Saturday 13 November: Blaming France won’t solve the migrant crisis. It is time for the Government to act

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

557 thoughts on “Saturday 13 November: Blaming France won’t solve the migrant crisis. It is time for the Government to act”

  2. Blaming France won’t solve the migrant crisis. It is time for the Government to act

    The government has no backbone

    1. SIR – Now that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Border Force are meeting migrants halfway across the Channel and bringing them safely here, it surely doesn’t take more than half a brain to understand why more and more are coming.

      Raymond Whittle
      Marlborough, Wiltshire

      1. Unfortunately, Mr. Whittle,
        the hole of Parliament doesn’t
        appear to have as much as half
        a brain between both Houses!

        Good morning, Citroen.

    2. Does anyone think that the people of Calais are happy with the fact that so many potentially criminal people are vandalising and sullying their town as they hang around waiting for a boat to take them to Britain?

      If British politicians had any integrity or strength at all they would not make Britain so attractive to immigrants and show them that they would be expelled if they tried to enter illegally.

      The Mayor of Calais is right. The miseries of the people of her town have resulted as a consequence of British weakness and incompetence.

      Britain has become the new all expenses paid Mecca with more people now attending mosques than churches.

      1. ….and don’t forget that each of these is allowed to bring in up to ten family members to enjoy welfare benefits.

  6. SIR – They certainly have a sense of humour at the NHS. Not only do I have to drive 30 miles in rush hour to my scan appointment at 9.15 am, I also have to finish drinking two pints of water an hour beforehand.

    Trish Mills
    Dursley, Gloucestershire

    3. Leave home at 6:15, get a spot in the car park at 7:15, drink the water and read a book for 2 hours.
      What do you expect from a nationalised industry? Your time and effort is worth nothing to them.

  7. BTL@DTletters

    Simon Bell
    6 HRS AGO
    I hope that Boris doesn’t believe the story that his dramatic fall in the opinion polls is just the result of the most recent MPs sleaze allegations. It is in fact caused by so much more than that. The illegal migrants crossing the Channel, the daft Green policies, the NI and tax rises, the bungled handling of COVID, fuel price rises and shortages, the erosion of our liberties, wallpapergate, etc etc etc. If Labour weren’t so absolutely clueless about which way to go, he would be 20+ points behind in the polls by now and the 1922 committee would be gathering letters….

    1. …and the announcement of BANS of so many basic things, like petrol, diesel, gas boilers…and replacing them with unaffordable (for many) cars, the cost of installing unaffordable (for most) heating systems that struggle to work and which will knock the national grid out…

      Yes folks, welcome to the non-Conservative party.

      ‘Morning, C1.

      1. Whatever happened to the ‘Boris Bounce’? The 🤡 has taken one pratfall after another and I doubt few if any people find him the least amusing any longer. He is, and it would appear, always was, a fraud.

        2. I’m still waiting for the promised ‘Sunlit Uplands’.

          Boris is a liar and a fraud. As is the majority of his Cabinet.

    2. Watched a video from NZ yesterday, Adern’s popularity has plummeted by 70%. Many thousands of protesters performing the Haka with Adern and her cronies as the targets.

  8. 340529+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 13 November: Blaming France won’t solve the migrant crisis. It is time for the Government to act

    Two elements stopping the “government” acting the major one being the electorate in the majority putting “party” before country, and not having a pro United Kingdom government in situ currently is the second.

    This has been the case for the last, nigh on,four decades.

    As for blaming france that will prove a salve for many LLC coalition members regarding the illegal invasion ” what can the party leaders do”

    They, inclusive of france ARE ALL IN IT TOGETHER.

    Until this is rectified then we will still be on course for the bottom of the odious pit.

    1. 340529+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      Call up ALL United Kingdom indigenous youth to go
      protect the Polish border and when the dust settles and they return they are only allowed back in on a selective basis.

      Dictatorship rules,OK.

    2. When was the last time the UK promised to defend Poland from incursions by hostile types and is anyone capable of recalling how successful that defence was? Bloody (literally) history, will no one learn its lessons?

      1. 341529+ up ticks,
        Morning KtK,

        Sorry K but party before history, the three monkeys in the polling booth dictate that.

  10. Joe Biden is just the start of a crisis in Western leadership that emboldens our enemies

    As our vainglorious politicians gathered in Glasgow to virtue-signal about the climate, China and Russia were busy making plans

    DOUGLAS MURRAY
    12 November 2021 • 9:30pm

    Who is leading the free world? The answer to that is usually clear: the president of the United States. But President Joe Biden is barely presiding over the United States at the moment, let alone the rest of the free world. To say that Biden is sleeping on the job would be unfair and undiplomatic. He is merely somnolent on the job. And stumbling on it.

    In September, when the Australia-US-UK defence pact Aukus was announced, the French were furious to have been frozen out of the announcement. They had been relying on the submarine contract going to them. The French recalled their ambassador from Washington in protest. The US had indeed committed a serious diplomatic oversight in rushing the Aukus announcement without warning the French in advance.

    But when Biden came in for criticism for this diplomatic solecism, what was it that was offered in his defence? Climate envoy and former secretary of state John Kerry said that Biden was not aware of the deal that had existed with the French. Imagine any other time that could have been said. Sorry the president made this mistake: he just wasn’t aware of the facts. Nothing to see here. Similar tactics were displayed this week following Biden’s bizarre reference to American baseball pitcher Satchel Paige as “the great Negro at the time”, as the president’s defenders sought to emphasise he meant to say something else.

    But it is increasingly clear to everybody in America – Democrat and Republican alike – that Biden is deteriorating fast. Even those who have served with him and known him for years privately admit that the man in the Oval Office is not the Joe Biden they knew. He always rambled, was always fond of giving speeches with bizarre, often wholly irrelevant digressions. But he also used to be capable of finding his way back to his point. Not anymore. Which is one reason why his handlers have decided on a dramatic, if (for him) kindly, solution.

    Whenever Biden does make a major policy decision, such as the disastrously swift withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, something quite astonishing happens. The president is promptly hidden from the public. And he is hidden from the press. In the wake of major announcements, the president will make a statement and then he will take no questions from any of the assembled court press, who in America can hardly be honestly described as journalists anymore.

    These correspondents sit obediently and take notes, and then accept that they don’t seem to have the right to question the commander in chief anymore. The truth is that Biden’s aides realise that their man has to be kept away from the cameras as much as possible.

    If the world were not so serious then perhaps a struggling commander in chief would be tolerable, though it is hard to imagine the nirvana in which that could be the case. But the world is a serious place at the moment. As the only global rival to America, China is using this moment of weakness to increase its threats to Taiwan.

    A few weeks ago the intrusion of Chinese jets into Taiwanese airspace caused international comment. Today it has become so routine that it is now an accepted violation. The Chinese are doing what they did with the islands in the South China Sea, testing the waters until they leap in and present the world with a fait accompli.

    It is the same tactic they performed with Hong Kong. They absorbed the island carefully, making intrusion after intrusion into Hong Kong’s affairs, snuffing out press freedom, book-seller freedom, dissident freedom and eventually political freedom as a whole. Then, under the smokescreen of Covid, they grabbed everything they wanted. And what exactly did the world do? They behaved just like those huge banks, such as HSBC, which spend their days advertising their virtues to people in the West through irritating, asininely woke advertising and PR campaigns, while simultaneously kowtowing without complaint to the Chinese Communist Party’s new rules. It has become part of the new global order, this tactic. Loudly lambast everything about the West and its alleged inequalities and act like a lamb before the rapacious communists in Beijing.

    And it isn’t just China. Compared with China, Russia is practically a paper tiger, or rather a paper bear. But President Putin still likes to flex his muscles whenever he can and keeps a very careful eye out for the moments when he can expand again into what he perceives to be his rightful sphere of influence. In recent days, the US has warned the EU that it thinks that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine, a threat that compounds the destructive behaviour of Belarus’s Alexander Lukashenko on the Polish border.

    Putin likes to keep up the suspense on whether he will or won’t act and he is a wily enough actor (as we saw in Crimea in 2014) to eat when he thinks no one is watching. For all the empty talk of Trump being beholden to Russia, it is noticeable that Russia did not gobble away during Trump’s time in office. Putin waits for weak Democrat administrations to be in office to make his moves. And none could be weaker than the one currently sitting in DC.

    So who are the other contenders to lead the West? There was a time when even those of us who were critical of Chancellor Merkel knew that she could see through crises as well as she could, on occasion, also create them. But today she is a lame duck, waiting out her last days in office, with a weak coalition being put together to succeed her. Besides which, on the issues in her immediate vicinity, Merkel has been disastrous.

    Her predecessor Gerhard Schröder went straight from office to work for Putin’s energy giant. Merkel didn’t bother to wait to leave office before agreeing to the construction of Putin’s much dreamed of Nord Stream II. This move will not only massively enrich the Kremlin and its corrupt, oligarchical kleptocracy of a state. It will also – in an era where countries like Germany have made unachievable carbon-cutting promises like everyone else – put European energy supplies at the mercy of the Kremlin.

    We do, of course, have our own Prime Minister here at home. But much as some of us admire his political and personal skills, in office Boris Johnson is proving to be a grave disappointment. He has made a Horlicks of this Parliament. Like his US counterpart, he disappears from view when the going, or questions, get even remotely tough. And he has decided to spend the biggest Tory majority since the 1980s on what exactly?

    Currently, the Conservative Government of Johnson has spent its largest political capital trying to pretend that if you gather a group of world leaders, actors, and school truants together at a conference in Glasgow, then you can solve the world’s climate issues. Ten years ago the journalist Johnson was pouring scorn on the whole premise of the eco-apocalypse doom-mongers. Today he has not just joined their ranks, he has aspired to lead them. Which is why we have had this vainglorious two-week summit in which the world’s biggest polluter (China) didn’t even bother to show up. Though at least we got Leonardo DiCaprio.

    Boris’s Cop26 was a washout. An expansive exercise in squandering cash in return for nothing but hot air and empty promises. Prime Minister Modi of India promised to cut carbon emissions by 2070 and I’m sure we will all be able to hold him to that. But Cop26 was simply a big, wasteful PR stunt. One at which Johnson himself didn’t even especially shine.

    So who is going to stand up for the free world? Macron is busy simply trying to get re-elected. Boris is interested in gestures more than results. Merkel is on the way out and Biden is, to all intents and purposes, missing in action. This is not a great time for the West. But if you are Beijing or Moscow, gosh, is 2021 turning out to be a year of gifts.

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

    Nursey is up early

    A Allan
    13 Nov 2021 7:36AM
    “Kamala, why is there only a red button on my desk? I want a green one as well.”

    “Mr. President, green is the colour of those racist trees.”

    Philippa Squeak
    12 Nov 2021 10:03PM
    Joe Biden quite obviously has advanced stages of dementia. That his wife, family, his handlers, and the Democrat Party are prepared to allow him to continue in office shows how desperate they are that they will keep a sick man in office at any cost. Shameful that those same people dismissed Donald Trump, who at least knew how to run a country, took questions from the media and possessed his mental faculties. Despicable people.

    D Walker
    12 Nov 2021 10:28PM
    @Philippa Squeak

    I remember prior to the election Johnny Rotten (of Sex Pistols fame) being asked what he thought of Biden, and he replied that if he had a vote he’d support Trump because Biden obviously had dementia.

    The interviewer was stunned and denied it ….. Rotten said that he had nursed his wife through dementia and he could easily recognise the signs.

    J Murray
    12 Nov 2021 10:14PM
    “School truant”… The most brilliantly dismissive summary of Thunberg yet.

    But you are absolutely right about Boris. The moment he announced in January that “there is nothing wrong with being Woke” I knew we were in big trouble. And nothing he has done since – indeed, because of all the things he hasn’t done since – my belief in him has all but vanished.

    What a disappointment that man has become. And with such weak, Wokey leaders in key positions, what a dangerous place this world has now become.

    1. But much as some of us admire his political and personal skills, in office Boris Johnson is proving to be a grave disappointment.

      I nominate this as the understatement of the New Century!

  11. The British Army are helping the Poles with the Border. Why us?
    Where is the EU fast response Force? In Barracks or is out with the 9.00 till 5.00 service hours
    The German Army? They know a lot about Poland
    The French Army? Still behind the Maginot Line!

      1. I suggested elsewhere that if HM Forces were to be deployed to Poland (other than the handful of RE), in lieu of Clegg’s secret army, that the UK forces currently covering for the French in Mali should be on the next plane back to Europe.

        Let the French deal with the problems in their former colonies.

  12. BBC star Naga Munchetty shows off her cleavage in a deeply plunging black gown at Ethnicity Awards 2021. 13 November 2021.

    Naga Munchetty was worlds away from her usual demure appearance on BBC news as she donned a sizzling black gown to the Ethnicity Awards 2021.

    Morning everyone. You get an award for being ethnic? Who knew? If there’s an award going for being a Nottler with two arms put my name down!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10197147/BBC-star-Naga-Munchetty-shows-cleavage-Ethnicity-Awards-2021.html

    1. “You get an award for being ethnic? Who knew?”

      Must be Black Mystery Month.

      ‘Morning Minty.

    5. Whats does Ethnic mean?

      pertaining to or characteristic of a people, especially a group (ethnic group ) sharing a common and distinctive
      culture, religion, language, or the like. referring to the origin, classification, characteristics, etc., of such groups.

      What does Ethnicity mean

      the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition.
      “the interrelationship between gender, ethnicity, and class”

      Why is Whitey excluded, we fulfil the elements of the meanings,

      1. I tried to post this song by Noel Coward here but I was not able to do so:

        Here, at least are the lyrics:

        Noël Coward – Half-Caste Woman

        Laugh a bit, drink a bit, love a bit more,
        You can supply our need.
        Chaff a bit, think a bit, what’s it all for?
        That’s your Eurasian creed.
        Sailors with sentimental hearts
        Who love and sail away
        When the dawn is grey
        Look at you and say
        Half-caste woman, living a life apart.
        Where did your story begin?
        Half-caste woman, have you a secret heart
        Waiting for someone to win?
        Were you born of some queer magic
        In your shimmering gown?
        Is there something strange and tragic
        Deep, deep down?
        Half-caste woman, what are your slanting eyes
        Waiting and hoping to see?
        Scanning the far horizon
        Wondering what the end will be
        Down along the river
        The sky is a quiver
        For dawn is beginning to break.
        Hear the sirens wailing
        Some big ship is sailing.

        And leaving your dreams in its wake.
        Why should you remember the things that are past
        Moments so softly gone.
        Why worry for the Lord knows
        Life goes on.
        Go to bed in daylight.
        Try to sleep in vain.
        Get up in the evening.
        Work begins again.
        Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief
        Questioning the same refrain.
        Half-caste woman, living a life apart.
        Where did your story begin?
        Half-caste woman, have you a secret heart
        Waiting for someone to win?
        Were you born of some queer magic
        In your shimmering gown?
        Is there something strange and tragic
        Deep, deep down?
        Half-caste woman, what are your slanting eyes
        Waiting and hoping to see?
        Scanning the far horizon,
        Wondering what the end will be.

      2. What does Ethnicity mean ?

        It’s become a way of driving home the well oiled wedge of racism against the indigenous population/culture and social structure of any chosen victims/sufferer’s country.
        I don’t think it has any specific point to make or any significant purpose but the perpetrators have an option (the door is open) but seem to prefer to alienate the people of the country they have chosen to live in.
        For instance i’ll estimate there are more white people in the UK who have lived at some point part of their lives in Africa than the people who are stirring up the troubles.

    7. It reminds me of the 60s Film Saturday night and Sunday Morning. An Albert Finney line “Not those tired old t8ts again”!

  13. It’s infuriating that we taxpayers are funding this ‘watchdog’ UK NCP. As for the w*nkers called ‘Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights’,….don’t try to duff up Tony Bamford

    JCB failed to do checks over potential use of equipment in Palestine

    UK government watchdog finds lack of due diligence over human rights in occupied territories

    Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
    Fri 12 Nov 2021 18.42 GMT

    JCB, the British tractor firm, has been found by a UK government watchdog to have failed to carry out due diligence human rights checks over the potential use of its equipment to demolish homes in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT).

    The watchdog ruled: “It is unfortunate that JCB, which is a leading British manufacturer of world-class products, did not take any steps to conduct human rights due diligence of any kind despite being aware of alleged adverse human rights impacts and that its products are potentially contributing to those impacts.”

    But the watchdog dismissed claims that JCB failed to use its leverage to persuade its exclusive Israeli distributor, Comasco, not to allow its equipment to be used to bulldoze homes. It said there was no conclusive evidence that the JCB equipment used in the bulldozing had been supplied by the distributor, or how JCB could influence the distributor.

    The findings were published by the UK National Contact Point (UK NCP), which is charged with assessing whether firms are meeting OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises on human rights. The UK NCP is staffed by officials from the Department for International Trade, and is independent of the OECD.

    The case marks an interesting test of the human rights duties of UK firms. It was brought by Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights in December 2019 so has taken nearly two years to reach a judgment point. The lawyers claim they have a record of JCB products being involved in “at least 60 out of the 266 demolitions” in one year.

    In its ruling, the UK NCP said: “The scale of alleged adverse human rights impact and the evidence of JCB products used in demolition of houses in OPT are sufficient reasons to carry out an assessment of actual and potential human rights risks and impacts, even if JCB believed that those human rights impacts cannot be linked to the company.”

    The UK NCP said JCB should “carry out human rights due diligence to assess actual and potential human rights impacts”. It also urged JCB “to set out a plan on how it will integrate and act upon the findings of its due diligence – including how impacts will be addressed – if adverse human rights impacts are identified in its supply chain. This process should go beyond simply identifying and managing material risks to the enterprise. As the human rights risks may change over time, due diligence should be a regular, ongoing exercise, which should be part of JCB’s policy statement on human rights.” It also called for a human rights policy to drawn up by the firm.

    The Foreign Office, consulted by the UK NCP, has frequently said demolitions amount to a breach of international humanitarian law in all but the most exceptional of circumstances.

    At issue in the case is a dispute about the extent of the obligations that the OECD guidelines place on firms to ensure their products are not used in breach of international humanitarian law.

    JCB argued that Comasco was not the only supplier of JCB excavators and it did not have any direct management or financial control over the firm.

    It told the inquiry that the machines could have been “purchased secondhand from sellers within Israel, from neighbouring countries via the internet or international auctions or brought in by sea”. The inquiry accepted that the products could have been secondhand, and due to the complex supply chain, JCB could not directly influence their use.

    But it urged JCB “to engage with companies with whom it has a business relationship on their human rights policies, uncover any potential human rights issues and ensure there is no risk of adverse human rights impacts in its supply chain”.

    It added: “JCB’s response that as it has no control over its products once they have been sold to Comasco and that they are not responsible for the adverse human rights impact caused by their products does not reflect the spirit of the OECD guidelines on responsible business conduct.”

    The report pointed out that since February 2020, JCB had been aware of the UN office of the high commissioner for human rights’ database, which has put JCB on the list of business enterprises involved in listed activities in the occupied Palestinian territories that may have “raised particular human rights impacts”.

    JCB says it is challenging its inclusion on that list.

    JCB said: “We are very pleased that the UK NCP has firmly rejected the various allegations made by the Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights that JCB either contributes to, is responsible for, or is otherwise linked in any way to adverse human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, either directly or indirectly, and/or that JCB has failed to mitigate or prevent such adverse human rights impacts.
    In particular, the NCP conclusively found that the alleged human rights impacts cannot be linked to JCB’s business operations or contractual arrangements. The process has now concluded.”

    The firm said it welcomed and would consider the NCP recommendation that JCB regularly conducts human rights due diligence and prepares a separate policy affirming its commitment to human rights.

    The director of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, Tareq Shrourou, said: “JCB’s board of directors and senior management must consider the real-life repercussions of its noncompliance with core human rights provisions of the OECD guidelines. A 14-year-old Palestinian girl told Save the Children in a vivid quote: ‘My old home was a dream come true as I always dreamt of living in a house with my own bedroom. But this dream was shattered the day that the yellow bulldozers arrived. I see [those bulldozers] in my nightmares. I felt like all hope went down with my home.’”

    The UK NCP says it will seek an update from both sides in a year’s time to see how its recommendations have been followed.

    The headline of this article was amended on 12 November 2021 to more accurately reflect the watchdog’s findings.

    https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/nov/12/jcb-failed-do-human-rights-checks-destruction-palestinian-homes-watchdog-finds

    1. Must be 1st of April again. My, how quickly it seems to come around, particularly where public money is concerned. When do we finally get our bonfire of the quangos?

      1. 341529+ up ticks,

        Morning HJ,
        When the last of the lab/lib/con mass uncontrolled immigration, ongoing, paedophile umbrella, ongoing coalition voting member turns the light out.

    2. La frogs were helping the Argies with Exocet Missiles, to be used against British Forces, in the Falklands ‘War’

      What about our ‘Uman Rites’

      1. And the BBC gave an explanation as to why the Argie bombs weren’t exploding when dropped on our Warships. Too low they said. The bombs have to be dropped from a higher altitude to get the impellers up to speed they said.

        1. Not to mention the bBC ‘reported’ on the attack on Goose Green…the evening before it occurred.
          Fortunately, the Argies thought it was a spoof. They wouldn’t believe so now!

      2. Lé frogs were also supplying the super étendard bombers to fire the missiles, they said it was in their contract !!
        The Super Étendard were also used by Iraq to attack oil tankers and merchant shipping in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq-Iran War. In French service, the Super Étendard was replaced by the Dassault Rafale in 2016.
        First flight: 28 October 1974
        Manufacturer: Dassault-Breguet
        National origin: France
        Role: Strike fighter
        And now they use rubber boats to annoy every one else.

    3. I know that it is a silly question, but has BAE ever been prosecuted for selling military aircraft to overseas buyer
      (not recently of course cus they don’t make the things anymore)

      1. Great minds and memories. It took me longer to type and we started at about the same time.

      2. BAE happily sold cluster bombs to the murderous Sauds before they were banned internationally. They stored them well and were recently used in Yemen.

    4. When the UK government sells Hawk jets to Indonesia it is really OK.
      “Foreign Secretary Robin Cook admitted earlier this month that Hawk jets had been used over East Timor, but ministers insisted the planes have taken no direct part in the recent atrocities.” BBC1999
      It is beyond belief that anyone thinks that companies like JCB should be required to conduct a moral assessment of their customers. Is it, for instance, all right for Coca-Cola to sell its tooth-rotting soft drink anywhere it likes?
      More seriously, it is clearly perfectly acceptable that Japan can supply large numbers of 4×4 trucks to organisations like ISIS and the Taliban without a word of reproach from any government, even when the trucks are involved in the killing of British soldiers.

    5. What about the lawyers themselves who rake in millions of taxpayers money for their Uman Roits actions against deportation of foreign criminals from our country?

      1. All of this nonsense has to be brought to a close, these so called lawyers are nothing but subversives.

      2. I will vote for the party that insists that it will leave the ECHR, repeal the Human Rights Act and deport all illegals, starting with the record-holding scum.

        Next, Parliamentary Reform and removal of the erstwhile ‘Supreme’ Court.

        That’ll do for week one.

    7. WTF? Another effing quango that we a4e shelling out for. It made me laugh my head off – what about the human rights of people in this country? Good God we truly are living in bizarre times.

    8. Presumably, if JCB were selling diggers to Palestinians, the subject would never have been raised.

  14. A gentle reminder, that I posted as info to Bob of Bonsall,

    Bowel cancer

    Back in, early 2000’s I had a bit of my exhaust ducting removed and was fitted with a colostomy bag for a year

    Then, plumbing reconnected and frequent colonoscopies slowly increasing to one every 5 years.

    I am an advocate of “the job is not finished ’til the paperwork is done’

    I noticed there was *red blood in my ‘stools, went to see doctor and within 3 weeks was in hossypital, for ‘the chop’
    * Dark/Black’ blood means something else

    So, folks, always check what leaves you, when you use the cludge, it may save your life, it did mine

    1. I have replied to you OLT re your earlier reminder .

      You were so very lucky..

      Everyone must be pooh wary, our bodies , and what goes in could be different to what comes out .

      1. This is why Mozart used to sign off his letters with, “Shit well” (but in German of course),

    2. 2010 I had the operation & Chemo. Lucky to be here as they thought 12-24 months due to the late stage diagnosis.
      Any signs – get checked out. I had no signs and the bowel scanning offer came in after my diagnosis, too late for me.

      1. I had chemo for 6 months and met the world’s loveliest experts on
        The offside rule
        What to avoid on the telly
        Bad jokes

        They are the Phlebotomists: (I am allergic to ladies with needles and have ‘passed out often, they were superb and I stayed awake)

        1. I was given the choice of 3 months Chemo or 6 months.
          The consultant said there was difference in samples of many, many thousands
          I said that was all very well but I was interested in just 1 person and took the 6 months.
          Horrendous does not fully described the 27 tablets to stop the side effects of the 2 weekly drip & 8 cancer tablets a day and 6-10 Imodiums per day to try and stabilise the bowels.

      1. To those not from that culture, that is a sure fire way to cause instant constipation.
        I haven’t been to Germany for several years, but that form of pan seems to be dying out.

    4. You make an important point.

      It is also useful to check, to see if your diet needs adjusting. Though this can be done by listening. If you hear a loud splash then the diet is probably fine. :@)

      Glad you got through it.

    5. I had cancer of the rectum, diagnosed on my 52nd birthday, in 1998. Change of bowl habit, off to GP, those were the days eh!, examination and then off to a surgeon. Operation 5 weeks later, had illeostomy bag for 4 months then reversal.
      Now have 5 yearly colonoscopy and all clear so far – 23 years later.

    6. I was fortunate after submitting our annual bowel cancer check samples I was summoned to a near by out patients department for a Bowel screening. It wasn’t a pleasant experience but the surgeon found several polyps and zapped them.
      Unfortunately my younger BiL was found to have bowel cancer and has now been treated accordingly and is thankfully now on the mend.

  15. Punography – you want puns?

    You get puns.

    · I tried to catch some fog. I mist.

    · When chemists die, they barium.

    · Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

    · I know a guy who’s addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time.

    · How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.

    · I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

    · This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore.

    · I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I can’t put it down.

    · I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.

    · They told me I had type A blood, but it was a type-O.

    · A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

    · Why were the Indians in the USA first? They had reservations.

    · Class trip to the Coca-Cola factory– I hope there’s no pop quiz.

    · The Energizer bunny arrested and charged with battery.

    · The old man didn’t like his beard at first. Then it grew on him.

    · Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn’t control her pupils?

    · When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.

    · What does a clock do when it’s hungry? It goes back four seconds.

    · I wondered why that cricket ball was getting bigger. Then it hit me!

    · Broken pencils are pointless.

    · What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

    · England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.

    · I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

    · All the toilets in London’s police stations have been stolen. Police have nothing to go on.

    · I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

    · Velcro – what a rip off!

    · Cartoonist found dead in home. Details are sketchy.

    · Venison for dinner? Oh deer!

    · I used to think I was indecisive, but now I’m not so sure.

    1. Not a pun but reminded me of the dyslexic agnostic insomniac, who lies awake all night wondering if there is a Dog.

    2. Reminds me of something I saw (possibly on here) recently. Vini, Vidi, Velcro; I came, I saw, I stuck around.

      1. He’s a lot better than he was a few weeks ago and will probably be discharged in the next couple of weeks.
        However, before he goes back into his flat it needs a deep clean and several items replaced. I’m leaving that for “them” to sort out.

        1. Quite agree. Sadly, if families are helpful, the authorities take that as a reason to sit back and do the square root of bu88erall.
          It is a horrible position to be in; your natural instinct to protect fights against the knowledge that your kindness will be abused.

  17. SIR – Surely we are fortunate to have Sir Geoffrey Cox, a QC who is capable of earning £1 million a year, involved in the parliamentary legislative process (Letters, November 12).

    It seems to me that paying him an MP’s salary and expenses for this involvement is a good deal for the taxpayer.

    Ian Goddard
    Wickham, Hampshire

    Better still if he’s paying tax on earnings like his.

    2. I know of Ian Goddard. He comes from my home village. He seems to get a lot of letters printed in the Telegraph.

      I doubt if Geoffrey Cox pays any tax at all.

      1. About 85%, thank you. Even if the weather was right, I’d still not risk all the lifting required to burn the garden stuff.

  19. SIR – Those who have noticed new charges at National Trust properties (Letters, November 3) should read the small print carefully.

    The National Trust manages the Giant’s Causeway in Co Antrim, Northern Ireland. There appears to be a charge of £13 to visit, but what is not made explicit is that access to the causeway is free, and the charge is in fact for parking and use of the visitor centre.

    Needless to say, the Trust does not spell this out clearly, therefore many visitors stump up unnecessarily.

    Hilary Aitken
    Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire

    And where else is this trickery used, I wonder?

  20. SIR – When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were given their titles, there was excitement in the county (“Sussexes’ former aide voices ‘regret’ at year-long silence as he submits evidence”, report, November 12).

    Given that they visited Sussex just once and now live in America, could there be hope of a withdrawal of their status? Frankly, the connection is neither positive nor useful.

    Bunty Clarke
    Horsted Keynes, Sussex

    This gets my vote, Bunty!

      1. Oi!!!! Thank goodness Essex is no longer considered a suitably Ducal title, whether royal or otherwise.

      2. For God’s sake keep the Duke of Sussex out of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Hampshire.

        His imbecile father is much despised in Cornwall just as he is in Dorchester and the Cornish don’t want the rotten fruit of his loins anywhere near them.

  21. BTL comment:

    Carolyn Bates
    2 HRS AGO
    In response to Alan Douglas of Wigtownshire.
    There is no difference between Lukashenko’s actions and Macron’s, that is the truth of the matter, except that Macron has actually been in action for much longer that the Belarusian leader/dictator.
    Macron is literally allowing an invasion of illegal migrants to invade our shore every single day, despite this Government paying him millions of pounds to prevent it from happening. The fact he is laughing at us as the French Navy give these migrants free passage across the Channel is quite frankly, unbelievable.
    It is unbelievable because this administration is continuing to allow him to do so; why has there not been a deliberate attempt to end this by using our Navy to send them back? The cost of this exercise would be a fraction of what these migrants are costing us once they set foot on our soil. I cannot think of any British Prime Minister who would have allowed this to continue.
    The French are deliberately making fools of us as they encourage every terrorist, murderer and rapist onto our shores. When are we going to see an end to this, or are we just going to cower away until we have a much needed change of leadership?

    Hear, hear.

    1. Yes but if England was not such an attractive place to come to they would not want to come in the first place!

      Turn them back. Don’t feed them. Don’t house them. Don’t pay any attention to the ‘woke and febrile’ who try to make you feel guilty if you try to solve the problem. Don’t give them any benefits or money – just send them packing.

      If you were Macron would you not want to be rid of these people as soon as possible? He can’t turn them back from other EU countries whence they arrived because of Schengen but Britain is not in Shengen or the EU so he can do what he wants as far as the EU is concerned.

      1. Morning all.

        It is within our government’s power, now that we are no longer in the EU (I know, debatable), to alter all the rules over benefits to incomers. Why is there even no hint of them doing this?

        There is no will to do so. HMG and MPs are useless, tax-grabbing parasites.

        1. Unless and until we show as a nation that we have some sort of backbone we shall continue to be defecated upon not only by our enemies abroad but also from the growing groups of traitors at home.

          To sustain the metaphor: with the political leadership we have at the moment we shall continue to be the world’s lavatory pan.

      2. “Turn them back. Don’t feed them. Don’t house them. Don’t pay any attention to the ‘woke and febrile’ who try to make you feel guilty if you try to solve the problem. Don’t give them any benefits or money – just send them packing.”

        Couldn’t agree more, Rastus. First of all, however, the so-called refugee charities should be disbanded. I consider their meddling just makes the situation worse because they are providing direct assistance to the illegals, thus encouraging even more.

  23. Since I seem to have started it, I will say it

    A lot of Today’s comments have been a Load of Crap

      1. Not at all.

        I am talking openly about what can become a Taboo subject, ie not said aloud.

        I belonged to a ‘Gentleman’s Club’, when I was diagnosed, another ‘member’ heard me talking openly about it.
        He was concerned, went to see his Doctor and was diagnosed with it
        Me no speaka, fair chance he would had more serious problems or died

        1. It was only when I read further down that I saw what you were talking about. My most beloved father had a bag for his pee for his last few years of life. It was the operation he needed for the other bag that killed him when he was nearly 86 years of age

        2. It was only when I read further down that I saw what you were talking about. My most beloved father had a bag for his pee for his last few years of life. It was the operation he needed for the other bag that killed him when he was nearly 86 years of age

  24. 341529+ up ticks,

    Boris Johnson has secret exit to leave Downing Street ‘without being spotted’, says Dominic Cummings
    Prime Minister ‘likes to be able to escape without outer office knowing’, says former chief adviser

    IT’s surfacing exit is in down town brussels.

      1. 341529+ up ticks,
        Morning R,
        Ho, I believe he uses it on a regular basis as with the cabinet the day is, I am sure fast approaching when it will be a case of “now you see them, now you don’t”
        The Odessa line MK2 has been triggered.

        1. Rings pretty true – but you have to remember the ‘sour grapes’ of Cummings and the way he was pushed out. He knows what goes on behind the scenes. I wonder who in downing St reads his stuff.

      2. What bothers me is it’s a lot of politics, very little substance. Very little discussion of really improving the country using the simple, obvious levers.

        It’s – as I’ve found many of his essays – waffle and hot air. All tactical movements with no battle plan because the strategy is the fun bit. Doing the work is hard. Making the decisions is hard. Much easier and more fun to snipe and play party games.

    4. It’s a big house. Of course there will be exits other than the front door. In its present circumstances, security alone would make such arrangements necessary.
      How did servants and goods arrive without the nuts and bolts of running a large household being exposed to the common gaze?

    5. I was under the impression that all the government buildings from Downing Street to Parliament Square were linked by tunnel, including of course the War Rooms. Which is why it was all the more irksome when the war criminal Blair used to have the road between Downing Street and Westminster closed for his Zil lane as he was en route to PMQs.

      1. 341529+up ticks,
        Morning Ftc,
        I was in there running copper pipework
        underfloor ducts allowing heat to rise through gratings, NO corridor pipework,
        found myself looking up heseltine’s leg one day, quite frightening,

  25. Good morning my friends.

    This DT story has made me beat on the same old drum with a BTL comment.

    Graduates must start paying back student loans sooner
    Political row likely over new threshold which, if set at £22,000, would cost those on average incomes an extra £475 a year
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/11/12/graduates-must-start-paying-back-student-loans-sooner/

    I would like students to REPAY THEIR STUDENT LOAN IN FULL and be completely free of student loan debt as soon as possible. Our repulsive state wants to keep them enslaved throughout their working lives.

    BTL

    In a civilised country which supports young people student loans are interest free.

    In uncivilised countries students are charged over ten times the bank rate.

    In civilised countries young people do not have to spend virtually the whole of their working lives with an unrepayable student loan around their necks.

    A civilised country would make any money a student or employer uses to pay back the student loan deductible against taxable income.

    In uncivilised countries this would not happen.

    In civilised countries people who need to work in education or medicine for the state services should have their loans paid off after a few years to encourage them not to go and work elsewhere.

    In uncivilised countries such an idea would never be considered because its politicians are too crassly incompetent to even think of it..

    Is the United Kingdom a civilised place? Well, certainly not as far as young people are concerned.

    2. In a civilised society the young could study a meaningful subject, get a useful job, marry someone of the opposite sex, buy a home and raise a family. The very thing the Frankfurt Schule hated.

      Good morning!

      1. I must say the only thing I can take from this is smugness.

        I am, I admit, offensively smug because Caroline and I worked hard to ensure that we could fund our two sons through their studies so they both left university debt-free. They both have got good, useful degrees, well-paid careers, female fiancées, and they have already bought their own first homes.

        Our only worry now is that the politicians have done their best to destroy our business and our income this year will be 20% of what it was in 2019 while the public sector clamours for more and more pay rises.

    3. I have always wondered how many graduates leave the country and never actually pay off their SLs ?

  27. 341529+ up ticks,

    Sitting pondering,

    This cop that 26 and regarding the chinese, the only time you will get honest commitment from the chinaman is when he hollows in on down a chinese coalmine entrance, and gets a long term echo,signifying that the world is empty as in, hollowed out.

    The jamboree farce is, I believe set to return annually.

    2. Would anyone be brave enough to suggest that the next jamboree should be done by Skype or Zoom or some such facility in order to help the environment.

      Trouble is: that would demand intellectual honesty, sincerity, common sense and integrity – the very things the attendees and organisers lack.

      1. May I suggest four shipping containers welded together. And left floating….. for a limited time.

    1. It’s amazing. You cannot see a single tree, and as for the Finnish snipers… but (seriously) Autumn is a time of lovely gentle colours.

    2. It reminds me of our October/November trip to NE for our 25th wedding anniversary, it was a great place to visit and stay. And I could have quite easily moved in, we loved it.

      1. I have lived in 3 US states but the only one I miss is CT, although the winters can be brutal. The small town I lived in had colours just like the photo; it truly is a beautiful state.

        1. We stayed in Falmouth and traveled far and wide i was really impressed with the Settlements that had ben reconstructed with the actors playing the parts of the Plymouth brethren. We took the Island Queen Ferry to Martha’s Vineyard went to Boston on the train found the home of Louisa May Alcott. Did the tours of Boston as well. We also went whale watching from Provence town. Funny thing was a guy standing in front of us on deck was explaining to his young son that they might not see any whales that day. And suddenly a huge humpback breeched about 20 feet off the side of the boat and he shouted “HOLY SH1T”!!! His little son laughed his head off.
          I have a friend Toronto who has lived in several states.
          I have often yearned to go to Montana but i don’t think it will ever happen.

          1. We went on a whale watch from Provincetown! I was sceptical also but we saw dozens of whales. The Cape has gotten so busy in recent years and it’s a shame as it’s a lovely part of NE.
            The living museums are something NE does well. Went to Plimoth Plantation (spelling is how it was spelled then.) In Sturbridge, Mass there is Olde Sturbridge Village which is great and has two good taverns. In CT there is Mystic Seaport which is also excellent.
            I recommend all of them and if you do get to CT- go to West Hartford and visit the Mark Twain House which is wonderful and next door is Harriet Beecher Stowe’s farmhouse.

          2. We only had ten days there including arrival and departure.
            We went to the plantation and a native American one similar.
            The reason we chose it was because we had a calendar with 12 pictures of Cape Cod and the houses the autumn scenery it looked so great.

  29. I wonder if all those Western pundits realise that “The Russians” are already on the Ukrainian border………in Crimea.

    1. Crimea is and always was Russian. The fact that the Russians are on the border with Ukraine might have something to do with the fact that they share a border some 13 thousand miles long.

        1. The idea the Ukraine is a separate country from Russia is a joke in itself. There should be no border.

  30. An apt BTL comment:

    “One wonders how Johnson dare but of course hypocrisy is his second name. All those who fought & died in the war to keep us free from tyranny are now being praised by those who are set on creating new world tyranny. Johnson probably finds the irony amusing. Churchill would turn in his grave. For the first time ever, I have not bought a poppy. It is not just Johnson who is the hypocrite but all those who have enabled him & his Government. No doubt the face masks will replace the poppies in time.”

    Boris Johnson to lead Remembrance Sunday tributes to MPs who served in world wars.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/11/12/boris-johnson-lead-remembrance-sunday-tributes-mps-served-world/

        1. Wore mine.
          Don!t care about wokery or rbl. I do care about all those poor buggers who died and were maimed doing the right thing – not the expedient thing.
          Those who purport to represent them are not worth a thought.

          1. I didn’t deliberately not buy one out of pique – but I had no cash on me when they were selling them outside Morrisons and it slipped my mind afterwards.

            That was before the video clip.

        2. Not surprised you didn’t want to be associated with that.
          We were having coffee in the village cafe – there was silence at 11.00 and shortly afterwards the folks who’d been at the war memorial service all came in for their coffees.

      2. I have a metal poppy so I just give a donation. I hadn’t seen the video or I would have made it less. I attended a remembrance service at 11.00 on Armistice Day.

    2. This man who is busily destroying the UK with his crackpot ideas on climate and allowing an uncontrolled invasion of our country that will destroy it is the worst of people. Hypocrite doesn’t even begin to cover it, he should be put against a wall and dealt with along with his wife, just like Ceausescu and his wife. For him to have the unmitigated gall to lead anything to do with veterans makes me want to do violence. The evil piece of scum has sent the Conservatives into a downward spiral of his own arrogant making opening the way for Labour, for Gods sake! That he has the nerve to show his face in public, is bad enough, to pretend to care about people who fought and died for this country when he clearly has no respect for their ideals or dreams, is the action of a total scumbag. Damn psychopath.

    1. A scumbaggery?
      A hypocrisy?
      A futility?
      A cloudcuckooland?
      A bidet?

      Any other suggestions?

    5. Now imagine a different world where he comes back and says ‘I am going to force you to have heat pumps!’ and we chuckle and say… no.

      Then he says ‘OK, I’m going to phase out petrol cars!’ and we look at little puzzled and say no.

      Then he says, somewhat flustered, well, I’m going to build millions of windmills!’

      And now getting fed up, we say.. again… no.’

      He says ‘Well, we must do these things, and I want to, with your money.’

      We say ‘Yes, but it’s our moeny. You will build gas power stations through fracking. You’ll convert Drax to coal. You’ll deport the illegal violent sewage coming from France.’

      ‘But I don’t want to’, Boris says.

      ‘Tough.’ We reply and Boris does what we tell him. Should be disobey – as no doubt he will try – we remove him to Broadmoor and replace him with someone who will obey under a democracy.

    6. Now imagine a different world where he comes back and says ‘I am going to force you to have heat pumps!’ and we chuckle and say… no.

      Then he says ‘OK, I’m going to phase out petrol cars!’ and we look at little puzzled and say no.

      Then he says, somewhat flustered, well, I’m going to build millions of windmills!’

      And now getting fed up, we say.. again… no.’

      He says ‘Well, we must do these things, and I want to, with your money.’

      We say ‘Yes, but it’s our moeny. You will build gas power stations through fracking. You’ll convert Drax to coal. You’ll deport the illegal violent sewage coming from France.’

      ‘But I don’t want to’, Boris says.

      ‘Tough.’ We reply and Boris does what we tell him. Should be disobey – as no doubt he will try – we remove him to Broadmoor and replace him with someone who will obey under a democracy.

    7. Now imagine a different world where he comes back and says ‘I am going to force you to have heat pumps!’ and we chuckle and say… no.

      Then he says ‘OK, I’m going to phase out petrol cars!’ and we look at little puzzled and say no.

      Then he says, somewhat flustered, well, I’m going to build millions of windmills!’

      And now getting fed up, we say.. again… no.’

      He says ‘Well, we must do these things, and I want to, with your money.’

      We say ‘Yes, but it’s our moeny. You will build gas power stations through fracking. You’ll convert Drax to coal. You’ll deport the illegal violent sewage coming from France.’

      ‘But I don’t want to’, Boris says.

      ‘Tough.’ We reply and Boris does what we tell him. Should be disobey – as no doubt he will try – we remove him to Broadmoor and replace him with someone who will obey under a democracy.

  33. ‘Morning All

    #CovidClownWorld

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/389cd19551eb9e350e5a2e620d11269bb652d1ce5c2bfafe4ed70cdd8d39bf8a.png

    https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/090/275/319/original/46a092011e0bfad9.jpeg

    https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/090/277/610/original/7d1e841f7a528047.jpg

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b1b4d564bfa36bc2084cf9d394dd343a2abd36887178d01815dd3dac64a302a9.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/40bf09603123e806133138c304a77bd4b2b7d6d27879a9d21230051ae4b4309a.png

    And you can fluck right off as well……….

    https://twitter.com/SammieJack3/status/1459084559505633280?s=20

          2. Yes, but that raises the question: how did they (whoever they may be) manage to get the world to a state where there was nothing that the people could do to stop it?

          3. Disarming the British population was an early step.
            Now, apart from the odd shotgun, only government employees and criminals have ready access to firearms.

          5. Good morning, Rastus.

            Because we no longer have the heart, courage, determination and fortitude of King Edward I, Queen Elizabeth I, or Sir Winston Churchill.

          6. By making home ownership more difficult, if not impossible, the government is actually sowing the seeds of its own destruction.
            People who own nothing substantial are more likely to revolt as they have far less to lose.

    3. As I said in a post three weeks ago we had a boy from a leading public school (at which no fewer than nine British prime ministers were educated) with us on a Half-Term French course. He and two of his school companions had to have the second dose of the the vaccine gene therapy in order to travel to the EU.

      All three of them had to spend a couple of days in hospital with Myocarditis.

      Wasn’t that a strange coincidence – but of course the responsible MSM would not publish a story that was just a coincidence!

    4. Is that a government statement at the bottom part of the post ?
      Strange how they have now change the word vaccine to injection.
      Now this has been established perhaps they can get on with the rubber boat invasion.
      And sending back all of the invaders to whence they came from.

    5. After the purge, he could rename the party. New Labour sounds nice and would attract a few more voters.

  39. Electric fences are a cruel threat to our beloved wildlife

    The RSPB’s refusal to accept more humane methods of control shames the charity

    IAN BOTHAM

    How do you define cruelty to animals? Would it include electrocuting badgers by soaking cotton wool in honey and then wrapping it round 6,000 volt wires? This is not the action of a rogue individual. It is a practice detailed in an RSPB manual on electric fences. The charity presents itself on social media as “Nature’s Voice”. Yet with the RSPB, nature squeals in agony.

    The manual describes how wardens could deal with hedgehogs, otters, badgers, foxes – and even cats. It explains how to use irresistibly tasty “bait” to lure wild animals to lick live wires. For badgers, the manual says staff should soak the cotton wool in “honey, syrup, peanut butter or treacle”. For foxes it describes using “dripping … from the Sunday roast or wrapping strips of bacon around the wires … at the height of a fox’s nose.”

    The RSPB has told the Telegraph that baiting fences is not a practice it uses on its reserves and it has removed the manual from its website. But if the instructions were not intended to be followed, why was the document produced?

    The RSPB’s manual explains that the electric shock from fences should be strong enough to create “a large spark” and “to ‘burn off’ grass”. Imagine the injuries these sparks cause to the sensitive tongues of innocent animals. The document also explains how the fences kill some creatures: “Hedgehogs are also prone to electrocution … because they tend to roll into a ball when shocked rather than to move away.” It says “frogs have died from multiple shocks” and explains how deer get entangled in the electric fences. Think of the suffering.

    Leaving aside the question of baiting electric fences, why does the RSPB put miles of them around its reserves at great expense to its members who unwittingly pay for this cruelty? It is to protect ground nesting birds. They only flourish when protected from animals which eat their eggs. Yet the RSPB’s electric fences are not just barbaric but clumsy. Its manual explains how chicks get separated from their parents by the fences and how adult birds fly into them.

    If the RSPB decides that it wants to prioritise curlews over foxes then the kindest approach is to shoot the fox. Not let it starve to death by blocking it from its food. Yet the RSPB hates shooting foxes. It apparently has no qualms about electrocuting them.

    This is exactly the type of cruelty the Government is determined to stop through its animal sentience bill. I have sent the RSPB’s document to George Eustice asking him to make a statement.

    His department has zero tolerance about the use of electricity on some animals. For instance, even though scientists have found that e-collar training is very effective at deterring dogs from savaging sheep, Defra wants to ban the devices claiming that they could traumatise dogs.

    These e-collars produce 5mJ of power. Yet the RSPB’s manual explains how electric fences must deliver 10,000mJ to “burn off” grass. That is 2,000 times more powerful. So to retain credibility Defra must ban such cruel fences – or allow harmless dog collars to protect sheep.

    My lawyers have produced a file for Max Hill QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, outlining which laws may have been broken. Whatever he decides, the court of public opinion will be appalled by this manual.

    My final challenge is to the RSPB’s leadership. This document was deliberate. It was presumably approved by the RSPB’s top people. So who will take responsibility for it? Who will resign over this staggering inhumanity to animals which the RSPB’s founders promised to protect?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/12/electric-fences-cruel-threat-beloved-wildlife/

    The link to this article on the editorial page was accompanied by a photo of a badger. That, coupled with the headline, made me think that Beefy had gone soft. Once I read the piece, I realised that that was not so and that it could be summed up thus: Don’t torture them! Kill them!

    Joking apart, he is, of course, correct. If culling is to be done, it should be quick and humane. And yes, the RSPB is probably full of hypocrites who in one moment will claim to stand up for animal rights while in the next authorising methods of control that are cruel and of questionable effectiveness.

    Predictably, there are BTL comments calling Botham a hypocrite for taking part in game shooting…

    1. There is only one species on this planet that requires urgent culling for the benefit of all other life forms.

    2. A nice piece designed to get middle England behind the Animal Sentience bill, which will then be used against the meat industry.

    3. Now if we could only rig MPs’ seats in the HoC up to 50,000 volts whenever they told a lie…

        2. That clip underlines just how far the value of money has fallen, £100mn is mere chicken feed in relation to government waste nowadays.

          2. Governments spending money like water and racking up debt that might never be repaid.
            Government debt has risen at a far far faster pace than the purchasing power of the money has fallen.

          4. Biden’s and the Democrats’ spending policies are hosing fuel on the fire; figures coming from the USA are disturbing.
            Another side effect of the disastrous way Covid has been handled plus adding in the Green blob, which will exacerbate the problems, and we may be looking at a perfect storm on the horizon.

          7. I don’t think it is all inflation. It’s spending for he sake of spending and it’s totally out of control.
            If the debt was £400mn “only” it would be a small problem.

    4. I have no confidence in the RSPB. They have too many connections to the great and the good, owners of sporting estates and the like.

    5. They banned hunting so alternative methods of control had to be put in place. None of them is as swift or sure as the snap of a hound on the back of the neck.

    3. Who has time to sit around thinking of this tosh. As civil servants have a wage, they should be paying for their own needs regardless of the politics of the trans mob.

    1. Funny how that story seems to have faded away. You would have thought the eco-freaks would have been doing their best to stop the eruption.

      1. Nature is so unco-operative.

        “The principal components of volcanic gases are water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur either as sulfur dioxide (SO2) (high-temperature volcanic gases) or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) (low-temperature volcanic gases), nitrogen, argon, helium, neon, methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Other compounds detected in volcanic gases are oxygen (meteoric)[clarification needed], hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen bromide, sulfur hexafluoride, carbonyl sulfide, and organic compounds. Exotic trace compounds include mercury, halocarbons (including CFCs), and halogen oxide radicals.

        The abundance of gases varies considerably from volcano to volcano, with volcanic activity and with tectonic setting. Water vapour is consistently the most abundant volcanic gas, normally comprising more than 60% of total emissions. Carbon dioxide typically accounts for 10 to 40% of emissions.”

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

      2. Nature is so unco-operative.

        “The principal components of volcanic gases are water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur either as sulfur dioxide (SO2) (high-temperature volcanic gases) or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) (low-temperature volcanic gases), nitrogen, argon, helium, neon, methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Other compounds detected in volcanic gases are oxygen (meteoric)[clarification needed], hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen bromide, sulfur hexafluoride, carbonyl sulfide, and organic compounds. Exotic trace compounds include mercury, halocarbons (including CFCs), and halogen oxide radicals.

        The abundance of gases varies considerably from volcano to volcano, with volcanic activity and with tectonic setting. Water vapour is consistently the most abundant volcanic gas, normally comprising more than 60% of total emissions. Carbon dioxide typically accounts for 10 to 40% of emissions.”

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

    3. Al Beeb comment “Rivers of red-hot lava have again made their way into the Atlantic Ocean, sending up plumes of white smoke into the sky. It is the second time that lava has reached the sea during this eruption.”

      White “smoke”? Cretins.

      2. They probably did “combined science” where there were no experiments and the content was mainly “environmental studies” (aka “climate change”).

    4. My wife has been watching too much BBC tripe. She is convinced that volcanic eruptions are the result of global warming.

  44. France is using migrants just like Belarus. 13 November 2021.

    It was hard not to laugh, coldly, at the statement from western members of the UN Security Council that condemned Belarus for engineering the migrant crisis on its border with Poland.

    Following Thursday’s emergency UN Security Council meeting, western members published a joint statement, accusing Belarus of putting migrants’ lives in danger ‘for political purposes’.

    That’s true, of course, but to hear such words from France. Quelle hypocrisie!

    There are far fewer migrants camping out in cardboard cities in Paris this year. Why? Because these camps have been broken up and the migrants – overwhelmingly young men from Africa and the Middle East – have headed north to Calais. Once there it’s only a short voyage across the Channel to England, a voyage that 24,000 have made this year, nearly treble the number that succeeded in making the crossing in 2020.

    ‘They appear to have ceded sovereign territory to criminal people smugglers,’ a Whitehall source was quoted as saying of France’s incapacity to halt those crossing. ‘This abject failure will be raised in the strongest possible terms with Gerald Darmanin and the French government.’ Perhaps Boris Johnson should think of sending British soldiers to Calais as well as to the Polish border.

    British protestations will do little good. Emmanuel Macron has started campaigning for next April’s presidential election and his biggest challengers come from the right: Marine Le Pen of the National Rally, the right-wing commentator Eric Zemmour and the centre-right Republicans who, while they have yet to select a candidate, have made immigration a central plank of their manifesto.

    Furthermore, in the last 15 months there have been a number of Islamist attacks in France committed by men who entered the country illegally, including the murder of three worshippers by a Tunisian in a Nice church.

    Macron therefore knows he must do something about the huge number of illegal immigrants in France – estimated to be around 900,000 – and what better solution than passing the problem onto the British?

    A report on France’s primetime television news on Thursday evening left viewers in no doubt that the French authorities are facilitating the migration across the Channel. The journalist described how the migrants had moved west from Calais, to the wild Dunes de la Slack, overlooking the golden beaches of Wimereux, a popular tourist destination for Britons between the wars.

    A local fisherman explained to the journalist the frequency with which he sees boats departing for Britain. ‘The English can’t be happy?’ said the journalist. Grinning, the fisherman replied, ‘Who cares!’

    The TV crew didn’t have to wait long before they saw a large group of migrants carrying an inflatable raft to the water’s edge. On the second attempt they successfully launched the boat and off they set. Watching from the dunes were five policemen, lounging by their patrol car. The journalist said that they had arrived too late to prevent the launch of the raft, but they ‘contacted the coastguard who escorted the boat into British territorial waters’.

    Not that the police have always been so lackadaisical, at least according to Human Rights Watch, who last month accused them in Calais of ‘abusive practices’, such as tearing down migrants’ tents or confiscating their belongings.

    The truth is the police, like the good people of Calais, are at their wits’ end; for two decades migrants have been camped out in and around the port, and violence and crime is a concomitant reality that the political class have constantly failed to address. Their inertia is no different to that of Brussels, as clueless now as to how to deal with the migrant crisis as they were in 2015 when Angela Merkel threw open the continent’s borders.

    Belarus’s president Alexander Lukashenko knows this. And while he stands accused of ‘weaponising migrants’, how is his behaviour any different to what is going on in Calais?

    France is supposedly being paid by the British government to stop illegal immigration but they are doing nothing of the sort. It’s a little reminiscent of their behaviour in 2018 when French police in the south-east of country were accused by Italy of marching migrants they intercepted back over the border.

    On the contrary, the inaction of the French authorities, one might even say their tacit encouragement, is endangering migrants’ lives. Two men drowned in a fortnight trying to cross the Channel and it was reported on Friday that three more are missing after setting out in kayaks.
    Perhaps Britain should call another emergency UN Security Council meeting, and this time condemn France.

    A couple of useful snippets of information in there. I don’t recall the murder of the three Frenchman being on TV here and the mechanism by which these people are being driven to the UK would be absolutely verboten by the BBC. At one time of course programmes like World in Action and Panorama thrived on such stories and seeking out the truth, but that was another age, another country!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/france-is-using-migrants-just-like-belarus

    1. On RT News this morning there was a long piece about the drought in Mali.

      As far as we’re concerned:

      1. France is retreating from Mali, and leaving the British Army to protect French commercial interests.

      2. Millions of people will want to leave Mali for the benefits of northern Europe. Can we accommodate them ALL?

    2. When one is witness to both Johnson’s and Patel’s reluctance to do anything, other than make an occasional meaningless statement, it’s not beyond believing that there exists a ‘nod and a wink’ agreement between the French and UK governments that is driving this obscenity.

    3. ‘Afternoon, Minty, I note that the Spectator make the same mistake of accusing Marine Le Pen of being right-wing. It’s only on immigration that she takes a stance, otherwise her manifesto is very Socialist left-wing.

        1. All the French I have spoken to refer to her as “right wing”, too. I pointed out the socialist nature of her policies, but to no avail. Mind you, they were toying with the idea of voting for her regardless, so there may be hope yet.

    4. Our coastguard, our border farce should take them back to France, destroy the boat and leave them there. If they get uppity, shoot the feckers. I no longer care.

    1. It isn’t difficult at all. It’s very simple. What he means is he hasn’t the interest in doing it.

      1. Instead of paying for 100 hotels he could have sequestrated the ferries to dump them back in France. If they haven’t come through proper channels with ID then by definition they are illegal and should have been deported immediately on arrival.

        The government could also have changed the law by now on benefits which act as a magnet for this detritus.

        This government clearly has no intention of sending them back.

    2. What that actually means is that (a) he has absolutely NO intention to do so; and (b) it is all part of a plan to which the UK govt is party.

    3. So that’s it then. Game over. Why not deal directly with the people traffickers and get them to pay us for the ferry service we are offering?

      They had a brill scheme on the Greek island, Symi, a few years ago. The migrants were all dumped at night on the uninhabited island just to the north and then the harbour master collected them during the day and took them to the police station in Symi Town where they were given a cup of coffee and looked after in a friendly enough way until they could be put on a ferry and sent to Athens where, by EU rules, they had to be processed.
      This presented an excellent business opportunity for the island. They made a deal with the ferry company who charged €20 per head for trip. As the regular cost of the ferry was €100 per head this is what Symi claimed back from the EU for each passenger making a profit of €80 on each one.

      If Boris Johnson had any entrepreneurial acumen at all he would be taking a cut on the money the traffickers are making!

        1. Exactly! His cut will be when he sells one of his paintings for squillions after he leaves office, or gets a cosy directorship or if he’s as talentless as May, a ginormous fee for delivering a speech online.

  48. Why do we send so many idiots to university?
    (DT article by Michael Deacon)
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2021/11/13/do-send-many-idiots-university/

    “I know why you’re here,” said Jack Whitehall, as he addressed a group of students at the Freshers’ Weekend at the University of Much Wittering, “you’re here because you didn’t get good enough “A” levels to go anywhere else and you lacked the practical aptitude and grit to do an apprenticeship.”

      1. One almost thinks that her interest in children was in order to help her pimp for Saville.

        It seems that the people who trot out “follow the science” are the people who have no knowledge or understanding of science whatsoever.

        1. Saville and his doings were the gossip of the Green Room. There is no way she didn’t hear or suspect anything.

          1. Support staff know everything. I worked in a fairly large company. There were half a dozen big black cars that the chauffeurs used to take the directors around to meetings etc. The chauffeurs picked things up from the directors. The one man in the business who knew everything that was going on was Charlie the car-washer, who chatted to the chauffeurs.
            Now consider a TV production. There are producers, props people, soundmen and cameramen. There are directors and scene shifters. There are make-up artists and green room assistants. There are dozens of people working on a programme. They move around from production area to production area from programme to programme. They gossip. Over a period of time I would expect several thousand people to have been aware of what Jimmy Saville was like.

          2. I believe the same of the hospitals where he molested people. They were too afraid to say anything.

          3. Stoke Mandeville. The children there were already suffering with spinal injuries and the like. Saville was despicable.

            I reckon Saville was protected by politicians and a certain Royal with links to the shooter at Dunblane.

            Edit: Victor Lewis Smith wrote about Saville and his unsavoury friends at the time.

    4. Just as my MSP said to me… “You have a right to refuse the vaccine, but with that right comes the responsibility to bear the consequences of choosing not to protect yourselves and others. One of those consequences is that you will not be allowed to attend events that require certification.”.
      “One of the consequences”…is key to where we are going.

    5. Just as my MSP said to me… “You have a right to refuse the vaccine, but with that right comes the responsibility to bear the consequences of choosing not to protect yourselves and others. One of those consequences is that you will not be allowed to attend events that require certification.”.
      “One of the consequences”…is key to where we are going.

  51. This week, I have encountered a phenominal case of .Built in Obsolescence

    We have a 08 Reg Honda Jazz and on Thursday morning, my Keyfob failed to remotely Lock the car

    Filched SWMBO’s key from her handbag (Cave Rescue Team on Standby)

    Fob worked OK for a day (Friday)

    Fob failed

    New CR1616 battery fitted to each Fob…. Remote Magic again

    Batteries had only lasted from 02 April 2007….

    3. My car was new in 2009. I suppose that is what I can look forward to next year…
      I don’t think the batteries can be replaced (VW), and I have heard that replacements are expensive. They just want you to buy a new car!

      1. My car was new in 2005; never had a key battery replaced. Do they top them up at the annual service?

        1. I don’t think so – but I too was quite surprised that it has lasted this long. Is yours VW?

  54. From BBC “News”:

    Rolling out booster jabs to younger age groups could help cut Covid infection rates to low levels across the UK, a leading scientist has said. Prof Neil Ferguson said data suggests a third jab gives significant protection, even against mild illness. He said he saw “no reason” why younger age groups should not be offered boosters after priority groups. He also said the UK was unlikely to get a “catastrophic winter wave” this Christmas.

    I’m amazed anyone thinks that idiot Ferguson is a “leading scientist” given his track record of foul ups!

    1. 341529+ up ticks,

      Afternoon SB,
      All the politico’s jockeying for position within the overseers cartel, shades of 1944 / 5 berlin,

    2. They have re-defined
      marriage
      man
      woman
      gender
      pandemic
      herd immunity
      vaccine

      so why not “leading scientist” too?

        1. “It is as easy to buy a scientist as to buy a politician” – something that hadn’t occurred to me until last year!

    1. Early data about the virus did say they had modified a corona virus not only with spike proteins but also with fractions of the AIDS virus.

      Probably no longer available now.

      1. It was the gene sequence of the AIDS virus within the SARS-Cov-2 virus that was the giveaway that the latter was not a naturally evolved virus but was in fact man-made.

      2. Medical opinion was that the AIDS segment would not have got there by chance mutation and it was introduced as a ‘gain of function’ ie to make the virus more contagious.

      3. Medical opinion was that the AIDS segment would not have got there by chance mutation and it was introduced as a ‘gain of function’ ie to make the virus more contagious.

      1. If Harry did prove to have no royal blood in him and was just the consequence of an earl’s wayward daughter’s extra-marital coupling where would this leave Migraine?

  61. My Chinese neighbour told me he’d just opened a “Crows shop”.

    I said, “Don’t you mean a clothes shop?”

    He said, “A Crows shop!”

    I said, “OK, I might pop down for a Rook.”

    4. Chinese tourist stopped me outside Green Park station and asked “How do I get to Paris?”

      That’s a long way, I said, first you need to get to Victoria Station, and then they will tell you.

      “No, no” he said, “Paris”.

      I said that I had already told him

      Going red with frustration he said “No, I know it near here – Paris – Buckinam Paris”.

      1. A journalist asked John Lennon “How did you find America?”
        Lennon “Flew to Iceland and turned left.”

    5. Chinese tourist stopped me outside Green Park station and asked “How do I get to Paris?”

      That’s a long way, I said, first you need to get to Victoria Station, and then they will tell you.

      “No, no” he said, “Paris”.

      I said that I had already told him

      Going red with frustration he said “No, I know it near here – Paris – Buckinam Paris”.

    1. While I applaud the sentiment, I don’t think 10 Sappers can be called, “…forces guarding the Polish border”.

  63. I’ve just watched my recording of, Louise Woodward; 25 years on; from a couple of nights ago. Strangely it matched my memories very closely and there was no new information that derailed my conclusions of the time. The trial was of course an absolute shambles with Shaken Baby Syndrome taking Star Billing and leading everyone down a false path. Did she really kill the child or not? It’s about fifty-fifty. If she did kill him (she was the only one present at the time) it was probably accidental. If it was an old injury, it’s quite possible that the parents (they are both doctors) roped her in to take the rap. So you pays your money and takes your choice!

      1. Afternoon Phizzee. They were all a stone-faced lot. Even Woodward gave no sign of emotion (you would have thought she’d been charged with shoplifting) until she was in the witness box when a few tears leaked out.

      2. Afternoon Phizzee. They were all a stone-faced lot. Even Woodward gave no sign of emotion (you would have thought she’d been charged with shoplifting) until she was in the witness box when a few tears leaked out.

      3. Were there were no stock checks or audits on the issue of sedative medications at the hospitals where the McCanns worked?

    2. I was in CT when that trial was happening. There was talk about the father, Sunny I think he was called; there were already suspicions about him and his behaviour. My view is that she was set up and being English, she was seen as an alien and treated poorly. I was asked about it in school a lot- English expressions etc. She said she “popped the baby on the bed”. What did that mean, I was asked. Replied that in UK we pop a dish into the oven, we pop to the shops, we pop a baby on the bed etc.
      In US, I have heard people say that they’ll “pop you one” and it means to thump you.
      Two nations divided by a common language.

      3. That was what I thought.
        Your point about language subtleties is a good one. Even when explained, the original understanding would remain in everyone’s minds.

    2. Waterstones can put it straight in the remainder box, together with the Clinton and Obama books. Henry Windsor’s up coming tome too.

      1. I wait for them to be reduced by 50% and then donated to Oxfam charity shops to 25 pence where i steal them from and then use them as firelighters.

          1. I have always said to dress as if you mean business. Dress right for the enviroment you are entering and look as if you own it.

            People will automatically take you seriously.

            At least that was what i told my brother when he was Father Christmas at the Christmas grotto in Debenhams…. :@)

        2. Afternoon Oberst. In the States they wear those shiny suits that make them all look like rather greasy Mafia Men!

    2. Vlad certainly ‘scrubs up well’.

      Of all the Russian leaders I think that Boris Johnson looks and behaves most like Nikita Khrushchev. I can just imagine him taking off his shoe and beating Michael Gove over the head with it.

  66. I am now going to pop to the shops…see the comment below Ms. Smade’s for clarification ;-))

        1. Pawnbrokers used to be known as Pop Shops, did they not? And the balls hanging outside were known as Pop balls.
          (Braces for a load of smut…;-))

  67. Eric Zemmour interview: ‘France is not at Britain’s beck and call or there to monitor its borders’
    Thousands of migrants crossing from French shores to England this month despite a deal to stop them
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/11/13/exclusive-eric-zemmour-says-would-tear-le-touquet-treaty/

    Zemmour is right – it is Boris Johnson’s responsibility far more than it is France’s. If, in spite of his grandiose promises to regain control of our borders Boris Johnson is incapable of doing so then we need someone who can to take over and take charge.

    The root of the problem, as other Nottlers have pointed out, lies in the fact that Johnson is not at all committed to Brexit, his party or anyone other than the unfortunate, transitory woman who temporarily occupies his bed and this commitment is likely to disappear when something else turns up.

    To be fair, I suspect that his current wife would not be too devastated if he strayed from the marital bed as he has done so many times before and I suspect she has other paramours waiting in the wings to console her (or relieve her) when he does stray.

    But of course the main problem is how to get rid of Johnson as prime minister and who on earth is there who should replace him in Downing Street?

  68. Gosh, I’m back here, what a struggle that was. I’ve had to clear cookies, history, crawl under barbed wire and then there the mine fields and hand grenades….. I thought disqus had pulled the plug and set me beyond the pail (yesterday’s comment re Ivermectin). I thought I was going to have to ask for the assistance of the SAS.

      2. Thanks…. I think I fell down the cellar steps steps…. the same thing happened again and once more I’ve had to crawl under the barbed wire…. I’m only just back within the walls of Nttl once more, I’m frazzled with all of it…

          1. Actually, I thought Pail looked quite Irish, when I considered the matter, it could have looked like Paìl…. that is an accent thing over the ‘i’, not a dot.

    3. Sounds like my trouble yesterday! I lost all my email accounts and had to retrieve those with two step authentication which Google activated the other day. Disqus made me find traffic lights and all the other things several times over before I was able to come back in.

      It does make you wonder who is watching what we say.

  70. That’s me for today. A dreary, drizzle filled day. Cats as pissed off as I am. Still, it is beloved grand-daughter’s 15th birthday – and we are skyping at 6 pm. So there’s lovely.

    Have a jolly evening devising a title to Halfcock’s memoir.

    A demain.

    3. From one of our favourite radio shows….”Hamish, you’re a dickheed.”

      The Doings of Hamish and Dougal- great fun.

    1. I saw the new Bond film last week

      Spoiler alert, at the last minute the Star ship Enterprise was passing by and beamed him up

  77. Watching the Ch 5 programme on Montgomery. Interesting, but not sure how to take him, a combination of generalship and massive ego.

    2. IMHO, his massive ego exceeded his generalship.

      His strategy after D-Day in Belgium and Holland (‘A Bridge Too Far’)
      was ill conceived.

      1. It was not He wanted to push on to end the V1 and V2 attacks on London by overunning their sites. the failure of MG was not all his fault. He tried.

        1. He was. He talked to his men no matter who they were. A great general so the Americans did not like him.

  78. Oops…Polish soldier dead at the border.Seems he shot himself accidentally.
    I blame the Russians
    /sarc

  79. If I may recommend something…I am not a huge fan of Lucy Worsely but there have been a couple of shows she has done of late that have been super. One is about the Blitz in WW II, the other I have just finished watching on I-Player which is about the fireworks Leicester arranged for his Queen at Kenilworth. It showed how the Tudor era fireworks were made and ended with the display, as close as they could get to Robert Leicester’s era. I am no scientist but I found it fascinating and, even though Lucy gives me the pip, she wasn’t too bad and I really enjoyed it.
    Gave up on GBN as they switched to coverage of that sham in Glasgow so am going to watch the Festival of Remembrance from the Albert Hall.

    Have a nice rest of evening y’all.

      1. BBC 1. I shall watch on I-Player as our TV is not reliable. It starts at 9 for 2 hours I believe.

      1. It is a known fact that black and Asian soldiers served in both wars. Why should they not be acknowledged? There were Poles, Canadians, Anzacs and Americans who volunteered before their countries entered the wars.

        1. I know.

          I had many ‘servicepeople’ of colour as friends or working for me, in my 40 years ‘working for the Queen’

          The thing is, in a normal situation, you do not notice the ‘of colour’ bit, only their friendship/performance

        1. I just caught the end of it, with a group ‘singing the Lord’s Prayer folloewd by an, inaptly dressed soloist.

        1. Sorry, I meant W10 of course. Have switched my brain off this evening, following 6 days of very hard work.

        1. I have a vastly superior version of Windows on mine. XP Pro SP3 running on an old Snow Leopard mac via Parallels 8. I also have Win7 as an option, so I have an up-to-date secure browser if I need it, but it’s a lot slower than XP. I also have a version of Linux Mint, which was the only OS light enough to let me do video editing.

          I took one look at Windows 8 and it was like going back to 3.1. Horrible. As for Windows 10, I could not stomach all this auto-installing malware. Why do they do it?

          I don’t think I’ll get a modern machine because of the OS it comes shipped with.

          1. I used XP at work but we’ve got Debian Linux at home. I did have my son’s cast -off Mac, but it died some years ago. I’ve never used any of the modern Windows set ups.

        2. I have a vastly superior version of Windows on mine. XP Pro SP3 running on an old Snow Leopard mac via Parallels 8. I also have Win7 as an option, so I have an up-to-date secure browser if I need it, but it’s a lot slower than XP. I also have a version of Linux Mint, which was the only OS light enough to let me do video editing.

          I took one look at Windows 8 and it was like going back to 3.1. Horrible. As for Windows 10, I could not stomach all this auto-installing malware. Why do they do it?

          I don’t think I’ll get a modern machine because of the OS it comes shipped with.

  81. Good night all

    Mushroom pie with an OMG Chilean Pinotage.
    custard tart with raspberries.

    1. Good night and to Missy….dinner still to be had, salmon with lemon, garlic butter sauce and asparagus, no dessert!

      1. I’m having fillet of trout in the next day or two. Can’t really decide what to do with it.

        1. I bake it with an almond stuffing – made with a few breadcrumbs, ground almonds, dill, lemon zest & butter…baked at a medium temperature in a ‘packet’ (foil & greaseproof paper).
          I do this with the chalk stream trout from Pesky.

    3. Interestingly, Peter, for lunch today I had mushroom soup and steak & kidney pie with an Argentinian Malbec.

  82. Evening, all. The government has no intention of acting; if it had it would have done something by now. Oscar update: the Conway household was peaceful at breakfast time today. Oscar stuffed his nose in his feed bowl and ate his food (except he occasionally turned round three times before going straight back to it) without even so much as a glance at my feet. Tea-time was the same. Clearly the application of RAF News to the bitey bits has worked the oracle.

  84. Have just watched the Remembrance Festival at the Albert Hall and it was almost like it used to be. Nice to see the place full of people. I blubbed through much of it…
    Anyway, here is a poem to end the evening…

    In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses row on row,
    They mark our place and in in the sky
    The larks still bravely singing fly,
    Scarce heard amid the guns below.

    We are the dead. Short days ago we lived
    Felt dawn , saw sunset glow,
    Loved and were loved and now we lie
    In Flanders Field.

    Take up our quarrel with the foe,
    To you from failing hands we throw
    The torch- it be yours to hold it high.
    If ye break faith with us who die
    We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
    In Flanders field.

    By John McCrae.

    1. I watched most of it. Didn’t think too much of the singing, but the military precision was impressive. It was good to see so many there – mask-free.
      Then on the news – the masked idiots in Glasgow.

      1. I enjoyed it and, as you say, it was nice to see the place full. The only singing I didn’t like was the black lady with the white hair and a nose ring. Other than that, it was OK with me. The big black bloke sang well but was out matched by HM’s bands;-)
        Let us hope that we can stay this way- i.e. normal; but I am not counting on it.
        Vivaldi right now- sheer bliss.

        1. I must have missed her – it had been on for a while by the time I started watching.
          We had Schubert while we had dinner. Vivaldi is good.

          1. If I am asked who my favourite composer is…if I have just listened to old Tony, then it’s him but, if I have just listened to JS then it’s him. Also like Albinoni and many others.
            Anyway, sleep well. I hope I shall 🙁

Comments are closed.