Saturday 23 March: Saluting the courage of the Princess of Wales – and wishing her a swift recovery

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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786 thoughts on “Saturday 23 March: Saluting the courage of the Princess of Wales – and wishing her a swift recovery”

  1. Good morrow, gentlefolk. Today’s (recycled) story
    THE BARBECUE SEASON

    We will be entering the BBQ season, in spring. Therefore, it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

    Routine…
    (1) The woman buys the food.
    (2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables and makes dessert.
    (3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill – drink in hand.
    (4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three-metre exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.
    Here comes the important part:
    (5) The man places the meat on the grill.
    More routine…
    (6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
    (7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another drink while he flips the meat.
    Important again:
    (8) The man takes the meat off the grill and hands it to the woman.
    More routine…
    (9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauce and brings them to the table.
    (10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
    And most important of all:
    (11) Everyone praises the man and thanks him for his cooking efforts.
    (12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed her ‘night off,’ and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women.

      1. I love barbecues.

        But only when they are done by someone who knows how to use one, and not by some macho idiot in a pinny who thinks he knows how to cook.

        1. When I were a teenage nipper in St Mawes barbecues were held on the beach and we all sat round bonfires fuelled with driftwood which we had collected during the day and we held sausages on wooden, skewers in the flames and smoke until they were just about edible – charred on the outside and pink on the inside. We also bought plenty of beer and guitars and sang songs.

        2. Raw chicken, supermarket burgers and burnt sausages. No thanks.

          Haloumi.

          Properly marinated meat on skewers. Fish en pappilote in loose foil. Spatchcock chicken. Roasted peppers and onions. And salads.

          Wine and beer.

        3. A friend of mine who cut men’s hair before he retired always joked that he had a barber queue every Saturday morning.Lol.

  5. ‘Morning All

    And just like that, ISIS, who had disappeared from any attention,

    suddenly decided to launch their global comeback tour just as things

    were going really badly for the US and NATO in Ukraine and public opinion seems to be turning against Israel……….

    https://twitter.com/9mmScorpion/status/1771293484994977912

    Oops

    https://i.4cdn.org/pol/1711141777459001.png

    Rest

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d4297640bb78f6936c98a5e8bfffd0a4d301bd82a8653405f3d8aece39b02105.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d628cbccbc85c61d8c351c50510fd191654285ea5fcfe5ca14c226b931c2a611.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/94289ebbe71792ee505770412dfa0a0f4505df70d20867ca855d741e08c1b870.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/03bdcd2045a1c1ceea76465457ff37b126f40b79d8d872d4d389056967a789e0.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/479fb27799c27148cd6e785afc6db9d7f03f0e9e3399a98116df7fb4dabe3d9e.jpg

      1. It’s perfectly permissible to speculate which countries are funding terrorist groups in this wicked world.

      2. Beg to disagree: his tweet is ignorant, not antisemitic. Israel is a country, not just a faith. There are two million Israeli Arabs and a sprinkling of Christians. Russia was given a clear warning by the USA, whose intelligence agencies must have detected several clues.

  7. Broken Europe can’t afford to stand up to Putin. 23 March 2024.

    Over the last few months, two points have become painfully clear. A long war may play into Putin’s hands, with Russia’s greater depths of manpower and resources allowing it to eventually overwhelm its neighbour. And Putin won’t stop there.

    After his electoral “victory” earlier this month, the dictator reminded Russians that they would never be “intimidated” by the West. He has been probing the Baltic States, which are sounding the alarm that Moscow poses an existential threat.

    There is no existential threat, at least not from Russia, and It’s not money. This is just a giant Moscow Squirrel. As these buffoons play their games Europe vanishes under the incoming feet of the real enemies of European Christian Civilisation.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/03/23/europe-broken-economies-cannot-afford-stand-up-putin/

    1. Morning Minty. I’m wondering if there will be total and absolute condemnation from the Muslims currently living in the UK or a complicit silence about the terrorist attack in Russia? (I’m not holding my breath).

      1. Yes. I want to know what the Muslim Council of Britain has to say about this Islamic terrorist attack. Where’s a BBC journalist when you want one.

      2. It seems to be the work of Tajik militants. Tajikistan was annexed by imperial Russia and became part of the USSR. Whilst nearly all the population are Muslim, there is a strong tradition of secularisation by the regime, and a backlash from those who want one Islamic rule there. I do not know how ISIS got a foothold there, nor why they attacked Russia, but I imagine there is a close relationship between the secular regime and the Kremlin.

        I do not think there is any connection between ISIS in Tajikistan and Israel, which has supported ISIS activity in Syria and possibly in Gaza.

        There seems to be an eagerness by the Kremlin to link this Tajik ISIS attack with Ukraine, but I do not think there is any connection. It must be comforting to Kyiv however for the Tajik militants to open up a second front. It would be interesting to see what the Kremlin does next. Do they use the attack as a pretext to launch a Gaza-style assault on Kyiv? Or do they consider a Special Military Operation on Tajikistan? Most likely, I think, will be for some Russian forces to be placed on offer to support the regime in Tajikistan. Brutal Russian methods of warfare are perhaps not the best way to tackle ISIS though, since it would involve the mass traumatisation of civilians. They are helped though in Gaza, where any criticism of such methods is considered a “hate crime” in the West, and political careers wrecked in the UK for speaking out against such atrocities.

        I do not think it a good time for Christians, who are the peacemakers here, to be distracted by fashionable politicking over gender and race.

  8. Wordle 1,008 5/6

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

    Good morning, chums. A quick look at Sir Jasper’s joke and then it’s back to bed for me for extra Zeds.

    1. Here we go. Lucky today.

      Wordle 1,008 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
      ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  9. Morning, all Y’all.
    Cloudy. On holiday until end of Easter, with a few days skiing followed by a few days working on buildings at Firstborn’s smallholding. Cats to cat hotel, so-called due to the cost, but they aren’t happy about the idea. Creatures of habit, they like being at home.

  10. https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/180d9c6fb748073d77e6fb491b7cd826c62fe9b6/0_0_4000_2667/master/4000.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=5cda978cea13a65ec8e1778bad76fa04
    Grindavik, Iceland
    Billowing smoke and flowing lava pour out of a new fissure after a new volcanic eruption on the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a490f6e8ce22d61fcaa1c9528b5356801f3a88b2/0_0_4000_2792/master/4000.jpg?width=700&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=691673e05deb02686ce56367d7c02902
    Doncaster, England
    Three lion cubs at Yorkshire Wildlife Park after being saved from a war-torn area of Ukraine. Three-year-old Aysa was at a private collection in the Donetsk region when Russian forces invaded. She was alone, malnourished and traumatised by bombings when she was rescued and taken to an interim sanctuary in Kiev where she gave birth to these three cubs

    3. So who paid for and organised the rescue, were the pilots not worried about all the Russian missiles flying about?

  11. Happy holidays !

    Though i love Malta it is unlikely i will ever go back or fly anywhere for that matter. My dogs come first. So it’s dog hotels for me.

        2. She will need to do a Bianca Censori to get the focus back on her. Shameless as she is.

      2. I thought she and the Ginger Whinger had already done that? Only the police and everybody said it never happened.

      2. She was only a fisherman’s daughter but she had crabs on her plaice poor sole.

    5. She’s waiting to find out what type of cancer the Princess is suffering from so she can announce her own more virulent and aggressive tumour.

  15. Good Moaning.
    I would be nice to the that zillions of MSM vermin and ‘influencers’ had a bad night’s sleep.
    It would be nice to think so, but I doubt it.

    1. Of course they didn’t. They had sweet dreams about how many 1000s of words of copy they can wring out of the latest developments and speculation on the long term psychological effects on the three children, etc, etc….and a search for Middleton forebears with a history of cancer and anything else

  17. Good morning, all. Bright and breezy here with showers forecast for later this morning and through the afternoon. Looks as if the pointing I need to do before erecting the new arch will be on hold again.

    In the new ‘city’ – don’t local councillors just love the new title – of Colchester the roads are in a parlous state. The two streets involved in the following photographs form the main southern link to the A12 and are very busy.

    When I was a child the road where I now live was a country lane and although it has been widened it really isn’t capable of handling both the volumes of traffic and the size of vehicles it is being forced to carry.

    The photographs below were all taken yesterday; some within yards of my home and the furthest about half a mile away. The potholes are bad enough but the debris from the crumbling surfaces is filling the gutters and is being thrown up on to the pavements.

    There is flooding of the road where much of this debris is accumulating and I am concerned that the debris is being washed into the drains and holding back the flow of water.

    I will be forwarding some of this evidence of deliberate neglect to my ward councillors for comment.

    Existing potholes.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/170e4da0c0a1bda68cda0e01e0958895142e440bcf2ec72f5a6cf322b0fe6b0e.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2e797a5a518bf9837670fd69fa5a9146fd207ae83e22825f65913a3b7643f158.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6c6c63f54621067928e849f11fce9afa7b32d5cfc425c676ade48adc43884bc6.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0df268d2447aaa46e39cf76892edbf42edc5bb1f005c25f647d3fa128ec05c89.jpg

    Next generation.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/83e0a8fb2861ad46843b0961d6df87d18ba20131d0c43152525236ae0af96e8a.jpg

    1. Our country lane is pot hole alley. It’s mostly quiet but people do use it as a rat run as it’s open both ends. Last summer the people doing the digging for full fibre network made the road a whole lot worse.

      1. Four years ago our road – all two miles of it – was dug up by contractors for Anglian Water to install mains drainage. When they “made good” afterwards, the road surface became wonky – and where they dug pits – in front of each house- the surface dropped so that there are puddles everywhere where none existed before.

        Progress – you see…

    2. Morning, Korky.

      I wonder who first decided to call them ‘potholes’? After all, caves are also known by that name and ‘potholers’ is another name for cavers. (people who descend into caves).

      2. Une cave à vins. That’s the type of cave I’m interested in. I have no wish to become a troglodyte, even temporarily.😎

        How’s your weather, has Spring sprung?

        1. Hi, Peta. Thanks for asking.

          I actually feel a bit more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed today. The forehead rash is not as ‘angry’-looking, the eye swellings have receded, and I’ve not felt quite so sleepy. Hopefully things are on the up.

  18. Good morning.
    May God bless the Princess of Wales. She has real class and dignity, and I have seen her close up in real life while on holiday and can say she’s a genuinely warm person who clearly has an affinity with young children which is always a sign of someone’s true character.
    I’m sure the conspiracy loons will already be cranking up for action, such gross specimens of humanity that they are.

  19. Nice to see all the nasties and in particular Owen Jones making grovelling apologies about the Duchess. They have exposed the dark side of their characters for all to see.

    1. I didn’t follow any of the stuff since reading about a ‘touched up’ photo, Phizz. What did he and others think was going on?

      2. You name it, it appeared on Twitter. I didn’t read Owen Jones, but I’ve no doubt it was something nasty, knowing him.

        William and Kate apparently appeared at a farm shop last week, which was commented on a lot, because it didn’t look like Kate, the ‘news’ was published with old photos in the papers, apparently only one member of the public took a blurry video when the appearance was clearly designed to get into the newspapers – it just seemed very odd. She was also carrying shopping bags, which does not square with yesterday’s unhealthy look – you would expect her husband to carry the shopping if she is as ill as she looked yesterday.
        If it was a publicity stunt organised by the same mastermind responsible for issuing the over-enthusiastic, ringless Mothering Sunday photo, William and Kate should be looking for new advisers. It’s impossible to be both the candidate and the campaign manager unless your name is Michael Gove, and the royal pair are definitely candidates.

        1. We we watching the same video clip? I thought she looked very well in her recorded statement.

          1. The light is completely artificial. If that was daylight, she was completely pale. But it looks like artificial light. Also, her face looks as though she has had fillers, and her hair was not lively and healthy at all.

    2. Not that Owen Jones had been able to conceal his dark side since all his sides are as black as soot.

    3. They should all be put in the old fashioned stocks for a week. And hosed down every night

  20. 384932+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Saturday 23 March: Saluting the courage of the Princess of Wales – and wishing her a swift recovery

    She should not hold her breath awaiting the
    media / news to apologies individually that would be to much to expect, so a block apology would not go amiss.

    I pray she does well.

    No apologies for being so mercenary but LEST WE FORGET all the other sufferers, and what they went / are going through during these last three plus years of lockdown / doctor strikes.

    With the political gangsters overseeing the running of the nation they have shown ,quite openly, plenty of zest & zeal for taking a warlike stance
    either foreign, or civil ,with alien cannon fodder amounting daily via the Dover bridgehead.

    They, the daily entrants can be viewed as either
    troops or patients, neither required by the decent indigenous, only by the current lab/lib/con coalition member / voters.

    I truly fear that, via the next general election
    fools and their country will soon be parted will come to pass.

    1. I always regret, in the year that I was at last permitted to vote (not that this achieves much) the Rural District Councils were abolished in favour of districts merged into the towns. This effectively meant that country people were forced to adopt and pay for policies set by urban interests.

      I tried a few years ago to put in a planning application for an extension to my cottage for it to be thrown out because it was incongruous with the local vernacular, and interfered with the “street scene” (actual words used).

      Firstly, my village is not a uniform Cotswold chocolate box; there is pretty well one of everything here, from a 1000-year-old Norman church to a 1970s concrete-framed agricultural barn converted into a contemporary 21st century home. The only local vernacular here is that it must not match its neighbours.

      As for street scene, my cottage is 150 yards from the nearest public highway, which is a narrow country lane one vehicle wide, which could hardly be described as a “street”.

      1. Being honest doesn’t get you anywhere these days JM. A nice sized Bung to at least one of the local tribe in the council would have seen you right.

  23. …… and so my last full week in my tropical winter hideaway starts for this year.

  24. Since our vicar stormed off in a petulant huff and is now saying he’s too scared to leave the Rectory and will no doubt be claiming mental ‘elf (he’s supposed to give 90 days’ notice) while he phones people up spreading lies, we’ve been trying to arrange a full service schedule from a standing start on the edge of Holy Week when we have services every day.
    The retired clergy who were so brilliant during the last long interregnum have stepped in to help, and have clearly come out on our side, so we are nearly covered until Christmas. One is even putting on a Good Friday liturgy which our vicar refused to do coz ‘reasons’ despite it becoming very popular during the interregnum. Still trying to find someone for Easter Day eucharist, otherwise it will be the lay team doing what they can, but God will provide I’m sure.
    Our PCC is really united and strong, and the Diocese better watch their step.

    1. Well done!
      I’m not a church-goer, but seriously hope other parishes are taking a more militant stance with the ideas of the current Archpillock of Cunterbury.

      1. Increasingly so. ‘Save the Parish’ is the grassroots organisation pulling together the resistance and I hope will eventually take back the church for ordinary English Christians. I know similar situations to ours are breaking out all over the Westcountry. Welby is not respected in the pews and Cottrell loathed.

    3. Showing the world how it should be done when old institutions break down and get corrupted or perverted.

      Much the same is happening in the Catholic Church here, albeit in different circumstances. There is little conflict with the Diocese, but the very serious problem that the average age of the priesthood is about 68, the youngest priest in our neck of the woods is 66 and no seminarians being ordained. It is forcing the Church to engage a great deal more with the laity.

      1. Good morning Jeremy and everyone.

        Recently I asked an acquaintance (who happens to be Catholic) where they worship. Answer: quite far from home because their local priest is either from Africa or Latin America, and they can’t understand him properly. Accent, not skin tone.

    4. When times are bad, people turn to God for comfort. Your vicar is a disgrace, abandoning like that.

  25. I wonder if the weekly march of the pro Palestinian Muslims and their supporters will be shouting their support for ISIS too, after the Russians react to the Islamist atrocity in Moscow.

    1. Bit confusing for them as Hamas stated not long ago that Russia was their best ‘friend’ and is allied to Iran, another big Russian ally. The truth being that the rabid Islamist beast will bite even its notional allies.

      1. Rats in a sack. Islam is full of warring factions who hate each other.

        Tajikistan is ethnically Persian, and so logically would be close to Iran. However, ISIS is an extreme Sunni sect with its roots in Arabia. Both would be antagonistic in theory to the pro-Russia secularist dictatorship actually running the country, but I suspect there is little support for ISIS within Tajikistan itself. Probably very little in Gaza either, where ISIS and Hamas are rivals, and there is a strong suspicion among Palestinians that ISIS is in covert league with Israel.

          1. It seems folly now for the victorious allies in the aftermath of WWI and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, to have created all those rogue states in the Middle East and allowed them to profit from the natural resources of the region. Hindsight is a wonderful thing of course. I believed the relativist nonsense in my youth. Ignorance made it seem logically plausible.

      1. Jesus’ words on the far future in the latter chapters of Matthew’s Gospel weigh ever more heavily on my mind, even more so since we enter Holy Week which is the short period of time in which He said them.

  26. Good morning all.
    A bright sunny, wet and slightly colder start to the day. Broken cloud giving sunshine and rain with a mere 1°C on the Yard Thermometer.

    2. Intermittent rain here. We had spring yesterday afternoon and now normal service has been resumed.☹️

      1. Same here – beautiful at 6.30 am and now pouring and freezing. Meanwhile my lawn gets ever longer.

        1. If the weather doesn’t improve here soon I’ll have to put sheep on the lawns.😂

      2. Same here – beautiful at 6.30 am and now pouring and freezing. Meanwhile my lawn gets ever longer.

  29. I am waiting to see what happens in Russia. It would not surprise me one bit if the bodies of the attackers are “identified as Ukrainian” – to give Putin the spur to extend his destruction of that country.

    1. As long as the DNA isn’t diagnosed as from the USA. Or heaven forbid the middle east.

    2. Preliminary information suggests four suspects are all from ex-Soviet republic Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan.
      The population is 90%+ Muslim.

      2. Well, as I said last night = slammers.

        At least a Uke connection can be eliminated. One hopes – though with Putin one can never be sure.

        1. There are some who appear certain that Putin will blame the West and the Ukrainians, and there are even some who appear to believe that the Israelis allowed the Hamas attacks AND were behind the Moscow atrocity; being secret supporters of ISIS.

      3. If Putin has a crackdown on Ropers I’d be very happy. Perhaps a few mullahs may have inexplicable falls from the windows of tall buildings?

        1. Putin may well do what we failed to do after the London bombings July 2015, and the Manchester Arena bombing 2017 and every other Islamic atrocity in the UK.

      4. But that won’t stop Putin from blaming the West and the Ukraine.
        In the same way Bush blamed Iraq for 9/11.

        1. Bush blamed Iraq because destabilising that region was already on the agenda. They knew all along it was the Saudis.

  30. Morning all 🙂😊🌞
    What a lovely start to the day.
    I think we all wish the lovely Catherine well and a speedy recovery. Those who don’t are damned, literally.

    2. Morning RE,

      I have got to the (st)age where I cannot necessarily believe either the MSM or the mecical professionals.
      My body responds to the world I live in and what I do to it but when the mind is bent by forces we succumb to then nothing makes any sense. Conformity to a higher power is the only way out.

    1. Yes, I hate to think of all our migrants shivering in terror in their comfortable hotel rooms. Better ship them of to Ireland asap.

    2. Why do people want to leave their own shit holes when our shit holes are not only shittier but still mainly occupied by repulsive racist white people?

    3. The worse news is that the would-be deportees will have to stay in racist Oirland.

  33. I agree with Susy

    England’s cross
    SIR – With regard to Nike’s modification of the St George’s Cross on the England football kit (report, March 22), I am fairly certain that Americans would be appalled if an English sportswear company dared to alter the stars and stripes in the name of wokeism.

    As well as apologising for being English, it seems we are now expected simply to accept the redefinition of this symbol of our national identity.

    Susy Goodwin
    Ware, Hertfordshire

    1. At the moment the football authorities are being defiant. It will be interesting to see if they brazen it out, particularly since both the Labour and Conservative Party leaders have condemned their actions.

    2. Nike must have had their instructions from the FA – they are not in a position to alter anything

    3. Apparently Nike wanted England to wear a “Rainbow effect” shirt, but the FA rejected it.
      So things could have been (even) worse.

    1. Thanks for posting that. Lovely to see England as it was before it was despoiled.

    2. 384932+ up ticks,

      Morning TB,
      Now ask yourself do we want the likes of that to return ?

      A lab/lib/con coalition vote will assure us, it never will.

    6. It didn’t change much for 50 years, only the style of dress changed. I recall life being like that, peaceful, structured and ordered even to my mid- teenage years. I think we all know what changed it.

    1. Well I think there will definitely be something of a fan backlash, don’t you? During World Cups St George’s Cross flags are a common sight in many places; I can’t see people replacing them with this piece of confected nonsense.

  36. One of my wife’s best friends is in her 50s and is a nurse. She was effectively compelled to have the Covid jab or she would lose her job. She has now got a vicious cancer and she is having to endure aggressive chemo-therapy..

    Caroline plays at funerals and the percentage of people in the 40 – 60 age group dying has risen substantially in our parish in the last three years. When she heard the horrible news of The Duchess of Wales’s cancer she immediately wondered about how many Covid jabs the poor woman has had.

    1. On the other hand, a pal accompanied his friend to hospital for a dose of chemo, and was astonished to see how many youngsters were in the C ward. It were never like that when I were a lad, he told me. This would have been about seven years ago. PS, best wishes for a complete recovery to Caroline’s friend.

    2. I was dozing this morning listening to the latest Jordan Peterson podcast and about 1 hour 25 minutes in was awoken by a terrible row between him and his interviewee* (of whomI’ve never heard) as the interviewee was defending the vaccines. Worth listening to! I must have dozed off again because at the end they seemed to be on speaking terms again.

      https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast/id1184022695?i=1000650050324

      *Steve Bonnell II

      1. One deterrent was the condemnation of ones peers. But their peers all seem to be in attendance.

        1. A thorough, public birching on the bare backside. public humiliation is the only deterrent.

  38. If they could persuade him to use the traditional Latin mass then his accent would not be an issue.

  40. Good day all, and the 77th,

    A lovely morning here at Castle McPhee. Wind in the West chilly at 7C and not going to reach double digits. Showers expected.

    I think we’ve probably ‘done’ the Princess of Wales so I’ll leave her the privacy her dignity deserves at this difficult time for the whole family.

    However, the Bank of England deserves no such respect. Are people waking up to it’s being a part of our planned destruction?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8065289f480fd1864e1852f1920d8bb4b997b9212fa09154347486a28b33f811.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/22/the-bank-of-england-is-pushing-britain-into-bankruptcy/

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2925f9a48de4c0edff908599b88da88ff730c2586740f7740a12daee44347b3b.png

    With that, off to Chichester for the day.

  41. I might not be around for a while. Last Friday, an hour before due to getting the keys for the new house, my wife collapsed and wa in hospital until Thursday evening for various tests. Some results okay, others prompting further outpatient tests and possible treatment.

    1. We all hope for a speedy recovery.

      Sometimes people don’t realise how stressful a house move can be. Let us hope it isn’t anything more serious.

    5. Good luck to her, I hope she has nothing serious and that you are able to cope with setting up the new home

    6. Sorry to read this, eric. House moving is stressful at the best of times. You’re truly being put through the mill, at present. I hope a final diagnosis is soon found and treatment can begin. I wish you both well.

    7. I sympathise. One always feels so damned helpless in these situations. I hope it all works out for your wife.

    9. Sorry to hear you are in a deep spot of bother , please try to stay calm amongst the turmoil that the NHS creates . I do hope your poor wife recovers sooner than later .

      Nottlers are here , we all listen .. and reach out .

    11. So sad to hear that Eric. Best wishes for her speedy recovery – despite NHS Scotland.

      1. It was Cumberland in Carlisle she went in to, but with us moving to Dumfries, we don’t know where we will be going for any treatment yet.

        1. God help you both with Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary. Having been a reluctant patient on a few occasions. I now refuse to go there. Cold and uncaring would be my summation. Which is typical of NHS Scotland. You can add incompetent as well.

          1. I used to visit the Highlands fairly frequently, and on one of my visits I was told that there were people living in Inverness who had one of those bracelets giving instructions in the event of their collapse in the street which read: “DO NOT TAKE ME TO THE RAIGMORE” (the local hospital) because they had no faith in its services.

    12. So sorry to hear this, such a shock for you both and so bewildering and disorientating just before you are moving into a new home. What a time for this to happen – I hope your wife is sorted soon and that you can get on with life in your new home together.

  42. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/26bd370ab19b4d1957c1fe11de64dc18eee0b326cedb3b190dcad476b2966c35.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/62b343a5584bed4eda5c3c2e10b25de17bebc2bce9a3ab2949fcf084c9c2edd0.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6414972b5e167dcc014131b4823cd173c7029e8913332c1792e2a067518c3653.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ce23c92b979174f13d3e7640a43a7471154044c44a65dd5e1f94ca64054fe7bd.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/81ec3a98ff29176a0a7ca541433798cdbd1be03ca3bd7e4695e8c1aa5c883e55.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/30c500c5b99ec1eb0c9216b955e8957f906eb278316d90fe1ea111f12a3ca1d9.png

      1. On Shlapps, a few years ago he posed in a pub at table alone, with an inch off the top of the beer.
        Not a soul to be seen anywhere else. It was in the Herts Advertiser.
        Calling it his local. In popularity, he seems to be following closely in the footsteps of Gove.

          1. And a great reason for the Conservative party to lose power at the General Election….

          2. He’s that bad ……. it seems he did all right as housing minister, moved into a mansion at Brookman’s park.

    2. Q. What’s the difference between a conspiracy theory and the truth?
      A. About 18 months.

  43. Just drove over the potholes to the post office. Bluss- it’s chilly. The temp = 8ºC but the west wind is bitter.

        1. Ours is 5 miles away in the next village, it’s within the village shop so is open the same hours

      2. We have a post office. We can even have parcels delivered there for our own personal collection. With no charges.
        Saves on potholes, less delivery vans around.

        1. Our nearest one is a couple of miles away. But we do have a lady with a van twice a week for an hour or so.

          1. Yo Nd,

            we do have a lady with a van twice a week for an hour or so.

            My mind is boggling!

        1. Let’s hope that certain celebrity cyclists come a cropper when filming motorists and miss spotting a pothole.

    4. No pot holes back home, six inches of snow last night will have filled them in.

      Thankfully still on holiday where it is 17C and raining.

  45. Seems the shooting in Russia yesterday has claimed 115 lives. Truly appalling.

    1. The FSB has some explaining to do. Last months both US and British intelligence services put out public warnings about an imminent terrorist atrocity in Russia but clearly the FSB etc were more focused on killing Ukrainians and tyrannising native dissidents than protect innocent civilians.

      2. If the UK and USA knew so much about the imminent attacks why weren’t they more specific?

        Our own people have raised the threat levels in the UK, if there is an attack will you say the same about them?

      3. I would expect intelligence to be given to the people who need to know. Not blurted in the media.
        CIA are probably involved.

        1. They were warning their own citizens to avoid large venues etc.
          We simply don’t know what they told the Russians in private.

      4. Same is true for Israel. Supposedly there was a known threat last October but their
        Intelligence folks did nothing.

        1. The Israelis seem to have a history of letting their guard down on religious holidays, eg the Yom Kippur War.

      5. Same is true for Israel. Supposedly there was a known threat last October but their
        Intelligence folks did nothing.

  48. The delivery vans are not the problem. Lorries using unsuitable and unstable roads are.

    1. We have a 10 MPH speed limit in our road with some speed bumps, delivery vans take off as they drive over the bumps at 30 plus.

  50. I don’t. And neither do you, and neither do you know what action the Russians were taking behind the scenes.
    Your comment

    but clearly the FSB etc were more focused on killing Ukrainians and tyrannising native dissidents to protect innocent civilians.

    suggests you think the FSB deliberately ignored the potential attack to take place as they had “better things to do”.

    1. My statement doesn’t imply any such thing, but their primary focus has been on the things I mentioned to the exclusion of other things. What no one can deny is that the warnings were made public by Western governments.

  51. I don’t. And neither do you, and neither do you know what action the Russians were taking behind the scenes.
    Your comment

    but clearly the FSB etc were more focused on killing Ukrainians and tyrannising native dissidents to protect innocent civilians.

    suggests you think the FSB deliberately ignored the potential attack to take place as they had “better things to do”.

    1. It should be noted that when Steven Rosenberg interviewed an attendee at Putin’s election celebration party for the elite she made the unsolicited comment that Russians do actually hate the West after seeing nothing wrong with Putin not having electoral opponents.

    1. I’d go with the globalist ignorance and stupidity that believes Islam is a useful tool in achieving its communist aims.

    1. 384932+ up ticks,

      Morning A,
      Voting pattern, party before country, best of the worst,
      constructed the islamic problem over the last three plus decades.

  56. What’s the general opinion about the Kate video yesterday? Some new analysis suggests the whole thing is another AI computer generated fake using old footage and recordings as the base. Just a few points, nothing moves in the background, Kate’s jumper is the same one she wore seven years ago and the bench isn’t symmetrical. This analysis explains how it might have been done……

    https://twitter.com/AiHexBuilder/status/1771242436691366012

    1. Please leave the Royal family alone now.. enough !

      They have their own little bubble , and the wealth to sort things out .

      We need to concentrate on the wrongs being perpetrated against ordinary decent citizens who are being failed by the state .. yes even those with toothache .

      We should sit up and scrutinise all the political parties and tell them to stop the fantasy of welcoming the spawn of the devil onto these islands of ours .

      St Patrick removed all serpents from Ireland ..

      How .. and shouldn’t we be doing the same with the two legged variety here?

      1. If the video is fake from end to end as now seems very likely, how do you know the diagnosis is true? How do you know if Kate is connected to it in any way and even if it’s been presented by the royal family?

        1. I cannot see how a fake could benefit anybody, and so will take it at face value.

          The Princess of Wales has done more than most to restore confidence in the British monarchy, as well as to give support to someone who lost his mother as a teenager in the full glare of public attention. My goodness, some sort of restoration of confidence in British institutions is sorely needed right now.

          It may seem flippant, but the prospect of such a figurehead and role model losing her beautiful trademark long brown hair must seem daunting, not least to the poor lady herself. How such a beauty must be dreading turning into Uncle Fester because of chemotherapy. I cannot expect her to put on a happy smile for the public and carry on when she must be feeling absolutely wretched about it all. This is why, out of simply common courtesy, we should allow her all the privacy she asks for, especially when as a senior royal, there are so many demands placed on her.

          She rescued her prince by providing him with a rock-solid family life when his own was shattered by circumstances. William and the nation he serves now owes her in return all the support he can give her, even if this means a lower priority for public duties for a while. Apart from anything, there are three children to bring up, who may well themselves become figureheads in their own right.

          This leaves the Firm with a problem. They are seriously short of capable senior royals of working age, and I am well aware that the 60-year-old Duke of Edinburgh is 14th in line and the 73-year-old Princess Royal 17th in line. A long way down for a slimmed-down monarchy.

          It may mean a lot of junior royals having to step in and provide cover. Maybe the most promising is Mike Tindall, who presents the least convincing image of a royal person, but is actually as down-to-earth and capable as his much-respected mother-in-law. It might not do the royals any harm to have a potato-headed working class salt-of-the-earth in their midst.

        2. OK, we are living in the Truman show and, as a genuine character from a work of fiction, I’m the only person who isn’t fake.

      1. Because old jumpers wear out and she’s probably got lots of new ones. Have you followed the link? It shows how fake videos are made using old footage and audio as the base. There are other reasons explained why the video is likely fake including running it through fake detection software which yields a 97% fake probability.

      1. That’s exactly what the makers of a fake video would want. Go away and don’t ask any questions about what has happened to Kate.

          1. Why do the stripes on the right side of her jumper continue on the bench? It’s AI error.

    4. “Just a few points, nothing moves…”

      Oh yes it does – but you have to look closely…

    5. I don’t think anyone is qualified to say if it’s AI or not, and I see no reason to believe that it is. The only inconsistency that stands out a mile to me is that the lighting is completely artificial and she looks very pale.
      I don’t understand why they have put out a picture and a video where she looks bursting with health and vitality one week, and a video where she looks seriously ill the next. It just doesn’t make sense, and tends to confirm that all we ever see is a carefully crafted image – they just need to make up their minds which one it is to be.

      I certainly wish her good health and hope that her children will not lose either parent, and I wish the gutter press would lay off stirring the pot, but people should be able to comment, even if it’s controversial. The royal family has actively worked to support the two biggest frauds perpetrated on the public recently (climate change and covid/vaxxes) – as far as I am concerned, they have lost my trust. Once, I would have believed implicitly and without question an announcement from Buckingham Palace as being above politics – now I just wonder what they are up to this time. Whatever comes along next, it will always be convincing.

      1. Why do the stripes on her jumper on her right side continue on the bench?

        It’s AI error.

        1. That is odd, but is exactly the kind of thing that might be produced by any calculations done on a digital image. Does not mean the whole thing was generated.

          1. The background is fake too. None of the plants are moving in the breeze. It’s supposed to be outside in Windsor park but clearly it isn’t. I don’t even think it’s her voice.

          2. Don’t know, never heard her speak. Thing is Polly, I have already unsubscribed from accepting what the royals say without question. So it’s a waste of time for me to analyse this in detail, because it won’t change my default position which has been fixed by some years of duplicity.
            People aren’t persuaded by facts anyway…

        1. Give the Russian security police a few hours and the detainees will confess to being right wing Ukranian nazi special forces troops who were specially selected by Zelensky to perform the massacre.

    4. (Shuffles uneasily and goes very pink)
      Fortunately we’ve had dogs for even longer than we’ve had computers.

  61. Todays Telegraph prints 2 letters about Kates cancer and 4 about British mental illness. It’s pretty obvious where their sympathies lie

  62. Moscow attack death toll rises to 115. 23 March 2024.

    The death toll of the Moscow concert hall attack has risen to 115 people, authorities said on Saturday, with a “terrorist” investigation under way.

    It comes as 11 people were arrested for carrying out the assault, including two following a car chase outside of Moscow, a Russian lawmaker said on Saturday.

    BELOW THE LINE.

    Robert Edwards. 5 HRS AGO.

    I’ve tried to comment in a very respectful way that a certain religion is perhaps not all about peace and love after all, and every comment is being automatically removed. Disgusting. The DT is as bad as the rest

    Chris Barret. t5 HRS AGO.

    Ah those bingo loving people. Can’t say anything naughty about them.

    Edwardmk. 2 HRS AGO

    Same happening to me.

    Lol. The Telegraph is simply a large Nudge Unit that reflects the Elite Opinion. I have occasionally entertained the idea that it’s a front for Mi6!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/23/moscow-islamic-state-attack-terrorist-concert-hall/

    2. Mental illness is on the rampage. If I was a conspiracy theorist I would put it down to the “vaccine” or to whatever it is in those chem-trails that are appearing daily. Clearly, crazy morons are past being helped by additional outside influences.

      1. There are too many people with nothing to do but make a thundering nuisance of themselves. They could come up to our neck of the woods and deal with the litter and fly-tipping problem. Yesterday on the way into town I came across some hardy volunteers dragging shopping trolleys and electric scooters from the brook. Nothing new in that. The 10′ garden trampoline was a first though…

    3. Did ‘it’ take time off work to do this? Funny how these morons find time to protest but not to work

  65. Your statement was open to that interpretation, because that is certainly how I interpreted it.

    How can you be so certain that their primary focus has been as you state?
    That may have been the public face but you cannot say categorically that behind the scenes they were not working and investigating.

    Read up on the Manchester Arena bombings and the aftermath.
    People were working behind the scenes yet still missed opportunities to prevent the atrocity.

    Russia may be at fault over Ukraine, but the underlying historical causes for the invasion/war can readily be placed at America’s, NATO and the EU’s door.

    I get sick and tired of the perpetual Russia bad, America good.

    If you care to see what America is really like you should look up the behind the scenes activity surrounding the Vietnam war, actions in Iraq, actions in Afghanistan, and particularly pertinent at the moment, actions in Ukraine

    1. You can interpret it as you want. It’s obvious that when Russia is fighting a full scale in Ukraine and trying to suppress its dissident movement and deliver a big election win for Putin, that other terrorists might find lapses in internal security.
      And nothing justifies Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
      Sometimes to fight a dirty enemy like Communism or Islamism you have to get your hands dirty, so whatever the imperfections of the USA/NATO – and they are many – there is no comparison between their conduct and that of Russia etc.

      1. You really do need to understand what happened in Ukraine when a legitimate government was undermined and the actions taken by Ukrainians against fellow, but Russian ethnicity Ukrainians.
        Look up the Ousting of Yanukovic, the involvement of Nuland and Obama, the 2014 Pro Russian unrest in Eastern Ukraine and the Crimea.
        Look up the Azov battalions and what they were doing to those Russian favouring civilians.
        Look up the breaking of promises made to Russia regarding NATO and EU expansion.

        Russia may be an aggressor, but the West brought this to a head.

        1. The Ukrainian people overthrew a pro Russian President when he reneged on his stated policy of aligning to the EU and then started shooting peaceful demonstrators.
          And Russian reneged on its independent and security guarantees it signed in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons.
          There were no such promises by NATO, this is Russian propaganda and has been discredited many times, not least by Gorbachev.

          2. Please read Jeffrey Sachs on the geopolitics of the conflict in Ukraine. Sos has given the link below.

            Meerscheimer is a reliable source also and both Sachs and Meerscheimer frequently appear on The Duran with Alexander Mercouris, Glenn Diessen and Alex Christoforou.

        2. I would add that the expansion of NATO and accession of Finland and Sweden in particular is about expanding the arms market for US manufacturers.

          This has nothing whatever to do with a perceived threat from Russia. Russia has only sought good relations with the west since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The fact remains that most of the territory named Ukraine is Russian. The western parts were occupied principally by Poland and Hungary.

          We would do well to recall the words of Otto von Bismarck “The secret of politics? Make a good Treaty with Russia”.

      2. “…And nothing justifies Russia’s invasion of Ukraine….”

        Plenty justifies Putin’s invasion of Eastern Ukraine.

        Let’s start with the tearing up of the Minsk Agreement, the overthrow of a democratically elected government, the installation of a communist clown and the subsequent slaughter of 14,000 Russian speaking Ukrainians. No justification, JD?

        1. The 14,000 dead were from both sides, about 60:40 Russian:Ukrainian, a third of all civilians.

          2. Not me. Putin is an immensely corrupt and murderous dictator running a gangster state which lies about everything and which is allied with some of the worst and most evil regimes in the world such as Iran, North Korea and China.
            While I am very aware of the decline of Western Christian civilisation I do not doubt its regenerative powers. I have not despaired because no Christian should but I am aware that many unChristian right wing people in the West, and shamefully more than a few Christians, have and as they did in the 1930s written off their own societies as finished and have started to admire unpleasant fascist dictators and we all know where that led.

  66. Last week a Nottler posted a video of a horse being tormented by a couple of dogs. The horse let fly a kick with his hind legs which caught one of the dogs full square. The dog was knocked flat and lay there whimpering.

    Much as I generally like dogs my sympathy was entirely with the horse.

    1. That dog won’t attack a horse again. I wonder if it could be trained to do the same to Muslims and black youths wearing a hoodie?

      1. A dog can be trained to attack anyone including specific groups. I am sorry to have to say this, but in Rhodesia/SA some people trained their dogs to attack blacks. Equally, it is very difficult to “untrain” a dog who will attack someone based on a prior bad experience. We got a rescue lab aged three who had obviously been beaten with a walking stick. We discovered this quickly because my husband often used one and she was initially very wary of him when he did, and sometimes growled at him. The dog soon got used to it with him, but one day she crouched, snarling and growling at a sweet old lady using one who came towards her with the intention of giving her a loving pat after we had said that she was really good -natured and quite safe which normally she was – red faces all round! After that we would ask people with walking sticks to please not approach her.

  67. It’s fascinating. There’s even a faked example of Obama making a speech and all created on a basic laptop using free AI software.

    That’s probably what’s been done in “Kate’s video”.

        1. Have you followed the link? There are far too many inconsistencies for this video to be real.

  69. Kate moves but everyone checking out the daffodils etc say the background is static.

  73. It is also loaded with debt. If i were an ASDA employee i would be looking for another job.

      1. I like Lidl, the quality of their fare is good. However my local Lidl is rammed full of Wokeish Leftists.

        2. There’s a Lidl store close to where I live and a lovely neighbour, who died recently, used to refuse to shop there “because it’s German”. Ulla, bless her soul, was a native of Hamburg.

        6. I prefer Aldi, although the nearest branch is difficult to reach by public transport. Friend Dianne-the-Ex lives within a 10-minute walk of an Exeter branch.

          I accept that there are two Lidl branches, easier to reach, in Farnham and Guildford. But I’m getting lazy. It’s too easy to order online. Latest delivery was from Morrisons, via Deliveroo, and – given their £7 off deal at present – I’d have spent more taking the train to buy the stuff in person.

        7. All being insufferably smug, no doubt.

          Heaven help us, they ruin EVERYTHING.

  74. What a depressing morning. Grim news everywhere. And for some in Nottland, the Moscow attack was an ISIS/Israel conspiracy and Kate is a creation of CGI.

    Anyway, here’s something else that states the bleeding obvious. Jeremy Clarkson’s always good for a quote.

    Mark Drakeford’s Wales: How to ruin a country

    The Welsh First Minister’s tenure saw an increasing influence from Labour, alienating farmers and motorists alike

    His government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme has brought matters to a head. Designed to replace pre-Brexit European Union subsidies and address the “climate and nature emergency”, the scheme will be phased in from next year and will require farmers to plant trees on 10 per cent of their land and turn a further 10 per cent over to nature…the First Minister managed to fan the flames yet further by claiming farmers only had themselves to blame for the Sustainable Farming Scheme because they “voted to leave the European Union”.

    Critics of the plan also point out that it will mean Wales either has to eat far less food or import far more. Jeremy Clarkson recently took to social media to support Welsh farmers: “‘I’m trying to see the Welsh farming policy from the Government’s point of view. And I just can’t. It’s completely daft … I look at [Drakeford] and plainly he’s a man who likes a pie. And you don’t get those from trees.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/23/mark-drakeford-motorist-policies-wales-ruined/

  76. The DT is publishing some good articles at the moment.
    And I agree with you about the conspiracy loon stuff.

      1. You could do what I did several months ago, which was to take out a free trial subscription, and then a few days before the full payment was due, go through the cancellation process until I got their final offer of the next 3 months for 50p per month. I’ve just got to the end of that period, and a few days before the full subscription was charged I went to cancel and got to their final offer of 3 months for £1 a month. So I’ll have had (IIRC) 9 months access for £4.50. You’ve got to put the renewal dates in your diary and not miss pre-empting them, though.

  77. A bit OT, but anyone seen Grizzly here and know how he is doing with the dreaded shingles? I’m worried because he has it on his head which I know from personal experience (not me, my late husband) is very dangerous and for me at least, he didn’t seem to be taking it seriously enough. Hope he is OK.

  79. He was due to see the doctor/nurse again yesterday afternoon.
    He commented that he has been unusually tired and in the picture he posted he did not look well.

    Of course it was probably photoshopped by someone else to hide the truth. /sarc

    1. Thanks, I knew he was seeing the doctor yesterday afternoon but have seen nothing since, though I might have missed it.

          2. Grizzlies eat berries and salmon and are great cold water swimmers so their immune systems should be in tip top order.

  80. I see Putin is trying to implicate Ukraine in the ISIS terrorist atrocity. Utterly predictable, utterly pathetic and yet some clowns will lap it up.

    1. Of course he is – I saw that he might use it as an excuse to toughen up on recruitment for the Ukraine war. One way or another he will certainly find a way to use it to his advantage.

  81. Wordle 1,008 4/6

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

  82. Betrayed voters are finally exacting revenge on our arrogant elites. 23 March 2024.

    The citizenry of a free society face being forced by law to deny intelligible reality, the most clear-cut and risible example of this being the assertion that men are women because they choose to identify themselves as such. You might almost suspect that some malign alien power had infiltrated all our public institutions and put in place a deranging programme intended to undermine rational thought. And that may not be very far from the truth. So how has this happened?

    I have to admit that this idea has occurred to me more than once. Most of these ideas are quite frankly insane and have visited this ailment on their believers.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/23/betrayed-voters-finally-exacting-revenge-on-arrogant-elites/

      1. Afternoon Johnny. I toyed with the idea that the foreign chefs in the Houses of Parliament had seeded the food with ergot. A naturally occurring fungi that brings on insanity. Oh wait!

      2. Afternoon Johnny. I toyed with the idea that the foreign chefs in the Houses of Parliament had seeded the food with ergot. A naturally occurring fungi that brings on insanity. Oh wait!

      3. A lot of them have a cocaine habit. 9 out 0f 10 toilets on the Westminster estate tested positive for the drug.

    2. The Devil finds work for idle hands and there are many millions of idle hands in this country.

    3. The Devil finds work for idle hands and there are many millions of idle hands in this country.

  87. More good news. Our other churchwarden who fell out with our now ex Vicar has said he will rejoin us and help share the load.

  89. Was he vaxxed?
    It’s been established that the vaxx can trigger shingles in some people, which explains why there was suddenly a rash (:)) of shingles awareness advertising on TV just after the mass vaxx programme was getting up to full speed.

      1. Good. I know people who took it and within 48 hours had terrible shingles with no prior history.

        2. I think they would have had chicken-pox though, but be more vulnerable if they had also had shingles.

          2. I didn’t know that. I did get shingles once, many years ago, but I had also had chicken-pox as a child having grown up in the days when we were encouraged to get it!

          3. It’s a herpes related virus that lies dormant forever following Chicken Pox and may erupt when the immune system is under stress. Amongst the drugs shown by some to be useful in the treatment of Covid19 were (apart from Ivermectin and Chloroquin) anti-virals used for shingles and herpes.

            All the above drugs are off label and freely (cheaply) available.

            Why, after a visit from carpet-bagger Gates and others looking for a financial killing, did our government and others chose to suppress the use of these drugs (and of the dirt cheap yet effective vitamin D) in order to usher in the mRNA experimental jabs?

            Cui bono?

          4. I knew it was a herpes virus – same as cold sores which don’t only appear on lips, I got one on an eye-ball once and it was the most painful thing ever! The eye-specialist told me that it could stay dormant and reappear for up to 30 years. He also said that I should always wear sunglasses when out in the sun, summer or winter, because it liked nothing better than sun-bathing on eye-balls 🤣 I followed this advice for decades because if I didn’t, after about an hour or so my eye would start to itch.
            Don’t get me started on why tried and tested, easily available drugs were not used in the treatment of Covid. It was known right from the start that it was an inflammatory disease and Ivermectin is a very effective anti-inflammatory. It wasn’t only abut money though that was a huge factor, it was also very much about control, both in terms of lockdown and all but mandating the vaccine for everyone. They simply didn’t want to know about existing treatment because that wasn’t on the agenda.

          6. The ‘they’ would not have been able to get the experimental so-called vaccine made available for use under emergency authorisation if something safe was already available, so Ivermectin was ignored and made unavailable. It is in fact one of the safest of medicines, but this would not have provided pharma with the large profits and government wanted to ensure that everyone got the vaccine. In fact 30% of the country resisted all attempts and so provided an unwitting and unwanted control group. That the deliberate non-availability and ignoring of a safe drug was accepted by the regulating body (MHRA) defies belief and indicates that they were all in the ‘vaccine’ plan together.

          7. I have no doubt whatsoever that they were all in it together, and any who disagreed but wanted to keep their jobs simply kept quiet. Did you see that the FDA has had to withdraw all material that says Ivermectin is not a suitable treatment for Covid? The case was brought by a doctor who lost his job for using it to treat patients successfully and he won.

          8. I did indeed. Ivermectin is also used as a successful treatment for cancer, this is on a gov.uk web site.

          9. In France there is a doctor called Raoult whose speciality is, I think, immunology, and he is in charge of the main hospital in Marseilles. During Covid he was treating patients with Ivermectin and had the highest survival rate and the fastest recovery period of all the hospitals in France, so of course the politicians hated him and did all they could to discredit him via the supine MSM. Quite recently a Bill was tabled here that would make it a criminal offence for any doctor to defy government, health agencies and the WHO advice during a medical emergency like Covid i.e. a pandemic. It was immediately labelled by the sceptics, of whom there are more than a few, as the “anti-Raoult” Bill! Bizarrely, it was introduced to the French parliament by an MP whose constituency is in Marseilles. I say “bizarrely” because she actually got Covid during the pandemic, was treated in that hospital with Ivermectin and went public with how rapidly she had recovered from it and how her life had been saved! It is not law yet as it still has two stages to go. I’m keeping an eye on it, but I do know that Micron has signed France up to the WHO pandemic treaty. As a matter of interest, the treaty cannot actually over-rule the law of any country signed up to it which is, I suspect, partly why this Bill has been introduced.

  90. No PP, I haven’t. I really can’t be bothered. That is a conspiracy theory too far and I don’t quite understand what you are suggesting – that she is lying about what is wrong with her?

    1. It’s not a conspiracy theory. If you followed the link, you would see why.

      I don’t think Kate is lying. I don’t think she had anything to do with the video, nor with the fake photos.

      1. So it’s not her in the video? Don’t be silly. It was filmed by the BBC, are you seriously suggesting that if it wasn’t the BBC would be able to keep quiet about it?

        1. You believe the BBC?

          Why are the stripes on her jumper carried over onto the bench?

          That’s AI wot did that!

          1. In this instance, yes I do. Also, she was clearly very nervous and not enjoying having to do this, because she was twisting her fingers all the time. Or did AI do that too?

          2. Why are the stripes on her jumper carried over onto the bench?

            It’s AI wot did that.

            She doesn’t sound nervous in the slightest. It’s a perfectly presented speech.

        2. You believe the BBC?

          Why are the stripes on her jumper carried over onto the bench?

          That’s AI wot did that!

    1. True. Some of their meat is good too and they have a far better selection of British fruit and veg than Tesco etc.
      Their cheese is awful though.

  95. M.V. Diala.
    .
    Complement:
    65 (57 dead and 8 survivors).

    At 23.17 hours on 15th January 1942 the unescorted Diala (Master Herbert John Adler Peters) was torpedoed and damaged by U-553 (Thurmann) about 300 miles east-southeast of Cape Race in 44°50N/46°50W. The vessel was proceeding at maximal speed (12 knots) after convoy ON-52 was dispersed on 11th January. The bow was blown off and the superstructure was extensively damaged. The tanker was abandoned by most of the crew in lifeboats and on rafts but remained afloat and drifted northeast in a heavy gale. The master, six crew members and one gunner who had aboard were eventually taken off by the British steam merchant Telesfora de Larrinaga and landed at New York on 29th January. However, none of the lifeboats or rafts were ever found: 49 crew members and nine gunners were lost.

    Twelve survivors from the Athelcrown, which had been sunk by U-82 (Rollmann) on 22nd January, boarded the abandoned and drifting wreck of the Diala. They remained on board for eight days before they were rescued by the Swedish motor tanker Saturnus. On 19th March, the drifting wreck was last seen by Allied ships in position 47°N/37°W, after attempts to tow her were unsuccessful. The wreck of the Diala was finally sunk by U-587 (Ulrich Borcherdt)on 23rd March.

    Type VIIC U-Boat U-553 has been missing since 20th January 1943 in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland. There is no plausible explanation for its loss. 47 dead (all hands lost).

    Type VIIC U-Boat U-82 was sunk on 6th February 1942 in the North Atlantic north-east of the Azores by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Rochester and the British corvette HMS Tamarisk. 45 dead (all hands lost).

    Type VIIC U-Boat U-587 was sunk on 27th March 1942 in the North Atlantic south-west of Ireland by depth charges from the British escort destroyers HMS Grove and HMS Aldenham and the British destroyers HMS Volunteer and HMS Leamington. 42 dead (all hands lost).

    https://uboat.net/media/allies/merchants/br/diala.jpg

        1. You make that many enemies and one day you will get a tap on the shoulder. Let’s hope it’s fatal.

      2. Won lots of races. An ace jockey – though Australian…. Before your time, of course.

        1. JD.
          There have been several blocked from me too. Sir Jasper has been having similar with different posters. I did ask you if you wanted me to ask JD but got no response.

          Things are afoot.

          1. I’m blocked by poppiesmum. Whether by accident, or otherwise, I do not know.

  97. I do most of my shopping online from butchers, fish from the West country and artisan cheesemakers. A visit to the supermarket is for impulse buys.

  100. Circa twenty years since schools introduced PSE lessons (personal, social, emotional, I think).
    For ten minutes every day infants were asked “What makes you happy? What makes you sad?” and so on.
    Experienced teachers pointed out that encouraging young children to constantly focus on themselves and their happiness or otherwise would encourage narcissism and anxiety, but they weren’t listened to.
    Now with the “mental health crisis for the young” we can see how right they were.

    1. As I posted elsewhere yesterday:

      I am mystified (and horrified) of reading about pre-school children suffering “stress”. They must pick this word up from parents.

          1. Nor me – I don’t even have one! Just a very old non-smart one I use for emergencies if I’m out or to get SMS messages from the bank to authorise internet payments etc.

          3. Mine’s also vintage. 2009 is historical by the standards of mobile telephony developments.

          5. Oh dear mine is almost modern in comparison. I bought a low price smartphone three years ago and that is more than enough for me.

            A lot of stores down in south carolina will give you significant discounts if you download a coupon from their web site. I don’t see how much value they can get from an unregistered pay as you go phone but that’s their problem.

    2. As a matter of principle the state (through the education it offers) should have nothing to do with our personal, social or emotional development. That is for the family. There will be some weird and sh*t Marxism behind it I am willing to bet.

    1. Canine cricketers?

      “I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
      Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot;
      Follow your spirit: and upon this charge,
      Cry — God for Harry! England and Saint George!”

      (Henry V addresses his troops before Agincourt)

      I think this dachshund is a bit wider from the wicket – he is the dachshund in the gulley.

    1. I may well have cheese on toast and tea because I have anthrax man-flu.

        1. Indeed Jill, however I’m feeling sorry for myself and fancy cheese on toast.

    2. I’ll be making a chicken risotto with remains of a chicken. We’ll drink the other half of the Pinot Grigio we opened last night.

      1. Air fried chicken thighs – re-warmed in the frying-pan (about 18:30 this evening.) With a glass of Chablis.

          2. That’s good, because this one is a Chateau Ode d’Aydie (sp) 2018. I do envy you being in such a good spot.

          3. What an amazing coincidence – it is probably my favourite Madiran! I live about half-an-hour from the village of Aydie where there is a fantastic regional restaurant owned and run by the same family (Laplace) who make that wine, among a few other good ones. Their “Cave” where you can go for tasting and buy their wines direct is very conveniently just 100 yards from the restaurant!

          5. I’ve seen it but don’t remember trying it though I probably have. I don’t drink all that much Madiran so tend to stick to the Aydie ones.

    4. I shall be cooking salmon fillets in a cherry tomato sauce and capers with steamed broccoli. Not sure about the wine yet, but it will be white.

    6. Bought some fresh duck aiguillettes in the market this morning so will have those with potatoes sautéed in duck fat and green beans also bought in the market this morning. Feeling hungry already! Wine, not sure, either a local Saint Mont or my favourite Malbec from the Cahors region.

        1. I’m about 30 kms north of Tarbes in the Haute Pyrénées, but bordering the Gers and the Pyrénées Atlantique.

        2. I’m about 30 kms north of Tarbes in the Haut Pyrénées, but bordering the Gers and the Pyrénées Atlantique.

        1. It is delicious, and all very simple and easy to cook. I boiled and sliced the potatoes earlier ready to sauté, and the rest will take about 20 mins!

        1. Actually very hard to find in France now, and it isn’t delicious – or at least I don’t think so.

    7. Faggots in gravy with boiled spuds and steamed veg. (Thank goodness the Disqus auto-censor for banned words has been deactivated here!) And a cup of tea after, as I’m off the alcohol at the moment.

    8. Fish pie although I will flash fry a couple of sashimi tuna steaks as there won’t be enough fish pie to go around once my sons have tucked in. With an English white wine.

      1. One of the gold course favourites. They always complain and ask what it is when it is served, then silence while they eat it, then more please. It pays to have a chef who trained in Scotland.

        It’s a golf course so obviously not the cup/mug of tea.

    10. Nothing, for the time being. I had a disturbed sleep last night with an outbreak of heartburn. Today, my oesophagus has been feeling tender, not helped by two bouts of dry retching followed, on the third occasion, by an outpouring of the acrid contents of my stomach. Despite all the tasty temptations mentioned in this thread, I cannot contemplate eating any of them.

      1. Sorry to see that, is there something soothing you can take? Hope you sleep better tonight.

        1. You’d think there would be something like Gaviscon in the medicine cupboard. Alas, no.

          1. My parents both swore by Gaviscon. I cope without but then I have a much milder manifestation of the condition. Hope you’re OK.

      4. David

        Try doing this , if not done already

        Avoiding trigger foods—such as chocolate, coffee, fried foods, peppermint, spicy foods, and carbonated beverages—can help reduce symptoms. These foods increase acid levels in the stomach. Doctors also recommend eating multiple small, frequent meals instead of a few large ones.

    1. Is the translation of “C’est mon mari maintenant” an accidental omission? It’s a good punchline.

  106. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to remove social media posts and webpages that urged people to stop taking Ivermectin to treat COVID-19, according to a settlement dated March 21.

      1. I’m afraid that even the most motherly individual would baulk at those teeth on the nest

        1. Ah, OK. Then as Jules says above, it wants to be with its litter mates. It’s certainly crying and not just making a cute sound.

  108. Mongo and Oscar both been to the cleaners. Mongo as usual loved it and was a docile womble, Oscar threw a panic attack, howled, barked and pulled. He even growled a couple of times so I sat in with him.

  112. Farrell is having an excellent game too.

    I wish he played the same controlled way when in an England shirt.

    1. A three year contract worth less than one million pounds? That’s not much more than one person at high end consulting rates.

  114. A soaring Birdie Three!

    Wordle 1,008 3/6
    ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
    🟨🟩🟨⬜🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Amazingly, me too.

      Wordle 1,008 3/6

      ⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜
      ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟨
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. And me three

        Wordle 1,008 3/6

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

    2. A poor 5today.

      Wordle 1,008 5/6

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

  115. Nice when things fall into place.

    Wordle 1,008 2/6

    ⬜🟨🟨🟨🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Im with lacost
      Wordle 1,008 3/6

      🟨⬜⬜🟨🟨
      ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. It is an absolute mystery to me why the Jocks have not noticed what is happening to their country. Maybe it’s the Smack.

          2. That’s a very transphobic assertion! We’ll have you locked up in Edinburgh Castle afore the noon!

  121. What’s a scotchmen?

    Luckily it is only his immediate family in the picture. To think that every boat person will be looking to bring their family into the UK as well.

  122. GBN claiming that Putin is linking the terror attack to Ukraine is misleading. It needs context. RT are reporting that the attackers tried to escape via Ukraine. Not quite the same as implying that Russia believes Ukraine to be complicit in the attack.

    1. It’s happening all over the MSM.

      It might be convenient for Putin if it’s true, but I haven’t seen anyone other than the usual suspects claim Putin has accused the Ukraine government of being a party to the atrocity

    2. I’ve not made any comment yet Sue. Best to wait for it to settle down and then consider the stories in context.

    3. Not taking side at all.
      What I find very strange is the Russian say they have four terrorist in custody. It’s hard to believe they were taken alive after all that terrible carnage and resulting damage.

    4. Always difficult to get at the truth.
      George Bush tried to blame Iraq for the Twin Tower attack.
      Aznar blamed the Atocha explosions in Madrid on Basque terrorists.
      Not unusual for leaders to try and get propaganda points out of these tragedies.

      1. I thought that engineers had analysed the mode of demolition of both towers as being by explosive detonations.

        The planes flying into the towers could not have caused complete collapse of the structures and were simply devised as cinematic deceit. (Similar to the moon landings all those years ago).

    5. Russian state media first quoted the Belarus ambassador to Moscow as saying that Belarus was helping Russian security services in preventing the escape of the terrorists across the Belarus border. Mr Putin later corrected the ambassador, saying that a successful Special Military Operation had moved the entire Eastern border of Ukraine into Belarus territory.

    6. Ukraine has a long history of targeting civilians in Russia including assassinations. In ddition just a month or so ago Victoria Nuland visited Kiev and threatened Russia with “some surprises”.

      The sort of people who will indiscriminately shoot innocents at point blank range are almost certain to be mercenaries paid huge sums for their actions. Putin simply has to trace the suppliers of the seized arms caches and those facilitating the transportation and then find those who paid the large sums for the services of these murderers.

      Ukraine is a more believable suspect than ISIS.

  123. We have had a lovely few hours escaping from a very cold breeze here and huge cloudbursts by popping down to the Sandbanks ferry .. beautiful blue sky rough crossing , tide on the ebb, and crossing over to Poole then driving on to Alum Chine . https://www.dorsetguide.com/alum-chine-beach/

    The sun was shining , sand golden , a few people , well lots enjoying a walk on the beach, and gorgeous visibility to the Isle of Wight , and a few dogs including ours enjoying a splash in the sea.

    Very clean public loos, seriously clean .

    A decent restaurant https://www.vesuvio.co.uk/

    Family ate there a few years ago , tasty Italian easy food .

    We just enjoyed the sunshine and there were many groups of happy people including a few Indian families with painted faces celebrating Diwali.

    We walked back to the car just as the sky darkened , and we heard claps of thunder.

    Drove back home the long way, not using the ferry .

    1. Bloody effing buggering HELL! The antichrist in action. What an evil, conscience-free creature

    1. Glad to see the telegraph finally reporting this. Despite the smears, Andrew Bridgen has already been vindicated.

      Unfortunately, the individuals responsible will most likely evade justice.

        1. You just know he has skin in the game, opopanax. Absolute boy. Or other description, also beginning ‘b’.

          1. I actually remember him saying that at the time. If I had had any doubts at all about my decision not to get vaccinated, which I didn’t, that would have laid them to rest :D!

          2. I’ve never fully got over mine, plus a bout of Covid didn’t help. Still have the occasional ‘faint/blackout’, memory worse than it was. Family pressure, otherwise I wouldn’t have touched it. Plenty rumours even at that time re: Wuhan, so novel virus, novel vaccine…wtf could possibly go wrong. At least footie on now 🙂

          3. I know you’ve never got over yours. My brother and his wife in SA, both double vaxxed and boosted, got Covid a few months ago. They said they had never been so ill in their lives.

          4. Sorry to hear about relatives, every sympathy for them, and we’re not alone. There is the occasional day I can remember memories, so there’s that and blackouts not as frequent now. I stand with Bridgen, he’s correct in his assessment scandal to come, as he was with Post Office debacle. Covid is going to circulate a while yet, and new viruses coming along all the time. Heneghan not wrong. I feel pathetically grateful to him 😀

          5. Covid will circulate until something displaces it, like it displaced most flu viruses in 2019 and beyond.

          6. I have had balance problems ever since the second jab. Was quite ill after the first, but under huge pressure to have these things (I have an adult son who lives in a care home and would not have been allowed to see him else). Luckily, I had the Astra Zeneca, not the mRNA ones (although I now know that could have been equally unlucky in another way). Nevertheless, it has altered my life for the worse. It is quite incredible the pressure that “health professionals” put upon one to subject oneself to this experimentation, and how thick and ill-informed they are.

          7. The blackmail to force people to have the jab was the biggest scandal of all in my view because only people who are vulnerable in some way, like you, can really be blackmailed. It was so cruel. I have far less sympathy for people who got jabbed so that they could go on holiday or to night clubs or other forms of entertainment, and suffered from the side-effects.

          8. Was worried whether I could visit Mother in her care home, but in the end the excitement died down before I had a chance to go.

          9. Living in France it was almost impossible to avoid vaccination to live a normal life and to travel.
            We had to go back to the UK periodically and vaccination was compulsory so to do.

          10. Luckily I didn’t “have” to go anywhere and living quietly is normal for me, so I held out :))

          12. That’ll be me, then. The prospect of being excluded from pubs is what convinced me to have the AZ jabs, against my better judgement. Had I been told I was getting the Pfizer jab, I would have left the building. There was plenty of information online to suggest that this unproven technology was hugely risky.

            I know of only one person who “died friom Covid” – my ex-GF’s former husband. Nearly 70, diabetic, and somewhat chubby, was admitted to horse spittle with the dreaded lurgy. Was placed on ventilation. Attempts to return him to normal breathing, sadly failed. In my humble opinion, ventilation was the cause of death. So he had a virus, which led to pneumonia. Add the “C” word, and everyone ran around like headless chickens.

          13. Sorry :)) I also only know of one person who died from Covid. I think they knew fairly early on that ventilation was not the right treatment in most cases, but they continued using it for far too long. We don’t even want to think about the millions spent on unused/unsuitable ventilators :((

          14. Quite. Didn’t like the guy, and the feeling was entirely mutual, but he didn’t deserve to expire this way. And it was really hard for his son and daughter, who were basically asked how to proceed. I’ve been there, with my elderly Mum, and it’s not easy.

          15. I remember those unused yet fully equipped Nightingale Hospitals. A complete waste of resources and presumably just another part of the Nudge Unit initiatives to scare everyone into submitting to the jabs.

            After a bad skin infection following a flu jab about four or five years ago I resolved to
            never again take another jab of any description.

            Having designed several laboratories including Immunology and Signalling at BBSRC Babraham Institute I knew that it takes up to ten or more years and extensive animal testing (transgenic mice, rats and ferrets) to bring a new drug safely to market.

          16. I remember the Nightingale hospitals too and some similar were put up in France, also never used. Thank goodness Johnson had the sense to get the Army to build them – imagine how much more it would have cost and how much longer it would have taken if left to the NHS to find the contractors!
            I rarely get colds, maybe every two or three years, and have only had flu twice in my life so I have never had a flu jab. My late husband did have one though, followed by the worst dose of flu he had ever had so he never had another one, and never got flu either! To be fair, people do react differently to vaccines and relatively few have bad reactions, up until now due, as you say, to the extensive testing for them. In my early 20s I had a really bad reaction to a cholera vaccine which was at the time mandatory to go to Malawi where I was going on holiday with friends. Seven of us had it and I was the only one who reacted badly.
            Like you, I was horrified a) by the speed at which the Covid vaccine was rolled out and b) even more so by the coercion for absolutely everyone to have it, but most especially the young who simply were not vulnerable to it and this was always known. Even worse was that at the time it was rolled out it was already known that it prevented neither transmission nor infection.

          17. I remember those unused yet fully equipped Nightingale Hospitals. A complete waste of resources and presumably just another part of the Nudge Unit initiatives to scare everyone into submitting to the jabs.

            After a bad skin infection following a flu jab about four or five years ago I resolved to
            never again take another jab of any description.

            Having designed several laboratories including Immunology and Signalling at BBSRC Babraham Institute I knew that it takes up to ten or more years and extensive animal testing (transgenic mice, rats and ferrets) to bring a new drug safely to market.

          20. Flu viruses circulating, time immemorial, suggestions Covid just another one. Everyone freaked out because they thought it came from a lab – reported some labs been doing this for years, not just Wuhan and with various governments backing – warfare anyone? A good opportunity to try a new kind of vaccine, especially one insured by governments…let’s go for it! I doubt stats will ever be accurate, too much obfuscation swirling. Viruses like death and taxes, always with us. I’ve previously been unkind about Johnson’s involvement, I now think he was played like the rest of us. Not that I want to see him return, indeed I want the whole lot out. Where’s Lee Kwan Yew when you need him…:-)

          21. It did come from a lab, of that I am convinced, which means that right from the start they knew exactly who was vulnerable to it and who wasn’t, which makes the vaccine “experiment” ten times worse. The truth may well come out, but long after we are dead and gone :D!

          22. I agree completely Peta. There are too many entrenched people of power for it to come out now, or to be brought to justice, but in the end it will come out. Probably long after the death of this generation.

          23. Do you remember Scully & Mulder sci fi – The Truth is Out There..:-DD..it’s all over the internet, in and amongst the garbage. Risk is next time, and there’ll be one, we all just brush it off and it’s a serious risk. Seems like still messing about in various labs, different countries, not least our very own Porton Down (UK).

          24. No, I don’t remember it, but I watch few films, much less sci fi! No need to worry about the “next one”, if it is serious we’ll know that almost immediately because we will see it for ourselves and take our own precautions without needing to be told to do so. Do you remember that photograph of a “body” lying in the street in Wuhan and we were told that people were keeling over dead all over the place? Odd thing was, nowhere were there bodies in the street where people had keeled over dead or we would have read all about it :D! How many people do you know personally who died of Covid? No, thought not, me neither. What is more, I only know three people who did know personally someone who had died of Covid.

          25. It was something the the girls watched, typical teen fodder. I only know OF people who’ve died (someone knowing someone else), eg friend had to watch funeral of his friend online, girl I know her mother admitted with chest pains to be told died overnight death cert ‘covid’ when clearly heart problem. Quite funny to be out and about people jumping away (except it wasn’t) and as for masks….thing is, many loved it – at home, weather great, gov’t paying salaries…well, paying for it now as the song goes…latest topic…I keep trying to explain legal vs illegal immigration numbers to people…not gainin’ on it yet tho 😀

          26. Yup, legal immigration is the elephant in the room. Many, if not most of them, taking low paid jobs but bringing whole families so not actually contributing anything, quite the reverse.

          30. I had a mild cough for a few days, mid December. One of our churchwardens, who lives close by and kindly gives me lifts to the 9 am Sunday services, emailed me to say she had tested positive for CoVID. Since we were due to sing carols at a care home, I ordered some lateral flow tests from Amazon. I need’nt have bothered. The following morning, my taste and smell had vanished. Covid – if that’s what it was, was a nothingburger. Type 2 diabetic – I should be dead, by all accounts. A bit of fatigue, and eventually the senses returned. That’s all. I have been taking high dose Vit D3 since early in the ‘pandemic’. And B12.

            External factors had driven me a bit low in the run-up to Christmas, and I think my resistance was low as a result. Just my opinion…

          31. I think your opinion is pretty accurate! I had Covid in Nov 22, similar to you, very mild symptoms that disappeared quickly but the fatigue did linger for a while. The friend I caught it from, double vaxxed but not boosted, had it far worse than I did.

          32. Sue next door spends a lot of time in the garden. I lost count of the number of times she proudly announced across the fence. that “Edgar and I are going for our boosters tomorrow.” Fast forward a week, and she’d resurface. “Edgar and I have been terribly ill with CoVID”.

            I tried to suggest that boosters weren’t helping, to no avail. I attended Edgar’s funeral on 1st March. And that of a fit and healthy 59-year old friend on 4th March, due to a brain hemorrhage. I could hardly ask her husband “Was she fully jabbed?” but I have my suspicions…

          33. Same here, Geoff. Reckon I caught it at the airport when I attended a conference there – shortly after, Covid announced to be in Norway. Never took a vaccination, after a flu vaccination made me sicker than a dog.

          34. I succumbed to two AZ jabs, against my better judgement. But vaccine passports were being widely trailed, and, at least, it wasn’t mRNA.

            Bad decision. I lost all feeling in much of my right hand. Were it not for lockdown, and the banning of singing in church (did I really just write that?), I’d have had a problem. The problem mostly wore off before I needed to play the organ again.

            And, following nerve conduction studies, and ultrasound, it was determined that my Ulnar nerve was thickened.

            “Have you had a virus?” asked the consultant. “No, but I have been pumped full of spike protein”, I replied.

            His letter to my GP stated that my problemwas due to vaccine damage.

            I’ve declined all further boosters, and believe I’ve dodged a bullet. I know too many people that are no longer with us…

          35. I think you have dodged a bullet, especially as they were touting mRNA vaccines as suitable boosters for the AZ ones which I really couldn’t credit! They did have vaccine passports in France, introduced three weeks after Micron said they wouldn’t because “it wasn’t the French way”. Basically I could do little except go for walks (but not in national parks!) and shopping, provided I didn’t go to any shop or centre that was bigger than 20,000 sq.m. Luckily my local supermarket is a bit smaller! Even so, six million of us still refused to be coerced leading Micron to say that he really wanted to p*ss them off, then he wondered why he lost the parliamentary election – the six million got their revenge 🤣

          36. Friends of mine (in their 90’s) who endured the occupation during WWII have said how very much the whole “Papers!” thing just to leave home reminded them of that time – but France seems so much better at moving on, in some ways

          37. Yes, they have moved on, they don’t talk about it much now, but they’ve not forgotten.

          38. I seem to remember Eric Clapton also had nerve damage from the jabs.

            I had two AZ jabs but no more. I think I dodged a bullet as well as I had no reaction at all from them. Hopefully after three years I won’t do.

    2. Before COVID there were increasing numbers of people with Blood Pressure. Even doctors have been puzzled about the way in which WHO have defined the different levels of acceptable blood pressure. Even recently I have noticed how BP measurement protcols have changed after my last annual checkup by my cardiologist.

      This my pulse oximeter reading in May last year:

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/926f7f779a21fbd047dcb25fc0b3c2e157ccccfa975db0cd1d89a5bc2458e2f1.jpg

      50 bpm is at the lowest limit of acceptable heart rate and this is where the oxymeter alarm goes off.
      However, whilst I might well be referred as an emergency to A&E with bradycardia I am not overly concerned because I can achieve 99% blood oxygenation at this low heart rate.

      What is alarming is the Government’s ideas to use such devices at home as a substitute for a GP consultation for health monitoring. Tehnology is becoming more capable of identifying anomalies undetectable by the patient or medical professional and the likelihood of identifying an illness requiring surgical and/or drug treatments.

      1. BP measurement is a puzzle. Having been told less than 140 is the preferable number mine has been 148 but dismissed as ok. Same with sodium levels, Desirable level 133. Surgery happy with 130. Last year mine was 128, but I was only told levels are a little on the low side, not given a number, this year it was 124, was rung by GP and told to go straight away to A&E same day emergency care. Test showed 127 and consultant was satisfied! Otherwise it meant a sodium infusion. Also cholesterol. ‘ Good number’ used to be 7, some years back. Then they reduced it to 5. Alf was put on statins when his level was 5.3. He took statins for about 3 months and they nearly killed him – too long a story to go into. However, to be put on statins now GPs use your ‘profile’. The point is the goalposts are always moving.

        I believe GPs are paid extra to prescribe statins and all these numbers are arbitrarily ‘decided’.

        1. GPs are definitely paid to prescribe statins, as they are per jab. This is not ethical by anyone’s standards.

  129. That’s me for this lovely sunny but bitterly cold day. NOT one for any gardening. Though the seeds I sowed last Saturday are showing (some of them). My daughter-in-law who lives near Tetbury sent me a video of the snow/hail falling this arvo….

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain.

  130. Just read in the Standard about how everyone should leave the Princess of Wales alone to get better… and then there’s several more articles about “Katespiracy” and all the other bullshit featuring this unfortunate lady. Practise what you preach, dumbasses.

    1. The Mail is stomach-turning at the moment. Loads of articles that alternate between nasty and sycophantic.

  131. Found a way of watching the football tonight without having to look at our befouled national flag.
    I’m watching in black and white

      1. Of course it is! Plus, it is an anti LGBTQ+ hate crime. He has denied the rainbow flag! Bob3 must be extradited to Scotlandistan immediately.

          2. In Scotland under the SNP no punishment is too harsh for racist and anti LGBTQ+ hate crime

    2. Who on earth would of thought that a present England team would be black and white?

      Decades ago when England players were white , the players seemed desirable , sexy , fit and active and good fun , they had sparkle .

      All I can see are robotic men , some of whom are tattooed to the hilt and many with identical haircuts .. the fringes are a joke .

      2. It’s not haircuts, Belle, it’s hairstyles. All these buns and alicebands and so forth. WTF?

      3. I watched a bit of the match. All I saw was a bunch of prima donna exhibitionists making a big deal about passing a ball backwards to some idiot goalkeeper demanding the ball miles in front of his goal area.

        The Brazilians were better at passing the ball around in little triangles but as ever played with multiple fouls and play acting feigning injury.

  132. As Princess of Wales reveals diagnosis, doctors warn of mysterious cancer ‘epidemic’
    The disease is affecting fit, younger people more often – and researchers do not yet understand why

    Henry Bodkin,
    SENIOR REPORTER
    23 March 2024 • 5:13pm

    Leading doctors have warned of a mysterious new “epidemic” of abdominal cancers in younger people.

    Following the Princess of Wales’s announcement of her diagnosis on Friday, specialist clinicians have said that in recent years they have seen a significant increase in under-45s presenting with cancers typically seen in older patients.

    Many are fit and outwardly healthy, prompting a scramble among scientists to establish what is causing the trend.

    One study that looked at data from Northern Ireland between 1993 and 2019 found the rate of early-onset cancers increased by 20.5 per cent, the equivalent of about 7,000 extra cases a year across the UK.

    These cancers include those that come under the umbrella term “abdominal”.

    The Princess has not revealed what type of cancer she is receiving treatment for. However, her statement on Friday said it was discovered following abdominal surgery in January.

    ‘They’re not thinking about cancer’
    Prof Andrew Beggs, a consultant colorectal surgeon and a senior clinical fellow at the University of Birmingham, runs a clinic for cancer patients under the age of 45.

    “When I started as a cancer surgeon 20 years ago, you rarely saw any younger patients, but now I see them regularly,” he said.

    “When they turn up they are shocked, because often they haven’t had any symptoms and because of their age they are not thinking about cancer.”

    “It’s a huge thing to get your head round at that age and of course many have young children,” he added. “My thoughts are with Kate and her family. It must have hit them like a bus.”

    The Princess speaking in a garden, sitting on a bench, wearing a Breton jersey
    The Princess of Wales revealed her diagnosis in a video message released on Friday
    There is significant confusion among researchers as to what might be causing the trend, although most agree it is unlikely to be down to a single factor. Some scientists believe the cause may be partly genetic.

    Roughly one in a hundred people carry the BRCA gene – made famous by Angelina Jolie – which causes breast and ovarian cancers, while roughly one in 350 are affected by Lynch syndrome, a hereditary cause of bowel, womb, ovary and pancreatic cancers.

    An increase in survival rates among people with these genes means, at a population level, the likelihood of having them is going up.

    Researchers are also beginning to turn their sights on possible changes to the microbiome to explain the trend.

    The composition of gut bacteria – as a result of dietary or other environmental factors – can influence inflammation levels, which in turn may increase the risk of cancer.

    However, despite growing theoretical enthusiasm, scientists are hindered by the difficulty in conducting the necessary long-term cause-and-effect studies needed to draw a link between what people eat and their risk of the disease.

    Greater awareness of cancer
    A greater general awareness of cancer and desire to get symptoms checked out is likely to play a part in the rise of documented cases.

    Dr Shivan Sivakumar, associate professor in oncology at the University of Birmingham, agreed with Prof Beggs: “There is an epidemic currently of young people getting cancer (under 50s).

    “It is unknown the cause of this, but we are seeing more patients getting abdominal cancers.”

    Models based on global data predict that the number of early-onset cancer cases will increase by around 30 per cent between 2019 and 2030, a markedly faster increase than the previous 30 years.

    Cancer Research UK is among prominent research funding-bodies across the world supporting programmes to better understand early-onset cancer.

    Michelle Mitchell, its chief executive, said: “High profile cancer cases often act as a prompt to encourage people to find out more or think about their own health.

    “If people spot something that’s not normal for them or isn’t going away, they should check with their GP.

    “It probably won’t be cancer. But if it is, spotting it at an early stage means treatment is more likely to be successful.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/23/doctors-warn-abdominal-cancer-epidemic-princess-diagnosis/

    Kate Robertson
    3 MIN AGO
    Good luck checking with your GP
    Microplastics are supposed to be in every aspect of our environment so that would suggest a strong link to what is ingested digested and excreted
    But that link to better outcomes longer lives so more people living with the gene link is fascinating

    Comment by EM WO.

    EW

    EM WO
    4 MIN AGO
    See YouTube Dr John Campbell….
    No mystery, the Government, PHE, NHS and the Westminster Blob all know why there is a turbo cancer epidemic among those boosted by RNA vaccines.

    Comment by Buford T Justice.

    BT

    Buford T Justice
    5 MIN AGO
    Maybe genes, maybe diet, maybe lifestyle – who knows? I’m pretty sure we eat far more processed food now than we ever did. Also the drinking culture is diminishing but I remember back to the 90’s when we had a huge booze culture. Maybe thats starting to take its toll, I dont know EDITED

    Reply by Peter Simpson.

    PS

    Peter Simpson
    1 MIN AGO
    Nor do any of us. So many people here blame their one fixation, plastics, processed food, Lord help us vaccines. Combination of many things not forgetting changes in testing regimes and treatment options and new imaging technologies such as PET.

    Comment by C Baker.

    CB

    C Baker
    5 MIN AGO
    Too many Pop Tarts.

    Reply by Kate Robertson.

    KR

    Kate Robertson
    2 MIN AGO
    You think the privately educated super thin fit famous woman eats junk food ?

  133. Someone has forgotten their history lessons…………..

    JERUSALEM —

    The KGB has adopted novel,

    brutal and apparently effective methods of dealing with terrorists who

    attack Soviet interests in the Middle East, an Israeli newspaper

    reported Monday.

    The Jerusalem Post said the Soviet secret police

    last year secured the release of three kidnaped Soviet diplomats in

    Beirut by castrating a relative of a radical Lebanese Shia Muslim

    leader, sending him the severed organs and then shooting the relative in

    the head.

    The incident began when four Soviet diplomats were

    kidnaped last September by Muslim extremists who demanded that Moscow

    pressure the Syrian government to stop pro-Syrian militiamen from

    shelling rival Muslim positions in the northern Lebanese city of

    Tripoli.

    The militiamen, the Jerusalem paper said, did not cease their attacks, and

    the body of one of the Soviet diplomats, Arkady Katkov, was found a few

    days later in a field in Beirut.

    The KGB then apparently kidnaped

    and killed a relative of an unnamed leader of the Shias’ Hezbollah

    (Party of God) group, a radical, pro-Iranian group that has been

    suspected of various terrorist activities against Western targets in

    Lebanon.

    https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-07-mn-13892-story.html

    2. That is how those mediterranean societies react, so it is an effective way to deal with them. Unlike our hand-wringing and eternal searches for “the good guys.”

  134. Does anybody know why the meedja has been obsessing about poor, lovely Kate and still will not let it go? it’s such an obvious dead cat. What are they trying to distract us from?

    1. I’ve no idea, but if you read down the threads here you can get a flavour of why some people think we should be told everything.

    2. The reason is nothing to do with Kate. It’s because there was an obvious conspiracy to mislead the public and the media collaborated. Talking about poor lovely Kate is just a smokescreen.

        1. A word to the wise;
          Leave well alone.
          If you must rise to him ask him exactly where he would draw the line at what the Royal family should disclose to the public.
          He believes they are “special” individuals who have no rights to privacy because of who they are.

          2. Since our dear departed Ann/Lottie passed away, I’m actually glad thed R232 has arrived here. He’s wrong, obviously, but it makes this site a broader ‘church’…

          3. Each to their own.
            LotL stated what she believed, this character won’t define where he would draw the line at what the Royal family should disclose to the general public.
            I believe they should be allowed some areas of privacy, this one doesn’t appear to, but who knows, as he won’t answer the question.

        2. Do you know I’ve written quite a lot here about this and you can read my historial if you like. I don’t want to write it all out again for the moment. I think I’ve avoided the Polly route but maybe you would disagree.

          1. Had a peek into your history rob. It’s unlikely we would agree. I’m not anti-conspiracy theory per se, and am alert to many conspiracies, but I don’t swallow all of them without solid evidence or reason. We do live in febrile times.

          2. Our press is very controlled. But although you may believe this, somehow it always comes as a surprise when you actually find evidence of this.

          4. Evidence that the press is controlled. and I am talking generally here. no matter how immune you think you are obvious bias, manipulated reporting and misleading information always comes as a surprise.

          5. Well, we all know that. I’m just interested in what the present misdirection is supposed to hide

          6. Well we were not supposed to know that Kate was so seriously ill. This has been prised out of the administration because of a series of incompetent blunders as palace officials published doctored photos and videos.

          7. But that is none of our business! It’s ridiculous, the press frenzy. Anyway, I’m off to my bed now. Hasta manana!

    3. The reason is nothing to do with Kate. It’s because there was an obvious conspiracy to mislead the public and the media collaborated. Talking about poor lovely Kate is just a smokescreen.

      1. I know. I’ve just been trying to clarify something similar on the Israel/Arab subject. But I have got as long as you need , and if you are prepared to explain you do have my eternal gratitude, for what that’s worth

  135. Here is a brilliant obituary read ..

    James Sharpe, historian who studied witchcraft and how violence changed over centuries – obituary
    He observed trends such as how the 19th-century life-insurance boom led to a rise in murder for profit, with victims including many infants

    His 650-page history of violence in England, A Fiery & Furious People, was chosen by the Telegraph as a Book of the Year in 2016. The title was the chronicler Froissart’s description of the mob that ran amok in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.

    Sharpe’s book looked back to a time when “endemic violence” was part of everyday life, and, drawing on an astonishing variety of archives, examined the history of English violence from riots to 18th-century highwaymen, and from executioners to 20th-century serial killers, charting the steep decline in overall levels of violence.

    He showed that average annual homicide rates in 13th-century rural England were 20 per 100,000 of population; the equivalent figure in England today is 1.15 per 100,000. Life for the medieval English peasant was more dangerous than for Mexicans today.

    Oxford, where the murder rate in the 1340s was 120 per 100,000, was particularly prone to violence, pitching town against gown, students against college servants and student groups attacking other student groups.

    In contrast to today, when most murderers are close relations of their victims, people in the Middle Ages were much more likely to be killed by strangers. Murders within the family occurred at about the same level as they do today.

    Statistics could give a false impression, however. The high murder rate in the Middle Ages was due in part to the fact that without the benefits of modern medicine, victims of violence were more likely to die; and the superficially significant nearly fourfold increase in serial killings between 1960 and 2006 was entirely due to the activities of one man: Harold Shipman.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/03/23/james-sharpe-violence-witchcraft-social-history-england/

    1. “Life for the medieval English peasant was more dangerous than for Mexicans today.”

      Ay, Chihuahua! Do we have many Mexicans in England presently, Belle?

    2. I find the obituaries usually to be the most interesting section of the media outlets.

      1. I have owned a few trannys. Brilliant vans. I deplore the move of production from So’ton to Turkey, but such is life. I may have missed the point here…

        1. I think you may have, Geoff. I think that Sos was referring to transistor radios. Lol.

    5. It’s all becoming very very stupid.
      As is the refereeing in the England Brazil Friendly at Wembley. The ref has a blind spot for Brazilian fouling. And al of their constant diving.

  137. Heavily laden Royal Marines of 45 Royal Marine Commando, carrying 140lb packs, enter Port Stanley after a remarkable 40 mile march across the Island. Their route from the west coast to the east took them through marshes and mountains, included night time marching and was at that time the longest march in full kit in the history of the Commando force.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/45a71a3df054d2c5282fe424e346ea79c705ee5f27e8436fdd814bba5d689b00.jpg

    1. I love the old SLR, even if it was very long and difficult to debus with in a hurry.

        1. A big bullet, moving fast.
          Heavy to carry, with ammo and the rest of your gear, for 40+ miles. But those lads were fit, and something the rest of us could be proud of.

          1. Even more impressive when you remember a lot of them smoked and had been living on one man rats for a couple of weeks.

          2. Bet they had barely had a crap in all that time (which is why you only got s few sheets of shny bog papaer in the compo box). Thank God for the cans of “Rich Cake”!

  138. Met a chap who breeds Ovcharka’s today. They’re a little big bigger than Mongo is.

    He has some puppies he wants to find homes for….

        1. I only ask because I’ve never heard of such a dog before and googled it – they look exactly the kind of dog that i would like to have but would never get past Lord O who prefers a small feisty terrier.

    2. I expect pups like that are not suitable for a temperate climate or central heating , in the the UK .

      Seems so unfair to have huge dogs that puff and pant in the UK .

      1. The kitchen and hall way are often not heated, and the bedrooms are cooler than the living room.

        Last night I saw Junior wrapped around Mongo and a blanket over them both, so I think they’re ok. Besides, as folk know, we don’t have central heating. It’s one of my biggest annoyances! (not to mention the marital strain’).

  139. It – he? was beautiful and massive. Mongo’s big, but he’s more likely to roll over and want a tummy rub. This one was clearly far more alert and ‘awake’.

    I’m not sure, as they’re dominant and powerful. If Mongo or Oscar are having a bad day, the most annoying they are is usually a whuff and a fart. This thing could (and by all accounts has) pulled bannisters off.

  140. This is exactly why i cannot persuade Lord O to may way of thinking. As a matter of interest, do they work in this country?

    1. Aye, the fellow works in tech support for a bank. I’ve never owned a ‘fighter’ dog. Newfies are working dogs but not guard dogs. Even with Junior Mongo has only ever stood in front of him or between the warqueen and I when we’ve argued.

      The one today was very clearly thinking ‘I could take you’.

        1. His? No, he’s a family pet. Mine? Life no. The closest Mongo came was pulling his little cart for a show.

  143. Banned from commenting on the Speccie again after slipping a few waspish remarks through the net. I would contest this robustly if I had not discontinued my subscription. Nevertheless, it still runs, they still have my money – and they choose to silence my voice as and when it suits them.

  144. Midsomer Murders with the Inland Revenue Inspector dead in the cider vat (Yay!).
    The trouble is if the body had been in the vat too many hours it wouldn’t be recognisable and you certainly wouldn’t taste it in the cider as the acid would dissolve everything. When we canned our cider we had to double lacquer the can interiors as otherwise the cider would eat its way out.

        1. I am aware that Port is comprised of decomposed rats as much as anything else. I suppose a few VAT inspectors spread around many bottles of cider is no different.

          3. That may be the way you Welsh do things but we English are more civilised and just don’t invite them around for dinner. 🙂

    1. “Double wrapped, to keep all the flavour in and all the dirt out” as Hopalong Cassidy told all the children of my generation. It was marketed as “Hoppy’s favourite sweet”. (I particularly liked the Old English flavoured ones.)

      1. I have a little Jeep that I pootle around in and it’s only just now that I realise what the rear lights remind me of

  147. Russians can’t tell the difference between Исида and Киев – it’s all Греческий to them.

      1. I think (but I cannot be sure) that she said that Russians cannot tell the difference between ISIS and Kiev, it’s all Greek to them. But I could be wrong.

  148. Well, Good Night, chums. Sleep well, awaken refreshed and I hope to see you all tomorrow. (Only a week now until British Summer Time begins at 2 a.m. on Sunday the 31st when the clocks spring forward.)

  149. No doubt as an historian you are aware of the Abegavenny massacre? Seems to be how we do things here.

  150. Not in direct response to a comment down below, which I cannot find for the life of me:

    Re: the KGB and Israel:

    It is my belief, having delved into this, that at some point between 1948 and 1967 the USSR decided that it would rather align itself with the huge surrounding Arab states than with Israel, which up ’til then it had supported, partially (mostly) because of the communist bent of Israel at that time.

    Anyway, after the war that Israel won (gaining all the lands of Gaza and the West Bank) the KGB got pally with Yasser Arafat and advised him on how to win psychological wars – hence the birth of the idea of “The Palestinians”. These were people displaced during war after war, mostly nomadic Arabs. The UNWRA then gave a disparate diaspora an identity and loadsa money and the KGB gave them an identity – Palestinians!

    I’m too tired to go on now, but will do so if anyone is interested tomorrow

    1. Tsarist Russia in the late 19th C persecuted the Jews, driving them back to Judea, where they bought land from the Ottoman Empire and began to rebuild what had been allowed to fall apart. No one was displaced by that process because in the 1880s there was no one there to displace. The USSR and now the Russian Federation still hates the Jews, seemingly because they survived. I have much sympathy with Orthodox Russia (especially in their resistance to globalism) but their antisemitism is a blind spot and it stinks.

      1. O quite, Sue! The history is long and complex and has been subject to lie, after lie, after lie.

      2. Russian Orthodoxy bought into the Third Rome madness of Tsarist autocracy and is classic Caesaropapism and therefor heretical. It’s corrupted by that flaw and is bent to the service of the gangster state. Anti Semitism is just one nasty side effect.
        It also persecutes Russian Protestants.

    2. I said it was the CIA. It has their fingerprints all over it. Look at what is published about what they have got up to before.

  153. Another day is done so, I wish you goodnight and may God bless you all, Gentlefolk. Bis morgen früh.

  154. 384932 + up ticks,

    Pillow ponder,

    Although a very serious issue I do consider Batley to be small beer alongside the paedophile
    muslim pakistani ,sixteen plus year coverup, by police and council members in rotherham rochdale.

    What happened to those kids many now mentally disturbed adults, should really have those politico’s, police, and council members off their knees and blindfolded with backs to the wall awaiting the order to FIRE.

    https://x.com/kelvmackenzie/status/1771622759254069362?s=20

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