying to be nasty, I always like him but somethings are rather obvious.

      1. Not necessarily. There’s probably some legal definition for heirs to the crown that involved physical birth to a legitimate heir or wife of a legitimate heir since such definitions would pre-date any possibility of surrogacy, IVF DNA testing etc. If a surrogate were merely renting out her uterus for a fertilised egg produced from both H&M there would probably be a need to amend the law if, God forbid, it ever came to the point that it mattered. But if the egg didn’t come from M, I imagine the child would be technically illegitimate from the perspective of being in line for the throne

    3. Would it not be wise as a matter of course for all babies in the line of succession to have DNA tests?

    2. Much as I dislike Harris and Starmer's mob, I hope Trump's administration has better things to do than waste time over the Labour party.
      Starmer's Government can self-destruct without such a push.

      1. I wish I could agree with you. I fear that the size of Starmer's majority, although shallow, will guarantee a full 5 year term come what may.

        1. They'll self destruct, but the full effect won't be seen until the five years is over, so I fear you're correct on us being stuck with them.
          I don't see them ever going voluntarily, however bad it gets, they'll just double down on blaming the Torrees and hurting the indigenous.

      2. ? Are you sure about that? Starmer is the dogmatist's dogmatic dogmatist.
        He'll take everything down in five years.

        1. If he does it so thoroughly that the left can never be rebuilt I won’t complain, assuming I’m still alive.

  36. As if Kemi Badenoch would paraphrase The Don.. like ever.

    "Every radical & foolish executive order of the Biden Administration will be repealed within hours of when I take the oath of office. You're gonna have a lotta fun watching television tomorrow."

    "Every radical & foolish Act of the Blair, Brown, Cameron, May & Starmer Administration will be repealed within hours of when I take office.."

    1. The trouble is that "Every radical & foolish Act of the Blair, Brown, Cameron, May & Starmer Administration" covers pretty much everything they did, so it's going to be job worthy of Hercules to clear out those stables!

      1. That is why the 'Right' party requires the services of David Starkey. He understands.. he pinpoints the vandalism. Kemi doesn't get it. Not even sure Nigel, Richard or Alex do either. Not Tommy's remit.
        Still missing that rare leader.

  37. Good moaning all. A lighter grey day today!

    À propos the arla milk post yesterday – a similar question. Does anyone know the ingredient in toothpaste that claims ro whiten the teeth?

    Bought some Colgate recently because it was on offer but there were so many chemicals in it … I’d just like to know what I’m putting in my mouth.

      1. Apparently Poland. No mention of hydrogen peroxide but loads of other ingredient. I’ll have to look each one up coz I have no idea.

        1. Our toothpaste use to be made only in the UK until one of our government’s donated around 100 million pounds to the EU mafia who passed it on to Poland so they could build a band new factory.
          I believe it was done to relive the UK from the large amount of Polish people coming here to live. And now look what’s happening.

          1. I don't mind the Poles being here – hard working and Christian. Not so keen on the current sort of migrants.

    2. Hydrogen peroxide in the more expensive ones. I bought some so called whitening stuff off Amazon – didn't work so got my money back. I then bought some Pearl Drops Pro White. I put some on my electric toothbrush then dip the brush in baking powder followed by brushing for 2 minutes. My teeth are certainly whiter but this is after 6 months of doing that. The result may not be the toothpaste but the more vigorous brushing.. Some reviews say instant results whereas others say no effect at all, I guess it depends on the starting point and condition of teeth.

    4. I only know that it's either abrasive or chemical, but both just remove the top layer from your teeth.

      I started avoiding toothpaste containing fluoride last year.
      I do look for Xylitol though, as this really does help to prevent holes!
      Look up books by Rafael Nagel on repairing your own teeth.

        1. Dentists recommend all kinds of crap though! My dentist recommends a medicated one loaded with fluoride!

          1. They do….husband goes to a different dentist, who recommended different crap to my dentist…I think three monthly hygiene once over plus dentist check is excessive..and costly. Hygienist helped me a lot, best one I’ve ever been treated by.

    5. Used to be bicarbonate of soda, vw…go to Amazon or an online chemist, find the one you're using, should list the ingredients. Fluoride is another ingredient to look out for ppm etc…

        1. 🦷🪥…bit wimpish emoji was hoping for real set of gnashers…if you’re happy with how you do it, and your teeth are happy with that too…that’s what you should do😊

  39. If I can raise the money, I shall buy Santander's British network. I think I'll call it Abbey National.

        2. Something begining with Haitch leading onto to Smelly Back Cavity…….just getting my coat…

  40. Morning all 🙂😊
    Brighter start but chilly.
    Big day across the pond, I hope it all goes as well as expected.
    There's a good programme on C4 with George Clarke looking at American architecture.

      1. And HIV transferred from its previous host in a great ape (not sure which one – possibly chimpanzee) to human through one being killed for bushmeat. There's also the possibility that it wasn't eating the chimpanzee that caused the transfer but that after killing the animal the hunter engaged in an act of bestial necrophilia. There's a good reason that the Old Testament Law prescribes the death penalty for that action.

  44. Freezing cold. Back on form – only two possible answers after second guess:
    Wordle 1,311 3/6

    ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
    🟨🟨⬜🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  45. 400307+ up ticks.

    Morning Each,

    I do believe "wooing" President Trump is a mission impossible but the trade talks COULD lead, to give the president the lever if he wished to use it against the political S(tools) anti Brit lab mob.

    No trade deal is possible unless you follow, to the letter, MY intended undesirables deportation orders, and put a squad of antilitter attendance on my golf course.

    Starmer scrambles to secure trade deal with Trump
    Having architect of Chagos Islands deal in PM’s new ‘mini-Cabinet’ could complicate efforts to woo the new US president

    1. Morning Ogga.
      I think that the 47th American president will have taken into account the way us Brits see and feel about our 'government' and of course act accordingly.

    2. A chauvinistic president who makes no secret of putting America first is not to be trusted with a trade agreement unless they are conducted on our side by someone who can put Britain first just as much.

      I do not forget Bhopal or the Gulf of Mexico where the USA shafted India and the UK respectively. When TTIP was on the cards, it was on the understanding that all disputes were to be resolved by American lawyers acting in the business interests of American corporations, and that whole nations could be sued for damages for any local legislation that reduced profits for the Americans, however reasonable.

      We need to be very very careful before succumbing to Trump adoration – he is on his side, not necessarily ours.

      I certainly would not trust Mandelson with the task, and have to say that the only presidential candidate I would have trusted with a trade agreement was Bernie Sanders.

        1. Ed Miliband was much better before he started going to these global conferences, which only the super-rich or the corrupt could afford to attend. It was he who started off local generation of power to relieve pressure on the National Grid. By early subsidy when under development, this would keep the price down enough until economies of scale and market competition kicked in.

          We have known about the problem since at least 1990, but then the computer power was not up to deciding whether we were accelerating to Armageddon or mitigating an impending ice age.

          I’m not sure Elon Musk’s solution putting everyone in electric cars and enforcing underpowered electric heat pumps is the answer though. We can do a lot better than this.

          For example – a merchant ship was reported scavenging CO2 from its engines while at sea, and then flogging large bottles of the stuff when in port. It is used for all sorts of things from fizzy water to preserving ready meals. We nearly ran out when the only factory producing it closed because its American owners were not satisfied with the quarterly returns or the executive bonus pot. If I remember, the Government had to give this business a huge subsidy in order to keep the monopoly supply going.

          As for Mandelson, would you trust a working burglar to sell you an intruder alarm?

    1. Libtards that spout nonsense, spread lies.. still don't get it.. You can't just unsay the utter bollx you uttered earlier, like ever. There are receipts.

  47. Grief! It may not be freezing, but it's sufficient to chill my finger despite the insulated gloves I'm wearing.

    1. Oh dear that's going to upset bbc's coutryfile and sir David Attenborough and of course many other insignificant's.

    2. He's lidderally a fascist.. doesn't he realise that people are actually boiling in their skins in Ireland.

      1. Perhaps he and his supporters have 'rigged the weather' in Washington today to keep the ceremony inside. And all are Less vulnerable.

  50. It seems that the NHS complaints department has shut down. My email Thursday last (the only way to make contact) was not even acknowledge. They seem to be making the assumption of the FOAD agenda more obvious than previously thought.

  51. Long, but interesting

    ANDREW NEIL: The return of Trump has sparked an anti-woke revolution that could transform the world. But the REAL nightmare for his enemies is still to come
    Today's inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States could not be more different from when he was sworn in as the 45th President eight long years ago.

    Back then Trump was regarded by the American Establishment as a vulgar intruder, propelled to power with Kremlin connivance (the media was obsessed with 'Russian collusion', which somehow it never managed to prove) and the backing, in Hillary Clinton's memorable phrase, of a 'basket of deplorables', her snobbish (and self-defeating) reference to a white, working-class voter base with unfashionable opinions.

    The near-unanimous view among Washington's power brokers was that the unworthy Trump had no right to be there.
    His alien invasion was a fluke, a scam, a nasty aberration. They consoled themselves that it was also likely to be temporary. But, just to make sure, the resistance was fired up from the start.

    The day after his 2017 inauguration tens of thousands of women marched through the US capital sporting 'pussyhats' (pink hats with cat's ears), a gesture of feminist outrage at his locker-room description, caught on tape, of how he handled women attracted by his celebrity.

    The Left-wing media, which in America means most of the media, was quickly unleashed to disparage and ridicule him at every turn. Congress and the courts were geared up to thwart him, even attempt to impeach him (twice).

    Trump's narrow defeat by Joe Biden in 2020 seemed to vindicate this strategy. He had been dispatched to internal exile in his Mar-a-Lago gilded cage as an army of Democratic lawyers and political opportunists were mobilised to wreak revenge by picking over his carcass in multiple court actions. The 'nightmare' was over. The 'grown-ups' were back in charge.

    But not for long – and their real nightmare is only just beginning.
    Today Trump retakes power in a freezing cold Washington (so cold the ceremony has had to be moved inside Capitol Hill), the undisputed victor of the presidential election of 2024 and the head, not of a temporary insurgency, but of a new ruling multi-ethnic Republican coalition – a new establishment, if you will – which controls not just the White House but the Senate, the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court.

    He is the first Republican presidential candidate who was not the incumbent to win the popular vote since Ronald Reagan in 1980. The first President since Grover Cleveland in 1893 to be elected to two non-consecutive terms.

    He will take the oath of office today as master of all he surveys, the head of an occupying army that Washington loathes but is powerless to resist. It is the old political establishment, not Trump, that has been displaced – and is now in retreat, perhaps even chaos.

    The anti-Trump media is in decline and disarray. The Democrats are still in denial about the scale of their defeat last November. Kamala Harris's campaign manager recently told a Harvard seminar her campaign had been 'flawless'.

    There will be no 'pussyhat' demonstration to follow this inauguration. Resistance will no doubt gather as Trump's second administration unfolds. But for now it has crumbled.

    There is no more telling sign of the new realpolitik in America than the way in which the country's Big Tech oligarchs have flocked, first to Mar-a-Lago, now to today's inauguration, to pay obeisance to the once and future Sun King.

    Those who only recently regarded Trump as something close to satanic have lined up to kiss his ring. The competition to abase themselves is almost comical.

    Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of Meta, who once conspired with Democrats to block pro-Trump and anti-Biden stuff on his Facebook platform, spent Thanksgiving at Mar-a-Lago. He now speaks of the need for more 'masculine energy' in American business.

    He has abolished fact-checking on Facebook, which Trumpers saw as a front for censoring conservative opinions (sometimes it was) and appointed a close Trump friend (Dana White) to his board. It doesn't get more grovelling than that.

    Unless, of course, you're Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, another of Trump's new dining companions. He's just ponied up $40 million for a fly-on-the-wall documentary about Melania Trump to be aired on his streaming platform, Amazon Prime Video. I wouldn't hold your breath for much revelation. The First Lady will be the producer as well as the star of the show.

    Bezos, of course, stopped the Washington Post (which he owns) from endorsing Biden in November. Now he's ordered Prime to livestream the inauguration for no good reason (there's hardly a shortage of platforms on which to watch it), other than further to ingratiate himself. He is a truly worthy winner of the Order of the Brown Nose.

    Zuckerberg and Bezos have stumped up $1 million each towards the inauguration festivities, as have Apple's Tim Cook and Google's Sundar Pichai. Along with the original Trump 'tech bro', Elon Musk, they will all have a ringside seat at today's ceremony in the Capitol rotunda.

    There are enough tech bros in Washington for them already to have staged their very own pre-inauguration Crypto Ball. In 2017 there weren't enough to fill a broom cupboard.
    It doesn't stop there. America's Big Tech companies, only recently the epitome of all that was liberal, progressive and achingly woke in US life, are now in the forefront of dismantling their expensive, pervasive and energy-sapping 'diversity, equity and inclusion' (DEI) policies. They know the Trump administration will go to war on DEI so they are pre-empting it.

    Zuckerberg has scrapped various DEI programmes, which have attracted an army of opportunists and identity-politics grifters. Tampon machines have been removed from men's toilets at Meta HQ. The post of chief diversity officer has been abolished.

    But this sea-change in corporate attitudes is not confined to Big Tech. Some of the biggest names in America – Motorola, Harley-Davidson, Ford, Molson Coors brewers – are now junking DEI. Retail giant Walmart has stopped funding its Centre for Racial Equity, started in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

    A second Trump term will hasten the death knell of DEI, whose legal basis was already weakened when the Supreme Court ruled affirmative action unconstitutional. I suspect the rest of the world will look at this – and follow America's example.

    DEI's big brother, environmental, social and governance (ESG), is also on the way out. In a frenzy of virtue-signalling, big companies rushed to make ESG considerations as important as making a profit. From Wall Street down, ESG is quietly taking a back seat.

    Interestingly, mega asset managers, BlackRock, whose boss, Larry Fink, was once tagged 'king of the woke industrial complex' by Trumpers, is leading the way.

    BlackRock – along with several other Wall Street giants – has also pulled out of a net-zero group run by billionaire Mike Bloomberg, once mayor of New York, and Mark Carney, once governor of the Bank of England and would-be next prime minister of Canada. Clearly they've seen the writing on the wall with a 'drill, baby, drill' president in the Oval Office. Oil and gas stocks are soaring.

    In a somewhat sour valedictory address last week President Biden lamented the concentration of immense power and extreme wealth in new oligarchs created by what he called a 'tech-industrial complex'.

    Biden consciously echoed President Eisenhower, who warned in his 1961 farewell address of the dangers of a 'military-industrial complex'.

    Biden, of course, was less critical of the tech bros when they were seen to be on his side – or doing his bidding when he pushed them to censor content he wanted suppressed. But there is a pertinent message in Biden's remarks Trump would do well to heed.

    When Trump won in 2016, it was dismissed as the last dying gasp of a white, working class which was about to be marginalised by a growing, dynamic, multi-ethnic America – which would inevitably lean Democrat.
    In fact, something else happened that the Democrats were too blinkered to see: the white, working class was increasingly joined by pro-Trump working-to-middle-class Hispanic and black male voters, eventually by enough to give him a convincing victory last November.

    Trump's second term will be a success not by pandering to the tech bros, but by promoting the interests of this new, multi-ethnic Republican coalition.

    Their interests are overwhelmingly in plenty of jobs – especially better-paid jobs – and rising living standards. That is why Team Trump is placing so much emphasis on revving up an already dynamic US economy with supply-side reforms, tax cuts and major deregulation. The more the economy grows, the more the real wages of the new Republican coalition will rise.

    Trump wants ten regulations binned for every new one introduced. He wants to renew previous tax cuts due to end in 2026 and even add to them. He thinks tough controls at the southern border and mass deportation of illegal immigrants already in the country will tighten the labour market and raise wages, to his new coalition's advantage. The 46 per cent of Hispanics and 25 per cent of black males who voted for him largely agree.

    Trump is more focused and better prepared than 2016, when even he didn't think he was going to win. Team Trump is more loyal, more onside than those he first appointed eight years ago, many of whom had their own agendas.

    The transition period has been spent drafting an avalanche of executive orders – a paper 'shock and awe' as one Trumper put it – to be rolled out as early as this afternoon. Deportations of illegal immigrants with criminal records will be underway before the week is out.

    Of course, it could all go quickly wrong. Trump is cavalier when it comes to tax and spend, which risks increasing the national debt and annual budget deficits, already far too high. That, in turn, risks breathing new life into inflation, requiring higher interest rates, neither of which would be good for Trump's new constituency of ordinary strivers.

    But the markets are comforted by the fact that in Scott Bessent he has a Treasury Secretary who will know what he's doing.

    In Marco Rubio he certainly has a Secretary of State who knows what he's doing and whose presence means foreign policy might not be quite the rollercoaster many fear in Trump's second term.

    But fundamental change is coming. Trump wants to concentrate on bolstering America's dominant position in the Western Hemisphere – hence all the talk of Panama, Canada and Greenland – while telling Europe, which is in for a rude awakening, it needs to take the lead in dealing with a revanchist Russia; and China is given more leeway in its East Pacific sphere of influence.

    Europe, to its disgrace, remains in no shape to look after its own backyard even though it's almost 80 years since it emerged from the ashes of World War II, and nobody can be sure how far China thinks its sphere of influence should extend into the Pacific.

    Trump could crash and burn. That can't be discounted. It is in the nature of the beast.

    But America stands at a watershed and, against so many odds, he could be a transformative president.

    The President who turns America away from endless obsessions about identity, gender and race – and places a renewed emphasis on opportunity, economic growth and dynamism.
    The President who forces America's European allies to realise they cannot for ever strangle their economies with spirit-sapping welfarism and stifling red tape – while still expecting America to pay for their security.

    The President who created and consolidated a new, prosperous, confident Republican majority of all races which left the Democrats bereft of purpose.

    It's a tall order. But Inauguration Day is a time when Presidents get to think big and reveal ambitious finer possibilities for the country.

    We must hope Trump spurns a repeat of the bleak image he outlined in his first inaugural address and puts base thoughts of vendettas against enemies behind him. A much bigger prize is within his grasp. He must not squander it.

      2. Beat me to it, Araminta…. #gizzajob piece…I mostly remember him crying on GBN when a lamp fell over, and also for letting Sturgeon walk all over him when he 'interviewed' her.

  52. Southport trail, " no defense presented " .
    Tousi TV internet News Channel you tube.

  53. Wear socks in bed this winter, says NHS. 20 January 2025.

    The NHS has advised elderly people to wear socks to bed to cope with cold winter weather.

    Eight cold weather alerts have been issued by the UK Health Security Agency as temperatures drop.

    “Make sure to always wear socks, slippers or shoes around the house. If your feet get cold at night, then go to bed wearing socks,” the advice from Moulton Medical Centre in Lincolnshire said.

    I have to say that this works. I tried it during that last cold spell (-5 C.) and slept through.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/19/wear-socks-bed-winter-nhs/

    2. Years and years ago , at bedtime , we wore bedjackets and winceyette nighties , jim jams and bedsocks , because our first cottage had no double glazing or central heating.

      Keeping warm was a challenge .

      1. When I was a schoolgirl we had ice on the inside of the windows….. my school clothes went on the bed overnight under the eiderdown to keep me warm. I don't think I wore bed socks but my grandmother did.

        1. I remember ice on inside of windows too…climate does indeed change but nothing to do with human activity…might just be in for a harder winter this year.

        2. Out of interest, are “bedsocks” a special type of sock, or just ordinary socks worn in bed?

          If the latter, i wear bedsocks.

          1. no tight elastic tops.
            I have a couple of pairs, they are very comforting. But I usually have a hot water bottle instead.

      1. I might look some out…. though we did replace our electric blanket last week so it's been a bit easier to get to sleep. Had to revert to hot water bottle for a week or two.

          3. As in, "When I get back off this exercise I'm really looking forward to slipping into a nice warm wife."

    4. Wonder why they didn’t recommend a quick trip down the doctors to do the “decent” thing.

    1. August 11th????????? Is he on remand??????? I bet he isn’t.

      It’s an absolute disgrace given how the Southport people were treated.

  58. Quite, I think it is finally getting through people’s skulls that the Democrats are not the caring sharing, people they pretend to be.

  59. 499307+ up ticks,

    This is happening at street level, has it now dawned on many it has been the way for the last forty years
    via the voting stations / tribal voters, electing again & again governing politico's who have mastered the art of shite bombing the herd from a great lucrative height.

    These sanitary odious issues have reached street level
    but has been with us in one form or tother for decades.

    https://x.com/DVATW/status/1881241499163308051

    2. I have actually seen this for myself. Black man urinating in a bus shelter in the middle of town.

      3. The porch on the office where I used to work always stank to high heaven of urine. It wasn't the staff.

    3. I’ve been meaning to post on this.
      Last week i observed a muslim man who works in my office go into one if the communal showers at lunchtime (in his suit, he hadn’t been exercising and didn’t have a gym bag with him). So i lingered around out of curiosity and lo and behold after a few minutes the shower was turned on. I suspect he was using the shower for wadu or whatever it is called.

      2. Mention it to your superiors. He could have been removing traces of ex pl osives, or simply a rehearsal.
        No one showers without some form of towel.
        If he wants to do wudoo at work, he is more observant than his colleagues realise.

  60. Chinese man who killed 35 in car rampage after unhappy divorce is executed
    Fan Weiqiu, 62, deliberately drove a small SUV through crowds of people outside a Zhuhai sports complex in November

    Fan Weiqiu, 62, was upset about his divorce settlement and deliberately drove a small SUV through crowds of people exercising outside a sports complex in the southern city of Zhuhai in November.

    He killed 35 and wounded 43, in China’s deadliest attack since 2014.

    A court in the city “executed Fan Weiqiu in accordance with the execution order issued by the Supreme People’s Court”, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

    Fan was detained at the scene with self-inflicted knife wounds and fell into a coma, police said at the time.

    Footage of the aftermath showed dozens of people lying motionless on running tracks and fields, with shoes and items of clothing scattered across the grounds.

    SRG Pratt
    49 min ago
    In China, if a person is convicted of murder, he/she is taken out of the back of the Court and shot in the back of the head. In a nice touch, the family is charged for the cost of the bullet.

    Here , they would get a community order.

    1. There might not be so many of these street attacks if that was the penalty in Europe, though having said that the recent attack in the States resulted in the perp being dead. It's all gone quiet on the Magdeburg attack.

    3. What a horrible, depressing story. If true, he got his comeuppance. Not that it brings any of the victims back.

  61. No comments on this one.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/19/two-asylum-seekers-free-shoplift-to-order/
    Martin Evans

    Two asylum seekers who were left free to shoplift designer items to order claimed they needed money for food and clothes, a court heard.

    Frans Epentrius, 29, and Tobias Iileka, 33, who are waiting for their asylum claims to be processed by the Home Office, were spotted acting suspiciously by staff in the John Lewis store in Bluewater shopping centre, near Stone, Kent, on Dec 23.

    Iileka was equipped with a pair of wire cutters, while Epentrius was seen trying to hide a £550 Coach handbag in a brown paper bag he was holding.

    When he realised he was being watched by a member of staff, he placed it back on the shelf but after making off was subsequently detained and arrested by police.

    After being charged, Iileka admitted shoplifting other items from John Lewis on a previous visit and told a probation officer he had committed the offences so that he could buy food and clothes.

    He claimed a friend had given him an order for things to steal including designer fragrances, handbags and sunglasses.

    Iileka, from Crawley, was charged with stealing items worth £1,356 from the Bluewater John Lewis on Dec 4 and with going equipped for theft by carrying wire cutters on Dec 23.

    Epentrius, 29, from St Leonards, East Sussex, was charged with attempted shoplifting in relation to the incident on Dec 23.

    Both men admitted their offences when they appeared at Sevenoaks magistrates’ court on Jan 14.

    Lauren Kenny, prosecuting, explained how the pair had been spotted in the John Lewis store at 4.35pm on Dec 23.

    1. Clearly they were not "from Crawley" or "from St Leonards" – what were they doing roaming a shopping centre equipped to steal? Why are they here when their families are in Africa?

    6. How did they travel from Crawley and St. Leonards?
      Were they taxied over by their Fagin or did they have the money (ta ever so, British taxpayer) to pay their fares.

  62. It is a given! They will fit in perfectly with the rest of the immigrants and successful asylum claimants.

    1. Given the curent level of wind and solar electricity supply the UK is running just as well on cow farts (biomass).

  64. I see that the Southport one has changed his plea, very nice of him. Deportation back to Cardiff and a slap on the botty by the judge…

    1. Hmmm if he had plead guilty from the off then maybe it wouldn't have been so easy to restrict press coverage

      1. I am sorry, but that whole story reported in the press stinks to high heaven. This just tends to confirm my suspicions.

    4. Afternoon KP. My suspicious, not to say paranoid nature, wonders what they offered him to withdraw his Not Guilty plea?

  65. Two days before The Donald entered the Whitehouse he launched a crypto coin. Now Melania has launched one too, It affected Trump's coin and its value dropped. Time to buy said I.

  66. They are generally looser and more “woolly”…. my day time socks might be a bit restricting for night time wear.

  68. I've got a dental appointment next month – it's expensive but I pay monthly for two sessions a year with both the hygenist and the dentist. I haven't needed any dental repair treatment for years. That was a replacement for a cracked filling – noticed by the hygenist.

    1. I first went to a new dentist opened in nearest town, he sorted out my bridge/caps etc and was really good, newly qualified. He then employed this hygienist also really good showed me care to follow. I had no further problems, but they wanted me to see both every three months (this was during lockdown, possibly not as many making appts), would have worked out at around £500 pa and I don’t have a dental plan. Then they kept chopping and changing date/time appts and I just got fed up with the whole thing. As I say, husband – different dentist, again a lot of work even more expensive, but he says – just keep your hygienist appts and let me know any trouble otherwise see me annually. I’d move, but that one has no spare places. So I look after mine, and carry on. Did I tell you about when I visited supermarket with my bruised face …?

      1. My hygienist gritted her teeth at me when I told her it was “twenty minutes of torture” but she’s very thorough and has worked at the practice for many years. The dentists come and go… the current one is Anousha, of Indian extraction. She’s very pleasant but I have a job to hear her, as she speaks very quietly, muffled behind a surgical mask.

        The practice was sold a few years ago to BUPA, when the previous dentists, who were husband and wife, retired. I’m on Denplan but it goes up every year and is now £35 per month.

  69. Southport killer admits murdering three young girls in knife attack. 20 January 2025.

    Axel Rudakubana has pleaded guilty to the murder of three girls and a terror charge on the first day of his trial.

    The 18-year-old was accused of killing six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in a knife attack in Southport on July 29.

    He was also charged with the attempted murder of Leanne Lucas, a yoga class instructor, John Hayes, and eight children who cannot be named for legal reasons, during the same incident.

    No comments allowed on this. They want to bury it as quickly as possible.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/20/southport-murder-trial/

    1. 1h
      When the evidence was so clear cut you have to wonder why the trial did not take place promptly. When TTK wants social media commentators punished for criticising elite policies they are inside before the paint dries.
      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/db6fba11f93c4cf87a8160b3667fb13378835f240e3d14c6f2d593e1d6d0927e.png

      1h
      So which m0sques/ madrassas / 1sl@mic centres did he attend? Are any suspected of being radicalisation hubs? Will they be closed and those running them banned from working in others?

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b6149a0d769124c7f66d4fd24880de5b2340778e3dc02cc87e7c5591e60707ef.png

          1. The other disincentive as regards moving to Hungary (and, my goodness, it is an attractive prospect) is that it is landlocked. I don't think I could bear not being able to see the sea from my bedroom window. Or, failing that, to know that the sea was very close by.

    3. Presumably he pleaded guilty so he only has to do a few hours community service.
      Think what he could do with a litter picker and a plastic bag.

    4. No sentence is sufficient. He's a vile, monstrous character, typical of the muslim thug but the state won't stop importing more of him and his ilk. Hundreds more arrive every day.

      The families who's children were killed have a life sentence. No punishment is sufficient to make amends for that. The this diversity was just one of a long, long list of muslim nutters, muslim who shouldn't even be in this country is a spiteful, arrogant, vicious state hadn't forced them on us.

    2. Charles the Cat
      18 minutes ago

      This is a huge win for Trump. He got Biden to blink and make such a foolish move. If all these people are above board, as he claims, why the need for preemptive pardons? Especially when none of these people have been charged or convicted of a Federal crime. Biden just accomplished the mission of placing a cloud of suspected guilt over all their heads. Nice job Joe.

    3. Comments in US media are suggesting that they still hold inquiries and oblige them to appear. Either the truth comes out or they get banged up for lying under oath

    5. Wow. Why would he need to do that, if the Committee members hadn’t done anything wrong?

      (Sarcasm).

      The whole thing stinks to high heaven of corruption.

      Edit. Readundery…..

    6. Wow. Why would he need to do that, if the Committee members hadn’t done anything wrong?

      (Sarcasm).

      The whole thing stinks to high heaven of corruption.

      Edit. Readundery…..

    7. Tough on the January 6th people, but I don't think Trump pardoning them is a good idea.

      I think a better approach would be stating that they were found guilty through the legal process, which, as your President I must respect, but I will grant them all the right to appeal, and that their legal fees will be paid.

    2. No need to bring in refugees from gaza though, the idiot prince is going to bring 5,000 terrorists into canada. That will get Trump going about canada tightening immigration.

    3. That's very similar to the reply my mp sent to me a few years ago.
      He lost his job at the last election.

  72. Received this from Taxpayers Alliance about the South Cambs. 4 day week trial. I doesn't make happy reading.

    Thank you for signing our petition against a 4-day week in the public sector.

    We've been arguing for a long time now about the dangers of the 4-day week and how damaging it can be. But I wanted to share with you a letter from an anonymous whistleblower in South Cambridgeshire where the council has been running a 4-day week trial for two years. The letter, which is reproduced below, is a damning indictment of the trial.

    It doesn't make for nice reading but it is important to know the human cost of this reckless experiment. It's clear this trial needs to come to an end and a part-time public sector be ruled out by ministers. If you agree, you can share our petition on Facebook here and X here.

    Thank you for your support.

    Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance

    A letter from an employee of South Cambridgeshire District Council

    "I work at the council here at South Cambs. I’m writing this because I want everyone to know what it’s really like to work under the 4-day week here.

    The council is arms-length, cold and isolating. The office often feels like one big empty shell. On a Monday and a Friday, you could hear a pin drop. It’s a very sad place to be and it’s not been good for my mental health. It’s so lonely working here. We're quite a big council with lots of people, but I've never felt more alone.

    The 4-day week is in fact a 3-day week. Most people have Mondays or Fridays off, so most meetings are scheduled Tuesday to Thursday to ensure everyone is available. This makes the work even more intense. Mondays and Fridays are a write-off if you need to do any team working, so you have to cram the bulk of your work into 3 days. This is unsustainable.

    When you factor in hybrid working, it gets even worse. Staff are only required to be in the office once per week. In reality, though, it’s less than that because there’s only a 1 in 4 (really 1 in 3) chance that you'll be in the office on the same day as someone else. This makes it impossible to build consistent working relationships with colleagues. How can you, when it’s a lottery as to which colleagues will be in the office each day?

    The combination of the 4-day week and hybrid working has made the council a very cold place to work. It’s a massive three-storey building, but we only need one floor for council staff now — not even that. We don’t have a canteen so there’s little opportunity to socialise, not to mention the fact everyone is working back-to-back to get all their work done in 4 days. I think the public are confused, as some people think we’re working compressed hours. But we're not. We're just working less hours — one whole day less.

    I know people think it sounds great. And yes, who would turn down working 4 days a week for full pay? Who would say no to a 3-day weekend, every weekend? Nobody would, which is why nobody gets to do it, except us. That creates a lot of resentment and people don’t see that side of it. If I'm talking to family or friends about work who don’t know about the 4-day week, I pretend I’m working a 5-day week like everyone else. I’m ashamed and afraid to be labelled ‘lazy’, or get remarks like ‘typical council, hardly working’. In truth, we’re having to work harder than ever to get everything done in less time, but nobody understands that. So I just pretend it isn’t happening to people in the outside world because I don’t want the embarrassment of having to explain how it all works and feeling like a scrounger.

    The guilt burden is huge. On my non-working day, I’m always on edge in case something pops up and I’m not there to deal with it. My family don’t do 4-day weeks, so on my non-working day I feel embarrassed because they're busy working hard for their money, while I get a lie in. It makes me feel inadequate — like I'm not good enough. I feel a lot of pressure to make up for it by spending my non-working day doing [redacted]. It's a very strange feeling doing the shopping or walking the dog when you know everyone else is at work — and I don’t like it. I certainly try not to talk to any tax-paying residents about it because I know people don’t like paying us not to work.

    All of this makes it even more isolating because it’s like I can’t join in conversations about work with my friends and family. I’m too scared because I just know people would be very critical. I don’t want that social embarrassment. Sometimes, it feels like I'm acting like I’m working for MI6 or something, I'm that secretive about it. There are many things we can’t talk about as we're dealing with members of the public, but it would still be nice to talk freely again about how I'm getting on in my career. Council officers are most definitely not politicians, but it feels like I have to be one in social situations, wriggling out of conversations about work to avoid the shame. The social anxiety the 4-day week is causing is detrimental.

    I’ve found it much harder to socialise with people at work. Even on the off chance you strike it lucky and are in the office on the same day as someone else, the chances are you'll both be in back-to-back meetings or glued to your computer trying to cram your work into 4 days. This hasn't helped with the loneliness because there’s no time anymore for a catch up about your weekend or your holiday because you've got to get on with work. It’s like being up against a ticking timebomb every week. I don’t like to approach people at their desks anymore, either, because I don’t want to disturb them. We hot desk so it should be really easy to say hello or check something with people, but I know what it’s like to be so busy that you can’t stop for a chat, so I don’t want to be a nuisance.

    I feel new starters have struggled. They don’t have those working relationships established with others prior to the 4-day week and hybrid working, so I imagine they find it extra hard to get to know their colleagues when they never know who will be in the office and when. I don’t think this is good for career development. There’s also no time to fit in any training. The council is keen to offer people learning and development opportunities, but I don’t have time to take advantage of them to progress my career. Or, if I do agree to extra training and development sessions, they end up being a nuisance because I’ve got too much other work to do on that day, so I end up multitasking and missing out on the opportunity.

    All the staff I’ve worked with at the council have been amazing. Everyone's so dedicated to helping residents in South Cambs and I find that very heartwarming to be a part of. But this means I find it very sad seeing staff get stressed. I want people to know that all the staff here are so committed and do some fantastic work for our community. Please do be kind to them if you need help with something. I promise they really are trying their best.

    I understand why residents are annoyed. Would you want to pay council tax, knowing your council is having a paid day off every week? No. What's more, residents don’t interact with their council unless they've got a problem. We collect people’s bins, collect their council tax, sort council housing and decide planning applications. Nobody wants to talk about any of these things unless they really have to. It's annoying when your bin gets missed or when someone gets permission to build something you don’t like. I understand this. And the 4-day week only gives residents extra frustration, because we've heard stories of people trying to contact the council and getting ‘out of office’ emails and struggling to get in touch. I don’t think it’s good for our reputation. I feel the public have lost trust in us.

    That scrutiny is very challenging to deal with. I feel people are working themselves into the ground to prop up services. It feels like [redacted] – until it conks out and breaks. I fear some people will soon reach that stage.

    The 4-day week is meant to be about improving recruitment, but people have still left during the 4-day week trial. I don’t think it suits a lot of people. They don’t like how cold the council has become because of it. Unfortunately, it’s not a welcoming culture here for new people anymore because it’s so transactional. I think that’s why they’re leaving, even though I guess they’re going to regular 5-day week jobs. If a fully paid extra day off each week isn’t keeping people at the council, what does that tell you?

    A 4-day week is nice. Of course it is. It gives me an extra day to [redacted]. But it can make work so much harder, with so many more hoops and automatic replies to jump through before you get to the person you need to speak to. The guilt is an immeasurable burden. I don't like the feeling that residents don't like how we are working, and I hate the shame of feeling a lazy cheat on my non-working day. There's so much pressure on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The heightened stress in the office is palpable.

    So it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, this 4-day week. Maybe you would say people like me should just opt out and work 5 days. But when you have the chance to have a paid day off, why would you do that? Surely you would try and cram it all into 4 days too?

    Working here is hard, isolating and, to be honest, depressing. I’m struggling with it a lot. So when people read about us in the news and say how much they’d love a 4-day week, I would encourage them to think again. Be careful what you wish for."

    1. Perhaps I should have some sympathy, Then I think back to my last 20 years of working. Marine seismic surveying, 35 consecutive 12 hour shifts, average 2 days each way travel to and from the vessel, 5 weeks (minus travel time) off.

      1. I didn't spend too much time in the office but spent a lot of time working with clients in different time zones. It was not unusual to spend a few hours working with clients in Australia before going into the Amsterdam office for a full day and what better way to end the evening that phone calls with clients in the US.

        We had one hell of a lot of fun in those days and achieved a lot, those public sector employees don't have any idea what a sense of achievement you can get by working as a team.

    2. Back to back to get their work done in 4 days.

      So… they had a day of wasted time padding the week?

      I work 4 days a week. On the fifth day I do charity things with the dogs. I also mostly work remotely. The difference is one of value. If I don't do my job efficiently, quickly and to budget I don't get paid. If council wonks did absolutely nothing for weeks on end, they'd still get paid.

      I know because I've done this myself. You turn up, find a long running project or training set up and you can sit in a room, on your own practically all day. Oddly, this is why I left. I wanted to achieve something rather than just spend time doing it.

    6. I find it very irritating that most pictures one sees of this animal show him as a smartly turned out schoolboy.

      1. We can now see the extent of cover up by the authorities being revealed. The sheer panic amongst government led to the jailing of anyone who dare reveal what type of person we have imported into our midst. I suspect much more will leak out now that we have a verdict. Odd that sentencing is so soon, the judge normally calls for reports. I suppose it has all been sorted out behind closed doors.

    8. A big loss to society & technology sector.. fret not.. plenty more from where he came.. fresh batch today in fact.

    10. Hmm freshly shaved,what exactly was he hiding with his jumper over his chin in court wouldn't have been a wispy Islamobeard would it??

  77. Lammy – our embarrassment of a Foreign Secretary – has decided he really, really likes Donald Trump.

    "David Lammy has lavished praise on Donald Trump before the US president-elect’s imminent return to the White House.

    The Foreign Secretary spoke of Mr Trump’s “incredible grace” and “generosity”, describing him as “very, very friendly” and “very warm”.

    The comments mark a stark contrast to his past criticism of the Republican leader, who he described as a “woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath” in 2018."

    A crisp BTL comment.
    Before the Prime Minister sends David Lammy to meet Donald Trump he should be aware that Mr Trump likes the Village People………and not the Village Idiot.

  78. Millipede is attending Davos as CEO of International Rescue. Will we see his strings? Will Lady Penelope be there? The Donald will take part via video link.

  79. The crumpets I made yesterday were delicious and even more so today.
    Finished baking just as our number one his mother and lovely grandchildren arrived home from their country side walk. Half of the batch of ten consumed very quickly.
    I'll include the recipe later. I'm bottling home made cider at the moment.

      1. Good question……I have the grill on medium and put them on a heated metal tray still in the round containers and put them under until baked.
        Usually have to us a small knife to cut around the outside edges to remove them.

        2. Thanks RE.

          MOH and I use a cast iron griddle on the AGA hot plate using round non-stick containers and after sealing crumpet base transfer to simmering plate until bubbling reveals holes.

          Releasing from containers and inverting crumpets onto a griddle tends to seal the holes. Currently MOH removes crumpets from griddle on AGA simmering plate, tranfers hole side up onto baking tray and grills in top of roasting oven.

  80. Starmer and police ‘covered up’ Southport terror links

    The mugshot of Axel Rudakubana, who has pleaded guilty to the murder of three young girls and a terrorist offence on the first day of his trial
    Key moments
    Updated 11 minutes ago
    2:15pm
    Rudakubana was referred to Prevent more than once
    1:49pm
    Farage: British public should have been told the truth
    1:15pm
    Rudakubana had ‘sickening and sustained interest in death’, says CPS
    12:21pm
    Rudakubana warned he faces ‘inevitable’ life sentence
    11:37am
    Rudakubana pleads guilty
    Sir Keir Starmer and the police were guilty of a “gigantic cover up” over the Southport murders, Nigel Farage has said, as he suggested there might not have been riots if the public had been told the truth.

    After Axel Rudakubana pleaded guilty to the murder of three young girls and a terrorist offence on the first day of his trial, the Reform UK leader said the Government had behaved “abominably” from day one.

    Mr Farage was prevented from asking questions in Parliament about the background of Rudakubana and whether he was known to the authorities.

    He claimed the riots that occurred in the wake of the murders were caused by the withholding of information from the public, rather than the stabbings themselves.

    Speaking from Washington DC, where he is attending the inauguration of Donald Trump, the incoming president, Mr Farage told The Telegraph he had been informed shortly after the murders that Rudakubana had been expelled from school for possessing a knife at the age of 13.

    It led Mr Farage to suspect that he might have been known to the authorities.

    He said: “I was pretty certain from what I had been told very early on that this was a terrorist-related attack. I wanted to ask questions in Parliament about what the authorities knew about this man, but my rights of parliamentary privilege were taken away and I was not allowed to say anything, which is extraordinary.

    “I wasn’t even allowed to ask any questions in Parliament, and the suggestion that it was because of ongoing court proceedings is completely wrong.

    “This reflects very badly on the Prime Minister. We have been denied the truth on this by the police and the Government, it is disgraceful.

    “There has been a gigantic cover up from day one, the authorities knew very very quickly about his expulsion from school, the ricin making and the Al-Qaeda material, yet they refused to class the murders as terror related for fear of the reaction there might have been.”

    1. Starmer is in it up to his neck. His handling of this. Liebour’s long and documented role in the rape gang cover up.

      1. He doesn't care. He has o protect his own for they protect him. The entirety of Westminster and Whitehall is an incestuous nest of back scratching, deal making scum. Nothing but ticks on the body of the nation.

    2. Not surprised that the photograph the media used showed a 10 year old boy, he looked menacing in the up-to-date presentation. Even the artist's representation presented him in a very favourable light. The mugshot indicated something totally different. I am lookist.

    2. A thought has occurred to me. If it can be proved that Biden was never in full control of his faculties and was instead manipulated by Barack Obama and/or others, would that made his last minute Presidential Pardons illegal because they were not in fact pardoned by the outgoing President at all?

  83. Re Southport

    1 Claim The suspect is not an immigrant, he's from Wales.
    2 Rebuttal OK his parents were immigrants but Claim: he was a clean-cut star pupil at school and claim: from a Christian family
    3 Rebuttal OK he was expelled at 13
    4 Rebuttal He is no longer a Christian, he's a Muslim but Claim not on terrorist watchlists
    5 Rebuttal He was known to the authorities after all
    6 Claim His trial has been held back while we undertake investigations, his defence team are well briefed and the trial will last 4-6 weeks
    7 Rebuttal He's now pleading guilty and to possessing Ricin and a Muslim Jihadist terrorist manual
    8 Claim He'll be sentenced to life imprisonment shortly
    9 Rebuttal He's been sentenced to Life but with a minimum sentence where life won't mean life.
    The 9 is my betting
    Anyone else noticing a pattern? Claim, claim refuted, lie exposed.

    And to think that this animal's atrocity has resulted in furious English men and women being imprisoned for years, by judges who appear to have more sympathy for the perpetrator and his fellow travellers than they do for people who were rightly outraged.

    1. “And to think that this animal's atrocity has resulted in furious English men and women being imprisoned for years, by judges who appear to have more sympathy for the perpetrator and his fellow travellers than they do for people who were rightly outraged.”

      That’s exactly the problem. Britain ,and specifically in this case England, is broken and decent people are seething angry.

      1. Starmer has not uttered a single word about those political prisoners whose words about that sub-human savage have now been proven to be the truth.

    3. We have no proof that the media story we were told is even a correct version of the facts. Everything about this case from start to now screams deliberate action to stoke up fury.

      1. With the best will in the world the media can only comment on what they "think" about what they are told/discover. In this case the speculation could have been stopped by those in the know reporting the truth from the outset.
        If those in the know deliberately lied to stoke up fury they are even guiltier than those presently in prison.

    4. Let us not forget the parents who apparently did not notice they had jihad being firmented by their son and ricin being made in a bedroom. Just a normal teenager really, they are little devils sometimes but his nan loves him.

      1. Allegedly his father stopped him starting off on an earlier attempt at a mass killing spree.

  85. Re Alf the Great’s Tax Payers’ Alliance post about the four day week “experiment” at the local council.

    One of my friends works for a local authority and is horrified at the hours i work (=required to be in the office plus the “overtime” to actually get my work done).

    She says, in the local authority they would have two or more people doing my job. She thinks i should demand assistance.

    It’s a mindset.

    1. A council wonk I know complains about his workload. I looked at what he did and most of it is make work and comically inefficient. He prints a PDF and fills in, by hand; the same form, often with the same data every time. For example, Indian restaurant/Chinese restaurant. For our system these are database entries. I suggested this and he said 'what would I do with the time saved? He couldn't conceive of making notes on site using a tablet or similar. It was all offline.

      1. We always had trouble weaning bureaucrats off their private spreadsheets onto the real data that we provided. All of that tweaking of reports became harder.

  88. Anyone else watching the inauguration?
    They are playing looney tunes music while the previous president's and VPs enter the rotunda.

  89. Didn't last long. Musk aint no team player. This isn't what they meant by Government reduction plan.

    Amid tensions in DOGE Vivek Ramaswamy, co-leader of the Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk, is reportedly considering stepping down from the role.

    1. Perhaps Vivek didn't get the message and thought that they were really going to improve efficiency?

      1. There's usually an explanation that more power might be available elsewhere, when such people step aside.

      1. Not to mention 10 year olds. So, what is the age at which brutal rape is now considered acceptable? 16? 18?

  91. Wordle No.1,311 4/6

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

    Wordle 20 Jan 2025

    A cephalopodic Par Four?

    1. Same here, it's one of those words where there are very few alternatives once you have just 3 letters.

      If your starter word is ADIEU – which I know is quite popular for obvious reasons – you've got a very good shot at an eagle!

      Wordle 1,311 4/6

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

      1. But, GGGGaspar, if his starter word had been ADIEU then he would have not just found the single yellow as shown but letters 2, 3 and 5.

        1. Sorry Elsie, I didnt mean that that was Lacoste's choice – I was referring to a couple of earlier submissions where it was obviously the case….

    2. If only I knew big words I might have got to the solution with fewer attempts.

      Wordle 1,311 4/6

      🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
      ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. With two options left, I decided the other possibility is too Welsh and less likely to be known by Americans.

      Wordle 1,311 4/6

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

    5. Made a few wrong choices having found the ultimate word among them.

      Wordle 1,311 6/6

      🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
      🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  92. I admire the Americans , why ,well through their power of positive thinking .

    We can mock them , but they are a diluted form of us , and they have strength and energy .

    There is a lot to dislike , and a hell of a lot to like .

    Don't mock me for saying that by creating a new culture in 250 years , that is quite something , don't yah think?

  96. 'Night All
    Welsh choir boy Dai Radukubana's trial was very short indeed.
    Straight into court, guilty plea, sentencing on Thursday then straight off to jail or Broadmoor.
    So no inconvenient questions get asked, say about his religion.
    A stitch up; it was always going to be.
    What a good day to bury bad news the other two trials have been postponed

    1. Multiculturalism is bound to fail because all cultures are not equal. Those who believe otherwise know nothing about other cultures.

    1. I think he looks wonderful! Certainly an improvement on some of his strange ‘fashion’!

    3. Lewis is a massive pain in the arse, but that's really not unusual amongst F1 drivers – I mean, Max Verstappen??

      All the F1 drivers that are pleasant dont seem to win as much……hmmm…..

    1. I am, a few Democrat faces like bulldogs chewing wasps tho…Clinton had a sick grin on his face, no sign of ML.

    3. I will do such things ….
      What they are yet, I know not.
      But they will be the terrors of the earth ….

    4. I wonder how much the imports from the Indian Sub Continent have cost us in Welfare & benefit payments over the past 5 or 6 decades…

  107. "The $TRUMP memecoin — a financial asset that didn't exist on Friday afternoon — now accounts for about 89% of Donald Trump's net worth.

    Why it matters: The coin (technically a token that's issued on the Solana blockchain) has massively enriched Trump personally, enabled a mechanism for the crypto industry to funnel cash to him, and created a volatile financial asset that allows anyone in the world to financially speculate on Trump's political fortunes."

    Why can't everyone see what nonsense this is?
    Robert Malone is apprehensive about the future:
     https://www.malone.news/p/inauguration-day-random-mindwalk?publication_id=583200&post_id=155255067&isFreemail=true&r=28gmek&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

  108. That's me for today. Did some shopping. The MR is making new curtains for the kitchen – and we went to an old fashioned place in Fakenham which is just like the sort of department store on remembers from childhood. Helpful, knowledgeable staff. Huge range of the stuff you need to do this sort of needlework. Brilliant. And the items wrapped in brown paper….!

    Then an hour's ladder work.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain

  111. That's one hell of an Inaugural Address by the 45th & 47th President.

    America will:

    Drill, Baby, Drill for energy independence and energy export.

    Declare an emergency at the Southern Border.

    Deport millions upon millions of illegals.

    Clean up and restore the cities.

    Get Marxism out of education ( he didn't actually say that but that's what he meant).

    Declare there are but TWO genders.

    End DEI forthwith including all diversity quotas.

    End the Green New Deal.

    End the EV mandate.

    Take back the Panama Canal (that should be fun).

    Go to Mars.

    Reinstate all those armed forces personnel dismissed for refusing the Covid jabs – with back pay.

    End foreign wars.

    And, er, Be Great Again.

    Anything I've forgotten?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d50347ce75ec41ae86283fb751087694be434d9254d03a58bee66eeaefe6d8eb.png

    There will be some folk saying 'Fark' and some folk not saying 'Fark' who should be. Maybe they will after all despite the 11th-hour pardons by Biden.

    Now then Kneeler, ——————

    1. I'm disappointed. Prosecute Keir Starmer for interfering in US elections and haul him over the Atlantic to face justice and a long sentence in a US jail isn't on the list.

    2. Let the lawfare begin.
      Actually, I believe Democrats were already putting legal challenges in train, even as Trump spoke.

    3. Canadians breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't announce immediate twenty five percent tariffs on all imports. Only a matter of time though.

      it was an interesting speech, plenty of inflammatory rhetoric to get the woke going but a lot of common sense behind the words.

      Poor Biden, climbed the steps only the helicopter, turned to wave and saw that everyone had already turned away.

      Trump is now enjoying a post inauguration speech, much more subtle and conciliatory towards democrats. Damn, give him an audience and he is as bad as me,

  113. A wonderful ceremony, you realise how important the Christian faith is to Americans, its at there very core. Well done President Trump whose saved America and JD Vance who is the future. A return to common sense- there are only two genders.

    2. There are two sexes and three genders. Masculine, feminine and neuter. Gender pertains to language, not people.

      1. If only there were just the three.

        More than three grammatical genders

        Burushaski: masculine, feminine, countable nouns (such as animals), and uncountable nouns (which can refer to abstract nouns, fluids, mass, etc.)

        Chechen: 6 classes[12] (masculine, feminine and 4 other miscellaneous classes)

        Czech, Slovak and Rusyn: Masculine animate, Masculine inanimate, Feminine, Neuter (traditionally, only masculine, feminine and neuter genders are recognized, with animacy as a separate category for the masculine).

        Polish: Masculine personal, Masculine animate, Masculine inanimate, Feminine, Neuter (traditionally, only masculine, feminine and neuter genders are recognized).

        Pama–Nyungan languages including Dyirbal and other Australian languages have gender systems such as: Masculine, feminine (see Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things), vegetable and neuter.[13][14]

        Many Australian languages have a system of gender superclassing in which membership in one gender can mean membership in another.[15]

        Worrorra: Masculine, feminine, terrestrial, celestial, and collective.[16]

        Halegannada: Originally had 9 gender pronouns but only 3 exist in present-day Kannada.

        Zande: Masculine, feminine, animate, and inanimate.
        Bantu languages have many noun classes.[17]

        Rwanda-Rundi family of languages (including Kinyarwanda,[18] Kirundi,[19] and Ha[20]): 16 noun classes grouped in 10 pairs.

        Ganda: 10 classes called simply Class I to Class X and containing all sorts of arbitrary groupings but often characterised as people, long objects, animals, miscellaneous objects, large objects and liquids, small objects, languages, pejoratives, infinitives, mass nouns

        Shona: 20 noun classes (singular and plural are considered separate classes)

        Swahili: 18 noun classes (singular and plural are considered separate classes)

        Tuyuca: Tuyuca has 50–140 noun classes.[21][better source needed]

        Sepik languages: Sepik languages all distinguish between at least masculine and feminine genders, but some distinguish three or more genders.[22]

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_type_of_grammatical_genders

        2. But animate/inanimate is a grammatical distinction, not a gender. I would argue that noun classes are not genders.

  114. Loudest cheer..

    The loudest applause came when he promised that official government policy would recognize only two genders, declaring a national energy emergency and a national emergency at the southern border.

    The end to the Commie-woo-woo nonsense of gender bollx.. Net Zero bollx.. and open border bollx.

    Sigh. If only.. if only.

    1. Two genders is low-hanging fruit (politically). I'll be glad if the national emergency at the southern border doesn't morph into a digital id to prevent illegal immigration.

      1. I fear trying to resist Digital ID is about as futile as resisting Decimalisation. As you know our digital fingerprints are all over the place vix emails. tax returns, on line shopping , passport, driving licence, bus pass etc etc etc

        1. The digital id is a giant shared database that will join all those things together. It’s a totally different thing.

    2. Its a pity in some ways that Trudeau is going, the gender quantity conversation between numb nuts and Trump would be entertaining.

  115. Spaghetti ragu for supper, with a reasonable box wine. Cooked by me, so should be at least edible.
    One of my favourite meals. Quick n easy, yet tasty.

    2. We’ve just had that. Made the sauce on Saturday. My daughter likes it; she has stayed to tea and is off back to Southampton (with her soil) any minute now.

      1. I understand from yesterday that you put it in the soda stream and add half a teaspoon of dry sherry. I am going to attempt it at the weekend.

  117. Good evening everyone,
    Long absence, MH very unwell for three whole weeks and counting. I've been wearing out the stair carpet, up & down with drinks, little snacks and such like (Zero appetite until a few days ago). At least he has come downstairs for a few hours the last couple of days.

    Trump is finally installed again in the White House; I think he is infinitely more likely than starmer to keep to his manifesto promises. I noticed that lumpy Lammy has back-tracked on what he said about Trump.
    While the USA has hope, we are still lumbered with starmer, the muzrat supporter and enabler. What he says in this clip is beyond unacceptable, and clearly shows appeasement, support and encouragement to the biggest threat to this country, and laying open his total contempt for British people and our safety. he is only concerned with the evil cult that preaches violence, death, child abuse, and misogyny.
    He claims 'they' are feeling 'fearful and unsafe in their own country.'
    How safe does he think OUR people, especially children and women, feel when they are confronted with intimidating gangs of savages, with (what we assume to be) women covered head-to-toe in black sacks with just eyes visible, and such experiences.
    How many of OUR people are afraid to go out at night, even in rural areas where the latest savages of the cult have been dumped?
    Rant over. https://x.com/RadioGenoa/status/1881323487802818792

    1. Can you put him up on the sofa?
      Seriously, I hope he recovers fully and soon, and that you're not too exhausted.

      1. Thank you. He prefers the armchair, then sits in bed when he’s had enough. I popped in earlier while he nodded off in his chair, and decided to take a few minutes out.
        He retired to bed (spare room!) around 8, and now the incessant coughing has stopped, it’s finally time to get to bed myself. And yes, I am shattered!

    2. What an awful time for you both.
      On the plus side, you won't be developing "bungalow legs" any time soon.
      Stoma is developing a powder keg in this country.
      The future is just so uncertain.

      1. 'Bungalow legs' – not heard of that before. 🙂
        The vile apology for a PM is like being in a never-ending nightmare, and it's only going to get worse. I am just so angry about everything. Then there is speculation that he might replace one of his dangerously thick, nightmare female cabinet members with another.
        A behind-the-counter sleep aid for me. Goodnight. Hope to be back tomorrow.

      1. Thank you. You and me both! At least I didn’t succumb to whatever it is (Possibly flu) ….. so far.

      1. Thank you. It is hard work for me, and a nightmare for him, but I think he is slowly starting to improve.

        1. All the best to you both.
          My elder sister spent a few years in a similar position with my BiL.
          Do you have a stair lift ?

          1. Thank you. Thankfully, we are not at the stairlift stage yet. When he is well, he will gradually build back up to hid regular 10-12 mile walks again.

    5. Heyup Lass!
      Sorry to hear t'other half's been unwell. 3 weeks on the sick, whatever the cause, is serious, but it sounds like he's on the mend at last.
      Hang in there the pair of you.

      1. Thank you, fellow former-resident-of-the-'trees-estate'. I finally managed to persuade him to try some cough mixture on Saturday, and while I know these things are not a cure, this one has definitely helped ease the coughing somewhat.
        How is your tree work going? When I get the pics off my camera, I will post a few showing the big old evergreen that had to be removed from our churchyard some weeks ago.

        1. Ah! The Trees Estate! That brings back memories.
          Other than one 4″ diameter dead elm t’other week, all I’ve been cutting is what the woodmen working for the quarry left behind.

          1. We were on Oak Drive, the side with the very steep slope in the back gardens. The top level was higher than the roof of our house. We reckon that steep slope, and the direction we backed to, protected us from damage in that storm of October 1987 – houses over the road suffered considerable roof damage.

    7. Three weeks is a long time ill. Glad he's on the road to recovery and hope you can rest soon x

  118. Recipe as promised.
    175 g strong white bread flour
    175 g plain white flour
    350 ml warm milk
    150 plus ml tepid water
    14 g dried yeast
    1 tsp caster sugar
    I tsp salt
    1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda.
    Cooking oil sunflower.
    Method mix flours together
    mix sugar and milk in a jug spend about 5 minutes mixing it all with a large wooden spoon. Hard work. Cover with a tea towel leaving it for an hour when it's risen and starts to shrink back
    Mix the tepid water with the salt and bicarb stir thoroughly and leave for about 20 minutes.
    Small holes will appear in the surface the batter will be ready to drop into the rings about 1/2 inch below the top edge. Put the rings into the oiled pan before you drop the contents in of course. I use a small brush to oil the rings etc. Moderate heat is best once the mixture has risen and started to set and the rings will move in the pan put the crumpets onto a pre heated tray or in the pan, under a medium grill and keep your eye on them until they have browned on top.
    The remove them rings carefully you might need a small sharp knife to cut around the edges. Clean the rings and start again. Put the cooked crumpets on a wire rack.
    I put ours in the toaster before I eat them. Don't let them burn.

    1. Too much faffing about, Eddy. Here's my recipe:

      (1) Go to Aldi, Lidl, or nearest supermarket and buy some crumpets.
      (2) Put them in a preheated oven for around 5 minutes.
      (3) Remove, butter, and eat.

      Simples.

      Following Anne Allan's post, I now have an even simpler recipe: Drive to Allan Towers with a bottle of Malbec. Swap for some crumpets. Lol.

  119. Suppose UK became the 51st state of the USA:

    State of emergency declared on border crossings.
    Sex only permitted as male or female.
    All undocumented inhabitants to be immediately deported back over border.
    All asylum seekers claims to be processed in country of departure.
    Drill baby Drill!
    No further land to be designated for wind energy production.

    [edit: net zero executiive orders added]

      1. Reckon that's on the cards, Stephen. Officially, that is. Unofficially, seems almost like we never left, or tried to.

      2. Given a choice between being ruled by the USA and being shafted by Brussels, I think I'd reject the sprouts.

    3. Please, please, please – let us be the 51st. state.
      Empires and countries rise, fall or change their borders.
      This country appears to be no longer able to produce statesmen or patriots.
      It has become soft, degenerate and defeatist.

      1. Dangerous…
        instead of being in the EU, we'd be in the greater America conglomeration along with Greenland, Canada, Mexico. Same result if THEY get their way.

  120. Well.
    To coin a phrase, a day of mixed emotions.
    I spent the afternoon torn between the desire to belt out the Star Spangled Banner while waving my arms à la YMCA and wishing to break down and cry my heart for the spavined old mare that is now Blighty.
    Who WILL rescue us from this downward trajectory?

    2. Me too, Anne. My cleaning lady and I were both uplifted by the speech, but neither of us thought England was ready to regain our former, what shall I say, glory?

  123. Thought for the day.

    Perhaps America should take back Liberia, and allow the whole world to deport their illegal immigrants there.

    £1000 a head and I'm sure it would be profitable, not to mention stopping illegal immigration in its tracks.

    2. Legacy? I think the Biden Crime Family gave up on that in favour of lots of money a long time ago!

  126. Biden pardons members of his own family including brother Jim just as Trump is sworn in
    President Joe Biden pardoned several members of his family, including his brother and sister, in his final minutes in office.

    The announcement came about 15 minutes before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. The statement was sent out as Biden and Trump stood in the Capitol rotunda, waiting for the president-elect to take the oath of office.

    Biden issued pre-emptive pardons to James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14305551/biden-pardons-family-act.html

    Money-Launderers 'r Us.

    What other possible explanation might there be for such blanket pardons?
    Clearly Biden assumes the Republicans will fight lawfare with lawfare and give them a dose of their own medicine.

    2. All those thrown in jail, literally, as a result of the Kristallnacht persecution of objectors should be released immediately.

    4. Keep up mz balls the public already asume you already know which public enquiry is so obviously necessary.
      Or maybe not…..

  129. Thought for the day.
    If Joe Biden was prosecuted, NOT impeached, could the prosecution call all those who Biden had pardoned as witnesses for the prosecution.

    What might a jury think when they all refused to testify ?

    1. Another thought for the day.

      If Trump gave a Presidential pardon to Biden; off-hand I can't think of anything that would leave him more damned, nor able to defend his "legacy".
      Donald Trump knows you're guilty, but forgives you.

  130. I've bottled nearly 4 gallons of home made cider this afternoon. Sadly it's not as good as the last two years, although there were more apples. Plenty of juice but not quite the flavour.
    Feeling a bit tired now……I know my place. 😴

    1. It's going to bugger it up for Canadians. At the moment we are able to enter the US without any issues, just show our passports and we are on our way – no visas, no immigration appointments and quite often friendly INA questions about where we are going and what we intend to do – when I was working and crossing the border every week, the border guard would frequently add a few words of advice about places to see and things to do.

      If the southern border is closed, we are going to see lots of these immigrants flying up north and trying to enter the US from the north. trump will not be pleased and there could well be restrictions on entry to the US. Trudeau will probably try and fight back, making it tougher to cross as well. A pissing match could end up with us facing a closed border, just like during covid days.

      1. If the US can deport them, why can’t Canada.

        If they knew they would be put straight on the next plane out they wouldn’t waste the money.

  133. On a slightly different topic. I was recommending Lark Rise to a friend, who is ill. She said she would have to buy a copy. Being a cheapskate, i try never too buy if i don’t need to and as the book was published in 1939 (or thereabouts) i thought it reasonable to imagine it will be out there on the internet somewhere: and it is, here:
    https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/thompsonf-larktrilogy/thompsonf-larktrilogy-00-h.html

    (read if now. 500 pages but it’s brilliant on so many levels, even if i suspect her of being a closet socialist).

    i wondered more about the Canadian outfit that is Gutenberg. I think this is sarcasm, but could be wrong (who knows with the Canucks?)
    ”1 January 2025: Book Burning Day in Canada!

    Every New Year's Day authors of 50 years before used to exit copyright in Canada. Then Justin Trudeau extended copyrights by 20 years.

    The reason was Trump, of course, and his New NAFTA, which turned Canada into a US colony, quite literally.

    Here in Canada we no longer make our own copyright laws. The result: a massive loss of our cultural heritage. No new public domain titles until 2043! And by then many of these titles will be lost, forgotten, and impossible to find or to rescue.…”

    http://gutenberg.ca/index.html

    1. I hesitate to post, but the extension to copyright surely pre-dates the first Trump Presidency. 70 years after the author or artist's death. IIRC the lobbyists may have been film or music producers.

      2. I shall repost the birthday list.

        PLEASE will Nottlers let me know of any changes or additions I must make.

  136. The evil Mrs May said the Conservative Party is the nasty party but I wonder if she is too evil to see that Starmer's party has formed the nastiest government we have ever had?

    1. She didn’t say that at all. She said “You know what some people call us – the nasty party”. That was 22 years ago; more than enough time in which to check your facts.

      1. The implication was clearly that this is what she thought. Why else did she think the perception needed changing.

        1. There was no implication of the sort – she was quite clear and unambiguous in what she said. Claiming that she acknowledged that the Conservatives were the nasty party is the sort of scurrilous attacks that left-wingers indulge in.

  137. Perhaps a Mod would kindly delete Richard's Birthday Wishes as Pat sadly is no longer with us.

  139. Evening, all. Just back from a night at the races. I take it all back; he showed the first spark of promise and finished a fast-finishing second, beaten half a length behind the even money favourite! My ghast was flabbered!

    Let's hope Trump lives up to everything that's riding on him.

    2. His ship has sailed. He is demented if he believes that President Trump will have any time for him.

      Trump has a wide agenda and it does pnot include the involvement of Starmer at any stage. Join the back of the queue you dolt!

      Oh, and a list of abject apologies might be in order!

    1. There's a whole bunch of them choking on their vegan cornflakes right now, it is enough to make me want to buy a big gas guzzling truck.

      The whole direction of the canadian government has been to go green. They have refused to sell gas to Germany and Japan because there is no business case, they have killed any new pipelines for Alberta oil and gas and brought in EV mandates that would make Millipede envious. Now Trump is into everything that Trudeau despises and we have about twenty billion of our money invested by the government in useless battery plants.

      I wonder how the next COP conference will go?

  142. Well, chums, it's now just turned 11 pm. So I am off up the stairs to Bedfordshire. Good night all, sleep well, and I hope to see you all tomorrow.

  143. To those of you who are still awake , and were enthralled and uplifted by the Trump speech ..

    If you were younger and had the chance to move to America where would the best county/ state that would be lovely to live in?

      1. What are the attractions, I haven't a clue about what is where in America, never been , so Idaho or Wyoming , tell me more please Snotsicle

        1. They are rural, quite scenic and very conservative.
          Think "home on the range" and you won't be far off.

    2. Plenty of room for new wiser people in California, they could soon be replacing the whole political machine.

      It's a lot like me saying that I want to move to Europe – what do you want in life?

      Colorado is nice except for politics. Hell most stares have attractions, even New York can be good..
      I like the Carolinas, it's stinky hot in summer but not too bad in winter. The western side of these states is really scenic.
      Up north you have Massachusetts, Maine and so on. Very confusing because towns have the right names but in the wrong places but they are a lot like the UK.

      2. I wonder who will replace Turdeau north of the border. Will there be an election or just a substitute until their time is up?
        It seems the Alberta premier, (Danielle Smith?) is putting the cat among the pigeons.

        1. Hello MIB. Carney or Freeland will be the leader of the Liberal party, with 95% certainty.

          However, unless the NDP vote with them, they (the new Leader of the Liberals) will fall to the first day of new Parliament when Pierre P calls a vote of no confidence.

          That's my understanding at least.

          2. Carney, that WEF Governor of the BoE. I think they love him just as much in Canada ……..

    5. Hello, Belle.

      If I had to choose a US state, for me it would be northern Montana. I am biased of course, because in my limited experience of living in the USA, Montana is the closest to what I have right now. Very definite bias on my part though.

    6. My wife and I have just spent the last month in California. A very pretty place, comfortable weather, perhaps more in the winter than in the summer when it can get too hot.V wry nice people.Perhaps the best place to live in the US a point of view shared by many Americans, the population level is very high and so many come from other places. You need at least one car, housing is expensive. Our son would like us to move there, out of the question, we prefer Spain and we could never afford the health insurance and I prefer the food, drink and life in Spain

  144. Before I turn in and crawl upstairs ..

    Here is what I posted earlier on another forum .. bit dramatic , but so what.

    We watched the ceremony today . Donald has been humbled by the two terrifying assassination attempts. We thought he was magnificent , a superb orator , speaking more like a defiant Roman General , or Churchill or even dare I say, one of the 12 disciples .. I do hope he stays safe, energetic, thoughtful and driven by his newly found faith and loyal followers . America, you are lucky people , to have a man that binds your nation with deep thought and intentional creed. We will all wait and see how life improves for you all. I wish we had strength of leadership here .. and our own identity back . Congratulations America , don't forget us suffering under this Communist thuggery here in the UK.

  146. Trump's signed an Executive Order to leave the WHO which is good news

    Of course, the next pandemic/lockdown will be planned for the next solar minimum, so approximately 2031 when people are more lethargic than usual so there's plenty of time for the next President to re-join.

  147. "Imagine if John F. Kennedy had tried to profit from the Cuban Missile Crisis by selling lead shields to anxious Americans, or if Abraham Lincoln had marketed a proprietary machine gun to Union troops during the Civil War. Such actions would have been viewed as unconscionable exploitation of national crises for personal gain.

    Trump's meme coin venture is equally outrageous. It's akin to a president commodifying the very office meant to serve the public interest. This move not only undermines the integrity of the presidency but also sets a dangerous precedent for future leaders.

    The fact that Trump can directly benefit from a financial product he has the power to regulate as president is a stark example of how conflicts of interest can corrupt the highest office in the land."

    https://thesilverindustry.substack.com/p/trump-meme-coin-crashing-classic?publication_id=1857579&post_id=155294383&isFreemail=true&r=28gmek&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
    Silver stackers are usually pro-Trump, and I don't think this chap's a Democrat.
    The meme-coin is worrying though. If the stories are true, the corruption's so open and blatant that they don't even care that people can see it any more. Heck, Biden concealing his looting behind the Ukrainian washing machine might start to look positively bashful!

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