Saturday 11 February: No amount of special pleading can conceal the fact that HS2 has failed

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

555 thoughts on “Saturday 11 February: No amount of special pleading can conceal the fact that HS2 has failed”

    1. Yet the ost dangerous by far to our every day health and well being is our own government, forcing in hordes of criminals.

    1. Curious bright yellow fog today. I assume it’s to do with sun on the fog. Weird, anyhow.

        4. Happy Birthdays Phizzpops, you youngster you. What is it, 29? Amazing. Have a stupendous day from Alf and me 😘

  7. I have increasingly been penalised in travelling by car back to my birthplace in Bromley, South London, due to emissions regulations and road toll charges:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/aec4e7307f902592d4e664e4f481c5660ef112e550839f4fbe7e7e9a6b030ade.jpg

    https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1731438/london-ulez-expansion-tradespeople-daily-charge-2023

    I at last found a way of going back home and returning without penalty by flying down to Bromley and back in my ‘Spitfire’ which has sufficient range to get there and back without being refilled:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/df2724252611ff8773673fa7e7d4379af7695ebde405514658730db7a91fb542.jpg

    I can do 248 miles at 80% tank fill with 48 miles spare.

      1. Pretty close.
        I was born not far away in Beckennham.
        The maternity home had one of those enormous anti-aircraft guns in the grounds when I was born in 1943.

  8. Far-right protesters clash with police at Merseyside hotel housing asylum seekers. 11 February 2023.

    Three people arrested as eyewitnesses say police van set on fire and counter-protesters surrounded.

    Disturbances have broken out in Knowsley near Liverpool after several hundred far-right demonstrators protested against asylum seekers who have been housed in a local hotel by the Home Office.

    Merseyside police said three people had been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder.

    Eyewitnesses at the Suites hotel said missiles were thrown and far-right supporters patriots set a police van and its equipment on fire.

    Good on yer lads!

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/10/far-right-demonstrators-clash-with-police-at-liverpool-hotel-housing-asylum-seekers

  10. 371986+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 11 February: No amount of special pleading can conceal the fact that HS2 has failed.

    This was a known fact the day it left the drawing board but I believe rip off the gullible (scams) material was in short supply at that time.

    Initially it was forward planning intending to be used as rapid deployment of troops to quell any future uprisings that WILL take place.

    In short the WeF have intended replacing tarmac with rail, after finding a stash of old nazi autobahn drawings.

    I’d wager intended accommodation for the, reclining in 5* luxury
    potential foreign troops, (camps) coincides with proposed stops.

    Thank heavens we have the NUR fighting the United Kingdoms corner In making sure NOTHING via rail moves.

  11. A year after Vladimir Putin’s invasion, is the West ready to be as strong as Ukraine? 11 february 2023.

    Russia’s barbarity and Zelensky’s heroism have restored unity to Western nations and revitalised Nato. But we can’t afford to be complacent.

    It has all worked so well. Zelensky’s first, best friend was Boris Johnson, and Britain has had “first-mover advantage” ever since. His most important friend is Joe Biden. But in all cases, especially when dealing with slipperier customers such as President Macron or Chancellor Scholz, Zelensky has known when to inject into the honey of flattery a little vinegar of criticism. Through his country’s military achievements and his own presentational skills, he dominates the global marketplace of public opinion like no one since Nelson Mandela. All Western leaders wish to be seen with him. All vie for his praise and fear his criticism.

    Thus it was on Wednesday that Zelensky, at the climax of his speech, called out “Long live the King!”, not only because the King is the King, but also to acknowledge the monarch’s long-standing personal sympathy for his country’s cause. And thus it was that Rishi Sunak, sound on Ukraine, but perhaps less engaged than Boris Johnson (whom the Ukrainian president carefully mentioned by name), was particularly quick on Wednesday to assure Zelensky that “nothing is off the table”

    TOP COMMENT BELOW THE LINE.

    Joseph Marjoram.

    Can we cut the macho nonsense?

    No one really cares about some potato fields in the east.

    Zelenskyy is corrupt; his ascent to power aided by the EU overthrow of an elected government.

    Putin – better the devil you know than risk a more violent nationalist taking power.

    We’ve spent enough, Ukraine has sacrificed enough. Russia will be militarily weakened for a generation and offers little threat to Ukraine now.

    Time for a peace deal; we’ve spent enough and have little to gain.

    There’s no need to read any more of the article than the quote. It is all overblown sychophantic drivel in the cause of a Greater War. Fortunately the comments below the line are far more realistic. In fact I’m coming to believe if you strip out the 77 Brigade comments that we are in the majority. This won’t prevent it of course. There is no vestige of Democracy or Freedom left in the West. The Globalists are pulling the strings and the political puppets dance to whichever tune they play.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/10/year-vladimir-putins-invasion-west-ready-strong-ukraine/

    1. “overblown sychophantic drivel”… I would add to that…vomit inducing. Does Charles Moore normally have his tongue shoved up corrupt dictators arses or is Zelensky a special case?

      Good morning, Minty.

          2. Aran wool is Irish. It comes from the Aran Islands. Nothing to do with the Scottish Isle of Arran.

      3. All the stops are being pulled out for Zelensky.
        Someone on Twit says that he is an ex cocaine addict and he thinks Zelensky is one too. I have no expertise in this field, so cannot comment.

        2. There is film of Zelensky sniffing a lot with strange eye movements. He is constantly rubbing his nose so I suspect there are white irritants in his nostrils.

          I suspect were Charlie Chaplin alive today he would make a comedic film about Zelensky entitled ‘The Great Dictator’.

          Edit: Rik has included it below.

  12. Good morning, all. Light cloud has built up since 06:00, calm without frost.

    Boom! Liverpool ‘fascists’ riot outside hotel that is allegedly housing ‘asylum seekers’.
    Dismissing as fascists the people who hold real concerns over the invasion of their country by thousands of unknown and unvetted young men of fighting age is really poor journalism. Sadly, something we’ve come to accept as the norm in these bizarre times.
    A real danger is the possibility of ‘agents provocateur‘ stirring up trouble at the behest of people with an agenda to follow.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f6299e1ea1f9d0b53af267c6ad7015ee3a20d572f939134c7847f4c3c812861.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9c20c05425ef9c7eac7fb184fd9fddd0ae14381420270ef0ee6dcf7fabf5e855.png

    Daily Star – Full Scale Riot in Liverpool

    1. Good morning, Korky. I notice that in the final paragraph it is stated that at 6.30 pm the police were facilitating a peaceful protest between those who didn’t like the “migrants” staying in the hotel and a counter demonstration across the road from them. Yet the entire article suggests that the burning of the police van was from the “fascists” and not the counter-demonstrators. As you conclude, Korky, “really poor journalism”.

    3. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11738375/DAVID-JONES-investigates-bloody-death-Swedens-liberal-dream.html

      The bloody death of a liberal dream: After throwing open its borders to 2million migrants, DAVID JONES investigates how Sweden has been left with an underclass of alienated teenagers, a murderous gang culture and gun crime that’s spiralling out of control
      200 mourners attended a Muslim cemetery to bury a teenage Afghan boy
      The 15-year-old was killed allegedly by a gangster of the same age in Sweden
      Since Christmas, Stockholm faced 30 shootings and bombings, four were fatal

      1. 30 since Christmas – one per working day.
        Oh, great. Oslo is going the same way.
        House the 3rd world, become the 3rd world.

        1. I was talking to a young Swede from Malmo the other day. He said that his town has an undeserved reputation for violence.
          Given the facts of the violence from Malmo over the last few years, and that a female colleague of mine was scared to death as a lone woman when working there, I thought he was in denial. Perhaps he was too young to have known any differently.

          1. I guess if you grew up in the Ardoyne back in the 70’s, Malmö must be a Garden of Eden.

          4. I’ve never been to ‘Malmo’ but I go to Malmö quite a bit to do some shopping. I’ve met every nationality under the sun, there, but none have ever threatened me.

            Funny, that.

          5. FFS, Grizzly. English version, like Rome, Munich, Moscow, Kiev, Wipers etc.

            As for not feeling threatened, I should think that has more to do with being a tall man rather than a tiny woman like my colleague.
            My son (tall and broad) once spent the night in London, in MacDonalds and walking the streets, after missing the last train. I was very worried, but he said “Mum. People are crossing the road to avoid me.”

          6. Nearly right, but no cigar. “Malmo” is not the ‘English version’ of Malmö. It is a misspelling. The DT, for example, are random with their spellings of names and places in foreign climes. They will add an accent (or not) depending upon how they feel. The Swedish alphabet has 29 (separate) letters — our 26 plus Å, Ä and Ö at the end. they each have a different pronunciation. Malmö is pronounced “Mal-mer”, not “Mal-moe” as in the misspelt version. Misspelling it gives it a wrong pronunciation. When the DT spells it “Malmo” they are simply being lazy, indifferent and ignorant. They do the same with former German football manager Jurgen Löw when they spell it as “Jurgen Low”; and when they spell déjà vu as “deja vu”. This attitude is wrong on so many levels and has nothing to do, whatsoever, with the Anglicisation of Moskva to Moscow, or Kyiv to Kiev (the latter being an improper example since Kyiv is the Ukrainian spelling whilst Kiev is the Russian spelling).

          7. A mispronounciation, just like Paris, Cologne and Berlin then. English evolves in the same way that it always has done, by appropriating and simplifying (to our ears) foreign words.
            Of course, it would be incorrect to say Malmo if you are speaking Swedish, just as one would not say “Par-iss” in France.

          8. English only evolved up to the beginning of the 20th century. Since then it has gone into an ever-escalating decline: at the same rate as the human species is also doing.

          9. I donut agree with that…

            I think that three generations of encouraging the least successful in society to have the most children and make the most noise has caused the human race to decline on average – not just in the West, but in parts of the world where people have been substantially supported on aid. It’s only a blip in history. A period of hardship and withdrawal of benefits will encourage the survival of the fittest again. All very hard for individuals though.

            I work with very clever people, and the standard isn’t declining among younger recruits. Where I see the decline is not among engineers or mathematicians, but in the “softer” fields like marketing and writing, where people are noticeably less mature than they were even twenty years ago.

      2. The trouble with “Liberal dreams” is that the rest of us are expected to pay for, and

        clear up the mess afterwards.

      3. The trouble with “Liberal dreams” is that the rest of us are expected to pay for, and

        clear up the mess afterwards.

  14. “Nicola Bulley’s partner ‘100% convinced’ she did not fall into river”

    Hmmm. If he IS 100% convinced, then he must know something that we don’t….

    1. A fierce debate has raged amongst Elgarians for decades over the fate of Dan the Bulldog, the subject of one of the composer’s Enigma Variations.

      Did he fall in the river or was he chasing rats?

    2. Interesting programme, more interesting in what was left out.

      We’re sure that the Police know more than they are admitting

      1. Didn’t see the programme, but it seems very unlikely that they are so convinced she slipped and fell into the water – no skidmarks on the bank? How so certain, without a search – which wouldn’t take very long – unless they wre trying to divert attention?

    3. Josephine Tey wrote a book called Brat Farrar. A young man turns up at the family home and claims he is the long lost twin of the surviving twin. He knows all sorts of family background- the missing twin was Patrick and the surviving one is Simon. Long story short; Simon knows that Patrick/Brat is a fraud because Simon was the killer and therefore he knew for certain that this young man couldn’t be his twin.
      Makes you think…

    4. On the programme the man who dredged the river said that first of all they go to the place where the victim is thought to have

      fallen in, as often the body has only rolled a short way along the river bed.

      He stated that below the bank there was a stony bottom only a couple of feet below the surface so impossible for anyone

      to drown by falling in there. He also said that there were no scrabble marks.

      He then produced films of their underwater search radar which were very clear, and he stated that despite three sweeps

      of the river for some miles he had not seen a body, or anything connected with a body.

      After the convincing statement of an experienced expert in retrieving bodies we would agree that there is a convincing case

      that Nicola Bulley did not fall into the river.

  16. ‘Morning, Peeps. Overcast but dry (so far).

    SIR – You report on the allegations of bullying made against Dominic Raab by an anonymous civil servant.

    “Hard staring”? Shocking behaviour by a boss. “Raising his voice”? Unimaginably traumatic. “Long silences”? Practically criminal.

    Could I suggest that the person who gave this account considers taking a sabbatical from their Civil Service post and spending six months in the private sector? I doubt they would last long.

    Ian McNicholas
    Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire

    Good letter. Strange, isn’t it, that those Snivel Serpents complaining about Raab’s conduct apparently have anonymity, whereas those providing evidence about Johnson’s conduct have to go on the record. I have an inkling which investigation is likely to succeed…

    1. Meh. Depends where they were working. Big US multinationals are as bad as the public sector these days.
      A friend of mine informed one of her new team members after a ten day absence from work, that if her cold was better, she should come back to work.
      The shirker complained to HR, and my friend was sent on a sensitivity training, because apparently it is OK to say that you don’t want to come to work because you have a phobia of the workplace nowadays. No doctor’s note had been forthcoming to support the alleged phobia.

  17. ‘Morning, Peeps. Overcast but dry (so far).

    SIR – You report on the allegations of bullying made against Dominic Raab by an anonymous civil servant.

    “Hard staring”? Shocking behaviour by a boss. “Raising his voice”? Unimaginably traumatic. “Long silences”? Practically criminal.

    Could I suggest that the person who gave this account considers taking a sabbatical from their Civil Service post and spending six months in the private sector? I doubt they would last long.

    Ian McNicholas
    Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire

    Good letter. Strange, isn’t it, that those Snivel Serpents complaining about Raab’s conduct apparently have anonymity, whereas those providing evidence about Johnson’s conduct have to go on the record. I have an inkling which investigation is likely to succeed…

  18. ‘Morning, Peeps. Overcast but dry (so far).

    SIR – You report on the allegations of bullying made against Dominic Raab by an anonymous civil servant.

    “Hard staring”? Shocking behaviour by a boss. “Raising his voice”? Unimaginably traumatic. “Long silences”? Practically criminal.

    Could I suggest that the person who gave this account considers taking a sabbatical from their Civil Service post and spending six months in the private sector? I doubt they would last long.

    Ian McNicholas
    Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire

    Good letter. Strange, isn’t it, that those Snivel Serpents complaining about Raab’s conduct apparently have anonymity, whereas those providing evidence about Johnson’s conduct have to go on the record. I have an inkling which investigation is likely to succeed…

  19. SIR – I studied law at university in the 1970s. Capital punishment had been abolished some years earlier and replaced by life imprisonment.

    The legal test for someone being guilty of murder beyond reasonable doubt had flaws, and serious miscarriages of justice had taken place. Examples included the executions of Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley.

    Before politicians such as Lee Anderson, the new Conservative deputy chairman, start mouthing off about the subject, may I politely suggest they avail themselves of some professional criminal legal advice? The risk of getting it wrong is simply too great.

    Kim Potter
    Lambourn, Berkshire

    No risk at all of such a mistake in Lee Rigby’s case.

    1. SIR – Lee Anderson is a man of the people and not afraid to speak his mind, especially on the question of whether capital punishment should be reinstated for the most serious crimes.

      I know that if one my children had been murdered by Dennis Nilsen or Peter Sutcliffe I couldn’t have lived with the thought that the state was keeping such people alive and safe at my expense.

      Mina Bowater
      Blandford Forum, Dorset

      That’s more like it. Well said, Ms Bowater!

    2. Derek William Bentley (30 June 1933 – 28 January 1953) was a British man who was hanged for the murder of a policeman during a burglary attempt. Christopher Craig, then aged 16, a friend and accomplice of Bentley, was accused of the murder. Bentley was convicted as a party to the crime, by the English law principle of common purpose, “joint enterprise”, as the burglary had been committed in mutual understanding and bringing deadly weapons. The outcome of the trial, and Home Secretary David Maxwell Fyfe’s failure to grant clemency to Bentley, were highly controversial.

      The jury at the trial found Bentley guilty based on the prosecution’s interpretation of the ambiguous phrase “Let him have it” (Bentley’s alleged exhortation to Craig) after the judge, Lord Chief Justice Goddard, had described Bentley as “mentally aiding the murder of Sidney Miles”. Goddard sentenced Bentley to be hanged, despite a recommendation for mercy by the jury: Under the Judgment of Death Act 1823, no other sentence was possible (subsequently the Homicide Act 1957, which introduced stronger “diminished responsibility” safeguards, was all but certainly influenced by the Bentley trial).

      The Bentley case became a cause célèbre, and led to a 45-year-long campaign to win Derek Bentley a posthumous pardon, which was granted in 1993, and then a further campaign for the quashing of his murder conviction, which occurred in 1998. His case is thus considered a case of miscarriage of justice alongside that of Timothy Evans, and pivotal in the successful campaign to abolish capital punishment in the United Kingdom.

  20. Good morning all.
    A bit late after being kept awake a couple of hours by the DT’s upset stomach.
    An almost spring like 4°C outside today, dry and with an overcast sky.

    1. +6C and strong winds this morning here. Much thawing going on! Snow level still half way up the windows, though.

  21. Reposted from late last night

    Saturday 11th February, 2023

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ba0936b08278cb2801c4ab71e8cf7c3df623ec65fbeabe6e32bb1ad1a219c291.jpg

    Phizzee

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a4086c2a7ece30c79bea4f69471a1df04098d5fee01b5061e3aca4b7f4f50644.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e281877e66f9640965428cfaf7612b736a56b10f037dc7830d6ff3f7e0f8aba9.png

    and very many effervescent returns

    With best wishes

    Caroline and Rastus

        2. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday Phizzee! Have a wonderful day and get your glitzy glad rags on! Sending love and kisses! 🎂💕🍾

    9. Happy Birthday, Phizzee! Have a grrrrrrreat day….. 🎵Enjoy yourself..!🎶 🎉🍹🍨🍰🥂🍾🎉

    10. Happy 9th Birthday (The First 50 years are just Practice) and 364 Happy Unbirthdays, in the coming year

        1. Pretty much, thanks. Son got caught up at work and couldn’t visit as arranged but he’s visiting this afternoon.

    12. Grattis på födelsedagen, Filippo Lippi [or should that be ‘Lippi Filippo’?]. Hope its a decent day for you, chum. 😉🍸🧅🧀🦴🥫🐻

  22. At last, a true Conservative in a sea of socialists and liberals? From today’s DT:

    Voters are ‘sick to death’ of net zero, says Lee Anderson

    New deputy Conservative Party chairman says it must ‘stop pandering to footballers’ over policies that are ‘not a vote winner’

    ByDominic Penna, POLITICAL REPORTER
    10 February 2023 • 5:35pm

    Lee Anderson, the new deputy Conservative chairman, has said voters are “sick to death” of hearing about net zero.

    The MP for Ashfield added that the poorest in society were paying the highest price for efforts to bring down emissions, in remarks made before his appointment on Tuesday.

    Mr Anderson also attacked film stars and students who flew out to attend the annual Cop climate summits, which he labelled as “nonsense”.

    Speaking to the Car26 pressure group, which is campaigning for a referendum on net zero, Mr Anderson said: “People are sick to death of being dictated to by the do-gooders, and by people like me, about this net zero journey.

    “Now I’m not a [climate] denier, I think we’ve got to leave our planet in a better condition than we found it in – look after your rivers, your seas, your oceans and stuff like that. But that said, it is unfair on the poorest in society, because they’re paying the price.”

    Mr Anderson insisted that the policy of reaching zero emissions by 2050, which was included in the 2019 Tory manifesto, was “not a vote winner” and that it “never comes up” when speaking to his constituents about their concerns.

    In his reshuffle this week, Rishi Sunak created a new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, designed to bring down bills and “seize the opportunities of net zero”.

    ‘Civil servants still hold Blairite views’

    Elsewhere in the interview Mr Anderson, a former miner who represents a Red Wall seat, revealed that he and his family had “hated” Margaret Thatcher because of the impact of closures on their community.

    “It was personal – the pits were closing, that was our livelihoods,” he said. “When you close a coal mine in a place like this, you’re not just closing a coal mine, you’re closing the miners’ welfare where we drank, where you socialise – the whole community.”

    He also labelled the Civil Service “one of the biggest problems in this country”, suggesting officials still held Blairite views that led to “woke nonsense” in Whitehall.

    When asked about the next election, Mr Anderson warned his party faced “big, big trouble” unless it had “sorted or appear to have sorted” the migrant crisis by the end of March.

    I want to win my seat again as a Conservative. I want the Conservative Party to be more like me. I want them to stop pandering to footballers when footballers come on the TV and say some of this stuff, pandering to them.”

    Death penalty remarks

    On Thursday, Mr Sunak was forced to reject Mr Anderson’s call for the return of the death penalty in a separate interview with The Spectator, also carried out prior to taking on his new role.

    Mr Anderson had said he would bring back capital punishment because “nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed”.

    He insisted the killers of soldier Lee Rigby should have been executed in the “same week” as releasing their video confession.

    Asked about the remarks, Mr Sunak said they did not represent either his personal view or the Government’s view.

    * * *

    The leading BTL (of 1,557 so far):

    Don Murray14 HRS AGO

    Steady Lee! You’ll be saying next that the NHS isn’t the state religion, mass immigration is not a net benefit to the country and that a man can’t have a baby!

    Quite so!  I fear that Lee Anderson’s term of office may be a very short one!

    1. “Asked about the remarks, Mr Sunak said they did not represent either his personal view or the Government’s view. He added that he did not give a rat’s patootie that these views are shared by 99% of the electorate, since the electorate is irrelevant.*”

      *I may have made the last bit up.

      1. It was what he meant though. Anyone who has not lost their critical thinking facility knows the great global warming scam is nothing to do with CO2 or saving the planet – it’s a money -making scam for the suppliers of windmills, solar farms and the rest. Too many people, especially the young, have been totally brainwashed.

    2. He’s still got some way to go. There’s no use denying being a climate denier; you’ve got to be full-on ‘more CO2 is good’ and its all a Great Big Marxist Lie.

  23. Morning all 😉 😊
    Not quite the forecast expected no sun yet 🤔
    But another birthday in the family today, our lovely granddaughter is 3. Already seen a photo of her on her new bicycle.
    And tonight an evening out with friends to see a 60s -70s band. I hope the play requests. Take it Easy.

    Cheer up Tom, there’s a lot of us in a similar situation, get rid of the Warfarin sitting waiting for the blood tests is a PIA your GP to prescribe apixaban.
    It’s just a swallow twice a day.

    1. I think Tom’s not so much fed up with the Warfarin but it’s the loneliness that’s got to him. He’s missing Judy and knows she won’t have him back. He needs company and doesn’t seem to have made any friends in Moffat. We’re here but not in person and he needs someone local to talk to.

    2. Problem with quitting the pills is the possibility of a stroke or heart attack that leaves you even more broken, dribbling, even, yet still alive and even less able to avoid the crap going on. So, don’t go there. Get better pills.

        1. No, it won’t. It’ll make things worse. Much, much worse, as he’ll be broken physically.

      2. As I said Obs Apixaban. A blood thinner.
        I use to have queue up for bloodtests every two weeks, wait a day for the result and if necessary, under advice, reprogram the amount of Warfarin for the next two weeks and so on.

          1. I had a TIA shortly after catheter ablation at Hammersmith. 6 years ago, I’ve been taking Apixaban ever since.
            Safari so goody. 😉
            Must go now I may be some time……as in tomorrow.
            Have a good day yall.

  24. G’morning all,

    Cloudy start to the day up in the Great Wen. A bit of shopping after breakfast and then back to the country. There’s only so much multi-culturalism one can take.

    1. Fat bloke on his phone while sitting on Sam Bankman-Frauds face.

      All MacDonalds need armed guards.

      1. The masks! You forgot the masks!

        And Bankman-Fraud telling Americans that they can all be as rich as he is, if they just apply themselves and work a little bit harder.

      1. The photo is proof that we’re living in the dystopian future.

        Apparently the American financial elite are now cracking down on independent cryptos – so as to leave people with no alternative to CBDCs, one suspects. Apparently Nigerians are using Bitcoin in order to avoid their country’s CBDC.

    3. There’s a lot wrong there: the huge fat maskwearing guy on the bench, the armed guard at the door and the FTX poster. And I’d never darken a Macnasties door.

    4. There’s a lot wrong there: the huge fat maskwearing guy on the bench, the armed guard at the door and the FTX poster. And I’d never darken a Macnasties door.

    5. There’s a lot wrong there: the huge fat maskwearing guy on the bench, the armed guard at the door and the FTX poster. And I’d never darken a Macnasties door.

    6. How do you stuff a hamburger and chips into your fat face if you are wearing a soggy, snot-filled, face-nappy over your fat gob?

    3. Mine are only just up the “garden”. I’ve a lot of sorting to do and it’s chainsaw at the ready!

  28. This is a good listen re the Nord Stream sabotage and Seymour Hersh’s report on his substack. The revelation that there may be people in high places in the Biden regime who are so appalled by the sabotage that they have begun to leak facts is warming for the people and chilling for the regime.

    https://twitter.com/21WIRE/status/1624143602002628612

    Hersh’s substack article is here..

  30. .Morning All

    The absolute evil grows apace…..

    https://twitter.com/catturd2/status/1624074451980525571?cxt=HHwWhoCx8f_G74ktAAAA
    Why is it so important to get the poison juice into children??
    Simple,if it’s authorised for children it gives legal immunity to the jab
    CDC the best regulator you can buy……
    Edit
    They need the indemnity because it’s all coming out…….
    https://twitter.com/naomirwolf/status/1624250508029444096?s=20&t=OFNUGWmr18YVFYVoyd9zZQ

  31. Good morning from a Saxon Queen with blooded axe and longbow in handbag .

    A mild but dull day, just back from the farm shop – as told by others here, I never found those elusive Seville oranges for my sauce. I’ll make do with the usual oranges.

      2. Last time we bought marmalade in the UK, we found it horribly filled with sugar.
        SWMBOs is as low sugar as she can get away with.

    3. The boss found some yesterday (Seville oranges that is, not longbow or axen). An old fashioned green grocer had the only ones within about a hundred miles of us.

      Their entire stock is now destined to be used in marmalade by the Hospital fundraising group.

  32. ‘Morning Medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/89bbe3481c123a06848a0639c35eb85d7b56bc11b2716dffa60e96cc74f5291d.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/40c2c4ca28c604c69d35f705b2a5aa2bb2c278b08fe2f0619fdcac8fe6a39ae5.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/51a38cec54e219b1ff48c3a23bd665b4cab81d8b267e3aa5f40343a62379cac6.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0a9bab66f7cef9d8a01294860e9d232805466a692fc32a6f98202556c870b6d5.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0572a33cf04773623bf14e1afb43ec88403df935c03d9b3a9f114edfce9d19b0.png

  33. Laura Trevelyan: ‘It will be interesting to see what the King does about slavery’. 11 February 2023

    The Trevelyan family recently apologised for their forebears’ slave-ownership and attracted a flurry of attention – both good and bad

    “I think it will be very interesting to see what King Charles does,” says Trevelyan. “Obviously, Harry has a wife of African-American descent. There are now royal grandchildren of African-American descent, as well as the Royals’ own history of endorsing slavery, so there’s no ignoring it.”

    While she won’t demand a royal apology herself, she concurs with a BBC royal watcher who predicts “that the Royal family will eventually apologise”. When it comes to the Government, she is more explicit. The Trevelyans have formally demanded that Britain engages with a 10-point plan drawn up by the Caribbean intergovernmental organisation Caricom “to apologise and to make reparations”.

    Ahh! This is what it was all about! A little virtue signalling with moral blackmail as a side dish. She doesn’t really mean the King of course. She means you and me through our taxes. We should pay this!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/11/laura-trevelyan-will-interesting-see-what-king-does-slavery/

    1. We’ve made reparations – look at the massive cost in both lives and money involved in stopping slavery – all paid for by Britain! Time for these virtue signalling idiots to STFU!

      1. Don’t be silly. Reparations are big business, they will stretch it out for as long as they can.

        It is like the indian graves across Canada. Thousands of possible graves identified but not one single site has been opened up and the bodies (if any) exhumed. We just keep on dumping a billion dollars or so in the direction of the band chiefs and their lawyers.

    2. Good morning Minty

      I am sick and tired of all the talk about slavery .

      Visit the Tolpuddle martyrs museum . I doubt whether any blacks have a clue about the hardship and agony that went into making GB great over the many centuries .

      We are all now slaves to the taxman .

      The Tax Poem

      Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table at which he’s fed.

      Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes are the rule.

      Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts anyway!

      Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt.

      Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think.

      Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries tax his tears.

      Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways to tax his ass.

      Tax all he has, Then let him know, That you won’t be done till he has no dough.

      When he screams and hollers, Then tax him some more, Tax him till he’s good and sore.

      Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he’s laid.

      Put these words Upon his tomb, ‘Taxes drove me to my doom…’

      When he’s gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply the inheritance tax.

      1. “I am sick and tired of all the talk about slavery.”

        Er … do you have permission to leave your kitchen and waste good spud-peeling time ranting on this forum?

        Just asking! 🤣😘

    3. Perhaps the descendants of slaves should reimburse the British taxpayer for purchasing the freedom of their ancestors – a debt which was only paid off in 2015.

  36. Well, well. It’s all done! I allowed Cook to leave the kitchen – what a trouper she is – barrowing, stacking. Her assistance more than halved the task. What we have now – as shown – are the three sheds on the left full of maple and oak and a bit of conifer. Getting on for 15 cubic yards….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/594bd1ce7d51135e882fd9be1c40704da9190f196d788452557e37dca8b0f8ac.jpg

    I shall treat myself to a Duchesse Anne beer (from Brittany).

    1. Husband reckons you wouldn’t miss a few, but that tree at the front would get in the way of our trailer!

        1. His renovation ie rebuild of the trailer maybe complete by then!🙄. Please bear in mind he was working on it last March, when he fell and broke his ankle!!

    3. By Jove that’s wonderful!

      A shed like that could be soon be made weatherproof, and would provide somewhere comfortable for you and the MR to live whilst apologising for slavery.

      Meanwhile, the big house would rehouse some victims.

      1. We have 30 illegals here already! They are soooooo welcome and sooooo friendly. They are dead smart with their machetes and other ” bladed weapons”. They loved Gus and Pickles – they ate them in some sort of stew…

        1. Not today. About +10C, and windy. Melting like crazy – see the icy sheet in the foreground.

      2. The woodshed is thought to be the original farmhouse, and dates from about 1650 (just before G&T time…).

  37. 370986+ up ticks,

    Dt,

    Grooming gangs still abusing girls a decade after Rochdale scandal, says whistleblower
    A former detective says the police and authorities are still failing to take the matter seriously and are continuing to let victims down

    May one say, to bring it to a noticeable issue children from womb to early adulthood should be under some form of protective incarceration with parents ONLY given visiting rights once a month.

    Something of this nature must be considered if we are to continue to appease diversity and support mass morally illegal immigration, inclusive of the importation of paedophiles on a daily basis. parties .

    It really is bloody clear to see that the lab/lib/con political coalition are in the slave & PIE market this surely cannot be denied.

    1. I believe this evening there is a documentary on the subject on GB News. 7 or 8 o’clock if I remember correctly. Yes, Neil Oliver at 18:00 and then Grooming Gangs: Britain’s Shame, at 20:00. Wont watch it but I will watch Neil Oliver. Just checked the schedule.

      1. It also helps that our generation were open-minded and not brainwashed like the youngsters of today are.

      2. Cleese said the BBC would not be making it. I think Castle Rock are making it in the Caribbean. Eric Idle said we are all old fucks now and should just retreat to our beds and watch telly.

    4. I thought the series was mildly funny as we’d stayed at a similar hotel in Torquay in the 60s. I bought the boxed set a couple of years ago and it was ok I suppose. Got the boxed set out again last week and put it away again after 2 episodes – didn’t find it funny at all

      1. My ex and I encountered a Basil Fawlty in CT once. There was a restaurant by the driving range of a golf course in the next town, so we thought we’d try it.
        We were outside studying the menu on the door, when the door was flung open and a tall man shouted, “Well, are you coming in or not?” We went in and there weren’t many other diners. I can’t remember what we had to eat but it was very good.
        We didn’t go again but it did make us laugh; CT’s own Basil!

      2. Humour has a “laugh-by” date. Humour has moved on since Fawlty Towers. I don’t find it funny any more, either.

        1. Me neither! In fact, I find a lot of it cringe-making! But when I was 18ish. It was hilarious!

        2. Possibly but I need to watch a few episodes of Mind Your Language, Love Thy Neighbour and Please Sir!. Just to be sure.
          The Good Life, ‘Allo ‘Allo! and Monty Python are still funny and there are others. M*A*S*H doesn’t date either.

          1. I’ve got the boxed set of Love Thy neighbour – it’s still funny, Curry and Chips is another good one from that era

    5. What’s more concerning is what the millennial morons do find entertaining. Usually a lot of effing and blinding and tossing puerile insults at truth, decency and Donald Trump, the mere mention of whose name seems to produce hysterics.

      2. They don’t have a sense of humour. They take themselves far too seriously. The funny thing is, that makes them the joke!

    7. Painful to watch… pathetic child. Fawlty towers is hilarious, and should be compulsary. Left snowflakes need a thorough drubbing.

    1. The lawyer suffered an involuntary discharge as the very attractive scanner operator pressed the scan button! ⚠️

    2. “The magnetic field from the machine was so strong that the weapon was pulled from his waist and fired off a round, which hit him in his stomach.”
      Must have been a faulty gun, or inexpertly modified. All reasonably modern handguns have triggers that require the trigger to be pulled completely through to actually fire the gun – safety bars, trigger blocks, and so on. Thus, an impact with the floor should not be able to fire the weapon.

        2. That’s because it fired from open bolt, and the bolt was held open by a sear that attached to the trigger, and that was all – it was designed to cost nowt in manufacture, as the Germans were about to come swarming over the Channel and anything that went bang! was needed. The safeties were in that you didn’t cock the gun unless about to shoot, and the cocking handle could be rotated into a slot that would prevent it moving forward even if the trigger was pulled – or the gun dropped. The MP38 was the same, as was the Sterling submachine gun.

          1. Indeed – I fired one during initial training, the rounds tended to go upwards to the left. The Bren was similar on Auto but as a single shot was pretty accurate. Got my marksmans badge on the .303

          3. Short bursts from a Bren through the firing position of a strong point wrote off more than a few German MGs.

        1. Many don’t have safety catches. Glock, for example, have (amongst other things) a small trigger-in-the-trigger that means a finger has to pull the trigger for it to fire. Plus internal safeties that ensure the dropped gun doesn’t jar the trigger mechanism so the gun fires.

          1. They had to give us idiot proof pistols for out annual range detail. But one chap managed to get out of step with the up, fire, down routine, a fine kill on the grass at his feet. We were generally better when airborne with the 30mm Aden cannon firing 20/sec.

    3. Good grief: you can’t even take flowers into hospital.
      Maybe he should have stuck to a bunch of grapes and a newspaper.

    1. They tried using a fire eggstinguisher but it didn’t work the way they eggspected. 🤔

  43. Right, just had a mug of tea and am about to head off up the “garden” again.
    I’m largely doing tidying up and have already tidied up the ropes & straps I used to fell the elm yesterday. Now sorting the small bits of tree into bits usable as kindling, bits for chop sawing and stacking in mushroom trays and brash to be burnt.

      1. Yes. It had been in leaf every spring up until last year when it failed and the bark was peeling off the lower sections. I’ll have to do a ring count and see how old it was.

  44. We whose ancestors owned slaves want to make amends – but nations must also pay their due. 11 February 2023.

    What do you do when you discover your family got rich through slavery? For Laura Trevelyan, the BBC correspondent whose ancestors owned more than 1,000 enslaved people in Grenada, the answer was simple. She and her family started discussions with people on the island, and now she has given £100,000 towards an economic development fund. The Trevelyans will apologise formally for the lives ruined and wasted by their ancestors’ greed.

    So why doesn’t everyone – and there are hundreds of thousands in Britain with the same history – do a little digging and say sorry?

    This is of course the thin end of the wedge and the purpose of Trevelyan’s gesture. She will pay what is for her a pittance and the peasants will cough up the rest. The author of this piece who is carrying a torch here for Trevelyan and her family is wrong. Hundreds of thousands of people do not share their history. We and our ancestors did not own any slaves. Slave ownership was the province of the rich. This must be so because there were no slaves in England at any time. It was in fact illegal to own them in England. That is why even the aristocracy did not bring them as house servants or whatever because once their feet touched English soil they were freemen!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/11/ancestors-slaves-family-plantations-profits

    1. Perhaps she should have given the money back to British taxpayers, who were the ones funding the compensation that her family got when Britain made slavery illegal.

      1. Afternoon BB. Oddly enough I don’t recall Trevelyan mentioning the compensation which must have been paid to her ancestors when the family slaves were freed!

        2. The Trevelyan woman’s ancestor was awarded 34,000 gold sovereigns as compensation.*
          You won’t buy a gold sovereign for under £350; 34,000 units @ 350 per unit = £11,900,000. That would be the value of the compo if they had left it under a mattress, ignoring the numismatic premium. However, if you apply compound interest to the sum over a period of 190 years, the woman is insulting all the descendants of enslaved people.

          *The sum can be checked on a datebase somewhere.

    2. Of courset the descendants of the ‘Slave Gathering Babary Pirates’ who operated around the coast of UK, in times gone by, will pay a very large sum of money to us, in repatriation.

    3. No, nations should not. That forces a collective responsibility that is repellant. Your money, your choices, but you’ve no right to waste mine.

      Then there’s all the immigrants you lot have forced in. And of course, those of us related to the military who fought against your slave trade. Ah yes, you forgot about them, didn’t you?

      1. And the people of Britain, whose taxes had to pay for the ending of the slave trade. I don’t recall any African chiefs being asked to contribute.

    4. Ah, the stupid, virtue signalling Trevelyan is a BBC correspondent – now it all becomes clear! And she’s a cheapskate too – £100 per slave!?

      2. She’s just some weak-minded child of privilege who has made her career lecturing other people about how they should live. Her publicity-seeking is the very opposite of the Christianity that inspired Cromwell and Wilberforce to ban the odious trade. Yet she seeks to take on their hard-earned anti-slavery mantle.

    5. No doubt people whose ancestors were forced up chimneys or ended up in workhouses will be expected to pay too. I’d say the slaves probably had the better deal.

      Oh and how about Turkey paying for the Barbary pirate slave ships among others?

    6. The Anglo-Saxons had slaves, drawn from their own population.
      The Normans abolished slavery by just calling them serfs.

  46. Well, well. This is the first rugby match I have watched for over 3 years. I hadn’t realised how long the Irish national anthem is…!!

    Setting the scrum seems to take even longer than I remember – and then the ball is put into the second row. Why have a hooker?

    And the TMO stuff takes long enough to make the players freeze…..

    Apart from that – a corker of a match. So far.

      1. Ys, but when some donkey brain senile bloke, oblivious to the traffic behind him in a gigantic land rover decided to pootle along at 26mph in a 50 road – a straight, dry, high visibility road he just held up traffic.

        That lack of awareness is as dangerous as speeding.

  47. I checked on OFCOM today. They will not interfere with comments on the internet. I expect some other authority will be keeping an eye on our activities. I could find no leading names on their site. The first photo was of an African woman but no name or position in OFCOM.

    3. They wanted socialism, this is just the start of the control freakery they enforce to get their way.

  49. Rap star AKA is gunned down and killed as he walked from car to restaurant in South Africa in point-blank shooting

    Oh dear, how terrible! All those diners having their meals disrupted by ignorant, inconsiderate thugs. I hope they are caught and severely reprimanded.

  50. Re yer rugby.

    I don’t hold with these “mass” substitutions – which mean that a whole lot of fresh players come on at a critical point…..

    Seems to defeat the point of a “test” match..

  52. I’ve likened driving a Hyundai Kona to flying a Spitfire so before you switch the battery (inboard) on as shown in the following video you should really check the status of the voltmeter that shows the health of the Spitfire’s battery:

    At the moment in the Kona it’s only got 51% charge at 12.31 volts but there’s 445 cranking amps to start the enormous engine:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f3351beced7913ae08ccacd115b264dad0018b43f506c66d5bcc39cb6631b008.jpg

    For a wartime sortie I’d expect to use the Trolley Acc instead of the inboard battery to starr the Spitfire.
    This is known as pre-conditioning in Spitfires fitted with the electric Merlin.

    https://youtu.be/O-sZcru_whA

    Have you spotted the voltmeter on the instrument panel?

    1. I am glad that we are not allowed EVs in our apartment building and had to buy a boring old petrol driven beast, I don’t think that I could work out all of this battery charging malarkey.

  53. Well, on the plus side of unexpected moving expenses, at least I won’t need to pay for a gym subscription.
    (I wouldn’t anyway, but I’m just trying to be positive.)

    2. I think you neatly expressed his issue last night and its rather difficult for us to solve, other than give support if requested. Im sure there are some who will call him. We all need close friends.

    3. I think you neatly expressed his issue last night and its rather difficult for us to solve, other than give support if requested. Im sure there are some who will call him. We all need close friends.

        1. Thank you – in my own experience, having dated some godawful harpies – their damage to your own psyche isn’t worth their presence.

          1. Having spent a very happy 31 years with the MR (whose patience is never ending and tolerance out of the world) I still occasionally wonder why my previous wife dumped me – completely out of the blue. I imagine it was for the money she screwed out of me.

          2. (When you go home
            Tell them of us and say)
            It was for your tomorrow, but she wanted hers that day.

      2. He lived with her in Norfolk for a few years but she decided he couldn’t stay any longer.
        Edit – I think it was Suffolk.

    1. This was proposed some years ago by Mr Gates (remember him?)

      It was forbidden because if too much sulphur is released into the atmosphere the earth becomes too cold

      for many, possibly hundreds, of years.

      No one has yet produced proof of the correct amount of sulphur.

      However it appears OK for the Mexicans to do it.

      Before you start saying “So what?” bear in mind that every degree Celsius increase in the world’s temperature allows

      300 miles further north to be cultivated for grain.

      May we assume that for every degree decrease the cultivable area will move 300 miles further south?

      If you move the boundary 300 miles south in Canada, Russia and China you lose a large amount of grain production.

      Even worse if you move the boundary 600 or 900 miles further south !!

    2. I believe it is a straightforward scam, paying for “cooling credits”.
      The amount of sulphur needed to have the slightest effect would be enormous, when the Iceland volcanoes erupted years ago, I gather it was estimated the best part of 100000 tons of sulphurous material was ejected into the atmosphere – effect on the climate – absolutely zero.

  58. ‘Night All

    Odds and sods cats and dogs

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a0c4c4f9879be413d7117e02b459cdb763c7ce52641af861103bdffd119b08cf.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/54ae9a078a72a5955fda68ad9ad544b9044fe0adfecf2aa2839ac01e79c7328f.gif

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c85039779efad8c681a81a8c7df4449f0f02d544f2477d91e4ae7290abb8433c.gif

    https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/126/997/452/original/6126f0072fdb4574.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bad5eb99b3070466698b3a6245004a6935318babb5e0f6284908b3d75a05ca21.jpg

    We’re buggered (well I am)

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7a3c108d854849e165ae0acc112479173fde093a09a75af4fc0c26ae79c91bac.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dc4ae21e7339b26396e6ac6ad3b412a139343a59be60c4b0f6f03c2dab5b725c.jpg

  59. Blasphemy accused burnt to death in Nankana Sahib in latest mob lynching. 11 February 2023

    Another lynching incident was reported in Pakistan today where a man was beaten to death by a mob over alleged blasphemy, it emerged on Saturday.

    The heinous incident comes months after a mob tortured and burned a Sri Lankan manager in Sialkot over alleged blasphemy in a horrific attack that brought shame to fifth most populated country.

    The recent incident took place in Nankana Sahib where hundreds of charged people stormed a police station, assaulted a man in police custody until he died, and then torched his body. Graphic clips on social media show scores of people chanting slogans, and barging into a local police station.

    We must send them some more money!

    https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/11-Feb-2023/blasphemy-accused-burnt-to-death-in-nankana-sahib-in-latest-mob-lynching

    1. Just make the accusation and that’s it. Probably getting rid of a business rival. They are all savages and they shouldn’t be here either.

  60. That’s me gone for today, Very satisfying. Relatively mild. Logs all done. Phew! Then a smashing rugby match.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

  61. Headline: Jobless will have to learn work sills or have their benefits cut in new ‘carrot and stick’ crackdown on unemployment D Fail

    Looks like the Dreary Fail is ahead of the game – many of its proof readers qualify for employment training already.

  62. Comments closed. DT don’t have a clue.

    Viking statue linked to ‘far-Right and slavery’, police warn council

    Audit of local landmarks that followed Black Lives Matter protests sees South Tyneside Council warned about the name of a shopping centre

    By Craig Simpson

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/02/11/TELEMMGLPICT000324901230_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=680
    An unrealistic Viking statue outside a shopping centre in Jarrow has been featured in a police review

    Vikings could be connected to the far-Right, according to a police-backed audit of monuments linked to “oppressive behaviour”.

    Northumbria Police took part in a review of statues and landmarks to establish which sites might be associated with slavery and other forms of oppression, according to documents seen by The Telegraph.

    The audit determined that several sites related to the Vikings could have “associations with far-Right symbolism”, the internal documents state.

    The sites in question include a modern sculpture of two Viking warriors and a shopping centre in Jarrow, South Tyneside, where the local council launched the review of statues in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

    The statue was built in the early 1960s CREDIT: Lorne Campbell/Guzelian
    An internal note to South Tyneside Council’s leadership informed them of the results of this work, stating: “Council officers (working with Northumbria Police) have undertaken a review of South Tyneside’s statues and landmarks to determine if any have links to slavery or oppressive behaviour.”

    Northumbria Police ranked sites on a colour-coded basis, according to internal documents, with location linked to the Vikings being given an “amber” rating, the worst level of rating issued in the review. Most sites received “green”.

    A note on the “Viking Statue” and the “Viking Precinct” shopping centre in Jarrow told council leadership that this could have “connections / associations with far-Right symbolism and Nordic mythology”.

    The statue depicting two unrealistic warriors with helmets and shields was erected in the early 1960s, possibly in reference to Viking raids on the north-east in the early Middle Ages, and the nearby shopping precinct was also named “Viking” as a nod to these events.

    These sites were given an “amber” rating along with a statue of Queen Victoria, for “links to Empire/Colonialism”, and two sites – the Old Town Hall and Customs House in nearby South Shields – that were linked to race riots which took place in the 1930s.

    The involvement of Northumbria Police has raised questions about the use of police time on “ideological” tasks, although the assessment of the Vikings may have been for the safety of the statues themselves. The force itself has not commented on the review.

    David Spencer, a former Metropolitan Police officer who now researches crimes and policing for the think tank Policy Exchange, said that the statue review “appears to be a bizarre use of police resources”.

    He added: “When they pay their council tax, this surely cannot be what local residents expect police officers to be doing.”

    Former officer Harry Miller, the founder of the Fair Cop group concerned with police “overreach” into political matters, told The Telegraph: “We are in grave danger of our police becoming politically motivated zealots more akin to the Stasi and the Inquisition than the traditional Dixon of Dock Green figure. Nothing good can come of ideological policing.”

    The note delivered to the leadership of South Tyneside includes comments on what damage had been inflicted on the amber-rated landmarks, advising that as “there have been no incidents of vandalism” it was not necessary to “undertake any action at present”.

    South Tyneside council, which also reviewed local blue plaques and street names, ultimately did not take any action to remove statues or make any alterations to the public spaces. It has not commented, but previously stated: “As a result of the review, we are not planning to take any further action at this time.”

    Norse mythology and images of Aryan warriors were co-opted by the Nazis, and the stylised initials of the SS used the Nordic rune “sowilo”, which has the appearance of a lightning bolt.

    The Anti-Defamation League in the US has claimed in online guidance that “white supremacists have … appropriated the runic alphabet”.

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

    The conversation is now closed

    P Sutherland
    3 HRS AGO
    Typical. You report a Viking raid in 794 and the police only turn up now!

    1. Rather a good statue – they look distinctly menacing.
      I suppose the Wokes will want to cancel York now.

      1. I was born in Jute Road and raised from age 4 to 20 just around the corner in Viking Road in York/Jorvik. No hope for me at all.

        Actually the Vikings arrived in York in 866 and settled in without any substantial resistance. They were industrious, contributed to the church and made York an international port. The Normans who took over from them in 1066 were, initially at least, far more destructive.

        2. Apparently, the Viking men got on well with the local women because the Vikings were clean, unlike the local men.

    2. “White supremacists have appropriated the runic alphabet”

      Really? Do they use it to send little coded messages to each other, like “Rebellion on Sunday at 8pm?”
      Are these white supremacists in the room with us now?

    4. My father, West Riding through and through, traced our family name back to the Domesday book and further to the Vikings. He was very proud of this, and that his lineage for many generations, was descended directly from Viking blood. Not as he used to say, like those effing bastard dukes who were given dukedoms because they were illegitimate bastards sired by royalty.

  63. A pedestrian Par Four for me.

    Wordle 602 4/6
    ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
    🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. A surprise 3 today.

      Wordle 602 3/6

      ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
      ⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. A close call for me.
      Wordle 602 6/6

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

      1. I was just thinking someone should pay for a contract killing. No point in trying to pursue the murdering bastard through legitimate means. They have that all sewn up nice and neat.

    3. Sunak is an investor in Moderna and was associated with the company from its inception in some guise or other. His vast wealth is derived from Moderna, not from his wife whose father has also profited greatly from the Scamdemic.

      Moderna’s only product is the Covid clot-shot. This explains why Sunak sports such a broad toothy grin and is so eager to jump into bed with the UN/WEF agenda and cosy up to their puppets including Biden and Zelensky.

      2. 370932+ up ticks,

        Evening N,

        Deep check those doing the sentencing
        you don’t know what’s cooking they could all be in the same PIE club.

  66. I don’t see Project Veritas lasting long…..
    Little film here where one of their journalists confronts the Youtube boss responsible for pulling the Pfizer /covid mutations video off youtube.
    The Youtube twister is more intelligent than the Pfizer twister, as he keeps his mouth shut.

    https://twitter.com/Iammurphycolet/status/1621929363125026820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1621929363125026820%7Ctwgr%5E3c707de482778b93f0fb54c56fb77416126881ff%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2F10xyunv%3Fresponsive%3Dtrueis_nightmode%3Dfalse

  68. After a couple of glasses Chianti and a half pizza, now have La Traviata on the mega-TV, with Pavarotti in the lead role. Volume is too high, and the music and voices are just fabulous… a recital rather than stage performance, but even so… The talent is just staggering. Brings a tear to the eye, so it does.

    2. Half a pizza? I’ve just had a full (home-made) pizza!

      It were nobbut a little ‘un though! 😉

      1. Don’t eat so much these days. One small meal a day seems to suffice. Plenty coffee, though…

  69. 370932+ up ticks,

    Dt,

    There is little point to Brexit if our leaders have given up on democracy It is now barely possible to distinguish between the beliefs of Labour and the Tories, which leaves voters with no meaningful choice

    The lab/lib/con/current ukip ARE A BLOODY COALITION and have been since very early ( same day) post Mrs Thatcher.

    The voters choice is this odious coalition, or mass burn the membership card and mass support / join a credible fringe party just prior to the next General Election.

    Stick with the regular voting pattern and YOU, your children, and YOUR children’s children will become addicted shite gobblers looking at a future that can only get worse.

    It is now barely possible to distinguish between the beliefs of Labour and the Tories, which leaves voters with no meaningful choice

    1. Just had a cup of tea and inspecting the tea leaves, nothing unusual showing…..maybe I should look at the stars tonight to see if there are any omens up there!!

      1. There could be something brewing….been rather mild here today. Who knows? Things happen. If a comet is heading to UK, I bet I and many others could suggest an appropriate place to hit!

        1. Possibly, now that Dolly and Harry are working as a team…they could have unrolled the loo paper and tied him up! Or, he’s had one tipple too many;-))

  72. Suella Braverman
    “Just because an illegal migrant in Knoxley Hotel
    is alleged to have sexually propositioned an underage child it’s not
    grounds for violent protests”
    Fuck you bitch,many of us have grandchildren in that age range anything that threatens them I ain’t gonna be protesting I have friends that own JCB’s
    Just saying……….

      1. Nothing changes when my stepdaughter hit the age when she wanted to go clubbing i had no fears my “crew” were in the same clubs and anyone who laid a hand on her would have got battered they thought of her as a younger sister at 18 she went to an art college in an “enriched” town where she and her friends were harrassed by a group of Moslems I and the “crew” 6 ex RMC and 3 local hard men paid a visit we won’t fight you,we won’t hurt you we will kill you the harrassment stopped overnight
        They only understand one thing

    2. Braverman cannot have failed to notice that muslims behave in exactly this way. They feel offended in some way, form a mob. Then go ranting around the streets.

          1. Actually, that’s a steamed rice dumpling seller’s bike. But it’s prolly as close as one is likely to get to Yorkshire pud in those parts. Still looks risky, though.

            Frankly, from some of the photos, I think I’d rather take my chances in Antakya…

          4. Riches are overrated, Jools. Over the years, I’ve been known to push the acceptable load limit of the odd car (inside, or on the roof rack) beyond acceptable limits. But I’m an amateur compared to these guys…

          5. Don’t worry, the elites are out to taxes into oblivion.

            We are about to get a tax on pop cans so I guess that I wil be down to scotch with water.

          9. They have been trying to put a tax on wells. Maybe they are annoyed that people can get something for free. Free huh! Apart from the filter, the softener and steriliser that is.

          15. No doubt expert advice but there is so much chlorine in our tap water t.hat it will harm the taste.
            There is a refundable deposit on wine bottles, that will also do.

            We are only 400 yards from the nearest pub, hopefully they have restocked from last night’s gym outing and we can stay on draft.

          18. We don’t drink the tap water here….too many reports of contamination. We both used to think it was poncy to buy bottled water but it’s the norm now.

          22. We’re on the south coast and there have been numerous reports of sewage discharges into rivers etc.

          24. he town gets our water from lake ontari, they dump so much chlorine into it that nothing nasty could survive.

          26. Interesting the bottled water conundrum. Bottled water is not recommended to make babies feed as it contains too many contaminants ie sodium.

  74. This is not a parody…

    Viking statue linked to ‘far-Right and slavery’, police warn council

    Audit of local landmarks that followed Black Lives Matter protests sees South Tyneside Council warned about the name of a shopping centre

    By Craig Simpson • 11 February 2023 • 2:03pm

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2c95e6294981b89f1c99468d2fa5eb593cfcfe6d55d4fbc1ecdc7b5c4ecc4cc6.jpg
    Vikings could be connected to the far-Right, according to a police-backed audit of monuments linked to “oppressive behaviour”.

    Northumbria Police took part in a review of statues and landmarks to establish which sites might be associated with slavery and other forms of oppression, according to documents seen by The Telegraph.

    The audit determined that several sites related to the Vikings could have “associations with far-Right symbolism”, the internal documents state.

    The sites in question include a modern sculpture of two Viking warriors and a shopping centre in Jarrow, South Tyneside, where the local council launched the review of statues in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

    An internal note to South Tyneside Council’s leadership informed them of the results of this work, stating: “Council officers (working with Northumbria Police) have undertaken a review of South Tyneside’s statues and landmarks to determine if any have links to slavery or oppressive behaviour.”

    Northumbria Police ranked sites on a colour-coded basis, according to internal documents, with location linked to the Vikings being given an “amber” rating, the worst level of rating issued in the review. Most sites received “green”.

    A note on the “Viking Statue” and the “Viking Precinct” shopping centre in Jarrow told council leadership that this could have “connections / associations with far-Right symbolism and Nordic mythology”.

    The statue depicting two unrealistic warriors with helmets and shields was erected in the early 1960s, possibly in reference to Viking raids on the north-east in the early Middle Ages, and the nearby shopping precinct was also named “Viking” as a nod to these events.

    These sites were given an “amber” rating along with a statue of Queen Victoria, for “links to Empire/Colonialism”, and two sites – the Old Town Hall and Customs House in nearby South Shields – that were linked to race riots which took place in the 1930s.

    The involvement of Northumbria Police has raised questions about the use of police time on “ideological” tasks, although the assessment of the Vikings may have been for the safety of the statues themselves. The force itself has not commented on the review.

    David Spencer, a former Metropolitan Police officer who now researches crimes and policing for the think tank Policy Exchange, said that the statue review “appears to be a bizarre use of police resources”.

    He added: “When they pay their council tax, this surely cannot be what local residents expect police officers to be doing.”

    Former officer Harry Miller, the founder of the Fair Cop group concerned with police “overreach” into political matters, told The Telegraph: “We are in grave danger of our police becoming politically motivated zealots more akin to the Stasi and the Inquisition than the traditional Dixon of Dock Green figure. Nothing good can come of ideological policing.”

    The note delivered to the leadership of South Tyneside includes comments on what damage had been inflicted on the amber-rated landmarks, advising that as “there have been no incidents of vandalism” it was not necessary to “undertake any action at present”.

    South Tyneside council, which also reviewed local blue plaques and street names, ultimately did not take any action to remove statues or make any alterations to the public spaces. It has not commented, but previously stated: “As a result of the review, we are not planning to take any further action at this time.”

    Norse mythology and images of Aryan warriors were co-opted by the Nazis, and the stylised initials of the SS used the Nordic rune “sowilo”, which has the appearance of a lightning bolt.

    The Anti-Defamation League in the US has claimed in online guidance that “white supremacists have … appropriated the runic alphabet”.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/11/viking-statue-linked-far-right-slavery-police-warn-council

    1. I listened to Dinesh D’Sousa refuting the oft repeated claim that America was ‘built on slavery’. It was not. America was built by the pilgrims and enabled by the founding fathers, the folk who set off from England to seek a new life and who departed from our ports such as Ipswich, Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle and others.

      Slavery was eliminated in the South by the Civil War when plantations were burned to the ground and had already dwindled in the North.

      Great Britain paid off British landowners who had interests in slavery at enormous cost just as our Royal Navy owed its formation to the pursuance of slave ships and piracy.

      Slaves ‘founded’ nothing. they may have contributed to the building of plantations and later to the building of buildings. Their descendants arrived here as immigrants, no more no less.

      Just as the slaves in America founded nothing, neither have the immigrants from the Caribbean founded anything in this country.

      Our country was founded by our ancestors, our democracy fought for by generations and until recently we held sway on the world stage as a great and good power.

      Dinesh is of Indian descent and understands that he is an immigrant who sought a better life in America. He makes the point that had the indigenous peoples viz. Native Americans run America he would not have found it an attractive place to emigrate to and would likely have stayed away.

      This is the reality and all of the nonsense in the fake news (BBC) about reparations for slavery by those who never owned slaves to those who never picked cotton or cut sugar cane is just that, fake and nonsensical.

  77. I am signing off. Worn out.
    Fingers crossed for Tom, let’s hope he gets the care and attention he so badly needs.
    I wish you all well and a goodnight.

  79. Good night, chums, and sleep well. Let’s keep Tom in our thoughts. Depression is deeply debilitating illness, hard to conquer.

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