Saturday 17 August: Labour’s irresponsible pay settlements bode ill for the future of the NHS

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

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

656 thoughts on “Saturday 17 August: Labour’s irresponsible pay settlements bode ill for the future of the NHS”

    1. This is the danger when the state is entirely nepotistic. But it's always been that way: the department for transport works for the transport unions, education for the education unions. This is why the OFs are so useless: they're not serving the public. They serve the state.

      Thus the state rewards rightthink with lucrative six figure jobs.

    2. The poison that will ruin evey working tax payer's and pensioners lives, is spreading like an infectious disease.

    3. Wouldn't it be nice – just as an occasional treat – to be surprised by these facts.

  3. Morning folks, morning Mr Norfolk.

    Washing out, dishwasher emptied (and reloaded).

    Not feeling up to much but really, really need to trim the hedge and do some gardening.

    2. Good morning, wibbling. Well done for hanging up the washing and being on to your second dishwasher load. With regards to you really needing to trim the hedge and do some gardening, sometimes it's best to take a break and treat yourself more gently – the world will not end if you don't do any gardening this weekend. (Good morning, btw.)

  5. Just an observation here. There is no coverage of the Show Trials and sentencing on the front page of the Telegraph this morning. This has absolutely nothing to do with the massive hostile response to them Below the Line.

  6. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff for today's NoTTLe site. Enjoy the weekend, NoTTLers.

    Wordle 1,155 4/6

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  7. 391805+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    The only vaccine for this political kneeling plague creator is MASS unity of decent peoples in opposition.

    The battle of Britain MK2 has been in place since "miranda" of the cloven feet opened the gates to the worldwide criminal elements via the labour party, the kneeling tool is the updated continuation.
    https://x.com/SeanOMa25003555/status/1824111294477128141

  8. Good Morning, all

    Clear skies

    Why not go the whole hog and ban the word Christianity?

    Church of England dropping word ‘church’ to be more ‘modern’

    Report looks at the language used by 11 dioceses to describe new worshipping communities

    Janet Eastham , INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER
    16 August 2024 • 6:22pm

    The Church of England is increasingly dropping the word “church” in favour of “relevant and modern-sounding” descriptions such as “community”, a new study suggests.

    The Anglican church appears to be increasingly avoiding the word “church” when discussing the creation of new worshipping communities and congregations, a report has found.

    The Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research looked at the language used by 11 dioceses to describe new churches.

    The creation of a new church group is traditionally referred to as a “church plant”. But the report found that while 900 new churches had been started by the dioceses in the past decade, none had used the phrase “church plant” as the primary way to describe the project.

    The report’s author, Rev Dr Will Foulger, vicar of St Nicholas in Durham, found that six of the 11 dioceses used the language of “worship” in their main descriptor of new church projects, two used “congregation”, and seven used “community”.

    Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of St Anne’s, Kew, told The Telegraph that this apparent reluctance to use the word “church” reflects “a misplaced desire to be relevant and modern-sounding”.

    In an article on UnHerd, Dr Fraser said that it was as if, “the Church has given up on church. Not since Prince became Squiggle has there been such a daft revision.”

    He warned that embracing these new forms of worship had been “ruinously expensive” for the Church, cautioning that the push for modernisation should not come at the expense of traditional parish churches.

    The report found that 10 of the 11 dioceses studied “used the language of ‘culture change’ to describe the place of new things within the dioceses.”

    Dr Foulger suggested that the Church of England might be moving away from using the word “church” as part of a cultural rejuvenation.

    He said that the word “church” was not comprehensive enough “to describe what it is that these dioceses have been starting”, adding that the phrase “new things” might be more appropriate.

    A spokesman for the Church of England told The Telegraph that one reason why the word “church” appears less often in description of “new worshipping communities” is that these forms of worship can exist outside of traditional bricks-and-mortar churches.

    Examples of these new communities have cropped up across the country.

    At St Barnabas in Ealing a “Shh free” mass is on offer to welcome families with young children, while the “silent disco worship” at All Hallows Bow in east London – a new congregation founded within an existing church – attracts young adults.

    Outdoor worshipping
    The Diocese of Worcester, meanwhile, has embraced outdoor worshipping, with members of the churches in the Teme Valley South replacing church services with countryside walks, stopping for Bible reading and prayer along the way.

    “These communities often meet in existing church buildings, attracting additional worshippers alongside traditional congregations, but they are as much ‘church’ as any other form of worship,” a Church of England spokesman said.

    He added that a church is defined in theological terms as “a community of people who, together, live in relationship with God through Jesus Christ”.

    In his report, Dr Foulger acknowledged that this change in language by the Church is “forcing us to redefine what we think a church is in the Church of England”.

    He also recognised that the debate had “left certain parts of the Church – for whom fidelity to ecclesial forms and practices is central – feeling outside of the planting conversation”.

    Since 2014 the Church Commissioners have awarded £82.7 million to dioceses to be used for the purpose of starting new churches and religious communities.

    This investment is set to continue. In 2021, the Church of England announced plans to establish more than 10,000 new worshipping communities over the next decade.

    A spokesman for the Church of England defended its funding record in parish churches, stating that “significant investment has supported parish renewals, front-line ministry roles, and children’s and youth workers across various church traditions”.

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

    Dale Francis
    12 HRS AGO
    Watering down your own identity in a bid to be inclusive to all comers and outsiders doesn't result in more people joining, it simply means that you're left with no identity.
    A metaphor for the whole country perhaps.

  9. Good morning, all. Clear and calm here, a fine warm day in prospect.

    The people in the USA have a clear-cut choice for whom to vote in as POTUS, something we here in the UK didn't have when voting for a government. Reform were not fully developed enough to make a massive inroad into the seats gained issue despite their 4 million votes.

    Is it at all conceivable that this woman could beat Trump in a fair election? The accusations of AI created crowd scenes will not go away and the sheer all-round political ineptitude is continuously on display.

    https://x.com/wdunlap/status/1824490695295746339 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/25c59cfb05f54bee16e36a992077cbe273fd11efc8f6ed9a295360261e6e4b38.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a7ee648de4edaf0b7584ea86b99bbf26e052732d55812c5863905cdb3f09181a.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/92bd1a4278a5922bed3d353d75165c0134d80f1cf237b8529173ffb292c2aad2.png

    1. Unfortunately Trump seems to be imploding, and there is also a very good chance he'll soon be in prison when he is sentenced by the biased judge.

      1. Italy and Hungary will soon be the only two countries in the world with a sensible Right-leaning prime minister.

      2. Could be propaganda, in the same way that Harris seems to be the best thing to happen to the US in 250 years.

      1. Their food is so soft and pappy that the teeth are never worn down.
        Apparently our jaws are less angular because modern food doesn't need so much chewing.

  10. Starmer turns down HarperCollins book deal. 17 August 2024.

    In May 2022, it was revealed Sir Keir was writing a book on his vision for Britain.

    At the time, publishing director Arabella Pike said: “In his book Keir Starmer will go back to his early life to trace the origins of his politics and the influences that have shaped him as a leader.

    “It will make a fierce argument for the vital role of respect and integrity in political life as he sets out his vision for Britain’s future. We are delighted and excited to be publishing.”

    Well that has already gone to pot. He's more Stalin than Churchill.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/17/keir-starmer-turns-down-harpercollins-book-deal/

    1. "In May 2022, it was revealed Sir Keir was writing a book on his vision for Britain".

      And what did he do in the afternoon?

      2. On Friday afternoons, he's tidying his desk and making sure the pens are lined up in descending order.

    2. Did you know his father was a tool maker?
      Presumably HarperCollins didn't offer enough.

  11. Good morning, all. Where is the promised sun?

    Dashing out – will be back tomorrow. Play nicely.

    1. At 6.30 this morning it was a glowing red ball just above the horizon. It's sunny here now.
      Mind you don't dash too much Bill.

      1. No, to Lidl, silly! Where – to my horror – the 74% chocolate, that was 59p a year ago is now £1.29

      2. No, to Lidl, silly! Where – to my horror – the 74% chocolate, that was 59p a year ago is now £1.29

    1. When I was born there were 2,500,000,000 humans on earth.
      Today there are 8,200,000,000.

      It took our species, Homo sapiens sapiens, 300,000 years to achieve the first number …
      … but just 73 years to add another 5,700,000,000!

        1. Live Aid ~ roughly 600 million Africans
          Today ~ roughly 1,500 million Africans

          Thus the high probability is that there are far more starving Africans than there were then.
          That worked out well.

          1. If that is not a valid excuse for bull-whipping Bob Geldof, then I don't know what is.

            BTW: I did not contibute a farthing to that idiocy. I told collectors where to go.

          3. Ditto.
            Those countries kicked out evil whitey 60+ years ago, conveniently hanging on to things like roads, railways, electricity and water supplies.
            At the time of Live Aid, they had had 20+ years to sort themselves out and were gong backwards.
            Now it's six decades later and they've done the square root of bugger-all – apart from going even further backwards. The only positive move has been western foreign aid moving into the head honchos' bank accounts.

      2. The Guardian says there's stacks of room in UK.. There’s no right to enter & roam over a staggering 92% of England.

        1. Yup, there’s no right to enter and roam over my house and garden and I imagine that goes for most of us.

      3. Good morning Grizzly

        When I was born
        The population of the United Kingdom in 1947 was 49,538,700, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This figure includes civilians and all UK armed forces.

        As of August 16, 2024, the population of the United Kingdom is estimated to be 69,190,104, according to Worldometer. This is a 0.33% increase from 2023, when the population was 67,736,802. The UK's population is 0.85% of the world's total population, and ranks 21st in the world by population.

        (PS, But hang on , we are told our indigenous birthrate is dropping )

      4. Back then, they had to 'work' to live and die young.
        Now, they just hold out their hands
        When they have time.

  13. Quote of the day

    ‘All things being equal, we are expecting a parallel, synchronised offer to that of Aslef.’

    – RMT union boss Mick Lynch says rail workers expect the same terms as have been offered to train drivers. It comes after Aslef announced more train strikes today. Labour agreed to a 15% pay rise for drivers yesterday.

    1. Soon, the only people rich enough to use the trains will be the Train Drivers and ASLEF members

      1. 'They' say the Network can't handle it. So unlike the Victorians who looked at the problem and found a solution we are left with stagnation.

  15. Julie Burchill
    Reginald D. Hunter and the cowardice of the comedy class
    17 August 2024, 6:33am

    The brave clown who speaks the truth and shames the devil is a showbiz tradition, from Charlie Chaplin to Lenny Bruce. The comedian more than any other creative is best-placed to play the role of the cheeky urchin who points out that the Emperor has no clothes. But in recent years, drolls have ceased to be outlaws – and have become lapdogs of the liberal establishment at best and boot-boy bullies of Jews at their very worst.

    The apparent antipathy towards the Jewish people on the comedy circuit is noticeably greater than that in, say, music or acting. Does it stem – as so much anti-Semitism does – from envy, as ‘Jewish humour’ is such a thing, and Jews have been so historically successful in the comedy racket? To the kind of men who are drawn to comedy – often driven by the kind of suppressed rage which comes from being socially awkward (many comedians say that they became clowns to avoid being picked on) and not physically attractive even when young – I imagine this must be very galling.

    In comedy as in so many other professions, Gaza has been just the excuse. In February the Soho Theatre banned the comedian Paul Currie after he displayed a Palestinian flag onstage and the venue said that Jews were ‘subjected to verbal abuse’ and alleged that Currie ‘aggressively demanded’ that they leave. (Currie appears to disagree with the theatre’s account of what happened and vehemently denies that his conduct was anti-Semitic.)

    In May the comedian Dane Baptiste told an unidentified female ‘Zionist’ on Instagram: ‘I want you to sit down with your husband and kids and imagine what their lives will be without you, because north London is a quick trip to make… Ask about and comedians will tell you I will be at your literal doorstep. Your agent won’t keep you safe. Your act is dumb but don’t be a dumb woman. I will sit in prison while your family sit at the cemetery.’ (Afterwards, Baptiste said he had ‘no ill intention towards the Jewish community and never have’.)

    This month at Edinburgh, the Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish wrote under the headline ‘This was the ugliest Fringe moment I’ve ever witnessed’ of a show by Reginald D Hunter:

    ‘This came down to five minutes midway in when a theatre full of people erupted in vocal animosity at an Israeli couple who had briefly heckled Hunter… where he said a Channel 5 documentary containing a scene about an abusive wife herself accusing her husband of abuse made him think, “It’s like being married to Israel.” There was audience laughter in response, but not from the couple on the front row, who shouted “not funny”. The pair, who said they were from Israel, then endured their fellow audience members shouting expletives (“f— off” among them), and telling them to go – with slow-hand claps, boos and cries of “genocidal maniac”, “you’re not welcome” and “free Palestine” part of the toxic mix. But here he gave an object lesson in how not to pick on people in the front row. Instead of tolerating the couple’s joint heckle, he doubled down with a sinister air of beaming bellicosity: “I’ve been waiting for you all summer, where the f— you been?” He continued: “You can say it’s not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed, you look foolish. Look at you making everyone love Israel even more,” he jeered, after the woman remonstrated with the audience. “That tells me that I still got voltage,” he purred, with satisfaction, after the pair left, slowly (it turned out that the man was disabled, not that this caused a flicker of restraint in the host, who openly laughed at them). He then related a remark that his female partner had made at the time of the Holocaust controversy about accessing the Jewish Chronicle’s website: “Typical f—ing Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe.” “It’s just a joke,” he added.’

    Afterwards, Hunter commented: ‘There was an unfortunate incident in my new show Fluffy Fluffy Beavers. As a comedian I do push boundaries in creating humour, it’s part of my job. This inevitably creates divided opinions but I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bully. I regret any stress caused to the audience and venue staff members.’

    As Cavendish points out, Hunter also was making money from the oldest hatred long before the war in Gaza, having been accused of anti-Semitism at the 2006 Fringe for joking about Holocaust denial (Hunter later defended himself by saying ‘the joke isn’t about the Jews, it is about freedom of thought and freedom of expression.’)

    And of course the ugliest – in every way – man in comedy, Frankie Boyle, deserves a dishonourable mention here. Way back in 2010, the BBC Trust was forced to apologise over his hideous 2008 routine in which he compared Palestine to a cake being ‘punched to pieces by a very angry Jew…I’m actually studying that Israeli army martial arts. And I know 16 ways to kick a Palestinian woman in the back.’

    This was aired on that bastion of civilisation Radio 4, the comedy output of which in recent years has declined from woefully limp to malign circle jerk. It’s received wisdom that Radio 4 is losing so many listeners because of its political output, but I’d bet that the alleged comedy has a lot to answer for too. The flip side of the virulence displayed by the likes of Boyle and Hunter is the castration of comedy. The Radio 4 panel shows sniggering about Tories and Terfs are very much playing the Bully’s Best Friend role.

    It’s fair to say that the most craven and conformist people in entertainment are now comedians – they make actors look like flaming anarchists – as they glide bovinely on that conveyor belt from uni to the Fringe to the BBC, state-sanctioned battery hens laying eggs loudly on hand-outs extorted from the forced licence fee. The women are no better; a bunch of tame Transmaids who never dare comment on the funniest phenomenon of the 21st century – men pretending to be women. I love Radio 4 Extra but when their Comedy Club section starts at 10 p.m., the heart-breaking humourlessness of the modern comics who introduce it makes me think ‘Is this a joke?’ That’s about the only time I do think it.

    So it’s a choice the blandness of the panel-show herd or the beastliness of the bully-boys when it comes to comedy these days. It’s telling that Reginald Hunter, like Boyle, isn’t averse to making jokes about women. Hunter has joked, ‘Apparently rape is the worst thing to do to a woman. I disagree. The worst thing to do to a woman is rape her, then call her fat.’ Jews and women are the two groups comedians can vilify with impunity these days, with no fear that they’ll be the subject of death-threats or backdoor blasphemy laws.

    Both groups are ceaselessly gaslighted; the Israeli couple at Hunter’s Edinburgh show represented their country perfectly that night, surrounded by hostile enemies attacking them from all sides whilst claiming that they, the Israelis, were the aggressors. The award-winning comic writer Caroline Gold says, ‘This time the hate is just for the Jews, so all of the spite, all of the disgust, is distilled into that. The old Jewish jokes never had the hate; they were stereotypical but not savage. This new breed – it’s bierkeller stuff, not Northern working-men’s club.’

    Comedy has become the most smug and authoritarian milieu of all the entertainments; while waving the woke flag, it zeros in on the most perennially persecuted people in history with added relish. I can’t help but think of the terrific, terrifying play by Trevor Griffiths, Comedians, written in 1975, in which a comedian who is ostensibly a decent man turns out to have had a very unpredictable reaction to visiting the site of an extermination camp.

    It’s a fact that anti-Semitism some time ago – during the Labour leadership of Jeremy Corbyn – shook off its dowdy old right-wing duds and became one of the coolest non-binary clubs in town. This, added to the specific envy of the success of Jews in comedy, makes me reflect yet again that a future full of fun and laughter is not coming anytime soon – onstage or off.

      1. That bloody porter in MacBeth.
        During his speech, the audience would take a comfort break in the nearby Thames.

    2. thanks for the copy & paste.. Julie Raven, the only thing I miss over at The Spectator. Oh and Comedy Carter.

    3. Comedy used to be about wry observations about the human condition, but these days it seems to be a euphemism for sneering at those who do not belong to the club.

      As regards antisemitism, I fear Mirvis and his influential chums have made a rod for the back of the Jews by equating valid political criticism of Netanyahu and his coalition partners in the Knesset, and their operatives currently converting Palestine into valuable real estate for favoured settlers, with the sort of vile victimisation of Jews that led to Kristallnacht and worse.

      Corbyn and his allies in the old Labour Party wanted these two to be well separated, but the IHRA and their allies saw fit to wreck such a mission, and used their power first to pervert British democracy, and then to throw Corbyn and his allies out of the Party on a false charge of antisemitism.

      The result has been that far from eliminating the scourge of genuine antisemitism from modern civilisation, it has brought those critical is Israeli behaviour in Gaza and the West Bank into the fold of the neo-Nazis.

      They only have themselves to blame, and I fear for the Jews.

  16. 391805+ up ticks,

    Then surely rayner must start a hotel building program toot bloody sweet, to avoid any disappointment over in Calais, to mass accommodate the incoming "waifs of the world "AKA invading troops.

    Dt,
    ‘No chance at all’ that Rayner will meet housebuilding target, developers warn
    Diminished pipeline of existing planning approvals threatens to scupper pledge to build 1.5m homes

    1. Good morning Ogga

      Re Rayner ..

      Roof extension rules to be relaxed as Labour aims to build higher
      Homeowners will be encouraged to expand upwards but will face costlier council fees under planning reforms.

      Homeowners will be encouraged to build roof extensions and add storeys under plans to make it harder for councils to block higher houses.

      Councils will no longer be able to stop upward extensions because they are too high or refuse planning permission because neighbouring houses do not have extra storeys under Labour’s liberalisation of planning rules.

      The changes are designed to increase living space in cities and towns. Housing experts said they could “supercharge” the practice of adding an extra floor. However, there are also warnings that relaxing rules could risk neighbourhood battles if residents put up obtrusive or unsightly extra storeys.

      Homeowners also face a doubling of planning fees as ministers say applicants need to pay more to cover councils’ costs and to allow them to hire more staff to speed up decisions.

      The measures come as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s drive to turbocharge homebuilding and meet a target of 1.5 million homes over this parliament. Looser planning rules are seen as essential to kickstart the economy. In July, minsters set out higher local housing targets, which will be made mandatory as part of a spate of reforms which include requiring councils to review green-belt land.

      A requirement that extensions should not be taller than surrounding buildings has also been dropped. In draft planning rules now being consulted on, a stipulation that extensions should be “consistent with the prevailing height” of neighbouring properties has been deleted, while councils are told not to insist that multiple homes must build extensions at the same time as a condition of approval.

      https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/roof-extension-rules-to-be-relaxed-as-labour-aims-to-build-higher-03sxnjl52

      Bye bye bungalows , and hello to neighbour frictions and untidy extensions , loss of light , privacy etc .

      There will be a shortage of skilled builders , one million+ homes have been promised .. everyone has cleared off back to Poland or emigrated !

      2. I spent several years working on loft conversions.
        All then done with timber plywood and bolts.
        Now massive RSJs are installed causing a lot of problems for neighbours in semi-detached Homes.
        Also noticed lots more dormer installations than previously allowed.
        The Velux window company will be rubbing their hands.

        1. N.B. The above is NOT an accurate PHOTO of Kowloon. It is a montage of pieces of photos, an image from artist Fiona Hawthorne’s book, Drawing on the Inside: Kowloon Walled City 1985. Photo: courtesy of Fiona Hawthorne.

          The real Kowloon is vibrant and built to be earthquake-tolerant. If you want to visit Hong Kong, than stay at the YMCA (AKA Salisbury Hotel) near the Star Ferry. The first four floors on one side are YMCA, all the rest is a comfortable and modern hotel, where I have stayed several times after being told the 'secret'. Here's a real photo of Kowloon:
          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fc9996feec12620dbb23bf0bf970c210ca3114ad41352ec2731b5084d14ee0ad.jpg

  17. Starmer is running the DT letters page today.

    I cannot post a BTL, nor Up or Down tick one that is already there

    1. The Daily Telegraph has become a censoring leftist rag. It is trying to see if it can attract even fewer readers than the Guardian does.

  18. Good morning all,

    Sunny at Castle McPhee, wind North-West backing West, a cool 12℃ rising to 22℃ this afternoon.

    I wasn't here yesterday because I was off stalking trout in a chalkstream. Today I'm off on a tour with my bellringing group to visit and ring at 7 church bell towers around North West Hampshire.

    I'l leave you with this really black podcast for your daily delectation. Listen, if you dare, to the real reason for the invasion of Britain and Ireland.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/97f1dc4f87ffb8e014e4d5e71cf544d58f47cb59378e3865d0263d58e038ee12.png

    https://odysee.com/@johnwaters:7/anhonestconversation:3

    1. "36 camps around Dublin, 300 similar camps across the country of fighting aged men who mysteriously arrived without documentation."
      "their role is to kill us.. so unthinkable that this could happen, and yet it is happening."
      "a couple of containers of machetes, and Ireland's gone."

      Goal: Depopulate the earth by 80-90%, then own the world with Europe as one big nature park.. and smirk about it.
      death jab.
      famine.
      quickest way to die? talk about it.. let them speak freely then kill them.

    2. "36 camps around Dublin, 300 similar camps across the country of fighting aged men who mysteriously arrived without documentation."
      "their role is to kill us.. so unthinkable that this could happen, and yet it is happening."

      Goal: Depopulate the earth by 80-90%, then own the world with Europe as one big nature park.. and smirk about it.
      death jab.
      famine.

    3. Yes, saw that (in chunks). While diluting our populations with outsiders might have the desired effect of diluting nationalism, and pride in our country, I still don't think the movers behind this have quite taken into account the force of the incoming Roper belief system to act for entirely its own ends. Where these ends conflict with the globalists' intentions…

      1. ah, history has proved they are always behind the curve in terms of technology.. also they spend far too long on all fours kissing the carpet.
        Israel, a nation of nine and a bit million continues to humiliate 470 million of them with ease..

        1. Perhaps it's the way some people talk, (edit when their mouths are busy with a carpet). Others pray via their mouths when upright…

      2. ah, history has proved they are always behind the curve in terms of technology.. also they spend far too long on all fours kissing the carpet.
        Israel, a nation of nine and a bit million continues to humiliate 470 million of them with ease..

      3. ah, history has proved they are always behind the curve in terms of technology.. also they spend far too long on all fours kissing the carpet.
        Israel, a nation of nine and a bit million continues to humiliate 470 million of them with ease..

  19. So, the Sturgeon Moon, has nothing to do with the Ms Krankie and her views on the English

    1. Yo Ol

      I read your post (quickly) as "Just wearing a fleece now" and thought

      Too much information

  21. Good morning all.
    A bright and sunny but rather chilly start to the day with 6°C on the Yard Thermometer.
    A trip to Stoke to check up on Stepson is planned.

      1. Not yet I'm afraid!
        But the starter problem is an embuggerance I can live with, though when I have to turn the key 20 times before the drive fully engages to actually start the engine, it does get a bit wearing.
        Consequently I tend to look for parking places on a slope with room to bump-start the engine!

        1. I recall the starter motor packing up on our old Renault – in order to get it going I would have to get out out of the car, open the bonnet and bash the solenoid (sp?) with a hammer much to the amusement of passers-by. Every single time with two small children in the back of the car. We just didn't have the money to sort it immediately back in the day (inflation at 25% and rocketing interest rates). I wouldn't have the energy to do that now.

          3. Nah! I wore stiletto heels! The fuse box was in the engine compartment behind the steering wheel. Sometimes lights or windscreen wipers stopped working and a thump on the dashboard or a new fuse was required!

          4. My previous motorhome sometimes needed to have the windscreen wiper motor hit with a hammer to get it going again.

          5. The starter motor on the van is inaccessible due to the amount of crap under the bonnet. To change the bloody thing means taking the entire front of the van off.

  22. Good morning all,

    Fine sunny day ,13c.

    Moh away already , golf competition , and no1 son out of the house , aiming to run in the 5k Poole Park run this morning .

    Me, usual skivvy stuff to keep the house in order .

    The air has that early Autumn feel , spiders long threads and new webs glistening with early dew .

    1. Deffo autumn over here, Belle. Leaves still green, but the air has the autumn smell to it, is cool and soft. If only it were a bt warmer so I didn't need a fleece…

      1. I used to be a close friend of Liza Minelli. She and I used to share four sordid rooms in Chelsea.

      2. Yep , had a good day to myself, drove to Wimborne , hairdresser appt , hair cut etc , then visited a good friend who lives in that area . Great drive home, to be greeted by whats for supper!

    3. Take doggo off for a walk instead. There will always be housework. Enjoy the definitely autumnal feel in the air, and the light is getting softer too. Lovely time of the year when nature starts her annual rest and displays the fruits of her labours.

  23. The Church of England is increasingly dropping the word “church” in favour of “relevant and modern-sounding” descriptions such as “community”, a new study suggests.

    The Anglican church appears to be increasingly avoiding the word “church” when discussing the creation of new worshipping communities and congregations, a report has found.

    The Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research looked at the language used by 11 dioceses to describe new churches.

    The creation of a new church group is traditionally referred to as a “church plant”. But the report found that while 900 new churches had been started by the dioceses in the past decade, none had used the phrase “church plant” as the primary way to describe the project.

    The report’s author, Rev Dr Will Foulger, vicar of St Nicholas in Durham, found that six of the 11 dioceses used the language of “worship” in their main descriptor of new church projects, two used “congregation”, and seven used “community”.

    Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of St Anne’s, Kew, told The Telegraph that this apparent reluctance to use the word “church” reflects “a misplaced desire to be relevant and modern-sounding”.

    In an article on UnHerd, Dr Fraser said that it was as if, “the Church has given up on church. Not since Prince became Squiggle has there been such a daft revision.”

    He warned that embracing these new forms of worship had been “ruinously expensive” for the Church, cautioning that the push for modernisation should not come at the expense of traditional parish churches.

    The report found that 10 of the 11 dioceses studied “used the language of ‘culture change’ to describe the place of new things within the dioceses.”

    Dr Foulger suggested that the Church of England might be moving away from using the word “church” as part of a cultural rejuvenation.

    He said that the word “church” was not comprehensive enough “to describe what it is that these dioceses have been starting”, adding that the phrase “new things” might be more appropriate.

    A spokesman for the Church of England told The Telegraph that one reason why the word “church” appears less often in description of “new worshipping communities” is that these forms of worship can exist outside of traditional bricks-and-mortar churches.

    Examples of these new communities have cropped up across the country.

    At St Barnabas in Ealing a “Shh free” mass is on offer to welcome families with young children, while the “silent disco worship” at All Hallows Bow in east London – a new congregation founded within an existing church – attracts young adults.

    Outdoor worshipping
    The Diocese of Worcester, meanwhile, has embraced outdoor worshipping, with members of the churches in the Teme Valley South replacing church services with countryside walks, stopping for Bible reading and prayer along the way.

    “These communities often meet in existing church buildings, attracting additional worshippers alongside traditional congregations, but they are as much ‘church’ as any other form of worship,” a Church of England spokesman said.

    He added that a church is defined in theological terms as “a community of people who, together, live in relationship with God through Jesus Christ”.

    In his report, Dr Foulger acknowledged that this change in language by the Church is “forcing us to redefine what we think a church is in the Church of England”.

    He also recognised that the debate had “left certain parts of the Church – for whom fidelity to ecclesial forms and practices is central – feeling outside of the planting conversation”.

    Since 2014 the Church Commissioners have awarded £82.7 million to dioceses to be used for the purpose of starting new churches and religious communities.

    This investment is set to continue. In 2021, the Church of England announced plans to establish more than 10,000 new worshipping communities over the next decade.

    A spokesman for the Church of England defended its funding record in parish churches, stating that “significant investment has supported parish renewals, front-line ministry roles, and children’s and youth workers across various church traditions”.

    Comment

    Nicholas mills
    3 hrs ago
    Can Islam drop the word mosque to modenise it from the medieval ages. Not a chance and not expected.
    Our church will change its strips so it doesn’t offend. Honestly Islam doesn’t care how Islam or Muslims comes across to the British people. All that matters is the call of Islam.
    Our church is weak. Islam knows it’s weak. It knows our political class are weak.
    Our church doesn’t exist in Middle East because it is weak. It dies out in Muslim countries because it is weak.
    Plenty of country have converted from Christian to Muslim. But no country has gone from Muslim to Christian. Well certainly haven’t without conflict.
    Are our politicians concerned that we’re concerned on this possibility. edited https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/16/church-england-dropping-word-church-more-modern/

    Me speaking now
    ( The dear Lord knows I detest the word communideee )

    1. Good morning! Actually there is a Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East and there are successful new churches in states such as Qatar. That aside, “church” means “the body of Christ” and it is that which is being rejected. This is Luciferian indulgence in opposition to Corpus Christi. Worse still, it is being paid for with money donated by faithful parishes. More and more are refusing to hand over their funds to be thus squandered and rightly so.

      1. Morning, eue.
        "More and more are refusing to hand over their funds to be thus squandered and rightly so."
        Does that mean people are putting less – or nothing – in the collection plate? Fewer bequests?
        Church fetes not raising the expected amounts?

        1. No it means that parishes are keeping the money they raise and not handing over what the diocese demands as their share of common funds.

          1. Well done the parishes.
            I didn't realise they could do that or had the oomph to do so.

          2. The Cheshire Archdeacon told the PCC that the parish share was not obligatory (having said during the interregnum that it was).

    2. "The Diocese of Worcester, meanwhile, has embraced outdoor worshipping, with members of the churches in the Teme Valley South replacing church services with countryside walks, stopping for Bible reading and prayer along the way."

      I happen to live in the extended benefice of Teme Valley South, but this is news to me. I see parish wardens every Sunday afternoon, since they offer cream teas at the church to raise money for a new disabled toilet and kitchen within the 1000-year-old church building. All there is currently is a plastic portaloo over a grave a short walk away.

      I am aware that Lambeth Palace said that the words "rector" and "vicar" are outdated, and the preferred term these days is "team leader". I also know that our lady rector rather enjoys events outside the church buildings themselves, but this is nothing new. Pilgrimages have existed longer than there have been churches. The reason there are fewer church services is that Lambeth Palace has seen fit to merge two large benefices either side of the river, and there is now far too much for one "team leader" to do. Gone are the days when there was one vicar for each parish church, each with their own verger, housekeeper, deacons and choirboys.

      Part of this decline goes towards diverting collections towards 'Mercedes Fund' handouts, complying with BLM directives, to descendants of those who sold their neighbours to Muslim and American slave traders. Most of it though is declining collections, as the young seek spiritual direction amid social media influencers rather than "team leaders".

      The CofE church commissionsers, responsible for handling the money, have been incompetent since my grandfather was a rector (as they were known then) in the 1960s. The main point of making Welby Archbishop of Canterbury was to instill some finance acumen in Lambeth Palace, but like Becket, once in place he seems to follow another agenda.

    3. I've been elected to the House of Laity of the Diocesan Synod. I suspect my views are not going to be popular.

  24. The Church of England is increasingly dropping the word “church” in favour of “relevant and modern-sounding” descriptions such as “community”, a new study suggests.

    The Anglican church appears to be increasingly avoiding the word “church” when discussing the creation of new worshipping communities and congregations, a report has found.

    The Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research looked at the language used by 11 dioceses to describe new churches.

    The creation of a new church group is traditionally referred to as a “church plant”. But the report found that while 900 new churches had been started by the dioceses in the past decade, none had used the phrase “church plant” as the primary way to describe the project.

    The report’s author, Rev Dr Will Foulger, vicar of St Nicholas in Durham, found that six of the 11 dioceses used the language of “worship” in their main descriptor of new church projects, two used “congregation”, and seven used “community”.

    Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of St Anne’s, Kew, told The Telegraph that this apparent reluctance to use the word “church” reflects “a misplaced desire to be relevant and modern-sounding”.

    In an article on UnHerd, Dr Fraser said that it was as if, “the Church has given up on church. Not since Prince became Squiggle has there been such a daft revision.”

    He warned that embracing these new forms of worship had been “ruinously expensive” for the Church, cautioning that the push for modernisation should not come at the expense of traditional parish churches.

    The report found that 10 of the 11 dioceses studied “used the language of ‘culture change’ to describe the place of new things within the dioceses.”

    Dr Foulger suggested that the Church of England might be moving away from using the word “church” as part of a cultural rejuvenation.

    He said that the word “church” was not comprehensive enough “to describe what it is that these dioceses have been starting”, adding that the phrase “new things” might be more appropriate.

    A spokesman for the Church of England told The Telegraph that one reason why the word “church” appears less often in description of “new worshipping communities” is that these forms of worship can exist outside of traditional bricks-and-mortar churches.

    Examples of these new communities have cropped up across the country.

    At St Barnabas in Ealing a “Shh free” mass is on offer to welcome families with young children, while the “silent disco worship” at All Hallows Bow in east London – a new congregation founded within an existing church – attracts young adults.

    Outdoor worshipping
    The Diocese of Worcester, meanwhile, has embraced outdoor worshipping, with members of the churches in the Teme Valley South replacing church services with countryside walks, stopping for Bible reading and prayer along the way.

    “These communities often meet in existing church buildings, attracting additional worshippers alongside traditional congregations, but they are as much ‘church’ as any other form of worship,” a Church of England spokesman said.

    He added that a church is defined in theological terms as “a community of people who, together, live in relationship with God through Jesus Christ”.

    In his report, Dr Foulger acknowledged that this change in language by the Church is “forcing us to redefine what we think a church is in the Church of England”.

    He also recognised that the debate had “left certain parts of the Church – for whom fidelity to ecclesial forms and practices is central – feeling outside of the planting conversation”.

    Since 2014 the Church Commissioners have awarded £82.7 million to dioceses to be used for the purpose of starting new churches and religious communities.

    This investment is set to continue. In 2021, the Church of England announced plans to establish more than 10,000 new worshipping communities over the next decade.

    A spokesman for the Church of England defended its funding record in parish churches, stating that “significant investment has supported parish renewals, front-line ministry roles, and children’s and youth workers across various church traditions”.

    Comment

    Nicholas mills
    3 hrs ago
    Can Islam drop the word mosque to modenise it from the medieval ages. Not a chance and not expected.
    Our church will change its strips so it doesn’t offend. Honestly Islam doesn’t care how Islam or Muslims comes across to the British people. All that matters is the call of Islam.
    Our church is weak. Islam knows it’s weak. It knows our political class are weak.
    Our church doesn’t exist in Middle East because it is weak. It dies out in Muslim countries because it is weak.
    Plenty of country have converted from Christian to Muslim. But no country has gone from Muslim to Christian. Well certainly haven’t without conflict.
    Are our politicians concerned that we’re concerned on this possibility. edited https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/16/church-england-dropping-word-church-more-modern/

    Me speaking now
    ( The dear Lord knows I detest the word communideee )

  25. Morning all 🙂😊
    Bright start 14c
    Lovely afternoon yesterday with my good lady's life long friend from Melbourne. We are birthday doubles. Same day same year. Virgos, a good time at Christmas.
    It won't take 5 years to wreck the country any more than it has already been done. These hate filled people have no morals. They have already shyd away from the general responsibility of government. They are behaving like children who have found a pot of gold coins and are chucking it around without a thought of were it may land.

  27. I haven't full caught up with this morning's posts, but need to be off.
    Got to drop into Cromford to leave my spare wheel to have yet another tyre fitted.
    Last Saturday, dropping into Hartington, I had a tractor & trailer coming towards me so moved a bit to the left, only to smack into a collapsed bloody drain gully!
    3 new tyres, one punctured and the original spare worn out, in less than two weeks.

    1. They want to spread their message world-wide, that's why. Plus Europe will give them benefits and pay them while they do just that.

    2. They want to spread their message world-wide, that's why. Plus Europe will give them benefits and pay them while they do just that.

    3. For them, Islam IS Democracy, everyone is the same (apart from Mullahs, they're a bit different) (and females, different again).

    4. They want someone else to pay for their sitting about doing zip. Most muslim countries aren't rich at all.

      1. The discovery and extraction of oil by Europeans has made many Moslem states extremely wealthy but bad culture creates poverty, not vice versa.

    6. I don't blame them at all.. an offer no Muzzie could refuse..

      "leave your shithole behind.. come on over here.. dont have to work, tuck into the local girlies and/or boys as you please.. immune from prosecution, smack a woman copper on the nose if she dares touch you.. there's more.. spout your death cult hate about Israel 24/7.. and we'll even pay you."

      "Oh, the trip might be a bit tricky but we'll meet you halfway in the channel."

    7. I don't blame them at all.. an offer no Muzzie could refuse..

      "leave your shithole behind.. come on over here.. dont have to work, tuck into the local girlies and/or boys as you please.. immune from prosecution, smack a woman copper on the nose if she dares touch you.. there's more.. spout your death cult hate about Israel 24/7.. and we'll even pay you."

      "Oh, the trip might be a bit tricky but we'll meet you halfway in the channel."

    8. I don't blame them at all.. an offer no Muzzie could refuse..

      "leave your shithole behind.. come on over here.. dont have to work, tuck into the local girlies and/or boys as you please.. immune from prosecution, smack a woman copper on the nose if she dares touch you.. there's more.. spout your death cult hate about Israel 24/7.. and we'll even pay you."

      "Oh, the trip might be a bit tricky but we'll meet you halfway in the channel."

  29. Just when you think it can't get any worse:

    "The Church of England is thinking about dropping the word "church" in favour of something more "modern"…" Mosque, perhaps?

    2. Think that was on Unherd, Giles Frazer? Quite gloomy. Wasn't the suggestion 'New Things' or similar. 'Marbles Lost' perhaps.

    3. Why not drop all those old, cold, inconveniently-shaped buildings as well? And the singalong leaders draped in batwings?
      Eejits.

    4. So now we discover it's not only our political classes who are the idiots.
      There seems to be a competition occurring.

  31. Britain is facing a “brain drain” of middle-class Muslims who no longer feel safe due to rising Islamophobia, an adviser to the King has warned.

    Harris Bokhari, who has advised the royal family and government on race relations, said recent rioting had fuelled concerns among the Muslim community that the UK was no longer a welcoming place for people from different cultures.

    He also revealed that he had discussed leaving the UK with his family despite being “somebody who loves this country beyond anything”.

    “The way I view it now is that we have a brain drain,” he told The Times. “So from the Muslim community we have got really talented people who have left the country and more people [are thinking about] leaving the country.”

    Bokhari said people were afraid to leave their homes after mosques were attacked.

    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/muslims-are-scared-to-live-in-uk-after-riots-0qpjpzr08

    Nigel Smith
    8 hours ago
    Replying to T Miah

    As someone working in Dubai I can say that I fully respect the local culture. I can’t ask / demand for massive churches to be built and I abide by the laws. I simply ask those that come into the Uk to do the same and not demand a change in culture and legal process.

    Recommend (203)

    Share

    1. Is someone advising King Charlie about the Jews packing up and leaving because of the massive rise in anti-semitism since Muslims settled here in vast numbers?

      Good morning.

      2. Yep, this is a point I used to make way back after the Oct 7th pogrom against the Jews by Palestinians. Within a few days it became clear that Jews were already voting with their feet, returning to Israel. People did not seem to want to talk about it, but now that there's political grist to be thrown into the mill it'll become a lefty cause celebre I'd think.

    2. Given the awakening throughout the Western world to the threat of Islam, where would these 'middle-class Muslims' go? Pakistan? Afghanistan? Gaza?

    3. Given the awakening throughout the Western world to the threat of Islam, where would these 'middle-class Muslims' go? Pakistan? Afghanistan? Gaza?

  32. Is justice turning into vengeance against some of the rioters? 17 August 2024.

    Every day brings fresh news of people being sent down for a long time. Some of the sentences are richly deserved. No one is going to lose sleep over the 29-year-old sentenced to 30 months for trying to set fire to a police van in Liverpool, or the 58-year-old jailed for three years for punching a police officer in Southport.

    But what about the 26-year-old father of three in Northampton who received a harsher sentence than that – three years and two months – for a post on X? What he posted was vile. ‘Set fire to all the f**king hotels’, he said, referring to hotels housing asylum seekers. This is clearly an incitement to violence, though it is unclear whether anyone was incited by it. But are we allowed to ask why horribly dreaming of violence on social media gets a longer jail term than visiting actual violence on a police officer?

    These trials have nothing to do with Justice. They are political Kangaroo Courts. Their purpose is to intimidate.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/is-justice-turning-into-vengeance-against-some-of-the-rioters/

    1. Marxism requires that criminals go free and dissenters are punished. Why do idiots fail to see. It’s not like it hasn’t been tried before.

      2. Apropos the ban on swearing in Thanet,
        "Take away the right to say 'f*ck' and you take away the right to say 'F*ck the Government' "

        Lennie Bruce ?

    2. "Set fire…" is what was once pub talk, uttered after a few jars in the evening but forgotten the following morning. Now, an angry thought can leave a digital trace and ruin a life.

      1. Similar to suggesting politicians should be strung up.

        I would dearly like it if some expert cyber hunters went through all the media posts of the Labour cabinet and the judges and their families and friends and when things that are unacceptable, which there almost certainly will be, are discovered they should receive prison sentences of the same time that the judges are so gleefully handing out at the moment.

        I have lost all respect for the police and the law thanks to what is happening. The claim is it discourages others.
        It doesn't deter me, it makes me very angry.
        To Hell with them all.

      2. The very comment you just made was framed in exactly that way and made by Starmer some ten or so years ago when asked about it. His view was that if the person woke up sober the next day and showed remorse then the courts should look upon the matter leniently.

        Who'd a thunk he would change his tune over that, eh?

      3. Will Chris Packham be prosecuted for suggesting that anyone banking with Barclays should commit suicide with a burning bucket of oil?

        3. Of course he won't . He is onside, stupid, compliant with the Oberstarmerfuhrer and hence exempt from the law of the land. So you know what I wish? Whoooooooops 🙂

    3. and that b**stard Jordan Parlour got what he deserved..

      “You went on to say that you did not want your money going to immigrants who ‘rape our kids and get priority’.
      The sentence is 20 months’ imprisonment.”

      The correct answer was in fact.. "I am reasonably happy that my money is going to immigrants who ‘rape our kids and get priority’.

    4. Nothing new though. At times like these judges in general and rulers in particular tend to think that things like justice seem to derive from their own opinions and not from the consent of the people.

      Prince Philip wryly alluded to the cruel and unusual nature of justic historically meted out in Britain when asked on entry by border security to Australia if he had any convictions. He replied something like, why, is it still required.

    5. The CPS decides whether to charge an individual and what offence to charge them with. A judge and jury decide whether an individual is guilty or not and if guilty the judge awards the sentence according to the guidelines.
      So what the hell is a judge doing telling the CPS that individuals should be charged with rioting so that he can award a maximum sentence of ten years rather than the maximum of five years applying to current charges?

      1. I believe these people are not all having a trial by jury, they’re being tried by a single judge as I understand it. They’d never be able to hold the trials so quickly in the ordinary way.

        1. They are also being "encouraged" to plead guilty. They do not have the benefit of the coaching received by the illegals per the Human Rights industry. It does stink.

    2. If elderly people in a care home who have receiving winter fuel allowances have their payments cut does that make a difference when it's cold. And those who don't need payment's because they are wealthy and those who are receiving because of their benefits.
      Do the recently robbed pensioners have to sit out side, or go to their rooms where the heating will be turned off ?

    3. Always has been. It has only become a matter of note because he's ruffling feathers.

    4. I would be inclined to trust someone with our economy more if they could make a success of their personal finances – without resorting to the public purse. Not always, but usually.

  34. An incredible two, the first word had two vowels, neither of which were in the answer:
    Wordle 1,155 2/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Harder work for me.

      Wordle 1,155 5/6

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

      1. And me
        Wordle 1,155 4/6

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

      2. Me too.

        Wordle 1,155 5/6

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

    3. Back to normal

      Wordle 1,155 4/6

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

      1. Me too.
        Wordle 1,155 4/6

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

    4. Well done! First birdie in a while for me!

      Wordle 1,155 3/6

      🟨⬜🟨⬜🟨
      🟨⬜🟩🟨🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  35. Can any of you right-on, clever NoTTLers spot anything WRONG with the following sentence?

    "It was only when I got to university that they discovered I could not read."

    2. My English teachers always red-lined the use of 'got'.
      How did this person manage to blag their way that far?

        1. I was corrected at primary school when i said i was going down the road. Teacher told me it was along the road.

          I also sometimes dip bread in my soup.

          1. Interesting one. It wasn’t in Norfolk was it? Sounds a little bit dialectically based.

            Your use of the passive voice seems the most suspect thing if I were going to get technical, since as the agent in the sentence, (yourself), I’d have used something in the active voice maybe. Teacher also uses the passive when correcting it though, so obviously hadn’t noticed that one. Grammar, eh!

        2. You got to go with the flow these days. I gotten past that particular hang up. 😊

        1. Hi Tom
          A bottle of something nice should be delivered at your place tomorrow.
          You might need evidence of being over 18… 😉

    4. It is ambiguous in meaning, albeit grammatically correct, since the reading capabilities of the speaker prior to attendance at university are not readily discernable, when framed that way.

      A bit like: fruit flies like a banana, (when it's thrown does it resemble a flying banana or do fruit flies actually like bananas? Completely ambiguous).

      Specifically, are we meant to assume inability to read prior to attendance at university or is it that there existed a hidden or previously unknown reading difficulty?

          1. I was asked, by the author, to contribute when that book was in the planning stage. I still have my original edition.

            [Edited].

        3. In her English essay, Anne whereas Fred had had had had had had had had had had had the examiners approval.

          In her English essay, Anne whereas Fred had had 'had' had had 'had had'. 'Had had' had had the examiner's approval.

          1. In that essay Fred had originally written: "Mary had a lamb" (present tense); Anne had written: "Mary had had a lamb" (past tense).

          2. Mary had a little lamb,
            It ran into a pylon.
            10,000 volts went up its ass
            And turned its wool to nylon.

          3. Mary had a little lamb
            She also had a duck
            She put them on the mantle piece
            To see if they would intereact

          4. Mary had a little pig,
            She couldn't stop it gruntin'.
            She tied it to the garden fence,
            And kicked its little … er … head in!

    5. "It was not untilonlywhen I got to university that they discovered I could not read." ?

      1. You beat me to it. The use of 'only' is questionable, though it would be understood. Thats what i would of fort.

    7. At Berkeley UC, one of the most prestigious Universities in the USA, if not the world, they have remedial classes in English for incoming freshman. They are always well attended, sadly.

    8. Plus ca change……
      20 years ago a Prof of Physics at Cardiff Uni was bemoaning at having to provide remedial maths classes for purportedly A* students

    9. 1. No identification of they.
      2. If parsed properly, the pronoun is associated with the noun 'university' and so should be 'it' not 'they' but that wouldn't make sense as university is inanimate.
      3. 'Not until I attended' better than 'only when I got to'

    10. Is there anything wrong with this one?:

      "It was only when I got to Hogwarts that they discovered I could not spell."

  36. “But being a black one-legged trans-lesbian, I ticked every DEI box so it really didn’t matter”.

    1. Before I wiped the tears from my eyes I saw that as, " … trans-lesbian, I licked every DEI box …"

      I had to go and sit down, Sue.😲

  37. Only just noticed that the bakery down the street where I live is a Gail’s. When I passed this morning it was packed and all the outside tables were taken. Sometimes I do love the Brits. I take it the produce is good, if you like that sort of thing.

      1. Likely though you are getting the genuine article. A lot of supermarket sourdough loaves weren't strictly sourdough as they had used a few cheats.

        1. Tesco have just introduced a proper sardow loaf, very good, £3.75 but on offer at £3.25.

      2. A bakery (artisan, natch) in Stirling, charging £5 for a sourdough loaf! Went out of business last week!

          3. Yup.Buy more, get some fings free. (without shop lifting)

            They dohave some 10.5% Shiraz at 3 Quid a bottle too

          4. I was teasing, OLT. Had assumed that you had inadvertently used the “poacher’s pocket”!

      3. My sourdough loaves are only taking about 8 or 9 hours from start to finish with this warmer weather we've been having.

    3. I used one in Kensal Green/Queens Park a couple of weeks ago. Very good it was too, but a bit pricey.

    4. It is very good, although quite pricey. I would patronise them more if it were not for the facts that I’m trying to avoid too many carbs and that we have another local bakery that makes seeded bagels to die for.

  39. Afternoon All
    Will I quit?? No I wont……….
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/522f20c1e3570180f2a9f11ca6eda637c2feb909271c2b2e82099a11c1d33053.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3ee5113577816b1a7934183fd90b85a3f8ade6c2c378279e2861b040eca34283.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0e42e7a3ec6073c4f1b1be30fbfabc70b4a0f811a3bd3306360c14f993829721.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9a0cf265d3a699c2b87dddfff22b83dd3380e087b26f81d6114446c7c0f46c4d.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cfd0a5d10efc77ef3efa5f9f213247619e1bb5c293ecf511f745747ec5efd2e3.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fb81ab37a4ee0ea87d23b0ad2d97e47fab3a85a1d8d31e62fea7f6f11363eeb1.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1678cbbca6a35efdad85e23915b5b54641672c87d94bb446a84510e8df3e400b.gif

    1. Next time you see a picture of a rhinoceros' head. Imagine its horn being taken away. To me it looks like Keir Starmer's head. That same kind of blunt, thick shape with little beady eyes. Maybe it's just me.

    3. He'll be one of these who has no real friends or relatives who are black. But just had passing conversations with the more educated black person so thinks he understands all race relations. In short, just echoes back the latest on trend platitudes in order to gain personal success and promotion. A passing thought. That face. I've known a few gits with that assembly of those features. Is it just me?

      And that post was posted by Unity News Network. A small media outfit which is non-woke and is being hounded by MSM to close down. UNN is a bit odd but it's very brave in outing the tripe we are force-fed by MSM and our parasitical elite masters. It filmed the boats and reported on them, well before even Farage brought them to mainstream attention.

  41. These are the greatest children’s authors of all time – and Roald Dahl definitely isn’t one of them. 17 August 2024.

    Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

    A A Milne (1882-1956)

    C S Lewis (1898-1963)

    T H White (1906-1964)

    Judy Blume (b 1938)

    Jacqueline Wilson (b 1945)

    Philip Pullman (b 1946)

    Julia Donaldson (b 1948)

    Malorie Blackman (b 1962)

    J K Rowling (b 1965)

    Jon Klassen (b 1981)

    Katherine Rundell (b 1987)

    No Arthur Ransome? No Stevenson?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/childrens-books/greatest-children-authors-rowling-dahl-pullman-blyton/

      1. Some idiot. Terrible list.
        The books that children actually love tend to be hated by intellectuals, and conversely, books pushed at children by adults tend to be books that appeal to adults.

    3. My favourite authors when young were Enid Blyton, AA Milne, Susan Coolidge, Louisa M Alcott and Frances Hodgson Burnett.

    4. "These are the greatest children’s authors of all time – and Roald Dahl definitely isn’t one of them."

      I really take great exception to anyone — invariably a halfwit — who insists on using the vapid and utterly pointless expression "all time". The internet is awash with videos posted by such cretins subjectively informing all and sundry that 'their' list of 'greatest footballers', 'best guitarists' or any other sphere of human endeavour are the 'GOAT' (Greatest Of All Time).

      Their definition of "all time" — without exception — means within their own lifetime or sphere of experience. Ten year olds post their "all time" lists that do not go back beyond the current decade.

      I avoid, at all cost, reading anything where the clown who has posted it (Sam Leith in the case of the DT) even thinks of deciding his personal favourites are the best/greatest/most talented of ALL TIME.

      1. Tolkien is probably regarded as an adult’s author nowadays because of declining literacy standards.

    6. It's always going to be highly subjective.

      The Times today has a list of the 100 best selling books of the last 50 years – based solely upon the number of weeks spent in the Times (obviously) Best Seller list – so largely pointless.

      Some interesting and amusing comments BTL
      – nothing from JK Rowling higher than 32nd in the list (!)
      – Stephen Hawking's a Brief History of Time is in there, but how many people have actually finished it?
      – Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy should be ranked no.42

      1. The Spectator asked various of their writers to say who their favourite character was in children’s literature. William Brown featured more than any other (including being the choice of Douglas Murray).

    8. No W E Johns? Many Battle of Britain pilots claim they were inspired to fly by his stores (and the govt of the day asked him to invent other characters to inspire people – i e Worrals and Gimlet).

  42. https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b0db5604f794cafc1b228eee8481fc30f239f321/440_390_3316_1990/master/3316.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=ed26ed50eac3c6f1eac2978550c2e278
    A Rutland osprey swooping at speeds of up to 80mph to grab a fish.

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7249567586fd1cfdb093ac867ebd016f7414a613/0_0_3266_2112/master/3266.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=e12281dc20b6409a2c196e9e1ce9e140
    A fallow deer (dama dama) in Antalya, Turkey

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cda3b825f51f32333bb7060642b2a7aa1de5f4e8/0_0_5472_3648/master/5472.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=15e5a09c17e1f2154e95a8ada026cbe6

    Ocypode macrocera, the red ghost crab, on Boca grande beach in Tumaco, Colombia

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1d75cfe8b9ed0beb246f8519fa9e7378b476d0e6/0_0_6720_4480/master/6720.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=0970bc6a7e4088103bb499a99b5c33e4
    A moorish hedgehog rescued from a war-torn city in eastern Ukraine shelters in a family home turned animal shelter

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/970ff8c64ddb4d3f570fd52101b786aaab5c49ed/0_0_8640_5760/master/8640.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=18ea805d1643334d83889d200b6fb0b0
    Black rhinos roam the wild in the Save Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/5ab0c45c1dc3945ff37102dd3dde47c809f7b7a1/0_0_2800_1867/master/2800.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=6b82a96e380a19d9f1a0585b41d2aa0b
    Elephants bathe in a river at the Pinnawala elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka. The orphanage is the first of its kind in the world and home to 69 elephants

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/38ee425efdc6a8d6fec73a2303339dd441d0e369/0_80_1697_1018/master/1697.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=4bbfbbad9600b097c92791fb34b3f614
    A stork perched high in a nest above horses in a meadow in Wehrheim, Germany

    1. There is a similar stork platform a few miles from me. I saw a pair of white storks in a harvested wheat field just outside the village yesterday.

          1. Her own safety being part of the reckoning i expect.

            I wish there were a way where if Trump becomes President he could secretly pardon him. If news got out cities would burn again. Makes it quite clear who the real criminals are.

          2. Have you seen the latest nonsense re DT, Phizze? The one where he’s watching his assassination attempt every waking minute, re-living the moment he was shot. I don’t believe it, countering it if I see it.

          5. I thought that story reeked as well.
            Fake polls saying Harris is ahead, fake stories saying that Trump doesn't want to win.

          7. The footage of her laughing/speaking at the same time is something to behold…we’ll see at the actual election, and hope we can believe the result/s.

          8. He should not be pardoned, he should be given a fair trial. Preferrably one where the president of the USA were not baying for his blood. Something impartial and evidence based, say.

          10. Could easily have been that, BB2 – I don’t know, hope his family is still together. Imv he did nothing wrong.

          11. Well he sort of did something wrong in that he made a misjudgment that allowed him to be demonised

          12. Bit of a difficult situation, trying to subdue a really big guy under the influence, surrounded by hostile crowd. I realise that would have been in his training, he paid a heavy price for it. Perhaps there are other incidents in his record that we’re unaware of which allowed him to be demonised, otherwise I still think he did the best possible thing in the circs, other than just get back in the car and drive away.

          13. Contrary to what was stated in court, holding a struggling person with a knee applied to the side of the neck was an official technique in the police at the time.

          14. Well he sort of did something wrong in that he made a misjudgment that allowed him to be demonised

    2. Shirley the autopsy on Floyd confirmed that he died of a heart attack brought on by a self administered drug overdose. He was a fentanyl addict.

      Black Americans are just 13% of the population but they commit 48% of violent crimes. Yet there are many black Americans who live well, are successful and often conservative in their outlook. If all blacks were badly treated, one would expect uniformity of outcome.

      1. The 1st PM absolved Chauvin, but the family demanded a 2nd and that was the one the trial ran with.

        1. The "president" (Biden) at the time demanded a conviction and a draconian sentence. Ring any bells?

        1. It's tricky for them because the frontal cortex of the brain (which allows impulse control) also develops later in the same demographic, apparently. So they are never really to blame. Oh, and they are many (10) times more likely to develop schizophrenia, particularly cannabis induced schizophrenia, than any other demographic. Poor devils!

      4. I think it’s St Catherine’s House at the corner of Kingsway and Aldwych and has been 30 or so years.

      1. I think they will get it under control. It's at the Waterloo end of the building in the roof space.

        They had to cancel a day of Break Dancing. :@(

    3. Expect to read that a south London man (with mental issues) has been arrested on his way to Mali.

    4. One assumes that they have a decent sprinkler system – there'll be a lot of precious records there.

      1. No, Paul. Art. The Courtauld Gallery moved there years ago. Public records are elsewhere.

  46. Good morrow, Gentlefolk, today’s (recycled) story

    Price Rises Over the Years

    One day, three generations of prostitutes were discussing the price of blowjobs over the years.

    The daughter said that, nowadays, blowjobs cost about £50. Mama claimed that back in her day they were only about £25.

    Then Grandma piped up and declared,
    "In my day, during the Depression, we were just happy to get something warm in our bellies!"

  47. BBC Radio weeping floods of tears – Nigel Farage (spit) earns (spit again) more than any other member of Parliament.
    (Not including massive back handers to all Lefties in thrall to WEF/UE)

    Putin's killers bomb innocent civilian peasants in Ukraine and Chewz continue murdering dozens of old women and children in Gaza and West bank in revenge attacks for insults directed at Prime Murderer Netanyahu.

  48. To be fair to the 'B'BC I can understand why they are so worried about a disease that is spread largely amongst degenerates, faggots, and nonces.

    2. Isn’t it just smallpox rebranded and not so deadly? They have to cling to the theory that the vaccine programme eradicated smallpox but it likely died out in the industrial world due to rising living standards. That Africans call it monkey pox is incidental. Anyway, I had the smallpox vaxx and have the scar to prove it so if the theory that it confers lifetime immunity to both is correct, I’m sorted.

      1. When I heard that monkey pox had been rebranded 'mpox', I presumed that someone had been warned about associating Africans with monkeys, especially after the furore over English footballers and Ukrainian supporters that seems to have died down since the latter were called up and Marcus Rashford has been replaced as the Face of Football by Ed Sheeran, who is ginger.

        1. There was the case of a female laboratory technician who contracted smallpox via the vent from a fume cupboard, in Birmingham from memory.

          Porton Down will have samples of the virus as will its American cousin.

  49. Incompetence.

    In Toronto, two recent immigrants have been arrested on terrorist charges. It appears that when doing their security checks, the immigration overlords failed to notice that one of the incomers was an active ISIS participant.

    Now we find that it wasn't our security service that uncovered the terrorist plot, it was the French Security Service that did all of the investigation and handed the RCMP the results of their work.

    Ir also makes me wonder if French intelligence operatives are active over here, but what the hell we have Chinese, Russian, Indian and Iranian spies sso what is another nationality.

  52. I gotta ask ya , Grizz: shouldn't you move 'by the author' upfront of your sentence?

  53. Rarely does an obit make me laugh, but boy, did Ricki live his life to the full!

    "Richard Lugner, shopping-mall magnate whose guests stole the show at the Vienna Opera Ball – obituary

    He had six wives, marrying his last, 49 years his junior, in June this year

    Telegraph Obituaries 16 August 2024 • 1:07pm

    Richard Lugner, who has died aged 91, was an Austrian construction magnate known to the outside world for his practice of inviting glamorous and preferably busty female celebrities to be his companions at Austria’s leading social event, the annual Vienna Opera Ball.

    Lugner – nicknamed “Mörtel” (“Concrete”) due to his background in the building trade – began the tradition in 1991 with the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida. She was followed in the 1990s by Joan Collins, Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch, Grace Jones, Faye Dunaway – and even Sarah, Duchess of York.

    The Noughties saw him squire Jacqueline Bisset, Farrah Fawcett, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, the former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, Goldie Hawn and Kim Kardashian to the event.

    While some of his guests might have been attracted by the glitz and glamour of the world’s most famous ball, held in Vienna’s Opera House, the chief draw was clearly financial. Lugner’s guests could expect to be paid a five- or six-figure-dollar sum, to be flown to Vienna by private jet and accommodated during their stay in one of the city’s most luxurious hotels.

    In exchange, they were expected to sign autographs at Lugner City, a vast shopping mall Lugner had built in a working-class district of Vienna, before serving as his arm candy at the ball.

    The exact sums paid were supposedly confidential, though nothing stayed confidential for long. Sophia Loren reportedly pocketed $110,000 in 1995, while the Duchess of York, Lugner’s guest in 1997, offered value for money for a comparatively modest $40,000 – though she did have the compensation of being put up in a three-room suite at Vienna’s Imperial Hotel, a favourite with Adolf Hitler.

    Indeed, the Duchess proved to be unusually obliging, even agreeing to speak to the media at the ball, breathlessly informing Austrian television audiences that it was “wonderful to see all the men in their finery with their white ties on and listen to the excellent music”.

    But others were less accommodating. Lugner was disappointed when his 1996 guest, the singer Grace Jones, insisted on bringing her boyfriend. “He makes too much love, this boyfriend, and Grace spends a lot of time with him,” he complained. “They make love also in the Opera House behind the curtains. I mean, we didn’t see. We heard.”

    Perhaps Lugner’s worst deal was the $500,000 he reportedly paid in 2014 to secure the services of Kim Kardashian. The reality TV star, Lugner said, had been “annoying” by going off to film her show at a local restaurant instead of following the agreed programme. Then, at the Ball, she refused to dance with him, offering her mother as a substitute, before fleeing the event after she was reportedly offended by a white male guest who appeared at the ball in “blackface”.

    Lugner, a genial cove whose hangdog look around the eyes was attributed to the plastic surgery he had had in an attempt to look like George Clooney, was unapologetic about using celebrity to promote his business and appeared to get a kick out of the attention that his rent-a-dates stirred up.

    However, the attendant media scrum, sometimes featuring as many as 200 hacks following him and his escort around on the night, led to tensions with the ball’s organisers. In 1999 its founder, the then 90-year-old Countess Christl Schoenfelt, complained that Lugner’s dates were diminishing the event’s prestige. “These women are horrible,” she said.

    Later guests included a porn star called Dolly Buster, the burlesque artist Dita von Teese, Carmen Electra (actress, Playboy model and author of How to Be Sexy), and in 2011, most notoriously, the 18-year-old Moroccan-born pole dancer Karima El-Mahroug, nicknamed “Ruby the Heart Stealer” – the woman at the centre of the “bunga-bunga party” sex scandal involving the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

    The pre-ball publicity on this occasion was everything Lugner could have hoped for, the front cover of News, one of Austria’s most popular magazines, featuring a montage of the tycoon in top hat and tails, his arm around a scantily-clad Ruby.

    But the invitation sparked protests. “I wish this wasn’t true. It’s horrible,” declared the ball’s organiser Desirée Treichl-Stürgkh, who threatened to cancel Lugner’s box the following year, while a leaked email to staff from the head of programmes at the state-owned broadcaster ORF urged staff not to make the event “a ball of prostitutes”.

    Lugner remained unfazed. “If Berlusconi liked her, she’s good enough for the Opera Ball,” he declared. Besides, “popes had mistresses too.” His guest was “a great woman and she will behave herself”, a claim rather undermined by Ruby telling reporters that she did not know how to waltz: “I can only belly dance.”

    In the event Ruby, standing out amid the tulle and chiffon in a revealing gold sheath and push-up bra, generally behaved herself, although some Viennese matrons were reportedly forced to steer their husbands firmly away from the Lugner box.

    Meanwhile, organisers’ threats came to nothing, and at the Ball in February this year the 91-year-old Lugner danced the night away with Priscilla Presley, former wife of Elvis.

    Richard Siegfried Lugner was born in Vienna on October 11 1932. In 1942 his father, a lawyer, was sent to fight on the Eastern Front, where he was captured, and later died in a Soviet prison camp.

    After leaving school, Richard worked for a construction company and for Mobil Oil before setting out on his own in 1962 “with one bricklayer and one helper”.

    He began with small projects such as building petrol stations and restoring old buildings before getting a big break in 1975 when King Faisal of Saudi Arabia awarded him the contract to build Vienna’s first mosque, situated on the banks of the river Danube, which opened in 1979.

    Lugner used the publicity to launch an advertising campaign with the slogan “We don’t only build mosques.” Among other projects, he went on to build Lugner City, Vienna’s first mega-mall, which opened in 1988 and became one of the most successful in the country by promoting flexible shopping hours at a time when most shops closed at 6pm on weekdays and at midday on Saturdays.

    Lugner’s high profile also led him to dabble in politics. He ran twice as an independent candidate in the Austrian presidential elections, first in 1998, when he won almost 10 per cent of the vote and then again in 2016, when he secured a little over two per cent.

    He also attracted media attention for his love affairs, often with much younger women, and his six marriages, the first five of which ended in divorce. His first wife (1961-1978) was Christine Gmeiner, his second (1979-83) was Cornelia Laufersweiler (1979-83) and his third (1984-89) was Susanne Dietrich.

    From 1990 to 2007 he was married to Christina, known as “Mausi”, with whom he starred in Die Lugners, a reality TV show modelled on The Osbournes, featuring the couple, their daughter Jacqueline and Richard Lugner’s mother-in-law Martha Haidinger.

    In 2010 Lugner released a song celebrating his success with women, I Bin Der Lugner (Ole, Ole), which entered the Austrian charts, but the following year he was unsuccessful in his attempt to represent Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest.

    After his fourth divorce Lugner reportedly swore off marriage altogether, only to change his mind in 2014 when, aged 82, and after a brief courtship, he married a 24-year-old German Playboy model, Cathy Schmitz, with whom he appeared in a 2016 docusoap, Lugner und Cathy – Der Millionär und das Bunny. The marriage did not survive.

    In June this year he walked down the aisle for a sixth time, with Simone Reiländer, a 42-year-old actress who described her 91-year-old spouse as “everything I want in a man”.

    The morning after, she revealed that they had enjoyed “a very long wedding night”, but a few days later Lugner was taken to hospital suffering severe back pain. A month after the wedding he underwent heart surgery, leading to further health complications.

    Simone survives him with his four children: two sons from his first marriage, a daughter from his fourth marriage and another daughter from an extramarital relationship.

    Richard Lugner, born October 11 1932, died August 12 2024"

      1. Pity I didn't meet him last May.
        I'm sure you'd've shut MB in the broom cupboard for me to improve my chances.

        1. I think he preferred busty women not fusty women…………………….er…um…sorry. :@(

  54. The answer to my university conundrum is: Jay Blades – the famous illiterate telly person.

      1. Daytime restoration programme. Charlie Kingy is quite taken with him.

        Though i don't watch i understand they utilise different skills to restore almost anything to their former glory and are quite good.

        Perhaps they could divert their attention to repairing the country.

          2. Ah! He could have joined the what’s app group at our younger daughters wedding! ‘Black men in Kilts’!

    2. Blades has three children. His youngest, a daughter, is from his first marriage and he has two sons from previous relationships. Blades married his second wife Lisa Zbozen in Barbados in 2024, after 18 months of marriage, the couple split with Lisa citing that the marriage was abusive.
      As an adult he learned that his father had 25 other children from different mothers. Aged 31, he was diagnosed with the reading ability of an 11-year old. He is an exemplar, a perfect representative of the BBC's raison d'être.

      Blades was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours, for services to craft. He was appointed the first Chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University

      If his youngest is from his first marriage the other two must have been born out of wedlock – Like father, like son.

        1. Sheffield Wednesday's nickname was The Blades long before Sheffield United. They eventually became known as The Owls several years after moving to a new ground in Owlerton.

          1. I know. I’d thought about adding that fact — about a team from the city of steel — earlier. I’ve been a Wednesday fan since 1958. My father was a Sheffield United fan.

      2. Not heard of him before. How wonderful and enriching is our diversity. It is our strength.

    1. Seeing as almost anything could be considered an arrestable offense i suggest glaring at him. In your own defense you could argue that is how Muslims look at everyone who annoys them and you were just trying to fit in.

    6. I would advise against. It would be taken as a mark of disrespect and do the cause of Reform a good deal of harm as a result. IMO, of course.

    7. I would advise against. It would be taken as a mark of disrespect and do the cause of Reform a good deal of harm as a result. IMO, of course.

  56. 391805+ up ticks,

    A fruitcake leader,
    You never did take any notice of this chap,to busy with demolishing the country via the lab/lib/con coalition party.
    (OGGA1)

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021

    ·
    51m

    Listen to him telling you what an Islamic majority in your country means.

    In Mein Kampf, Hitler told the world what he was going to do. Few read it. Churchill did & was kept off the BBC as a ‘warmonger’.

    Anyone who takes the trouble now to understand Islam is denounced as ‘Islamophobe’.
    Destiny sent us Churchill. This time around it might not bother.

  57. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/515ac04032ce36dc88edae51d8bc276bed0b3caa67c088a2b430decbec0089e8.png Another very clear reason why that idiotic tip-tap pastime called lawn tennis is played by, watched by and commentated upon by morons.

    I cannot recall any example, in over 300 years, of a cricketer smashing his bat into the pitch and breaking it in a tantrum. Yet in this twattish 'sport' it happens all the time. Cricket is played by gentlemen with brains. Lawn tennis is played by childish, air-headed nonentities. They probably still chuck their teddies out of the cot.

    2. I'm reasonably sure there have been instances of cricketers breaking their bats in fits of rage, I seem to recall an Australian did it several years ago.

        1. I recall, likely faultily, something about it decades ago, but as I'm not a follower of cricket, I'll bow to your superior knowledge.

        1. When I started to try to find the one I had in mind I was surprised by just how many examples of bat smashing there have been over the years.
          Given how much harder it must be to break a cricket bat it suggests that they are just as petulant as the tennis twats.

        2. When I started to try to find the one I had in mind I was surprised by just how many examples of bat smashing there have been over the years.
          Given how much harder it must be to break a cricket bat it suggests that they are just as petulant as the tennis twats.

    4. If he had to finish the match with that bat, he might have been less aggressive.

      Golf allows you to replace a broken club unless you broke it intentionally, in which case it's carry on with what you have.

  58. Back from Stoke and just done myself a spot of lunch.
    Stepson is on "home leave" and has gone backwards compared to when I saw him 10 days ago.
    He apparently bought a bottle of whisky, probably not a full 700ml one, after leaving the hospital yesterday evening and this morning when I saw him, he was in absolute shit state and he is not going to improve.

      1. That's kind; Ashes.
        As a Father of 2, I'll send a hug as well. Nobody wants that to happen to their lad.

    3. What a contrast in the two above posts! I'm so sorry, BoB. I'm sure you have, but I would suggest getting very tough indeed with those who are employed to protect him (and the public from him). it sounds awful, but you do need to highlight the dangers and shame them into action. Any whiff of blame coming their way and they will suddenly provide support. I speak from bitter experience.

    4. All good wishes, Bob…had similar troubles one time. Be firm, stick to your plan…good luck to all x

    5. All good wishes, Bob…had similar troubles one time. Be firm, stick to your plan…good luck to all x

  59. That's me for this very agreeable day. Delightful visit from family (including an almost 3 year old). Very nice child and very well trained in respecting animals – esp cats. To my amazement, Pickles allowed himself to be admired and stroked by the little maid for quite some time. Normally, he is off like a shot when strangers appear..

    And brilliant nephew (computer genius) finally sorted and cured the weird problem with access to my bank account. The problem lay in the "threat protection" section of the Nord VPN. Easy when you know how, eh?

    Now to relax in the sunshine and, in 90 minutes, risk a glass of wine.

    Have a spiffing evening

    A demain.

    1. Cats are excellent judges of people and situations, Bill. So, Pickles did what was smart.

      1. That'll be the same Pickles who, in a fit of pique, BIT the person who has been caring for him, feeding him and providing luxury accommodation for the last (almost) four years – since he was six weeks old. Pah!!

          2. Years ago a very beautiful ( huge fluffy blue job) but rather unhygienic cat took up residence here. I have never come across a cat with a more relaxed approach to personal grooming, and this one extended to clinkers at aft. Long story short.: it's owner was eventually located but didn't want it back as hand gone septic from previous bite where attempt made to clean cat. Sadly it disappeared from here. Greener climes, one hopes.

        2. You are staff. He has no obligation to be nice to you 🙂 Visitors on the other hand, especially kiddikins …

  60. Thank goodness for the mute button on my TV remote, I was able to silence the garbage the female commentators were spouting in the semi-final of the Hundred and watch the game in peace. However I was still able to lip read the Invincibles wicket keeper saying 'F**k me' when the umpire gave 'not out' on a clear LBW

    1. The women's games are tough to watch to be honest. Sometimes it's fine but it's often full of so many schoolboy errors!

  62. A blowing Birdie Three?

    Wordle 1,155 3/6
    🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
    🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Bogey five.

      Wordle 1,155 5/6

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

      1. I actually did it in four today, Sue – I can't believe it either, not often lucky 😀 still waiting for him indoors to show me how to post….
        Wordle 1,155 4/6

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

        OMG so excited, I did it my own self!!!

    2. Four here
      Wordle 1,155 4/6

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

    3. A bit of a wobble here today.
      Wordle 1,155 5/6

      ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
      🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
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  63. BBC pulls Margolyes comment describing Dickens villain as ‘Jewish and vile’
    Broadcaster removes remarks noting her words ‘should have been challenged at the time’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/17/bbc-pulls-margolyes-comment-dickens-villian-jewish-vile/

    BTL Comment

    I have thought of a useful job for her.

    She should be employed by the Roman Catholic Church whose ordinands are finding it difficult to cope with the idea of having to endure a life of celibacy. Were this woman to parade naked in any Roman Catholic seminary she would drive any carnal thoughts out of their young minds for ever.

        1. From Coffee House,, the Spectator

          Reginald D. Hunter and the cowardice of the comedy class
          Comments Share 17 August 2024, 6:33am
          The brave clown who speaks the truth and shames the devil is a showbiz tradition, from Charlie Chaplin to Lenny Bruce. The comedian more than any other creative is best-placed to play the role of the cheeky urchin who points out that the Emperor has no clothes. But in recent years, drolls have ceased to be outlaws – and have become lapdogs of the liberal establishment at best and boot-boy bullies of Jews at their very worst.

          The apparent antipathy towards the Jewish people on the comedy circuit is noticeably greater than that in, say, music or acting. Does it stem – as so much anti-Semitism does – from envy, as ‘Jewish humour’ is such a thing, and Jews have been so historically successful in the comedy racket? To the kind of men who are drawn to comedy – often driven by the kind of suppressed rage which comes from being socially awkward (many comedians say that they became clowns to avoid being picked on) and not physically attractive even when young – I imagine this must be very galling.

          In comedy as in so many other professions, Gaza has been just the excuse
          In comedy as in so many other professions, Gaza has been just the excuse. In February the Soho Theatre banned the comedian Paul Currie after he displayed a Palestinian flag onstage and the venue said that Jews were ‘subjected to verbal abuse’ and alleged that Currie ‘aggressively demanded’ that they leave. (Currie appears to disagree with the theatre’s account of what happened and vehemently denies that his conduct was anti-Semitic.)

          In May the comedian Dane Baptiste told an unidentified female ‘Zionist’ on Instagram: ‘I want you to sit down with your husband and kids and imagine what their lives will be without you, because north London is a quick trip to make… Ask about and comedians will tell you I will be at your literal doorstep. Your agent won’t keep you safe. Your act is dumb but don’t be a dumb woman. I will sit in prison while your family sit at the cemetery.’ (Afterwards, Baptiste said he had ‘no ill intention towards the Jewish community and never have’.)

          This month at Edinburgh, the Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish wrote under the headline ‘This was the ugliest Fringe moment I’ve ever witnessed’ of a show by Reginald D Hunter:

          ‘This came down to five minutes midway in when a theatre full of people erupted in vocal animosity at an Israeli couple who had briefly heckled Hunter… where he said a Channel 5 documentary containing a scene about an abusive wife herself accusing her husband of abuse made him think, “It’s like being married to Israel.” There was audience laughter in response, but not from the couple on the front row, who shouted “not funny”. The pair, who said they were from Israel, then endured their fellow audience members shouting expletives (“f— off” among them), and telling them to go – with slow-hand claps, boos and cries of “genocidal maniac”, “you’re not welcome” and “free Palestine” part of the toxic mix. But here he gave an object lesson in how not to pick on people in the front row. Instead of tolerating the couple’s joint heckle, he doubled down with a sinister air of beaming bellicosity: “I’ve been waiting for you all summer, where the f— you been?” He continued: “You can say it’s not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed, you look foolish. Look at you making everyone love Israel even more,” he jeered, after the woman remonstrated with the audience. “That tells me that I still got voltage,” he purred, with satisfaction, after the pair left, slowly (it turned out that the man was disabled, not that this caused a flicker of restraint in the host, who openly laughed at them). He then related a remark that his female partner had made at the time of the Holocaust controversy about accessing the Jewish Chronicle’s website: “Typical f—ing Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe.” “It’s just a joke,” he added.’

          Afterwards, Hunter commented: ‘There was an unfortunate incident in my new show Fluffy Fluffy Beavers. As a comedian I do push boundaries in creating humour, it’s part of my job. This inevitably creates divided opinions but I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bully. I regret any stress caused to the audience and venue staff members.’

          As Cavendish points out, Hunter also was making money from the oldest hatred long before the war in Gaza, having been accused of anti-Semitism at the 2006 Fringe for joking about Holocaust denial (Hunter later defended himself by saying ‘the joke isn’t about the Jews, it is about freedom of thought and freedom of expression.’)

          And of course the ugliest – in every way – man in comedy, Frankie Boyle, deserves a dishonourable mention here. Way back in 2010, the BBC Trust was forced to apologise over his hideous 2008 routine in which he compared Palestine to a cake being ‘punched to pieces by a very angry Jew…I’m actually studying that Israeli army martial arts. And I know 16 ways to kick a Palestinian woman in the back.’

          This was aired on that bastion of civilisation Radio 4, the comedy output of which in recent years has declined from woefully limp to malign circle jerk. It’s received wisdom that Radio 4 is losing so many listeners because of its political output, but I’d bet that the alleged comedy has a lot to answer for too. The flip side of the virulence displayed by the likes of Boyle and Hunter is the castration of comedy. The Radio 4 panel shows sniggering about Tories and Terfs are very much playing the Bully’s Best Friend role.

          It’s fair to say that the most craven and conformist people in entertainment are now comedians – they make actors look like flaming anarchists – as they glide bovinely on that conveyor belt from uni to the Fringe to the BBC, state-sanctioned battery hens laying eggs loudly on hand-outs extorted from the forced licence fee. The women are no better; a bunch of tame Transmaids who never dare comment on the funniest phenomenon of the 21st century – men pretending to be women. I love Radio 4 Extra but when their Comedy Club section starts at 10 p.m., the heart-breaking humourlessness of the modern comics who introduce it makes me think ‘Is this a joke?’ That’s about the only time I do think it.

          So it’s a choice the blandness of the panel-show herd or the beastliness of the bully-boys when it comes to comedy these days. It’s telling that Reginald Hunter, like Boyle, isn’t averse to making jokes about women. Hunter has joked, ‘Apparently rape is the worst thing to do to a woman. I disagree. The worst thing to do to a woman is rape her, then call her fat.’ Jews and women are the two groups comedians can vilify with impunity these days, with no fear that they’ll be the subject of death-threats or backdoor blasphemy laws.

          Both groups are ceaselessly gaslighted; the Israeli couple at Hunter’s Edinburgh show represented their country perfectly that night, surrounded by hostile enemies attacking them from all sides whilst claiming that they, the Israelis, were the aggressors. The award-winning comic writer Caroline Gold says, ‘This time the hate is just for the Jews, so all of the spite, all of the disgust, is distilled into that. The old Jewish jokes never had the hate; they were stereotypical but not savage. This new breed – it’s bierkeller stuff, not Northern working-men’s club.’

          Comedy has become the most smug and authoritarian milieu of all the entertainments; while waving the woke flag, it zeros in on the most perennially persecuted people in history with added relish. I can’t help but think of the terrific, terrifying play by Trevor Griffiths, Comedians, written in 1975, in which a comedian who is ostensibly a decent man turns out to have had a very unpredictable reaction to visiting the site of an extermination camp.

          It’s a fact that anti-Semitism some time ago – during the Labour leadership of Jeremy Corbyn – shook off its dowdy old right-wing duds and became one of the coolest non-binary clubs in town. This, added to the specific envy of the success of Jews in comedy, makes me reflect yet again that a future full of fun and laughter is not coming anytime soon – onstage or off.

          1. Quite sad. I used to like him. Mind you, I used to like quite a few comedians who have succumbed to wokeness. Don't watch any of them now.

          2. I am glad to say I no longer fund the Bbc. I have given away my TV and let the licence lapse.

          4. I felt a lot better for not watching the bbc, but I still watched the racing on ITV. Now I can catch up on ITV X I’ve given up on live TV.

          5. Getting bored with this. Reg D Hunter used to appear on some TV comedy show, was it QI? He had a dry sense of humour and made some perceptive remarks, and I liked what I heard.
            When did Israel suddenly become a nation full of fluffy bunnies and noble Boy Scouts? The Israelis are permanently under threat and usually under attack, which may have made them tough and not perfectly nice. But they have a right to exist. Mr Hunter made a joke, which is also his right, and two foreigners immediately objected; miserable gits, I bet they were probably immigrants from Wokeville, and not even born in Israel.

          6. Getting bored with this. Reg D Hunter used to appear on some TV comedy show, was it QI? He had a dry sense of humour and made some perceptive remarks, and I liked what I heard.
            When did Israel suddenly become a nation full of fluffy bunnies and noble Boy Scouts? The Israelis are permanently under threat and usually under attack, which may have made them tough and not perfectly nice. But they have a right to exist. Mr Hunter made a joke, which is also his right, and two foreigners immediately objected; miserable gits, I bet they were probably immigrants from Wokeville, and not even born in Israel.

          3. Welcome to my post-vax world, Oberstleutnant, I now catch people glancing at each other when I say something….doh and double doh…….I'm going to try the carnivore meals I think….

        2. Just booked Dr visit – that, and other issues.
          Until that's sorted – wibble!

      2. Found that, thanks.
        I'd forgotten… could use a vacation.
        Seriously, considering early retirement this year. Can't seem to keep up.

  67. It sounds like a good idea, if you can. Look after your own health – you've had a few scares.

    1. Up until recently, I reckoned I could keep going forever. Now, I can't, so it's time to step down, I think.
      Just working out what to do instead of work, that doesn't cost too much. Sleeping seems good!

        1. That too.
          Soon, it'll be skiing season, so a lot more sliding (and getting fit) would be good.

      2. Don't worry, stuff will find you, just join the board of any non profit organisation.

        The big problem will be deciding which good cause you can avoid becoming involved with.

      3. Don't worry, stuff will find you, just join the board of any non profit organisation.

        The big problem will be deciding which good cause you can avoid becoming involved with.

  68. Miliband warned ‘absurd’ net zero electricity pricing will force factories to close
    Carve-up of UK energy market risks disastrous consequences for jobs and investment, say trade bodies
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/08/17/ed-miliband-zero-electricity-pricing-force-factories-close/

    As far as Miliband is concerned the more businesses that have to close owing to increased bills for electricity the better.

    We must never forget that Miliband is a communist and private businesses are totally abhorrent to him. He has a mission to kill capitalism and his current job is like manna from heaven. We know he has the motive to murder the British economy: Starmer has given him both the means and the opportunity.

    1. Hear you Rastus. Easy to get the impression things unravelling just a little, with Reeves/ASLEF and Millib* wrecking business and alienating consumers. And this is early days, where the heck will we be in 18 months…

    2. I don't know about business but I crunched the figures for my electricity bill yesterday. Three months ago I paid just over £33 for ca 400 kw of electricity consumed. I didn't have last month's readings to hand, but subtracting this month's figures from the previous one, I'd used about 250 kw for the two months – this month's bill was just over £60. What a rip off!

        1. It's why I'm trying to reduce my dependence on electricity. I don't want to give the greedy barstewards a penny more than I absolutely have to.

    1. I think so, Grizzly. Have you read the stats of young people with tumours, thinking now is related to junk food diet. (See note above to Oberstleutnant re husband's diet, not for the faint hearted and certainly not recommending anyone should follow, GP is interested.)

      1. Indeed, Katy.

        I've spent considerable time attempting to persuade friends, relatives and acquaintances to try becoming naturally carnivore and give up on carbs, sugars, alcohol, seed oils, junk food, cereals, many vegetables etc.

        In the main it's as effective as pissing in the wind. Every day now, it seems, I hear about yet another friend/relative/acquaintance who is seriously ill with some life-threatening condition and it is odds-on that this was directly caused by what they put in their mouths.

        Trying to explain that to them is like plaiting sawdust. They simply shrug, carry on as before, and their condition deteriorates.

        1. That’s a situation I’m learning to recognise. He drinks water as required, occasional coffee with double cream topping, rarely a tea with full milk. Eats omelette round about lunch time, steak at dinner time. Nothing else at all. Still pretty grumpy and know-all, must be his character..hmm….

          1. I have a coffee every afternoon. I warm a large coffee cup, put in a measure of double cream then warm it for 30 seconds in the microwave oven. I then put the cup under the espresso machine and express a double shot of freshly-ground espresso directly into the cream.

          2. He does similarly, Grizz. Warms the cup, three shots espresso from m/c, tops with double cream. Black for me…:-)

  70. Excellent!
    Just tipped a full glass of red wine all over the table. My excuse is that it was placed by my left hand…
    Oh, good. What a dumbass, eh? Now, there's no wine left to refill the glass, either. Absolute BUGGER!
    Maybe I'd best go to bed, less dangerous that way 🙁

        1. Good luck with MO, will look out for you but this coming week a bit dodgy. Btw, husband now completely carnivore, eats only once daily. All changed, blood sugar, blood pressure, aches & pains, stamina level, off the several different meds he was on. GP can scarce believe it.

    2. Could have been worse – could have been all over your keyboard as I did. New laptop followed.

    4. The Hangover Ode
      Oh, wretched dawn, with light so cruel,
      Why do you mock me, a fool so dual?
      For last night’s joy, so bold and free,
      Has turned its back, now scornfully.

      With pounding head and stomach weak,
      A silent vow, no more to seek.
      Yet in this pain, a lesson learned,
      For by next weekend, the tide will have turned.

      So here’s to the hangover, harsh but true,
      A reminder of limits, and dues come due.
      In every ache, a memory’s glow,
      Of the night before, when we let go.

    1. I hoped the second part of the headline would be "had seven bells of sh!t beaten out of him by said Army priest!

    2. Good grief. What an amazing surprise. A shock, even. Did he by chance have mentul isshoos?

    3. They systematically fail to mention hundred every year for some reason.

    4. "Lone wolf"

      This is always supposed to reassure us that it was an exception to the normal run of Muslims.

      The reality is that that should actually be of more concern, a lot more concern.
      Imagine if only one in one thousand of these boatees is a likely "lone wolf", that's potentially hundreds of them out there and the better trained ones have the capability to kill and injure far more people.

    5. Why are so many stabbers radicalised by outside forces beyond their control and never by themselves? How come they never radicalise themselves?

      Rhetorical.

        1. Sent a mail.
          Not urgent enough for the phone.
          Just a reminder to be in for a delivery…

          1. …and I'm looking forward to it, Paul.

            Spent Saturday in the horse piddle – bad day all round, except I eventually had horse piddle pay for taxi home! Success.

  73. Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen.

    I think I will visit this beautiful building tomorrow:

    The parish church of All Saints was built c.1280 during the reign of Edward I. It was constructed of limestone ashlar and some rubble, and has a chancel with a north vestry, a central tower with transepts, and a nave with a south porch. Work on the church may have begun as early as 1258, when the keeper of Savernake Forest was ordered to provide the vicar of Chalke with timber for the fabric of his church. There are several corbel carvings round the roof of the church dating from 13th – 15th Century.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4a0f80342bba749c998ce234a20aab560f6618a47d6d2d0dd4480e8346ad4440.jpg

    And may have a bimble along here:

    Very little remains above ground of the Dorset Cursus, which once stretched for 6¼ miles through the undulating chalkland of Cranborne Chase in east Dorset, from Martin Down to Thickthorn Down (both near the A354 road). It is by far the largest example of this class of ancient monument: it is over three times longer than the archetypical Great Cursus near Stonehenge. Most of the current knowledge about the course of this ancient earthwork comes from aerial photography (where its course can be seen as cropmarks or soil marks) and other geophysical surveying techniques. However, there are a few locations (mentioned below) where the banks, much reduced in size, are still visible; the best-preserved earthworks are those of the southwestern terminal on Thickthorn Down (grid reference ST969124).

    This long barrow at grid reference SU025169 is intimately related to the Dorset Cursus, in that it is incorporated into the northern bank. The barrow is very closely aligned with the Cursus (NE-SW) but its greater prominence would have made it clearly distinguishable from the bank. It is suggested that the barrow pre-dates the Cursus, and its direct inclusion into the structure of the Cursus implies a strong connection between the long barrows and the purpose of the Cursus.
    The Cursus dates from 3300 BCE which makes it contemporary with the earthen long barrows on Cranborne Chase: many of these are found near, on, or within the Cursus and since they are still in existence they help trace the Cursus' course in the modern landscape. The relationship between the Cursus and the alignment of these barrows suggests that they had a common ritual significance to the Neolithic people who spent an estimated 0.5 million worker-hours in its construction.

    It is almost certain it was not built by the Windrush Generation.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2d31e929d30c7c92228ad70e33c9d7e23e80cb7ae28c6e93c2bdbd538a6ee38a.jpg

    2. ”It is almost certain it was not built by the Windrush Generation”. Cue for 30 “intellectuals” to “prove” that you are an extreme right-wing bigot and that the barrows were conceived, designed and created exclusively by persons of colour.

      1. That is a tricky question. Many now believe that the world landmass has rotated over millions of years and that Scotland was at one time south of the Equator.

    1. Is this the same report that suggests he'll be back in the UK within next two years, on his own? He looks very unhappy lately.

      1. It's about their tour of Columbia.
        I don't know who or what they are representing nor who will be picking up the tabs.

        1. I've seen the footage. Best guess is Columbian government, think they'll be able to afford it….His Invictus support missed, or so I read.

        1. I think he looked happier in the past. Bit of a lad, loved by Invictus, happy to be with Kate and William. Think he struggled a bit with Camilla, but overcame that. Meghan never really looked happy…do you recall the film they made, the scene where she pretended to do a deep curtsy presumably to HMQ, Harry looking uncomfortable. She’s seemingly quite divisive, not really understanding what the RF is about, or onboard with that. Only my opinion, PetaJ of this Parish is much more informed and knowledgeable than I am. Think she may be recovering from illness, not seen her a little while – if you’re reading this PJ – come back soon as possible x

          1. Not quite ready to re-join the world yet KJ, but I am reading! What I would like to know is if you have acquired a magnet yet and if it works?! Opo said she was also going to try it so I wonder if she has.
            The Gruesome Twosome just go from bad to worse btw!

          2. Good to hear from you🙂 I did and I’ve been ok thank you, I don’t have cramp every night luckily, relative does and I’ve lent it to him. Will report back. Haven’t they been ghastly in Colombia. I can tell I’m starting to feel sorry for him. Glad you are reading it will regulate your breathing/pulse/heart. I’m currently rereading Old Man and the Sea. Quite like UnHerd these days too. Hope you keep up the improvement and to read more from you 🙂

          3. Be interested to hear what your relative says but you really should keep a magnet in your own bed permanently. Neither husband nor companion got cramps every night but none at all once the magnet was there.
            I read UnHerd too, and Daily Sceptic, also Laura Dodsworth when she publishes. Currently reading Woman in White by Wilkie Collins but finding it a bit hard work!
            I feel a bit sorry for Harry too but not a lot! He must realise that this doesn’t remotely resemble a “Royal Tour”, hardly anyone even knows who they are and anyway, 3000 security people keep everyone well away from them! As for her choice of outfits – words fail me!

          4. BH has a number of them in the workshop, diffferent shapes and sizes, will check them out. I like Dodsworth and Gyngell too, and Steynonline. I tried Woman in White many years ago, seem to recall I found it hard going. Wonder if the King is putting H&M aside for now, seems to have reached an impasse. Been there, done that. Now turned to Royal Lodge battle, I think he’ll win that one. I’ll be around for part of the day today, then offline for a while before back on again. Look forward to hearing what you read next 🙂 PS agree re outfits, think they’ll be expensive too:/-

    4. The article calls it a quasi official royal tour. Maybe the English taxpayer is footing the bill.

      2. I doubt it.
        But remember, Harry hates being second in the "line", and a quasi tour to be first in a Colombian line's not to be sniffed at.

        1. Did you mean a Columbia line to be a Columbian version of what the narrative of many movies and TV dramas call “a line”?

          Sh*t. I meant “Colombian” and not “Columbian”.

  77. I know the difference between a John Fogerty and a Tom Fogerty [brothers: the former a singer and lead guitarst, still alive; the latter a rhythm guitarist, deceased].

    Does anyone, though, know the difference between the cocktails: John Collins and Tom Collins?

      1. Interesting. I've jut looked in one cocktail book and it says that both have identical ingredients except that Tom Collins has powdered sugar in it and John Collins has caster sugar.

        Curiouser and curiouser.

    4. John Collins was a classy midfielder who played for Scotland and scored a penalty against Brazil in the 1998 World Cup.

      Tom Collins didnt.

    5. Any relation to Joan Collins, Grizzly? She used to have cocktails splashed all down her front by Leonard Rossiter in a very funny series of ads, but I don't think it was successful because no-one seems to remember if the cocktails were for Cinzano Bianco or Martini Rosso.

  78. Guido keeping score of Labour's U-turns so far since getting into government:

    *Cancelling hospital and railway line construction investment. Labour pledged in its manifesto to fulfil the 2019 New Hospital Programme…
    *Reversing claims that Labour wouldn’t come into power and find a black hole in the public finances.
    *Not raising tax on working people.
    *U-turning on plans to repeal Starmer’s special DPP tax perk.
    *Going back on suggestions that Labour would look at ID cards for citizens.
    *Scrapping their pledge to immediately repeal Section 21 evictions.
    *Scrapping £1.3 billion in tech and AI project funding.
    *Lowering housebuilding targets in London by 20%.
    *Leaving the door open to scrapping the two-child benefit cap by launching a delaying ‘taskforce’.
    *Pulling the cash pledged to fill one million potholes. That filled a few days of Labour campaigning in the election…

  79. A couple of years ago, I asked Nottle for advice o buying a PC. I didn't understand one in the end but am looking again.

    Does anyone know what I should look for in terms of RAM, GB, processor etc? None of it means
    anything to me.

    1. Depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to play games you'll need a lot of RAM and a very fast processor.

          1. I bought a new Lenovo laptop last December to replace a similar one which was 12 years old and getting slow, and lots of things had stopped working on it. My son set it up at Christmas on Linux and it's fine. We've never used Microsoft here.

          2. I didn't get on with Linux. I suppose it's a matter of what you're used to. I started off with Windows 3.0.

        2. Now you might be getting tricky by building a web site. How complex and how much graphics.

          just building it not hosting it I hope!

          1. I want to upload hundreds of old family documents, photos of great,great grandparents etc and share with cousins so they can do the same.

    2. I got a nerd from the local blue pages when my last one packed up – he was just brilliant. He found a cheapo but capable PC at a local whatever they're called (Argos?) and then he installed it, took off all the bloatware and installed stuff like ad blockers etc. so now my PC is really easy, free of crap and relatively quick, So that is my advice, Storm – get someone local who will tell you what to buy and install it how you want it to be . He charged c £50 per hour, by the way, and his custom installation cost me c £120 on top of the cost of the new computer, which was discounted – so c £400 in toto for a computer that does what I want and could do more, but will not reach the stratosphere.

      1. That seems like good advice, opopanax. I am in a similar situation to Stormy and I want something easy to use and understand.

      2. Thanks for the suggestion opo. I’ll look in the village newsletter to see if there is anyone local.

        1. If all you need it for is basic internet surfing (eg. shopping, on-line purchasing or information-gathering but nothing that needs intensive video-editing, playing internet games, or high-demanding applications) go for cheap and cheerful. Don't worry about RAM, processor or whatever – whatever a computer comes with will probably be the best package as a compromise between price and what you need it for. I bet that the vast majority of people buy a computer and seldom use it to anywhere near its full capability – a capability that they have paid for.

          Go for a Microsoft Operating system – it has flaws but is most widely used and, because of this, on-line help is abundant.

          Mac is very good but very expensive.

          Other operating systems are niche.

      1. My choice, happy with use of it, but no idea about RAM etc….guess it depends on individual needs, eg thousands of pix to store..

    5. Which? is great for advising you on the best PC/laptop/tablet to buy.

      They also offer an exceptionally good IT support service at a very reasonable rate (cant remember how much but it was pretty cheap)

      Honestly, check them out.

    6. For members of the family with no great knowledge of computers and only need something rather basic, email, web browsing, basic word and spreadsheet etc capability I always recommend Dell. Their Inspirion range is more than adequate for everyday needs, even their starter Inspirion. 16Gb of Ram, 512 Gb on a Solid State Drive which is the norm now. Microsoft Windows 11 would be the default operating system as an example suitable for most everyday users.
      For others such as my grandson who does some gaming, I searched elsewhere and eventually had one built to a more specific specification, more suited to his needs.

    7. I agree with vvof. You can get cheaper PCs with less memory or harc disks but they will not perform as well.

      Of course, it depends on what you are going to do with this new PC. You are not into being a bitcoin server ars you?

  80. Evening, all. Mantled the bench today so the seating area is virtually good to go. I have a few more stone chippings to put down, but that can wait; it's usable.

    Never mind the NHS, Labour's usual fiscal incompetence bodes ill for the future of the country. Nipped in to Tesco's this afternoon and there was a little old chap buying barely any groceries and it came to over £50. Why he continued to shop at Tesco I've no idea unless he couldn't get the same things elsewhere. He is the sort of person who will have lost his winter fuel allowance as well. I was only there to buy their tonic water. All the other makes seem to have sweeteners in, even the non-light versions.

      1. I'm not sure it's kosher, but if you can dismantle something surely you can mantle it 🙂

        1. Just as I am gusted and gruntled.

          But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad,
          Walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill.

          I think it was Bertie Wooster who said that although he had never witnessed it himself he had it on good authority that sunrise could be a spectacularly beautiful sight.

  81. Took some pictures of the flowers. It's not their best year:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3a78fab59e96b627ffe0acccff21b8dae762bef8759879e9b00694bd143afd23.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0ac0371a7a1fb86b1074726f2181533ce844d2acab5ec034a19e70e7dc8c30bb.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/39072a2283f0cf4342e1d1ff40497be4049595089811c1c8d386789883da4c86.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9dbb1590e0c406185ff903ce0d30e35010aa2a6f0c953904243f765b9c3ff8fa.jpg

        1. The presenter used the incorrect pronunciation, 'kil-ommeter', that's all. What point was missed by observing this?

          It's something that Grizz, amongst others, might have picked up on.

          1. The only thing that Grizz will pick up on is the fact that it is just another example of a global corporation purveying its ultra-processed poison.

          2. For several years I worked in a building barely a mile from the Weetabix factory. If a smell could be cloying, it was that which hung around the area, like damp, stale toast.

          3. I had to pass the Trebor factory in Chesterfield, daily, and the overwhelming sweet, sickly stench of boiling sugar was experienced all over town.

      1. I used to deal with Weetabix in business (we supplied their IT) – most 'own brand' Weetabix are, in fact, Weetabix!

  84. For anyone tempted to try to predict humanity’s future, Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 book The Population Bomb is a cautionary tale. Feeding on the then popular Malthusian belief that the world was doomed by high birth rates, Ehrlich predicted: ‘In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death.’ He came up with drastic solutions, including adding chemicals to drinking water to sterilise the population.

    Ehrlich, like many others, got it wrong. What he needed to worry about was declining birth rates and population collapse. Nearly 60 years on, many predict the world will soon reproduce at less than the replacement rate.

    But by my calculations, we’re already there. Largely unnoticed, last year was a landmark one in history. For the first time, humans aren’t producing enough babies to sustain the population. If you’re 55 or younger, you’re likely to witness something humans haven’t seen for 60,000 years, not during wars or pandemics: a sustained decrease in the world population.

    A society’s reproduction level is measured by the fertility rate – the average number of children a woman has. The replacement level is accepted as 2.1: any higher and the population grows; any lower and it falls. Like the R number in epidemiology (which we heard so much about during the pandemic), the replacement level is a critical figure. Either side of it leads to dramatically different outcomes. The replacement level is put at a little over 2 to take account of the slight imbalance in male and female births – slightly more of the former are born. Also, not all girls survive until reproductive age.

    According to the UN World Population Prospects, the global total fertility rate last year was 2.25 – a little above the replacement rate. But the UN was wrong. It’s not easy to calculate the figure because there’s a lack of statistics in many countries. In others, political constraints bind the organisation. For many places with reliable records, last year’s birth numbers were between 10 per cent and 20 per cent lower than UN estimates. In Colombia, the UN estimate was 705,000 births. Yet its national statistical agency counted 510,000.

    For the first time, humans aren’t producing enough babies to sustain the population

    There’s another reason to be sceptical of the UN figures – the replacement fertility level of 2.1 is valid for the UK, not universally. We get the 2.1 figure using a calculation: 1.06 boys are born for every girl in Britain. To ensure an average of one girl born, we need 2.06 children overall to be born. We then look at the probability a woman lives to reach her reproductive years, which in Britain is 0.98. To get the reproductive rate, we divide 2.06 by 0.98 – which equals 2.1.

    However, in many developing countries fewer women survive to a reproductive age. Globally, the figure drops to 0.94. So the replacement fertility level needed worldwide is more than 2.1.

    Many countries also have a higher male-to-female ratio, often due to selective abortion. In China, it’s around 1.15; in India, 1.1. An estimate for the sex ratio globally is 2.08. To estimate a global replacement fertility rate we divide 2.08 by 0.94, which comes out at 2.21 children per woman.

    By adjusting the UN’s figures to account for the lower births in many countries, I estimate the global fertility rate last year was 2.18, i.e. below the 2.21 replacement threshold. It could be even lower than that, as it’s likely that the birth rate in many African countries saw a larger fall than the UN estimated.

    This doesn’t mean the global population is already falling. ‘Demographic momentum’ means that women born in the 1990s and 2000s are currently having children, while their parents’ generations haven’t yet died. Longevity, meanwhile, is increasing. So although global births are falling, they still exceed deaths. At present rates the human population will peak in around 30 years. Then start plummeting.

    Economists have long predicted fertility rates would decline as countries become wealthier. But the fall over the past decade has happened in rich, middle-income and poor countries. It has also been faster than anyone predicted.

    South Korea is the most extreme case. The fertility rate last year was 0.72 – roughly one-third of the replacement rate. In 2015, it was 1.24. In less than a decade, South Korea has transitioned from very low fertility to astonishingly low. And there’s no sign of this decline slowing. The same trend can be seen across Asia (China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Japan).

    But it isn’t unique to Asia. Turkey’s fertility rate plummeted from 3.11 in 1990 to 1.51 in 2023. The UK’s was 1.83 in 1990, 1.49 in 2022. The situation in Latin America is striking too: Chile and Colombia had rates of 1.2 last year, Argentina and Brazil were at 1.44 – all well below the UK. Each of them had high fertility rates three decades ago.

    A non-exhaustive list of countries where the rate isn’t only below replacement but falling quickly includes India, the US, Canada, Mexico, Bangladesh, Iran and all of Europe. We know less about Africa because of poor quality data. The available evidence, however, suggests it’s undergoing a rapid decline: where we do have more reliable information – Egypt, Tunisia and Kenya – it shows fertility rates plummeting at an unprecedented pace. The only countries where fertility isn’t falling are the former Soviet Central Asia republics, and they are too small to make much difference.

    Whenever I raise the issue of falling birth rates during lectures, I’m always met with three questions. The first is: won’t a falling population benefit the environment? This is misguided. A gently falling population could be good for sustainability, but we’re facing population collapse and economic turmoil. Environmental concern is a ‘luxury good’: we do it more when prosperous. Voters in 2050 in a country with acute budgetary problems caused by an ageing population will care a lot less about global warming.

    The second question is: can’t we bring in more immigrants? But the falling population is for the planet, not one country. Every Argentinian who moves to Spain alleviates Spain’s demographic woes but aggravates Argentina’s. This argument also ignores the huge number of immigrants needed to keep the population constant in countries such as South Korea. By 2080, 80 per cent of people living there would need to be immigrants or the children of immigrants. Can any society absorb so many without social unrest?

    It’s not clear either that immigration fixes pensions or healthcare costs. When immigrants are young, they pay taxes; as they grow old, they draw pensions and use health services. The same is true for first- and second-generation immigrant children.

    The third question is: won’t AI make a population collapse immaterial by doing all the work for us? This is wishful thinking. AI’s effect on productivity won’t match the hype. Daron Acemoglu, a leading expert on the macroeconomics of AI, estimates it will increase productivity by 0.66 per cent over the next decade. Even multiplying his estimate by ten, the figure would be much lower than what’s needed to overcome the declining labour force. The gulf between what the McKinseys of the world think and what the real experts think is vast.

    Then there’s the fact that AI can’t deliver the services actually needed. It’s easier to teach a machine to read financial statements than to empty bedpans. The problems caused by population collapse, such as empty rural areas and unbalanced family networks, cannot be fixed by AI.

    Countries from France to South Korea have introduced policies such as extended parental leaves and generous child tax credits. These have had limited success in reversing the decline. Raising a child is an 18-year commitment; extending parental leave from two to six months offers marginal relief. Ditto tax relief schemes.

    Fertility rates have fallen faster in large metropolitan areas than in rural areas, probably because of housing costs. Take Bogota, Colombia. Last year its fertility rate was 0.9, far lower than in rural Colombia. The same is true in Mexico. In Mexico City, the fertility rate last year was 0.95, much lower than in rural Mexico. Both cities are very expensive. Extra-low fertility rates in South Korea are most likely driven more by the astronomical real-estate prices in Seoul than by any other variable. Small, expensive homes deter fertility.

    Our societal structures have also become deeply unwelcoming to large families. Child car seats are a good example. In the UK, children must use a child car seat until they’re 12. There’s evidence this lowers birth rates as it makes it harder to fit more than two children in a car. When I was young my parents put four of us in the back seat. This isn’t to argue for repealing car-seat regulations, but it’s an instance of government policies having unintended consequences.

    Another issue is that social norms have shifted: raising children isn’t a priority for many, not in the more conservative societies of East Asia or the more progressive ones of northern Europe. In 2016, China abandoned its one-child policy and allowed couples to have two children. The fertility rate increased from 1.57 in 2015 to 1.7 in 2016. By 2018, the effect had disappeared: it fell to 1.55 – lower than before the restriction was lifted.

    If the UK government were to devise a strategy to increase the fertility rate from 1.49 to around 1.8 – still below the replacement rate but much closer to a sustainable level – it would need to address a mix of economic factors and societal support for large families.

    Societal support could include making it easier for the young to marry. Safer streets would allow children to spend more time unsupervised and travel to school on their own, easing the burden on parents. School holidays could be organised in ways that don’t disrupt parents’ work.

    Creating the conditions for large families to flourish is the only way to reverse the trend in fertility rates. If we fail to do so, then the coming demographic winter will be far harsher than anyone cares to admit.

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    WRITTEN BY
    Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde
    Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde is Professor of Economics at Pennsylvania University.

    Comments
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    2. Africa is exporting more than enough of its population to counteract any falling western countries' lack of fertility. Combine that with Asian migrants (notably Moslem ones) having inflated birth rates and I doubt that world population will fall until WWIII breaks out and Monkey Pox kills billions.

    4. Communism in its quest for power always aims to destroy the family. Then there are women like me who reach our period of fertility and pass through it and out the other side without actually reproducing. The wealthy elite and their client underclass reproduce the most and not the useful productive class in the middle, which is sad.

      1. Meanwhile it destroys agriculture and breaks the economy, thus tripling the damage.

        1. I think I'm right in saying that wherever communism has been imposed, millions of people have starved to death as a result.

          1. Oh absolutely you are. I cannot think of anywhere that’s flourished under it, put it that way.

    5. “In the UK, children must use a child car seat until they’re 12.”

      This was brought in snd heavily policed at the time when my children were little so let’s say 15 years ago now. I said to MOH just the other day that no one seems to use booster seats these days (ie this law seems to be widely ignored by everyone).

    6. “In the UK, children must use a child car seat until they’re 12.”

      This was brought in snd heavily policed at the time when my children were little so let’s say 15 years ago now. I said to MOH just the other day that no one seems to use booster seats these days (ie this law seems to be widely ignored by everyone).

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

  91. Sunday 18th August, 2024

    Ashesthandust

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f15108925be65a9a2608d8e25edca14c950fe7218c958fddb1d38927a117d0b9.png

    “I would rather be ashes than dust!
    I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
    I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
    The function of man is to live, not to exist.
    I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
    I shall use my time.”

    ― Jack London

    Are you still in South America. Are you still living in a brilliant blaze? Are you living with excitement rather than just existing?

    With very best wishes,

    Caroline and Rastus

    Mrs Wentworth-Brewster is my favourite Noël Coward character.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n98otZhy5Rw

    1. Thank you, dear Caroline and Rastus!

      I am indeed in South America (how strange life is!), settling happily into Buenos Aires.

      Currently glowing magnificently – although the glass of excellent Malbec I chose to accompany the rib-eye steak, as a treat, might be responsible for a fair bit of that. 🤣

      Now heading across town to dance – a very attractive Argentinian has promised to dance me into tomorrow. And I am very happy indeed to have been asked to collaborate with the genius behind one of the world's foremost electrotango groups in a performance on Monday; we had a ball at the rehearsal before dinner.

      Thanks for your good wishes – and if, as is your wont, you repost this tomorrow, maybe you would be kind enough to copy some of this to explain my undoubted tardiness tomorrow to any Nottlers who might wonder where I've got to!

      😎

      Katy x

          1. Many, many Happy Returns, ashes! Hope you have a fabulous birthday! 🎂🍷💃

      2. Happy birthday tomorrow/today.
        Pleased you are settling in so well, long may it continue.
        Have fun and look forward to many more.

      5. Happy Birthday, Katy! It is nearly tomorrow now….. I almost missed this. I hope you have had a wonderful day and may you have many more! xx 💕🎊🎁🎈🥂🍾🎂🍰🍨🍷🎉

  92. David Lammy has been criticised for removing a yellow pin badge expressing solidarity with Israeli hostages when meeting the Palestinian prime minister.

    The Foreign Secretary and Stephane Sejourne, his French counterpart, wore the symbols on their suits as they met with Israel Katz, the foreign minister of Israel, on Friday.

    But both men had removed their badges by the time they sat down for a separate meeting with Mohammed Mustafa, the Palestinian prime minister, later in the day,

    Mr Lammy had vowed to “use every diplomatic lever” to achieve a ceasefire in Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas ahead of his trip to the region.

    Gesture ‘would have sent message to Hamas’
    But critics lamented the decision by the Foreign Secretary and Mr Sejourne not to wear their yellow badges in solidarity with the hostages as they met with Mr Mustafa.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/17/david-lammy-removing-israeli-badge-meet-palestine-pm/

    Elyon Levy, a former spokesman for the Israeli government, said: “They wore the hostage pin for the Israeli meeting. They took it off for the Palestinian [meeting].

    “Just imagine if the UK and French foreign ministers had made the tiny, effortless gesture of keeping the hostage pin for their meeting with the Palestinian prime minister.

    “It would have sent a message – stop making excuses for Hamas. Tell it to free the hostages, now!”

    Arsen Ostrovsky, the chief executive of the International Legal Forum (ILF) – an Israel-based coalition of lawyers – added: “Imagine the powerful message it would have shown had they kept it on. But instead, it was just for show.”

    Mark Wood
    just now
    Remove this mediocre dunce immediately, what an embarrassment for the UK.

    Comment by Adam Smith.

    AS

    Adam Smith
    just now
    I still find it hard to believe David Lammy is the Foreign Secretary. It's like a bad episode of the Twilight Zone.

    Comment by Paul Spindler.

    PS

    Paul Spindler
    3 min ago
    Did two tier Lammy learn it from two tier Keir?

    Comment by Susie Preston.

    SP

    Susie Preston
    4 min ago
    David Lammy criticised.
    Day in, day out.
    Quite rightly.

    Comment by Scot Way.

    SW

    Scot Way
    4 min ago
    Spineless.

    Comment by Mark Bee.

    MB

    Mark Bee
    9 min ago
    Two Tier Keir did the same, removing his poppy to visit the mosque. It's even more disgusting in your own country.

    Comment by Welsh Truth.

    WT

    Welsh Truth
    10 min ago
    Literally, a half wit

    Comment by Paul Smith.

    PS

    Paul Smith
    10 min ago
    He's only following the example set by TTK when he removed the poppy when visiting a mosque!! That's the calibre of those we have in government , unfortunately !

    Comment by Karen Jones.

    KJ

    Karen Jones
    11 min ago
    I have no printable words to describe my utter contempt

      1. At least he didn't wear a keffiyeh for his ,eating with the Israeli minister – or did he?

  93. Luxury apartments in Manchester backed by taxpayer loans are being sold off to Chinese landlords despite Labour’s pledge to crack down on foreign property speculators.

    Developments part-financed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which is chaired by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, are being marketed to buy-to-let investors in China.

    Telegraph analysis of Companies House filings suggests that hundreds of flats in two taxpayer-backed skyscrapers have been sold to Asian investors.

    It comes as the GMCA battles High Court claims it unfairly loaned large sums of taxpayer cash to local property developer Daren Whitaker. These public funds were used to help bankroll skyscrapers built by Mr Whitaker’s developer, Renaker.

    According to property marketing materials, Renaker has teamed up with estate agents in Hong Kong to attract overseas investors to the projects.

    One listing, which is for a proposed luxury skyscraper known as the 51-storey Contour Tower, sets out “10 reasons why you shouldn’t miss Renaker’s projects”.

    This document was drawn up as part of a Hong Kong event aimed at promoting Renaker to Chinese landlords.

    The event took place in March, just weeks before the GMCA approved a £69m loan designated for Renaker’s Contour development.

    Promoted by Asia Bankers Club, a Hong Kong estate agent, a listing for the event said: “Don’t miss out on this chance to explore the magic of “The Renaker Effect” and secure your investment in one of the UK’s most exciting cities.”

    Concerns over foreign investment and the use of taxpayer support in Manchester’s building boom come as Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, attempts to tackle Britain’s housing crisis.

    In the general election campaign Labour unveiled plans to introduce a stamp duty surcharge on overseas landlords, as it seeks to boost homeownership among Britain’s first-time buyers.

    In an article for The Telegraph, Ms Rayner said: “It isn’t fair that first-time buyers lose out to those who just want to make a quick bit of money, so Labour will give couples ‘first dibs’ on houses going up in their town or city.

    “It’s a real frustration that international investors can buy up houses before local people get a look in. It’s a matter of fairness.”

    The GMCA’s financial ties to Renaker have come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks.

    At a council meeting, the authority’s investment director Laura Blakey confirmed that the GMCA has approved £598m worth of loans to Renaker since 2016.

    However, the terms of these loans have been kept secret.

    John Leech, a Liberal Democrat councillor who sought to question Ms Blakey at the hearing, said he was concerned over the lack of transparency surrounding the payments.

    Most of the loans have since been repaid, said Ms Blakey.

    However, rival developer Aubrey Weis has sued the GMCA in the Competition Appeals Tribunal for “distort[ing] Manchester’s property market” by providing Renaker with “advantageous treatment”.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/08/17/taxpayer-loans-fuel-chinese-buy-let-boom-andy-burnham/

    Bean Counter
    12 hrs ago
    I suspect that the Chinese investors won't be made aware of Labour's potential destruction of the letting market in this country, with section 21 abolition, minimum rent periods, rent controls, "hardship" provisions and the like. But if their aim is to stash money away in appreciating assets, they may well be content to leave them empty and just pay the council tax.
    Another example of the law of unintended consequences, where protections for tenants leads to no tenancies.
    The GMCA and Burnham need investigating over the whole thing, though. it sounds very dubious.

          1. I read that as turn yourself in, and idly wondered what you'd been up to… 🤣🤣

          4. I did, thank you. Due to the priest in charge being away and not getting back until the evening, I declined to attend Matins with hymns and decided to go for the said Eucharist at 18.00. Consequently, I had a lie in for once – much appreciated!

  96. I am sickened by the coverage of the war in Ukraine as described by the wretched BBC and in particular their BBC Verify propaganda wing.

    We know that British tanks and armoured vehicles are on the ground in the Kursk region of Russia. Fortunately, despite this being an act of war against Russia the Russians are playing down this hostile British act for the present.

    It is worth noting that no attacks within Russian territory would be possible without the direct involvement of British forces and without British government knowledge.

    Despite multiple posts in the western media the Ukrainian adventure into Kursk is in effect a killing field for what is left of the remaining Ukrainian military resources and their best battalions and battle hardened troops and military equipment.

    Russia clearly knew in advance about the Kursk incursion. Putin knew about it and both planned for it and lured Ukraine into launching their attack within Russia.

    There is proof of this assertion in that Putin had days before the incursion granted furlough to about 200,000 of his own troops. Those troops were told that their next deployment would be in operations in Northern Ukraine. More and more Ukrainian troops are being lured into the Kursk offensive viz. troops drawn from the essential front line in the Donbass.

    The Kiev regime now find that the damage to the moral and prestige of moving their troops out of Kursk would be too dangerous for them to retreat from their positions. Russia meanwhile continues to propel Ukrainian advances in Kursk using precision missile attacks.

    There are photographs and images of a British Challenger 2 tank literally flattened and punctured by Russian missiles. So much for the supposed superiority of the Challenger’s Chobham and Dorchester armour protection. So much also for the advice of our MOD and United Services Institute predictions on the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine. We should stop funding these idiots and recruit real experts from er…Russia.

    The Ukrainian incursion into Kursk was clearly a cinematic exercise whereby the Ukrainians would mount a rapid advance and capture the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant. Having failed to capture the NPP the Ukrainians resorted to capturing Russian civilians to use people as bargaining chips in any negotiations. This explains the mass exodus of civilians fro affected villages ordered by Putin.

    I will end this missive by pointing out that mad people almost always become reckless in their actions when the truth is about to be revealed and the axe about to fall. Thus Zelensky and his supporters comprising cretins in the US government and his utterly corrupt band of grifters in Kiev are nervously looking for an escape from the infernal wreckage they have created.

    I expect these delinquents will now resort to terrorism having failed utterly in diplomacy and in warfare. We have simply witnessed a bunch of clowns pretending to statesmanship and lacking all understanding of it.

    I will not gloat over the Ukrainian regime and its general uselessness because, lo and behold, we in Britain now enjoy a government composed of even more ignorant and damaging fools who would doubtless lead us into WWIII given the opportunity, even after sabotaging our electrical supply grid with their adherence to the Globalist Green New Deal scam and a multitude of other silly diversions designed to weaken us.

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