Monday 30 December: Labour can’t spin away the vindictiveness of its policy on private schools

Posted on by Geoff Graham

Good morning, all – Monday’s new page is here.

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

584 thoughts on “Monday 30 December: Labour can’t spin away the vindictiveness of its policy on private schools”

  3. GBNews:

    Chagos Islands; Mauritius demanding £800 p.a. for leasing back Diego Garcia to us plus reparations. 2Tier and Lammy are geniuses

    2. Thankfully (just) old Mauritius government collapsed.. and new administration seized their chance to demand more cash from the low IQ Tottenham Turnip. This should (cross fingers) drag on into the Trump term. The US will be asked to cough up too.

    3. Morning Citroen, you've been working hard this morning, to good effect.
      If it's only £800 a year to Mauritius, I think I could just about afford that.

  5. Good morning Geoff and all NoTTlers,

    Today's Tale is about a Lawyer

    A lawyer gets home after a long trial in which it was decided his client, Mr Wright, would be hanged later that night.

    He is greeted at the door by his wife. "You're home late. And you're tracking mud all over the place. For God’s sake, take off your shoes!"

    "Look, I've had a hard day at work, can you just leave me alone?" he says.

    After some mumbling from his wife, the lawyer walks upstairs to take a bath.

    A while later, the phone rings, and the wife answers, to be greeted by her husband’s boss, who explains that due to the appearance of new evidence, Mr. Wright isn't going to be hanged that night.

    Realising what a hard day her husband must have had, she goes upstairs to tell her husband the news, she opens the bathroom door to see her husband bending over drying his feet, wedding tackle dangling between his legs.

    At this point, she says, "They're not hanging Wright tonight"

    "God Damn it woman! Can you just stop criticising me for one minute?"

    1. I heard a version fifty years ago. It was a Welshman called Level who had escaped conviction.
      'They're not hanging Level' quipped the girl to the guy coming out of the bath.
      'They never have, Dai' was the response.

  8. Good morning, chums. And thanks, Geoff, for today's new NoTTLe site.

    Wordle 1,290 4/6

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    1. Good morning Elsie and all
      Not often one of my stock second words comes up!
      Wordle 1,290 2/6

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  9. Labour to make national curriculum more ‘diverse’

    Bridget Phillipson starts review to ‘refresh’ education programme so it reflects ‘diversities of our society’

    Craig Simpson
    Arts Editor

    Education News, Department for Education, National curriculum, Labour Party
    29 December 2024 8:34pm GMT

    The national curriculum is set to be made more “diverse” under Labour plans.

    Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, has begun a review to “refresh” what is taught in schools, pledging to “breathe new life into our outdated curriculum”.

    The new curriculum will be compulsory in all state schools, including academies that were previously free to opt out.

    The Telegraph can reveal that the Department for Education’s terms of reference for the overhaul explicitly say that the department (DfE) aims to create a curriculum that reflects the “diversities of our society” and help produce young people who “appreciate the diversity” of Britain.

    This newspaper has also seen suggestions for changes to the curriculum that have been submitted to the review by unions and other teaching groups, including for how to “decolonise” subjects which have been branded too “mono-cultural”.

    The moves were criticised by the Conservatives on Sunday night. Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said: “Instead of spending time fiddling with our academic curriculum, which has led to English children being the best at maths and English in the Western world, the DfE needs to concentrate on getting absence rates down and kids back in the classroom.”

    Changes would ‘undermine education’
    Sir John Hayes, the former Conservative education minister, said the changes would “undermine the education of young people” for ideological reasons.

    He added: “The truth of the matter is there’s a canon of English literature, there’s a factual basis to learning, and you can’t twist the facts to suit your political agenda.

    “When you do you risk undermining the education of young people and leaving them ill-equipped for life beyond schooling.”

    Sir John, who trained as a history teacher, warned that the move would add to the “distortion of history” for political reasons, adding: “The pretence that some things count and others don’t – that’s just not intellectually rigorous.”

    The review, announced in July, is being led by Prof Becky Francis, a feminist professor who started a call for evidence in November urging teaching experts to offer proposals on achieving the aims of the curriculum overhaul.

    Prof Francis, who criticised the Tony Blair government for “an obsession with academic achievement”, and the committee leading the review are now considering proposals suggested by teaching unions, school groups, think tanks and Royal Societies.

    Recommended

    Becky Francis: Meet the feminist ex-punk backed by Labour to change your child's education
    Read more
    After a review of the evidence, an interim report is expected to be published in early 2025. A full set of recommendations to curriculum changes will be released later in the year.

    Among the proposals submitted by major unions and educational institutions are suggestions of the introduction of more diverse material, particularly in “majority white” classrooms, and a move away from English literature which is seen as “traditional”.

    The teachers’ union NASUWT, which has about 280,000 members across the UK, told the review that it must “embed anti-racist and decolonised approaches” in the curriculum and advised “inclusive curricula that reflect diverse authors, cultures and perspectives”.

    The Association of School and College Leaders warned that “history and English curricula are seen as largely mono-cultural”, and welcomed plans to “diversify the curriculum”.

    The group, which represents more than 25,000 senior secondary school teachers, warned that “in particular, ethnicity and sexual orientation are under-represented in the national curriculum”.

    The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) told the review that the planned curriculum must reflect “the diversity of our society”, adding that members saw the benefit of using diverse reading material for “subverting racial biases” especially when “teaching to a majority white classroom”.

    Bridget Phillipson visits Loreto Sixth Form College in Manchester
    Bridget Phillipson, pictured visiting Loreto Sixth Form College in Manchester on A-level results day, plans to update the curriculum Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA
    NAHT, which has more than 49,000 members, also cited research which claimed that “children between the ages of three and five begin to categorise people by race and express bias based on race”. It argued that the curriculum should counter this by providing “positive images and messages to counter any negative stereotypes they will face”.

    The National Education Union stated that the curriculum “must become broad, diverse, inclusive”, adding that it should “prepare all students for life in modern, diverse Britain”.

    English texts ‘overly Western-centric’
    Examination boards have also had their say. OCR, one of England, Wales and Northern Ireland’s five main exam boards, stated: “The literary canon should better reflect the range of cultures and experiences of all young people.”

    Similarly, the Haberdashers’ family of schools, which includes several leading public schools for boys and girls, has voiced concerns that English texts are seen as “overly Western-centric and traditional” and advised greater diversity.

    The proposals are under consideration by the review committee, which includes Funmilola Stewart, who is head of an “anti-racism” team at the Dixons Academy Trust, a group of 16 academies and one sixth form college in Bradford, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.

    Her team set out a policy that the school curriculum “must give life to our ED&I [equality, divinity and inclusion] thinking”, stating that “for our curricula to achieve this, ED&I must be pervasive”.

    The review will also seek to increase the breadth of the curriculum, ensure it makes children ready for life and work, improve assessment systems, and to boost access to music, art, sport and drama, as well as vocational subjects.

    Phillipson accused of ‘gaslighting’
    It comes after Ms Phillipson was accused of “gaslighting” the country for suggesting that middle-class parents backed Labour’s private school VAT raid.

    She told The Sunday Times that middle-class parents had “largely been priced out of private schools” and claimed that was why there was “such support for our policy”.

    Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said the remarks were “more gaslighting from this socialist Government that has broken its general election promises”.

    ****************************
    Bill Ma
    10 hrs ago
    Lets start with facts: 85% white, 8% Asian, 4% black, 3% other. Less than 1.5% LGB, less than 0.02% trans. 1600 years of Anglo Saxon and Western European culture, Scientific Revolution, Renaissance, Reformation. Less than 30 (not 50 years) of foreign migration. Windrush generation utterly insignificant to our nation. UK was not built on African migration.
    Diversity is not and never has been our strength. Our strength has been our homogeneous culture and society.
    Labour are destroying our country and education.

    2. Meet the feminist ex-punk backed by Labour to change your child’s education
      A supporter of Starmer’s pledge to break the ‘class ceiling’, Becky Francis has made it her life’s mission to level the playing field

      Jim Norton
      Related Topics
      Keir Starmer, Labour Party, Education News, Department for Education
      20 November 2024 8:30pm GMT

      1051

      Gift this article free
      Becky Francis
      It’s not hard to see why Becky Francis was the new Government’s choice to review the national curriculum. “A Labour Party member and feminist who wears her politics on her sleeve,” was how she was described in a profile in 2015. She was also an early supporter of cutting private schools’ charitable status, nearly a decade before Labour pledged to abolish their VAT exemption. And her public backing of Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge last year to break the “class ceiling” that “background equals destiny” certainly did her chances no harm either.

      Throughout her career, Francis, 55, has passionately argued that social class – or, more bluntly, family wealth – remains the key predictor of educational achievement and future prospects. Indeed, her life’s mission has been to level the playing field for disadvantaged schoolchildren.

      Ideas such as a proposal this week that schools should remove references to middle-class activities from exam questions, may therefore find favour with Francis when her eight-week consultation on potential reforms closes this Friday. In a submission to Francis’s review, Lee Elliot Major, a professor of social mobility at Exeter University, said: “Every year I’m angered by the middle-class biases that continue to plague questions posed in national examinations. We’ve had questions set in ski resorts, theatres and classical concerts, problems based on rocking horses, strawberry jam-making, savings and house purchases.”

      In 2013, while professor of education and social justice at King’s College London, Francis wrote a report for the Sutton Trust accusing wealthy parents of “cheating the system” to win places for their children at the best schools. Based on interviews with more than 1,000 parents, it suggested they were willing to employ a raft of cunning schemes – including moving house, employing tutors, or sending children to extracurricular activities such as music or drama – to gain the upper hand.

      Francis is a fierce advocate of giving poorer pupils a leg up, and has been a vocal supporter of The Pupil Premium, introduced in 2011, which tops up and ring-fences funding for the poorest pupils. In 2020, shortly before the pandemic, she became chief executive of the Education Endowment Fund (EEF), whose “key mission” is “breaking the link between family income and educational achievement”. She is acutely aware of the damage Covid did to schoolchildren’s development across the board – with research by the EEF revealing that they had lost the equivalent of seven months’ learning – but particularly in widening the gap between the better off and the poorest.

      So it is fair to say that boosting the chances for those more disadvantaged will likely be highest on the agenda for the curriculum review. But exactly how this will manifest, it is hard to say.

      Francis (pictured with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson) will seek 'evolution not revolution'
      Francis (pictured with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson) will seek ‘evolution not revolution’ Credit: X/ Twitter
      What is clear is that Francis’s drive is deeply informed by her upbringing. The Telegraph has dug into her early life and career, trawling through research papers, speaking to former colleagues, and combing through rare interviews and podcast appearances. And there is one overarching theme and core belief that consistently emerges – equality.

      A teenage punk in the 1980s, Francis admits she did well to scrape through her O-levels. She had grown up in a loving middle-class Quaker family, her father a successful recycling entrepreneur and her Oxford-educated mother staying at home to look after the kids. Yet Ralph Allen School, her local comprehensive in a village just outside of Bath, was hardly the place to flourish academically. It was underperforming and rampant with violence and bullying, she recalls. And while she managed to hang on for her A-levels – just about – many of her friends didn’t.

      She saw that many in her peer group had been failed by the state system and simply left school at 16. This had a “profound impact” on her, she has said, sparking a deep interest in educational inequality that would go on to shape both her career and values.

      After reading English at Swansea University, she won a doctoral scholarship at the University of North London in the early 1990s to carry out a study comparing genders, which coincided with the beginning of what she calls a “moral panic” about boys underachieving. Her subsequent research focused on social hierarchies within schools, including ethnicity and class, and its impact on performance. All the data, she found, suggested the socio-economic divide remained by far the biggest differentiator.

      She was awarded a PhD scholarship in the early 1990s, before rising through the academic ranks to become the first woman to lead University College London’s prestigious Institute for Education in its 114-year-history, and also a fellow at Harvard University.

      Receiving a CBE last year, she has fast emerged as one of the UK’s leading voices in education – and will now be even more influential as chair of Starmer’s national curriculum review, setting the standard for schools across England.

      Striking the right balance and appeasing every stakeholder – from teachers and parents to government ministers and even children – will not be an “easy task”, she admits. The national curriculum has been tinkered with by successive governments every decade since it was first introduced in 1988 – and rarely has it been without controversy.

      First there was John Major’s attempts to “slim down” and simplify the over-detailed first iteration in the 1990s, then two attempts by New Labour during their 13 years in power, to Michael Gove’s reforms a decade ago that were accused of ignoring the expertise and wisdom of teachers and academics. Now, it’s Starmer’s turn.

      Prime Minister Keir Starmer visiting Primary school children in Orpington in September 2024
      Keir Starmer has vowed to fight ‘the pernicious idea that background equals destiny’ Credit: Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street
      Yet to suggest she is merely a political appointee would do her distinguished career a disservice. Francis – a long-term adviser to the education select committee – has been heavily involved in steering UK education policy since as far back as 2011. As director of education at the Royal Society of Arts, her work revealed that nearly half of schools judged “satisfactory” by inspectors had remained stuck in the category for at least six years. It led to the rating being dropped by Ofsted and replaced by “requires improvement”.

      This research-led approach to solving problems is typical of Francis. An impressive communicator, every opinion uttered in interviews will always be followed by a reference to a study, or, more often than not, her own research. Indeed, she has previously railed against the “extremely ideological” policymaking in education, criticising politicians for their dogmatic beliefs, even when the data suggests they don’t work. One thing is for sure: whatever direction the curriculum takes, it will surely be underpinned by evidence.

      So what sort of changes should we expect? It will seek “evolution not revolution”, Francis wrote in a Times Educational Supplement article in August, making no bold promises. Instead, she vowed only to tackle “the most significant and pressing issues”. The piece highlighted two in particular – overworked teachers, who were “valiant but presently tired and depleted”, and an “overloaded curriculum”. But there were very few clues on exactly how she believes ministers can overcome these problems.

      However, her previous studies provide some pointers. One recommendation could be to do away with putting children into sets based on their ability. Her own research suggests it knocks the confidence of those in lower sets, and their expected low grades are a “self-fulfilling prophecy”. As director of the Institute for Education, she had tried to persuade schools to take part in experiments with mixed sets – but many had struggled because they were “scared of parents”.

      She may now have the power to do so – and it appears will not be cowed by anyone telling her not to. “What I would say about Becky is she’s not afraid to speak truth to power,” says Prof Mary Richardson at the Institute of Education, who has known her since their days working at the University of Roehampton together, where Francis was professor of education between 2006 and 2010. “I think she will be very open and honest. It comes from a place of justice and wanting the right things for people.”

      Indeed, despite her politics, she criticised the education policy of the Tony Blair government for “an obsession with academic achievement”. However, one of the people feeding their ideas into her review will be Charles Clarke, who was education secretary under Blair and has been commissioned by the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA examinations board to write a report on the curriculum and exams. He recently said that the curriculum contained “glaring omissions” on climate change and sustainability.

      Francis left Ralph Allen School the year before the national curriculum was introduced. And in the decades since, it has seen a drastic improvement, becoming an academy in 2004 and achieving its best ever A-level results in 2018, with 45 per cent of students achieving A*-A. In March this year, it was rated “good” by Ofsted, with inspectors commenting that “pupils are proud of their school”.

      In 2022, Francis told former Observer editor Will Hutton, host of the We Society podcast: “I’m a big fan of the national curriculum.” She added, “It was hugely controversial at the time, but actually very quickly we started to see its impact,” highlighting how it had narrowed the gender gap, particularly in maths and science.

      “There are downsides I do recognise,” she said, such as the “ongoing cut and thrust of which subjects are represented and to what extent.”

      She concluded: “Nevertheless, I think it’s pretty good at the moment.”

      Now she’s in charge, the question is: can she make it better?

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

      J TAX
      20 November 2024
      Katherine Birbalsingh and her Michaela Academy should have been the model for improving outcomes, not this highly politicised approach which will level down rather than level up.

      1. What?
        Professor Becky Francis, the gender and equality academic (of course) is a wrong 'un?
        The one that said education is 'obsessed with academic achievement'.

        1. Odd that children gifted at sport or music are allowed to have specialist schooling to develop their talents but academically gifted children are not.

    3. Curriculum is one thing.. enforcing it is another.
      And Trot Bridget Phillipson has that covered too.
      She will enforce schools to work more closely with local authorities on admissions and teacher recruitment. Checkmate.

    4. Gosh.
      Lessons on stabbing, FGM, goat herding and camel racing will be compulory.
      GCSE in wooden bowl carving, stick whittling and blanket weaving for the more practically minded 'student'.
      Advanced beheading restricted to the Sixth Form.

      1. Professor Becky Francis actually suggested replacing museum trips with visits to graffiti workshops.

        1. Why am I not surprised?
          Does Prof Becky know what's needed to produce spray cans and their contents?

    5. Meanwhile, this week's 'Malvern Gazette' reports that the attempts by Malvern Hills Independents to re-open the closed Further Education college as a community facility have finally been dashed, since Warwickshire Colleges Group have sold the site to become a Special School, which presumably is closed to the general public.

      These Independents have recently been thrown out of control of the district council by a coalition of Conservatives, Labour turncoats and Liberal Democrats, who presumably welcome this evolution of educational provision.

    6. No doubt about it : this woman is shaping up to be as evil as only Blair and Theresa May

  10. Russia vows to retaliate after state media reportedly blocked on Telegram in EU. 30 December 2024.

    Russia has vowed to retaliate after the channels of its state media were apparently blocked on the popular Telegram social media platform in the EU. On Sunday the channels of Ria Novosti news agency, Rossiya 1, Pervyi Kanal and NTV television, and Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspapers were not accessible in several countries, including France, Belgium, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands and Italy, according to media reports.

    This of course was the intention encapsulated with the arrest of Pavel Durov, the owner of Telegram. That the EU should have control of its policies and eliminate Free Speech.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/30/russia-vows-to-retaliate-after-state-media-reportedly-blocked-on-telegram-in-eu

    2. Had my diabetic retinopathy check at the start of the month and it came back clear, so good luck.

    2. Quite right too. We men can then get some peace and quiet.

      ……….Puts on invisibility cape.

      1. Proverbs XXI ix

        It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

      1. You know, Jenny, there is so much wrong in the U.K. I am not going to worry about what goes on in Afghanistan. It’s one of my business.

        Why aren’t you worrying about the rape gangs operating here?

    4. Muslim women banned from..
      Go to high school or university
      Work in the civil service
      Attend a protest

      Hang on a minute.. I am warming to the Tally's rules.

    6. All that list shows is that they are terrified of women. Aren't they all part time homosexuals in Afghanistan anyway?

    8. If women in Afghanistan are not allowed to speak to a male doctor, and women are also not allowed to go to college or university, there will be no female doctors available to treat women. Not very bright, is it?

    1. But Hang on…..he's not kneeling, but he doesn't need to, his approach has already already been made obvious.

    1. Unfortunately for the moronic progressive liberals.. "Lesbo Nana" entered into the meme folklore.. that's GenZ for piss-take of silly-Billy Lefties.

    2. Unfortunately for the moronic progressive liberals.. "Lesbo Nana" entered into the meme folklore.. that's GenZ for piss-take of silly-Billy Lefties.

    3. Pen pushers in Whitehall pushing another invented point they thought was important. But just like most of the new approaches to long established culture, just Dopey Wokies with nothing important to get on with.

  17. Morning all 🙂😊
    My word,I thought it was 4pm when I looked out just half an hour ago at the dark dismal scene. What a horrible climate we have, I can't understand why anyone would want to risk their lives in a rubber boat to get here………oh hang on a moment. Our political classes are all so generous…….

  20. Today on FSB James Gatehouse follows the descent of the BBC into woke mediocrity by reference to its Christmas offering, an update of the old ‘Outnumbered’ series, which James found wokely predictable and as dull as ditchwater – exactly like the BBC itself. And if you missed it yesterday, Iain Hunter’s article ‘ Socialism – What’s Not To Hate ’ is highly recommended.

    Also, an important topic of today is the wholly illegitimate proposal by the anti-British government to further wokify our children’s education by introducing even more ‘diversity’ into it and ‘de-colonising’ subjects taught. We all know what that means – intensive indoctrination designed to eradicate national identity. Naturally, FSB opposes this and thinks we ought to take action to stop it. We have a poll at the top of the Today page asking how you think this should be done. Please vote.

    Energy watch 08:00: Demand: 32.591GW. Supply: Hydrocarbons 13.5%; Wind 51.1%; Imports 11.1%, Biomass 5.3% and Nuclear 15.5%.
    Even on a high wind day, they have to import 11% of our power supplies, a much more expensive option than using gas fired domestic power stations. And it seems that since the UN and EU declared nuclear 'low carbon', they are increasing the proportion of our power produced in nuclear plants as much as possible.

    freespeechbacklash.com

  22. The nation's broadcaster seems to have forgotten that the saintly Jimmy was a nuclear physicist.

    1. That's because he wasn't.

      On December 12, 1952, an accident with the experimental NRX reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada's Chalk River Laboratories caused a partial meltdown
      In the shutdown of the reactor. The process required each team member to don protective gear and be lowered individually into the reactor for 90 seconds at a time, limiting their exposure to radioactivity while they disassembled the crippled reactor. When Carter was lowered in, his job was simply to turn a single screw.

      In March 1953, Carter began a six-month course in nuclear power plant operation at Union College in Schenectady. His intent was to eventually work aboard USS Seawolf, which was intended to be the second U.S. nuclear submarine. His plans changed when his father died of pancreatic cancer in July, two months before construction of Seawolf began, and Carter obtained a release from active duty.

      1. Thanks for the clarification. Clearly this was subject to exaggeration at a time when that suited his cheer-leaders

  24. Good morning, all. Last evening's murky weather has moved on and here in N Essex we have broken cloud and some welcome brightness. Quite calm but the wind must be blowing elsewhere as renewables, except solar. were producing >60% of demand an hour or so ago: dropped now to 53% with solar at about 0.2%.

    Reading this comment on X I came over all déjà vu like. It's only 48 hours and then it'll be all over, honest guv.

    https://x.com/LeilaniDowding/status/1873445561137061900
    I have a distant memory of the Leader of the Opposition back in 2020 demanding longer and harder lockdowns. I wonder what happened to him?

  25. SIR — Over the years, sweets and chocolate portions have been getting smaller, yet the population that consumes them continues to get fatter.

    What’s going on?

    Robert Frazer
    Salford, Lancashire

    The sole reason, Bob, is because people have become addicted to sugar, carbohydrates, alcohol, and ultra-processed crap that masquerades as food. Sugar, in particular — in all its forms — is alien to the human diet and is the one major factor in ill-health and early death.

    One overriding factor is that people have become intrinsically bone idle and invent all manner of puerile and risible excuses for being “too busy” to buy, prepare and consume meals based upon proper nutritional food such as fatty meat, fish, eggs and cheese. Claiming that they have busy jobs in order to fund a household is complete bollocks. Nothing, but nothing, is more essential than personal health and wellbeing and this only comes about by eating the correct species-appropriate food. All other animal species rely on instinct and they only consume foodstuffs that are appropriate to them. Modern humans are simply far too stupid to do so themselves.

    Those who are not bone idle routinely follow discredited advice and continue to prepare and consume inappropriate items, such as vegetation, fruit, cereal products and alcohol, none of which are congruent to human nutrition or wellbeing, despite the constant whining claims of vegetarians and vegans. Even worse is the fact that people never tire of making all manner of risible (and easily disproved) excuses for continuing to imbibe this unhealthy crap.

    Another factor is that people eat every day, sometimes up to four times a day, continually spiking their blood sugar levels in the process. We, as a species, were naturally evolved to fast on a regular basis but few, nowadays, follow this vital and necessary practice. They would rather poison their mitochondria (the powerhouse of every living cell) than consume proper food that properly nourishes them.

    Add to that eminently disprovable ‘advice’ from health authorities, universities and other sources who are heavily funded by the colossal global corporations who manufacture this detritus labelled as ‘food’, then you have all the valid reasons why people are continuing to get fat, unhealthy and die early from a massive list of ‘modern’ diseases and ailments that did not exist when mankind simply ate meat and fish and fasted regularly.

    The clear unarguable fact is that modern humans would much sooner prefer to continue eating crap and, as a direct consequence, continue getting ill and dying early than revert to eating our natural — nourishing — diet, which did not, despite the claims of the mind-altered, include fruit or vegetables.

    The motto is quite simple: eat proper species-appropriate food and thrive; eat all manner of manufactured crap and sugar and become exponentially more stupid, more unhealthy and die much younger from a plethora of really nasty conditions.

    As in the horse-and-water analogy; you can lead a human towards proper food and nutrition, but you can't make the suicidal imbecile see sense and consume it.

    1. Good moaning everyone.

      Goodness me, Grizzly, that’s quite a dressing down of humans, not to say, rant at this time of the morning. Is it the result of your Damascene conversion? 😄😄😄

    2. I can agree with your line on meats and dairy and the effects of processed foods and sugar, but we evolved as omnivores and fruit and veg have been part of our diet since we lived in trees. Before animal husbandry was developed it must have been much easier to pluck some berries rather than chase down a wild animal!

        2. Brambles fight back, so do honey bees; although risky, at least hunting gets you away from the cave.

      2. Seriously?
        Tudor women had a fad for wearing bum rolls under their skirts to make themselves more 'curvy'.
        I'm not sure that she could walk if all that fat was home grown. I think there may be a spot of a set up, though even without the added spare tyre, she's still 'bonny'.

    4. Good morning Grizz.
      Amazing how we’re all living longer.
      What do you think is causing that.

  27. "We do indeed have much to remain thankful for, and to look forward to."

    I thank my God, that I am not young.

    UK will become a caliphate, before the stupid Net Zero Target is met

    I think many on here feel the same.

    We now have the precepts of Sharia law, except by name operating, in all areas of UK.

    To paraphrase it "Native Brits can do no right"

  28. The BBC is gushing with praise for the ex President Carter. Lefties from all departments of the BBC and Labour big-wigs extolling the virtues of the one term chief. They omitted to mention his failure to solve the US energy crisis, that he pardoned all the draft dodgers, he stopped the Russians from removing the Taliban from Afghanistan, stopped further development of US atomic weapons and nuclear energy and failed to resolve the Iranian hostage crisis. . . .and those were his good parts. He obviously set the agenda for our present government and they are working hard to complete it.

    1. If the BBC thinks he's wonderful that's all the information you need to know that he was a wrong'un!

  29. Hello, vw.

    Who knows? I have researched the facts and just try to pass on the benefits of our natural diet. I am under no illusion, whatsoever, that the majority of people will simply ignore this and continue, as before, happily and blithely accepting the consequences. Of that I can do little to prevent it.

    1. Good morning, Grizzly

      St Mark's Gospel VI iv

      A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

    2. Now then our lad ,

      Ever since I watched my father eat that delicate dish called steak tartare.. anything with red blood showing is unpleasant.. and as you are a pork pie / shoshage expert , would you eat pink pork, I wouldn't .. The thought of tapeworm eggs and stuff wriggling in a human brain is too much to think about..

    3. Tell us again all those supplements and extras that you eat.

      Why do you eat them, if your "natural" diet is so complete?.

  30. You see, KP, you are perpetuating a myth. Humans were never omnivores (recent research has proved this beyond dispute). Fruit and vegetables that exist today are all the products of cross-breeding and genetical mutilation. Nothing like any of them existed prior to 10,000 years ago, just a few nuts and berries that were low in sugar (and flavour) and these were only consumed at times (deep winter) when meat and fish were not easily obtained.

    Humans developed into powerful, fit and healthy apex-predators on their meat-only diet but their decline only started after the so-called "agricultural revolution" when vegetation and grains started to be consumed.

    1. And if they hadn't changed diet, humans would still be few in number and have no medicines, no technology, and much, much shorter average lifespans.

      That may or may not be a good thing.

  33. Er , Professor Grizzly, so if the original humans were apex predators , did they eat their meat and fish raw , and what bright spark decided to cook meat and of course twig on that rubbing a couple of flints produced a flame ?

  35. G'day all,

    Cloudy at McPhee Towers, wind still in the South-West, 7-8℃ all day.

    30th December 2024 is Jimmy Carter day. The 39th President who got rich by growing peanuts……

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/58c07ee1cc6924c88fd220316dd5adf9e35d2649fde7a26fdedc3ac047e75a2b.png
    …except he didn't. What none of the eulogies will tell you is that Carter was a puppet of the Rockefellers. Nelson Rockefeller, one of the climate-change-inventing sons of J D Rockefeller jnr, had been Gerald Ford's Vice-President which was as close as that family got to the presidency. He was picked by David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski as 'their' continuity candidate because he was easily manipulable. Under Carter they were able to progess easily their long-term planning for a one world technocratic government. His money probably came from the Rockefellers.

    1. Yanks had an obsession for eating monkey-nut jam sandwiches for centuries before Jimmy Carter was born.

      1. I visited Mount Vernon, the historic home of George Washington, a few years back and peanut soup was on the menu in the cafeteria. Don’t mock it – it was delicious but in my many years in the US, I never saw it again.

          1. Thanks, I wasn’t aware of the African origin. Quite likely that it was brought over to the US by slaves; the founding fathers included slave owners who saw no hypocrisy in their Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” – as long as they were free, white, property-owning, protestant males over the age of 25.

          2. When i saw a recipe for it containing collared greens which is a staple among black folks i twigged.

          3. I had never heard of collared greens until I read your comment. However, by coincidence, I watched the movie “Cold Mountain” on Netflix this evening and one of the leading characters spoke of planting a variety of vegetables including “collareds” so `i knew what she was talking about. The movie is set in the South during the Civil War so a slave connection is clear.

          4. My mother, who spent many years in the Sudan, used to make Port Sudani Peanut Soup. She got the recipe from her kitchen servants

          6. I doubt it. The peanut plant originated in South America.

            Modern day Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil have the greatest diversity of wild varieties of this groundnut, suggesting these regions as the likely birthplace of Arachis hypogaea.
            Discovery of 7,600 year old fossilized peanut hulls in the Ñanchoc Valley of Peru indicates the importance of peanuts to ancient South Americans.

          7. Not the slaves then. Looking further it seems it became a staple in West Africa during the Colonial period.

        2. My blue tits, great tits, long-tailed tits and nuthatches love them. And the bloody North-American tree-rats.

  36. G'day all,

    Cloudy at McPhee Towers, wind still in the South-West, 7-8℃ all day.

    30th December 2024 is Jimmy Carter day. The 39th President who got rich by growing peanuts……

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/58c07ee1cc6924c88fd220316dd5adf9e35d2649fde7a26fdedc3ac047e75a2b.png
    …except he didn't. What none of the eulogies will tell you is that Carter was a puppet of the Rockefellers. Nelson Rockefeller, one of the climate-change-inventing sons of J D Rockefeller jnr, had been Gerald Ford's Vice-President which was as close as that family got to the presidency. He was picked by David Rockefeller and Zbigniew Brzezinski as 'their' continuity candidate because he was easily manipulable. Under Carter they were able to progess easily their long-term planning for a one world technocratic government. His money probably came from the Rockefellers.

  37. Of course they ate their meat and fish raw, Margaret. The advent of cooking may well have made their food much tastier, however, the downside was that it removed many of the nutrients.

    Show me any other apex predator that cooks its meat and fish. They all remain fiercely fit, strong and healthy.

    2. They also live short and violent lives…….. whereas the largest land mammal lives entirely on vegetation and lives a long life.

    3. Look at the effort required by those predators to feed themselves and their balance against the population of herbivores they feed upon. They have to remain fit because otherwise they die.

      We are designed to eat meat and vegetables. Look at your teeth. A lion doesn't have molars. We're omnivores by design and intent.

      If humans had kept to that lifestyle we'd have gone extinct. Our strength is our technology

  38. Labour to make national curriculum more ‘diverse’
    Bridget Phillipson starts review to ‘refresh’ education programme so it reflects ‘diversities of our society’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/29/labour-national-curriculum-diversity-bridget-phillipson/

    Bridget Phillipson is an evil woman determined to destroy Britain starting with her attack on young people's education.

    The Top BTL by person called Bill Ma

    Lets start with facts: 85% white, 8% Asian, 4% black, 3% other. Less than 1.5% LGB, less than 0.02% trans. 1600 years of Anglo Saxon and Western European culture, Scientific Revolution, Renaissance, Reformation. Less than 30 (not 50 years) of foreign migration. Windrush generation utterly insignificant to our nation. UK was not built on African migration.

    Diversity is not and never has been our strength. Our strength has been our homogeneous culture and society.

    Labour are destroying our country and education.

      1. 1.17
        I wish I could find a good book

        Books will be the next thing to be banned by Witch Jenkinnson.

  39. Good morning, Alf.

    Not "all of us" are living longer, only a few. Just peruse the obituaries columns and see just how many people die early, every single day, of all manner of diseases that did not exist prior to the 20th century.

    Apex Predators seem to be naturally free of the diseases of civilisation.

    Why are there no recorded instances of Bats having Alzheimer’s Disease? Probably for the same reason as there are no recorded events of Piranhas having Cancer.

    Or — while we are on the subject — a paucity of events recorded in litt of: Killer Whales having Metabolical Derangement; Frogs having Type-2 Diabetes; Spiders having Chronic Obstructive Respiratory Disease; Owls having Muscular Dystrophy; Anteaters having Coeliac Disease; Lizards having Chronic Bronchitis; Eagles having Eczema; Octopuses having Rheumatoid Arthritis; Snakes having Fatty Liver Disease; Wolves having Depression and Anxiety; Hyenas having Leukaemia; Vultures having Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Weasels having Cirrhosis; Otters having Dementia; Sharks having Myocardial Infarction; Jellyfish having Autoimmune Disease; Mongooses having Hyperthyroidism; Mantises having Strokes; Leopards having Ulcerative Colitis; Pike having Multiple Sclerosis; Falcons having Coronary Heart Disease; or Crocodiles having Parkinson’s Disease.

    Moreover, I have yet to see a Wasp showing signs of Obesity. Indeed, none of the above-mentioned fauna suffer from any of the diseases and conditions listed above.

    All the above-listed ailments (among many others) are known as the ‘diseases of civilisation’ since they can all, in the main, be traced back to the advent of agriculture some 10,000 years ago. It was around then that the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians commenced the growing of crops — mainly grasses (cereals) — for food. Curiously analysis of the fossil record of these people (there are quite a lot of mummified remains in Egypt) shows, very clearly, that the people around during that period of history displayed clear and unambiguous signs of obesity; a novel phenomenon hitherto unknown in humans.

    Being at the top of the food chain — i.e. an ‘apex predator’ — means being a carnivore. These highly-developed organisms possess one or more of: larger, quicker-witted and more intelligent brains; strong musculature; sharp and powerful teeth, beaks or claws; potent venom; swiftness in reactions, gait, flight or swimming ability. They retain all these potent weapons in order to catch and eat the flesh of other, slower, weaker, and more dim-witted living members of the animal kingdom; most of which are herbivores. All this makes perfect sense for apex predators since eating the flesh of other animals keeps them in perfectly good health and provides them with the necessary high nutrition to maintain their position at the top of the food chain. At the same time, those animals which eat vegetation remain: far less intelligent; much weaker (in both mind and body); more susceptible to disease; and exponentially more dim-witted than those which prey upon them.

    Only self-imploding humans suffer from any of those ‘diseases of civilisation’ and crass stupidity; and it is all directly due to their ridiculous, purblind, imbecilic obsession of consuming vegetation, sugars, alcohol and grains.

      2. I'm a nasty, intolerant person.
        I found him mildly irritating.
        But he still didn't need to go that way (in both meanings of the words).

        1. We know Symi well having visited the island several times aboard Mianda.

          To have set out from Agios Nikolaous Beach Pedi at midday on a hot, sunny, cloudless day when the temperature was reportedly over 45 ° to walk a circuitous route across the NE promontory was, frankly, not a sensible course of action for a supposedly highly intelligent person to make. His body was found just outside the track at Agia MArina

          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6709b476c16d9399cedf9272e2a2608adf56cb5bcbea2cb38bf41c5b479e8312.jpg

      1. Yes, but this is because they worked in different industry, closer to where their jobs were.

        They also smoked far more (which is an appetite suppressor). If I spent all day walking to and from my customers I'd be far fitter too – I'd also see about 1 a day rather than 5 or six and as for having customers in Canada and Italy you can forget it.

        Industry has changed. Our working lives have changed.

        As I've said passim, we're fat because of high taxes.

    5. When I was young, in the 1950s, it was said that life expectancy of men was 71 and women 75. That indicates to me that most people live longer now than then.

  40. Got there in the end:
    Wordle 1,290 5/6
    ⬜⬜🟩🟨🟨
    🟩🟩🟩⬜🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  42. Good morning all

    Clearer day , chilly 7c.
    Golfer golfing .

    Will we have an early spring .. garden is hosting several pairs of blackbirds , searching for twigs etc.

    1. Ours have been with us all winter, but that's because they managed to produce three clutches over the warm months. Perhaps they do know something we don't.

    2. My daffs are well forward in growth. As long as we don't get a long spell of really nasty weather, we could well have spring flowers early.

    2. It was actually ravens I'm told who tipped Archimedes off about this in ancient times. Apparently they took pity on the poor old duffer when he seemed to be having trouble getting to grips with it.

        1. Now you’re being silly. They wouldn’t demean themselves by doing it for him. More likely I bet they were hoping he’d drown in it. Fresh eyes are quite the delicacy to a raven.

    3. When dementor religious types refuse to accept evolution I point them toward Chimps using logs and sticks to fish, or bears using even longer sticks to get to honey.

      The natural world is amazing and constantly changing. The idea that we're at the top in some sort of unchanging ecosystem is laughable. We don't even have our own fur.

      2. Set up indeed. A concreted backyard in which some handy stones happen to be scattered around.

  45. I was so shocked when I visited a superstore at the weekend to see piles of packaged party food with yellow labels ( reduced price) stacks of chocolate boxes , boxes of mince pies and other bakery items , yet again with yellow labels , yet where did the Christmas puds go ..

    Also the sprout pile was not even empty , they were starting to go yellow , parsnips were sweating in plastic bags , and the carrots were starting to look sticky , the only veg were swedes , and they were fresh because they weren't wrapped .

    1. When I get vegetables home, I transfer them to cotton storage bags, some made out of old pillow cases.
      With salads I open the bag and put in a paper towel to mop up the condensation.

    2. Usually Xmas puddings are reduced and quickly bought up by enthusiasts because shelf life is several years.

    2. Heck. I've just spotted some blue sky; AND I can see across the road.
      How can I escape my doom?

  47. A “frightening” surge in wrong-way driving on England’s motorways is linked to foreign drivers.

    National Highways figures reveal that 988 incidents involving “oncoming vehicles” were reported on motorways in the year to Nov 17 – up by 15 per cent on 2023.

    That is up from 858 during the previous 12 months, and represents an average of 19 every week.

    The data, released in response to a Freedom of Information request by the PA news agency, relates to unconfirmed reports of wrong-way driving made to National Highways’ operations centres by various sources such as the police, traffic officers and the public.

    Edmund King, the AA president, said: “Some incidents have been linked to foreign drivers used to driving on the other side of the road, although now there are signs in different languages close to UK ports warning drivers to ‘drive on the left’.

    “In locations where genuine mistakes have been made, there should be a full review of signage and road layout to ensure they are intuitive.

    “The increase in the number of vehicles being driven in the wrong direction on motorways is frightening. The consequences of wrong-way driving can be devastating and deadly.”

    Five people died in a crash involving a wrong-way driver on the M6 near Tebay services, Cumbria on Oct 15.

    In another incident, two people were killed and four were seriously injured when a stolen van was driven the wrong way on the M25 in Hertfordshire on Feb 4 in an attempt to evade the police.

    Barancan Nurcin, then 22, of High Road in Tottenham, north London, was handed an 18-year prison sentence at St Albans Crown Court on June 21.

    Mr King said: “Various incidents are clearly down to criminals trying to evade the police. There is absolutely no excuse to deliberately drive the wrong way.

    “Other drivers have blamed their sat navs, which they have blindly followed.”

    Drivers who see a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction are urged to contact 999 if it is safe to do so, or use a motorway SOS phone to alert the authorities.

    Motorway speed limits are usually cut to 20mph following a report of a vehicle being driven towards other traffic.

    Drug driving
    It comes after figures showed how thousands of motorists have been caught drug driving at least four times, with 33,020 drivers convicted of the offence multiple times in the 11 years to July 20.

    Some 3,431 were caught on four or more occasions, including 54 who were prosecuted at least 10 times.

    The figures are a snapshot of the number of DG10 endorsements on driving records on July 20 this year, taken from Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency statistics.

    A National Highways spokesman said: “Safety is our top priority which is why we take immediate steps to keep people safe when a report of an oncoming vehicle comes in, such as setting signals to warn and inform drivers, and lowering the speed limit.

    “Motorways are designed to be as intuitive as possible to reduce the likelihood of this happening.

    “If anyone spots someone driving the wrong way, they should call 999 when safe to do so.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/30/foreign-drivers-spark-rise-wrong-way-motorway-incidents/

  48. What is it with the Left and decolonialisation of our country, now they want to decolonise education.
    We haven't been colonised since the Norman Conquest nearly a thousand years ago.
    How can you decolonize something that isn't colonized?
    What do they really mean by it?

    1. Been going on for years.. The wet Tories did nothing to stop it.

      Progressive Liberal Lefties manage to find racism.. oppression.. and colonisation everywhere their selective eyes look.
      Except of course within the bleedin obvious ones.

    2. Been going on for years.. The wet Tories did nothing to stop it.

      Progressive Liberal Lefties manage to find racism.. oppression.. and colonisation everywhere their selective eyes look.
      Except of course within the bleedin obvious ones.

    3. What they really mean is that they want everything – literature, history, maths, science etc to emphasise the role of diverse people ie non-whites in achieving everything. The fact that British and English history, literature etc was all done by white British people is irrelevant to them.

    5. Nah, they want to control it. At a time when our children are the least educated they have ever been (they are good at passing tests – unless you're a quarter of the population of children who leave school with nothing).

      Our schools fail at every turn because they're controlled by the state. They want to teach nonsense because then they can make you think what they want. This is why the Left hate private education and independent schools.

    7. Except it is. The Law of Inversions. Decolonisation = Colonisation. That is what has been happening. WE are being invaded and colonised.

  49. Bbc 2 now just starting, 1960 film in B&W. School for Scoundrels, or how our political classes are trained.

    1. It’s an amusing film and you might recognise some of the locations, Batchworth Common, Pinner, Elstree, Hendon, Borehamwood etc.

  51. Some one needs to take it on the chin…..

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/starmer-needs-a-scapegoat-as-2025-meltdown-looms-and-there-s-one-clear-candidate/ar-AA1wGWDs?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=dc1e00de308647b3f7a8978dab29ff96&ei=24

    Scape goat…..

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/rachel-reeves-humiliated-as-botched-budget-could-mean-200-000-jobs-in-uk-are-lost/ar-AA1wFqSD?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=dc1e00de308647b3f7a8978dab29ff96&ei=34

    1. These people are so stupid that they think that those private sector jobs can be replaced by more public sector jobs, not realising that to have public sector jobs most of them have to be paid for by the private sector.

  52. Elder son's just left for home….. one down & one to go tomorrow. It's good to have them here but they do take up quite a lot of room. I got him to swap over my hanging baskets before he went – I cant reach the hooks without standing on something.

    1. This time tomorrow, we'll be leaving the In-Laws on the trek into the bad weather back home. They will be delighted, I'm sure.

      1. You might cross paths with younger son at Bristol airport. He’s going back to Switzerland tomorrow. Not sure what time yet.

      1. Guests are like fish – they stay fresh for three days.

        Our younger son and his copine stayed for six days over Christmas but we would have been very happy for them to have stayed longer.

    1. I have no doubt that he was a gobby, handsy lout who was puffed up by his own sleb status.
      But, the women who turned on him were hardly shrinking violets; and it took them years to work up enough energy to complain.

      1. I much prefer Wallace to Lloyd Grossman.

        Wallace's comment about 'women of a certain age' coincides nicely with the book about menopause being sold through his website.

        I laughed.

      2. I never took to him, I always found him annoying just watching and listening to all his rabbit.
        I think the bbc just wanted an excuse to get rid of him.

      3. The BBC wanted a 'bit of rough' on their programme so they got Greg Wallace who gave then what they wanted. They then decided they did not want 'a bit of rough' after all!

  56. “Phillipson claims that she is the “champion of pushy parents” who are unable to afford private school fees and back her plans to add the tax.”

    Typical socialists.
    If I can’t have it, then I’ll stop you from having it too.

    1. Interesting to note that Ms Phillipson has two children. I wonder if they have taken her surname, where they are being educated and by whom? Obviously their privacy is important, but might they be attending a Roman Catholic school? How would the local education authority avoid accusations of favouritism if the older child happens to still be at primary school and then needs to apply for a secondary school? (parents typically select 3 schools, but the Council chooses…)

    2. Interesting to note that Ms Phillipson has two children. I wonder if they have taken her surname, where they are being educated and by whom? Obviously their privacy is important, but might they be attending a Roman Catholic school? How would the local education authority avoid accusations of favouritism if the older child happens to still be at primary school and then needs to apply for a secondary school? (parents typically select 3 schools, but the Council chooses…)

    2. The ultra sensible Danes have banned halal and kosher.
      They are totally unnecessary in temperate climates with access to refrigeration.

    1. 🤣🤣🤣 I saw it last night and larfed like a drain! The SNP….the gift that keeps on giving!

    4. Similar levels of forward planning over hers when they bought two new electric ferries.
      Once they were delivered some bright spark realized that there was no power at the docks for charging the beasties so both sat in our local port for well over a year while they brought in power. Then they realized that the new ferries did not fit the existing docks.

      The ferries are probably being taken out of service for a long overdue service soon.

      1. Alan Coren wrote a humorous book called The Sanity Inspector.

        Enoch Powell said that we must be mad, literally mad to allow hordes of people from alien cultures to enter Britain legally.

        So how mad have we become actually to encourage them to come illegally with money, housing, clothes, accommodation, medicval care etc. etc.

        Where are the men in white coats when our politicians need them for a sanity inspection?

  64. Syl.
    41m
    Data from hospitals in England and Wales suggests that 482 patients were logged as women despite being admitted with prostate, testicle or penis-related conditions in the year to March.

    1. You’re kidding! So why are stats on this being kept when the Yellow Card stats are not, in relation to covid.

      I suppose it means that some men are being allowed in women’s wards?

  65. As every day goes by it is becoming harder to assimilate the madnesses vomited up by society…..

  67. Could save time by treating them for a psychiatric condition whilst they are in hospital for male medical complaints.

      2. I don’t believe that we actually deserve these people. It’s a catastrophic happening. No person should be eligible to be an MP until they are at least 45 and/or been a SPAD.

  69. Surprise, surprise. BBC R4's World At One leads with UN big chief Guterres warning of climate apocalypse. Again.

    3. Anything new in his message or or we still going to die amid scenes of fire, brimstone and pestilence?

        1. If you do eventually get to meet some it would be a kindness to slip them £100 towards the cost of their fuel and tell then to leave asap before whatever brains they possess are turned to mush by the stupidity they would otherwise encounter on planet Earth….

    4. On the Beeb this am: sea levels will rise by one metre in the lifetime of someone born today. (Last heard of, they were rising by 3mm a year. That's a foot a century.)

    5. We all know from Newton's law of cooling:that the Earth will eventually cool down and our planet's current environmental changes are solely due to the influence of its magnetic central core and thats role in modulating the sun's emissions the behaviour of which we have very little knowledge.

      However there is a possibility that our sun may become a supernova before we have worked out that climate change is not anthropogenic and then we shall remain oblivious of this conclusion for about nine minutes.

      Here's the scenario:

      https://youtube.com/shorts/8V5dhJAZboo?si=CsULTAbQMX7sAbck

      Happy New Year. 😉

        1. You'll have about 8 minutes before it's dry and then you better be bluddy quick in bringing it in otherwise it will be scorched!

    6. We all know from Newton's law of cooling:that the Earth will eventually cool down and our planet's current environmental changes are solely due to the influence of its magnetic central core and thats role in modulating the sun's emissions the behaviour of which we have very little knowledge.

      However there is a possibility that our sun may become a supernova before we have worked out that climate change is not anthropogenic and then we shall remain oblivious of this conclusion for about nine minutes.

      Here's the scenario:

      https://youtube.com/shorts/8V5dhJAZboo?si=CsULTAbQMX7sAbck

      Happy New Year. 😉

    7. High Commissioner for Refugees
      As High Commissioner, Guterres headed one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations, which at the end of his term had more than 10,000 staff working in 126 countries providing protection and assistance to over 60 million refugees, returnees, internally displaced people and stateless persons.

      Enabling them to avoid arrest and forcing the UK and others to take millions of them. A lifelong socialist – how could you tell?

    8. It's almost as if they're desperate for money and want another source of revenue to spaff on pointless non-jobs that have no value or purpose!

  71. Hat tip to Tim Shipman & Caroline Wheeler of the Sunday Times.. (same pair that covered the infected blood scandal for 20 years).. for revealing that Trotty Starmer & the Tottenham Turnip are "negotiating"..

    £800 million per year forever to lease some land off some random country for no good reason. Not counting Lammy's backhander for reparations.

  72. Diverted to Southampton to check the boiler situation in daughter’s house as her flat mate said the heating wasn’t working. It needed more pressure; now fixed.

          1. No he said exactly the same thing!!!!!! She is going back on New Year’s Day and will need to monitor it.

            The flatmate hasn’t been well and needed the thing fixed. He appears to have a complicated family life (I don’t know what) but didn’t go back to his folks for Xmas. He’s 25 but even so.

            Anyway I feel happier that he has heat. He was only without for 24 hours. And i know. In our day none of us had heat. And in a few years, we’ll none of have any heat again. But in the meantime, those that can, should.

    2. A boiler losing pressure hints at a leak somewhere. I'd suggest they keep an eye on it and see if it drops at all in the next few days.

    1. No. They shouldn't. What should happen is a Navy gunboat intercept the criminal dindus and tell them to turn back. If they refuse, open fire.

        1. Five of my guests at the garden party were well in excess of 6 feet. (built like brick shithouses as they used to say)

          I'm 5 foot 5.

          Felt like 'Land of the Giants'.

          I did invite you as you are local. You would have got to meet Geoff and Alf and Rik and others. You could also bring the dogs and give rides to Dolly and Harry.

    3. He is not known as the Idiot King for nothing.

      I wonder if his tone would change if a young female member of his family were savagely raped by a Muslim rape gang?

          3. Either way she took the S out of EX for him and gave it to many others from Hewitt to Dodo!

      2. It was part of his Christmas Day message.

        I only watched it because one of our Christmas Day guests was very keen to watch it.

        It was nonsense from start to finish – much as I had expected it to be.

    9. It's Ok.. as Gavin Ashenden notes at least he has formally announced which side he's taking in this civil war.

      Unlike that Boris Johnson fella who talked the talk then hid behind the sofa.

    10. It's Ok.. as Gavin Ashenden notes at least he has formally announced which side he's taking in this civil war.

      Unlike that Boris Johnson fella who talked the talk then hid behind the sofa.

  77. I have just been to the tip with a few bits and pieces, cardboard etc .

    Our small rubbish bin was emptied today .. not quite on routine yet .. Friday is usually bin day .

    The trip to the tip is always interesting , it is very clean , well ordered and supervised , because it serves a small area .

    A chap got out of one of those plush new VW people carrier wagons , child in front seat, but their wagon was full of bicycles , adult racer , children's bikes and a what was once a well loved black pedal toy car … an Audi … I couldn't believe it .. they were throwing it away / putting it in the recycle under cover shelter, along with the bikes , there were also other toys , an easel and a perfectly modern scooter for an adults .. and a box of books , toys , and tennis rackets ..

    Don't people have any values any more.. but I suppose if they had advertised free stuff on their pathway , they probably would have been accused of littering .. I guess Free recycle is the only way to go .

    1. As these items were being put in an 'undercover recycling area', does this suggest that they could be retrieved for future use by others, in other words, recycling in the proper sense?

    2. Thing with Freecycle is that you have to be there to give away whatever it may be, and a lot of people just don't turn up. I much prefer the German system of putting it outside on a particular day: the council collects what hasn't been snaffled the next day. I furnished my flat that way! 🙂

  78. It's unbelievable what some people just chuck away. They couldn't have been brought up in the 1950s like we were. Make do and mend….

    2. People's circumstances change more rapidly now.

      I dropped off a load of old valve radios after a clear out and they were gone before i finished unloading.

  79. If you want to move stuff on, put it on Gumtree, or Vinted. I detest just dumping things unless it is genuine waste. I couldn't give away some hobby foam so binned it. It was expensive, and painful to do but I didn't want it and couldn't store it.

  80. Just done a mini shop in Morrisons – busier than I thought it would be. Bought some fresh salad bits, potatoes, bread etc and enough to keep us going till Friday.

  82. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GBtKO6LMu4&list=WL&index=48 To everyone who has a pathological intent to drive a tank through the scientifically-proven fact that humans have never been omnivores, let them watch this (which is just one of many videos explaining the same fact about human nutrition).

    Alternatively, just continue burying your heads in the sand and stick to believing the crass myths that those who want you to continue buying and eating their crap never stop telling you. The choice is yours and when your health suffers dreadfully (in the way that a good number on this very forum suffer), don't say you weren't warned.

    3. A study of two men for a year with few if any control subjects.

      Wow, that must mean the science is settled.

      Born William Stevenson in Arnes, Manitoba, he changed his name at the university to the almost unspellable Vilhjalmur Stefansson in order to give himself some faux-Viking street cred. Stefansson travelled extensively through the largely uncharted wilderness of the eastern Arctic from 1906 to 1912. He lived to 82, died of a stroke.
      ""Carlston Anderson" was actually Karsten

      However, these links make interesting reading.
      https://physicalculturestudy.com/2015/01/07/vilhjalmur-stefanssons-all-meat-diet-part-one/
      https://physicalculturestudy.com/2015/01/12/vilhjalmur-stefanssons-all-meat-diet-part-two/

  85. Ernest Nowell
    58m
    Note the media have buried the Campbell son story. No doubt Alchy and the Gargoyle will feature it on their next fascinating podcast!!

      2. Falconer used to be Blair's flat mate.

        I have never liked him but this shows him in a better light than either Blair or Cameron :

        Falconer's children were at Westminster School or St Paul's Girls' School (both prominent independent private schools) and in the lead-up to the 1997 election, as Falconer attempted to be selected for the seat of Dudley East, this proved to be an electoral problem for him.

        He decided to keep his children in their private schools, if selected, which caused the local selection panel to drop him from the selection procedure,

        Blair made sure his children went to state schools and then arranged for masters at Westminster to give them private tuition. Cameron took his children out of private schools as soon as he became PM and put hem back into private schools as soon as he had resigned after the Brexit referendum.

        Falconer put his children ahead of his political career; Blair and Cameron put their political careers ahead of their own children's education.

        (Though why a Conservative politician should be embarrassed by sending his children to a private school is a mystery. After all, isn't the Conservative Party meant to be in favour of independent businesses? And what better example of independent business is there than a private school).

        1. Butters no parsnips with me. All Janus for votes.

          His son found drunk in Trafalgar Square still manages to gain a multi-million property portfolio. How did that happen !

    2. Didn't know what this was all about. Googled a bit – and found the story.

      Oh how SAD….

      One weeps – real crocodile tears!!

      Did Florence of Afghanistan lose as well?

    3. Great news..
      what is required is.. at least one or two of these types of posts per day over the next five years.
      You would be surprised just how many voters still rely on legacy media and haven't had "the scales falling from one's eyes".
      There needs to be a crescendo of anger within England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland that sweeps aside Kemi Badenoch & Labour in one go.

      1. Although this thread is nearly as long as Ms Truss's reign….that's enough of Lactuca sativa puns!

  88. Courtesy of Declaration of Memes.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2d6741ab98cf8e093f36618b2a775cf39765f83ad8eb5b18c184aaec5cca4a2d.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/123556acc7b6824fce2425627ec10ad905a21dc673449a60c6fbf48171dd69a7.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1857d438206a94f99f426ea239c966e948d1b59761eeb80bb06ea56c5b10f25f.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/38c6d67dec5046db8c4a997899b9031f317870fda8e326846288ffe1b57d0788.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/56835b00fa293df8a43ffae06c0ef2d668442dd81b7c2676f96b7aac6849f8e5.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/005e73a6207b83cf1a42ba76b3b50b66c9a2f6f2b5c68743af622a770e2aa0a7.png

    1. The Regiment one.

      BLM would still have defaced the memorial because those brave black men would have been perceived as working for 'the Man'.

          1. Only to other members of Freaks anonymous.

            I'm a member of Uglies-r-Us, no rainbow qwerty's allowed, just old fashioned dateless old FIGS.

            Forget it Gargoyle's son

      1. How many Shreks do we have on here !!!

        Beauty comes from character. Not from how one looks.

        Though if we ever meet would you mind bringing a portable screen?

        (reminds me of a Pratchett novel where the Bogeyman walks around carrying a door) :@)

    1. I was scared to go for the eagle,but ended up with a birdie

      Wordle 1,290 3/6

      🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      caution is us.

    2. I was having problems posting pics but found temporarily switching off ghostery solved that.

      I also had another problem similar in some ways and dumped Chrome then reinstalled it. My problems went away.

      I think browsers are prone to insanity that updates don't cure.

      1. I receive multiple requests for additional £contributions to Mr.Gates No.10; I ignore them at a price …

    3. Well done! I thought you would do well here as I seem to recall you use similar starter words to me…..

      Bit of a shame as the actual word used to be my starter word (would have been a hole-in-one!) but I changed the letter arrangement so that it ended in ER as in TASER – particularly to combat the dreaded ?O?ER.

      Nevertheless at least it was an Eagle – Woo-hoo!

      Wordle 1,290 2/6

      🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      2. That's a Silver medal for you then. A Nottler Silver medal lasts longer than Olympic medals, so be satisfied. :@)

        1. I'm still a little disappointed as I could have had a Gold! (cue Spandau Ballet)…..

          PS If you're wondering what the hell is going on, the Word today was STARE

          1. You are Gold….unlike those trashy bits of metal they awarded to Olympians whilst pocketing the precious metals for themselves.

      4. Well done 4g.
        Wordle 1,290 3/6

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

        Please, could I ask that you don’t put any pointers or hints about the solution. 🙏Thank you.

        1. An interesting request vw and sincere apologies if I spoiled anything for you!

          I actually do Wordle pretty early in the morning but I hold fire until Lacoste kicks off the ‘Five O’Clock Club’ – I was going to suggest that we could all be open about the Word at that time and, if anybody had not done Wordle by 5 O’Clock they really shouldnt come on the site until they had!

          We can always use the ‘Spoiler’ feature, I guess?

          2. I understand that – but the vast majority have done it by 5 o’clock and like to discuss the Word with other solvers – albeit a little restricted to avoid giving the game away.

            Would it be too much to ask, on those days you do it late, you avoid Nottle until such time as you have done it?

          3. I’m afraid I don’t do it daily at a specific time, I dip in and out of nottl and it’s seeing someone’s ’par’ or ‘bogey’ that reminds me. Must say I’ve never come across people saying what the actual word is nor actual discussions other than to say too many options.

    4. Well done! I thought you would do well here as I seem to recall you use similar starter words to me…..

      Bit of a shame as the actual word used to be my starter word (would have been a hole-in-one!) but I changed the letter arrangement so that it ended in ER as in TASER – particularly to combat the dreaded ?O?ER.

      Nevertheless at least it was an Eagle – Woo-hoo!

      Wordle 1,290 2/6

      🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    5. Wow! I did OK though.

      Wordle 1,290 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜
      ⬜🟨🟩🟨🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    6. Well done, same as Sue here.

      Wordle 1,290 3/6

      ⬜🟨🟩🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  91. In June 1789 the atmosphere in Paris was tense and agitated. Visiting from Suffolk England for a treastise on Agriculture, the Gentleman Farmer Arthur Young, whilst noting a general lack of 'System' in farm cultivation was shocked by the atmosphere abounding when he arrived in the capital. At the gardens of the Domaine National du Palais-Royal he saw crowds 'agape' listening to orators 'each haranguing his audience from chair or table in terms of more than common violence against the present Government, the thunder of applause can not be easily imagined.' Riot and bloodshed soon came and the storming of the Bastille, news of which did not reach Louis XVI Until it was over. That 14th July he was up early to go hunting returning tired from his long day in the saddle to be told the fortress had fallen and much else, "Is it a rebellion?" he asked Duke de Liancourt "no Sire" he replied "It's a revolution." The King gave no instruction.

    Arthur Young
    Travels in France (1792)..

  92. "South Korea plane crash investigators examine placement of runway barrier"

    Stable doors come to mind….

    2. All very curious.

      RIP to those that lost their lives. Especially to the three year old child.

      We are hearing conflicting reports at the moment.

      Pilots of same aircraft type saying one thing and 'experts' saying to Sky News different.

      What we do know is that it was a Boeing.

      1. It is somewhat hard to reconcile the few known facts, so there is much speculation. In May 2020 a Pakistan Int Airways Airbus landed from a normal flight without the wheels, scraped the engines but decided to take off again. The motors both quit whist repositioning to land. There are loud warning sirens if you get near the ground without the Dunlops dangling. However, the human mind is an amazing device if you really want to ignore something. We will not know the truth in this one until the recorders are examined. Strange the pilotS didnt say much to ATC.

          1. Or they may have faked their qualifications. Happens quite a lot apparently. They could fly but hadn't a clue as to what to do in an emergency situation.

            As KP says. An investigation will reveal but we won't necessarily be told.

          3. They would have been if time was short because they closed down the wrong engine after the birdstrike. Kegworth?

        2. Whatever happened, we must congratulate the Korean management who built

          a concrete wall at the end of the runway to prevent overruns.

          A very wise decision.

          1. It seems the plane approached the runway from the wrong direction. One surmises there isn't a barrier at the other end….

          2. There could be concrete barriers at both ends to prevent overruns. Congratulations to management for a wise airport design.

  93. I believe we can confidently assert that..
    Anyone voting for Labour now there really is no hope for you..

  95. A great excuse for Starmer to kickstart the drone factories.. now the CCP are starting to lob export restrictions on guidance systems, motors and battery systems. Perhaps a lithium processing factory?

    SIR KEIR STARMER: "Factory..?"

  96. Labour urged to drop ‘Western-centric’ science in school curriculum

    Prestigious scientific institutions’ call for diversity called ‘pure education vandalism’ by Tories

    Craig Simpson

    30 December 2024 4:09pm GMT

    Bridget Phillipson has announced an overhaul of the school curriculum
    Royal societies are urging the Government to make science less “Western” in an overhaul of the school curriculum.

    Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, announced an overhaul of the curriculum that explicitly aims to make subjects better reflect the “diversities of our society”.

    A committee leading the Department for Education’s curriculum review is currently considering the proposals of Royal societies, teaching unions, and other experts.

    Prestigious scientific institutions have supported the call for diversity, and proposed the teaching of more “non-Western” discoveries.

    The Royal Society of Biology has advised the committee that children should be taught about “non-Western contributions to the sciences”.

    The society has recommended a “no more heroes” approach which avoids “prescriptive lists of historic figures in biology” in favour of “diverse historic and contemporary figures”.

    This builds on the society’s previous work on the curriculum, which claimed: “Science is universal, has been and is carried out in all cultures at all ages, creating a diverse scientific global community.”

    ‘Wokerati’
    Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, told The Telegraph that he thought the plans were “a ludicrous proposal from the wokerati”.

    He added: “We need more historic British heroes and achievements to be taught to our children, not less.”

    Laura Trott MP, the shadow education secretary, said: “Labour’s curriculum changes will drive down educational standards.

    “Instead of continuing with a rich, knowledge-based curriculum which has led to our children being the best readers and mathematicians in the Western world, they are tearing it all up.

    “Pure education vandalism once again.”

    The Institute of Physics said that children should be taught that the development of physics “relied on ideas and thinking from many people and varied groups globally”.

    As well as attempting to teach non-Western science, and explaining the prevalence of Western ideas, societies have recommended downplaying famed scientists in favour of contemporary role models.

    They have also argued that pupils should be taught about the reasons non-Western regions made fewer scientific breakthroughs.

    The Institute of Physics advised that scientific ideas should be “framed in the context of the times in which discoveries were made and accredited within Western science”.

    The society suggested that teachers can tell pupils that “many of those discoveries drew on earlier work in other parts of the world”.

    Gender inequalities
    This approach has been echoed by the Association for Science Education, and by the Royal Society of Biology.

    They advise that pupils should be informed that “during the period of growth of Western science” some “groups, cultures and nations” were “less able to participate in research, resource scientific activity, or claim credit and ownership for ideas”.

    The Royal Statistical Society has suggested novel ways of improving diversity in the discipline, telling the curriculum review that lessons could include statistics on “gender inequalities” and migration.

    The Royal Society has recommended a “more diverse and equitable model for mathematics education”.

    The recommendations will be considered by the review committee appointed by the Department for Education, which will inform its own recommendations for a transformation of the curriculum.

    The term of reference for the review explicitly states that any future curriculum must reflect “issues and diversities of our society, ensuring all children and young people are represented”.

    The committee’s call for evidence stated that any future curriculum must produce “well-rounded citizens, who appreciate the diversity and pluralism of our society”.

    Unions among groups submitting proposals
    The new curriculum will be compulsory in all state schools, including academies.

    Unions are among other groups that have submitted proposals to the review, including suggestions to “embed anti-racist and decolonised approaches” in the curriculum and shake up “history and English curricula” that are “seen as largely monocultural”.

    The review will also seek to increase the breadth of the curriculum, ensure it makes children ready for life and work, improve assessment systems, and to boost access to music, art, sport and drama, as well as vocational subjects.

    It is being led by feminist Prof Becky Francis, who called on experts to offer proposals in November. Prof Francis, an education policy expert who previously criticised the Blair government for “an obsession with academic achievement”, specialises in education inequalities and gender stereotypes in the classroom.

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

    Jonathan Delaney
    1 hr ago
    More sorcery and superstition, less science. A winning combination, no doubt.

    1. Quite. My first thought was Dear Lord, they’re going to teach Voodoo. That will make us wholly dependent on places like the Far East, Egypt and Persia for doctors and scientists. I’m pretty sure from his name that my GP is Persian and at St Mary’s I was in the care of Jin Wee Ng (a former colleague called Sue Ng once explained to me that in China, Ng is like Smith or Brown) and don’t get me wrong, I have no complaints but we really should be training our own to the same standard.

    2. The Royal Society of Biology has advised the committee that children should be taught about "non-Western contributions to the sciences".

      Oh, just FO. I studied biology to degree level and don't ever remember nationality being part of it. Science is international. However, if 'Western' contributions were greater in number it would only be because most scientific discoveries were made in the West. That's just an accident of history.

        1. Civilisation passed Africa by. Knowledge spread from the Fertile Crescent to Europe via modern day Turkey. It's as much an accident of geography and climate as ability.

          1. But people have to be able in order to make use of knowledge, surely? We've been pouring money and infrastructure into Africa for decades; it's no better where the natives are in charge.

    3. Well if they want to prepare the future generation why not drop all traditional subjects for an even more traditional one studying the Quran!

    1. Shut up ! That couldn't happen even if a tornado hit.

      Official bollocks from officials might be afraid to venture oot doors but the Scots remain Scottish.

        1. Er…There will still be people following their traditions. Needs no endorsement from Scottish politicians working from home in Pakistan.

          Speel chocked.

        2. Er…There will still be people following their traditions. Needs no endorsement from Scottish politicians working from home in Pakistan.

          Speel chocked.

    2. And these are the people Hadrian found too fearsome to tackle. William Wallace is embarrassed.

    3. So what you are saying Paul is that the Sporrans will be whisked into the air and the kilts bereft of their weight will expose the Scottish manhoods for all the World to see? ( Well that should help settle the gender debate!)

  102. Looked at the electricity use and it's 446kw. Before the solar went in we were around 300kw a month, or ten a day.

    That's not all going to be during the day, of course. Some will attract the night rate of 12p a KW and we try to be savvy in putting on the dishwasher and washing machine in the cheaper times, but still.

    However, it has also been mild-ish. We haven't really hit proper cold yet. Although, on the upside we've had the heat pump on all month. While downstairs isn't 'warm' with no one down there once the 6 of us congregate it's manageable. (17-18) it's also not 12. The hydrometer is also on a bookcase against the wall, so likely a cold spot.

    I'm expecting to use a lot more when the outside temp is below zero and for that to eat into the account credit but so far it's 'ok'. I'll monitor it every couple of weeks. As the Warqueen said, we've no other choice nd I've realised I can't hide from it.

    The same problems apply though: you can't vary the heating, electricity is too expensive and hot water still comes from the immersion (which is the really big user of electricity, being about 6kw min a day as it comes on twice.

    I am still not convinced about heat pumps. The fundamental problem being the lack of control and the incredible cost of electricity – two thirds of which is tax or levy. When it goes up again in January (unreliables demand more subsidy because there's less wind and sun in winter) it'll be painful.

    1. I've got the Rayburn lit; temperature is 21 degrees C inside. Only electricity used for the heating is to run the pump.

      1. Wood burner here, open plan room, heats it well. Floor is wood, underfloor heating (oil), takes at least two hours to heat through. If cold winter, only way is to leave it on 24/7.

  103. The Chinese were miles ahead of the "West", as were the Persians, and the Egyptians.
    Most civilisations build on their predecessors, with some notable exceptions.
    The exceptions tend to be sub-Saharan Africans and, needless to say, members of a particular religion.
    It's almost as if "improvements" move around the globe from an easterly direction: what we see now is Japan and China building on what's coming/came out of America to their East..

    1. Indeed. We were taught at school that Anton van Leeonhouk (sp) invented the microscope, but our parents used to take us to lectures at the museums in Oxford, where some learned bod explained that the Chinese had microscopes during our dark ages (before 1000 AD), and that their police were already using them to examine the blood of drowned corpses to determine whether the person was already dead before they hit the water.

    1. "You can't handle the truth".
      From A Frew Good Men.
      No longer a commodity in British politics.
      .

    2. Suggestion: Pass a law as part of the constitution that says that, for any delay over 5 years in holding an election, the populace is obliged to rise up and burn the Houses of Pariament, with all the elected members inside it.
      Gets my vote.

      1. Labour are planning to create unitary authorities in places like Essex where they are likely to be well and truly thumped.
        So, in view of these proposed administrative changes, Labour will not be holding local elections in such areas.
        Wot a coincidence.

  105. Just about to wash up the dishes pots and pans. I might sneak another half a glass of red. Night cap.
    My Risotto very tasty, not much left over.
    My taste buds seem to have been effected by my Christmas period of infection.
    I just feel that I need to lie down now.
    Does anyone know how Tom is at the moment?
    Night all 😴

      2. Thanks Sue, that would be 31st? Hope care plan in place for him when he gets home. I've had several week stays in hospital in the past, soon get used to the routine there, can be bit of a shock coming home, much quieter for one.

    3. HG does a special treat risotto in early summer, very young broad beans, peas, asparagus and parmesan cheese and a few other secret ingredients.

      Remind me next year and I'll get the full recipe. She's "not to be disturbed" at the moment.

      Grizzly would hate it, but if you enjoy risotto, it's out of this world.

      1. I love risotto it can be so different and include so many different ingredients alongside the basics.

        1. Agreed.
          We have it throughout the year, but that Spring one is head and shoulders over the rest.

  107. Evening, all. Not been a day to do much; sun came out briefly, but it was very windy. Weather report for the New Year is dire – heavy rain, gales, etc. You name it, it's about to hit Salop. We've also had an earth tremor, although the earth didn't move for me. C'est la fin du monde!

    Labour can't spin away the vindictiveness of all its policies – school fees, IHT on farms, removing the WFA, banning the result of their previous legislation (trail hunting), net zero, open door immigration, giving away abroad money we don't have, warmongering when they've reduced the armed forces to nothing. They are nasty, vicious and fiscally incompetent.

    1. We had a lovely day, if somewhat blustery.
      Currently listening to a Proms rebro of Mahler's Sixth on R3.

  108. It certainly has been a beautiful day today and I've finally cleared the leaves from the front of the lean-to car port at the side of the house and got a start made on cutting logs for the stack that we emptied t'other day.
    Also, yesterday, I got a couple of seed grown fruit trees I've been growing in pots planted where I've cleared up the hill.
    I want to get another couple planted up there too.

    I've also missed a lot of today's banter as I've twice accidently closed this page.

    1. You've not missed too much.

      Grizzly grizzling, Phizzee fizzing, the Sues suing with the help of BT, Ready in readiness, wibbling wobbling, Oberst bursting, Bob3 bob bob bobbing along, Belle, dinging a dong (allegedly) and too many others to catch them all.

      Still, you should have attended, those at loggerheads needed stacking..

      1. I trust Grizz still enjoys the benefits of a meat and two veg! That reminds me, I'd better be off to offer Mrs Pea a seasonal sausage roll, although being a slammer, she is not so keen on pork…

          2. From the Daily Telegraph

            Why you should eat more eggs – and the healthiest ways to cook them
            There’s more to the humble egg than just protein. Our experts explain why eggs should be a key part of your diet

            Lauren Shirreff30 December 2024 9:00am GMT
            We are a nation of egg addicts. The average person gets through at least two a week, making them one of Britain’s most popular foods. Plenty of us gorge on many more than this of course, whether you’re having two scrambled eggs crowning your toast each morning, or knocking back a full dozen after hitting some serious weights at the gym.

            Yet eggs have fallen in and out of health fashion over the years, sometimes celebrated, at other times vilified. “Eggs have gotten some seriously bad press over the last few decades, but none of it is valid at all,” says Rhian Stephenson, a registered nutritionist.

            Former MP Edwina Currie claimed in the late 1980s that eggs could carry salmonella, leading to the culling of millions of hens, while the naturally high levels of cholesterol and fat in egg yolks have been blamed for diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

            “The main egg myths I hear have come out of the diet culture of the Nineties, when low-fat diets were all the rage, and it was believed that high-cholesterol foods could contribute to cardiovascular disease,” Stephenson says. “Today we know that this isn’t the case at all.”

            Yet there are healthier ways to eat an egg than others. Our experts guide us through all their benefits and the healthiest methods to consume them.

            The health benefits of eggs

            A large egg has around 78 calories, 5.4g fat, 7.5g protein, negligible salt (0.2g) and no carbohydrates. As well as being delicious to eat, eggs come packed with health benefits. They are:

            High in protein
            A complete source of essential amino acids
            Rich in B vitamins, vitamin D and A, and choline
            A source of healthy fats
            Filling yet low in calories
            With 7.5g of protein and fewer than 80 calories, few other foods are packed with as much protein per gram.

            Eggs also “contain all nine essential amino acids, which the body needs but can’t produce on its own, making them a high-quality protein source,” explains Caroline Farrell, a registered nutritionist.

            Complete sources of protein are more effective in promoting recovery, muscle growth and repair and overall fitness, as well as curbing hunger, supporting you in maintaining a healthy weight.

            “Eggs are inexpensive, easy to cook and highly versatile,” Stephenson says. Given that a box of a dozen eggs will usually come in at under £4, having a couple of eggs with your toast for breakfast is a very cost-effective way to meet your body’s protein needs: around 55g per day for the average man, or 45g per day for the average woman.

            Aside from protein, egg yolks “are an especially nutrient-dense food”, says Stephenson. “As well as containing some vitamin D and iron, both of which can be hard to get through food, eggs are also rich in calcium, zinc and potassium, and a good amount of B12, which is especially important for people who don’t eat fish or meat.”

            While you might see someone eating a dozen or more eggs a day, one to two is a sensible upper limit Credit:
            Another reason that vegetarians should all try to up their egg consumption: “eggs contain preformed vitamin A, which is a much more biologically available kind of vitamin A than you can find in plant foods, which is better for your health,” Stephenson adds.

            All this doesn’t mean that you should eat an unlimited amount of eggs, however. While you might see someone who’s looking to build some serious muscle eating a dozen or more eggs a day, Farrell suggests a sensible upper limit of “one to two eggs per day”.

            Research into the safe amount of eggs to eat is limited, but “I would never advise on excessive use of any one food, so I wouldn’t recommend 12 eggs for breakfast,” she adds. “Moderation, while not exciting, is generally key in nutrition.”

            Is it healthier to throw out the yolk?

            On the face of it, it seems healthier to go without the yolk, as this is where most of the fat and cholesterol in an egg can be found. This is why some people prefer to cook with egg whites, where the protein is stored. Egg whites are also lower in calories than a whole egg.

            The whites of a large egg come in at around 20 calories with 4g of protein, with only trace amounts of fat. A large egg yolk meanwhile contains around 55 calories, 2.7g of protein and 4.5g fat.

            “But my advice is to have the full egg,” Stephenson rules. “The reason why people avoid yolk is because of a fear of fat and dietary cholesterol, which we now know is unfounded.”

            Farrell agrees that it’s best to eat eggs whole, not least because “the combination of protein and fat helps keep you full, reducing mid-morning hunger pangs” when eaten at breakfast, helping you towards any weight loss goals much more than a whites-only meal would do.

            “Studies show that for most people, dietary cholesterol has minimal impact on blood cholesterol levels. Instead, saturated and trans fats,” coming from foods like cakes, cookies and pies, “are more influential in raising “bad” LDL cholesterol.”

            There is some evidence that the cholesterol in egg yolks could raise the risk of cardiovascular disease for people with Type 2 diabetes, potentially because of this cholesterol “interacting with underlying insulin resistance or metabolic conditions that heighten LDL particle levels”, Farrell explains.

            If you’re looking to cut down on your cholesterol intake, it is advised that some people at risk of heart disease could “do a two-egg omelette with just one yolk, to make sure that you’re still feeling the nutritional benefits of eating eggs while moderating your cholesterol intake,” Stephenson says.

            Should you go for the more expensive or organic kinds of eggs?

            While nutritionists adore eggs because they are cheap and easily found, it may well be worth shelling out for a more expensive box. Just make your decisions wisely.

            Free-range eggs “are typically higher in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D because of the chickens’ outdoor diet and sunlight exposure,” Farrell says, while “some premium brands like Happy Eggs, or organic eggs, may offer better nutrient profiles if hens are fed omega-3-enriched diets or have higher welfare standards”.

            Stephenson agrees that organic eggs are better for you than caged or regular free-range options, but while organic eggs usually cost more than normal free-range or caged eggs, a costly egg won’t always be organic.
            To be deemed organic, eggs must be uncaged, fed a diet free of pesticides and fertilisers, hormones and antibiotics, and kept with higher standards of animal welfare (where practices like beak trimming are banned). Organic eggs are stamped with an 0 on their shells – and make up just 3 per cent of the eggs available to buy in supermarkets.

            The best option for your health is to get your eggs straight from the chicken, if you’re lucky enough to keep chickens yourself or have a friend who does.

            Of course, keeping chickens isn’t a feasible option for most, but there are local places where you can get fresh eggs in an egg share, which you know are organic.

            The healthiest way to eat eggs

            Poached and boiled come out on top with the least calories and, surprisingly, cooking them in butter is lower in fat and calories than frying in olive oil.

            The nutritional breakdown of the most popular cooking methods is as follows:

            “How you cook your eggs can affect their nutrient profile,” Farrell says, but just about any method can still be healthy “if cooked with minimal oil or heart-healthy fats like olive oil”.

            While poached eggs add no extra calories or fats to your eggs, boiling could be a safer choice if you’re looking to get the most out of the vitamins and minerals in your eggs, as nutrients could potentially leech out from your eggs into the water during the poaching process

            If plain boiled eggs don’t appeal, “you could either scramble or fry the eggs at a low heat”. Stephenson suggests that you use either a “good-quality olive oil or coconut oil, or butter”, avoiding low-calorie sprays “as these can be hyper-processed”.

            If you like your eggs crispy, then try either avocado oil or olive oil “as these have a higher smoking point, making them safe up to gas mark 5 or 6”.

  109. I took Kadi for a walk, but found it hard work in a strong wind. That didn't endear me to clearing up the leaves in the garden, to be honest. I read a book (one of 12 I had for Christmas!) instead.

    1. 12! is that a record 🙂 No-one buys me books except me…I'm told I have too many. One new to me is John Wyndham's 'Trouble with Lichen'…blurb seems to suggest a fairly modern theme, first published 1960. More wind forecast, hope you tented down/burnt your leaves 🙂

      1. Leaves are still on the floor. Tomorrow is another day. I usually get a fair few books as presents. People know I read a lot. Some years it's jigsaw puzzles. It varies.

        1. We used to get 1000k piece ones, keeps people quiet for a while. Bookshelves are groaning. If I have any spare time, I walk. Leaves….another day..

          3. No. I take pain killers when it gets too bad. I've seen the physio who referred me back to my GP for a referral to the consultant re a knee replacement. It disappeared into the GP black hole.

          4. I have a few supposedly muscle building exercises but they don’t really do anything. Yoga has helped me quite a bit, really just stretching trying to building muscle strength. I also have sciatica now. Sorry to read you could be due a knee replacement. I don’t know how many of our GPS have the nerve to look us in the face, when I think back to how they once were. Hope you get some good rest/sleep, Conway. G’night x

    2. The entire exercise of stopping the boats is a sham as we all know. Both sides are aware of the launches and the existing surveillance in the Channel is already sufficient to detect the boaters.

  112. Having read the posts today, I leave you all with this thought:

    If "the science" had really been settled, where would we be today?

    hint:
    living in the stone age.

    That would certainly suit Grizzly's meat only hypothesis

    1. Bring back hallways that you can actually move down! Houses these days are designed for midgets.

    1. Just wondering how many fathers are escaping their responsibilities. But it's ok, the taxpayer will take up the slack.

  116. That's me for tonight. Flights home tomorrow, hope we arrive tomorrow.
    Bis später, Kameraten! Schlaf gut!

    1. With the going rate of air incidents, you might consider a delay. Although statistically, it should be an accident free day tomorrow! All the best, see u next time. If you visit in summer, come round for something on the terrace.

  117. Goodnight, Katy. The knees have been pretty bad this last week. A combination of cold and damp, I suppose.

    1. When I was ill as a child my mum made me a pair of trousers and cut the arms out of one of her old sweaters to line the legs. Very comforting and warm. I wonder if some long thick socks might help your knees, or those thick corduroy trousers. Yes cold damp English winters 😒 hope you have a good sleep..I need a hot water bottle..pref two 😄

      1. I'll have hot water bottles (with fleecy covers) tonight and I normally wear corduroys. I had two pairs of bedsocks for Christmas (old school chum who knows I have poor circulation!).

  118. Well, chums, my bedtime hour of 11 pm approaches. So I wish you all a Good Night. Sleep well and I hope to see you all tomorrow morning.

    2. Just made this comment on X-Tw@ter:-

      A 10 yo story, but VERY indicative of how the Somalis were allowed to not only run a forced prostitution ring, but were also drug dealing over what must have been an extended period.
      Quite likely these animals will soon be due for release, if not already out of prison.

    1. Good night, Conners – and Kadi. (I was up early this morning and thought I'd pop in until Geoff opens the Tuesday NoTTLe page.)

    2. Good night, Conners – and Kadi. (I was up early this morning and thought I'd pop in until Geoff opens the Tuesday NoTTLe page.)

  122. Richard Dawkins quits atheism foundation for backing transgender ‘religion’
    Scientist accuses US group of caving in to ‘hysterical squeals’ of cancel culture
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/12/30/richard-dawkins-quits-atheism-foundation-over-trans-rights/

    BTL

    Do I believe in Archimedes' Principle? I know it to be true – I do not need to believe it to be true. My belief in a fact one way or the other is irrelevant.

    Do I believe in God? I do believe in God but I do not know that he exists. If God's existence could be proved in the way that Archimedes' Principle can be proved my belief would be redundant

    2. What a pity nobody ever told him that when you believe in nothing, you fall for everything. Or perhaps they did, but he didn't listen.

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