Saturday 1 June: A welcome dose of realism from the Prime Minister on the purpose of university

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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674 thoughts on “Saturday 1 June: A welcome dose of realism from the Prime Minister on the purpose of university”

  1. GOOD MORROW, GENTLEFOLK. TODAY’S (RECYCLED) STORY

    <B>YOU, LOVERS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, MIGHT ENJOY THIS</B>
    (and some Americanisms).

    There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'
    It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?
    At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?
    Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?
    We call UP our friends.
    And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen.
    We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
    At other times the little word has real special meaning.
    People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
    To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.
    A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
    We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.
    We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
    To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary.
    In a desk-sized dictionary, it can take UP almost ¼ of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.
    If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used.
    It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
    When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP.
    When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.
    When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
    When it doesn't rain for a while, things dry UP.
    One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP,
    for now my time is UP,
    so…
    …it is time to shut UP!
    Now it's UP to you what you do with this comment.

    1. Morning, Tom.
      I call them vector verbs – they have both action and direction – like write DOWN words when writing UP your notes…

    2. Excellent, Sir Jasper. I just love wordplay, and I enjoyed today's (recycled) story – keep it UP!

  3. Morning, all Y'all.
    Sunny. SWMBO saw a hare outside by the car, on her way back from the dunny. Lovely white paws, smallish animal, so maybe a hareess, or grown up leveret…

    2. Between today and tomorrow it'd be nice to get all hte washing out and drying. Rather mundane stuff but if it's done, it's done.

  7. A welcome dose of realism from the Prime Minister on the purpose of university

    Everything I said about University when Blair messed with 20 years ago has happened.
    But I was just a conspiracy theorist, I suppose

    1. Going to university is expensive and these days, a bit odd. Universities are a business, but think they aren't – some do, anyway. Blair used them as a way to keep the youth unemployment figures down – that was his sole intent. Whether kids learned anything was irrelevant.

      Now student numbers are collapsing those same universities have a problem. Many expanded massively and have huge debts. They are also hilariously woke and Left wing. Look at a university website. The Warqueen and I did a while back and you can play spot the whitey. It seems white boys simply aren't welcome any more, or if they do go, they have to have a black female minder at all times.

      Then there's foreigners bringing their entire family across. This is very lucrative for some universities as they get lots of money but the tax payer is stuffed with the bill for Grandma's hip, or the student's child school place.

      With high costs, a collapsing income stream many are simply going to have to radically change and become what many started as – small (physically) colleges. This, however; poses a problem for big fat state as university towns exist on student cash: Aberystwyth, for example is a student town. Southampton, Brighton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth less so but still – take away the student population and you lose a massive customer base. You've then got the jobs of the staff at those universities who spend money locally.

      Some degrees are a waste of time and money. A degree should be treated as academic apprenticeship and result in a career. All too often they don't. However, again, that's mostly because of the UK job market being stifled by massive uncontrolled immigration – why hire a local software engineer when you can post the job off to Poland for a tenth of the price and government policy to do down industry with tax and energy costs.

      Bluntly, we don't need 1 million deliveroo drivers. This country needs 2 software engineers to program a McLaren engine, or design the next F1 wing in a wind tunnel. A kid with a degree in History isn't going to get that job. A Chinese fellow is.

      Like so much of the UK we're now stuffed between a rock and a hard place. We haven't the jobs to attract the talent or training, causing the institutions to shrink which will damage the jobs the uni employees create. All because government continually damages the country.

      1. I did a joint honours and would like to defend the “history” part…albeit weakly now. A lot of history is now taught badly and is a repository for left-wing fascism. This is a shame, because taught properly it teaches logical thinking and clear writing; the subject encompasses economics, psychology, philosophy, politics and understanding how we are where we are now. It’s a shame it’s so difficult to defend as a subject now as understanding our past is so important and if more people on politics were better educated in “proper” English (& British) history we might not be in the mess we are in.

        1. Well said.
          Sadly, nowadays, there is no subject that cannot be twisted by the race baiters.

        2. I agree (I have a history masters). The student raw material has to be capable of grasping the difference between theoretical constructs and the real world, and be competent to understand opposing viewpoints and expand their minds through debate. Increasingly it seems that we don’t even have that in the faculty, let alone the students.

      2. Mass immigration has mucked up our country in so many ways. Many of them hidden. Yet still the thickie attitude seems to prevail: to mention the huge drawbacks, is racist or not forward looking. Well, we are looking forward. That is the problem – and we don't like what we see. The home and cultural issues many blithely transplant here, that we point out, have nothing to do with racism but everything to do with caution and common-sense. Most of us travel and most of us have befriended others from other cultures and we know that foreigners can be good and bad and we know that some cultures are compatible and some are not. And the ones which are not, do not seem happy to be here. Luring them here with benefits is doing no service to them or us.

    2. 387939+ up ticks,

      Morning B3,

      The Blair Witch Project was it not ?, after damping down the treason rulings " miranda" set out on the road of destruction, education,education, education, every youngster should have a very expensively gained diploma but are in reality, unfit physically / mentally to put a bleeding washer on a leaking tap.

  8. Whisper it, but Rishi Sunak is making an extraordinary comeback. Camilla Tominey. 1 June 2024.

    <i>The polls may not reflect it yet; in fact they remain positively dire for Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party. But many good things have happened for the Tories this week. Credit where it’s due – that feeling we have had for weeks and months now, that the Conservatives are facing some sort of electoral apocalypse, about to be made as extinct as the dinosaurs, has been replaced by something rather more nuanced.</i>

    The triumph of hope over reality.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/31/rishi-sunak-comeback-general-election-uk-conservatives/

    1. Yet in another article: the Tories could be reduced to 50 seats.

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13481983/study-Labour-500-seats-general-election-Tories.html

      He has only himself to blame. The real terror is, emboldened by a majority so high, with policies that enforce it's further expansion the state will metastasize even further and push through with frenzied eagerness all the destructive, damaging policies the Tories should fight against.

      All because of the bickering, infighting and Left wing wokery this Tory government promoted and the public rejected.

    2. He does seem to have suddenly had a political epiphany eg – he is only now saying what the electorate want him to say. And the early announcement has put all his foes in disarray – as well as his own party. Cause the chaos; cream off the chaos. Wouldn't it be nice though to have a PM who just diligently and systematically put our country first with sensible policies. There really is no need for the drama. They have caused the drama through not being concise or firm.

    1. It's an odd thing to be proud of. Up to 50% less likely to be hospitalised. Hardly definitive. I know a council wonk who regularly tests himself for covid. When he finds he has it, he takes a week off, isolating.

      The council sees nothing wrong with this. I do, as he's still able to get to gym classes, he just can't do his job.

  10. Good morning, all. Overcast (again) with a strong northerly breeze. Multiple layers will be required when I go into the garden.

    The lawfare being applied to Trump is backfiring. During/after earlier attempts to convict him, Trump's ratings rose. Now, after the debacle in New York this:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/41be6e214fe98371036e66fdb44e1ca6eccaca7bfdc63cf055589f2dd29e936f.png
    Trump's campaign raising $53 Million in 24 hours could be seen as the Democrat cabal members shooting themselves in both feet. The next voting intention polls could make interesting reading.

    2. Rigging the Judiciary – Easy

      Rigging the election – Even Easier

      If the Democrats can do this then how can anyone believe that they won the 2020 election fairly and squarely?

      Even if the Republicans win by 60% to 40% expect a Democrat victory come November!

      1. I expect significant amounts of necromancy in the Democrat voting figures.

      2. There's little doubt that the current polling figures from across the board, including Blacks, Hispanics, Independents etc. are at the moment indicating a Trump win by a large margin. In addition, Biden is polling as the most unpopular POTUS ever.

        The very idea that the most unpopular POTUS ever will turn his position around in a mere five months and then receive more votes than he did in 2020 would be preposterous. That's not to say the desperate Democrats will not make the attempt if that's all they have left. By now the Republicans should have measures in place to ensure that voting fraud is clearly exposed. More lawfare or some other concoction cannot be ruled out.

        This situation is prompting Steve Bannon & Co to ask where are the 81 million votes Biden "garnered" in 2020. As of yesterday there has been no answer.

        1. You are of course correct in your analysis. Rigged elections in states such as Georgia are still undergoing investigation and the levels of fraudulent practices are excruciating, signatures not matching, ballots submitted by dead persons and from other states.

          Trump’s trial seems to many to be a tipping point which has backfired on the Biden administration. The next setback for Biden will be the forthcoming defeat of Ukraine followed by the death of the EU.

          1. …the death of the EU.

            Here’s hoping. It can’t come quickly enough.

        2. You are of course correct in your analysis. Rigged elections in states such as Georgia are still undergoing investigation and the levels of fraudulent practices are excruciating, signatures not matching, ballots submitted by dead persons and from other states.

          Trump’s trial seems to many to be a tipping point which has backfired on the Biden administration. The next setback for Biden will be the forthcoming defeat of Ukraine followed by the death of the EU.

  11. Good morning, chums, "A Pinch And A Punch" and "White Rabbits" to you all on this sunny new month. And thanks, Geoff, for today's site. As for today's Wordle, I only just made it in six.

    Wordle 1,078 6/6

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

    1. Good Lord, I had completely forgotten that it's May day!

      Made a long shot second guess for wordle that paid off…
      Wordle 1,078 3/6

      🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. The Glorious First of June!
        230 years ago today
        Admiral Lord Howe’s fleet captured 6 French ships of the line and sunk 1.
        According to Wiki there were 4,000 French killed and wounded and 3,000 captured. There were 1,200 British casualties.

    2. Good Lord, I had completely forgotten that it's May day!

      Made a long shot second guess for wordle that paid off…
      Wordle 1,078 3/6

      🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  12. Regarding the Tory defeat: I couldn't care less. The idea of a Labour government is horrifying. Those who vote for them should be sectioned, but it is inevitable. So little has been achieved to undo the damage Labour did the last time despite nigh a decade and in many cases has been made far worse.

    The bickering, infighting, arguing internally to undermine public opinion, the promotion of wokeism, the two tier policing, the appalling tax burden, the destruction of industry, markets and capital economics will all get exponentially worse. The idiots will then blame 'da Torwees' and this time they'll be right.

    The problem isn't which party is in office. They're all the same. The problem is the utter lack of control the public have over them once they get in. And by the public I mean the net tax payer. The sap shoved with the bill when the welfarists, wonks, quangocrats, troughers, non-jobbers, 42 year old granny, pikey, criminal have all dined and dashed.

    The Left should, by now be a grovelling, pathetic worm trodden on by the boot of market capital economics. We could have business tax rates of 8%. Personal taxes of 18. Practically free fuel and energy. A massive jobs boom, a complete end to immigration, the reversal of welfare and the end of the quangocracy and the state reduced to a tenth it's size.

    But no. So let it burn. I'm done. I simply won't bother feeding the Left wing, waster beast with my effort.

    1. I’m midway through listening to this – “Welcome to the Uniparty” from UnHerd, but I’ve had to stop as I can’t concentrate and read the paper at the same time. It is interesting so I want to be able to concentrate on it.

      https://podcasts.apple.com/…

      1. It is a good listen. The problem is they're all political journalists but avoiding the reason why they the parties are all the same.

    2. I’m midway through listening to this – “Welcome to the Uniparty” from UnHerd, but I’ve had to stop as I can’t concentrate and read the paper at the same time. It is interesting so I want to be able to concentrate on it.

      https://podcasts.apple.com/…

  13. ”SIR – Many years ago I heard an American describe the 1972 election contest between Richard Nixon and George McGovern as a choice between a competent crook and an honest idiot. Things don’t change much, do they? John Ralph
    Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire”

    john. Who is “honest” in your scenario? If you mean Sleepy Joe, I have a bridge to sell you.

  14. Good morning, all. Sort of sunny. Gale blowing.

    Oh – and a Happy Month.

      1. Happy birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 🥂🍷🧁Bob! Have a good day and a rest from sawing and chopping logs!

        1. Nah!
          Still got a bit to do to fill up the woodstacks. Did a fair amount yesterday, getting the already seasoned bits that did not need chopping sawn & stacked.

      4. Have a splendid and relaxing day.
        I hope you don't even have to make your own tea.

        1. No chance of that. Doing pizzas for self & DT for when she gets home from work.

    3. Grattis på födelsedagen, Youngster. Hope it's a good 'un, BoboB. 👍🏻🍺🎂😊

        1. Happy Birthday, Bob. Hope it's one of many more.
          Ignore the possibility of someone buying you cake? Beer? Even a box of jaffa cakes? I just managed to get my elder Brother a nice bottle of champagne delivered (what an effort that was!), so hopefully he enjoyed a slurp or 2.

  16. Good morning all and thank you for the birthday greetings!
    A dull but dry 7½°C outside with a dry day forecast. Might manage to get some washing dried today!

    3. Morning Bob – Happy Birthday, hope you have a great day 🍻🥂🍷
      Dull start up here

    4. Happy Birthday Bob 🍻 have a lovely day. Relaxing you deserve it after all your hard work. Cheers.

  17. Doctors are quitting the NhS over pension fears. I won’t post the whole article but basically there are 20,000 doctors in the NHS who are 55 or over (14% of all doctors) and they are retiring rather than face Labour’s pledged reintroduction of the Lifetime Allowance on defined contribution pension schemes (we don’t need to worry about civil servants and other public sector workers who have gold-plated defined benefit pension schemes which, while nominally subject to caps, operate in a completely different way and will eventually bankrupt the country). What is interesting is that Liebour has openly said it will introduce two-tier rules in the defined contribution space – one for doctors, and one (presumably more punitive) for the private sector; making it a three-tier system in all, with the private sector wallah toiling at the bottom to provide for NHS top (fat) cats and public sector even-fatter top cats.

    “A Labour spokesman said: “We have committed to reintroducing a lifetime allowance in a fair and reasonable way, and our manifesto will set out these details. A key consideration will be ensuring we retain public service leaders – who will be crucial for delivering Labour’s programme of reforms set out in our missions for government. Our solution will, as well as doctors, cover other leaders across the public and private sectors.””

    1. To be fair to Labour (although it chokes me), Gordon Brown introduced the Life Time Allowance but in the expectation that it would rise with inflation. It was £1.8M in 2010 when he lost office. It was uber creep George Osborne who reduced the LTA to £1M. A friend who had never had any private pension but paid for added years to ensure her NHS pension was a full 40 year one when she retired after 36 years as a full time NHS consultant found that she was being slapped with tax she hadn’t expected. My husband had spent years paying into an additional private pension so we took specialist advice. He left the pension scheme over 10 years ago even though he’s still working for the NHS.
      Our financial adviser made us aware that Hunt did not abolish the LTA last year. He merely set the tax rate for ‘overfunded’ pension pots at 0%. Labour could very easily raise that. In view of that, Mr S crystallised his entire pot last year rather than waiting until he was 75 as we had intended.

  18. BTL Comment:-

    R. Spowart
    JUST NOW
    Message Actions
    "Scrapping “Mickey Mouse” university courses and investing in apprenticeships is a great idea" writes Mick Ferrie and I agree 100%.
    So why on Earth has it taken this long to get round to proposing it?

    1. Apprenticeships going strong here in Norway and in Germany – I'm sure there are more countries still going.
      But then, we didn't develop that disdain of manual work that took hold in the UK, and a "fagarbeider" (Time-served worker) is a valued thing. Interestingly, the apprentice-masters are also happy to educate the younger folk – they take it seriously, to be able to pass on their skills, and take great care of their apprentice. Plus, it's great to have a youngster to do the mucky work!

      1. My bathroom was installed in its entirety by a German guy who attended one of their technical schools. He makes a very good living as he is proficient in all the requisite skills – electrician, plumber, carpenter, plasterer, tiler. I wish I could get a Brit who could do all that.

  19. SIR – The numbers of Tory MPs crossing the floor to join Labour (report, May 31) are a clear indication of the extent to which the Parliamentary Conservative Party has been infiltrated by Blairites. It also explains why the party has lost the support of its grassroots members and voters.Why vote for a Left-wing Conservative when they neither represent nor respect your views?
    Phil Coutie
    Exeter, Devon

    I warned that the Conservative Party (along with every other echelon of British society) was being systematically infiltrated by the Left … a whole decade ago … and I have not stopped my warnings about this very clear and present danger since then.

    1. You were not alone.

      The rot set in when they got rid of Margaret Thatcher.

      The recent defectors prove the point – they would have joined Reform had they been conservative Conservatives.

    2. It's not so much an infiltration Grizz as a top-down takeover (along with every other echelon of British society). An infiltration by Right Wingers would never be allowed.

      1. This surreptitious and insidious inveigling by the Left, Tom, took place stealthily over a protracted period of time; while the complacent Right sat harrumphing into their pink gins with their thumbs stuck firmly up their arses.

    3. Hey Beatnik, those wannabe One Nation Conservaslimes, should be told "We ain't Blue Labour, no more, you dweebs, so hit the road pronto, losers and don't come back." Time for honest folks with honest beliefs to call time on Madness Central, Dude.

      1. Hey, Dean. These silver-spoon milksops are on a different railroad to you and me, Bro. Entitlement Central is their route, Dude, and they will take any route that gets them there in double-quick time, Hombre. Chain-gang time is their (and our) only salvation, Compadre.

        1. Hey, Beatnik! Time all good folks wised up to these scumbags riding that ol' gravy train down the wise-cracker line who need to be thrown into the creek, Hombre. That good old golden rule of sowin' and a reapin' needs to be enforced by the common people on these shysters, Dude.

  20. A few days ago Starmer he told us that he found it easy to be RUTHLESS.

    But then he realised that he must backtrack on this statement because we all rely on him backtracking. Backtracking is his hall mark. Backtracking is what he does. If he didn't backtrack we would lose all belief in his persona!

    Well done Ms Rayner – Well done Ms Abbott!

    You have given your glorious leader the perfect opportunity to live up to his reputation – a complete backtrack in less than 48 hours.

    No ruthlessness displayed. We can rely on Starmer to give us the Full Ruth until he decides to be ruthless again!

    1. Come on Tastey, be fair. Starmer ruthlessly destroyed his, er, reputation for ruthlessness.

    1. If, God forbid, we get into a war with Russia, those same systems will be used for NATO F-35 jets.
      Sabotage during a time of war… isn't that a death penalty thing?

      1. Yo Ol

        Not after Bliar made it an act act worthy of a Medal, when he scrapped the law of treason etc

          1. Quite so, Joseph. Several times I've had to correct people claiming that treason laws had been scrapped.

            I've also had to point out repeatedly that the death sentence previously on the statute book for high treason would never be enacted while we remain a member of the Council of Europe. Ever since Council members, including the UK, agreed that abolition of the death sentence was a condition of both continuing and new membership, the UK wouldn't be able to enact a death sentence without breaching the rules and threatening its membership of the council. While several here might say, bring it on, it would leave the UK as an outcast in Europe, certainly diplomatically but also posing difficulties for its economy if the country became isolated from its near neighbours.

  24. Nasen Saadi, 20, from Croydon has been charged with murder and attempted murder after two women were stabbed on a beach in Bournemouth. The police say that “It is also important to stress that there should be no further commentary or sharing of information online or on social media that could potentially prejudice these court proceedings.”

    1. Ah – one of the very long line of Surrey Saadis. Came over with the Conqueror

    2. No surprise at the name or the police response. Mental illness, no indication of a terrorist mind set, move along, nothing to see here etc etc……

    3. No surprise at the name or the police response. Mental illness, no indication of a terrorist mind set, move along, nothing to see here etc etc……

    4. 387939+ up ticks,

      Morning TA,
      May one ask has the integrity of the police been checked as we don't want no odious repercussions from this arrest at a later date.

      IMO we really must ask this now with every arrest of a serious nature.

    5. I must not comment.
      I must not comment.
      I must not comment.

      My country turning in Shiiteholistan is none of my business.

  25. Matthew Lynn has a piece on Labour’s Green Energy policy. He writes: “Most people understand that climate change is a serious issue, and that over time carbon emissions will have to be reduced.”

    ffs. I had this argument last night with two relatives who are normally very sensible. They think slimate change can be stopped by removing carbon fro the Uk atmosphere. There really is no hope is there? Anyway it turns out they still watch Al Beeb.

  26. 387939+ up ticks,

    Gerard Batten
    gjb2021

    18h

    Of course its bleeding obvious. Professional soldiers don’t want reluctant recruits in their ranks.

    There are only two reasons this was proposed:

    1) Rishi wanted to sabotage his own campaign.
    2) He was preparing us for the next Globalist war when millions of youngsters will be thrown into the meat grinder.

    https://apple.news/AxPmAQcQ… ex-military – this is what we really make of PM’s national service policy’ – Metro
    We're ex-military — this is what we really make of Rishi's conscription policy — Metro
    We're ex-military — this is what we really make of Rishi's conscription policy — Metro

    'This policy comes from people who have never done this type of service and have zero military experience.'

    apple.news

    1. It would be 30,000 picked by lottery – as they do in Denmark.
      There are already thousands of cadets in Britain who do this voluntarily.
      The rest would be expected to do some form public service.
      It's amazing how Denmark manages to do all these things – like banning burkhas and ritual slaughter and expecting a form of national service – without all this bloody drama and nay saying.

  27. Morning all 🙂😊
    That's better, broken cloud sunshine and much less wind than the howling gales of yesterday.
    And I missed this one, England thrashing Pakistan at cricket. How racist of them and I'll bet a few measures of alcohol were consumed after, the magnificent win as well.
    How's that ?

    1. Has some Oxford or Cambridge professor managed to write a thesis yet on how it was actually the Pakistanis who gave the English cricket and not the other way around? Or was it the West Indians?

      1. 😆😅🤣
        It really was an act of extreme racist behaviour to thrash Pakistan.
        Probably effecting the mental health of so many of their supporters.
        But there were some un-bleached players in the England team, so they might have just manage to get away with it.

      2. As with most things, it was the French – they played it on the beach when they landed in 1066 whilst waiting for Harold to show up and we later adapted some of the Laws of Cricket in the House of Lords before Stephen Fry messed everything up.

      4. The English language was invented in Pakistan and by Pakistani's, so that when their invasion of UK started, the concerns of the Effnic Brits could be disregarded and be labelled racist

    1. Indeed, all of these murders and attacks are related to our lack of political nonce. The people who have let all of this happen have committed crimes against our nation.

    1. Oh crumbs. And I was snooty when one of my young work colleagues said that she’d been to see a production of Madama Butterfly and described it as probably written in the seventeenth or eighteenth century and “completely unrealistic”. It is of course actually twentieth century verismo opera. The librettist travelled to Nagasaki in Japan to make sure he got it right and it was published in 1904. Stylistically a million miles away from baroque and classical era music.

      1. Good morning m'dear.
        And how did she take your corrections?
        And wasn't Pinkerton a grade one shite?

        1. My grumbling was met only with someone else making a conciliatory remark about how of course these things are obvious if you KNOW. Yes, it’s a very clear statement about US imperialist attitudes.

          1. We listened to our 2cd set of Butterfly last weekend – Angela Gheorgiu (?) and Jonas Kaufmann.

      2. Quite a few years ago we went to the RAH in London to see Madame Butterfly. We had seats in one of the boxes. A Lovely evening.

    2. Wow. see my post earlier about the teaching of English history. But when half the country is foreign, and it’s deemed racist to teach new comers about English (and British) history, then this is what you get. No wonder we have no societal cohesion.

      2. I never studied anything about 20th century history in school. Years of Tudors and Stuarts. Most of this information is gleaned from other sources not from history lessons.
        It’s not that unusual to find adults who are not clear about which year the First World War began. Or even the second.
        The Battle of Hastings is perhaps a different matter, 1066 is something I would expect everyone to know.
        The exact years of the great plague and then the fire of London? Even if you learned them easy to forget.
        Madame Butterfly, probably the most well known opera but again it never formed part of my formal schooling.
        So much knowledge depends on a person’s personal interest and on how well informed ( books, tv, movies) he is.

        1. Do you remember the Common Entrance History exam paper which gave a list of events which you had to place in order with their dates. Some of the key dates I still know by heart: 55 BC, 596 AD. 1066, 1314, 1415, 1588, 1605, 1649 – 60, 1665, 1666, 1789, 1805, 1815, etc etc.

          I could not find the papers I had to take in 1960 but here is one I found on the Internet for 1922.

          It shows just how much academic levels have risen since then! (I also found a sample French paper and Caroline assures me that most of her "A" level students would find it very difficult)

          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b3283f398f469317d6b75dacec9e061f8a5ae533e8d835de6b745c277489318b.png

          1. This is pure guesswork from the old head of a Sec Mod pupil:

            1. Julius Caesar's first arrival in GB.
            2. ?
            3. William the Bastard's first arrival in GB.
            4. Battle of Bannockburn.
            5. Battle of Agincourt.
            6. Philip II's attempted first arrival in GB.
            7. Gunpowder Plot
            8. Interregnum.
            9. Great Plague.
            10. Great Fire.
            11. Le Tiers État.
            12. Battle of Trafalgar
            13. Battle of Waterloo.

            12/13?

          2. Did 596AD mark the arrival of Christianity in England? I haven't googled it.

          3. I haven’t a clue. All the other answers came from my own general knowledge, stored in me bonce!

          4. Again, without looking it up, I've had second thoughts. I now think that St Augustine arrived the previous century. If true, then I have no other idea about 596 AD.

          5. Wanting to know proved irresistable.

            I was partly right in that Augustine arrived in 596 (or 597) AD but it was by no means the first arrival of Christianity in England. It did, however, make Canterbury the first centre of Christianity in the country.

            Gregorian Mission: Augustine of Canterbury lands with a group of missionaries on the Isle of Thanet (South East England). He is welcomed by King Æthelberht of Kent, who accepts baptism along with the rest of his court at the behest of his Christian Frankish wife, Bertha. Æthelbert assigns Augustine and his 40 monks a residence at Canterbury (Kent), where they found a Benedictine monastery that will make the town a centre of Christianity (or 597).

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/596

          6. Browsing through Google suggests that 597 AD is the more likely of the two years in question to see the arrival of St Augustine.

          7. My online research has suggested that it is the year that the Gregorian calendar was adopted.

          8. That's what I thought.
            St Augustine, though I thought 597, but possibly he landed a few months before becoming the first ABC.

          9. If we had Google back in my day, I might have scraped through the entrance exam. 596 AD. Battle of Raith.

            Our English O levell history at the state run school covered the time from 1815 to 1910, other times were irrelevant.

          11. Some sources present it as the first battle between ancient Britons, Scots and Picts against invading Angles.

          12. This is pure guesswork from the old head of a Sec Mod pupil:

            1. Julius Caesar's first arrival in GB.
            2. ?
            3. William the Bastard's first arrival in GB.
            4. Battle of Bannockburn.
            5. Battle of Agincourt.
            6. Philip II's attempted first arrival in GB.
            7. Gunpowder Plot
            8. Interregnum.
            9. Great Plague.
            10. Great Fire.
            11. Le Tiers État.
            12. Battle of Trafalgar
            13. Battle of Waterloo.

            12/13?

          13. No, I went to a state school, an inner London Catholic Comprehensive school. Tudors and Stuarts at O level and A level.
            People often mention that people nowadays know little because of poor modern education standards but most of my general knowledge does not come from my time at school in the sixties and early seventies.

      2. But he is old hat now.

        He seemed to think that the quality of your character is more important than the colour of your skin! We now know that the opposite is true.

    4. As someone pointed out in the comments – a quarter of the 1,000 people asked by Railcard.

    5. I sometimes wonder if people deliberately give silly answers to such questions.
      Rather like Jedi was given by many people as the answer to a census question about religion.

    7. Everyone knows that Robin Hood was just the front man : it was Little John Baldrick and his spiritual mentor, Friar Tuck, who finally defeated Poirot's side-kick.

  30. Ref the Mannheim slammer stabby gent:

    "Police said they were investigating whether the attack was politically motivated. If it was, it would be the latest case in an upsurge of political violence in Germany in the run-up to the European elections on June 9. There has been growing alarm at the number of attacks and acts of intimidation against politicians, campaign helpers and public officials."

    Thank goodness it wasn't a terrorist attack…..(sarc)

  31. Good morning.

    James Delingpole reposted
    UNN
    @UnityNewsNet
    Remember Sam Melia?
    The English man convicted of putting up stickers?
    Well the state has now decided that Sam is a Person Posing Risk to Children (PPRC) because of Sam's "racist posters, insignia and literature" and "racist and offensive attitudes".
    He is not allowed any photographs of his children, and his wife Laura is not allowed to mention them to him when they speak.
    Child rapists get treated far more leniently.
    This is state sponsored torture worse than any other country in the world.

    2. Only sexual perverts or physical abusers should be denied access to their children. This is evil and I rarely use that word. Which judge decreed this. I really want to know. They have to be named and shamed.

    1. Happy Birthday BoB! Have a wonderful day chopping things down, transporting stuff up t’garden and making yummy bung- it meals! Then do a pub-crawl up hill, and down Dale! Lots of love to you and yours! 🥂🎂💕🌳🍺🪓

      1. This is Bob you are writing about he will have probably managed to do all of that by lunchtime.,

        1. I know!😳 Depressing isn’t it? I’ve fed the cats, cleaned the bathroom, been shopping and cleared the weed off the pond! I’m knackered and the garden really needs weeding as the greenery is all in the wrong places!

    3. Many Happy Returns, BoB.
      Today, let the darn trees fell themselves and chop themselves up into logs.

    4. Happy Birthday dear Bob! Singing loudly from the rooftops of Buenos Aires! 🙂🙂 Many happy returns, too x

  33. The Western world doesn't seem to have managed to put two and two together with all these different and ongoing occasions yet Bill. The carpet is looking very untidy.

  35. It makes me feel very sad when the media wheel out these very elderly smartly dressed and medal clad veteran's.
    What must they all think of the state of our nation now. After so many of their colleagues died defending our nation from nazis and the attempts at invasion.
    The door is permanently wide open now with many rewards lined up.

      2. Because the warmongering Churchill demanded that they did…

        They should have said they were on the spectrum….

        2. Was a 'warmongering' Churchill worse for the UK than a 'white-flag-waving peacenik', Chamberlain?

          Discuss.

          1. It was Chamberlain, of course, who declared war on the unsuspecting, peace-loving, deenceless Germans

  37. AIUI, the game of ktikkit was brought to us by the Flemings. Another thing that Belgium has given the world.

    1. This is the same condition that Professor Pantsdown predicted around fifteen years ago would kill at least two hundred million people. Actually fewer than three hundred deaths worldwide were attributed to avian flu.

      2. It makes people wonder exactly what these dreadful people (monsters) are planning for the rest of the world's population next.

  39. 387939+ up ticks,

    IMHO we are much to nice as a people accepting mass uncontrolled immigration / politically controlled immigration as an asset when in reality it is an INVASION that is, in the main, importing paedophiles, rapists, assorted felons under a veneer
    of welfare seekers.

    Once you can accept the fact that ALL that is taking place is due to WEF / NWO demoralising material, pushed down the gullets of the "don't wanr to see" gullible peoples, much will become clearer.

    1. MB currently going round the garden, rather grim faced, picking up damaged plants and pots.
      Glad to see foxgloves have withstood the blast.

      1. I dread to go to the top of the garden – will leave it until tomorrow when the gale eases.

        1. I cut my hand sawing last week and Caroline now has a prosthetic in her right thumb which has only just settled down so the weeds are flourishing. I am doing my best sitting on the mower but the bits around the edges where I can't mow remind me of Hamlet:

          'Tis an unweeded garden. That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature. Possess it merely

    2. Back in the Spanish interior. Temperatures higher than on the coast. 25 degrees high, rising to 32 in the next few days. Sunny.

  41. Wow!
    Wordle 1,078 3/6

    ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
    ⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Double wow
      Wordle 1,078 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  42. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3c71cefd9a8347a77770b885d3633bb785b263acc0ba851a61aebaafb35d5f06.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/86b0d9f4bc41f29fe397bbed4f86ef2049efa057a6c77bef00d0c823d9beeb90.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/15e5569946622f540df24256dc3fa23298afdac8a0f9dd3fd164bd19a9ef5b89.jpg The old converted cowshed (cobbler's shop/blacksmith's forge) which forms my large workshop/studio area is responding well to its recent make-over. Gone are the dilapidated draughty double doors and an new section of insulated wall is now in their place. A good quality one-metre wide insulated, double-glazed door is now installed and all this week I have been designing, making and installing a secondary fly-screen door on the inside so that I can have the outer door open during this glorious weather while keeping all the damn flies and mosquitoes outside.

    That screen door remains closed by the installation of two powerful magnets in the jamb. I didn't want any lock or bolt mechanism in order to make access in and out as easy as possible. I can also secure the outer door from swinging back and forth in high winds by tethering it with an elasticated luggage strap.

          1. Thanks. I built the screen door myself from planks of pine, glued and dowelled together.

          2. Thanks. I built the screen door myself from planks of pine, glued and dowelled together.

  43. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3c71cefd9a8347a77770b885d3633bb785b263acc0ba851a61aebaafb35d5f06.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/86b0d9f4bc41f29fe397bbed4f86ef2049efa057a6c77bef00d0c823d9beeb90.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/15e5569946622f540df24256dc3fa23298afdac8a0f9dd3fd164bd19a9ef5b89.jpg The old converted cowshed (cobbler's shop/blacksmith's forge) which forms my large workshop/studio area is responding well to its recent make-over. Gone are the dilapidated draughty double doors and an new section of insulated wall is now in their place. A good quality one-metre wide insulated, double-glazed door is now installed and all this week I have been designing, making and installing a secondary fly-screen door on the inside so that I can have the outer door open during this glorious weather while keeping all the damn flies and mosquitoes outside.

    That screen door remains closed by the installation of two powerful magnets in the jamb. I didn't want any lock or bolt mechanism in order to make access in and out as easy as possible. I can also secure the outer door from swinging back and forth in high winds by tethering it with an elasticated luggage strap.

  44. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3c71cefd9a8347a77770b885d3633bb785b263acc0ba851a61aebaafb35d5f06.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/86b0d9f4bc41f29fe397bbed4f86ef2049efa057a6c77bef00d0c823d9beeb90.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/15e5569946622f540df24256dc3fa23298afdac8a0f9dd3fd164bd19a9ef5b89.jpg The old converted cowshed (cobbler's shop/blacksmith's forge) which forms my large workshop/studio area is responding well to its recent make-over. Gone are the dilapidated draughty double doors and an new section of insulated wall is now in their place. A good quality one-metre wide insulated, double-glazed door is now installed and all this week I have been designing, making and installing a secondary fly-screen door on the inside so that I can have the outer door open during this glorious weather while keeping all the damn flies and mosquitoes outside.

    That screen door remains closed by the installation of two powerful magnets in the jamb. I didn't want any lock or bolt mechanism in order to make access in and out as easy as possible. I can also secure the outer door from swinging back and forth in high winds by tethering it with an elasticated luggage strap.

  45. From the river (Thames) to the sea (Orish).. NUS (National Union of Students) conference in Blackpool calls for ban on all Jewish students.. to protect minorities against oppression.

      1. I asked a Hamas supporter if she realised that the real Palestinians, the Philistines, were not Arabs. It turned out she did know that but she seriously thinks that the Arabs who today style themselves Palestinian are not Arabs either. That the Philistines were Greek, she might know. That they disappeared completely around the time of the Babylonian Empire, she either didn’t know or couldn’t bring herself to acknowledge. Sometimes complete ignorance is less dangerous than partial ignorance? (I say “sometimes” ‘cause there are lots of things I half know 😀!)

        1. In 132 AD, the Emperor Hadrian gave the name "Falestine/Palestine" to the Roman province encompassing modern Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Iraq.

          Everything was new once.

        2. Asking a Hamas supporter? From a distance that seems quite brave. That's one step up from the Nazïs in her moral equivalence. I say that as I don't believe there is evidence before the fact of a total annihilation response to a "Final solution for the Jewish question". Hamas are quite upfront in their hatred for the Jews. Another one who needs to read the Hamas Covenant. They think they are dealing with reasonable Westerners. An evil irony in their Eurocentric outlook. "Ways of knowing" is what the new Left chunter on about.

    2. And.. Goldsmiths College in London, the university has agreed to review its definition of antisemitism by allowing the denial of Israel’s right to exist and encouraging the comparison of the state to Nazi Germany.

      1. followed by introduction of scholarships for Palestinian students and the renaming of rooms after Hamas "reporters" shot while covering clashes in the West Bank.

          1. Not wanting to be outdone.. in Manchester, the campers’ chant was “from Manchester to Gaza, globalise the intifada..”.. though Sheffield went one better by offering a "final solution" for peace..

            ..the only way to bring peace was to “dismantle the Israeli state and ethnically cleanse the Palestine lands”, cuz Zionism was a “racist ideology” and a “colonial project”.
            How nice..

          2. Now.. if they really want to know how it's done.. just ask the CCP for tips. They're doing a grand job on their new besties up north in Xinjiang. About 12 million are being butchered.

            Tumbleweed..

    3. That's dreadful. Those flag wavers should be banned. They started it and as we see too many times in this modern world, they are getting away with it.

    5. Deny.
      attack
      Reverse victim and offender

      classic narcissistic behaviour

  46. 387939+ up ticks,

    May one suggest that when the wind turbine money spinners prove dysfunctional for energy purposes then
    they are converted ( floors put into the tower body) into accommodation / incarceration of our foreign
    guest's / invaders, offshore for starters.

    Towers are generally tapered, with a top diameter of about 6 m and a base diameter of about 10 m for a 15 MW turbine.

  47. Pinch and a firm punch for me.
    Earlier I mentioned the sunshine and less wind.
    An hour later its as bad as yesterday.
    Summer?

        1. My lad was the youngest member of the task force – 17 on the way back

  50. Good morning to all! A bit cloudy here but cool. In fact it is rather nice weather and predicts to be like this for all of next week. Interesting fact I have learnt recently, that here, in West Sussex, we actually get more sunshine that any other part of England including Devon/Cornwell.

    I post for you a superb speech by Melanie Phillips.
    It's actually a year old but well worth repeating.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egrbN28aaAI&t=3s

  51. Not wanting to be outdone.. in Manchester, the campers’ chant was “from Manchester to Gaza, globalise the intifada..”.. though Sheffield went one better by offering a "final solution" for peace..

    ..the only way to bring peace was to “dismantle the Israeli state and ethnically cleanse the Palestine lands”, cuz Zionism was a “racist ideology” and a “colonial project”.
    How nice..

  52. Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen from a sunny and bright Verwood.
    Yesterday was very pleasant, first lunch with Offspring #2 in Winchester, then tea with Offspring #1 near Basingstoke.

    Driving around Winchester there appears to be a plethora of LibDem signs telling me they're 'Winning Here', which got me thinking, why, in an affluent virtually unenriched area would turkeys vote for Christmas?

    1. True blue Shropshire went yellow in the last election. I can foresee it continuing.

  53. The United States at last casts off caution in its support for Ukraine. 1 June 2024.

    Now, at last, President Biden has relented, bowing to international pressure to permit Kyiv to use American weapons to strike nearby Russian territory on the Kharkiv front. Britain can be proud that it has long granted permission for Kyiv to use its donated weapons – including deadly Storm Shadow missiles – on targets in Russia without such restrictions, recognising that Ukraine is in an existential fight. Washington, by contrast, even now is still limiting the range its weapons can be fired into Russian soil.

    The caveats are a farce, They are still firing into Russia with American weapons and with implied approval. It is all but a declaration of war.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2024/06/01/united-states-at-last-casts-off-caution-support-ukraine/

  54. Besides the video below. Another of Tommy Robinson being quizzed by the police about the film he is showing today in Parliament square. Since when did the police have the right of veto to films? Creeping censorship continues.
    Police Make DEMANDS Of Tommy Robinson For 1st June Rally 🇬🇧

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFWKiSKZG_8

    1. Watched it earlier. Pretty chilling. TR is a brave man and razor sharp, as he needs to be. I fear for his safety.

      1. Where did you see it? Would really like to watch it. If you can provide a link, all the better.

      2. Where did you see it? Would really like to watch it. If you can provide a link, all the better.

  55. Besides the video below. Another of Tommy Robinson being quizzed by the police about the film he is showing today in Parliament square. Since when did the police have the right of veto to films? Creeping censorship continues.
    Police Make DEMANDS Of Tommy Robinson For 1st June Rally 🇬🇧

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFWKiSKZG_8

  56. Now Diane Abbott insists she will not run as Labour candidate until she is endorsed by the party's National Executive Committee – after Kier Starmer bowed to pressure from the left to say veteran MP is 'free' to stand https://www.dailymail.co.uk…

    I can't decide whether Diane has got Starmer by the balls or by the short and curlies. Either way she is squeezing, pulling and tweaking very vigorously and won't stop doing so until he is completely humiliated.

    If this doesn't expose to the voters that after the election Starmer will be even weaker and Labour will be even more to the left than it was under Corbyn then British voters must be exceptionally blind and stupid!

    1. Did you notice that when she made her public statement about not being intimidated, her right hand holding the microphone was shaking in an involuntary Parkinson’s sort of way?

    2. He’s also scared of Angela Rayner! When he tried to sack her he ended up giving her 3 more job titles. He’s as weak as he is gutless, and frightened of all the gobby women in his own party. A pathetic weasel of a man.

      1. If I were his Jewish wife I would pack my bags and go and live elsewhere before he betrays the State of Israel and all Jewish people.

    3. She's Corbyns ex squeeze, you'd have thought they'd of had her out by now.
      Momentum must have fixated on her as the last true corbynite.
      Looks like there's not enough kryptonite to shift her….

  57. Now Diane Abbott insists she will not run as Labour candidate until she is endorsed by the party's National Executive Committee – after Kier Starmer bowed to pressure from the left to say veteran MP is 'free' to stand https://www.dailymail.co.uk…

    I can't decide whether Diane has got Starmer by the balls or by the short and curlies. Either way she is squeezing, pulling and tweaking very vigorously and won't stop doing so until he is completely humiliated.

    If this doesn't expose to the voters that after the election Starmer will be even weaker and Labour will be even more to the left than it was under Corbyn then British voters must be exceptionally blind and stupid!

  59. Here we go again. A gang of 5 Bulgarians who stole a total of 53 million pounds in UK benefits are jailed for a total of 25 years. That alone is going to cost us another 10 million. When are these idiots in Wastemonster and Whitehall going to learn?

    1. And they have the cheek to tell us that money for our state pension (which we have already paid!) is not looking good. Very worrying.

    2. Why aren't the civil serpents who allowed this to happen are not behind bars – they must surely have known what was going on

      1. Perhaps many ordinary staff knew but were told by managers to shut up FTSOD.

          1. I can't believe that experienced staff in the relevant agencies don't know that the UK is being bled dry by cheats, some home-grown certainly but many imported. The former will, of course, be publicised effectively to show that 'white Britons are criminals as well, you know'.

      2. Absolutely. It’s very similar to the scandalous episodes at the post
        post office. It sounds like an inside job to me.

  60. And the two people standing very closely beside her, were both supporting her.

    1. I saw all four chicks yesterday but she's got them completely covered now.
      Three of our swift pairs now have eggs and are sitting on them. Only the 14s (the last to arrive) haven't yet laid.

      1. No Maggie, it was us in HM Submarine Otter, we were the designated “Target” boat at the time, just after the Argentine incursion.

        The photo was taken, by me. in Falmouth Bay during an accelerated acceptance programme for the introduction of the ‘Stingray’ torpedo into service, in order to hasten it’s deployment to the Falklands conflict.

        1. One of my best friends was a boffin – an electrical engineer – in the Royal Navy. One of the last jobs he did was to teach the Argentineans how to use Exocet.

          1. Earlier in 1982 we had paid a courtesy visit to Emden , Germany, where the shipyard were building Type 209 submarines for a number of South American navies, the Argentinians had a skeleton crew standing by evaluating the construction for possible purchase.

            During the visit we hosted a lunchtime ‘drinkies’ get together for the Argies (there was no hint of the approaching conflict at the time), a perfectly normal diplomatic event when foreign military officers were encountered.

            As the onboard Weapon Engineering Officer I was particularly concerned with the rather detailed questioning on matters that went beyond acceptable polite enquiry so reported the matter to my CO, who subsequently passed the matter on to our attache/MoD controller.

            Just a few short months after that their motivation became quite clear!

    1. "Pakistan was once Hindu"? I'm not an expert but that's something of a stretch.

      1. What is today Pakistan was largely Hindu but with Buddhists, Jainists and Zoroastrians before the arrival of the Desert Death Cult from the west in 711.

    2. The Yanks have got a clue-free imbecile in Joe Biden.
      The UK are going to match that with charisma-free Starmer.

      The entire world has become a Blandocracy.

  69. SIR – I can do better than Alisdair Keats-Rawling’s 12-week wait for an echocardiogram (Letters, May 29). I have just received a letter from Bedford Hospital stating that “due to the current situation, the waiting time for your routine appointment [an echocardiogram] is approximately 95 weeks”.

    I suppose that waiting for patients to die before they are seen is one way of clearing the backlog.

    Julie Findlay
    Cardington, Bedfordshire

    I had lots of hospital visits during covid. I could see entire departments closed and empty wards. I believe if Julie just went to the department where the procedure is to be carried out she would find one or perhaps two people in the waiting room. I would call them out on it and insist on speaking to the doctor or nurse and demand answers.

    I would like to see Amanda Pritchard and Professor Sir Stephen Powis in front of a select committee.

    1. Just turn up in A&E. They’ll do an ecg on the spot. Bin there, dun that. Palpitations so bad I was weak but ecg normal.

    2. I wrote to Amanda Pritchard in 2022 about a NHS policy matter that had serious implications for the welfare of my disabled son. It took a follow up letter and intervention from my MP before I received a reply – I can’t recall now if it took 4 months or 5 months. The reply was, of course, a piece of standard waffle that deliberately overlooked the key point and blathered about local decision-making.
      A fish rots from the head as the kneeler used to say before he had a realistic prospect of becoming Head Boy.

    5. OH had an echocardiogram with no waiting time at all in 2022. Along with a whole load of other tests the same week. After the echo – the specialist nurse said we should go straight to A&E and await admission. He wasn't prepared for that so we went home and phoned the GP. We were back there the following week and he was admitted then. He had his triple by-pass op a few weeks later. A follow up check this coming Wednesday.

      i have no complaints about the way he has been treated.

  71. And when, not if, Hamas do undertake more attacks what then you bumbling fraud?
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13481817/biden-israel-hamas-ceasefire-deal-president-gaza-war.html

    President Joe Biden on Friday called on Hamas to take a peace deal offered by the Israelis, saying 'it's time for the war to end.'

    He outlined a three-phase plan that would begin with an immediate ceasefire, release all the hostages and conclude with the rebuilding of Gaza.

    'Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another October 7th,' Biden said in remarks in the East Room of the White House, urging the terrorist group to 'take the deal.'

    1. I fear that this is when Dopey Joe is getting his information:

      "Palestine is a city in and the seat of Anderson County in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named after Palestine, Illinois"

      1. I lived in Lebanon at one time, many, many years ago – Lebanon Pennsylvania

      2. I lived in Lebanon at one time, many, many years ago – Lebanon Pennsylvania

  72. The plod have announced the man charged with the killing of 1 woman and stabing of the other one in Bournemouth as, wait for it, Nasen Saadi from Croydon.
    Usual suspect then….

    1. Were these stabbings completely random or did the man from Croydon know his victims already?

    3. The DM headline needed a few reads before it made any sense:

      Personal trainer's wife watches in court as man, 20, appears charged with her murder after she was stabbed to death

  73. HMS Astronomer.
    Boom defence vessel

    Complement:
    105 (4 dead and 101 survivors).
    3,000 tons of naval stores.

    At 23.48 hours on 1st June 1940, HMS Astronomer (Master John James Egerton) was hit in the stern by one G7e torpedo from U-58 (Herbert Kuppisch) 30 miles southeast of Wick. At 03.18 and 04.43 hours on 2nd June, the vessel was hit by two coups de grâce and sank about one hour after the last hit. Four crew members were lost. The master, 51 crew members, one gunner and 48 naval officers and ratings were picked up by HMS Stoke City (FY 232) (LtCdr N.C.H. Scallan, RNR) and HMS Leicester City (FY 223) (T/Lt A.R. Cornish, RNR) and landed at Rosyth.

    Type IIC U-Boat U-58 was scuttled on 3rd May 1945 at Kiel after being decommissioned in April 1945. Wreck broken up

    https://uboat.net/media/allies/warships/br/aux_hms_astronomer.jpg

  74. No lie is too shameful for Sleepy Joe. 1 June 2024.

    After ludicrously claiming that Morehouse graduates ‘have to be ten times better than anyone else to get a fair shot’, thereby ignoring five decades of affirmative action, racial quotas and that civilisational toxin known as DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), he turned to one of his favourite themes: the prevalence of white supremacy.
    He brought up George Floyd, a career criminal who died while being restrained by a police officer on a street in Minneapolis four years ago this month, but who has since been blasphemously canonised as a salvific Christ-like figure. Biden asked: ‘What is democracy if black men are being killed in the street?’Yes, Mr President, young black men are being killed in the street in record numbers, but not by police as you imply: they are being killed by other black men. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently reported that in the first 18 months of the coronavirus event black juveniles aged 17 and younger died of gun homicide at 100 times the rate of white juveniles. We almost never learn their names because they are murdered not by hate-filled white supremacists, but by fellow blacks. The number of unarmed blacks killed by police remains low – 12 in 2019 – despite a poll of Americans who self-identify as ‘liberal’ showing that over half believe the number killed is in the thousands.Biden must know he’s lying by omission. Is he not aware that, according to the US Department of Justice, 93 per cent of black victims of homicide are killed by black perpetrators? Their deaths resulted not from systemic racism or endemic white supremacy but from policies going back to the 1960s and the War on Poverty that have financially incentivised single motherhood and encouraged women not to live with or marry their children’s fathers.Fatherlessness, by which I mean children being raised in households in which fathers are not present, is the real tragedy of black America, and has resulted in the death of black family, which was strong before the 1960s.But for Joe Biden this reality is irrelevant. No lie or subterfuge or divisive rhetoric is too shameful not to be used if it enhances his political power.

    It is quite probable that the West is dying because it can no longer tell the truth. In the last twenty years it has adopted a series of beliefs that defy credibility and thus has destroyed its ability to defend itself. Lies have become quite natural answers to difficult questions. They are not even intelligent lies. Most of them are deeply stupid. i could go now to the the Telegraph comments about Ukraine and the posts would defy common sense let alone reason. Biden is the political epitome of this situation.

    https://www.conservativewom…

    1. Afternoon Araminta. Quite correct, although I think it is even worse. They lie, but I don't know if they even regard themselves as lying anymore. To them there exist only 'personal truths' relative to 'other peoples truths'. There is no right or wrong; therefore, no lies or mistruths, since that implies some sort of internal wickedness. That cannot be the case, since there's no immutable good or bad. And if there's any internal wrongness, or 'malfunction' using their vocabulary, then that's a medical matter, (obvs).

      The old fashioned test is best. I saw Biden's lips move. Enough for me, guilty as charged.

      1. Indeed James. Standpoint Epistemology, the result of Postmodernism. It's all "postinonality" and "power discourses". In English objective reality does not exist. This brings us back to pre-Enlightenment woo.

    2. Many just seem to watch/listen to bloggers and accept what's said/heard as the actualite. No thinking required.

      1. I read somewhere that these days at least 50% of adults get their news from TikTok. TikTok??!! I despair 🫨

        1. I’d say even higher among younger age groups. We live in a rapidly changing world, PJ. Sun high in the sky today, many buzzards wheeling and mewling…when I die, one of the many beasts I’d like to return as 🙂 Hoping you have shorts weather too, good to see you on here….

          1. Indeed, and I see few changes for the better. Much of what could have been positive in the right hands has been corrupted.
            I think I want to come back as a cat that’s found a slave like me😄
            No shorts weather here yet – been a very strange spring and can’t believe it is June 1 already. We are told next week will be up to 30° with yet another nosedive down to the very low 20s the week after. Strange things in the garden, very few plums though the blossom was magnificent, no apples, both grape vines going to be abundant as are the figs, but they always are!

  75. Son and partner move to Cowes , IoW in a week , from Worthing .

    Son's partner will work from home for a few days , then commute to London .
    Son will be working in Cowes .

    Moh and I have just examined the fares from Lymington to Yarmouth .. my blood pressure peaked .. car fare is nearly £200 .. How on earth do people afford the journey , not sure that son has thought things through.

    Lymington to Yarmouth is a hop skip and a jump literally..

    Fares anywhere in the UK are disgusting .

      1. Its easy a few Met police do it .fast catamaran to Portsmouth Harbour Station to Waterloo just over 2 hours.

    3. There are not many horses on the Isle of Wight, as people prefere Cowes to Ryde.

        1. Just been watching on one of our bird box cameras – box has a starling's nest in it – they fledged some weeks ago but they now have a second brood of four hungry youngsters! Very attentive parents.

    4. I used to sail my dinghy from Keyhaven to Yarmouth when I was 15. It was a half-hour sail and then a swim on the beach, an ice cream and sail home for tea.

      And when I had a boat you could sleep on I regularly went to Newtown and anchored for the night.

    5. Which reminds me.

      A friend of mine, who used to live on the IoW ran an Art Gallery at the bottom of Lymington High Street. He had a RIB dinghy with a powerful outboard on the stern and he got from Yarmouth to Lymington Town Pier each morning in about 20 minutes and it was a two minute walk from there to the gallery.

      Mind you he was handy in a boat and he and his twin brother once were the overall winners in the Fastnet Race.

    2. Blogger eugyppius has posted a video today of an actual stabbing very similar, in Germany.

        3. I didn’t know that when I posted it, but saw it further down – earlier in the day. Sorry for wasting your and anyone else’s time. I subscribe to his daily blog.

  79. The sun has sort of come out – so, despite the gale, I am venturing into the garden. There is so much debris – the orchard looks like October – there are so many leaves blown off the trees.

    I'll be back later. If I am spared.

  80. Message for Mr Robert Spowart of Bonsall

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY

    Luv Nagsman

    We spoke before lunch today – she had a long session at Gt Western Hospital yesterday and doesn't feel like logging on at the moment. I refused her request that I give you a big kiss but this message is the next best thing.

  81. Pakistan did not exist until the Partition of India in 1947. India is mainly Hindu.

  82. The Guardian praying for violence at the 1st June stale white footie hooligan faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar right march.. in stark contrast to the peaceful, humble protest of the meek freedom fighters for the oppressed experiencing lidderally gennycider by the Zionists.

  83. George Galloway backed by pro-Palestinian fake bots. 1 June 2024.

    He said: “The hijacking of social media firms like Facebook, Instagram, even X and YouTube, by malign actors such as Russia who seek to sow division and anarchy in our societies will only proliferate during this general election campaign.

    “In particular, well known and already divisive UK public figures, such as George Galloway, are already seeing increased bot activity by fake accounts as Russia, China, and others seek to destabilise our democratic institutions, governance, and societies.

    I have to confess to being somewhat ambivalent about Galloway. I enjoy his iconoclasm but would never vote for him in a month of Sundays. Though his name is in the headline the article itself denies that he has played any part in it. So what is going on? Well it is really about eroding confidence in Social Media. The internet is filled with “malign actors” and conspiracy theories. You shouldn’t really believe anything that it says. The opposite is true of course. It is the last source of free independent opinion. The MSM is the tool of the Globalists.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk…

    1. I share your ambivalence AS. He's entertaining and will fight his corner. His evidence before the US senate (or congress?) was brilliant. He wiped the floor with them. He also talks sense on the Ukraine war, but on Israel, well best leave it unsaid. He was also sound on Brexit, but he's the workers champion who has never had a proper job in his life.

  84. George Galloway backed by pro-Palestinian fake bots. 1 June 2024.

    He said: “The hijacking of social media firms like Facebook, Instagram, even X and YouTube, by malign actors such as Russia who seek to sow division and anarchy in our societies will only proliferate during this general election campaign.

    “In particular, well known and already divisive UK public figures, such as George Galloway, are already seeing increased bot activity by fake accounts as Russia, China, and others seek to destabilise our democratic institutions, governance, and societies.

    I have to confess to being somewhat ambivalent about Galloway. I enjoy his iconoclasm but would never vote for him in a month of Sundays. Though his name is in the headline the article itself denies that he has played any part in it. So what is going on? Well it is really about eroding confidence in Social Media. The internet is filled with “malign actors” and conspiracy theories. You shouldn’t really believe anything that it says. The opposite is true of course. It is the last source of free independent opinion. The MSM is the tool of the Globalists.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk…

  85. Off for the second BBQ for the year in an hour.
    Grabbing a large golf umbrella to take with us.
    I knew it would come in handy one day. Feeling peckish.
    Slayders.

    2. Thunderstorms here, interspersed with blinding sunshine. Makes stuff grow… and it doesn't get dark any more, althouh the sun does dip below the horizon.

      1. I had great trouble adapting to that everlasting light when I was working in Bergen.
        Typical not quite big enough hotel curtains on the windows so it never got dark. Instead of trying to sleep, we spent a lot of the night time down by the docks enjoying just one more expensive beer.

      3. Don't be taken in by his appearance – he is far worse than he looks.

    2. That wench on Question Time gifted Streeting much more time than other panelists including Farage in whose views most watching were interested.

    1. "Darmanin said there was no evidence that an organised terror network was involved in the alleged attack."

      So that's OK. Just a confused teenage exhibitionist….

    1. I know that celery is named in bold as a known allergen in the ingredients on food packaging, but I've never heard of that particular condition before. Most unpleasant.

        1. I've just put a dessertspoonful of my lime slush into a large glass with a decent shot of tequila, some slices of fresh ginger and red chilli pepper, a splash of ginger cordial, some ice cubes, and topped up with lemonade.

          I'm now sipping it, like a heathen poof, through a straw.

  92. This facile election shows Britain’s democratic process is a pitiful sham. 1 June 2024.

    There is now more disagreement within the political parties than between them. In fact, there are scarcely any meaningful differences between the programmes of the party in power and the main Opposition, if only because the Opposition leader refuses to say what his policies are. The objectives which Labour and the Tories insist on calling their “plans” for the country are almost identical in their vacuity and lack of convincing detail. But there is lots of genuine, substantial dispute between factions within the parties and, most significantly, between the leaders and their memberships. It is here – within rather than between parties – where the real political debate of our time is taking place.

    Yes Janet. That is why I haven’t bothered with the details. When Starmer is elected he will pursue an agenda that has nothing to do with this election. It will be an Islamo/Socialist government that will finally put an end to the UK.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/01/facile-election-shows-britains-democratic-process-is-sham/

    1. Woldn't it be ironic if, after fighting the Russians, NATO loses, Russia takes over the UK and expels the Islamists, returning the country to a Christian basis?

        2. It has 20million of them, but I’m guessing they have more sense than to disrupt others lives.

  94. Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen.
    Just back from a very pleasant walk along Martin Down, off the A354 Salisbury road: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/098b91d45eecee0be3d542654ae81a87ffee75da77b2202205a4115d29db38b8.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4df289858576a738abfdf029133d6ac0947a0fb46637597e87eef3c4fe0a2612.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/168d77125700c0ee1b3fa6fb361a6513a1c5c7ad1d8d57774a6edc987342c258.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d4b19b8f3ae824d760c568c7402b86eb01144231775d00fc73fbedd1f4e8e55.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/60c1b2333cef4e1d15effdaf639b5eef55cfca70c54fee036d9feee5872ba97e.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bd8dc4443dd187633b727642438ccaf5fc92f151005165fd5fa2de331aa3fd7b.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b51585ea0c94764b81e6b8a9466e6795873636c41a359fff4837ca8733267fbc.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6e6ca2008ff038f57611144d6fd68b210acbb624b8a021228091cdf445ffd513.jpg

    2. Pete Postlethwaite was a tour de force as Montague Tigg/Tigg Montague in the wonderful 1994 adaptation of Charles Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit.

  96. Tommy Robinson supporters shout out ‘hate chant’ at far-Right London demo
    Metropolitan Police on high alert having identified individuals in the crowd ‘associated with violent disorder’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/06/01/police-on-alert-far-right-activists-rally-in-central-london/

    The Daily Telegraph has disgraced itself with its biased coverage of the the Tommy Robinson march.

    The editor should be brought to task and sacked if he is not prepared to deal with this anti-British bigotry espoused by this increasingly absurd excuse for a newspaper.

    1. Looks like the sort of good-natured crowd who used to turn out for the anti – trophy hunting marches I went on.

    2. ThThe DM has no inhibitions and refers to him as Convicted stalker and thug Robinson

        1. Do you welcome the Islamic invasion of the UK or do you not think it is an invasion?

          Once most people think the courts are biased and corrupt then judgements are no longer considered honest. Without doubt they wanted to convict Robinson and did not show him any impartiality.

          A significant percentage of the people in the US think that Trump was a victim of aggressive, politically motivated 'lawfare'. I wonder how great the damage will be?

      2. Who was related to John Lennon thorough the Yaxley-Luton connection.

    3. Over 1000 comments now – nearly all supportive of the marchers and angry about the biased reporting by the DT.

    4. Oh yes, the chants. Well, apart from Allah the Pedo and Allah, who’s he, it was mostly We Want Our Country Back plus renditions of Rule Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory and the National Anthem. Someone also played a lovely recording of a soprano singing I Vow to Thee My Country.

    5. I have just read that article and it is an absolute disgrace – a frothing spout of bigotted hatred

    6. I described it over there as Globalist xenophobia. There's a lot of it about. Directed at the British and the English in particular.

  97. A tubby Birdie Three?

    Wordle 1,078 3/6
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    1. Joined you

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    2. Same,

      Wordle 1,078 3/6

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    3. Par four. I thought there were two possibles and picked the wrong one.
      Wordle 1,078 4/6

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  98. We have a Reform UK candidate standing in Stevenage, but he doesn't fill me with much confidence. Spoiling my ballot paper remains the most likely of my options.

    Stevenage: Reform UK confirms new general election candidate

    9th May

    By Christopher Day
    @ChrisDay96
    Reporter

    Reform UK have selected their new parliamentary candidate for Stevenage.

    Peter Hopper, a retired businessman, is their new choice, replacing Amodio Amato who was dropped after he allegedly made offensive posts on social media.

    Mr Hopper, who has lived in Stevenage for more than 30 years, had previously been selected as the party's candidate for West Suffolk.

    Originally from Durham, he has lived in the south of England since he studied for a degree in London in the 1970s.

    Recently retired, Mr Hopper previously worked as a commercial director for a large retail company before launching his own consultancy business.

    While this is his first time standing for election, he has previously been a member of several other parties, including Labour and the Conservatives.

    Mr Hopper told the Comet that he was drawn to Reform UK after concluding that "Britain is broken" and that many politicians from the major parties are in politics "for their own glorification".

    He added that he believes "we need a reset of British politics". Policy areas that he pointed to as particularly important include immigration, law and order, the NHS, and housing, particularly for young people.

    On Mr Amato being dropped as the candidate, Mr Hopper said that he believes the right decision was made: "If you find inappropriate comments on social media, you've got to quickly deal with it. I think it was dealt with quickly and appropriately."

    The general election will be held on Thursday, July 4.

    Stevenage: Confirmed parliamentary candidates
    Conservative – Alex Clarkson

    Green – Paul Dawson

    Labour – Kevin Bonavia

    Liberal Democrats – Lisa Nash

    Reform UK – Peter Hopper

    https://www.thecomet.net/news/24308812.stevenage-reform-uk-confirms-new-general-election-candidate/

          2. I know. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and I really did miss some writers and particularly the BTL experience, which was brilliant before Fraser ruined it. But it's not what it was and I will re-cancel when my offer expires. Sigh.

          7. Well you all seem to have integrated well into the bunch of us here – even if it was a bit overwhelming at first…. it gave us a bit of new blood.

      2. With the lib dems apparently promising free TV broadcasts of Premier League football, the Raving Loonies might sound quite sensible in comparison.

    2. 'replacing Amodio Amato who was dropped after he allegedly made offensive posts on social media'.

      Blimey. That's my embryonic political career down the toilet.

    4. "who was dropped after he allegedly made offensive posts on social media."

      It's very easy to offend someone on social media these days. You just have to say, "That offends me."

          1. Nope. Well, maybe that one too (there are so many now) – I had in mind the one in pyjamas trumpeting Allahu Akbar

    2. What again? I thought that Asian Pride month was next.

      There was an ad on the radio yesterday for a lgbtwhatever parade to be followed by a dress in drag dance.

      I have no intention of going near the event.

    3. My local here in Norway serves Pride – in bottles. Better than the alternatives, but they also have weissbier, so there's plenty of competition!

    6. Fuller's?
      The wankers who took over Gales of Horndean and shut it down????

  101. Sunak
    “Of course I respect the justice system of the United States.

    “I wouldn’t also comment on judicial processes while they’re ongoing in our own country, because there’s a separation between politicians and judicial systems, and we should let judicial systems do what they need to do independently of politics.”

    That last bit is exactly what hasn't happened in the USA, one would be hard pressed to find a more obviously political trial pretending to be genuine justice..

      2. Guinness at the local just up from £5.50 to £6.00. Still less than food has gone up generally.

          1. Prices are certainly not down. Just look at a grocery bill receipt from last year.

          3. Two cases in point: Twinings 80 Strong English Breakfast tea bags tended to be available for £3.00 on offer at at least one of the supermarkets. Might have to shop around. Now, they're six quid. Everywhere. And a 24-pack box of Walkers Variety crisps has gone from around £3 to £4, while the contents have reduced to 20 units.

          5. I’m so sick of all the lies from the Con party and their drift to socialism. There don’t seem to be any Conservatives in the Con party any more. Not that any other party is any better. We need someone to stand up and say that net zero is utterly disastrous for everyone and so is the WHO IHR plandemic treaty. I feel as if we’re in a stranglehold.

          2. When I was an undergrad at UCD, Guinness was selling at 2½d a pint; Beamish and Murphy's at 2d a pint!

        4. £3.50 for a pint of Wye Valley Butty Bach in my club. £60 a year membership. What a bargain.

  103. 387939+ up ticks,

    Nice one Tommy,

    Laurence Fox
    @LozzaFox
    The media forgot that we existed.
    Quote
    Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈

    @MrAndyNgo
    ·
    2h
    I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many English people in London before.

    https://x.com/LozzaFox/stat…

  104. That's me gone for this cold, berlustery (as the weather people say) day. May be calmer tomorrow. Certainly spending an hour in t'garden was NOT great fun. G & P stayed indoors asleep. I do envy their ability to sleep for six hours at a time. Wish I could manage half that…{:¬((

    Will continue watching a telly prog about D-Day photographers. Again, one might be forgiven for thinking that the Yanks were the only people landing in France….(yawns). But a lot of the photography is very good.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain.

      1. Ah the great Herbie Flowers! Loved Sky – saw them twice! Must go and look out the vinyl! Thank you for the memories, Angus!

  106. It worsens as more people wake up to what’s happening. Large demo in London today, led by Tommy Robinson – can only wish I’d been there, as no doubt thousands over the country too. Swap cat for dog, with you all the way. I’m still wearing baggy sweater, pockets filled with notebook, pencil etc plus a new little paintbox (self treat). Raging hot today, birthday soon and some news but will tell you in a week or two, remind me if I forget…similar here, lots of cherry blossom but little to no fruit, similar with damsons. I once had an outdoor fig, actually had one fruit on it, one time only 😀 Just enjoying Asahi beer with salad…treat or what :-DD

      2. OK going to tell you now….'shotgun' wedding! It's true, getting married, due to possible Inheritance Tax claim. Partly my own fault, as I've bought a number of land parcels over the years, now around 50 acres, plus a couple of places. I guess some could be sold, but I don't really want to. So…if we continue cohabiting, and one of us dies, 40% tax on everything over 350k, amounting to around 500k in total. But if we marry, and one dies, all property passes with little or no tax. This is what I've been advised, you may imagine my reaction. If you or anyone else knows differently, let me know, although I suspect it's bit late now as people arriving…doh….

        1. I love it KJ – congratulations 🍾🍾!
          I’m way out of touch with UK inheritance tax laws, but I can tell you about the French ones :D!

          1. Thanks, Conway:-) It’s worth checking out oneself – neither IFA nor solicitor both of long standing warned about it. Got the cut of their jib now!

  107. Nice little birdie three

    Wordle 1,078 3/6

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    1. Well done, me too.
      Wordle 1,078 3/6

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      1. Par for me.
        Wordle 1,078 4/6

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    2. Me too.

      Wordle 1,078 3/6

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  108. Well, I went to the Tommy rally. Quite safe, honestly. There was a good turnout but it was mostly old white people, with a smattering of young men and a few kids and dogs. Apparently the proceedings in Parliament Square were live-streamed on X and attracted an audience of 300k+ there. I had someone to talk to in the square. When Tommy asked how many of us were there on our own a lot of hands went up.

    The initial march took a circuitous route from Victoria to Milbank and thence along to Parliament Square. Once there, after the introduction by TR, there were speeches by Laurence Fox (cigarette in hand – a lot of cigarette smoke in the square), Carl Benjamin and Gerard Batten. Also songs from a Canadian singer introduced just as Kelly. The videos included a testimony from a Rotherham rape gang survivor. Then the two tier policing film.

    I’m always nervous of making online donations so took the chance to donate in cash when the stewards came round with collection buckets.
    Just after 3pm I decided to make tracks and found that easier said than done. It was a very large pen with plenty of space for movement but we were nonetheless penned in. Finally got out into Victoria Street and there were a number of police vans with sirens blaring racing AWAY from the Tommy event. Trouble elsewhere it would seem?

    1. Well done Sue. It will probably all turn nasty later. Someone is going to provoke…

    3. Well done Sue! Have you read the report in the DT? Far- Right Activists? Over 1000 comments on there and nearly all from people who want their country back.

        1. There's even more anger below the other "hate the old people" article today – DT setting the younger generation against the pensioners. More than 3,000 comments now.

          2. You expect it from the Beeb – but the DT used to be a “conservative” newspaper.

          5. I would not (and do not) subscribe, but hubby does, hence I get to see it. What an absolute crock of shit some of it is. There are some very good articles and writers, though.

          6. Unfortunately becoming rarer than hens teeth! And don’t get me started on the sport! Perhaps it’s just getting older wot does it!🙄

          7. Since this site is somewhat dependent on the DT for material, I rather feel obliged to support it. But the sub goes up to £24.99 monthly on Tuesday. I'm not entirely convinced that the current journalistic standards justify the cost…

          8. It really annoys me that he does it (as do many other of his profligacies inc, eg TV licence etc.) However, as a fully paid up hypocrite, I so enjoy the crosswords and would find it hard to withdraw

          9. Guess so. I flounced from the Speccie when they allegedly stopped using Disqus (if it walks like Disqus, and quacks like Disqus, chances are that it is Disqus) – albeit with some tweaking, and reduced functionality. The fact that – should I look at the Speccie comments (no logon necessary), I then find myself logged out from the rest of Disqus, including this site.

            The odd thing is that I canncelled my Speccie subscription on 4th March; they confirmed it by email, yet I still have access, and I still get 'subscriber-only' emails.

            So I rather think that the changes to their site are hastily thought through, and don't work – or are incomplete…

        2. There's even more anger below the other "hate the old people" article today – DT setting the younger generation against the pensioners. More than 3,000 comments now.

      2. "Protesters supporting Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, shouted “who the f–k is God” and other offensive anti-Christian chants as they marched through central London in their thousands".

        Oh, wait – I might have misread that… 🙄

      3. "Protesters supporting Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, shouted “who the f–k is God” and other offensive anti-Christian chants as they marched through central London in their thousands".

        Oh, wait – I might have misread that… 🙄

    5. Well done, Our Susan. I bet the Muslipolitan perlice are livid that they couldn't kettle/arrest you….

      1. I would have kettled her, no messing!

        Sue would be welcome for a decent cuppa anytime.

    6. But…but…according to the DM it was just thousands of "football hooligans" and the "far right" and – shock horror- some of them were drinking too 🤣 Well done Sue!

      1. I only saw water bottles. The smoking took me by surprise. It’s an unfamiliar smell these days. Laurence Fox manages to hold a ciggie and a microphone in one hand and his phone in the other. He hadn’t learnt his lines so was reading from the phone.

    8. Well done. Unfortunately I am away at the wedding (which has been great) so unavailable to support. Shame.

  109. What a lousy summer we're having here. This time last year I had swum 10k; this year the pool cover isn't even off yet.

    1. Started off fine and sunny here – but soon clouded over and it's been cold all day. 1st June! That's Global Boiling for you.

      1. Our 14 day forecast shows one sunny day, the rest are cloudy, rainy or thunderstorms. At this rate I won't even get a swim until July!

          1. I have one, but the hassle of getting it on and off puts me off using it.

            Because of my health I’ve not done as much as I would have normally, and the pool will be needing a LOT of cleaning and the water chemical balance will need careful adjustment, which delays the start date.

          2. If you like i will pop over and cover you in lube and slip you in. The suit i mean… :@)

          5. Doing well, thank you, and particularly enjoying my orchids.
            We'll get on top of the garden eventually.
            I finish my rehab next week and I'm hoping for a clear bill of health to get on with it.

        2. It’s probably due to all the dubious “stuff” they’re seeding the clouds with.

    2. It’s been cold in Surrey all day with a northerly wind. Don’t think it’s got above 18degrees. Went shopping with my winter coat on!

      1. Yesterday, I was wearing a turtle neck, long sleeved top and a padded gilet.

  110. Glorious sunshine here since Thursday and expected to last until Monday! Lots of gardening done, and wonderful husband has made chicken satay (marinading all day) to bung on the barbie! Rice and a Greek salad and a flatbread! Ooh very hungry now!

    1. Satay! And you didn't tell me ! ? I might live several hundred miles away but i do have a peanut allergy. How very dare you !

  111. 387939+ up ticks,

    Tommy Robinson supporters shout out ‘hate chant’ at far-Right London demo
    Metropolitan Police on high alert having identified individuals in the crowd ‘associated with violent disorder’

    The met police really MUST give their own ranks a double coat of looking at before casting WEF / NWO stones at patriotic gatherings.

    1. The DM is flinging hate at anyone who dares to be a patriot. I believe TR was jailed for mortgage fraud, not sure about the stalking. Calling him a Thug is just defamatory. "Football hooligans and anti-lockdown protesters are among the 'thousands' of Tommy Robinson supporters who descended on central London today as balaclava-clad demonstrators flew the flag of St George and let off smoke canisters. Convicted stalker and thug Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, organised the protest under the auspices of calling for the …"

          1. Me too, Geoff! Have just ploughed my way through the Sam hyphen moron piece, and am seriously wondering where these little sh*ts keep their brains? Do they take their heads out of their arses and mobile phones and look around the country? I guess not.

          2. Stronger than usual language from you, Sue.
            I understand the provocation.

      4. No balaclavas. The red, white and blue smoke was a brief episode en-route.

  112. Had an update on Stepson. He was back in hospital this morning where he was assessed as able to cope and make his own decisions, so discharged.
    At which point I wash my hands.
    All woodcutting for next winter and into the next one completed, only a small amount to stack tomorrow.

    So I am off to pick up my hiking stick from the Old Bank in Matlock Bath and then hence to the Kings Head for the Karaoke!
    Might briefly make another appearance before bed tonight, but thankyou all for the birthday wishes.

    1. Did he take himself to hospital? I suppose that would make him appear rational.
      Enjoy the rest of your birthday.

  113. Does summer begin early in France? Here in Sweden it doesn't commence until after the solstice on June 20.😊

    As for late spring, I've just enjoyed over three weeks of cloudless skies and temperatures between 21º and 26ºC.

    1. If one judges it by the weather, which I tend to, summer usually starts a lot earlier here than it did in the UK.

      1. If one judges it by midsummer (the solstice) being the middle of summer, it all works out rather differently.

  116. I take it that the march passed off peacefully as the Beeb have not mentioned it in the news. If there had been any trouble, they would have been all over it like a rash.

      1. Yup, then they had to go and deal with the real football hooligans who tried to storm Wembley Stadium and in spite of £5 million spent on security three people still got onto the pitch at the start of the match 😆

  117. Don't you just love the BBC's reporting?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/093255cfb87f6f56f0b2292a9da46d0d15c6385a55a8f5d633124ebc3a283ede.jpg
    More than 2,000 officers are on duty in London to police the Champions League final, a protest organised by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and a counter-demo.

    Thousands of people attended the march and rally organised by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon. According to police they included groups from across the UK linked to football disorder.

    The Metropolitan Police said 11 people have been arrested or detained so far. [11 – a proper riot, then.]

    The Met said: "Officers are aware of a number of groups that have gathered in pubs nearby and elsewhere in central London. They include people known to the police for football violence. Officers are closely monitoring these groups."

    The force has since posted to say two people were arrested "in the vicinity of Parliament Square", including one person who was arrested "for drunk and disorderly and assaulting an emergency worker". [2 – a danger to life and limb.]

    Around 300 people attended a static counter-protest in Whitehall organised by Stand Up To Racism but it has since ended. [Thank God someone went out to Save The World From Fascism.]

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/…

      1. Such a lie. If they really want to see "Far right" they must look to the Islamists. Same goes for Patrimony and authoritarianism.

        1. To use the BBC's definition of "Far-Right" I'll like to remind them of Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, Arab nationalist for a Palestinian state and Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine.

          https://www.timesofisrael.c…

          "The Arabs could be more useful to Germany as allies than might be apparent at first glance, both for geographical reasons and because of the suffering inflicted upon them by the English and the Jews."

          1. Appointed by Herbert Samuel, a Jew and later leader of the Liberal Party.

    4. 387939+ up ticks,

      Evening WS,

      More deflection, in reality is anyone watching the met. police.

  118. Don't you just love the BBC's reporting?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/093255cfb87f6f56f0b2292a9da46d0d15c6385a55a8f5d633124ebc3a283ede.jpg
    More than 2,000 officers are on duty in London to police the Champions League final, a protest organised by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, and a counter-demo.

    Thousands of people attended the march and rally organised by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon. According to police they included groups from across the UK linked to football disorder.

    The Metropolitan Police said 11 people have been arrested or detained so far. [11 – a proper riot, then.]

    The Met said: "Officers are aware of a number of groups that have gathered in pubs nearby and elsewhere in central London. They include people known to the police for football violence. Officers are closely monitoring these groups."

    The force has since posted to say two people were arrested "in the vicinity of Parliament Square", including one person who was arrested "for drunk and disorderly and assaulting an emergency worker". [2 – a danger to life and limb.]

    Around 300 people attended a static counter-protest in Whitehall organised by Stand Up To Racism but it has since ended. [Thank God someone went out to Save The World From Fascism.]

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/…

  119. Workers Party launches campaign with attack on Labour

    Galloway: "I could not tell you which is the lesser of the two evils – Keir Starmer or Rishi Sunak. They are indistinguishable on everything that matters – whether it's the economy, whether it's society. This is Blair vs Blair this election campaign."

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cxwwkrykv0zo

    He needs a bit more than 'Peace in Gaza'…

  120. Moh cut the grass , I watered the the flower beds and pots . The wind has been brisk and very drying over the past 3 days . Plants were in need of a drink, again.

    Jersey Royals in the pan simmered away with a handful of mint whilst I was watering the plants, also eggs boiling away for hard boiled eggs , chopped cos lettuce , sweet baby tomatoes , a few cooked salmon steaks from Waitrose , half price , I sliced a chunk of cucumber , and a handful of radishes ..

    Finished watering the garden , topped up the bird feeders , Moh shelled the eggs , and I assembled the bits and pieces for the meal, simple delicious , easy peasy, no frills , and I forgot to cook and blanche the asparagus .. never mind .

    1. I cut the grass between the lines of blackberries whilst SWMBO prepared more accommodation for the bees.

  123. Sorry for any offence! It’s the sheer nasty divisiveness of the piece, the ignorance of recent history and the unwillingness to learn from mistakes and move forward. Instead, he blames a general blob of older people! And he’s a lazy writer, which I reckon sums him up!

    1. I doubt if any of us took offense. There are occasions where the old Anglo Saxon expletives are fully justified.

      1. The degree to which these people hate the Jews is beyond comprehension.

  125. Well how about that, nice BBQ this arvo met lot's of very nice people. And with a lot of in common lifes experiences. Must be the age coincidence. But good fun. And loved it.
    A few,glasses of wine as well. Very enjoyable afternoon. That's what life is all about eh.
    Goodnight all.

  126. 387939+ up ticks,

    Tommy Robinson Rally Westminster.

    Gerard Batten,

    I was honoured to be asked to speak at Tommy’s rally this afternoon.

    There are tens of thousandshere to support him & hear about his plans for a ‘Coalition for Freedom – A Movement for Cultural Change’.

    And to see his new film on ‘Lawfare’. We’re having a geat peaceful day!

    FORCE MULTIPLIER
    ForceMultiplier

    1h

    Replying to

    gjb2021

    Sorry to have missed this

    Hibees
    Hibees

    1h

    Replying to

    gjb2021

    We need you leading a new party….. best wishes from NZ 👍

    Replying to
    truth_seeker59 🍊🇬🇧

    gjb2021

    I hope the establishment are now listening. Well done to all of those involved today.

          5. 388012+ up ticks,

            Morning S J,

            I gave it to you twice, deleted zero
            your prerogative.

  129. Another day is done so, I wish you a goodnight and may God bless you all, Gentlefolk. Bis morgen früh. If we ae spared!

    1. Thank you, Paul, though I balky at equiliiberate and his pronunciation of hedonistic. Interesting nevertheless.

  131. 387939+ up ticks,

    The peaceful days rally meet, will be followed by a WELL DONE peaceful night.

    Pillow ponder,

    Heeeaaaars Juney,

    ni dowding 🌸🚜 ☮️ reposted
    June Slater
    @juneslater17
    ·
    4h
    If you missed my cameo video at The Tommy Robinson Freedom Rally here it is
    735k are watching live plus over 100k attended this excellent rally.

    https://x.com/juneslater17/status/1796933169725272512

    1. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      The enduring ghastliness of Sarah Ferguson
      Comments Share 1 June 2024, 6:30am
      When I was a kid in the music business, I became aware of a funny phenomenon whereby visiting American bands would suss out which British punk groups were good and which were bad – and then hire a bad one as their support band, with the ignoble purpose of making the headline act look better in comparison. Seeing Sarah Ferguson in the news once again, I can’t help wondering whether the wily old Firm are after a bit of the same.

      Long before Harry and Meghan decided to let the Firm down big-time with their grasping and lazy behaviour, Fergie was the template
      Surveying her achievements online, you notice that in 2007 she dropped out of public view after winning Mother of the Year award from the American Cancer Society. Taking into consideration her track record and air miles, one presumes she was on holiday for an exceedingly long time. But then in 2019 she took the Inspiration of the Year Award from Hello! for her charity work and the gongs just kept on coming; in 2022 the Global Humanitarian award at the 25th Magna Grecia Awards and in 2023 the Red Cross International Award in recognition of her philanthropic activities. In 2023 she was diagnosed with breast cancer; this year, diagnosed with skin cancer. Then she was seen with the senior royals – including her ex husband Prince Andrew – at the Easter Sunday church service for the first time since their divorce almost 30 years ago.

      Is this just the familiar story of charity work rehabilitating a disgraced public figure? Or is it, much like support bands, Ferguson’s task to make every other royal woman look classy? Or maybe the Windsors were inspired to welcome the prodigal grifter back after seeing the behaviour of the rogue Sussexes. In the light of the Worldwide Privacy Tour, Fergie’s behaviour back in the twentieth century doesn’t seem so bad; a bit of toe-sucking from a ‘financial adviser’ and generally viewing life as one big goody-bag to be grabbed. But her fatal greed led to her offering ‘access’ to her former husband in exchange for half a million pounds to an undercover reporter known as ‘the Fake Sheikh’ in 2010. Long before Harry and Meghan decided to let the Firm down big-time with their grasping and lazy behaviour, Fergie was the template.

      When Prince Andrew – or ‘Randy Andy’ – married the robust redhead, they seemed like a playful pair of over-excited Labradors; none too bright, but meaning well. But though their marriage soon fell apart, they seemed to be toxic soul-mates, drawn together by their craving for easy money and a shallow lifestyle. Ferguson saw her elevation to the monarchy not as a privilege which brought duties, but as a sure way to grab a never-ending smorgasbord of luxe freebies. After their divorce, it seemed decent how her ex stood by her. But they both had too much time on their hands, and without duties became members of the idle rich, forever lounging on some shady yacht and then going down the winding road to one of Jeffrey Epstein’s many homes.

      Endlessly tone-deaf, Ferguson has both called herself ‘the most persecuted woman in the history of the royal family’ and puzzlingly compared herself to Jennifer Aniston, due to her ‘Story Time with Fergie and Friends’ YouTube videos. Not blessed with Diana’s beauty or charm or strength of character, she has always been desperate for people to like her, which also makes her seem thick. It’s in the spirit of this that her latest gaffe has proved that in an ever-changing world, the enduring ghastliness of Sarah Ferguson is something we can always count on.

      Last week she outdid herself in graceless grifting while attaching herself – belatedly, as the wheels are currently coming off – to the woke bandwagon. At the Cannes Film Festival, of all places (did she walk and swim there from the 30-roomed Royal Lodge she somewhat peculiarly shares with her ex-husband?) and wearing a gown costing thousands, Ferguson admonished the chattering crowd:

      ‘All of you saying, “I want to go, where is the next party?” But what I want to say is why are we here? What is the future and why are we not making our planet better for the youth of tomorrow? I am so sorry that we have completely destroyed your planet.’

      This mea culpa (which Ferguson probably believes is a lovely Italian restaurant in SW1) came soon after she told the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden that she is now an ‘ambassador’ for Generation Z:

      ‘I am the generational bridge between Gen Z and the outside world… I’m saying, “No, Gen Z, I’m very sorry for hurting your planet and I’m listening” … I can relate to the pressure they face because Fergie’s always been judged. No one should be judged on anything, not race, creed, colour, or any other denomination — and I’m a great supporter of LGBTQ. ­Everybody just needs to be themselves — why is that not good enough?’

      This babble really is deserving of a straitjacket and a stern nurse. ‘Gen Z are very strong people’ according to Ferguson. The generation which finds full stops intimidating? Youth don’t deserve an apology for anything (as does no generation; that would involve the under-privileged among the old apologising to the over-privileged among the young, which is grotesque) except possibly for lockdown, and that’s for politicians, not the populace, to do.

      ‘Fergie’ (see her use of the third person – the sure sign of a fully-fledged half-wit) desperately wants to have her boxes ticked by The Youth. She’s not alone in this, lots of clapped-out people and institutions do it, from Billy Bragg to the BBC. But just as The Youth still refuse to buy Bragg records or watch the BBC, Ferguson can forget about picking up a new generation of readers for her unutterably naff books, be they the series dealing with the antics of Budgie the Helicopter or her latest detective romp, A Most Intriguing Lady (‘She’s done it again’ – Jeffrey Archer). But maybe her strange idea that she is an ‘ambassador’ for Gen Z actually comes from a place of addled empathy rather than cold-eyed commerce. Like many of Gen Z’s self-appointed spokespersons she is extremely privileged materially while seemingly determined to play the victim.

      I’ve noticed that shabby people always find it easy to confess they’re sinners in a general non-specific way, which anyone can do. It’s when they’re pressed on specific sins that they avoid such confession, and cry that you’re being judgemental. Would Ferguson admit to being lazy, greedy, plagiaristic, grifting and seeking fame by association? (She still uses her title on her novels.)

      No matter what sort of sorry state the House of Windsor is in, the return of Fergie as a royal-by-association is a very bad idea indeed. Let’s hope she soon shambles off the world stage and back onto some dodgy yacht, where she belongs.

      1. She should swallow an original Osram light bulb rather than sucking the toes of a bald man with a Osram light bulb shaped head.

        I surveyed a barn in Gestingthorpe ten years ago where an original Osram light bulb still shone btrightly after almost a century.

        The British press promoted ‘Fergie’ as a best friend of the latterly sainted Diana. Anyone with half a brain could see she was a fraud. There were inevitably horsey stable connections.

  137. Scream. Just putting it out there. Families, eh? (Not my mum and dad).

  138. Ah! That's better. Just had a bath and enjoyed a slice of the pizza I made earlier.

    Took 45 minutes to go up past Bonsall Church, Ember Farm and drop down to Matlock Bath to the Old Bank.
    Had a pint there and the Rose Cottage then began walking back up to Ember Farm to drop down for a pint and the karaoke in the King's Head.
    Then got a phone call from the DT, 3 x Fire Engines had gone up the road because the Kings Head was on fire!
    By the time I got there the fire crew was making up after putting the fire, apparently caused by a tumble drier, and simultaneously flooded the rest of the pub.
    So after a brief natter with the onlookers, had a walk over to the Barley Mow for a pint and back home.

    1. Yo BoB

      In case you missed it, I posted Birthday Greetings from Nagsman to your goodself circa 14:12 hrs today. We all hope you had a good day.

    3. Someone evil started the fire. No fire starts by accident. It was at the behest of Soros/Schwab/Gates in their Machiavellian plot to turn the world teetotal ahead of the global Islamic takeover. It's true. Someone I've never heard of posted it on X.

  140. Evening, all. Late on parade again, but I've been out and have only just got back. If Rishi has had a dose of realism, it's only because there's an election coming up. It will soon pass.

    1. ' Morning, Geoff and thank you for all your care you have lavished on us, on our behalf.

Comments are closed.