Saturday 18 June: The Government should prevent the deliberate harm done by the rail strikes

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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

563 thoughts on “Saturday 18 June: The Government should prevent the deliberate harm done by the rail strikes”

  1. Good morrow, fellow NoTTLers,

    The Tories have a House of Lords problem on their hands
    The second chamber needs to be managed carefully and delicately, with one eye on the long game, and that is not this Prime Minister’s style

    No premier has really lost sleep over the House of Lords since Asquith. The Parliament Act 1911 gutted the upper house’s veto powers, allowing money bills to pass unscathed and other legislation only to be delayed rather than blocked entirely. The peers have since then been a potential irritant to governments but no longer an existential threat.

    BTL

    A simple solution is the return of the Lords to ONLY the hereditaries. Let the lifers set themselves up in York or, better yet, Saxa Vord in the Shetlands.

    The advantage of returning the Lords to the hereditaries means that, with their vested interests in their estates et al, they will take the long view of any legislation, rather than the short-termism of the Commons, who only look to what might get them re-elected, rather than what the country needs.

    It is also time to remove the Lords Spiritual, as with their dabbling in politics they have become Lords Temporal and there is no place for their bias in the upper chamber; we also must elevate the Law Lords back to their appellant status and remove Blair’s political ‘Supreme’ Court.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/06/17/tories-have-house-lords-problem-hands/#comment

    1. Yes, and yes! I have often expressed that view, now that I have matured long past my childish republican years.

  3. Another Day another article beating the war drums from the DT

    “Words are nice. Words matter. But in a war, here’s what matters more:

    weapons. And it is becoming clear that Ukraine needs more than it’s

    getting. Rather than allowing the war effort to stall in pursuit of some

    elusive “peace” deal, the West now needs to step up its efforts”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/17/will-lasting-peace-ukraine-putin-comprehensively-defeated/
    The armchair warriors btl sicken me,determined to fight to the last Uke and apparently totally ignorant of the broken Minsk Accords and the slaughter since 2014
    As for BoJo and the next round of billions thrown to a “Democratic” (Hah) regime that has banned and imprisoned opposition parties words fail me……..

    1. I automatically stop reading any article that declares “here’s what” or “Here’s How”. Saves a lot of bother.

  4. Native Americans find this offensive? How?

    “A lights display featuring Native Americans that has been part of the Blackpool Illuminations for 60 years will not return this year following complaints that it is racist.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2022/06/17/TELEMMGLPICT000299982368_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=960

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/17/blackpool-illumination-supports-racism-removed/
    One complaint………Woke Off

      1. A club composed of big tough blokes, all capable of running through brick walls. I doubt if the redskins even know the club exists. We are now subjected to complaints being pursued by lefties on behalf of people who “might” be”offended.
        I’d be pleased if a club was named after me.

          1. They grew old and wrinkly (like you and me)! ☹️

            This was 36 years ago, you know.

          4. Ah! Thank goodness for that. My picture popped up on Google; no doubt posted there by a clown.

          5. Indeed, but that’s sad. They were cute! I guess old & wrinkly beats the alternative.
            In any case, old yerself! I’m 15 going on 12 these days…

          6. I was contemplating buying a record (well CD thing) that I quite liked. “Echo Beach” by Martha and the Muffins. I had this inclination for a while, then forgot, then it came back. Finally resolving to actually do something, that is, buy it, I looked it up. There was a problem. There were now two versions, the original which I had finally decided to obtain, and a newer version, the 30th Anniversary of the original version. I must not procrastinate…

    5. The ptb care so much about the red injuns that when the Iroquois lacrosse team came here to play a game they invented, they were denied entry because the US government allows them to travel on their own passports, which are not recognised in the UK.

  7. Morning all.

    After putting batteries in some of my vital statistics gismos yesterday I thought I’d take a few more measurements again this morning to see how my body was standing up to the heat:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a92757871bd89420bd3578aafd10d1882ac7a55d8dbfbe2182686b3660c53a64.jpg

    Star date: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2055c614ddfe9a2e23b58a0c6d71a051a1cbae227240c80e7473a159a0e174f9.jpg

    Pretty normal considering the temperature’s over 27 degC.

    I don’t take my blood pressure because
    1.it goes up and down so fast
    2. there are no agreed standards by which to measure it
    3. I can’t achieve my resting heart rate of 57 bpm with a pressure cuff on
    4. medical professionals use the ever changing WHO standard for BP targets
    5. BP measures are only an excuse for GPs to prescribe any drug that has shown to reduce BP whatever its side effects.

    Anyway in medical school students are told that mean arterial blood pressure is 2xheart rate which means mine is 2×57 mmHg = 114 mmHg.

        1. Blimey.
          I crave some hot. We might get 22C today (sunny, at least, so I can run the mower round), but a trip for a few days to Bahrein for some warm would be nice. I need to recharge my storage radiators!

    2. I suspect the ‘ideal’ BP readings were deliberately medicalised to increase pill sales.
      What is a good reading for a 25 year old is unobtainable for a 75 year old without medication; yes, consistently very high readings need a reduction, but the reality of ageing needs to be taken into account. Far too many oldies are stumbling around in a poly-pharmacy induced haze.

      1. Is tere not an equation involving the patient’s age to try to account for that, Anne?

        1. If there is, I’ve not come across it.
          Mind you, all too many GPs are ready to accept the official line.
          (Says someone who now finds policemen look younger than her grandson.)

          1. You’ve actually seen a policeman? Wow! Have you written to the papers? 😉

  8. 353282+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 18 June: The Government should prevent the deliberate harm done by the rail strikes

    Would it surprise one if ” the government” were in collusion via “government employees” I post this with rotherham mass rape & abuse of children by foreign paedophiles firmly in mind seemingly operating with ” government ” employees consent.

    There is no concern shown by the ” government as in, tory in name only”
    topping up the foreign paedophile fraternity through the DOVER campaign I can see.

    ALL part & parcel of the repress / reset / replace / NWO, so YOUR lab/lib/con support / votes are still needed to successfully complete the program YOU have so far been constructing, complete success is just round the corner of the mosque.

  9. Good morning all.
    A pleasantly cool 13½°C in the yard this morning with a rather dull start and an overcast sky. I wonder when the rain is going to start?

    Browsing through the BTL Letters I was directed towards a chilling commentary by Dr. Jordan Peterson. A bit of a long read, but worth noting:-

    We are sacrificing our children on the altar of a brutal, far-Left ideology
    The medical profession is crumbling in response to radical transgender activists

    JORDAN PETERSON
    16 June 2022 • 5:00pm
    Jordan Peterson

    There is good evidence that many ancient societies sacrificed children to their gods. Parents in ancient Phoenician colonies in Carthage, Sicily, Sardinia and Malta slew their offspring prior to cremating them, hoping that the gods would hear their voices and bless them.

    We are rightly appalled by this, though sometimes I wonder whether we understand child sacrifice far more than we’d like to admit.

    I saw a video the other day featuring an American surgeon bragging that he had performed more than 3,000 double mastectomies on young women who had paid for gender reassignment, individuals confused – one might say encouraged – by those who profit from it into believing that their adolescent emotional trials can be ‘cured’, and happiness reign forever, if they subject themselves to this brutal practice.

    And it is brutal – a process that often includes not only the aforementioned mastectomies but other appalling surgical processes: orchiectomy (that’s castration, in blunter language), the removal of the uterus, the demolition of the musculature of the forearm to make what is not a penis but must be referred to as such – all of that.

    For someone purporting to be a physician to perform this on children, to me at least, seems like something worthy of a prison sentence.

    Whatever happened to the doctrine expressed by the ancient language as primum non nocere – first, do no harm?

    The Hippocratic Oath has been replaced by a delusion: a belief that can be summarised as ‘by blocking the puberty of children, and then surgically altering them, we are only restoring what is theirs by right. A child’s feelings are the final arbiters of their reproductive destiny, and any attempt to contest their gender identity risks increasing their proclivity for suicide’.

    Lies. Lies. Lies. Then butchery.

    Changing standards
    Psychologists – those in my own personal field of medicine – have also surrendered to this groupthink. The American Psychological Association’s ‘Task Force on Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People (TGNC)’ insists that psychologists and other professional counsellors offer “trans-affirmative” care, starting with such niceties as displaying “TGNC-affirmative resources in waiting areas”. Practitioners are also asked to examine “how their language (e.g. use of incorrect pronouns and names) may reinforce the gender binary in overt or subtle and unintentional ways”.

    These guidelines first read like a manual of indoctrination written by Marxist ideologues, and second like a document designed to undermine and destroy the practice of therapy itself.

    But at an alarming rate these ‘guidelines’ have transformed themselves into punitive laws governing what a psychologist or counsellor may say and think in relation to their clients.

    Let me make myself perfectly clear: speaking as a professional, whether in America, Britain, or anywhere, it is not the place of a therapist to “affirm” or, conversely, to deny, the “identity” of anyone whom they take into their care. People come to see a therapist, often after long and painful deliberation, because they are suffering, confused, or both. The job of that therapist is to listen, to question, and proceed with due caution, neither providing cheap advice (and thereby stealing their client’s successes or heaping failure upon them) nor assuming special knowledge of the proper outcome for a given individual.

    There is simply no way that I would ever tell an 18-year old woman that she is absolutely correct if sometimes she feels more masculine than feminine (however that feeling might emerge), and that if she feels that surgery is the answer then recommend hormones that day. I would instead spend many weeks, perhaps even months or years, listening to her unwrap her story, using caution as my watchword, and help her come to some thorough and well-developed understanding of both her autobiographical history and her destiny.

    That is not “affirmation” and neither is it “denial.” How could I possibly dare to do either when someone has come to me because they are mixed up and desperate – a state of twinned experience indicating a profound confusion about identity itself?

    Radical new guidelines
    I am focusing on the American Psychological Association (APA) because it is the body charged with establishing the norms and ideals for clinical practice in the most populous democracy on Earth – principles that will, and are, spreading around the West more broadly, including in Britain. Some of their ‘guidelines’ are appalling enough to deserve dissection:

    “Guideline 1. Psychologists understand that gender is a nonbinary construct that allows for a range of gender identities and that a person’s gender identity may not align with sex assigned at birth.”

    I don’t understand this radical postmodern definition of gender, one that rests on a person’s “deeply felt” or “inherent sense” of being one sex over another, regardless of biology.

    Psychologically it is indisputably the case that a non-trivial proportion of males have a feminine temperament (which essentially means that they experience higher levels of negative emotions such as anxiety and the analogs of pain – grief, frustration, disappointment, depression) and are more agreeable (compassionate/polite) than typical males, and equally true that a non-trivial proportion of females have a masculine temperament. But this does not change how, objectively, professionals should measure a person’s gender.

    Psychologists once cared if measurement followed standard practices of validity and reliability. Try reading, for example, a document published by the APA itself in 2014, where you will learn that a psychologist worth their salt is obliged to utilise “constructs” (i.e. terms such as “gender”) in a technically appropriate manner. This means, at the very least, that fundamental attributes must be measurable and measured properly.

    But all that goes out the window when we are discussing the magic of “gender” now, which is entirely subjectively defined, even though that insistence indubitably contravenes the earlier standards. But feelings über alles, folks. And it’s no joke. Particularly if you’re 15, and have undergone surgery that makes you incapable of reproducing, often to foster someone else’s sense of moral superiority or sense of self-attributed “compassion”– a word that increasingly makes me shudder when I encounter it.

    New doctrines
    Psychologists are also now adopting the simple-minded and anything-but-revolutionary doctrine of “intersectionality” without question. And what is that doctrine? Nothing more than the claim that human beings are characterised by identities that span multiple dimensions. Any given person has a race, ethnicity, sex, temperament (five dimensions there alone), intelligence level, etc. We’ve known that forever. It’s only become a hot cultural item since fools noted the obvious fact that minority status might be additive or multiplicative. I hate to even point that out given that anyone with any sense whatsoever also knew, without any statistical training, that it was possible to be of Latino extraction, say (or even ‘LatinX’, to use that absurd, demeaning and patronising term) and female simultaneously.

    One cannot question this, however, without fear of being ostracised by one’s colleagues. Note the chilling wording of Guideline 7:

    “Psychologists understand the need to promote social change that reduces the negative effects of stigma on the health and well-being of TGNC people.”

    In summary: if you’re not an activist (and one of our activists) then you better be watching over your shoulder.

    So what should govern my behaviour as a therapist, and your expectations as a client? The answer to that is: whatever the activists deem a priority at their whim. And remember that in court, folks.

    Active malevolence
    I’m increasingly ashamed to be a clinical psychologist given the utter cowardice, spinelessness and apathy that characterises many colleagues and even more so my professional associations. At least in 20 years when we all come to regret this terrible social experiment I will be able to say “I said no when they all came to insist that we participate in the sacrifice of our children.” Other countries, and Britain in particular, must not make the same mistakes as in the US and elsewhere.

    I cannot consent to what we are doing. I cannot abide by what have become the doctrines of my discipline. I believe that the acts of the medical ‘professional’ rushing to disfigure, sterilise, and harm young people with what are clearly ill-advised, dangerous, experimental procedures cross the line from ‘do no harm’ to outright harm.

    Only if we bury our heads in the sand will sterility, impaired or absent sexual function, complex reactions to poorly understood hormones, expense – and, intermingled with all that, misery and confusion – continue for countless young people. We must address the threat posed to the integrity of the entire education system as indoctrination into the same philosophy that spawned this surgical enterprise and the APA ‘guidelines’ grows. It threatens general public trust that our peace and prosperity depends upon.

    And, by the way: it will definitely be the case that a disproportionate number of children “freed” from their gender confusion would have grown up to be physically intact and fully functional gay adults. Need I point out that this unpalatable fact makes a mockery of any claim that the extended alphabet world of the LGBTQ+ coterie constitutes a homogeneous and unified “community.”

    We have crossed the line from ideological possession to active malevolence – and we are multiplying our sin (there’s an intersection for you) by attributing our appalling actions to “compassion”. Heaven help us. Truly.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/16/sacrificing-children-altar-brutal-far-left-ideology/#comment

    1. 353282+ up ticks,

      Morning Bob,

      We are sacrificing our children on the altar of a brutal, far-Left ideology

      So my repeated post of some time ago was not far off the mark.

      Children running the gauntlet from birth to late teen / adulthood, childhood as was, has been bypassed for in the main, political / paedophile purposes

    3. The Scottish Government has just posted a document produced by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). It has swiftly been deleted, as publishing it was a “mistake”. The real mistake was in giving the public an insight into the types of input that are now contributing to the policies of the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland which is totally controlled by the government. For example, optional castration for mentally disturbed boys.

      Here it is;
      http://web.archive.org/web/20220430192530/https://www.ngicns.scot.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/SOC8-Chapter-Draft-for-Public-Comment-Eunuch.pdf
      Here is the general approach in the WPATH policy document;
      https://wpath.org/publications/soc

  10. ‘Morning, Peeps.  A remarkably 20°C here at 7am, with the promise of 24° this morning, before it gradually eases to something a little more comfortable.  And lovely rain tomorrow…

    Not the leading letters but perhaps they should be:

    SIR – Six years ago next Thursday the British electorate voted to leave the European Union in the biggest vote in our country’s history.

    What has been done in those six years? We still have hundreds of EU regulations and directives on our statute book. We are told – six years on – that these will be “sunsetted”. When? And how?

    Six years on we are still subject to the annoying and pointless General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules. Why?

    Parts of Great Britain are still subject to interference by the European Court of Justice. Why?

    EU passport holders are given favourable passport-control entry into the United Kingdom, but there is no reciprocity. UK passport holders have to join the long “Others” queues to enter the EU. Why?

    British dog owners have now to obtain expensive pet passports for every visit to the EU, yet EU dog owners may enter the UK with no problem at all. Why?

    The referendum vote gave the government the opportunity to take control of our own laws, and to shape our own destiny. That opportunity has been shamefully wasted.

    But we may – may – get a gene-edited tomato.

    Lord Willoughby de Broke
    Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

    SIR – I voted Brexit to take back control. It seems we have not done so.

    Who should I vote for now?

    Robert Taylor
    Ruddington, Nottinghamshire

    Another question: when is Johnson and his bunch of duds going to make full use of the soon-to-disappear 80-seat majority?

    1. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! Are all in the UK as brain-dead as this Lord willyburry? Shit-on-a-shovel, man, the PTB never wanted control of “our laws”, or to leave the EU! Cameron promising a vote was a mistake, as he got the result nobody except the proles expected or wanted! Shit, how dim is the man? Nothing is “wasted” it’s not done or fucked-up deliberately so return to EU is easy and so much shit is heaped on the population, they will be grateful for the return to “normality” – and, meanwhile, the bastards can suffer for their impudence.
      Give me strength! LIke the import of illegals across that great, wet, tank-trap of a channel, it is done BY the government, willingly, not as a result of incompetence.

        1. Something I’ve been advocating for years, Paul, but there don’t appear to any takers.

          Supine woke led by supine, corrupt government.

          1. People are happy with it. No Prole need take responsibility for their own miserable circumstance, the state is a comfort blanket.

          2. Too comfortable to be able recognise that it is infested with fleas, bed-bugs and many other examples of Westminster parasites.

          3. The only problem with that resolute, strong-willed and defiant generation that triumphed over evil in WWII is that they went on to beget four successive generations of increasingly weak PUSSIES.

          4. Not all of us, Grizz.
            “Strong men create a safe society where weak men can thrive.
            Weak men create a chaos where only strong med can survive.”
            And so it goes on. Not enough hardship in most lives these days, that breeds resilience and can-do, instead a broken fingernail leads to meltdown and bleats of help.
            Morning, BTW.

          6. Why do you think the British were effectively disarmed?
            Nowadays, only crims and government agents have ready access to guns.

        2. The violence will come from the Left should any government be brave enough to put the interests of the UK first. They’ve been practising for a while now, seeing how hard they can push – BLM, XR, the Colston Crew, all of them testing the water. I remember that crowd haranguing Farage as he arrived at a London event during the referendum campaign, their faces screwed up in hatred and shouting ‘Fascist! Fascist!’ repeatedly.

        1. Well, I keep reading the same old self-delusional shonet. When will people wake up and smell the coffee?

  11. ‘Morning, Peeps.  A remarkably 20°C here at 7am, with the promise of 24° This morning, before it gradually eases to something a little more comfortable.  And lovely rain tomorrow…

    Not the leading letters but perhaps they should be:

    SIR – Six years ago next Thursday the British electorate voted to leave the European Union in the biggest vote in our country’s history.

    What has been done in those six years? We still have hundreds of EU regulations and directives on our statute book. We are told – six years on – that these will be “sunsetted”. When? And how?

    Six years on we are still subject to the annoying and pointless General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules. Why?

    Parts of Great Britain are still subject to interference by the European Court of Justice. Why?

    EU passport holders are given favourable passport-control entry into the United Kingdom, but there is no reciprocity. UK passport holders have to join the long “Others” queues to enter the EU. Why?

    British dog owners have now to obtain expensive pet passports for every visit to the EU, yet EU dog owners may enter the UK with no problem at all. Why?

    The referendum vote gave the government the opportunity to take control of our own laws, and to shape our own destiny. That opportunity has been shamefully wasted.

    But we may – may – get a gene-edited tomato.

    Lord Willoughby de Broke
    Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

    SIR – I voted Brexit to take back control. It seems we have not done so.

    Who should I vote for now?

    Robert Taylor
    Ruddington, Nottinghamshire

    Another question: when is Johnson and his bunch of duds going to make full use of the soon-to-disappear 80-seat majority?

  12. ‘Morning, Peeps.  A remarkably 20°C here at 7am, with the promise of 24° This morning, before it gradually eases to something a little more comfortable.  And lovely rain tomorrow…

    Not the leading letters but perhaps they should be:

    SIR – Six years ago next Thursday the British electorate voted to leave the European Union in the biggest vote in our country’s history.

    What has been done in those six years? We still have hundreds of EU regulations and directives on our statute book. We are told – six years on – that these will be “sunsetted”. When? And how?

    Six years on we are still subject to the annoying and pointless General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules. Why?

    Parts of Great Britain are still subject to interference by the European Court of Justice. Why?

    EU passport holders are given favourable passport-control entry into the United Kingdom, but there is no reciprocity. UK passport holders have to join the long “Others” queues to enter the EU. Why?

    British dog owners have now to obtain expensive pet passports for every visit to the EU, yet EU dog owners may enter the UK with no problem at all. Why?

    The referendum vote gave the government the opportunity to take control of our own laws, and to shape our own destiny. That opportunity has been shamefully wasted.

    But we may – may – get a gene-edited tomato.

    Lord Willoughby de Broke
    Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

    SIR – I voted Brexit to take back control. It seems we have not done so.

    Who should I vote for now?

    Robert Taylor
    Ruddington, Nottinghamshire

    Another question: when is Johnson and his bunch of duds going to make full use of the soon-to-disappear 80-seat majority?

  13. SIR – You report (June 16) that outdoor pools and lidos in Britain might have to close due to a shortage of chlorine caused by “cuts in production in China, Brexit and the war in Ukraine”.

    Swimming pools use the solid compound calcium hypochlorite as their source of chlorine. Chlorine is produced in Cheshire from its huge salt deposits. The other necessary component, calcium hydroxide, is produced on a vast scale from limestone in Derbyshire.

    Why, then, is Britain unable to produce its own pool chemicals when we have such an abundance of raw materials under our own feet?

    Barry Wild
    Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

    The Letters Editor has obviously developed a soft spot for question marks, since almost every letter contains plenty of them. Here are some more: Why are we not utilising the oil and gas beneath our feet? And why did we ever stop our extraction of them?

    1. The picture made me smile – and shiver.
      My late mother-in-law used that pool, probably much the same time as the picture was painted.
      It was her employers’ annual jaunt to the family pile in North Berwick that introduced her to her future husband.
      Apparently the London Edinburgh train stopped at Drem station specifically to allow the Rounds and the de Zoetes to alight; the platform was heaving with family, staff and suitcases.

  14. SIR – Just about every new piece of legislation Michael Gove has proposed (report, June 16) favours the tenant.

    I am all for tenants having security of tenure but, equally, I do like them to pay their rent. I have just had a tenant leave owing £6,000 in rent and have paid about £5,500 to get the property back into a lettable condition.

    Although there are many S21 (no fault) evictions, this does not mean that there really was no fault. A previous tenant of mine was “taken over”, by a drug gang, which involved a property being raided by the police. (All damage caused by police, and there was plenty, is for the landlord to repair.) We used an S21 order to get the tenant out of the property as, left to the courts, he would probably still be in possession.

    Tony Hill
    Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire

    SIR – The latest proposals from Michael Gove do not seem to take into account the large student rental market, which is based on the academic year.

    I provide private housing shared by groups of up to five students, whose tenancies start on July 1 and finish on June 30. Students generally start to look and commit to their forthcoming year in about March. All parties –landlords, existing and prospective tenants – know that the property will become vacant in time for the new intake to gain possession on July 1.

    Now that the new regulations seem to be banning fixed-term tenancy agreements, how can landlords who specifically cater for the student market operate effectively?

    John Guy
    Bromsgrove, Worcestershire

    SIR – David (Lord) Frost writes with sound judgment about the unintended consequences of the proposed new property rental legislation. He should be top of the list for the new PM when Boris Johnson resigns (as he will).

    John Tilsiter
    Radlett, Hertfordshire

    For some reason best known only to itself this government seems determined to kill off the private rental sector. It all started with Osborne removing modest tax advantages, and will end, very predictably, in a serious market shortage.

    Headline in today’s DT:

    ‘I’ll have to sell my 25 student lets – this Government has killed the sector’

    Ham-fisted rules to protect tenants will destroy student housing, experts are warning

  16. Julian Assange ‘certain’ to die in US custody if extradited, wife warns of his deteriorating health. 18 June 2022.

    “The US penal system has many problems, but what Julian is facing is unique: He has been persecuted for over a decade, he is charged in a way that prevents him from being able to mount a defence, and his health is deteriorating to such a degree that his body may not be able to take the strain,” she said in an email to The Independent.

    There is no possible defence against the US Criminal Justice system. Though considerable efforts are made to conceal it there is in practical terms a 100% conviction rate. If you are innocent you have a far better chance of getting off in Russia, possibly even in China, than in the United States. This particularly applies to Assange whose prosecution is both malicious and vengeful. His crimes; his real crimes, are reporting the truth about American Foreign Policy in the Middle East. The UK government has of course played along with this in its usual spineless and docile manner. It has helped persecute and torture Assange in the most disgraceful manner and is now sending him to his death. It is inconceivable that our forefathers would have connived in such a sordid conspiracy that is the denial of any natural justice.

    There are occasional moments when quite unimportant matters in the general scheme of things crystallise a whole raft of opinions and views that have been slowly accumulating. This is one. It has revealed that the United States; once the greatest force for freedom that the world has ever known, has become an enemy of all that was good about the West and its beliefs and traditions.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/assange-wikileaks-wife-extradition-patel-latest-b2103932.html

      1. He mentions seeking sanctuary to avoid extradition to Sweden to face charges of rape. However, there is no mention of the fact that those charges were subsequently dropped or so I understand.

      2. I agree with the main thrust of Neil’s argument but to my mind he is a busted flush. His inability to support those who joined with him in the GB News team at the outset of their venture brands him as a turncoat who deserves ignominious oblivion.

    2. If the US is dangerous now, God knows what it will be like in 50 years time with its changing population complexion.

    3. Good Morning Minty

      I quote from your post: …. there is in practical terms a 100% conviction rate. If you are innocent you have a far better chance of getting off in Russia, possibly even in China, than in the United States.

      This is why Prince Andrew had to avoid the American system of Injustice at all costs. I find it astonishing that so many people in Britain are so easily led that they believe his accuser and have any faith in the US courts.

      Of course the most repulsive betrayal has come from his brother and his nephew who bounded and hopped into the kangaroo court of crass public opinion with such vindictive enthusiasm.

      1. Prince Andrew’s greatest “crime” is to be a fool and get taken for a ride by an American hooker. The same might be said for another of his nephews and his great-uncle, both of whom lost their royal standing as a result.

        Far worse that anything Charles or William might have said is the ridiculous charge of paedophilia against the Prince, when the lady in question, albeit a minor at the time, was most definitely over the age of consent in the UK. I doubt there are many redblooded men who are not gay who wouldn’t pass up a chance of an encounter with a 17-year-old girl. “Chance would be a fine thing” would be the overwhelming response to that. Plenty of royals, some of them kings and good kings at that, have had dalliances with strange women, and for Andrew to do so could hardly dent the reputation of the old soldier, whose nickname in the forces was Randy Andy. I doubt even that his missus minded too much, and she has had her bit of rough too in the past.

        What reinforces the foolishness of the Duke of York was going off on a tangent about pizzas in Woking and a war injury from the Falklands preventing him sweating. What was all that about? The only evidence I saw was that selfie, which seemed to me to scream “OMG I’m alongside a real prince!!!”, with said prince only too happy to pose for it.

        As for keeping dubious company, didn’t his esteemed brother once have tea with Sir Jimmy Savile?

        .

        2. “…didn’t his esteemed brother once have tea with Sir Jimmy Savile?” Oh, I thought that they kind of lived together up in the Highlands.

      2. Bonjour Monsieur Tracey.
        With due respect Charles and Wills are obliged to defend the Crown as an institution. Tragically that is why George V had to abandon his cousin Czar Nicholas II. Andrew is an adult, and he should have learned in the Navy that the blokes who service his helicopter are important, not a bunch of millionaires.

        1. I do think money – rather than teenage girls – is his weakness.
          Shame he didn’t marry Koo Stark; she seemed to have the intelligence to manage him.

          2. …and there’s me being taught that, “The love of money is the root of all evil.”

        2. Nobody denies that Prince Andrew is an idiot.

          His housemaster at Gordonstoun became the headmaster of the small public school near Lyme Regis where Caroline and I I used to teach. The governors, in their infinite folly, thought that such a connection would give the place a certain cachet and indeed an appeal raised enough money to build an impressive new sports hall and The Duke of York with his young wife came to open it.

          This was in 1989 – the year when Caroline and I decided that this attractive little public school, founded in the sixteenth century, no longer had a future under its present management so we threw caution to the winds and moved out to France to set up our own business which is still going in spite of Covid’s best attempts to close us down. The school however closed down within ten years of our leaving it.

      3. I’m sure you would not approve of him being a snitch, but if Andrew had had even a shred of decency he would have named and shamed every other paedophile that he met and where, in connection with Epstein, as should Maxwell.

        Of course they both don’t because they want to carry on living.

        There comes a point in every family where the totally incorrigible black sheep needs to be put out to pasture.

        1. Of course Epstein had to be silenced because he knew who the figures in Public Life were who used the Lolita Express.

          But if the US legal system is so corrupt then I must say I can understand Prince Andrew not wanting to be falsely condemned for things he has always denied doing.

          1. In my opinion Andrew was afraid of one thing only.

            That a US jury would award punitive damages to the extent that the £12m allegedly paid out in settlement would have been a mere bagatelle.

          2. Yes, a corrupt judgement from a corrupt court in a corrupt legal system.

            In fact he stupidly agreed to the absurd settlement before it came clear that the photo of him with his arms round the girl was probably a fake as they could not produce the negative and this was the only piece of ‘evidence’ they had that Andrew had ever had any contact with the odious young woman who, it has turned out, was hardly an innocent flower but was herself involved in the procurement/pimping business.

    4. Good Morning Minty

      I quote from your post: …. there is in practical terms a 100% conviction rate. If you are innocent you have a far better chance of getting off in Russia, possibly even in China, than in the United States.

      This is why Prince Andrew had to avoid the American system of Injustice at all costs. I find it astonishing that so many people in Britain are so easily led that they believe his accuser and have any faith in the US courts.

      Of course the most repulsive betrayal has come from his brother and his nephew who bounded and hopped into the kangaroo court of crass public opinion with such vindictive enthusiasm.

  17. Julian Assange ‘certain’ to die in US custody if extradited, wife warns of his deteriorating health. 18 June 2022.

    “The US penal system has many problems, but what Julian is facing is unique: He has been persecuted for over a decade, he is charged in a way that prevents him from being able to mount a defence, and his health is deteriorating to such a degree that his body may not be able to take the strain,” she said in an email to The Independent.

    There is no possible defence against the US Criminal Justice system. Though considerable efforts are made to conceal it there is in practical terms a 100% conviction rate. If you are innocent you have a far better chance of getting off in Russia, possibly even in China, than in the United States. This particularly applies to Assange whose prosecution is both malicious and vengeful. His crimes; his real crimes, are reporting the truth about American Foreign Policy in the Middle East. The UK government has of course played along with this in its usual spineless and docile manner. It has helped persecute and torture Assange in the most disgraceful manner and is now sending him to his death. It is inconceivable that our forefathers would have connived in such a sordid conspiracy that is the denial of any natural justice.

    There are occasional moments where quite unimportant matters in the general scheme of things crystallise a whole raft of opinions and views that have been slowly accumulating. This is one. It has revealed that the United States; once the greatest force for freedom that the world has ever known, has become an enemy of all that was good about the West and its beliefs and traditions.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/assange-wikileaks-wife-extradition-patel-latest-b2103932.html

  18. One of the unforeseen consequences of ‘Pandemic’ Panic measures. Although this forecast is from the US it probably applies to the UK as well:

    “Today both Wall Street and the mainstream media have caught up, with both predicting unprecedented deflationary price cuts in the coming weeks.

    We start with Morgan Stanley’s bearish strategist Michael Wilson, who in his latest bearish weekly note (available to pro subs) focused on shrinking margins in general, and on retailer discounting in particular, and wrote that while there is a modest pick up in over sales, the far more concerning issue is that “inventory across the sector is up about 30% YOY and sales growth is up about 0% YOY translating to approximately 30% YOY of excess inventory” and while mark down/margin pressure did not hit in 1Q it should hit June/July. Indeed, “store checks show that aggressive discounting has already started as of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Discounting pressure could accelerate through July.” And since more retailers are now discounting, “companies are having to offer even bigger discounts to compel consumers to buy, and it is a race to the bottom in margins in order to clear through inventory.”

    It gets much worse, however, because courtesy of the delayed nature of the bullwhip effect, Morgan Stanley thinks it will be some time before retailers can cut back on forward inventory orders! Companies are no longer in a position to order 6 months in advance because of delays in the supply chain, and are currently working with about an 8 month lead time. Shockingly, this means decisions today to cut forward orders could begin to eliminate the inventory problem in 1Q23, but not likely before then.

    As a result, Wilson concludes, “we are likely to see a tidal wave of discounts that carry us through December because 2022 inventory orders have already been placed.”

    It’s not just Wall Street finally catching up, however: overnight the WSJ also writes that “Big discounts are coming” as “stores have too much stuff.”

    Echoing everything we have written in the past two months, the Journal alerts its readers that Target, Walmart and Macy’s announced recently that they are starting to receive large shipments of outdoor furniture, loungewear and electronics (and if Morgan Stanley is correct and lead times are indeed 8 months they will keep receiving these into 2023!) everyone wanted, but couldn’t find, during the pandemic.”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/deflationary-tsunami-deck-tidal-wave-discounts-and-crashing-prices

    1. You can’t eat outdoor furniture, loungewear and electronics, they can’t get you to work, and they only provide a limited amount of heat in winter. What they are handy for though is bringing down the inflation figures in September in order to diddle the pensioners again.

  19. Hearts of Oak’s Peter, interviews funeral director John Olooney. This is a recent event with some new revelations. Olonney’s candid opinion about what is happening and some of the people and organisations involved (one name came as a bit of a surprise) raises the concern of how deep, exactly, do the problems in our society extend.

    Hearts of Oak Recent Interview with Undertaker John Olooney

  20. SIR – Why does there seem to a concerted conspiracy to avoid mentioning the fact that immigrants crossing the Channel are leaving a safe country, France?

    If the choice is France or Rwanda, I believe the vast majority would make a different decision.

    Lord Brocket
    London SW6

    SIR – Isn’t it not only offensive to Rwanda, but also racist, to object to deportations to that country?

    Helen Tippins
    Amersham, Buckinghamshire

    if Lord Brocket would care to watch GBN he will see these very points being made – and frequently. From the rest of the media – a deafening silence.

    1. Alas, Helen Tippins, the lefties have performed the requisite mental gymnastics, as this pious post, picked randomly from Twit shows.

      ”
      @YYYYYY
      ·
      Jun 12
      Replying to
      @XXXX
      I would hope that we are better than that (me – there was a post about Nazis above!) and this would never happen again but then our government are getting set to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and I do have to wonder.
      I’m not saying Rwanda is a bad place but it just seems wrong to send people who come here for help away.”

      1. What a BF “…it just seems wrong to send people who come here for help away.”

        They DON’T come here for help, other than help for their bank balance (bennies) and the help they give to the ever-growing Caliphate Army.

  21. SIR – Can someone who has no shares in a drug company and does not make a living from counselling explain the difference between “mental health” and “happiness”?

    A current “woke” trend devalues the devastating consequences of having what used to be called mental illness (where the mind does not work properly). This increases demand on services, especially general practice, to prescribe happiness so that the worried well can cope with life.

    Dr Andy Ashworth
    Bo’ness, West Lothian

    It’s all down to Generation Snowflake, for whom every little slightly disagreeable thing is a crisis.

    1. To be fair to them, it is widely encouraged. I hear “I have anxiety” all the time; it hasn’t been suggested to them that it’s normal to feel anxious from time to time, and healthy to learn how to overcome it.

      I do agree with the doctor’s letter.

        1. Indeed. “I suffer from mental health” is such a ridiculous statement. No-one ever said they suffer from healthy lungs or well legs or good eyes. Call it what it is – mental illness.

          1. Or, as a forthright ward sister sister, tiring of the psychologist’s circumlocutions, explained “Bloody mad”

    3. I struggled to understand Dr Ashworth’s letter when I saw it on the letters page.
      Now I observe that the Doctor hails from Borrowstounness in West Lothian.

      1. It is a local habit to miss out words, even whole sentences, as well as letters in many words. The spoken language reflects this. Bo’ness Council do provide a small team of translators who are available to help visitors to the town.

        1. Bo’nessians are “different”
          I know of a young Englishman who has recently bought a Victorian villa – he moves in in a few weeks time.
          I do not know if he knows much about Bo’ness or how Bonessians will take to Englishman, ex Public School, Lawyer / Prosecutor. Defence lawyers do a good trade in Bo’ness!

          1. My most recent map of that part of the Forth valley simply says “Here there be dragons”.

  22. Cost-of-living crisis for councils will make levelling up a distant dream. 18 June 2022.

    All over the country, services, jobs and treasured, long-dreamed-of plans to build new schools, homes or roads are at risk. The effects will be felt worst by the poorest communities, says Houghton. The government’s levelling-up ambitions, he says, will come to seem “a distant dream”.

    It would be a chilly welcome back to austerity. But for most councils, austerity – in the sense of relentless annual budget cutting – has never really gone away. Most councils had already planned tough programme cuts this year. Without help from Whitehall, most will have to rapidly revisit and expand the scope of those dismal plans.

    I am constantly amazed at the number of people who think that the policy of “levelling up” was a reality! Even if anyone actually wished it there was never the remotest possibility that such a thing could be engineered! That with a few billions you could magically balance the standard of living and erase the economic differences between various parts of the country that have existed for generations is an absurdity. It was and is a cynical soundbite to garner political support! Sadly this is now par for the course; the invention of Fake Nostrums and even worse Fake Ills to enable the very existence of the Political Class is now a reality. Covid; Net-Zero, Global Warming, Monkey Pox, Rising Sea Levels; all fantasies designed or grossly exaggerated to justify and disguise the arbitrary and tyrannical nature of what is an increasingly Marxist system!

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/17/cost-of-living-crisis-for-councils-will-make-levelling-up-a-distant-dream

    1. “Most councils had already planned tough programme cuts this year.”

      Together with huge increases in Council Tax.

      1. Cuts in healh, schools, old-people’s services. Not cuts in Town Hall staff numbers or budgets, nor the building of People’s Palaces for the administrators to live in, no cuts in allowances.
        Here’s one: Remove 50% of town-hall (not operational) staff on Monday. Downsize the building, move to a smaller one and sell the old one.

        1. But … but … what will all the cycle lane enablers do? Sit at home and …. ah ….

    2. So it’s toodle-pip to diversity advisors and climate change departments? And their pensions?
      And now for my next stupid question.

    3. Our local council has put in a bid for money from the ‘levelling up’ fund and they are full of cosmetic “improvements” which will do nothing ‘to bring money into the town’ – what do they expect? Coachloads of high spending tourists to see the new steps and benches,?

      1. Firstborn’s local town has built an “Environment Street” (WTF is that?) (Miljøgate) that seems to have involved building a new short pavement with tarmac, placing a few concrete flower tubs, and a new pedestrian crossing.
        This in a town right in the middle of the countryside!
        (scratches head in confusion)

  23. 353282+ up ticks,

    May one say,

    My money would be on our, majority of the electorate lapping the yanks
    twice when the lab/lib/con herd stampede on hearing of the first case of ALIEN FLU.

    ‘Alien Invasion’ Radio Broadcast Terrified Listeners 80 Years …https://www.livescience.com › 63958-war-of-the-world…
    30 Oct 2018 — On this day (Oct. 30) 80 years ago, actor Orson Welles announced to audiences in a chilling radio performance that Martians were invading

    I personally think that what will make the issue worse is the fact that the main strike force was made up of politico’s.

        1. We had hooshing rain last night, sunny now. Hope it stays that way until at least tomorrow afternoon – there’s a large amount of grass to cut, then a fridge half-full of cold beers to enjoy whilst looking at the cut grass…

  25. Good Moaning.
    Might get a sprinkle of rain today. We’re doomed ….. the fate of Dunwich hangs over Colchester.
    (Just giving my Greenery Wokery an airing.)

  26. I was out at 7am for my morning walk this morning when I spotted a large coach backing down a narrow country lane. In it were several dozen men of Pakistani appearance, all around 30 years of age, wearing hi-viz jackets. This was followed by an unmarked minibus containing more men and a few women wearing hijabs.

    It is the wrong time of year for them to be agricultural workers so I followed them down as far as a rough track that leads nowhere. They got off the bus where the road stops and carried on walking down the track. I did not follow them down.

    Any idea what they were up to?

    1. Morning JM

      Are you going to give us all a clue ?

      Abandoned Armed services camp, tent city , hotel, site of scientific interest .

      1. I’ve walked down that track, and there is an ancient wood, a disused railway line closed and ripped up in the 1950s, and a number of fields. No buildings until you get to the next village, where there is a better road. I have never known any activity going on down there that would attract a busload of visitors.

        1. Reconnoitring for a new mosque and social housing. Or a halal slaughterhouse.
          Edit: Good Morning Jeremy!
          PS why didn’t you just ask them?

        2. Reconnoitring for a new mosque and social housing. Or a halal slaughterhouse.
          Edit: Good Morning Jeremy!
          PS why didn’t you just ask them?

          1. I had a quick look at Google Earth’s history feature, and there was what looked like a mobile home site set up in a field at 52º11.120 N, 2º20.700 W when the photo was taken in 2013. It had gone by 2017, and then reappeared in a neighbouring field in 2020 at 52º11.030 N, 2º20.800.

            Anyone’s guess what it is, but either the enterprising farmer has got some cheap labour in, or there are some folk down from the city on their hols. Better than Africa, I believe.

            I know there have been a number of planning applications over the years for a caravan park around there, which were always turned down because the local roads cannot support that sort of traffic. If they get stuck down my lane, they’d never be able to turn round!

    2. 353282+ up ticks,

      Morning JM,

      This is the political overseers & lab/lib/con current supporter / voters reset private army, seen going into hiding and …….. hiding,

      Fresh from DOVER the build up continues unabated.

    3. Some years ago the Police raided an isolated building in Sussex that had been a school.

      They revealed that it had been used as a Jihadi training camp for young Muslims. As far as the locals know, no prosecutions or

      deportations were made.

      Perhaps the same Muslims are having a weekend camp?

      1. Sadly, that was my first thought. About 15 years ago two training camps, one in the Lake District and one in Snowdonia, were ‘discovered’. Perhaps they didn’t want to risk such a remote area again and it rather shatters the impression that Sub-Continentals don’t visit the National Parks.

    4. Some years ago the Police raided an isolated building in Sussex that had been a school.

      They revealed that it had been used as a Jihadi training camp for young Muslims. As far as the locals know, no prosecutions or

      deportations were made.

      Perhaps the same Muslims are having a weekend camp?

        1. “Oh, you put your left leg in, left leg out, in, out, in, out, wave it all about”
          Oops.
          Explains a lot… 🙁

    2. I know a Left handed fellow who complained bitterly about all sorts of things being designed for ‘righties’. The tipping point was his bleating about how we were hanging bugs up.

      1. Mother ( a Southpaw) was delighted when I bought her some left-handed Wilkinson Sword scissors back in the ’80s.

      2. Being left-handed I can sympathise with your ‘fellow’. So many devices are designed for a right-handed world with no LH versions available. Cameras, corkscrews, motorcycles and chainsaws are good examples.

    3. Indeed.
      I still haven’t managed to get hold of an Imperial (AF) adjustable spanner to tighten bolts on Minis…

      3. Ah! The old “go to the stores and get an AF adjustable spanner” joke played on generations of apprentices?

        But be careful!
        Imperial is not AF. Imperial is the Whitworth system of British Standard Fine (BSF) or BS Whitworth (BSW).
        AF is the American Unified thread system, Unified Fine or Unified Coarse.

        A ½” AF spanner is the distance Across the Flats will not fit a BSF or BSW bolt where a ½” BSW spanner refers to diameter of the bolt (or nut) with a ½” thread. A ½” BSW spanner is a lot bigger than ½” AF.

      4. Yo, Paul.. Off topic, I can’t respond dreckly to your message re. costs. But don’t worry – while there’s a hosting bill to pay shortly, it’s cheap entertainment, and certainly less than a TV Licence…

        Sadly I gave away a small set of AF spanners a couple of years ago.

        1. We have spaners coming out of our ears… AF, WW, metric, prolly even Martian… Firstborn has a tool trolley full.
          😉
          JUst be sure not to be out of pocket, OK? THat wouldn’t be fair.

      1. 14.3c at 9.30am. The Spanish plume has left here, having only arrived in the afternoon and gone by evening.

    4. Raining here too, as it was yesterday. The sunny days experienced in the south have swerved past us. We have instead experienced the edge of depression for the last week or more.

        1. That’s how it was here, yesterday. Today, no wind and no sun, but we had a drop of rain.

  29. Sharron Davies calls for female cyclists to revolt against ‘ridiculous’ trans athletes rules

    If it were so important for trans sportspeople to compete against other athletes who were born the opposite sex to them, we would have an equal number of news stories about trans men demanding to compete in males’ sports but for some reason we don’t. Funny that.

    The best place for trans to compete would be in the paralympics etc where they could go up against others with comparable biologies and mental states.

      2. Not being funny (he clichéd) but the so-called “Paralympic Games” (and their similar sporting events elsewhere) cater for a myriad of people with physical and mental disabilities competing against one another. Just add a few more events for trannies and their ilk.

    2. Much like the ‘quandary’ over public toilets; one for males, one for females and the rest can use the disabled toilet. After all, the trans mob are obviously suffering from a mental disability.

  30. Left wing America is destroying itself.17 June 2022.

    America’s cities are rotting. The Democrat-run cities in particular. And all of them are going wrong in the same way, suffused with the same problems of violence, drugs and homelessness.

    In the nation’s capital, the homelessness problem is visible from the moment you enter the city. Arriving into DC used to be a great pleasure, with the visitor immediately thrown into the centre of the grand capital. Today the lawns outside Union station that greet the traveller are covered with tents. It is just the first of the homeless encampments which visitors are now confronted with throughout the city. Almost every green space in DC is now covered with tents, a constant reminder that America seems to be rotting from the centre outwards.

    The United States is of course leading the way! The West in its entirety is following this Marxist Trek to Cultural and Racial oblivion.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/17/left-wing-america-destroying/

    1. It would have been far better for the civilised world if America had never been discovered…

        1. Especially as the various native tribes over there hate being called “Indians”, which was a moniker placed on them by the European invaders who thought they had reached Cathay.

        2. Hello Minty!

          I don’t think that the Merkins have given the rest of the world aything that the UK couldn’t have done – and don’t forget, Merkins never “give” anything – they only sell. Often at an extortionate price.

      2. I disagree.
        I like Merkins. In the world of depression & gloom, they are pretty well unfailingsly positive – just look at their war movies – the good guys (them) always win through, and are happy, compared with the German war movies, typified by Der Untergang, where the whole world is destroyed. Maybe that optimism affects their great desire to make war over the rest of the world.

        1. I must say I have no experience of these things at all but I suspect I would not like them

          From the Urban Dictionary

          Merkin
          A pubic hair piece. A toupee for the pubic area/genitals. In the 1700’s when mercury was used to treat sexually transmitted diseases (Gonorrhea or Syphilis) one of the side effects was the loss of pubic hair. To disguise this condition, that was not cured by mercury, a Merkin was employed.
          17th Century setting: Due to his treatment of the “French Pox” (syphilis) with mercury a merkin Gwendolyn used a Merkin to used to hide the side effects of hair loss and not alarm her husband.

    2. Good morning, Araminta.

      “Left wing America is destroying itself.” The Left-wing WORLD is destroying itself!

  31. 353282+ up ticks,

    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021

    ·I do believe the alien flu scamdemic is in the pipeline.
    14h
    As I posted earlier this week, Govnt considering another lockdown at the end of the summer.

    The phony tests & the Globalist MSM propaganda machine preparing the way.

    The Great Reset won’t reset itself.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61839777

    1. And you probably don’t buy such a house on a salary, even if the job is President!

        1. Much though I dislike[d] Heath, Major and May I reckon B Liar is in a completely different league of sewer when it comes to coining it!

          3. Another damned good reason why Reform, Reclaim and For Britain need to get their act together and leave Rubbery Stewart do the vote-splitting.

            Come on, get over yourselves and give us a party worth voting for!

    2. Lovely place Martha’s Vineyard infested with rich ex politicos. But you’d never see them from the ends of their drives.
      We had a lovely tour on a yellow school bus. Travelled from Falmouth on the Island Queen ferry which featured in Jaws. Much of it was filmed nearby.
      Ironically the land sharks have moved in.

        1. Sudden ending ……I must admit Richard I have never heard that song before. Thanks.

  33. Morning all 😃
    With the 👪 👩‍👧‍👧 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 arriving during day tomorrow I have been ‘advised’ to cut the grass back garden. So off I go, but I’m feeling a little sheepish about the noise. Oh well 🐑🐏

    3. In its Climate Apocalypse Special yesterday, R4’s ‘The World At One’ featured The Visitation Of The Bee-eaters as evidence of the end of the world.

      2. It will be the ultimate irony if climate change causes Russia to have vast swathes of territory become like the food belts of Europe.

    6. “Thousands of miles from their home on the Mediterranean !!!!” squeals the DM, like an adolescent let loose in an alcopops warehouse.

      “Dover to Nice = 657 miles,” says the real world.

    7. I see that the idiot-sheet, The Daily Moronic Mail, has decided to reclassify the European Bee-eater Merops apiaster as the ‘Rainbow Bee-eater’ M. ornatus, despite the fact that the latter species is only found in Australia.

      1. I’ll stick up for the Mail here and say that it’s using it merely descriptively rather than specifically. After all, ‘rainbow’ is the word of the age, isn’t it?

        1. Frequently, Philip, as we do from Siberia and the far east. At times of migration, especially in the autumn but also in spring, many birds are blown off course by strong gales. Most succumb and perish in the Atlantic but a few fortunate ones are able to rest on islands, ships, buoys and lighthouses and, consequently make it over to Europe. The Isles of Scilly, being small and a prominent Atlantic landmark ‘captures’ many of these vagrant birds and they are easy to see there. Most that make a landfall on the mainland escape notice though many do get discovered. I have taken many October holidays on beautiful St Mary’s in the Scillies and have seen a good number of both North American and Siberian rarities.

  35. Hi NoTTlers.. Who Knew…..?

    BBC Today prog.
    Early detection of cancer essential say experts…….

    Thanks, I’d rather not know if there’s no bluddy treatment available.

    1. Wow, that’s amazing. An amazing light bulb moment. “The NHS is the envy of the world”.

      1. I think the illegal immigrants have gone straight to the front of the queue for NHS treatment.

        1. One of our lovely neighbour’s is a part time GP receptionists. She told me that apart from any one arriving here from the EU and there are many. There are also a lot of people arriving from Hong Kong and will register almost immediately after arrival. These along with thousands of ‘any anyone else’ who decides to turn up in the UK. And then make demands on the NHS without having paid a single penny into the kitty. And never being asked to pay because it seems unethical. Once again What a stupid useless ineffectual government we have.
          The long term permeant residents should not be a obliged to pay for the treatment of any one who has never been a British tax payer.
          I remember staying at a Hotel in Singapore and an English lady traveling to Oz with two children told us she had to deposit three thousand pounds because her 4 year old son had to go into hospital for some treatment. Although her insurance would have eventually paid for the treatment. Why don’t we do the same here ?

          1. I think the media and Pols would crucify any hospital management that denied treatment to a non-NHS entitled critically ill patient who didn’t have the means to pay and as a result dies. Until that is addressed the NHS will continue to be a free health service for the entire world.

          2. One of my nieces was a physio at a London hospital, one day a guy from Lagos arrived in a taxi after his flight to LHR he went into A&E and started to roll around on the floor, well rehearsed he knew exactly which hospital to arrive at. He was admitted for a long term stomach problem, treated and cured, after three weeks got out of bed dressed and walk out of the main door. Probably 150 thousand pounds worth of free treatment. Nobody said a damning word, this was at least 35 years ago and has been happening ever since.
            This country is well known for it’s inherent stupidity.

      2. “Illegal immigrants this way, please”……… indigenous people must join the queue and wait.

    2. There are treatments, but no cure. Around four or five avenues of research are being pursued with the aim of finding the root causes and possibly a cure, maybe even prevention, but the research has been going on for a while.

      1. Patients cancelled hospital apps. due to Covid is getting longer …the
        NHS is NOT there when we need it.

        Has anyone seen a doctor recently ..or are they still NO. 19 in the queue
        waiting to speak to one via the telephone?

        1. I haven’t attempted to see a doctor for over three years. Husband hasn’t had any trouble, when he needed one.

        2. I have seen my GP in person and also two nurses to have my dressing changed. Husband has seen his consultant and she has also phoned him. My GP seems to be working hard and spends longer than 10 minutes with patients.
          Mind you- 2 months on and I still haven’t had any follow up from ECG- so have postponed the coffin order;-)

          3. I think they should give negative results for more serious conditions otherwise people will worry.

          4. Especially if they can get it right! I have had two wrong diagnoses re mush.

    3. Early detection would presumably involve seeing your GP face to face – fat chance!

      1. Mammograms can pick up tiny clusters which probably lead to unnecessary surgery and treatment.

      1. For a brief moment I read that as ‘things can only get better … Blair pops off!

    2. The warmonger Blair and his slot-gobbed maven have always mixed business with pleasure. How else could he go on holiday to e.g. the Berlusconi residence in Italy using ‘Blairforce One’ without having some pointless ‘official’ visits attached fore and aft to permit his abuse of the Queen’s Flight aircraft. A shady practice – amongst so many others -he utilised throughout his time in Downing Street.

    4. I expect he claimed the 8 feet high brick wall he had built around his Buckinghamshire estate on expenses as well.
      The film The Ghost Writer is pretty good it doesn’t name him, but the father of a ‘murdered’ soldier makes his mark.

  37. The Uvalde “villain” is no villain. This massacre was caused by a panicked teacher. Posted on June 17, 2022 by Pat Lang

    Legislation is being passed to ban semi-auto rifles like the ubiquitous AR-15 type. This fits perfectly with the neo-Marxist need to disarm possible future resistance. More legislation is being passed to “harden” schools, hire more cops for school defense.

    At the same time a search is underway to find a way to absolve the school district police of the crimes of neglect of duty and frankly, cowardice, in not going into the school to save children. Politicians are the same everywhere and the Texas variety are no different.

    No government ever misses an opportunity to disarm its own population because they are actually the greatest threat to its activities.

    https://turcopolier.com/the-uvaldo-villain-is-no-villain-this-massacre-was-caused-by-an-empty-headed-teacher/

    2. Beats me. For my 60th a couple of years ago I went to Madeira on holiday, not for the beaches but for the mountain treks. Following a couple of days of ‘warm-up’ walks, on my birthday I covered 24km and clambered up and down 4000ft in temperatures in the high 70s. Most of my hillwalking involves a few waterproof layers, so blistering sunshine in late September was a welcome change.

      2. I went to South Africa for my 60th birthday to visit my siblings who are scattered around , 2 sisters and a brother .

        With in two days of arriving , I was taken on a gorge walking holiday somewhere remote , basic camp site ..

        Very basic .. we wore head lamps ar night , and I saw things that still give me nightmares .. of the creeping slithery variety , and small furry animal glaring eyes , beetles that looked unreal , and moths that one sees in books .

        The gorge walk was similar to descending DOWN from a mountain, steep sides on either side of the river far below .. an an area where there where many cairns dedicated to the bodies lying underneath who died in the Boer war.

        There were tribes of baboons calling to us from across the gorge , we also encountered blue bottomed monkeys , crocodiles , puff adders , porcupines and more .. ( when you are visiting a zoo, it feels safe doesn’t it , well being in the wild is different )

        I had my head gear , shorts , stick sweat band and a water bottle nearly empty … the temp was 35C.. I felt terrible after walking 5 miles .. I had to keep up with the group on the way back, a considerable hard climb up scree and small boulders . (I was five days out of the UK and chilly English Spring weather )

        Three quarters up the steep slope , I was collapsing with heat , and my tongue was swelling , and according to the others I was delirious .

        Some how or other after several rests , I arrived back at the camp , lay down and thought I was choking on my tongue .. People fussed around me , fed me water and rehydrate , they thought I was going to die . I was like that for 24 hours , my kidneys had stopped working , and my tongue remained swollen for hours apparently .. but I survived ..

        One of my sister’s pals told me that their son had been bitten on his ankle by a rock python which had lashed out from underneath a bush on a previous excursion .. Rock pythons are quite bad tempered reptiles .

        The only snakes I saw were a couple of puff adders .. I daresay there were other things lurking that are not very pleasant .

          1. I drank all myy water too quickly , I should have just had sips .

            Do you know, I carry water in the car not only for the dogs but also for me .. I now have an anxiety about not having sufficient water anywhere I go .

          2. I’ve just bought an 8 oz hip flask – it is now full of Scotch. Things are as they should be!

          3. How did the other people on the trip manage? Were they all of similar age or was the trip geared to younger and fitter people?

            When OH went to Zimbabwe on a rhino tracking trip, he was by far the oldest at only 49. He always tends to not drink enough water, so of course, he did get dehydrated, and had to leave the project after 10 days.

          4. Yep , I was the eldest , and they were used to the heat, Sadly even when I was very fit in my much younger years , I could not get along with heat .. Very fair skinned and not a sun lover .

            My choice not to emigrate with parents or siblings 57 years ago .

          5. Probably a wise decision on your part – I love going to Africa but living there would be another matter.

          6. We lose about three litres a day via perspiration, exhalation and weeing. Keep topped up and you don’t get headaches//delirium.

          7. Hyperthermia can be fatal because it can cause organ failure. Far more serious than hypothermia.
            You should not have been doing hard exercise in temperatures around 35C having not had time to acclimatise.
            You sound as if you were very lucky – the gods must have been looking after you that day.

        2. Blimey, my biggest struggle was clambering 2000 feet back up the Nun’s Trail to the hotel after my days of rambling. It made the beer at the top even more welcome.

      3. Respect. Madeiran slopes seriously test your leg muscles.
        I assume all the oldies must have superb hearts.

    3. I once went on a short three day break in Italy with an Italian friend. The hotel was about a quarter of a mile from the beach. You woke up, ate a fabulous Italian breakfast with figs from the tree in the courtyard, strolled to the beach, lay under an umbrella, swam in the warm Mediterranean, lay under the umbrella some more, repeat until midday. Stagger back to hotel, eat sumptuous Italian lunch. Stagger back to beach for more reclining and paddling until sun down. Return to hotel for highlight of day, dinner.
      I’m not big on holidays, but it was incredibly relaxing.

      1. But hopefully, there were not hordes of sun-worshippers all doing the same thing within two feet of you.

        1. There were, but the photos tend to foreshorten and make the beach look even more crowded, I think.

          1. We saw that with the photos of the hordes of people on the beach when lockdown was relaxed a bit in 2020.

      2. Sorry, BB2, but not my idea of a holiday. They are so ephemeral, I’d rather give any ‘holiday’ a miss.

      3. Sounds like hell to me.

        My wife likes holidays like that, I prefer to explore, or be somewhat busy.

        Two weeks on a narrowboat doing a canal and river ring would be preferable to two weeks sitting on my ‘arris.

        1. I’ve only ever been on eight holidays in my whole life! In the last twenty years, I’ve been so tired most of the time that I can drop off to sleep at any time, so rest is premium. I once even fell asleep in the dentist’s chair.

      4. I suppose it all depends on how many people are on that beach with you. I love nothing more than getting up at dawn and going for a long walk along the seashore on a completely deserted beach.

    5. If you like the sun and swimming in the sea get a sailing boat and find an uncrowded bay in which to anchor.

      And if you enjoy walking or cycling in the countryside then don’t join a cycling club or a Ramblers’ group – go off by yourself or with a friend..

      “I am never alone with my solitude.” This singer had the right idea in distinguishing between solitude and loneliness:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9-OzSzCDWo

      1. All a bit forigin for me, Richard. I think I get the sentiment but, while I may speak some French, I don’t understand it when it’s gabbled back at me.

        My usual response is, “Lentement, lentement, s’il vous plait.”

    7. Malta has very few beaches. They do have rock pools carved out so you can cool off. The water is very salty which adds buoyancy. Very relaxing and no hordes of the English.

    8. That dark haired woman near the bottom just left of centre is taking up the space of three

    9. I’m not a beach person either.

      My idea of the holiday from hell is spending two weeks sat around a pool or on a beach or a combination of the two.

      1. A bit too technical for me ….. my eyes glazed over after the first few pargraphs. But the fact that these drugs are neither effective nor safe makes me quite determined not to have them. There has been a lot more written about the Pfizer and Moderna concoctions than the AZ ones – blood clots seem to be the most common adverse side effect there, and I just hope I have escaped those.

    2. As well as the banks, local authorities, the Samaritans and any other ‘do-gooding’ organisations.

      1. I don’t have a lot of contact with those. The bank seems to operate fairly efficiently; the council takes our money and the bins are emptied, and I haven’t had to trouble the Samaritans.

  40. This is Jerome Powell, head of the US Federal Reserve introducing the US Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
    Note at the end, where he says that it could help to maintain the dollar’s international standing. In other words “please, proles, give your consent and approval for the system that has been making you poor since 1971 to continue for longer.”
    Note also his weasel words conflating a CBDC with other digital assets.
    – An online bank account containing dollars or euros (digital assets) can be exchanged for anonymous physical money.
    – Digital currencies like Bitcoin (digital assets) are de-centralised and independent from the government and the banks.
    – A CBDC is digital government food stamps, controlled by the government even when you think it’s in your wallet.

    https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1537832095602597890

    The European Central Bank is apparently doing a feasibility study into launching a CBDC euro, which they also hope to have up and running four years from now, according to this article. Some “investigation!”
    https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/06/15/ecb-would-limit-digital-euro-to-maximum-15t-euros-panetta-says/?outputType=amp
    And by the way, CBDCs aren’t complicated at all. They’re very simple. The government wants complete control over every transaction you make.

    1. Just another “nudge” to control every aspect of our lives. We will only be allowed to buy veggies, lentils and bugs. No meat or dairy products, eventually. “Rewards” for buying the “right”/approved” products as in you will be allowed to visit the nearest park/shopping centre (now empty), local council tip …. feel free to complete the sentence.

      1. I think we have to make a serious attempt to talk about them with people in real life.
        The central banks’ marketing strategies are becoming clear – CBDCs are too complicated for ordinary people to understand, they’re no different from using an internet bank account today, and they will be good for the country.
        All lies.
        I think people can grasp very easily the concept that the government will put rules on how you can spend money.

      2. …a tour of the local sewage works. Here you may watch your effluent being tipped into the nearest river at NO cost to your water-gouger.

    2. Meanwhile in England and Wales the PTB now have automatic consent to harvest your organs if you are terminally ill, unless you have opted out.

      1. Let’s hope they don’t follow the Chinese way and do it while you are still alive.

    1. 11%? Sunflower oil in Lidl has increased from £1.09 to £1.69. And there isn’t any.

      1. Not in the index !

        I have always considered the whole thing to be fixed.
        Something starts to become popular/fashionable so they add it and remove an alternative component. The fashionable article then gets produced in higher quantities and the price stays static or even drops, by this constant changing the real rate of inflation that we experience is higher than that used for pensions etc.

        1. And still the govt uses RPI when you owe them money even though they have said for about 20 years it’s not fit for purpose.

  42. Got to say that I found today’s Wordle very tough going.

    Wordle 364 5/6

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

    1. I can’t boast about my 4/6 because having got the first two and last letter and tried the only sensible option, I gave up and cheated.

    2. Can I have a clue mola? I have letters 2,3 and 5 and have tried every combination I can think of for the others. It’s driving me mad.

      1. Sent a reply to an earlier post to you. Tell me when you’ve seen it and I’ll delete it.

    3. Me too.

      Wordle 364 5/6

      ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. Me too, even worse

        Wordle 364 6/6

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

        1. It pongs too….
          rhs.org.uk
          › plants › 6115 › dracunculus-vulgaris › details

          Dracunculus are tuberous deciduous
          perennials with attractive leaves divided into several narrow,
          finger-like segments, and dramatic, foul-smelling, arum-type flowers in
          spring or summer; the plant dies down after flowering

          1. The smell’s to attract flies to pollinate. Richard says it smells of rotten flesh.

    3. Splendid. Yesterday I took delivery of one for my new garden. However, at 12″ tall it has got a lot of growing to do (especially as there is a lot of 6′ high fence to be covered!!)

  44. Heading south for a weekend away with the gals, I have broken down 🙁
    I was driving at about 65mph down the A34 when suddenly the wheels started to wobble. Fortunately a junction wasn’t too far ahead so I pulled off there to check if I had a puncture. No puncture, but an electrical burning smell.
    Now waiting for t’AA – ETA 1-2hours.

    1. Good luck with that, Stormy. According to the adverts you’re privileged – to wait and wait.

      1. That’s my concern too Phiz. I was going to drop in on my way back from the coast.

          3. Phil, I wish you all well. What news of Garlands? (in summer I waste slightly less time than usual at the keyboard).

    4. Don’t rely on forecast waiting times. I went out on a recovery to a guy who had broken down and had been waiting 3 DAYS for a recovery ( was there within 1/2 hour of the job coming to us), Thankfully he was camping so had food etc. The RAC guy couldn’t find him so they said. This was in the highlands and the RAC centre is near Birmingham and staffed mainly by immigrants so what do you expect. Hope you get an early recovery. BTW the AA and RAC are crap – Britannia Rescue are the top agents and 1/2 the price of the accountancy headed big boys, up here you get us no matter who you are with. Green Flag are good too.

    5. I was expecting a rapid diagnosis from Alec, but my first guess would be a track rod.
      A less obvious cause might be a structurally damaged tyre, which is not obvious at first glance.

      1. The electric burning smell throws me a bit, possibly mis-diagnosed but if it was electrical and your power steering was electrical then that might be the cause. The wheels (plural) is maybe confusing as it is unlikely that both front wheels are wobbling (Front or rear). Wheel nuts loosened ? wishbone bushes disintegrating? yes one trackrod end, could even be something as simple as the balance weights coming off. Coil spring broken? I’ll be interested to hear the result

      2. Offside brake caliper had seized.
        The mAAn managed to fix it but I was so late by that stage, I headed home.

        1. I liked the bit about you proceeding southbound at a steady 65mph. Just remember that north of Winchester the speed limit reduces all of a sudden, and occasionally there is a mobile radar.

          1. I was only doing 65mph because I was in a bit of a hurry. I’ve dropped my normal cruising speed to about 55mph lately to use less petrol

  45. This’ll get ’em going!

    Cat-loving Brits are blind to the vicious truth about their ‘pets’

    These soft-pawed assassins leave utter carnage in their wake, not because they are hungry but because they can

    JUDITH WOODS • 13 June 2022 • 7:00pm

    Let me begin by stating for the record that I like cats. I have owned a veritable T S Eliot-worth of them: Mutti, Fungus, Solenoid, Steve, James Corden. Oh, sorry about that. The excruciating sight of him prancing about as Bustopher Jones is seared on my retina. Yours too now.

    My point is that I harbour no lazily generalised antipathy towards cats per se, although I do reserve the right to loathe them on an individual basis, something they demonstrate with impunity towards random human beings. Which is all by way of saying I fully acknowledge they have their place. If only they would stay in it.

    The problem is that they don’t. Hence several experts in the fields of bird life, domestic animals and biodiversity at the Cheltenham Science festival have called on cats owners to keep their “murderous” pets indoors at night to spare the lives of 250,000 bats and 27 million birds annually.

    No, that’s not worldwide. That’s just in the UK. Shocking doesn’t begin to describe the carnage these soft-pawed assassins leave in their wake, not because they are hungry but because they can. So they do.

    If dogs caused a quarter as much death and mayhem there would be hell to pay, but cats get away with mass decapitations of endangered species on a nightly basis because “it’s in their nature” and (let’s not beat about the bush) those who care for them are too craven to intervene.

    The late Christopher Hitchens deftly summed up the striking difference in perspective: “Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are God. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realise that, if you provide them with food and water and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are God.” Quite so.

    Not so long ago my lovely neighbours acquired two sweet kittens. They were irresistibly furry and purry, sitting at the window for however many weeks until their vaccinations kicked in. Then they were allowed out into the garden. It was as though mercenaries had been let loose. This pair of pretty-yet-pitiless predators wasted no time in establishing a reign of terror that has seen nests emptied of chicks, frogs tortured and voles disembowelled. There’s also been a suspicious exodus of squirrels. Were they expelled or exterminated? My money’s on the killer that got the cream.

    I get that cats are great at keeping the mouse population under control. But is it really such heresy to suggest the collateral damage – shredded pipistrelles and butchered blue tits – has become extortionately high? Yes, we all feel a little bit privileged when an immaculately groomed cat comes and sits on our lap but that’s only because they are really good at licking off bloodstains (they get a lot of practice).

    The upshot is that as cats are considerably less biddable than almost any other species, it is the owners who must bear responsibility. An estimated 1.3 million British cats are un-neutered, and given that a female can produce 18 kittens a year – for a decade or more – there’s no point in hand-wringing over our bird populations without a curfew on cats.

    And by day, make them wear collars that tinkle, or better still, scream so their tiny victims have at least a fighting chance of escaping the fearsome feline felons bringing senseless suffering to suburbia.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/13/cat-loving-brits-blind-vicious-truth-pets/

    1. Before we were wide awake this morning , there were 3 fledgling blackbird corpses to greeet us on the lawn .. we have seen 4 different cats in our garden waiting to pounce on birds at various times .

      I feel reall guilty when I refill the bird feeders , is it worth it?

      The cats are not fearful of the spaniels either .. no idea where the cats come from , our neighbours don’t own cats.

      I also forgot to mention the sparrow hawk who enjoys a meal of collared dove heart !

      1. Predatory birds probably account for just as many – but of course that goes against the narrative.

        1. I now have a neighour with three cats (one of which we call Lucifer as he is an aggressive animal). We have a little old lady cat, who doesn’t chase birds and never has done, to our knowledge.

          Lucifer comes into our garden and once attacked our cat, giving her quite a bloody gash. As I know the neighbours can’t really control that, and they are nice people, I didn’t mention it. On one occasion I mentioned that L did come into our garden rather a lot, but that’s cats. My neighbour said “oh yes, he is just staking out his territory”. HIS territory? It was our garden and had been our cat’s territory for ten years before they arrived.

          The other two cats have been doing the same, and now our cat won’t go into our garden unless one of us is there. Cat owners just ought to give some thought to the fact that their cats don’t own everyone else’s garden as of right, and owning several cats is wishing quite a lot onto neighbours. One cat OK (they are solitary animals and don’t need company. As I said, we have one). But three…

          1. We have a neighbouring cat the same, called Diesel. Attacks our two, and in return, I attack Diesel, to show him that the garden is not his. He’s regularly squired (hates that), ad received the occasional clod of earth when in our garden. Have considered shooting it, but that would cause a lot of trouble.

          2. Lucifer disappears fast if he sees me coming. They cats are not as bad at “visiting” as they used to be – I throw water at them, hiss at them, cover the earth near the part of the fence they normally come over with orange and lemon peel and garlic! They know they are not welcome, but if I’m not around, they’ll try it on.

            I just got a bit fed up with the “oh, that’s just marking his territory” when it is MY garden that MY cat has enjoyed quietly for some years. I put up some cat ultrasocnic cat scarers by the fence but they didn’t seem to help. My neighbour is very nice, though, so it is something that I will just live with.

          3. Lucifer disappears fast if he sees me coming. They cats are not as bad at “visiting” as they used to be – I throw water at them, hiss at them, cover the earth near the part of the fence they normally come over with orange and lemon peel and garlic! They know they are not welcome, but if I’m not around, they’ll try it on.

            I just got a bit fed up with the “oh, that’s just marking his territory” when it is MY garden that MY cat has enjoyed quietly for some years. I put up some cat ultrasocnic cat scarers by the fence but they didn’t seem to help. My neighbour is very nice, though, so it is something that I will just live with.

          4. Buy or build a humane cat trap for Diesel. Might work as a deterrent after a brief spell inside.

          5. When we first moved in here, the house had been empty for a few weeks and an aggressive male cat had taken the garden over as an extension to his territory. My next door neighbour called him “the grey bruiser”. Our two 11 year old cats were both attacked on the same day – we took the first one to the vet and then the second, just an hour or so later. Fortunately, the grey bruiser disappeared some time later.
            I watched our very non-aggressive old boys see off a black and white intruder some time later, but cats will move into an unclaimed territory.

            We now have very elderly Lily, who just lounges in a comfy spot, watching the world go by, but there seem to be fewer aggressive cats around now. I think they are mainly unneutered males, which don’t make good pets. Both sides of neighbours have neutered female cats which are more content to stay on their own patch.
            It would be interesting to know if Lucifer is an entire tom.

      2. Predatoy birds probably account for just as many – but of course that goes against the narrative.

    2. I wouldn’t keep an unneutered cat – they don’t make good pets. I’ve had cats all my life and they’ve accounted for very few birds. They concentrated mainly on voles and fieldmice. Most of them gave up hunting by the time they reached double figures. I never knew of any that could kill a bat – cats don’t fly and bats don’t tend to land.

      I’d recommend elderly rescue cats if you don’t want a killer.

      1. Our cat, Chaucer, went for mice and voles but he wasn’t interested in moles which are dedicated to the mission of destroying my lawn.

        But since we haven’t had a cat far more birds have visited us.

        1. My Maine Coon in CT never killed birds but I often opened the garage door to find a headless rabbit on the step 🙁

          1. Us too. The heads were as neatly severed as if done with a guillotine. I never ever found any headless rabbit bodies.

      2. We had a serious mouse problem in our garden in France so we got a cat from a rescue charity. A neutered, chipped Tom. He quickly sorted out the mice and would also catch voles, moles, rabbits, squirrels and snakes, but very rarely birds although he did come home with a dead parrot once.

        2. Little Cat brought a snake into the bedroom once, and dropped it beside the bed on my side! Without spectacles, and at about 05:00, was not in a position to cope too well… found out it was a childs rubber toy snake, once the panic had subsided.

      3. I have watched a wandering cat (not a stray) stalking a squirrel by sitting at the base of an isolated tree. Where’s a high power water pistol when you need one!

      4. Most of my cats have been rescue and have not really been killers (that I knew about, anyway!)

      1. One of the most entertaining half hours I ever spent was watching a tv programme called Bird Brain of Britain, accompanied by my then landlady’s cat. Tabitha the cat got up on her hind legs in front of my tv and did her best to catch the birds she saw on screen. When they flew off camera, she peered all round the room trying to figure out where they’d gone. (I never knew her to actually catch anything – certainly no dead creatures were ever brought indoors.)

      2. Big Cat was being bullied by a gang of magpies this afternnon. He got quite stressed!

      1. You can set a perimeter and give the cat a zapper collar. Once it crosses the perimeter it gets an electric shock. My sister had one to stop the cat going into the road. It did pass the perimeter and my Dad went to retrieve it. When he picked the cat up it tore into his forearms and he had to go to hospital for stitches. Oh how i laughed.

        1. That will only control the area within which it can roam, the birds etc within that area are still open to attack

    5. Sounds like the current ‘Woke’ establishment.

      They hate NoTTLer types because we are not ‘biddable’.

    6. Oh, when I started reading I thought that “cat” was a euphemism for “muslim”.

  46. How the HR monster destroyed the workplace

    Mission creep has turned the once humdrum human resources department into an ultra-woke, bureaucratic beast

    By Juliet Samuel • 17 June 2022 • 7:14pm

    Human Resources, John was told, wanted to have an “informal chat”. Immediately it set alarm bells ringing: “If you have a meeting with HR, it’s inherently formal,” he says.

    John (not his real name) was a professor at a Russell Group university. But he had committed a cardinal sin: he supported Brexit. Specifically, he had been caught on camera at a pro-Brexit rally, shouting obscenities at Remainers. After a storm of complaints, the university’s HR department began a campaign to get rid of him.

    The process was gradual and painful. John was asked to apologise. He stonewalled. His PhD students were pressured to transfer to other supervisors. He was suspended from teaching. He began to have palpitations. He could feel his job being slowly prised out of his hands until, one day, he awoke to find he had been dismissed in his absence.

    He appealed and, to his astonishment, won. The university had finally realised it was on shaky legal ground. But, in the aftermath, John left anyway. The experience had made him realise he was finished with the “bureaucratic and puritanical” world of academia.

    John’s case is not an isolated example. Indeed, it highlights a trend in workplaces across the country, from the public to the private sector, from schools to banks, charities to multinational conglomerates. That trend is the growing, destructive and unaccountable power wielded by HR departments.

    “It’s a basic power grab,” said one finance industry veteran, blaming “young revolutionaries”. “They think they’re saving the world [but] the power mania I would say is the more driving factor.”

    Formerly humdrum bureaucratic backwaters, charged with processing paperwork, HR departments have in recent years morphed into real centres of power: controlling who keeps their job, what workers can say or do, and, in some cases, even determining the entire mission of an organisation. Fuelled by the pandemic and social unrest, these office bureaucrats have used workplace policies and practices to become all-powerful arbiters of social norms – professional and political.

    It has expanded its influence into every part of the economy. The UK now employs more than 400,000 workers in HR, representing 1.3 per cent of the entire workforce in 2019. That’s up from under 1 per cent in 2004. There are serious questions about what share of these workers are engaged in any productive activity or whether they are a symptom of an economy throttled by growth-stifling bureaucracy. In an economy like the UK, where productivity growth per hour has risen just 4 per cent in a decade, it is an urgent question.

    Academics and lobbyists make grand claims for the beneficial effects of HR on work, but there is little definitive evidence to support these. Len Shackleton, professor of economics at the University of Buckingham, says that though some studies claim a link between HR initiatives and productivity, most fail to account for external factors like general economic growth and may not apply across all sectors.

    Aside from the economic effect, there is a basic question of whether HR is actually making life better for managers and workers, or making it harder. Matt Young, a corporate affairs consultant who formerly worked at Lloyds, says that thanks to HR “mission creep”, businesses are “struggling with policies that often run counter to their commercial interests”.

    Along the way, many HR departments have become a channel for the dissemination of radical political ideas like critical race theory. In many cases, managers are simply too afraid to contradict them.

    “A great many bosses are cowards and they do not stand up to this sort of ideology,” says one veteran of the hospitality industry, who did not want to be named. “There’s a degree of fear,” says another chief executive, who also asked to remain anonymous, “a sense that if we don’t do this, we’re going to get into trouble.”

    In other words, captains of industry, just like lily-livered ministers, fusty professors and complacent mandarins, are quaking in their boots before the chirpy HR person wielding the bureaucratic tools of the trade – the staff handbook and the ubiquitous Zoom link.

    This extraordinary inversion demands an explanation. We need to know how this came about and what it means. How has the conservative, technical function of HR grown to wield so much power over our professional and private lives and how much damage is it doing?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/17/hr-monster-destroyed-workplace

    It’s a long article. Here’s another typical extract:

    Workplaces have issued “anti-racist” reading lists or guidance on how to avoid “micro-aggressions” – behaviours that exclude or insult minority or disadvantaged workers. The Bank of England directs its staff towards a glossary by an HR consultancy called Delta Alpha Psi, which defines “white fragility”: a term for the “anger” or “defensiveness” that is “caused by realising … you have benefited from a system that puts your skin tone above others”. KPMG is “training” its staff not to discuss skiing trips, private schools or gap years at work because such topics might exclude poorer employees.

    Much of this activity is justified by a particular clause of the 2010 Equality Act, which requires public bodies to try to “eliminate discrimination”. HR officers have proved themselves highly sensitive to the political atmosphere surrounding the regulations. Those in the business of validating these efforts, like the charity Stonewall, which rates companies on their “diversity”, have readily stepped forward to sell their services.

    Read the rest by using this https://12ft.io/ to jump the paywall.

    1. I simply will not stay working for a company with an HR department full of militant woke tossers.

      1. Agreed, BB2, lets get back to ‘Personnel’ as it used to be. Like you, I’d refuse to engage with HR knowing that their only reason is, “Out to get you” I’d prefer to engage with a deparment that had the workforce as it’s focus for improvement.

        HR is just another bunch of academic idiots who have to justify their existence by finding those who disagree with their woke pinciples,
        Not many REAL people.

        1. It is interesting to see IBM getting sued left right and centre because of actions taken by their HR departments.

          Truly treating staff as a resource that is treated with the same respect as a box of raw materials.

        2. HR departments are formerly unimportant people who were tolerated, and who have now become empire-builders.

          When I worked, fee-earners (i.e. the ones who brought in the money) had to do so many “chargeable” hours per day/week. Meaning hours that could be charged out to the client, for doing work on their behalf. It got to an expected seven hours per day, that we should justify being charged out. (So no chats, converstions with colleagues on anything except matters directly relatable and therefore chargeable to a client matter, going to the toilet etc. if we wanted to have a reasonable working day. Which of course we did, so our working hours just extended. Or we didn’t meet the set targets, which was more often the case.)

          We were inundated with questionnaires and sometimes meetings, all for the benefit of HR, which we had to do – and then make up our chargeable hours to cover the time spent. HR, of course, didn’t have to do chargeable hours, and so could pester us with impunity. They really had no idea. Doubtless they still don’t.

        3. HR departments are formerly unimportant people who were tolerated, and who have now become empire-builders.

          When I worked, fee-earners (i.e. the ones who brought in the money) had to do so many “chargeable” hours per day/week. Meaning hours that could be charged out to the client, for doing work on their behalf. It got to an expected seven hours per day, that we should justify being charged out. (So no chats, converstions with colleagues on anything except matters directly relatable and therefore chargeable to a client matter, going to the toilet etc. if we wanted to have a reasonable working day. Which of course we did, so our working hours just extended. Or we didn’t meet the set targets, which was more often the case.)

          We were inundated with questionnaires and sometimes meetings, all for the benefit of HR, which we had to do – and then make up our chargeable hours to cover the time spent. HR, of course, didn’t have to do chargeable hours, and so could pester us with impunity. They really had no idea. Doubtless they still don’t.

    2. There was no need to shout obscenities at Remainers.

      And as for the paywall, Telegraph online subscriptions are available for less than £40; even journalists need to eat occasionally.

          2. At the end of four months you can cancel, and after a few days they will try to entice you back. Telegraph needs subscribers in order to keep the advertising revenue high.

        2. Hey, it’s a good article and the author rightly points a finger at Gramsci.
          But there are too many impoverished writers. Would you work for free? That’s what the big corporates want.
          Most of the BBC’s content creators are temps whilst the managers are staff.

    3. I was required to go on a diversity awareness course. After 15 minutes the lecturer asked me to leave as I was ‘disruptive’. I simply said things they didn’t lie to hear – common sense. I asked them to explain why, as surely it ws their job to provide evidence of their allegations.

      Apparently they can’t determine quite how a straight white male is privileged, but we are. Without any evidence, this is clearly nonsense. Same that women are held back and that the UK is racist. It is, but toward whites.

      Lefties don’t like being told that.

    1. Oh, that’s the press secretary – who’s a complete duffer and the mentally ill medical person who is a man who thinks he’s a woman.

      One is deluded the other incompetent.

      1. Did you know she is black, and gay?

        (Apologies to the Babylon Bee – this is their joke)

    1. That photo isn’t in Inverness as far as I can remember. What was the wind like there – it’s blowing a hooley 80 miles north

      1. Blowing here hard – Mrs WE’s sunflowers are ducking and weaving! But a magical day… No I think the lady may even be Viennese…it is an educational experience searching “Old people wearing masks” on the internet. You would be amazed by the photogenic creatures on show – anything approaching realism is a bit of an ask. Propaganda is deeply entrenched – deeply! May their bowels gush out, to quote an attractive Spanish dismissal!

  52. Yes I know petitions don’t do anything, but they are a vent for our feelings – and may give the governments an idea on how some of us will vote. Maybe?

    Gove and Boris Johnson now expect us to put up with the pain ( higher food and fuel prices) caused by their reckless Ukraine proxy war.
    They think they can get away with anything!
    Time to send them a firm enough is enough message and please sign and share the Petition, just launched, for the UK to be neutral in the Russia/Ukraine conflict:

    https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/617939

    anthonywebber@cwgsy.net

      1. It’s much simpler: they’re doing the absolute opposite of everything that should be done.

    1. I’m sure most of us here would of course vote for him, but won’t be able to. Johnson, Gove et al will just be looking to bury or smear him if he gets within a mile of becoming an MP.

      1. One day will come along the man they can’t smear or bury. The more try, the more likely it is that one will succeed.
        There are a few Conservative MPs who would love to be in a real Conservative government, they just need a leader (Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman?)

    2. He sounded too ‘nice’ in the only interview I’ve seen previously. Sound views but lacking in the forthright style necessary to grab this failing country by the scruff of its neck and give it the fearful shaking it requires.

    3. I for one, know very little about David Frost.

      He has had little media exposure – and that mostly in his role as a Brexit negotiator.

      I would need to know a lot more about him and his track record before considering his candidacy for Conservative Party leader/ potential PM.

    4. The big problem that he’ll have is that all the big Lefties, who infiltrated and now run the Tory party, will close ranks to shut him out. He’ll find it nigh-on impossible to find sufficient parliamentary support in what is effectively an old-fashioned socialist closed shop.

    1. Par Four for me today, sweetie … x
      Wordle 364 4/6

      ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    2. I posted mine earlier, 5 and bloody hard.
      Wordle 364 5/6

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

      1. #metoo. Wordle 364 5/6

        ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
        ⬛🟩⬛🟨⬛
        🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛
        ⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛
        🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    3. Ahem

      Wordle 364 4/6

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

    3. Thank [beeep!] goodness.

      I know some folk like hot weather. I don’t. It is physically painful for me.

  56. 353282+ up ticks,,

    There truly is a pecking order shown by the majority of the voting electorate, it’s what chickens do.

    Sophie Corcoran 🇬🇧
    @sophielouisecc
    We aren’t the silent majority, we are the ‘silenced’ majority.

    Very true post sadly self harming is the order of the day.

    1. I do rather think it’s time we started clearing our collective throats. The sound alone would deafen the whining, petulant arrogant minority.

      1. 353282+ up ticks,

        Evening W,
        Tis not the minority groups within the
        electorate but the majority group and their party before Country mode of voting doing the damage, time & again.

  57. HAPPY HOUR – Not sixty four anymore….

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY Paul McCartney

    Thanks for all the good times…the music was pretty good too!

  58. Well that’s climate change over for this year
    I wonder if it was so short lived because we have double the cost of gas and electricity recently

  59. Her Imperial Highness, Queen silly of War returns tomorrow as she has chosen to stay overnight due to drinking one too many – jugs – of Pimms.

    On the upside, she had some luck with the horsies and the cost of the trip, including the extra night is actually a positive number. The biggest concern is that she has run out of ‘outfits’. How, I don’t know as she packed 2 and a half cases. She did mention I am being replaced with a proper stud who is less hairy, has a pony tail and what not.

    She did mention at least three blokes asked her to dinner. I said, ‘only 3?’

    ‘Yes, are you jealous?’

    ‘No, I want my money back from the fourth.’

    However it did mean a trip to Tesco as we’re down to an onion bahji and weetabix.

  62. 353282+ up ticks,

    illegal Migrants to Be Electronically Tagged to Stop Them ‘Disappearing Into the Country’

    I deduce just another ruse on the long and varied menu of fodder for fools.

    1. Just making more work for the Yooman Rites lawyers, and then we will have to pay them compensation for hurt feelings while they wore the tags.

  63. I have just finished reading Peter May’s new paperback – ENTRY ISLAND. It is on sale in Sainsbury’s at half price. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it got me through a hot sleepless night.
    The Canadian Detective is investigating a murder on a Canadian island 850 miles out from Canada. He is troubled by dreams from stories read to him and his sister from an ancestor’s diaries by his grandmother describing life in the 18th and 19th century which included the Highland clearances and the murderous ways the police swiftly herded the peasants onto sailing boats which took them to Canada but if the boats had cholera on the ship it had to stop at a Canadian Island to isolate those suffering from it. Conditions on board and in isolation were scandalous and very few cholera patients survived. Highlanders and Irish suffering from the potato famine were in poor condition. If a boat sank no record was made of it or the victims,
    The book is 530 pages long but in my opinion, well worth a read.

    2. I like Peter May, I’ll go to Sainsbury and buy that Monday. I remember a Nottler saying they lived close to his home.
      Not name dropping, but the guy who wrote Taggart, Glen Chandler lives in our road.
      Not been a mudderr yet.

  64. Joe Biden falls off his bicycle. He was in a group of cyclists and stopped for some reason. His foot caught in the pedal and he fell over. Sky News have a video.

    1. Saw that once. Cyclist with racing shoes that lock with a peg onto the pedal. Stopped at a T-junction, couldn’t unclip his feet, and just toppled over sideways.
      HA! HA! HA!
      What a bastard I am.

  65. Not sure where this essay originally comes from, it was copied and pasted onto Reddit. A US viewpoint on the current economic situation.

    ONE VERY POSSIBLE OUTCOME.
    By Brandon Smith

    In my 16 years as an alternative economist and political writer I have spent around half that time warning that the ultimate outcome of the Federal Reserve’s stimulus model would be a stagflationary collapse. Not a deflationary collapse, or an inflationary collapse, but a stagflationary collapse. The reasons for this were very specific – Mass debt creation was being countered with MORE debt creation while many central banks have been simultaneously devaluing their currencies through QE measures. On top of that, the US is in the unique position of relying on the world reserve status of the dollar and that status is diminishing.

    It was only a matter of time before the to forces of deflation and inflation met in the middle to create stagflation. In my article ‘Infrastructure Bills Do Not Lead To Recovery, Only Increased Federal Control’, published in April of 2021, I stated that:

    “Production of fiat money is not the same as real production within the economy… Trillions of dollars in public works programs might create more jobs, but it will also inflate prices as the dollar goes into decline. So, unless wages are adjusted constantly according to price increases, people will have jobs, but still won’t be able to afford a comfortable standard of living. This leads to stagflation, in which prices continue to rise while wages and consumption stagnate.

    Another Catch-22 to consider is that if inflation becomes rampant, the Federal Reserve may be compelled (or claim they are compelled) to raise interest rates significantly in a short span of time. This means an immediate slowdown in the flow of overnight loans to major banks, an immediate slowdown in loans to large and small businesses, an immediate crash in credit options for consumers, and an overall crash in consumer spending. You might recognize this as the recipe that created the 1981-1982 recession, the third-worst in the 20th century.

    In other words, the choice is stagflation, or deflationary depression.”

    It’s clear today what the Fed has chosen. It’s important to remember that throughout 2020 and 2021 the mainstream media, the central bank and most government officials were telling the public that inflation was “transitory.” Suddenly in the past few months this has changed and now even Janet Yellen has admitted that she was “wrong” on inflation. This is a misdirection, however, because the Fed knows exactly what it is doing and always has. Yellen denied reality, but she knew she was denying reality. In other words, she was not mistaken about the economic crisis, she lied about it.

    As I outlined last December in my article ‘The Fed’s Catch-22 Taper Is A Weapon, Not A Policy Error’:

    ‘First and foremost, no, the Fed is not motivated by profits, at least not primarily. The Fed is able to print wealth at will, they don’t care about profits – They care about power and centralization. Would they sacrifice “the golden goose” of US markets in order to gain more power and full bore globalism? Absolutely. Would central bankers sacrifice the dollar and blow up the Fed as an institution in order to force a global currency system on the masses? There is no doubt; they’ve put the US economy at risk in the past in order to get more centralization.’

    The Fed has known for years that the current path would lead to inflation and then market destruction, and here’s the proof – Fed Chairman Jerome Powell actually warned about this exact outcome in October of 2012:

    “I have concerns about more purchases. As others have pointed out, the dealer community is now assuming close to a $4 trillion balance sheet and purchases through the first quarter of 2014. I admit that is a much stronger reaction than I anticipated, and I am uncomfortable with it for a couple of reasons.First, the question, why stop at $4 trillion? The market in most cases will cheer us for doing more. It will never be enough for the market. Our models will always tell us that we are helping the economy, and I will probably always feel that those benefits are overestimated. And we will be able to tell ourselves that market function is not impaired and that inflation expectations are under control. What is to stop us, other than much faster economic growth, which it is probably not in our power to produce?

    When it is time for us to sell, or even to stop buying, the response could be quite strong; there is every reason to expect a strong response. So there are a couple of ways to look at it. It is about $1.2 trillion in sales; you take 60 months, you get about $20 billion a month. That is a very doable thing, it sounds like, in a market where the norm by the middle of next year is $80 billion a month. Another way to look at it, though, is that it’s not so much the sale, the duration; it’s also unloading our short volatility position.”

    As we all now know, the Fed waited until their balance sheet was far larger and until the economy was MUCH weaker than it was in 2012 to unleash tightening measures. They KNEW the whole time exactly what was going to happen.

    It is no coincidence that the culmination of the Fed’s stimulus bonanza has arrived right after the incredible damage done to the economy and the global supply chain by the covid lockdowns. It is no coincidence that these two events work together to create the perfect stagflationary scenario. And, it’s no coincidence that the only people who benefit from these conditions are proponents of the “Great Reset” ideology at the World Economic Forum and other globalist institutions. This is an engineered collapse that has been in the works for many years.

    The goal is to “reset” the world, to erase what’s left of free market systems, and to establish what they call the “Shared Economy” system. This system is one in which the people who survive the crash will be made utterly dependent on government through Universal Basic Income and one that will restrict all resource usage in the name of “carbon reduction.” According to the WEF, you will own nothing and you will like it.

    The collapse is engineered to create crisis conditions so frightening that they expect the majority of the public to submit to a collectivist hive mind lifestyle with greatly reduced standards. This would be accomplished through UBI, digital currency models, carbon taxation, population reduction, rationing of all commodities and a social credit system. The goal, in other words, is complete control through technocratic authoritarianism.

    All of this is dependent on the exploitation of crisis events to create fear in the population. Now that economic destabilization has arrived, what happens next? Here are my predictions…

    The Fed Will Hike Interest Rates More Than Expected, But Not Enough To Stop Inflation

    Today, we are witnessing the poisonous fruits of a decade-plus of massive fiat money creation and we are now at the stage where the Fed will reveal its true plan. Hiking interest rates fast, or hiking them slow. Fast hikes will mean an almost immediate crash in markets (beyond what we have already seen), slow hikes will mean a drawn out process of price inflation and general uncertainty.

    I believe the Fed will hike more than expected, but not enough to actually slow inflation in necessities. There will be an overall decline in luxury items, recreation commerce and non-essentials, but most other goods will continue to climb in cost. It is to the advantage of globalists to keep the inflation train running for another year or longer.

    In the end, though, the central bank WILL declare that the pace of interest rates is not enough to stop inflation and they will revert to a Volcker-like strategy, pushing rates up so high that the economy simply stops functioning altogether.

    Markets Will Crash And Unemployment Will Abruptly Spike

    Stock markets are utterly dependent on Fed stimulus and easy money through low interest rate loans – This is a fact. Without low rates and QE, corporations cannot engage in stock buybacks. Meaning, the tools for artificially inflating equities are disappearing. We are already seeing the effects of this now with markets dropping 20% or more.

    The Fed will not capitulate. They will continue to hike regardless of the market reaction.

    As far as jobs are concerned, Biden and many mainstream economists constantly applaud the low unemployment rate as proof that the American economy is “strong,” but this is an illusion. Covid stimulus measures temporarily created a dynamic in which businesses needed increased staff to deal with excess retail spending. Now, the covid checks have stopped and Americans have maxed out their credit cards. There is nothing left to keep the system afloat.

    Businesses will start making large job cuts throughout the last half of 2022.

    Price Controls

    I have no doubt that Joe Biden and Democrats will seek to enforce price controls on many goods as inflation continues, and there will be a handful of Republicans that will support the tactic. Price controls actually lead to a reduction in supply because they remove all profits and thus all incentive for manufacturers to keep producing goods. What usually happens at that point is government steps in to nationalize manufacturing, but this will be substandard production and at a much lower yield.

    In the end, supplies are reduced even further and prices go even higher on the black market because no one can get their hands on most goods anyway.

    Rationing

    Yes, rationing at the manufacturing and distribution level is going to happen, so be sure to buy what you need now before it does. Rationing occurs in the wake of price controls or supply chain disruptions, and usually this coincides with a government propaganda campaign against “hoarders.”

    They will hold up a few exaggerated examples of people who buy truckloads of merchandise to scalp prices on the black market. Then, not long after, they will accuse preppers and anyone who bought goods BEFORE the crisis of “hoarding” simply because they planned ahead.

    Rationing is not only about controlling the supply of necessities and thus controlling the population by proxy; it is also about creating an atmosphere of blame and suspicion within the public and getting them to snitch on or attack anyone that is prepared. Prepared people represent a threat to the establishment, so expect to be demonized in the media and organize with other prepared people to protect yourself.

    Be Ready, It Only Gets Worse From Here On

    It might sound like I am predicting success of the Great Reset program, but I actually believe the globalists will fail in the end. That’s not going to stop them from making the attempt. Also, the above scenarios are only predictions for the near term (within the next couple of years). There will be many other problems that stem from these situations.

    Naturally, food riots and other mob actions will become more commonplace, perhaps not this year, but by the end of 2023 they will definitely be a problem. This will coincide with the return of political unrest in the US as leftist factions, encouraged by globalist foundations, demand more government intervention in poverty. At the same time, conservatives will demand less government interference and less tyranny.

    At bottom, the people who are prepared might be called a lot of mean names, but as long as we organize and work together, we will survive. Many unprepared people will NOT survive. Understand that the economic conditions ahead of us are historically destructive; there is no way that serious consequences can be avoided for a large part of the population, if only because they refuse to listen and to take proper steps to protect themselves.

    The denial is over. The crash is here. Time to take action if you have not done so already.

    1. It was also published on ZH. I read it earlier but thought I would spare Nottlers yet more gory forecasts!

      1. Yes, I didn’t realise how long it was until I had already posted it!
        I think there is a good chance that people won’t accept a ban on petrol and diesel cars, and they won’t accept a CBDC if they understand that it’s a voucher system instead of real money. But for that, there must be a dialogue.

        1. There’s another report on the same website pointing there has not been a major oil refinery built in the US since 1977 and a number since have closed. Diesel could become a scarce commodity in the future 🙁 I was planning on keeping my 62mpg (imperial) 2 litre 190Bhp vehicle for the next 10 years and then stop driving. Looks like the Greeniacs will stymie that plan….

        2. Dialogue which will not, as you are aware, be allowed to happen. Everything painted, like covid, as ‘events beyond our control’. Up to us to join the dots in as many private conversations as we can.

          2. Pay no attention LotL. Under that crafted hard exterior is a pussy cat really!

    2. BBC2 , we have been enthralled with so many Paul Macartney songs and interviews , his 80th birthday .. turn on your TV and listen , another 30 mts to go .

      1. I always liked McCartney, his songwriting and singing.
        Happy Birthday, Paul!

          1. I never much warmed to The Beatles. I watched Brian Wilson at Glastonbury 2005 on the TV yesterday. Give me The Beach Boys any day.

            My generation were into Tom Paxton, Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Neil Young, The Walker Brothers, Leonard Cohen, later Bill Withers, Bob Marley, Georgie Fame …. I could go on.

            The best British group in those days was The Hollies.

    3. Sorry about that, Plum.
      What was the problem?
      (male focus on problem solving at the fore here)

    4. As OB says

      What is the problem , please say and share ?

      I expect the weather down there is pretty terrible , we are due a storm here .. blowing and spitting with rain .

      We are all wearing jumpers .

      1. Been lovely here. Sun & breeze. Farm work to build up a sweat (ukk!), followed by beers in the garden whilst cooling off in the 22 C wind. Birds tweeting, sheep bells donking, and otherwise silent. Magic!

          2. Come to Bahrein with me, Ann: It’s warm, alcohol is OK for infidels, and the Gulf Hotel is a great place to stay!

          3. Sounds like heaven but I have things to sort first. Warm and alcohol- perfect ;-))

          4. I think a storm is heading this way , dark clouds , wind is building up .

            Just wondering whether temps are any kinder in France and Spain , they have been having a really bad time with the heat .

          5. It has been so nice here and warm. Some rain tonight and a bit breezy; I think you are nearer the coast than we are. It was so nice recently and we have been starved for summer. Hopefully summer will return- and soon.

          6. One day and it’s a heatwave and we’re all going to fry. Today it’s cold and wet.

    1. The war and and civilian causalty rate in France must be way worse than Ukraine for all these poor people to come to the UK, risking a 21+ mile swim. So bad, in fact, that all the women have been lost already.
      How appalling.

    2. 353282+ up ticks,

      Evening TB,

      The lab/lib/con political hierarchy have a plan, they only need the majority electorate support / vote a short while longer then make a final killing via holding the prayer mat franchise and making the purchase at an inflated price mandatory before leaving for warmer climes leaving yjeir supporters a fond farewell & many thanks.

  68. Bloody hell.
    It’s quarter to ten, I’m knackered so in bed, and the sun is shining into my eyes!!

      1. Yes, we’re +1 hour on you.
        And we’re in permanent daylight mode. It’s OK until the sun shines in your eyes during sleeptime.

  71. Thanks for the humour and your continued support. Going to bed now and hopefully, the liquid pain killer will work.
    MH have just been having an interesting conversation about herbs and herbal remedies. I used to have a book about pre- medieval herbal remedies. Was so interesting.
    That said, I am away. Waits for sighs of relief.

    2. Let’s hope that the count down will result in a good lift off and that you can return to a more normal life, good luck.

      1. Thanks Sos. I will summon reserves of courage I don’t even know I have;-)

      1. Phew! Saved! But they may still use it to scare the flock. Even the sheep are sniggering at monkey pox. It’s a good one, who would have thought that one up?

        1. Monkeypox is the last throw of the dice for the medico followers of the WEF (Davos) Agenda. The very name these shites have adopted is chosen to wreak fear in the population of the sheep who give credence to this bullshit.

          Monkeypox has already been determined by expert medical institutions to be a form of chicken pox but reactivated shingles and a consequence of injectates of the mRNA variety being peddled by Pfizer, Moderna and some other bunch of fuckers whose name I monetarily forget.

  73. Evening all! We went to a lovely concert this evening of English choral music sung by the local choral society in the church. The junior choir was very good too. All very uplifting. Pouring rain so I didn’t need to water the plants.

  74. So many folk suddenly declaring themselves to be gay. Is someone paying them to declare their sexual preferences and why should they seek to publicise their choices. I refer to the latest announcement by Dame Kelly Holmes.

    I thought we had all seen and heard quite enough from her during the utterly pathetic and embarrassing Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

    Why do such non-entities suppose that the rest of us, normal people, give a toss about their proclivities.

    1. For tis the signalling of virtue and the seeking of rents. I’m gay, I’m special, they cry.

      So what, no you’re not, comes the reply.

Comments are closed.