Monday 27 June: With or without Boris Johnson, it’s Conservative policies that attract votes

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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643 thoughts on “Monday 27 June: With or without Boris Johnson, it’s Conservative policies that attract votes”

  3. With or without Boris Johnson, it’s Conservative policies that attract votes

    Are there any Conservative policies?

    2. Morning all.

      There are. It the Con party just isn’t promoting any of them!
      They’ve turned socialist.

  4. With or without Boris Johnson, it’s Conservative policies that attract votes

    Are there any Conservative policies?

  5. Good morning from Basingstoke.
    A bright sunny day and getting warm already.

  7. I noted someone asked for the link to this last night.
    Here is the full article:-

    NHS dementia care ‘was set up for white people’
    It uses a ‘totally inadequate’ system designed decades ago for a mostly white British population, an Alzheimer’s Society review says

    By
    Claudia Rowan
    26 June 2022 • 9:00pm

    NHS dementia care is designed for white people and discriminates against south Asians, a report has found.

    The Alzheimer’s Society review, seen by The Guardian, found that people of south Asian heritage are less likely to access treatment and receive a “timely” diagnosis than white people.

    Dementia care operates using a “totally inadequate” system that was set up decades ago for a mostly white British population, the 55-page report, due to be published this week, said.

    “This research paints an alarming picture of the discriminatory repercussions of an outdated system designed for white British patients,”,Karan Jutlla, the report’s author and dementia lead at the University of Wolverhampton, said.

    The review, which is due to be published later this week, said that south Asian people find it harder to get a dementia diagnosis under the British system owing to factors that include a lack of “culturally appropriate” diagnostic tools and service provision such as cognitive tests.

    A lack of “culturally appropriate service provision” also impacts south Asian patients when they do eventually receive the diagnosis, the review said, for example with staff failing to take into account their dietary requirements.

    Aspects of British history
    The report found that first-generation south Asian immigrants might struggle with “outdated” cognitive assessment models that require adequate cultural knowledge, such as aspects of British history.

    White British people were also found to have been offered “more than one form of community support” compared with south Asian people.

    Ms Jutlla said that south Asian sufferers – particularly older patients for whom is English is not the first language – might struggle with a language barrier when receiving materials and support.

    She said that these “are largely provided only in English, leaving families to piecemeal translate leaflets and conversations with healthcare professionals. We also heard of care agencies muddling up south Asian languages and thinking they are interchangeable.”

    Ms Juttla said that south Asian patients were being lost in the system because of these issues.

    Habib Naqvi, the director of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said that the increasingly ageing south Asian population meant “tailored and culturally sensitive healthcare” was more important than ever.

    The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) told The Guardian: “We want a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to end of life, regardless of their background or ethnicity.

    “We will set out bold action to reduce the gap in health outcomes between different communities in a white paper, and publish our ambitious 10-year strategy to tackle dementia – focusing on the specific health and care needs of people living with dementia and their carers.”

    There have been warnings that too little is being done to ensure dementia cases are spotted in the UK, with research published last month finding that more than 300,000 people were living undiagnosed with the condition.

    Analysis of official figures suggested that about four in 10 cases of conditions such as Alzheimer’s were not recorded, with a fall in diagnosis rates since the pandemic.

    Set a target
    Under David Cameron, the Government set a target for 67 per cent of people with conditions such as Alzheimer’s to receive a diagnosis.

    This was achieved until the pandemic, but now less than 60 per cent of cases are being detected, the data showed.

    Researchers said analysis suggested 325,862 people living in England have dementia that has yet to be diagnosed.

    The DHSC said: “We want a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality, compassionate care, from diagnosis through to end of life.

    “Later this year, we will set out our plans on dementia for England for the next 10 years, which will focus on the specific health and care needs of people living with dementia and their carers – including diagnosis, risk reduction and prevention and research.

    “Our Health Disparities white paper will set out bold action to reduce the gap in health outcomes between different places, so that people’s backgrounds do not dictate their prospects for a healthy life.”

    1. Should immigrants adapt to their new country or should the country change to cater for immigrants?

      1. I find it insidious that indigenous Northern Europeans are referred to by the disparaging term “white”, lumping them in with settlers in countries like the USA. Do they refer to indigenous Nigerians in Nigeria as “black” or indigenous Indians in India as “brown”, as if either were inferior and not entitled to any respect for local culture? I thought that went out with apartheid.

      2. Definately the former, Aeneas and Good morning in the best old English tradition.

    2. 325,862 people have undiagnosed dementia? How can they possibly know that?
      When you consider that many care homes are owned and run by people of Indian origin, and there are very many doctors in this country, also of Indian and Pakistani origin, then why is provision so poor?

      2. They can’t possibly authenticate that figure. They have pulled a figure from the air as they did with passive smoking deaths.

    3. Simple solution – B*gger off back to South Asia, or whichever country they come from, and get top class treatment from people who know and respect their cultural and health-care needs.

    4. “This research paints an alarming picture of the discriminatory repercussions of an outdated system designed for white British patients,”,Karan Jutlla, the report’s author and dementia lead at the University of Wolverhampton, said.

      I can only conclude that, by this racist rant against the indigenous population of the UK, Karan Jutila, with her fine old English name, is suffering from severe dementia herself.

    5. If “first-generation south Asian immigrants … struggle with “outdated” cognitive assessment models that require adequate cultural knowledge, such as aspects of British history.” etc, what are they doing here?

    6. South Asians aka Sub-Continentals, not Philipinos, Vietnamese, Malaysians etc

    8. What “adequate cultural knowledge”? When MOH was tested it involved things like drawing a clock face and repeating an address plus naming things that began with a particular letter. Of course, if you’ve been here decades and can’t speak English or tell the time, you will be disadvantaged, but that’s your own fault.

  8. ‘Morning, Peeps. Another sunny day, and further garden watering required in the absence of any rainfall. The concrete-like ground will require much soaking before it becomes workable again.

    A simple leading letter today:

    SIR – Has the leadership of the Tory party not noticed the unmistakable fact that, when they are conservative, the people vote for them, and when they are not, they don’t?

    Andy Tuke
    Pensford, Somerset

    They are so out of touch, Andy Tuke, somehow I doubt it. Neither have they noticed that the party is hurtling towards the buffers, and unless some finds the brakes the result is going to be very messy and long-lasting.

  9. Young people must report harmful online content, says UK watchdog. 27 June 2022.

    The online safety bill is expected to become law by the end of the year. Ofcom will have the power to impose fines of £18m or 10% of a company’s global turnover for breaches of the act, which imposes a duty of care on tech firms to protect people from harmful user-generated content. One of the specific mandates in the bill is ensuring that children are not exposed to harmful or inappropriate content.

    Andy Burrows, head of child safety online policy at the NSPCC, which has called for a strengthening of the bill, said: “This report lays bare how young people are at increased risk of coming across harmful content but feel unsupported on social media and either do not know how to report it or feel platforms simply won’t take action when they do.”

    Children will not be allowed to see online what is taught to them in school?

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/jun/27/young-people-must-report-harmful-online-content-says-uk-watchdog

    1. I would say that soshul meeja is the real criminal here, spreading lefty wokism to young and untrained, inexperienced minds.

      Your comment, Minty, “Children will not be allowed to see online what is taught to them in school?” strikes at the biggest problem – the woke, brain-washed teaching profession who will not allow the parents to see the guff being taught to their children.

    2. All State school are supposed to support Protestantism, are they not? One Christian Assembly a week? Am I off beam?

    3. Perhaps kids should be kept away from t’internet until they are grown up because its the only way to stop them searching out whatever they want. Oh, unless the internet is turned into a sort of Ceefax. Surely not…

  10. SIR – The remarks from Boris Johnson about serving for two or three terms as prime minister are reminiscent of James Callaghan stepping from his plane on his return from abroad in 1979 with a smile on his face, inviting the headline: “Crisis? What crisis?”

    Buffoonery and joking will impress no one, least of all Tory voters. Let us hope that the Tory MPs now realise they are cutting their own throats by letting Boris Johnson stay. The public were disillusioned long ago. His clinging on is irreparably damaging the party. Get rid of him now!

    Neville Dickinson
    Morpeth, Northumberland

    They are also cutting OUR throats, Mr Dickinson!  However, the confidence vote has taken place and we are now stuck with another year of ruinous government.  As tempting as it is, I am not in favour of a rule-change for the ’22 Committee as this could be at least as bad as Johnson changing the Ministerial Code on the grounds of self-interest.  As I see it the only way out is for the Cabinet to resign en masse.  This won’t happen, of course – those cowardly jobsworths in the Cabinet are hardly likely to, in effect, vote themselves out.  Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.

    1. Not sure why you’re expecting ruinous government to end if Boris goes, those that want to ruin us at a faster pace are the ones that are gunning for him

  11. After yesterday’s failure, I feel much better 🙂

    Wordle 373 3/6

    ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
    🟨⬜🟩🟨🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  12. SIR – I do not know whether Conservative MPs will belatedly wake up, get organised and install a new leader, but one thing I do know with absolute certainty is that Boris Johnson will not be the prime minister after the next general election.

    David Fouracre
    Napton, Warwickshire

    No, David Fouracre, they show no sign of doing so.  However, if all other attempts to get rid of him are unsuccessful it will fall to the voters
    of Uxbridge and South Ruislip to do a proper job and remove his majority of 5,000, and therefore him, at the next GE!

  13. 353545+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Must disagree totally with,

    Monday 27 June: With or without Boris Johnson, it’s Conservative policies that attract votes

    It alludes strongly to johnson & party being and holding Conservative values

    I do see it as johnson is the continuation of the wretch cameron, treacherous treasa and their very pro eu stance and, as with treasa the treacherous a burn out case coming through the semi re entry barrier.

    If you cannot read the signs on seeing the devious dealings dealt out quite openly, the treacherous actions taken all coming to a head with the 2019 General Election then it is because you prefer the eyes tight shut form of politics giving your allegiance to ersatz, ino ,phony party’s and with your kiss X being of a welcome back to brussels nature.

    The most dangerous thing in the hands of peoples of an idiocy stance
    is the voting pencil.

    1. But, as many have said, Ogga, time without number, there is no electable alternative, just three, minor, vote-spliting parties or NOTA. NOTA, of course, is just dismissed and has no power to upset the current Cabal.

      1. A NOTA government would be exciting. Although it might take months to form a government after a successful NOTA election. The seeking of “common ground” and forming alliances.

      2. 353545+ up ticks,
        Morning NtN,

        How very true,

        NoToNanny
        “But, as many have said, Ogga, time without number, there is no electable alternative,”

        ALL the time you AND MANY have said that could have been better spent building on a fringe party.but that includes work & dedication to that party.
        The building up & showing success was seen in UKIP under Gerard Batten leadership only idiots will deny that and we worked bloody hard achieving that.

        To many on realising that they have been backing a political ringer party now want a “step into party” ready made, no building work involved, can’t be done, much to the delight of the lab/lib/con mass uncontrolled immigration / ongoing / paedophile umbrella, ongoing current supporters/ members / voters.

        1. The obvious ploy would be if UKIP joined the other three, Reclaim, Reform and For Britain, put together an electable manifesto and presented it to the electorate as a feasible alternative.

          What’s not to like, except the removal of the stupenduous egos that currently abound in ALL those tiddly parties.

          1. 353545+ up ticks,

            NtN,
            You are coming across as a very disgruntled lab/lib/conner ” all those tiddly party’s”

            “What is not to like ”

            Research what treacherously befell UKIP & the Gerard Batten leadership via the party nEc
            & the tory’s (ino) friend farage your idea is like mixing poison with decency.

          2. Maybe poison and decency are at the heart of all political parties, as displayed by UKIP.

            Just consider the egos of Batten, Farage, Fox and that Irish woman with the forgettable name. Those are the bug-bears preventing a united alternative. Could actually be labelled as the Alternative Party – that’d get them to the top of the ballot paper for us all to ‘kiss’.

            Stop talking to us/me as if to a child, I probably have many more years experience of Party Politics, starting at age 15 and I’m now 78.

            Can you wonder why I blocked you for so long?

          3. 353545+ up ticks,

            NtN,
            I do recognise this board as a freedom of speech asset and as for blocking me as a truth sayer you dislike , that is your prerogative do please keep it up.

            The ego of Batten, please point out where it is clearly on show and be judged by “many”

            Which party receives your membership fee is it lab/lib/con

          5. 353545+ up ticks,
            NtN,
            NOTA can very well be construed as ” in waiting for a leader with a thicker veneer of bogus decency / integrity” to continue taking the same downward route that has been covert lab/lib/con party coalition policy these past near four decades.

          7. 353545+ up ticks,

            Afternoon NtN,
            Has something gone wrong with the system we now have the down ticker thing, up ticking, unless ……..

          8. Never understood the blocking thing. It’s the resort of folk who don’t want to see a dissenting voice. It’s a weakness.

            Ogga, punctuation and grammar!

            I see no point in voting for any party. The problem isn’t who gets in, it’s the complete lack of control we have over them once they’re in.

        2. Good afternoon ogga

          I have no solution to the problem but I think it is probably better to look forwards rather than backwards.

          1. 353545+ up ticks,

            Afternoon R,
            Agreed , every time, but by the same token take notice & learn from history, lets take for instance the treachery dealt out to the UKIP party under the one year successful leadership of
            Gerard Batten / Richard Braine.

    2. Boris is hugging Macron in one clip, and has an arm round Trudeau in a photo. That says a lot about Boris. It’s not good.

    3. As I said a long while ago “They’ll never let us leave.” The extent of the malice the state is prepared to go to is telling. Economic chaos, soaring energy prices, fuel and food – all caused by taxation but blamed on Brexit. The sheer hatred the mandarins have of democracy is staggering. All this effort just to get their own way.

      No doubt it’s a cushy six figure salary after office in the eurocratic machine. All the more reason to sack them. The entire upper ranks of Whitehall need washing away.

  14. Where is Russia taking Ukraine’s stolen grain? 27 June 2022.

    A few dozen miles from the frontline, Ukrainian farmer Dmytro describes how the business he nurtured over 25 years was lost in four months of Russian occupation.

    The BBC tried to contact more than 200 farmers whose land is now in Russian-occupied territory. Dmytro – we are not using his real name to protect him from reprisals – was one of the few willing to meet us.

    “They stole our grain. They destroyed our premises, destroyed our equipment.”

    He says Russian forces now occupy 80% of the tens of thousands of hectares he farms and accuses them of stealing grain on an industrial scale.

    Farmer is a rather modest title for someone who owns “tens of thousands of hectares” and why would the Russian army destroy agricultural equipment in an area that they now control?

    This slightly slanted coverage is common to the rest of the article. How would the Russian Army, involved for the last three months in a desperate struggle to prevail against the Ukies have the time and resources to start rounding up individual grain stores from last year? I don’t dispute from some of the evidence here that this is occurring to some degree, though certainly not as much as is suggested in the article. What I think is happening is a criminal operation; which is the only way that it would be economically feasible. The Crimeans are nicking the grain and selling it privately, probably on the promise of payment from the Middle East or Africa.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/61790625

    1. The BBC coverage has gone beyond coverage of the fighting stuff. It has become one-sided social media slush. All on a level with the intensity of the publicity and support they give to many other trivial stories treated as “news”.
      They continue to refer to abortion as a “constitutional right”. In the article I posted one person refers to it correctly as a “federal” right.
      (A sensible BBC journalist would read the Constitution. It is is fairly short so would only take a few minutes. It does not mention abortion.)

    2. Looting by invading soldiers has been routine for as long as there have been wars. What’s new here? Of course the invaders are going to make off with whatever they can get their hands on and cart it off to the motherland. It is the job of the defenders to stop them.

      In a state of war, there are different rules as to what is criminal behaviour and to what is military strategy.

  15. SIR – I am all for laws that protect cyclists from law-breaking drivers, such as the announcement (report, June 25) that drivers who cross solid white lines into cycle lanes will be prosecuted, but I am fed up with the way some cyclists disregard road law with impunity.

    I refer to those who go through red traffic lights, cycle on the wrong side of central reservations into the path of oncoming traffic, cycle the wrong way in a one-way street and turn left and right when signs prohibit it.

    I have a solution to this problem, which is for all cyclists to be registered and have a registration plate. Cyclists are currently able to record motorists’ numbers with their head-cams, and thereby enforce the law. Motorists should be able to do the same, and make the roads a safer place for all who use them.

    I also believe cyclists should have road insurance.

    Tim Franey
    London SE24

    Nice idea, Tim Franey, but who is going to enforce bicycle registration and the displaying of number plates?  Traffic police are thin on the ground these days and the few that are left show little interest in tackling the problem.  And by the way, I think for ‘road insurance’ you probably mean ‘third  party cover’.

    Some years ago now I was driving down a one-way street late at night.  A cyclist – without lights, naturally – was riding towards me.  Having slowed and hooted he mounted the pavement to my nearside.  He then rode in between two pedestrians, walking in the same direction as me.  They separated to let him through.  The pedestrians were a police constable and a PCSO.  I was sufficiently stunned to stop and wind the window down, to ask, as politely as I could, why they appeared to condone such obvious law-breaking.  Their reply?  “He’s always doing that”.  In those days I didn’t have my trusty dashcam, so any complaint would have been pointless without video evidence.   And I don’t think law enforcement has exactly improved since then!

    1. I came up with the solution a while ago, but was duly ignored by Those That Know Better.

      A dismounted cyclist is a pedestrian; a cyclist whose legs are off the ground for more than a second is a vehicle. Respective rules of the road apply.

      Any cyclist riding on the footpath must dismount when passing pedestrians or face the same penalties as if a car had done so. Incidentally, a driver pushing a car is also a pedestrian.

      1. “…a driver pushing a car is” a heart attack victim.
        But seriously, why would one ever push a car? The car is meant to carry people, to do the work, not the other way round.
        We procured out first mobile phone in order to be able to summon assistance in case of a breakdown, crossing empty moors sort of thing. If the vehicle breaks down you just phone your breakdown people.
        (Actually, if you broke down in pre-phone days people would stop to help.)

        1. Except if you break down on the inside lane of a dual carriage way, as we did on the A14 and then the RAC refused to attend, “…too dangerous, call the Police.” which we did and they responded marvellously. RAC then responded when we were safe at a Petrol Station.

          I’m changing to ‘Green Flag’.

          2. Thank you, Spikey, I’ll take that from one who knows – a contractor possibly?

          3. I have been with Britannia Rescue for many, many years. They are totally reliable.

          4. When I was a student the sort of cars I drove often broke down and required assistance. At the time I belonged to the AA and the service was excellent and the sub was just £2 pa.

          5. They’re part of LV= now, they used to be the CSMA breakdown service. I used to deal with all the agencies when I was driving the recovery truck, BR were the best both for organisational matters and price if you were a customer. I’ve been with them 40 years and the yearly premium for full cover to anywhere in the UK is under £70. The RAC and AA are the worst agencies and the most expensive and whatever you do don’t get breakdown cover through your insurance as most of them provide roadside assistance only or to a garage within 10 miles. To get full cover you’d pay extra.

          7. I’ve just changed from Green Flag to National Breakdown. My wider cover is significantly cheaper. NB use local garages, and the reviews I have seen are good.

            Useful comparisons on Money Saving Expert.

        3. I remember when I had a manual choke Volvo. I stalled at the busiest lights in the town and couldn’t get it started again.

          Sat there until my Dad could turn up and I pushed it around a nearby car park until it got going again. 1700 kilos + parent. I was about 25 at the time, but dear life. Never again.

          1. I remember being woken up by the alarm clock ringing loudly and repeatedly.
            I usually drove to work down the M1 then briefly onto the North Circular to Hendon Way, turning right at the traffic lights onto Finchley Road . I then drove down the Finchley Road, onto Park Road, Baker Street and then on past the Angel.
            The alarm rang and rang, and I woke up. I was sitting in the car at the Hendon Way/ Finchley Road traffic lights. I’d fallen asleep when they were at red and was awoken by a cacophony of tooting from the Armada of cars behind me.

          2. I used to have a Morris Minor with a dying battery. Fortunately there was an incline on the lane in which I parked it which enabled me to start it.

        4. I regularly used to help push cars when I was a child; we lived on a very steep hill and in snowy weather lots of cars needed a helping hand!

    2. He probably means “Road Traffic Act” insurance – even cheaper than third party, it provides the absolute minimum to stay legal.

      1. ‘Act only’ cover disappeared decades ago and even TP only isn’t that easy to find now.

        1. I only know about it because a former head of department only ever insured his car like that. I left that school some forty years ago so no wonder I’m out of date 🙂

  16. SIR – It was inevitable that Greta Thunberg should turn up at Glastonbury to lecture the crowd on green issues (report, June 25). Unfortunately, for those who live in the area the festival is anything but green.

    Huge lorries begin their deliveries in March and the clear-up carries on until August. There are endless helicopters and extra trains and coaches, along with the private cars which cause jams for several days. The majority are diesel powered as are the many generators on site. The pall of pollution hangs in the air, along with the posters for Greenpeace, Oxfam and Wateraid, which are in fact large third-sector businesses.

    I don’t have any problem with large groups of people gathering at the festival to enjoy themselves, as all big events cause pollution. It’s the hypocrisy which grates.

    Mark Robbins
    Bruton, Somerset

    As it does with the rest of us, Mark Robbins.  Problem is, few are prepared to criticise greenie hypocrites, with the exception perhaps of GBN.  Generally speaking the Eco-Brat and her kind are  bullet-proof.

    1. Morning Hugh,
      Despite my own personal thrill listening to Paul Macca on Saturday night .. I feel alarmed and cynical by the sheer hypocrisy of the huge numbers who attend those sort of functions .. money and principles seems to be no obect .

      I feel that the whole climate thing is an absolute farce , and the thousands of bods who attended the festival , are probably the very people who disrupted London and brought it to a standstill, and how many belonged to Momentum and new Labour, and how many protested about deporting illegals back to where the came from .

      Cynical me , and if I were Sunak , I would view the vast volumnes attending these summer music festivals , including racing and the tennis , and of course thousands trying to get abroad on holiday.. as a real cash cow , and would probably grin and say to my chancellor self , well they can all bear the brunt of hiigh cost of living charges..

      The country seems to have gone mad re a real spend spend spend.. new cars everywhere , and quite a few electric cars … and bicycles as well.

      The Eco brat was the last straw .

      2. Glasto has become a Woke Fest.
        That was always on the cards, but now it’s the go to place for smug middle class wonkers who can afford all that nonsense.

      3. You could go to Ascot for £30 so don’t include racing festivals in your sacrifices to the Chancellor!

    2. Makes one wonder that a truly Green music festival would use acoustic instruments and gatherings of people small and intimate enough to enjoy the music and interact with many more performers.

      Quite the opposite of the heavily amplified superstar offerings here.

      1. The Left don’t like to admit that their world ideal is preposterous nonsense.

        1. “The Left don’t like to can’t admit that their world ideal is preposterous nonsense.”

          Fixed it for you, too, Wibbles.

      1. I think he’s had a nasty blow to the head! What else would explain his complete change of opinion?

      2. 353545+ up ticks,

        Morning B3,

        What really needs checking out / stamping out then IMO is, 48% of the electorate, on the grounds that they would welcome totalitarianism.

        1. That’s the really worrying thing. Far too many people are happy to give away their basic freedoms in the name of ‘health’.

    2. Given that the vaccine is of doubtful efficacy and that it’s more likely an outbreak amongst the vaccinated such an article is silly.

  18. Although there are no letters today about energy bills, renewables and so on, this BTL from Edwin Pugh contains a useful link to what appears to be a detailed and authoritative website on the subject, and it is well worth a read if you, like me, fear for the future of net zero and all the other greenie bollards that will soon come back to bite us in a bad winter:

    Edwin Pugh
    6 HRS AGO
    Who is responsible for your rising energy bills? Well, it might not be who you think it is.
    Quote – “Combined with a gas price crunch caused by President Biden decommissioning the Keystone XL pipeline, and increased reliance on Russian gas by America’s former export purchasers, this renewables generation trough will increase household energy costs for UK consumers 30 percent by 2022.”
    That combined with the annual £9 billion subsidy (about £340 per household) per year explains why your bills are so high and rising.
    https://c3newsmag.com/renewable-energy-grid-full-costs/

    1. That pipeline was killed a year ago and gas prices were already rising beforehand then they fell again as winter was fairly warm and they didn’t rise again until about April 2022.

      1. This has been on the cards for about twenty years. Ever since power stations and gas storage facilities were being closed and not replaced.

      2. All the more reason to guarantee supplies and storage for the future, surely? If we’re at risk of fluctuations it is the duty of the state to properly provision energy supplies.

  19. Good morning all

    Wow , we have just had an absolute deluge of rain, a real down pour, as if the channel had tipped down on us, smelt really salty..

    Here we are 4 miles from the sea , I ‘d be surprised if fish were dropped as well. It is now raining lightly.

    Moh has left to play golf , waterproofs crackling as he gathered up his kit. Weather MIGHT clear up later .

        1. Could be, Anne, I guess the extra long handle maybe, because he’s so full of shite!

    5. Now there are nine of them. There were eight in yesterday’s picture (G7 + EU). It’s like the photo of Man U team before a match where a fan donned the kit and posed with the team Who has crept in?

        1. That’s quite funny, rude but funny. I don’t know why. Maybe it is the silly alliteration.

        3. The cat crept into the crypt, crapped on the carpet, kissed the kittens, kept quite and crept out cautiously, keeping clear of the congregation and the canon.

      2. Which reminds me – Beast, who we always thought was a bloke cat, is apparently pregnant. We hadn’t noticed as he’s about the size of a Bengal tiger anyway but as I went to pick (her) out of Mongo’s bed he (she) went into a ballistic frenzy of claws and teeth until I promptly dropped (her). El vet says due within the week.

        What the flip are we going to do with 7 more vicious, malign, evil battle cats?

        Mongo gave me a sidelong look that said ‘I’ll sleep somewhere else.’

          1. I just thought he was a bruiser. Heck, she weighed 7 kilos before getting up the duff.

        2. Wow , If only the comfortable sounding cuddly Mongo could talk and tell us all how things are ?

          Are you really living in a warzone ?

      3. I did that at my brother’s stag party. He had organised for a group of us to attend a paintball games series of battles. On the day in question another stag party was also in attendance with a similar number of participants. Rather than have a series of battles with one stag party opposing the other, the organisers split us up so that there were an equal number of members of each party compiling each team.

        At the half-way point when we rested for refreshments, the members of other stag party formed themselves into two rows for a group photograph to be taken. I simply joined in and sat there with the rictus grin of a Cheshire cat while the photos were taken. I wonder how many of them, after the photos had been received, asked “Who the hell is that?”

    6. Oh for a hypersonic missile. So much could be resolved.

      But of course, it wouldn’t. The problem is the Left wing clout of the state machine, not merely the irrelevant figureheads.

  21. Some commenters on the Wade-Roe ruling by SCOTUS refer incorrectly to abortion having been a “constitutional ” right. It wasn’t. It was a court decision that set a precedent.
    It is interesting that many employers are offering to pay the abortion costs of their employees, “work for us and we’ll kill your kid” is a powerful recruitment slogan.
    Here is an article from a fashion industry periodical. It makes interesting reading. The use of euphemisms such as”reproductive care” instead of the truth, “bloody murder”, tells us how far we have come. We are on a par withCarthage.

    https://read.wwd.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=e83eb156-5d87-4eae-bf96-2c93fea28309&pnum=4

    1. I fail to see why what a woman does with her body is anything to do with the state at all. The only thing the state should decide on is at what point the baby is a human life and not simply a collection of cells.

      1. Where I disagree with the Catholic church – which is nominally against contraception – is that I think that it is quite acceptable to stop conception occurring in the first place but once it has occurred a new life has begun.

        1. The Church is opposed to artificial contraception, but allows natural methods of contraception e.g. the rhythm method (otherwise known as Vatican Roulette). As the intention is the same in both methods – the prevention of conception – I have never been able to understand the Church’s reasoning in this matter, and I suspect very many other Catholics feel the same way, and quietly ignore the rule.

          Abortion is a totally different issue, meaning that a life is terminated, possibly for a justifiable reason e.g. because the pregnancy if continued would jeopardise the life of the mother. Abortion as a means of birth control is, in my view, morally wrong, whereas the prevention of conception is not.

    2. Apart from rape – which is a rather special case as far as abortion is concerned – a woman has already practised ‘body autonomy’ by consenting or declining sexual intercourse with a man who could inseminate her?

      There is a parallel with the two recent cases reported in the Media where two people who decided to have their testicles and penises amputated then decided they didn’t want that after all and thought they were entitled to sue those who had specifically carried out their instructions.

      Should we no longer be held responsible for the consequences of our own actions? To believe that the state is responsible for everythinng will mean that the state will be more and more able to control us.

      1. Exactly so. There is a response to those who claim a woman has a choice. It is this, “you made your choice”. Or “You made your bed, now lie in it.
        Laws made based on exceptions are almost always bad laws. The Abortion Act was promoted on the basis of exceptions, rape, imperfect foetus, health of the mother. The seriousness of abortion was underlined in the Act by the requirement for two doctors to examine and agree an abortion was appropriate. That’s out of the window now. Abortion at home, agreed on phone, is now available in Scotland.

        1. Oh, goody, I’m moving to Scotland soon. Maybe I can get my belly reduced. Abortion by liposuction.

          Apparently my Grandfather, who was a doctor in the early 1900s, would, when operating, chuck out lumps of fat onto the floor while muttering, “Butter, butter, butter!”

          2. Doctors in those days often performed surgery as well as general practice.

            No bone through his nose!

          5. My grandfather was a contemporary of your grandfather. He was a GP in a village near Cullompton in Devon.

  22. Humiliation for Putin as Russia defaults on foreign debts. 27 June 2022

    Sanctions stop Russia settling despite having the means and desire to do so.

    Russia has defaulted on its foreign debts for the first time in a century, in a humiliating blow to Vladimir Putin that further freezes his country out of the Western financial system.

    After narrowly swerving non-payment several times since launching an invasion of Ukraine in late February, Moscow failed to pay $100m of coupons on bonds due last month, for which a 30-day grace period ended on Sunday.

    Payment had been rendered practically impossible after the White House moved to block channels to creditors in the West, meaning Russia could not settle its debts despite the means and willingness to do so.

    Vlad is not humiliated by what is no fault of his. The Bold Type headline; as can be seen by its self-contradictory nature, is simply a response to the criticism of this policy which is far more damaging (like most of the Sanctions) to the West than it is to Russia.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/06/27/humiliation-putin-russia-defaults-foreign-debts/

    1. That means he can grab the goods without having to pay for them.

      I think they call this The New Morality.

    2. The headlines get more and more desperate every day. Vlad’s being defeated… and is shelling Kiev (further into the country), Sanctions are working (except the Russian economy is booming), he can’t pay his debts (except he can, but we’re deliberately preventing him doing so). Putin’s ill, look how ill he is! (when he’s not horse riding, playing ice hockey or other such things).

      Accept it. We’ve failed. Sanctions haven’t worked, arming Ukrainians hasn’t worked. Nothing will work. When the US president can’t even pronounce a word in a speech it has utterly failed. It’s time to admit that the West is pathetically weak, made so by wokers, greeniac zealots and a media so removed from reality it can no longer tell the truth about anything.

  23. Good Moaning.
    Lovely to see that the Climate Change/Crisis/Emergency still manages to produce the odd reasonably bright and breezy summer morning in Blighty.

    1. Shhh! The Green tyranny don’t like it when you conflate weather with ‘climate change’ even though they’re the same thing. It exposes the hoax!

      1. Morning, Bob. A lot of rain during the night but should be fine for the rest of the day.

        1. …or even worthy, J, of being the Nation’s Capital.

          It is better known as Londonistan.

        2. It never was. I walked down Oxford Street in the early 1970s and it was impossible to find a fellow Englishman.

        3. J

          I had to dash off into town, and came back, tried to click on the link , and no joy.

          I cannot see or connect to Nottle .. I click on the link and this is what I see

          We were unable to load Disqus. If you are a moderator please see our troubleshooting guide

          1. I’ve been out most of the day and am just catching up with things now. Are you back in now? Have you deleted all cookies or something? as that can really mess things up.

  26. SIR – One has to admire the logic of the US Supreme Court. It relaxes gun laws so that everyone can carry concealed weapons, then it abolishes abortion so they will have more children to shoot at.

    Brian Cameron
    Weybridge, Surrey

    Can I raise an anxiety concerning abortion .. The high level of male Indians/ Pakiistan/ other Asians in Britain, and didn’t some one raise the issue of sex selection amongst migrants in the UK where male babies are preferable.

    We know it happens in their own countries , but here the sex ratio could be a disadvantage .. A growing army of Asian males ?

    1. The state doesn’t care. It has intentionally imported hundreds of thousands of criminal gimmigrants who will do nothing, loafing on welfare (either benefits or jail) for their entire lives.

    2. I understood that the scanners are not allowed to mention the sex of the baby, for that very reason.
      Which leads us to the knotty question of ‘Baby Reveal’ parties.
      Who is handing out the information?

    3. With or without sex selection of embryos we have a growing tide of young males invading the country every day with the help of the RNLI and other NGOs.

    4. I wonder when anyone will actually read what the US Supreme Court has done?
      It has said that the issue of abortion is properly within the competence of the States, according to the Consrtitution, and not a Federal matter. Thus, Roe v Wade was an invalid judgement, and the matter of abortion is to be legislated State-wise.
      It has not abolished abortion in the US.

      1. I can only view replies to my comments OB, but I cannot access the whole page . This is the message that keeps appearing .

        We were unable to load Disqus. If you are a moderator please see our troubleshooting guide.

        Can you advise me what to do next?

        1. No idea, Belle.
          Have you tried clearing cookies and restarting?
          I had it a couple of times, but it went away after an overnight.

        2. Kifaru1 • a minute ago
          Clear all the browsing data and restart is a suggestion..

        3. tim5165 Oberstleutnant • 14 minutes ago
          Just on the offchance, does TB have any censorship software installed without knowing about it? To my astonishment, Sky has a ‘shield’ which can shelter the user from sites that might cause distress or offence; as there are occasional outbursts of candour on NTTL, it may have been darklisted by other providers.

          1. I can view replies to me OB, I have done the cookie thing , and even had to reset my F/B password .. but how frustrating not being able to view the whole page and everone elses comments .

  27. The recent by elections showed two interesting things. Conservative voters are alienated by the current Left wing attitudes of the faux Tory party but they don’t vote for other candidates specifically. Rather they just don’t bother voting. I doubt the useless lot even care, but the reality is their voting base is utterly uninterested in their current set of policies. These are not Conservative policies so why bother voting Conservative if you’re just going to get Labour?

        1. Richard Pryor?

          The one where he has to spend a fortune to inherit a fortune?

          I haven’t seen that since the eighties.

    2. I was wrong to believe that Johnson’s failure to get a proper Brexit would be a great spur for the Reform Party but the results in both by elections seem to suggest that the voting public are no longer interested in Brexit. This will encourage Johnson to continue to do nothing so that, when The Conservatives are wiped out at the next election, the UK will begin immediate negotiations to re-enter the EU under the most devastatingly bad terms.

      1. ‘Morning, Richard – just @11:59.

        See my posts to Ogga about the little vote -splitting parties and the need for them, and maybe UKIP even, to get together.

      2. We will never re-enter the EU because doing so will mean taking the Euro. Surely that’s a step too far for everybody. Having left we were warned that would be the end of our currency opt-out.

        Taking the Euro would amount to the most colossal monumental c0ck-up ever made by a British government. If it happens we’re finished.

  28. English Flowers
    @FlowersEnglish
    ·
    10h
    That’s NOT the way to do it! Student is awarded £60,000 of taxpayers’ cash to fund ‘woke’ research project into whether Punch and Judy and ventriloquist dummies are RACIST

    1. Racist Italians. They are guilty of Crocodilism.
      Oh, and they’re not too keen on babies, so they do have their good points.

    1. Why against the taxpayer? I don’t like music that much and in the open air it will travel. It’s not for very long, surely?

        1. No worries Belle!

          And yes, a clear and obvious reason to scrap child benefit. That’s why they want to come here, after all.

    2. 300 years of coal at the last count and modern-day ‘Drax’ (ex-Ferrybridge) is sited immediately above a large seam and runs on imported pellets. Madness!

      1. How much do we pay this man ( and his boss) to make these stupid errors of judgement?

        1. Not to overlook the massive snivel serpent ‘suppport’ that is there to provide continuity as the placemen whizz through the revolving door of cabinet positions.

    1. Sad really, but I don’t know what the alternative was. Diesel is expensive, the charging points expensive, there’s no other way to get electricity there.

      As for ‘no, that’s not the point, it’s explaining that all green is really a scam’ well, yes. That’s a given. We should stop pretending otherwise. A chap around the way has a Tesla. He loves it. I asked him about it and he said ‘nice ot drive, completely different feel.’ No interest in the environmentalism despite having solar panels and a couple of Tesla batteries. He says he couldn’t care less, just likes free electricity. After installing them 4 years ago they’ve practically paid for themselves. This year, with prices soaring due to the green crap he’s making a profit.

  33. Morning all 😃.
    Been busy trying to get in touch with our neighbours in France the gas company here want to access their property and resite the meter.
    And if it’s Conservative policies that attract votes why do they tell such barefaced lies.
    They swore they were going to stop the illegal immigration. Since they said that more than one million have arrived and using public as in RNLI donations to bring them ashore, they are scambling for the easy free handouts.
    That’s the reason why I’m never going to vote for anyone again.

    1. Plus the fact there is no-one worthy of my vote!
      I’m not voting again to keep the opposition out my vote is worth more than that…

      2. Ditto. If they’re all socialists there is no one to vote for, so why bother?

        I will spoil my paper though.

      4. It’s also rather insulting when you have been encouraged to vote by using an assurance of carrying out certain specific actions. And later you find out it was just another damn lie.

  34. Wilfred Owen one of our finest poets to be dropped from GCSEs …..WHY?

    We need an anthem for doomed youth more than ever………….!

    1. He’s white and wrote about things where the Left were defeated. Of course they hate him.

          1. The politicians are certainly hiding like Sassoon’s scarlet majors.

            SIEGFRIED SASSOON
            Base Details

            IF I were fierce, and bald, and short of breath,
            I’d live with scarlet Majors at the Base,
            And speed glum heroes up the line to death.
            You’d see me with my puffy petulant face,
            Guzzling and gulping in the best hotel,
            Reading the Roll of Honour. “Poor young chap,”
            I’d say—‘I used to know his father well;
            Yes, we’ve lost heavily in this last scrap.’
            And when the war is done and youth stone dead,
            I’d toddle safely home and die—in bed.

    2. Because he was white, he was British, he was patriotic and he died for his country and for freedom.

      Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:

      How sweet and fitting it is to die for one’s country:
      Death pursues the man who flees,
      spares not the hamstrings or cowardly backs
      Of battle-shy youths.

      Killed in action on 4 November 1918 during the crossing of the Sambre–Oise Canal, exactly one week before the signing of the Armistice which ended the war. R.I.P. Wilfred Owen

        1. My school’s motto was Ad Astra. Why they left out the Per Ardua I have no idea because they worked us hard.

      2. Does that mean that Britten’s anti-war War Requiem is also banned, as it uses Owen’s very moving poetry to great effect?

      3. …and then there’s this:

        Barrack-Room Ballads – Tommy Atkins
        O I went into a public-‘ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
        The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
        The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
        Well I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
        Well it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
        But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play,
        When the band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
        It’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play.

        So I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
        They gave a drunk civilian room, but they ‘adn’t none for me;
        They sent me to the gallery or round the music-‘alls,
        But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! They’ll shove me in the stalls!
        For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”;
        But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide,
        When the troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
        It’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.

        Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms what guard you while you sleep
        Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
        An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
        Well, is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
        Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul?”
        But it’s the “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
        When the drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
        It’s the “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.
         
        Well, we aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
        We’re just single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
        An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
        Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
        While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind”,
        But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind
        When there’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
        It’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind.

        Now you talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
        We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
        Don’t mess about them cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
        Thatte Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
        But it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
        But he’s a “Hero of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
        Well’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
        But’ Tommy ain’t no bleedin’ fool—you bet that Tommy sees!
        Rudyard Kipling

    3. We had a great writer,Terry Pratchett,who died too soon….
      He would have written about recent events in his own inimitable way
      and make you laugh your socks off on the way…I just wish he was
      alive now.The Going Postal blog,I’m sure is named in tribute to him.
      Going Postal was one of his books.

        1. Still collecting but it’s difficult, as I want hard cover, preferably with the old jacket illustration.

        3. No,I haven’t seen the films,I’m an old man now.But I just know he would have woken us up
          to what is happening now.I often think of TP and his wise,wise words.

  35. Took on a new lackey today. 16 year old school drop out. Appalling GCSE results. Turned up for interview in a rumpled suit borrowed from – I assume – his dad who’d last worn it in the 70’s.

    In our usual test we have the fellows build a computer. It’s broken, so doesn’t post, we just want to see they know their way around. This chap unrolled a soldering iron half way through and got it to boot.

    He’s on as a very junior junior and one of my requirements for his first year is he re-sits his exams and achieves at least a B average across 10 GCSEs, as well as getting various IT qualifications and the electrical engineers exam. On top of working a 40 hour week (which will really be 24 as he’ll get study time and tutoring on site).

      1. I figured he’s just not had the right teaching. I was close to utterly flunking most of my exams because I was stone dead bored. I think if this chap is kept so busy he can’t think he’ll get through. He’s got a lab machine to build virtual machines on and while I skipped out to play with Mongo I saw him writing scripts to rebuild them automatically (we already have them, so next stop is to get our real admin bloke to set out what we already have).

    2. I expect he’ll turn out just fine, although he may not get the GCSE grades you hope for. I hope that doesn’t mean you’ll can him if he doesn’t if otherwise his work is decent.
      He actually sounds like a guy I used to work with who was actually an excellent programmer but only had 3 ‘O’ levels to his name.

      1. I know plenty of idiots with excellent “O” levels. “A” levels and Oxbridge degrees.

  37. Belated ‘Morning All

    Decided to reread the “Safehold” series by David Weber finally looked up at 4.30 am and thought time for bed……

    Meanwhile

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9eea18e1ca1dd6d64c22bc659e4d57e4123d87d4b86222ab42db9ae714378aa7.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/65bc1f47dd46ad9ced24cb78e48b35f529710809de521b888734d458af76a35a.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d2a7e34639aba0f8b06d4d066a816ceef35798e98e9f27390b76fb023d3d5621.jpg

    1. “Any thoughts, Sherlock?” We in the Police Farce are absolutely baffled by this recent rise in stabbing, robberies, rapes, murders and drug dealing.

  43. Members of BBC staff have written a letter condemning the broadcaster’s decision to stand by Michael Vaughan in the wake of the Yorkshire racism scandal. Yahoo Sports

    The letter, written by the BBC Sport BAME Advisory Group and 5 Live Diversity Group, strongly criticises the BBC’s handling of Vaughan and brands the move to recall the former England cricket captain for coverage of the current series with New Zealand as “totally inexcusable” and a “shocking miscalculation”.

    Why are we forced to pay taxes and TV licences for these despicable anti-British turds and parasites? Defund the BBC.

    BBC Sport BAME Advisory Group meeting.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/9b068006a551e8957f4799561ddb1b877e733cc5.jpg

  44. I have accepted a job this morning working in IT for a logistics company.

    I’m happy that didn’t take too long.

    I start a week tomorrow.

    3. Good luck Thayaric. Remember that the first few days in any new job are absolutely vital!

      1. Mostly decorating. We’re getting the kid’s room done to get her out of the spare bedroom. Her carpet is coming Wednesday, got to get the painting done by then.

    8. Good luck, I hope all goes well.

      My younger son, Henry, has always been very interested in computers and built his own computer when he was in his teens by buying various bits and pieces and putting them together himself.

      He did not want to become too nerdish so he decided to study Politics and Philosophy for his first degree. He then got a job in the computer business teaching businesses how to use his company’s software which nicely combined the fact that he is both articulate and understands computers. He then did an MSc in Computer Science and Data Analytics and the firm for which he now works keeps giving him pay rises.

      This is most encouraging because when I am gone and Caroline needs looking after he will be able to afford to do so!

        1. You’d get on well with Henry. Funnily enough he used to put a mask similar to yours as a sort of logo on his correspondence.

    9. I congratulate you on your disguise and I hope wibbling turns out to be a good boss, good luck with the GCSE’s.

      };-))

        1. Yes, 3 so called minor surgeries on my face for what turned out to be skin cancer- after two previous incorrect diagnoses. The last one ( I hope) last Monday and the stitched area is larger than I was led to believe. Pain gone but it’s tender.
          I do hope your job works out. And it’s Ann- no E 😉

    11. Excellent!
      Celebrate with a beer or two tonight!
      In fact, I’ll join you if I may, Thayers! 😀

        1. Geez.

          It’s bash script.

          It means concatenate gloom with the virtual ether. I.e. gloom goes away.

          Anything redirected to /dev/null is basically deleted.

          1. …as if we all knew. It might as well be Swahili, which more than one on here understands.

            I can get by in French, German, Swedish and some Spanish but ‘bash’ is another planet, never mind another country.

    13. Good luck old troop, I worked for years with IFS (Industrial & Financial Systems – out of Sweden) good system.

    14. Congratulations and good luck. I hope that it uses your capabilities and gives you some enjoyable challenges.

      1. It’s a support job but a reasonable wage and within walking distance of home. I’m happy.

    16. Wonderful. Good luck. It must be a satisfying feeling to have your skills appreciated.

    19. Russell, that’s very welcome news – well done you – and, within walking distance! Onwards and upwards.

  45. Bloody Microsoft !!!!!!!!!!!
    Windows update and suddenly no sound on twitter or youtube,30 mins of faffing around only to discover sound in firefox had been turned off!!

        1. Maybe, but buying an Apple, which won’t run Microsoft, doesn’t help fund Billy Goats’ ever-growing lucre.

          1. An apple which won’t run Micosoft is no use to me. I have all sorts of ‘Office’ docs going back 25 years or more and I occaisionally have to access them for the books I’m writing

          2. Open Office / Office Libre are both free and can read and write MsOffice Docs and S/S with ease. I have Club minutes/ spreadsheets created with MsOffice going back to the early 90’s. There are Windows compatible versions absolutely free, it might be worth downloading and giving it a try.

          3. Thanks, Datz, I was aware of it but didn’t wish to trust it. Will it also handle PowerPoint and Excel?

          5. Have you heard of virtualisation? You can run Windows using a virtual drive on other operating systems.

      3. You can probably still get windows 10 for free.

        It was certainly still available eighteen months after they supposedly stopped giving it away.

        1. I’ll take your word for it. I know nothing (and am quite happy with that) whatsoever about Microsoft, except that its crap. I have only ever used Apple computers.

          1. I dislike Macs and abhor programming for them. Thank the lord for cross platform libraries 🙂

        2. Win 10 (and 11) are the work of the devil, I’m still happliy operating on Win7 Professional and many will not relinquish XP.

          1. Win 10 is a very good OS with a bit of a crap user interface. I haven’t even seen 11 yet.

        3. I still don’t have the foggiest inkling of what “Windows 10” is … even if someone gave it to me “for free’.

    1. Why is Boris dressed as a Romulan, or a man who thinks he will be the next dictator of the world, but in reality is going to look stupid once he’s hanged?

  47. Tory rebels Caroline Nokes and Dehenna Davison deny planning to defect to Labour. 27 June 2022.

    Two high-profile Conservative rebels have denied that they plan to defect to Labour after reports that as many as six MPs could cross the floor.

    Caroline Nokes was one of the first Tories to submit a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson over the ‘partygate’ scandal, while Dehenna Davison opposed Mr Johnson in the confidence vote earlier this month.

    The Sunday Times quoted Labour insiders who claimed that at least six Tory MPs were considering whether to defect after last week’s by-election defeats in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton.

    It would be easier for the two parties to amalgamate! It would make no significant difference to the running of the country and they share pretty much the same Cultural Marxist beliefs. None of them could tell you what a woman is and both hate the white indigenous population and support mass immigrtaion

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/06/27/tory-rebels-caroline-nokes-dehenna-davison-deny-planning-defect/

  48. Tory rebels Caroline Nokes and Dehenna Davison deny planning to defect to Labour. 27 June 2022.

    Two high-profile Conservative rebels have denied that they plan to defect to Labour after reports that as many as six MPs could cross the floor.

    Caroline Nokes was one of the first Tories to submit a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson over the ‘partygate’ scandal, while Dehenna Davison opposed Mr Johnson in the confidence vote earlier this month.

    The Sunday Times quoted Labour insiders who claimed that at least six Tory MPs were considering whether to defect after last week’s by-election defeats in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton.

    It would be easier for the two parties to amalgamate! It would make no significant difference to the running of the country and they share pretty much the same Cultural Marxist beliefs. None of them could tell you what a woman is and both hate the white indigenous population and support mass immigrtaion

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/06/27/tory-rebels-caroline-nokes-dehenna-davison-deny-planning-defect/

    2. That’s a very striking photo! I love the almost-monochrome aspect, the sharp edges, the almost-still water…

  51. Total Energies, EDF et Engie appellent les Français à consommer moins d’énergie
    https://www.lefigaro.fr/conso/totalenergies-edf-et-engie-appellent-les-francais-a-consommer-moins-d-energie-20220626

    So we are being asked to use less electricity because there isn’t enough of it even though much of the French countryside has been laid waste by wind turbines and uses nuclear power.

    Unfortunately Macron decided that Nuclear was not clean and green enough for him and so many of the nuclear power stations are not producing as they have not been properly maintained. Macron has tried to retract but it is already looking as if he left it too late to do so.

    Of course France is geographically far larger than England so people are even more dependent on their cars. If there is already not enough electricity to meet current needs what will happen when ICE (Infernal Combustion Engines) cars are replaced by electric ones?

    1. France is the largest electricity exporter in the EU.

      You shouldn’t be short on it.

      1. Yes, but, as you can see from the above, we are being asked to cut back.

        And when they cannot answer the French people’s own needs for electricity they will have to cut back on how much they export. And as Britain is already a large buyer of French electricity Boris Johnson will probably respond by having more and more wind turbines built!.

        1. You know Boris, he’ll probably ignore that with his usual nonchalant attitude to everything. Probably too busy planning his third term.

        2. The unreliable and intermittent producers of a lot of ecological damage but very little energy. You have to wonder what’s wrong with the man.

    2. If France isn’t producing enough, what happens to the UK? The whole dream of the green tyranny is that there’s always energy somewhere. What they forget is that if there’s energy in place A, they’re not going to have enough to share it with place B.

      The zealotry is the worst bit. We need energy. Lots and lots and lots of it, as cheaply as possible. The intentional forced reliance on windmills – neither efficient, effective, practical or remotely ‘green’ is a nonsense.

      1. There is are huge undersea cables, not only from France but also from Holland, both supplying us with electricity until…

        And EDF has the audacity to propose a huge solar ‘farm’ here in Suffolk – and it’s meeting objection after objection, not least because it’s all on acres of very viable arable land that we need to produce our food.

        1. “They” are also trying to cover some 3,000 acres of agricultural land in Lincolnshire with bloody solar panels! Morons.

  52. BBC News journalist Chis Mason asked Boris at the G7 meeting if he reckoned on being PM into the 2030s.
    Boris did not confirm that that was his intention but waved his arms a lot.
    There is obviously doubt whether or not Boris was joking.
    But joking apart, joking is a serious matter as it is seen by some Tories as bad as sexual misconduct or watching porn in the house and warrants retrospective rule changing to promote a leadership challenge. 😁

    1. Ah, “…waved his arms a lot.” Obviously testiculating – waving one’s arms about while talking utter bollux.

  54. How we bet the house on Ukraine… and lost. 25 June 2022.

    No matter how Western leaders and their media vassals may seek to spin it, the US-led response to what Vladimir Putin called a ‘special military operation’ in eastern Ukraine, has been an unmitigated disaster. In military terms, while the well-trained Ukrainian forces have fought bravely, the final result has never been in doubt. Russia is now close to achieving the goals set out by Putin just prior to the military operation. This month, the Russian Defence Minister Sergei K. Shoigu announced that the Russians had successfully created their desired ‘land bridge’ between the Donbass, Crimea, and Russia. Russian military forces are now inexorably grinding their way west through the Donbas region, towards the open plains of central Ukraine, northwest towards the major city of Kharkov and in the southwest, towards Odessa. The infamous Snake Island is now fortified with Russian missile and air defence systems, including their famous SM400, giving them full control of the sea, land and air in the north-west part of the Black Sea and in south Ukraine.

    Putin may now approve an extension of the initial goals of the operation and order the military to advance all the way to the Dnieper River, if not further. Western and Ukrainian propaganda can no longer conceal the awful truth about the ongoing destruction of the Ukrainian army. Western military assistance appears to have escalated the conflict, with military equipment being destroyed in transit or in place by superior Russian firepower. Entire Ukrainian brigades are dying, giving up or retreating, often in disorderly fashion. No one can tell how many Ukrainian soldiers have died or been injured – an American general estimated the true figure may be up to 200,000. It is telling that young men do not appear anymore in video and images that emerge from the main fronts. The tragic scenes emerging from the Donbas are rather of older men, exhausted and haggard after weeks surviving relentless Russian bombardment.

    An alternative (Australian) view of the Ukraine business. Some might say unduly gloomy or even outrageously biased but it is not one that you will see in the UK MSM. Worth a read in its entirety!

    https://spectator.com.au/2022/06/how-we-bet-the-house-on-ukraine/

    1. “…In military terms, while the In military terms, while the well-trained Ukrainian forces have fought bravely, the final result has never been in doubt. Russia is now close to achieving the goals set out by Putin have fought bravely, the final result has never been in doubt. Russia is now close to achieving the goals set out by Putin…”

      Which he is close to achieving, despite the bollux about ‘the well-trained Ukrainian forces’ having fought bravely (Yeah, while behind human, civilian, shields in the basement of a factory). AZOV brigade – you’re fcuked.

      Bluddy MSM, lie upon lie, propaganda on top of propaganda.

  55. BBC Radio 4,

    This morning, petrol and diesel forecourt owners were quizzed about their business prospects in the light of the changes required to fuel electric vehicles.

    It was clear that to give EV owners the local service that they currently provide to ICE owners then their business model had to radically change with the need to intall electricity substations/rapid chargers and apply for change of use under planning rules.

    Consideration needed to be given to provide services where cutomers could amuse themselves whilst their EV waa charging like a bowling alley. Some customers might even be tempted to meet a business model! 😉

    1. “Some customers might even be tempted to meet a business model! 😉”

      4 minutes isn’t enough to charge an EV.

        1. Depends, with Caverject it can be 4 hours but most laydees complain about quickies, so one tries one’s best.

      1. Well, with charging whilst in a bowling alley you need special shoes whereas when charging overnight you can get away with doing it the nude! ☺️

  57. Breaking News – Dianne Abbott says that if the Barristers go on strike then the country will collapse if people cannot get their skinny Lattes on their way into work.

      1. 343545+ up ticks,

        Afternoon P,
        £ 80 K plus Xs plus scams is an obstacle
        stopping her using the exit door.

    1. …and Ukraine is now a member of the G7 – two nasties, bothe testiculating. Their financial ability being…?

      …their ability to exist on billions from the EU, the USA and the UK

      Their contribution? Shoring up International corrupt banks with their zillions of equally corrupt currency.

    3. Two repulsive jokers, both on the wrong side of history.

      Boris Johnson has an unerring ability to choose the wrong side and back the wrong horse using British taxpayer money to massage his pathetic ego.

      By supplying arms to Ukraine he is prolonging the conflict and making matters far worse for the poor sods occupying the territory of Ukraine.

      Russia has already achieved its principal objectives and will only be encouraged and amused by the spectacle of the G7 ‘leaders’ and EU observer rabble virtue signalling from the heavily protected seclusion of their Bavarian hideaway.

      What is it with Germans and Bavarian hideaways?

    2. We’re biginning to wish you – and your woke son – all had one-way tickets.

    2. Apart from themselves, who are they recklessly endangering?

      The vaxiuseless doesn’t stop one catching it, doesn’t stop one spreading it and may well be more likely to have side effects that will kill, where one would probably survive Covid!.

      1. Alf and I know of not one other person who has refused to be experimentally injected. Not one. We belong to a bowls club with roughly 110 members. All neighbours have been jabbed. I played bowls this evening with 11 other ladies and they were all talking excitedly about “covid being on the rise again in the U.K.”. One lady is going on a cruise soon and mentioned the test she has to have 3 days beforehand plus another at the port before embarking. I piped up and told them all that HMG has invited applications for the supply of lateral flow tests and PCR tests for the sum of TWO BILLION POUNDS. TWO BILLION POINDS! Someone said where’s the money coming from? (🙄 smacks head metaphorically). I said from us, the government has no money except what it takes from us. None so blind ,,,

        I managed to refrain from saying I wondered when HMG were planning the next scamdemic and lockdowns. So much for people waking up to what’s going on behind the scenes.

        1. We had them because here it became almost impossible to do the things we enjoy without having been jabbed and that’s the end of it.
          No travel, no social life, no hospital appointments!!! Just stay at home alone.
          Even shopping was becoming difficult without the pass sanitaire.

    4. Ok sure, just first PROVE that my vaccination protects you. Good luck with that!

    1. Well done sweetie ! …. x

      I took Five …
      Wordle 373 5/6
      ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
      🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
      ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
      ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. I got it in one the other day and basked in a smug feeling of skill, choosing to ignore it was 100% luck 😊

      2. I got it in one the other day and basked in a smug feeling of skill, choosing to ignore it was 100% luck 😊

    4. Wordle 373 4/6

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

  63. Sir John Major: Infected blood scandal victims suffered ‘bad luck’
    Angry gasps at former prime minister’s comment during public inquiry into treatment disaster that led to thousands of deaths
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/27/sir-john-major-infected-blood-scandal-victims-suffered-bad-luck/

    Not just incompetent but sickeningly insensitive with it.

    BTL

    I think it a complete disgrace that the Daily Telegraph pays any attention to this disgusting, useless failed and hypocritically adulterous prime minister. If you ignored him he might find his way back to the stone from under which he crawled out.

    1. I could not believe that comment either. These people were put in harm’s way by being given contaminated blood which the government knew to be contaminated and they did it anyway. Major is deflecting blame in the most insensitive, hypocritical manner possible. ‘Bad luck’ indeed. The very nerve of the man. And, of course, a parallel can be drawn with today’s unfolding ‘vaccine’ disaster. The government knew there were appalling adverse side effects but they went ahead anyway, with mandates this time.

    2. They had the bad luck to have to be treated by the NHS, which imported blood products from some of the most diseased (in mind, body and soul) people on the planet.

    3. I am speechless. Well actually i am not. Those families of the people who needlessly died through the government being cheap and buying blood products that came from criminals and drug addicts suffered for years. I’m tempted to use the C word. Fucking heartless bastard. I hope he dies a painful death.

      1. I tried to donate blood in France, the fact I am British means I’m not acceptable because of BSE, and no doubt the back-history that I might have received blood in the UK.
        And can you blame the French for taking that attitude to Brits? I can’t.

        1. We cannot donate blood either. Mind you there was a scandal in France about blood transfusions with contaminated blood when we arrived here thirty years ago. The politician and once prime minister, Laurent Fabius, was at the centre of the scandal but he managed to worm his way out of it and another chap, a chap from Rennes, carried the can.

    4. I’m sure I read recently that the fools are thinking of dropping the standards again. Apparently, due to shortages. On past performance, accident victims might be better advised to bleed out. It will cause less stress for their loved ones.

      Coincidentally, I’m sure I’m not the only one who has given up on donating blood due to the wokeness of the medical questionnaire. They now insist on everyone, not just women, declaring on whether or not they have been pregnant.

      A self-inflicted injury.

        1. If I donated blood, they could just stick a vintage label on the vial;-))

      2. I didn’t think so at the time, because the use of artificial plasma rather than a simple blood transfusion nearly killed me (1981). It would now appear that in an unexpected twist of fate, the decision to use poly-gelatine may have saved my life.

    3. Don’t you know that those ‘funny men and women in wigs’ have gone on strike?

      A Courting Disaster for criminals …

        3. He seemed and sounded like he’d been out for a liquid lunch early this evening.
          He’s still says joke o vitch instead
          Of Djokovic.

    5. We watched Emma Raducanu’s match. OH will be watching most things but at present he’s watching the cricket.

      1. I use to like tennis it was a game back then, but it’s become more political and technically over scrutinised. And all those stupid noises they make should be banned.

      2. Im the opposite, I cant play very well at all but love watching a good tennis match. I prefer it to even football.

  67. NI Protocol: MPs to vote on plans to ditch parts of Brexit deal
    MPs will vote on Monday on new legislation to give ministers the power to scrap parts of the post-Brexit deal between the UK and the EU.
    The government wants to change the NI Protocol to make it easier for some goods to flow from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
    Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he believed legislation on the deal could be passed by the end of the year.
    The EU opposes the move, saying it breaches international law.
    A debate on the bill has begun in the House of Commons.
    The government is aiming to fast track the protocol bill through the House of Commons before the summer recess in mid July.
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-61946333

    1. The idiot signed the leave agreement, he can’t now cherrypick which bits he wants to keep and which bits he wants to get rid of. The time for that was before signing.

  68. We were unable to load Disqus. If you are a moderator please see our troubleshooting guide. Can you advise me what to do next?
    Belle can’t get in. Any suggestions?

    1. It takes ages to log in to Not the Telegraph Letters.

      I have to log in using catcha several times before I
      find the new page..

          1. Sad face.
            I’m no tekkie geek, I have no idea how to fix this stuff other than clear cookies, close down & restart.

          4. Leave the cookies – easy for you to say, but if they are Choco Leibniz, easier said than done.

          5. I never grew up with biccies, so never give them a thought. Until I find half a packet of Jaffa cakes…

          7. Unavailable in Nigeria, even well loaded with weevils, and forbidden at prep school.

      2. I don’t log out, just shut the laptop. Then the next morning I either use Geoff’s link or the banner at the top and I’m into the new page.

          2. I just put nttl.blog in the address banner across the top, Plum. Press ‘return’ and hey presto! and Bob’s your uncle, there it is.

          4. When I type it in, I often get a “Page Not Found” message, but when I click on a shortcut I’ve kept (which puts in exactly the same URL!) it goes straight to the page!

        2. I alwys logout and switch off. Logging in is a breeze pretty well every time.

          1. I don’t log out but I do shut down.

            This thread is beginning to sound like a lot of spies passwords.
            “The dog barks at midnight.” ;-))

          3. Gawd. Do I have carry a copy of yesterday’s Times under my right arm and wear a blue carnation in my buttonhole?
            Probably a fatal thing to say, but so far, I’ve had no trouble.

          5. It’s a pain if I do as I use Thunderbird as an email client and Gmail no longer lets me use the Gmail password to get into it but I have go to ‘settings’ and get a new one each time it’s shut down. It’s annoying so I don’t shut down unless it’s unavoidable.

      3. Doo ya think the ‘THEY’ are on to us they “can’t handle the truth”.

      1. Then they should reload, surely? Since they weren’t there at the first login, they would be loaded.

        1. Something odd has happened to my disqus account today. I no longer have to go through the hassle of logging on every time I return after looking at a link, or anything else outside this site. Amazing. The account is waiting, as I left it. I have done nothing to it, or my settings.

          2. The only time I shut down is if the laptop is playing up but normally I never do. Occasionally i have to and it’s a pain but I don’t usually get the capcha rubbish.

          3. But, J, your cache is probably so full of rubbish and ‘trackers’ it inhibits the system from running properly while it takes time to check through the rubbish, just in case…

          5. I close it down at the end of the day. I use an iPad, and after I have ‘folded’ it at the end of the day, it closes down after a few mins so I suppose it is sleeping.

          7. That’s the most annoying thing, especially if I’ve scrolled down through several pages of comments and then click on a .ink – when I go back to Nottl, I have to start from the top again.

            Geoff has tried boefore to prevent from happening ing this but unfortunately it can’t be changed

          9. That doesn’t work either. It used to, but something changed a couple of years ago.

          11. Oh yes! Me too! It was a bit annoying but I didn’t realise it wasn’t supposed to happen!

        2. No idea – but i know that one time when I had a bit of a seizure on the laptop some months ago, I cleared a lot of cookies and it took ages to get back into things again – eg it shut me out of all my email accounts, as well as Nottl. That was when I went back to using this old account, but the phone still uses the other one.

    3. We are sorry you’ve been experiencing some difficulties with our commenting platform.

      We are happy to confirm that there is no ban in place on your commenting privileges.

      To hopefully resolve the issue you are encountering please could I request you do the following.

      Logging out:

      1. Please could you log out of your Telegraph account and log back in again.

      2. Return to an article and click ‘Show comments’ – you should now be able to comment.

      If the above is unsuccessful, please move onto the second process, outlined below

      Clear cache and cookies:

      1. Clear your cache and cookies on the web browser you are using. Instructions for this are below:

      Google Chrome

      Safari (Mac)

      Safari (On iPhone or iPad)

      Mozilla

      Internet Explorer

      2. Open an article on the Telegraph website (you will be asked to log in again to your account)

      3. Click ‘Show comments’ – you should now be able to comment

      If you are still unable to comment, please let us know

      1. I didn’t think the Telegraph used Disqus these days……. and Belle was trying to get into Nottl as she’s been banned from commenting on the DT.

    4. Just on the offchance, does TB have any censorship software installed without knowing about it? To my astonishment, Sky has a ‘shield’ which can shelter the user from sites that might cause distress or offence; as there are occasional outbursts of candour on NTTL, it may have been darklisted by other providers.

  69. Someone used the world “testiculation” on here today and its definition. I knew my friend in GA would like it so I sent it to her….
    Her response….”Nice.”

    2. I confess, Ann, ’twas I.

      It seemed so apt under both the Micron and his Johnson – you’ll understand the allusion, I’m sure.

        1. Good to know, Ann. My little efforts are not justed wasted but appreciated in the other place.

          1. I suspect she is compiling a lexicon of rude British terms…She loves England and the Queen.
            She is a blessing in my life and I cherish her.

          2. Good to know, friends, especially Anglophiles, are a blessing in these troubled times.

    2. Oh it’s lqbtqwhatever month, apparently anything goes.

      I am surprised no one objected to him not wearing a mask.

  71. What is to be done with these people?

    Just Stop Oil: Activists says they have ‘a duty to protest’

    “I found myself feeling just so completely and utterly helpless, and realised I had to take action,” said Claudia Penna Rojas. Claudia moved to the UK aged eight, from Chile, where most of her family still live. She says Chile has faced “mega droughts” for many years, and believes it’s a result of climate change.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-61635328

    Chile, some areas of which are the driest in the world, otherwise known as deserts.

    1. I wonder how many people believe that climate change (which has happened since the Earth came into existence) is undeniably linked to human activity. There does not seem to be any questioning of this ‘fact’.

      1. “…Many of the impacts of global warming are now simply “irreversible”, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…”

        Then stop worrying about CO2 emissions and (a) learn to adapt (b) come up with alternatives for the day that fossil fuels run out. It is the mad obsession with CO2 that is the obstacle to progress.

        1. Ah, global warming rubbish. The sun will enter a Maunder Minimum, and we’ll all be freezing our nuts off.

      2. There’s no doubt that man has some effect. Heavy industry, cars, etc. for something like 6 billion people it would be hard not to have any effect. The big question should be is the effect man has within acceptable limits and is it economically worth it to try to ‘reverse’ our effect or should we be adapting to the changes instead.

        My own opinion is that the effects we have are within acceptable limits and we should adapt to the changing climate rather than act like Canute trying to stop the tide from coming in. Politicians actually believe they can reverse the effects of climate change so keep on building on shorelines and floodplains. Effing idiots!

  72. Thanks NoTTlers for techie tips much appreciated.
    Will give it a go manana unless I run out of patience…
    Night all…have fun!

    1. I know what you mean Plum this has happened to me in the past. I fact if I have Nottlers on my phone and click to reopen it somehow it changes to vrgin email. Don’t ask…..

      1. On my phone I have the disqus D saved as a link to go straight in from the home screen.

        1. I’ve recently noticed when I click post the wording fads as if it’s somehow being checked for content.

        2. I just have to type in not and the rest follows I click on it and it comes up. BUT if I move onto something else and try to go back to Nottlers virgin media email over rides it. Even if I haven’t yet used the email. Weird eh.

  73. Evening, all. After a very unpromising start (dull and wet), I have managed to get quite a lot done in the garden, including cutting both lawns. I like having lawns, but I don’t like having to cut and maintain them.

    1. After a wet start here (which caused OH to miss his tennis morning) it’s been dry and reasonably bright today.

      I went out to meet my old schoolfriends for lunch and we had a good meal in Cote.

    2. After a wet start here (which caused OH to miss his tennis morning) it’s been dry and reasonably bright today.

      I went out to meet my old schoolfriends for lunch and we had a good meal in Cote.

      1. Each to his own. You certainly couldn’t play tennis on either of my lawns and even croquet would be a challenge.

        1. We have grass. Never call it a lawn, and, to be honest, grass is being kind, too.

      1. Dunno, but I’ve hated him eversince he wore an Argentina shirt when England were playing them at football.

      1. I am not too sure where I am .. there is a HUGE DISQUS header , a very small Nottle introduction , and that is it and no facility now to see replies or up ticks

          2. It is rather sore tonight but I suspect that’s the stitches making themselves felt. Also, still very fatigued but will cope.
            “I am bloody but unbowed….”

  78. I’m sitting outside this evening it’s decidedly nippy out here. I think I’ll go to bed early and pick up my latest tome.
    And the mozzies or gnats have turned up, I’m off.

  81. Before I go- here is the poem Invictus by WE Henly.

    Out of the night that covers me ,
    Black as the pit from pole to pole
    I thank whatever gods there may be
    For my unconquerable soul.
    In the fell clutch of circumstance
    I have not winced or cried out loud;
    Under the bludgeonings of chance
    My head is bloody but unbowed.
    Beyond this place of wrath and tears
    Looms but the horror of the shade
    Yet the menace of the years
    Finds me and shall find me unafraid.
    It matters not how strait the gate
    How charged with punishments the scroll-
    I am the master of my fate
    I am the captain of my soul.

    1. Yes, I have whinged and winced but am made of stern stuff. I will survive!!

      1. Only just looked and saw your comment – you will! Hope things are not too painful – onwards and upwards…

  82. Oh, before I go- see below, over half of that was from memory. A university in Sheffield is doing away with BA LIT degrees because they are low value. So three sodding years of study, hard work etc means sod all.
    So what is useful? Media studies…. diversity shit.
    I have bloody had it.
    I worked hard and I mean hard to get my degree. Sod this country and its useless government.

    2. A lighter grief! which feeling hearts endure
      Without regret, nor e’en demand a cure.
      But what strange art, what magic can dispose
      The troubled mind to change its native woes?
      Or lead us willing from ourselves, to see
      Others more wretched, more undone than we?
      This BOOKS can do;–nor this alone; they give
      New views to life, and teach us how to live;
      They soothe the grieved, the stubborn they
      chastise,
      Fools they admonish, and confirm the wise:
      Their aid they yield to all: they never shun
      The man of sorrow, nor the wretch undone:
      Unlike the hard, the selfish, and the proud,
      They fly not sullen from the suppliant crowd;
      Nor tell to various people various things,
      But show to subjects what they show to kings.

      The Library Poem by George Crabbe

  84. Just got back from an amazing open mic. Cheers, everyone.

    Drunk as a lord to be honest.

  85. If I had a choice I would have preferred a ticket for The Eagles in Hyde Park yesterday than a ticket to see McCartney at Glastonbury. No comparison.

    1. Good one. A local singing family at open mic tonight went to Hyde Park on Saturday for the Stones and stayed the extra night to watch the Eagles on the Sunday!

    2. My favourite all time band. Saw them at Wembley stadium years ago.
      We had to leave before they finished the final number. And as we walk along the long drive way they came past in two limos and gave us a wave.

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