Sunday 11 August: The alarming blindspot at anti-racist demonstrations on Britain’s streets

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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677 thoughts on “Sunday 11 August: The alarming blindspot at anti-racist demonstrations on Britain’s streets”

  2. Good morning, chums. And thank you, Geoff, for today's NoTTLe site.

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    1. Good morning
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    2. Sometimes I have a good start

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  4. Good Morning, all

    Dull as you all know

    Now they are coming for the children

    Schools to wage war on ‘putrid’ fake news in anti-extremism crackdown

    Pupils will be taught to spot conspiracy theories in curriculum revamp after riots sweep UK

    Nick Gutteridge, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
    10 August 2024 • 9:00pm

    h ttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/10/schools-wage-war-on-putrid-fake-news-in-wake-of-riots/
    **************************************

    Paul Smith
    9 HRS AGO
    This sounds good!! Does that mean the children will be taught that there is only a male or a female and a man cannot be a woman and a woman cannot be a man? Will they be taught that there are only two genders, no furries no other weird sounding names only a man and a woman!!
    Will they be taught that white people are NOT the cause of all the ills of the world? Will they be taught their own history in all its glory? Will they be taught the truth that Great Britain was built by the British and was not built by immigrants?
    I wont be holding my breath.

    And fasands more similar comments BTL

    3. My children had some similar class that was called something like spotting media manipulation. It was basically teaching the kids not to believe anything that isn't mainstream or government narrative.
      Fortunately they had a teacher who was a left wing rebel, and she instilled some questioning of the system into the kids.
      They also had a right wing rebel maths teacher but he died suddenly shortly after the jabs were rolled out :-((

  6. DISCRIMINATION!!! Why didn't all these lovely Socialist Worker people get an invitation to Phizzee's party?

    Hundreds of Leftists Protest Outside Farage Party Offices in London

    https://media.breitbart.com/media/2024/08/AP24223507747649-1-640×480.jpg

    The London offices of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party were surrounded by hundreds of leftist protesters on Saturday amid attempts to blame the Brexit campaigner for the recent bout of anti-mass migration riots in Britain.

    As leftist “anti-racism” rallies took place across the UK on Saturday, hundreds carrying ‘Stand Up to Racism’ placards and waving Palestinian flags descended upon the offices for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in London.

    According to GB News, the leftist crowd could be heard chanting, “Nazi scum – off our streets” and “stop Farage”. A banner featuring a swastika being tossed into a bin was also seen at the demonstration.

    Some of those gathered outside the Reform offices told the news outlet that they were avowed Marxists, Leninists, and others admitted to being members of the Communist Party of Turkey.

    Despite Mr Farage consistently condemning political violence, before and after the recent outbreak of riots, many on the left and establishment media have attempted to blame him for the violence.

    “I do not support street protest violence or thuggery in any way and that’s why for 30 years I fought elections because I believe that democracy is the peaceful way to solve problems,” the Reform UK leader said earlier this week.

    In response to the protest outside their offices in London, a Reform spokesman said: “The Victoria Street office has been a postal address only for a number of years.

    “This demonstration and the invasion of our offices in previous years by extremist left wing campaigners has, for the security and health of our staff, meant that we have had to do this.

    “The head office is not in London, and you will understand why we are not going to reveal its whereabouts given the thuggery and aggression of the far left whose only thought to democratic opposition is to bully and attempt to intimidate it into silence.”

    Mr Farage also revealed this week that, as a result of the accusations that he was to blame for the riots, which erupted after a mass stabbing at a children’s dance party in Southport at the alleged hands of a second-generation Rwandan migrant, he was forced to increase his personal protection detail after receiving warnings over his safety.

    1. Rent-a-mob with their Soros funded banners. Very few banners, even homemade ones, at the TR rally. Just national flags.

      1. Useful idiots. If they're white useful idiots they're 'heaping up their own funeral pyre' , as someone somewhere once said.

      2. A good point – when and where were these banners made, by whom were they made and who paid for them?

        Would the government be interested is finding out the answers to these questions? No – I didn't think so.

        My guess is that they were made some time ago and are kept in a warehouse ready to be used when a suitable manufactured opportunity arises.

        These left wing fascists must have their pre-selected bogey men and the truth – that both Tmmyy Robinson and Nigel Frage have openly condemned violence – is if no interest to them at all.

        Indeed I can see very little evidence that there is an organised far right – the trouble makers are probably extreme leftists – who are better organised – who riot to give the impression that it is the far right who are doing so.

      1. I rather suspect that, on this occasion, they may have been paid for by 2Tier/HMG's special little slush fund rather than George Soros.

  7. Just heard a piece on R4's Sunday programme about the recent evenements. Every bit as balanced as you might expect.

  8. Elon Musk Says Ex-Scottish Leader Humza Yousaf Is ‘Super Racist,’ ‘Loathes White People’

    https://media.breitbart.com/media/2024/08/AP24223301605076-1-1-640×480.jpg
    Tech billionaire Elon Musk branded former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf as “super racist” over the far-left politician’s previous complaints about too many white people being in positions of authority in Scotland.

    Continuing his row with the political establishment in the United Kingdom, X boss Elon Musk turned his fire on Humza Yousaf, who led the locally-devolved government in Scotland for a little over a year before being unceremoniously forced out of office in May.

    Responding to Yousaf’s infamous Black Lives Matter-inspired 2020 speech in the Scottish Parliament, in which he listed off the major positions of power held by white people in Scotland, Musk branded the leftist politician as “super, super racist.”
    *
    *
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/08/10/musk-brands-ex-scottish-leader-humza-yousaf-super-super-racist/

    1. Elon Musk Says Ex-Scottish Leader Humza Yousaf Is ‘Super Racist,’ ‘Loathes White People’

      I'm amazed at Elon's perception in regard to the UK and its political class. He doesn't live here but he might as well.

      1. I think he realises that Britain is the key stone. We think America is the bastion of liberty and democracy but, let us not forget, the men who wrote the constitution of the USA were Englishmen, in spirit at least, if not all in fact. It was based on ideas born in England. They had a revolution while we have had an evolution to arrive, for a brief moment, at democracy. That is over now, I feel.

        If Britain falls. the West falls. It's as simple as that.

        1. Yes, we are doing a good(ish) job of fighting back against “trans women” hence we are called “Terf Island”.. they do pay some attention to what happens over here and these victories give succour to folks fighting the same battles over there

    2. The Leader of HM Opposition may reside abroad, but his influence, following & voice is still enormous.
      And the best part.. Sir Keir Starmer would fail to have him extradited for terrorism & opinion crimes against humanity because he lives in the USA.. and they must have an equivalent crime over there. The Americans may be insane, but they are not that insane.

    3. The Leader of HM Opposition may reside abroad, but his influence, following & voice is still enormous.
      And the best part.. Sir Keir Starmer would fail to have him extradited for terrorism & opinion crimes against humanity because he lives in the USA.. and they must have an equivalent crime over there. The Americans may be insane, but they are not that insane.

  9. Specialist police hunt social media influencers who incited riots online. 11 August 2024.

    Teams working for regional organised crime units are investigating hundreds of leads after trawling through social media posts suspected of inciting far-Right rioting by “spreading hate and inciting violence”.

    Officers from the serious and organised crime team are working with counter-terror police and other national agencies to review content across a range of social media sites.

    The New Stasi at work.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/10/police-social-media-influencers-riots-incited-online/

    2. Bear this in mind.. this is what you are up against.
      .
      in the aftermath of this famous confrontation.. the Lefties actually believed James Clayton did well standing up to the chief-distributor of hate speech.. misinformation.. and incitement to murder.
      .
      the gulf is sooooo wide, it's unbreachable. Future looks bad.
      https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8Qz_p1XvvgE

  12. Ukraine’s Kursk offensive is a disaster for Putin. 11 August 2024.

    The delayed response has reportedly allowed Ukrainian forces to advance as far as 10 kilometres inside Russia’s territory, forcing Moscow to declare a ‘federal emergency’ in the region and tell several thousand of civilians from districts around the town of Sudzha to relocate. It’s the deepest cross-border advance by Kyiv since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.

    Much is being made of this in the MSM. The 10 Kilometre advance tells you the truth of it. There was nothing to prevent the Ukies penetrating further into this lightly guarded sector of the border except the fear of being cut off from their line of retreat. It is not some “turning point” in the war as the Telegraph suggests but a distraction. It poses no threat to Russia’s national or military security and the delayed response was probably more due to the hope that they would withdraw without any forces being sent to repel them than for any other reason. .

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/ukraines-kursk-offensive-is-a-pr-disaster-for-putin/

    2. The Ukrainians were attempting to capture and seize control of a nuclear power plant in the Kursk region. They would have needed to move a lot faster than they did to seize the plant. In the event the Russians deployed their reserves to halt the Ukrainian advance and are presently repelling it.

      This information is freely available on independent news channels and on specialist podcasts.

      Apart from attempting to capture the nuclear power plant and intimidate the Russian population the Ukrainians hoped to draw Russian troops from the battlefront within Ukraine itself. The Russians held their positions of advance in Ukraine and brought in reserves to deal with the incursion into Kursk district.

    3. Meanwhile, over on RT…

      “Ukrainian heavy armor destroyed in Kursk Region – MOD (VIDEO)

      A Russian Lancet drone took out a Soviet-era tank during fighting near the border, the Defense Ministry has said“.

    1. Rick, you beat me to it by 20 or so minutes! I'll leave my post up as it has a couple of additions.

    2. Good one, Elon.
      A man of sufficiently high profile to be almost proof against being arrested for posting that clip.

  16. G'morning all,

    Wind's in the East at McPhee Towers, cloudy but brightening up, 17℃, 28℃ this afternoon.

    Nothing much to get me excited today. Perhaps I'm becoming 'normalised', to use Yuri Bezmenov's fourth stage of subversion. On the other hand, I have noticed that the Telegraph does seem to have gone full 'Pravda' when writers such as Lord Hannan of Kingsclere and Janet Daley are putting out offerings such as those under their names on the website today. Are they writing what they've been told to write?

  17. Medley Time
    lambs and sheep spring to mind……….
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    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a1cf852b7ceb6b29205c6b87adda44243821f4b17e291094a3d74745ab124976.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/02952794b4b6736fea8e9491fb747be77e6b62d0797c805d93a87a57ab629127.jpg
    https://i.imgflip.com/8zrn41.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1ae96d86ff6c4bbcf525acfe40e8fd80e3dbefdd21c699e15bd072a43c527744.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cf7527853dec02455d32638100d0555890f09c96a1dceef5c34bb3aaba35f299.jpg

  18. A must-read for all cynical superannuated NoTTLers such as me from yesterday's Daily Sceptic

    Were the ‘Spontaneous’ Anti-Racism Rallies Even Real?
    BY STEVEN TUCKER 10 AUGUST 2024 7:00 AM

    This is a tale of two placards.

    Here’s one from recent anti-immigration protests in Middlesbrough on Sunday August 4th, pointing out that “Tom Jones is Welsh, Axel Rudakubana isn’t!”, Axel being the main suspect in the Southport mass stabbings of schoolgirls on July 29th.
    https://dailysceptic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-27.png
    Here, meanwhile, is one from pro-immigration counter-protests in Birmingham on Wednesday August 7th, arguing that “Migrants make our NHS: Stop the scapegoating”.
    https://dailysceptic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-28.png
    Guess which one of these two signs the media and political class will most approve of? It would be extremely easy for such superior persons to mock the Middlesbrough banner. Quite apart from its message, it just looks so… amateurish. It’s all done in crude capitals, barely fits onto the right-hand side of the sign, and the word “chld” has a missing ‘i’ in it and its makers haven’t even noticed. The Birmingham one is altogether more acceptable. Professionally printed, with bright block colours and easily readable, properly spelled text, with its right-on slogan cannily linking migrants back to the U.K.’s current national religion (its forthcoming one is Islam) of the NHS, it almost seems to have been produced via focus-group. Which, on reflection, it may very possibly have been.

    The word ‘amateurish’, after all, is often just a synonym for ‘home-made’ – or, put another way within the present context, ‘real’. ‘The word ‘professional’, however, has altogether different connotations. Rather than ‘home-made’, it indicates something more like ‘factory-made’, ’precision-tooled’ or ‘specialist-designed’ – or, within the present context, ‘unreal’.

    According to the standard media and political narrative, we are now told that, following a week of supposedly wholly “unrepresentative” and “fascist” anti-immigrant riots, on Wednesday night, under threat of an imminent neo-Nazi assault upon the entire nation, a far greater number of “real” people, representing the “true” nature of Great Britain and its shared collective values, took to the streets to show the world who the country actually was: a bunch of bleeding-heart hippies. If that’s so, how come the former protests all looked so incredibly amateurish, chaotic, but real, whereas the latter gatherings all appeared so impeccably professional, well-organised and artificial?

    Perhaps it is because the much-vaunted anti-racism rallies did not actually take place at all.

    Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Whiteness of Crowds
    I do not mean to suggest the counter-protests literally did not take place in a physical, three-dimensional sense on the ground, or that photos of them were all faked. I just mean that, unlike the original anti-immigration ones, they seem far less organic and self-organised from the bottom up by members of the actual local community. Instead, they appear far more top-down in their nature.

    Here, for example, is the full, uncropped image of the pro-immigration protester in Birmingham on Wednesday, and his lovely, diversity-loving chums:
    https://dailysceptic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-29.png
    I would remind you, this particular protest took place in Birmingham, a city where outside visitors are usually forced to play a game of ‘spot the white face’, one they can only usually win if they happen to be Caucasian themselves and carrying a large mirror. And yet here, it is more a case of ‘spot the black face’ (there is one hiding away in there: see if you can spot him yourself, it’s like Where’s Wally for armchair demographers).

    That’s not a real Birmingham crowd is it? I mean, they’re all physically standing there, sure, this isn’t The Matrix. But, to echo Sir Keir Starmer’s recent post-Southport riots speech to the nation in reverse, they do look as if they may have been somewhat “bussed in”, as it were, like Keir claimed all his imaginary mosque-demolishing ‘Nazis’ were in Southport.

    Now compare this suspiciously staged-looking scene to the fuller, uncropped version of the Middlesbrough sign-wielders:
    https://dailysceptic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-30.png
    Which looks more authentically unstaged to you? It’s obviously the latter, isn’t it? The gathering’s complete and abject mediocrity would tend to prove it. And I don’t mean this as an insult – unlike the counter-protesters, these poor people no doubt have massive, local, immigration-caused problems, and absolutely zero resources other than their own anger to tackle them with, as their direly-produced (but witty and honest) banner proves. With the smug, performatively cosmopolitan, comparatively well-resourced counter-protesters, it’s exactly the opposite.

    Methinks They Doth Protest Too Much
    I am reminded inescapably of French philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s 1991 text The Gulf War Did Not Take Place, in which, contrary to the title, he does not argue that the named conflict did not actually happen, just that it may as well not have done, for the watching Western TV audience at home. Baudrillard alleged that many bombing-raids the U.S. performed in Iraq had no actual military utility, but simply functioned to shape the narrative for TV-viewers: already-destroyed factories got a second superfluous bombing on a second night when there was no logical need to do so, purely to reinforce for viewers how overwhelming U.S. airpower was.

    Likewise, it seems likely Wednesday night’s anti-racism rallies served no logical ‘military’ function, either. We are told their whole purpose was to counter a forthcoming far-Right conquest of the whole country, with violence being organised for around 100 separate locations by Nazis on the Telegram messaging app for that same evening. Police officially notified the public Britain was due to be blitzkrieged thus, as did the Home Secretary and PM.

    But was this ever really likely? Britain’s actual full-on neo-Nazi fringe is tiny. If they really were planning to attack in 100 locations simultaneously, this would have to be done in the shape of 100 one-man-army Fourth Reich Aryan super-soldiers, like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando. Sure enough, come Wednesday night, precious few anti-immigrant protestors took to the streets at all. The whole thing seems to have been at best a moral panic, at worst a hoax.

    Instead, the main predictable result of the police, media and politicians pumping out this alarmist fable was to flood the streets with far-Left protesters instead (not that they are ever called that by most media, of course). Watching rolling-news coverage that night was to see a new, politically useful counter-narrative being born before our very eyes. As it became increasingly clear the Nazi army was not going to turn up after all, primarily because there wasn’t one, banner headlines changed abruptly from ‘Communities Braced for Far-Right Anti-Immigrant Invasion’ to ‘Pro-Immigrant Communities Defeat Far-Right Invasion’ instead. The overriding meta-narrative was clear. Set up expectation of imminent social disaster, then let it down with an outpouring of love, unity and collective public Muslim-loving: redemptive bathos on a grand scale.

    But if no such invasion was ever due to actually occur, how could it ever have been defeated? If I hang a big banner from my window saying ‘Vikings Not Welcome Here!’ and then no Vikings do actually come, can I really take any true credit for the fact?

    Stand Up Comedy
    How ‘spontaneous’ was this impromptu outpouring of mass foreigner-worship? Read your Jean Baudrillard. Watching Wednesday’s anti-racism rallies on live TV, unlike ill-organised fuming men and women improvising missiles and firebombs before asylum hotels, I saw speechifiers addressing crowds with microphones, men in hi-viz jackets walking in front of crowds directing their path, and masses upon masses of professionally printed signs, banners and placards, most of which seemed to have been industrially produced by the Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) organisation.

    What is SUTR? According to journalist James Bloodworth, it is a front for the Socialist Workers Party, an extreme Leftist body who, Bloodworth alleges, seek to recruit new members by luring them in with noble-sounding causes like anti-racism, as these appear rather less fringe. SUTR denies this, but what it cannot deny is that it is well-funded by the British trade unions: on its website, it specifically says that “Most unions are affiliated to SUTR as part of their work to combat hatred and division”, and as a result these same bodies have just been busily doling out cash to SUTR’s “Emergency Unity Fund” designed to pay for organisation of all those ‘grass-roots’ rallies you saw taking place on Wednesday.

    Why are trade unions using their members’ fees like this? Don’t many working class people despise mass immigration because it pushes their wages down? Isn’t that one reason they have been protesting lately in places like Middlesbrough? Ah yes, but, explained the SUTR-affiliated Communication Workers’ Union to the minimum-wage thickos whose interests they claim to represent:
    https://dailysceptic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-31.png
    This truth now firmly established, several unions listed as donating to SUTR on their site made promises of practical organisational support to the Wednesday night counter-protests like so:
    https://dailysceptic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-32.png
    So, the ‘spontaneous’ counter-protests were not really entirely ‘spontaneous’ at all, were they? They were actually fairly well organised from above. I’m not trying to claim there were no genuine local protesters at the counter-rallies. I’m sure there were plenty. But it wasn’t quite the 100% organic, grass-roots movement it was falsely portrayed as being, was it? The gangs of outside white-skinned people invading Birmingham on August 7th were actually the far-Left, not the far-Right.

    Non-Spontaneous Human Combustion
    Back in 2019, online outlet Middle East Eye published an excellent investigation into something called “controlled spontaneity”, a method of psychological control over the general population devised by the state following Britain’s last major riots of 2011.

    Fearing more riots may erupt during the 2012 Olympics, should any terror attack occur during it, a project was designed with the intention “to shape public responses, encouraging individuals to focus on empathy for the victims and a sense of unity with strangers, rather than reacting with violence and anger” – in 2024 terms, that means holding up placards praising Bangladeshis for supposedly saving the NHS, rather than fire-bombing any more mosques.

    The whole idea was to provide “an anaesthetic for the local community” by diverting public anger instead into becoming an orgy of saccharine “Princess Diana-esque grief”, with love being the drug considered to have the greatest soporific effect. Government psy-ops agents were co-opted to hand out free flowers to strangers in ‘impromptu’ displays of public-spiritedness, or paste up posters with pre-written, focus-grouped hashtags like #LoveWillWin or #UnitedAgainstAllTerror, designed to go viral online.

    Within the current context, one wonders if the present 10-day wonder of #NansAgainst Nazis, which we are told was devised by a mysterious elderly Liverpudlian anti-fascism veteran known only as ‘Pat’, was another slogan designed by a PR expert then stored away just waiting to be unleashed as soon as ‘Nazis’, not Islamists, became the new temporary public enemy number one. (The nans have since magically multiplied like amoebas to defend random Muslims even further.) Here’s a handy list of other ‘heartwarming’ events from recent days printed by the Guardian: real or psyops? You decide!

    Bee As One
    It seems one of the places this plan of “controlled spontaneity” was put into operation was in Manchester, following the Islamist bombing of little girls gathered at Manchester Arena to see a concert by teen-pop idol Ariane Grande back in 2017. An interesting 2021 academic study of events organised by Manchester City Council in the aftermath of the atrocity shows how they were specifically designed to bring people together and brainwash them into thinking “there is more that unites us than divides us”, a palpably false slogan I’d love to see these same people try and push in the Gaza Strip right now.

    The basic idea was to create a “community of affect”, or emotion, in which, via public singalongs of appropriate songs, like ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ by Oasis, rather than ‘The Wake-Up Bomb’ by R.E.M., people would be made to feel as one, and not go all Tutsi and Hutu on one another with machetes in the middle of the Arndale Centre. The bee, meanwhile, formerly an obscure civic symbol of Manchester as a hive of 19th-century industry, suddenly became reborn as an all-purpose emblem of togetherness – bees tend to all share the same opinions in their hives, you see, very few are independent-minded dissenters from enforced political consensus like Daily Sceptic readers. Did these newly ubiquitous bee-logos in question really just begin ‘spontaneously’ appearing printed or graffitied all over local T-shirts, posters, walls, etc.? Or were other, higher, forces at work here too?

    With the concert of a popular popstar attacked, the bombing was also opportunistically repurposed to become “an attack on a fan community” too, rather than, say, an attack on underage white non-Muslim infidels, which is what the perpetrator presumably actually intended. That’s not very conciliatory an image, though, so instead innocent-seeming visual iconography relating to Ariane Grande was repurposed as peace symbols, with the bunny ears she sometimes wears on-stage being reshaped into a peace-ribbon, for example. In this way, the fact there is no genuine shared cohesive community in existence across multicultural, mass immigration Britain any more is disguised by constructing a wholly artificial pop-culture one instead. This was an attack not on white non-believers but on innocent little ‘Grandies’, or whatever the singer’s fans are called.
    https://dailysceptic.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/image-33.png
    As the authors of the study show, the state-directed inducement of positive affects or emotions acts as “a resource for techniques of power”, with members of the public participating in “events planned by the municipal authorities, sometimes accepting the terms of togetherness offered by the city, and sometimes improvising responses that repurposed elements of the events”. In other words, the state provided a basic ‘framework’ of acceptable emotions to be expressed in public, channelled citizens towards them, then allowed them to semi-improvise around these themes semi-independently.

    Peace, Love and Complete Misunderstanding
    Due to such techniques, state manipulation of the public psyche becomes deniable. Not every poster or cuddly toy placed in shrines to the dead is a Government plant, nor has every placard or hashtag been designed by Svengalis from on high. But, once you’re aware of such devious psyops techniques, every local tribute, genuine or not, suddenly begins to look potentially suspicious.

    Post-Southport, one local tribute to the stabbed girls was called ‘The Swifties Bubble Blow’, “Swifties” being Taylor Swift fans, as the children were stabbed whilst attending a Taylor Swift dance event. Here, local kids and their families were asked to blow bubbles into the sky thereby to “send kisses to Heaven” to comfort the dead girls’ souls, whilst a local musician sang “a heartfelt song”. Was this a real, organically-generated event? Or a state-generated pseudo-event?

    The named organiser could well have been completely genuine. Then again, the ceremony does have distinct echoes of the state’s alleged controlled spontaneity plan post-Manchester to disingenuously relabel an attack from a non-white adult on little white children as a non-religiously motivated attack upon an arbitrary community of pop-star fandom instead. Now we know this kind of thing happens, we begin to become paranoid, capable of interpreting any expressions of grief as manipulative Government psyops campaigns.

    My own opinion is that the Bubble Blow was indeed a real tribute, but I’m equally suspicious that state operators will one day try to imitate the previous Manchester Ariane Grande campaign by co-opting Taylor Swift imagery into future tributes in order to spuriously “bring us all together”. But if so, this would surely only end up being a mere sticking-plaster. Making people go all gooey inside over dead infants for a few minutes doesn’t really alter the fact that, once the music has stopped, the nation is still stuffed full of opposing camps who hate one another’s guts – do note how, within a week of the ‘healing’ Southport bubble-blowing extravaganza, Islamists over in Austria unaccountably still tried to kill yet more of her young fans with bombs and knives.

    Controlled spontaneity is really just a form of temporary displacement activity, designed to distract us all from the unmitigated civilisational disaster being imposed on us from on high by a morally blind, immigration-addicted state whose agents then claim falsely to be able to step in and protect us all from the very problem they themselves have artificially created for no good reason.

    There was one remarkable image last week of true overriding unity between previously divided camps in Belfast, where men brandishing Irish tricolours and British Union Jacks marched down the streets together – in the name of kicking all the blacks and Muslims out. Somehow, I don’t think MI5 was behind that particular potential future Hallmark Cards image.

    1. It has been suggested that these so-called 'anti-fascist' demonstrators. are paid to turn up.

      1. …are finished?

        Only fifty eight and a half months left before the car comes to rest.

        Where will this Country be after that length of time?

          3. They’ve been itching to get back into power for 14 years and I don’t think that they will relinquish that power without a fight. Labour’s mission once was to improve the lot of the working class by creating opportunity for all in education, health, jobs etc but those ideals are long forgotten. They’re still on a mission and it’s not quite clear what that mission is but it’s not looking favourable for the Country as a whole.

            The real turning point will be when Labour’s intent becomes clear to the masses. e.g. the Net Zero madness will be in the van of their policy war. It will impact on people and their livelihoods, their quality of life etc. It’s going to be so costly that I can’t see how it can be implemented without tragic consequences for many, many people.

          4. and with no effect on climate change because the big 3 or 4 countries are ignoring it and in fact increasing their emissions
            We are governed by effin idiots

  20. Fun fact.
    In 1660 John Bunyan, who later would write Pilgrim’s Progress, began 12 years of imprisonment in England for his preaching against the religion of Ye Commie-woo-woo Wokerism.

    1. Whoso beset him round
      With dismal stories
      Do but themselves confound
      His strength the more is

      As historians say – continuity through change.

    2. As I walk’d through the wilderness of this world, I lighted upon a certain place where there was a Den, and I laid me down to sleep; and as I slept I dreamed a Dream. I Dreamed, and behold I saw a man clothed with Rags, standing in a certain place, with his face from his own house, and a great Book in his hand, and a great Burden on his back. I looked, and saw him open the Book, and read therein; and as he read, he wept and trembled; and not being able longer to contain, he brake out with a lamentable cry, saying, What shall I do?

      1. Who would true valour see – let him come hither.

        And while we're at it let's hope we can also sort out the troops of Midian who prowl and prowl around!

        (They used to read an adaptation of Pilgrim's Progress to us at prep school)

        We must always be particularly on our guard against hobgoblins and foul fiends!

        1. That seems to have been expunged from the new version. When I was singing it at school, it was hobgoblins and foul friends 🙂

    1. From the Mountain of Moncayo in Aragon

      Excessive Heat Warning State Meteorological Agency 28°C
      Sunday 10:20 Sunny

        1. No.
          I went to the annual comedy film festival in Tarazona, famous for being a mudejar city.
          When the Moors were expelled the Muslims who converted to Christianity and were thus allowed to stay were known as Moriscos. Their art and culture is very prevalent in this Spanish city.
          Of historical interest.
          But the festival has other origins.

  22. The same sort of HMG mandated click-bait crap plastered all over the front page of The Sinday Grimes

    It’s justice, not revenge: top prosecutor warns rioters could get ten years
    DPP says more cases will follow next week

    The top prosecutor in England and Wales has warned that hundreds more people involved in the riots that have swept the country will be hauled before the courts in the coming days, with the most serious offenders facing up to ten years in jail. Stephen Parkinson, the director of public…

    MATTHEW SYED
    Instead of sniping, we should salute police heroes who saw off thugs
    In Liverpool, police officers — men and women — stood firm as a baying mob pelted them with fireworks, petrol bombs and rocks. Footage later emerged from a helmet-cam and it was like something out of a war zone — frankly, I’d have understood if they had all fled. But these people feel an acute sense of duty, a recognition that public safety…

    1. I'll believe the worms have turned when the next Muslim or black riots take place and the perpetrators are banged up equally harshly and equally quickly.

      1. In common with you, Sue, I also love English. Such a pity that most newspaper editors don't share that love.

      2. There are many on here that love their English language, Sue. I'm proud to include myself among them.

  23. Good morning, all. Bright with broken cloud here.

    The views expressed by Rowan Atkinson in this video and by Benjamin Franklin in the picture would appear not to be what our government and the majority of elected members of the House would want to hear. As for the last picture, almost there!

    https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1822355008559489216
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/70c728b98a71586a3c25540c78cbb30b7e510185cdebd466b05ca553f95b4f78.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ba993cbc804abdf1c366c0263b9e97b692de26848372e9bc1716a450d329a80a.png

  24. Morning, all Y'all.
    Sunny! Woken to the roar of chainsaws on neighbouring farm, and shouting indoors, as Firstborn's tiny cat had brought a "friend" in to play with. Finally, "friend" grabbed and hurled out of the window. Now, coffee is fresh, as are croissants, courtesy of SWMBO. Decorating ceilings is the order of the day today, once coffee has been consumed.
    REading last night's comments, looked like I missed a great gathering, courtesy of Phizzee.

      1. Yes, thanks, and replied.
        I always thought T-tails and propellors meant no deep stall (the fans could blow enough wind over the elevators to make them at least partly effective), but now I am wiser and better informed! Thanks!

  25. There's a very interesting article – A Man of Honour – in Free Speech today on a plot to overthrow the US government in the 1930s by a group of oligarchs that has resonance today.

    freespeechbacklash.com

    1. Re Smarmer, just goes to show that you can't believe a thing a politician who hasn't done his research says.

      1. Just goes to show that you can't believe a thing a politician who hasn't done his research says.
        That's better, I think.
        Morning, Korky!

        1. Morning, OB. Glorious day here at the moment. You're probably correct, the truth tellers are as common as rocking horse manure. Great for AI virtual gardens, I've heard.

    2. "are you sure about that?"
      Starmer looked at me.. And he said..
      🎵You're faaar right. You're racist. Homophobe. You're a xenophobe. You patriarchal transphobic. islamophobic. You're spreading HATE. You're SPREADING HATE. YOU'RE SPREADING HATE. You're lidderally Hilter.🎵

  28. I have close relatives who are Jews living in Finchley. My sister married one.

    The International Holocaust Remembrance Association's definition is flawed, and it does no Government, be they that of Keir Starmer or Theresa May, any credit in accepting it.

    Criticism of an openly warmongering (and I do suggest it is using methods and attitudes shared by the Nazis) foreign regime, including one democratically elected, is not a hate crime, but fair political comment. It is usually dismissed by the government implicated, who would simply say they are tackling terrorism. It needs to be said though, and examined in an open forum.

    By making this criticism, much of it shared by Jews who are not supporters of the Right and the Extreme-Right (in a fascistic sense, rather than a conservative one), forbidden by International Law, brings the law and its institutions that deliver this false justice into disrepute. Far worse though, is that it dilutes and distracts public attention from the sort of Jew-hatred that brought us Kristallnacht, and which could erupt unchalleged into attacks on innocent Jews.

    It is not inconsistent for a State of Israel, run by Jews for Jews, to be hospitable and indeed embrace Gentiles of good will within their nation. Indeed they could go out of their way to make them feel as welcome and as part of the community as those Jews who were once in exile abroad, but welcomed in by their hosts and allowed to prosper, as the Jews of Finchley have been.

    Now, immediately, others might point out the perils of multiculturalism, and indeed Tom Armstrong had a lively debate on this not long ago in Free Speech Backlash. I do not know the answer alone, but more minds working on it are better than one. I do ask though – who are the indigenes and who are the settlers? And who are we to impose an American-style approach from a nation that suppressed its indigenes and pushed for the rights of settlers over them?

    This does not preclude a claim by Palestinians to have their province back – somewhere that has existed since Roman times. There are scores of such claims in the world, including within the UK, such as Scotland. I might argue that ghettoising supporters of the old regime and adopting an apartheid system may be tidy, but it may not be the best one. Allowing Palestine to pass peacefully into history demands a level of humility and forgiveness from the Jews – something once promoted by one Jesus of Nazareth. However, since many of the Palestinians are followers of a religion, which itself has extreme fascistic elements built into its scriptures and its application, it may not be only the Jews who need to adopt a more maganimous approach to their neighbours.

    In the meantime, rather than being a conflict between Israeli and Palestinian, I see it as one between fascist and innocent, with both Hamas and the Knesset on one side, and the beleagured civilians, both sides of the fence, on the other. Is it a hate crime to say this?

    1. The big difference is that the Palestinians have an avowed objective of eradicating Israel and the Jews entirely.

      Israel predates Roman "Palestine", which itself was merely an administrative area in their eyes, by centuries.
      The problem is Islam not Judaism.

    1. Now a long time ago I remember walking part of the path it's quite hilly from memory.
      Lovely place to be on a sunny day.

    3. Son and pal completed run on the coastal path
      10.14 miles
      Distance
      1:54:44
      Time

      Rough terrain up and down cliffs .. not bad for a 55year old.

  31. Schools to wage war on ‘putrid’ fake news in anti-extremism crackdown
    Pupils will be taught to spot conspiracy theories in curriculum revamp after riots sweep UK
     https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/10/schools-wage-war-on-putrid-fake-news-in-wake-of-riots/

    As you can imagine this article has provoked dismay and cynicism amongst the extreme right fascist DT readers who have posted BTL comments.. Some of these people dare to doubt the reality of global warming. They are already saying that the science is not settled and there are strong political and economic advantages to some people to push for Net Zero.

    But we need not worry – most of the school teachers in the state system have already fallen into line and the private education system will soon cease to exist and so we can concentrate on getting schoolchildren properly brain-washed educated and the USSR had a brilliant wheeze – they got children to report heir parents to the authorities if they had the wrong ideas. We shall do that.

    .
    BTL

    The Covid vaccine is completely safe. You will not only just have to have one jab and it will stop you getting Covid and stop you passing it on to others.

    Was this True or Fake?

    Who decides?

    1. King calls for unity. Or put another way, please quieten down and stop rocking the boat, plebs.

      I really don't need another member of the world's elite telling me to roll with the programme. If it please him.

      1. Little boxes on the hillside,
        Little boxes made of ticky tacky
        Little boxes on the hillside,
        Little boxes all the same,
        There's a green one and a pink one
        And a blue on and a yellow one
        And they're all made out of ticky tacky
        And they all look the same.

        And the people in the houses
        All went to the university
        Where they were put in boxes
        And they came out all the same
        And there's doctors and lawyers
        And business executives
        And they're all made out of ticky tacky
        And they all look just the same.

        And they all play on the golf course
        And drink their martinis dry
        And they all have pretty children
        And the children go to school,
        And the children go to summer camp
        And then to the university
        Where they are put in boxes
        And they come out all the same.

        And the boys go into business
        And marry and raise a family
        In boxes made of ticky tacky
        And they all look just the same,
        There's a green one and a pink one
        And a blue one and a yellow one
        And they're all made out of ticky tacky
        And they all look just the same.

        Pete Seegar.

        1. Drove through a suburb in the south of San Francisco many, many years ago and saw the 'Ticky Tacky' houses on a hillside hundreds and hundreds of them. I believe they were the inspiration for the songwriter, Malvina Reynolds, Apart from the different colours they did 'All look the same' (from a distance). Not ugly though.

          https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.e8c4874bc5e1ec4a23ae921c12efac1f?rik=aVXptb7ZrR6pow&riu=http%3a%2f%2fc8.alamy.com%2fcomp%2fBP114R%2faerial-view-above-residential-neighborhood-westlake-daly-city-california-BP114R.jpg&ehk=sg%2bJcuS%2fO%2fWujN4c%2bsPyXNPLol5eDl3%2fH2qKK3AB9%2fk%3d&risl=&pid=ImgRaw&r=0

      1. Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame)
        Sirens of Titan (Kurt Vonnegut) Any book by him actually
        Pax Britannica (Jan Morris)
        Bodyguard of Lies ( Anthony Cave Brown)
        How We Invented Freedom and Why it Matters (Daniel Hannan)
        The Philokalia, The Complete Text ( St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth)
        That's about it.
        Before I got cataracts it was 5 a week. I'm really not exaggerating, compulsive reader. on the loo, while eating, on the bus, on a break, wherever there was a minute or two. Used to carry a backpack which was for the books that I would carry around with me. Cataracts killed my compulsive reading and now, glaucoma, has ended reading books completely. I am now a compulsive watcher of videos. Any subject from Aardvark to Zoning!

        1. I re-read The Wind In The Willows last winter.

          IMHO: the best children's book ever written.

      2. Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame)
        Sirens of Titan (Kurt Vonnegut) Any book by him actually
        Pax Britannica (Jan Morris)
        Bodyguard of Lies ( Anthony Cave Brown)
        How We Invented Freedom and Why it Matters (Daniel Hannan)
        The Philokalia, The Complete Text ( St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth)
        That's about it.

    2. Morning Rik ,

      I have read 2 of his books , never ever have I felt more depressed and angry , read those in my twenties during the dark days of cold war nonsense and strange times in the UK.

  34. Started off well. Not bad though,
    Wordle 1,149 4/6

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

    1. I tripped over the right one very quickly today.
      Wordle 1,149 2/6

      ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. My garden is awash, every summer, with white-arsed bumble bees, usually Bombus hortorum, but occasionally B. jonellus and B. lucorum.

      1. Our front garden has a large lavender Bush and all through the day it's covered by dozens of hard working bees.
        I seem to remember several hives along local hedgerows on farm land.
        One of my BiL's use to keep bees and keep us supplied with honey.
        A lovely hobby.

    2. Frankly Bell it makes me feel uneasy but also angry. How dare this putative dictator attempt to invade my mind by curbing my fundamental right to speak and communicate. It means in order to communicate, I must sometimes lie, obfuscate and ignore reality. Those who know me must assume I am a liar and at the same time, I must assume the same thing about them. This is fundamentally evil because it attacks the basis, the ground, on which English civilization was born. We did not become the founders and creators of the modern world by being dishonest, We did it by communicating truths, scientifically, culturally, philosophically, and in parliamentary democracy, with many other fields of human effort. This marvelous culture, this warped PM and his government wish to destroy for a Marxist future of dishonesty and lies. The man is detestable.

    3. Whenever I question … or doubt … the 'fact' that in the late 1960s America, using iffy technology, sent men to land on the moon, and then brought them safely back again … I am denounced as a 'conspiracy theorist'.

      1. If the moon landings were a conspiracy and never took place, it would have needed many tens of thousands of people in the know to have kept quiet about it. Sailors on recovery ships, radio-hams all over the world tuning in to broadcasts, foreign countries monitoring communications, personnel in tracking stations, and thousand of scientists, engineers, doctors and managers in NASA yet, in the decades since, not a single one has had an attack of conscience and produced incontrovertible evidence that it all took place in a parking lot in Hollywood or wherever the conspiracy theorists would have us believe.

      2. I for one agree with you that the actual moon landings resemble a Disney shoot for a primitive sci-fi production. But then I also believe there is incontrovertible evidence that the Twin Towers were demolished by internal detonation.

        1. Indeed. Whenever I moot the point that the fuel load of those airliners couldn't possibly generate the sufficiently intensely high temperatures required to cause the whole of the centre steel superstructure of the two tallest buildings in the USA to collapse, I am denounced as a fantasist.

          1. I have viewed several new videos showing different angles of the collapse. One such was taken and only recently released by a Japanese photographer.

            The videos show a bright flash of light several storeys above the airliner impact on Tower One and the immediate collapse of the corner of the tower above the impact. In addition there are visible ‘squibs’ denoting the expulsion of air from the points of internal detonations.

            Other analysts have noted movements in the stock markets in the week preceding the attacks in particular airline stocks. The same analysts have predicted the imminence of global conflicts by similar linkages and this is a recurring feature of conflicts for centuries.

  37. Morning all. It's going to reach 27 here by 2 and stay there until 6 this evening, absolutely ghastly and it is going to be worse tomorrow, 28c. Already 23 in the house and I deliberately left all the windows open last night to cool the interior down. But at least that will be the end of it for the week.

    Here is something fun to start of the day. Hope you all enjoy
    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1nuYVnU1bZU

        1. I don't find it too bad, except upstairs at night.

          Breathing is fine, you may be thinking of someone else.

          1. I think Jonathan may be remembering your fairly recent stay in hospital with pneumonia (?) during the winter months. It's good everything has returned to normal with no lasting effects.

          2. Possibly, but the recent stay was for a heart attack, the Pneumonia arrived just before Covid. I was sent home to release the intensive care bed I was occupying as they expected to be inundated with Covid people.
            Interesting times.

  39. Morning all 🙂😊
    And another bright start.
    Spent all afternoon and evening at the local pub for Lukefest. Luke was our eldest sons best man and died of cancer within twelve months of the wedding.
    It's a charity music event at a very popular local pub. This year with a solo singer on acoustic guitar. And two other bands our son being lead guitar in The 88. It was sunny and packed with families and older people enjoying themselves in the large pub garden. Food and drinks available for everyone. Brilliant.
    The Elephant and Castle. Amwell.

    Politics.
    Look at FB and you'll find a section that truly and rightly demoralises the largely irritating and huge irresponsible labour government.
    With thousands of upvotes. Is this what Starmer is looking for on sicial media ?

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

    GRUESOME

    A beautiful lady is on an aeroplane, and finds herself sitting next to a Scotsman, all decked out in traditional Scottish garb. The lady got the attention of the Scot,
    "Excuse me, but what do Scottish men wear under their kilts?"
    The man replied, "Why don' ye reach under me kilt and find out?"
    So the lady reaches under his kilt, then pulls back in horror. "Oh, that's so gruesome!" she exclaimed.
    The Scotsman responded without missing a beat, "Aye, why don' ye reach under again and make it grew some more!"

  41. Is there an article in the Times today in which the government confirms that much of the new housing will be handed to new migrants?

    1. A consequence of the Cherie Blair changes to the criteria for selecting barristers who qualify to 'take silk' which then form the pool from which judges are selected. A very fundamental undermining of our legal system which has shifted leftwards and pedophile-wards without any Act of Parliament or change in the law. A massively important component of the 'March Through the Institutions'.

  43. Dear Two-Tier,

    I think, therefore I am.

    Most times that thinking transmutes into a vocalisation, implementing the vocal cords I was born with for that very purpose.
    Neither you, nor anyone else, shall reduce me to being mute.

    Got that, you Pinko WEF arse-wipe stooge?

      1. I believe we still have the iniquitous European Arrest Warrant. They know where you live!

        1. Indeed they do. The Letters Editor at the DT keeps all Grizz's correspondence on file. {:^))

      1. Grizzly is a Cartesian Dualist but give him a cosh and a baton and a suitable opponent and he will become an artesian duellist.

  44. Thought I'd just dip in to Mel Stride's pitch for Tory leadership. Strikes me as the our policies when in government would have worked given time candidate.

    Next.

    1. I'm not sure which is more worrying, that they are deliberately being this obtuse or if they actually are this obtuse.

      1. Actually are I’d say.

        One of his pitches was that it’s unhelpful to see Cameron at one end of the Conservative political spectrum and the likes of Thatcher and Redwood at the other. Presumably he thinks it’s all about unity again 🥱

        This is a family simply incapable of getting its house in order. Perhaps calling in family councilling will help them?

  45. I sent this to my MP before the election and was thinking I need to send something in a similar vein wondering where His Majesty's Loyal Opposition has gone:

    Sir,
    As your party of faux Conservatives have destroyed this country I look forward to the country destroying your party.
    You have squandered an eighty seat majority, kept us shackled to an undemocratic corrupt bunch of Globalist crooks run from Germany, and consistently and regularly lied to us about controlling immigration whilst in actual fact accelerating it to a level never seen before.
    You are also spending billions on a war in the Ukraine that is nothing to do with us whilst increasing the tax burden to levels that not even Gordon Brown would contemplate.
    I have to say though, I like the catchphrase ‘Net Zero’, but only in relation to the number of seats your grubby little party returns after the election.

    I have also CC your Conservative association as I now never get any response from you to my valid concerns.

    Yours Faithfully,
    GQ.

    P.S. I’m a life long Conservative who now has no one to vote for. Thanks.


    His reply, where you will notice he only mentions the point about Germany:

    Dear Mr GQ,
    Thank you for your email. I am truly fascinated by your reference to the influence of Germany and would be most interested in hearing further from you on this intoxicating point.

    Sincerely

    Simon Hoare
    Member of Parliament for North Dorset
    House of Commons
    London
    SW1A 0AA
    Tel: 0207 219 5697

    1. I would not mind betting that his use of the word intoxicating was a deliberate insult.

    2. He didn't answer the rest:

      Sir,
      First an apology for taking so long to reply but I have been earning the taxes for you to spend keeping criminals in four star hotels.

      I will ignore the sarcasm and answer you with this:
      Germany is the power behind the throne of the EU, an undemocratic corrupt bunch of Globalist crooks.

      Now, that’s that point cleared up perhaps you could answer the rest?

      Yours Faithfully,
      GQ.

  47. Has everyone in power gone mad. Just what are they playing at. I wonder if so many preople have been drug takers and its turned their minds. Because this country in becoming unreal.

    1. I think anyone with a shred of decency and common sense is rooted out before they can get anywhere near to being in a position of political power.

  48. Why a £240-a-month maths club could be the key to your child’s future
    Maths A level and tuition clubs are soaring in popularity. So why does interest in the subject stop at university?
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/10/maths-more-popular-a-level-tutors-not-university/

    I agree that numeracy is very important – but so is literacy.

    BTL from Percival Wrattstarngler:

    One of my two sons has a good B. Eng degree in Aerospace Engineering; the other was awarded a distinction in his M.Sc in Computer Science and Data Analytics.

    Both are earning very good salaries but what puts them ahead of their competitors is that they are both articulate and very well read; they got top grades in English Language and English Literature at GCSE and can communicate with words as well as with numbers.

    When I was a schoolboy all those studying science and maths at "A" level had to take the Use of English Paper and the General Paper which required them to write essays and think coherently. This practice has now stopped and we are left with far too many clever but inarticulate nerds.

    1. Yo Mr T

      Can find two-thirds the sqare root of the volume of a Jar of Pickles, but cannot open the damned thing.

      1. A mathematician called Hall
        Had a hydrocylindrical ball
        Four fifths of its weight
        Plus his pecker plus 8
        Was two thirds of four fifths of fuck all!

    2. I took languages at A level but still had to do the Use of English and General paper. I never did pass maths O level but managed the others.

      1. I took two languages at A Level (plus History and British Constitution) and had to do Use of English. I scraped through Maths O Level, amazingly enough.

          1. I wouldn’t have passed if the arithmetic paper hadn’t had trig on it and you got marks for identifying the right things (sine/cosine/tangent, etc) even if you got the wrong answer (which I inevitably did!) Same for algebra and geometry. I could identify the theorems, and transpose the formulae – I just couldn’t do the number crunching! You had to pass all three papers for the NUJMB syllabus, but I scraped through because they gave marks for your working out.

    1. I'm afraid that has been the case since I sent him this one in November 2022:

      Sir,

      We shouldn't worry too much about all the CO2 released by all those disgusting hypocrites flying to the beano in the Sun that is COP27 because it will be more than offset by ordinary taxpayers not being able to put their heating on this Winter.

      Yours Sincerely.
      GQ.

      1. Well now the pensioners have been stripped of the WFP they will not be able to afford to put the heating on this winter.

      2. Excellent, GQ! Perhaps you could list your comments, in order and under a paragraph setting out the point that each is about. You could then publish them as "Diary of a Disgruntled Voter" (haven't got time to think of anything more snappy).

      2. Mayer Tusi pointed out that Keir is a rude word in Persian. So I looked it up. It is a vulgar word for the male appendage. How appropriate.

    2. It was great to see you yesterday, Michael. Perhaps, in the aftermath, things seem less rosy. Not least because of the sad demise of Nagsman. On the bright side, you're now an official co-conpirator of 'the pushy nurse'. And thanks for the Abbot Ale. I trust you didn't have to get it from Bury St Edmiunds?

  52. NHS X-ray operators have been told to ask men if they are pregnant before conducting scans, The Telegraph can reveal.

    Radiographers at multiple hospitals have been told they must check whether all patients aged 12 to 55 are pregnant, regardless of their sex, as part of inclusivity guidance.

    The guidance was written after an incident in which a trans man who was unknowingly pregnant had a CT scan, and tells staff to be inclusive of transgender, non-binary and intersex patients by not making assumptions about people.

    The radiation from X-ray, CT and MRI scans, as well as cancer treatments, can be dangerous to unborn babies, but forms designed to be inclusive have caused confusion and anger among patients and pose a risk to their safety, according to NHS staff.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/10/nhs-staff-asking-men-if-pregnant-before-x-ray-scans/?fbclid=IwY2xjawElb7pleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXTQzvyVW0t5BrxGMh69zxc0k_OEZRTl6OjltVr2HOaRLi1T8GY-cGE2NQ_aem_WOmTx7PWqaWcg0IiBGvfaw

    Comment by Kris Welsh.

    KW

    Kris Welsh
    1 min ago
    More double standards, isn’t it supposed to be deeply offensive to miss gender someone?

    Comment by Suffolk Farmer.

    SF

    Suffolk Farmer
    2 min ago
    Kneeler will explain it all to you in a logical manner.
    What I don’t understand is why Kneeler Starmer is capable of chairing a Cobra meeting when he states he doesn’t know the difference between a man and a woman. How can this oddity ever make a decision on our behalf to keep us safe in times of crisis?

    Comment by R Shannon.

    RS

    R Shannon
    3 min ago
    Perhaps they have heard of 'The second coming ' somewhere in England .

    Comment by Tim Jeffery.

    TJ

    Tim Jeffery
    3 min ago
    Fat shaming.
    How dreadful.

    1. A pregnant man, wow that's a new one.

      I wonder how that came about, is there a new pandemic like the old anally injected death sentence AIDS, vaginally inserted life expectation VILE?

      Just a thought, if the transman didn't know "he" was pregnant how could "he" have answered correctly?

  53. Fascist! Nazi!

    We are insulted when we are subjected to this abuse simply for pointing out the dangers of large scale immigration and the mixing of very different cultures. How do we describe the position of our critics? Many of them may well be decent people who do good things in society but are simply hopelessly naive. However, they are undoubtedly driven by hardliners on the Left who would happily smash your face in with a brick if they should corner you. There isn't a word in common use to describe them, at least one that wouldn't be derided by the establishment and the media. 'Marxist' isn't enough; attempt to discuss Marxism with someone on the Left and you will be treated to a lecture on the difference between it and Leninism, Trotskyism, Stalinism and Maoism.

    The problem is simple. The 'Left' captured political language long ago so that left is good and right is bad. In their world, tax cuts can be connected with racism. They can't cope with the idea that if the citizen, whatever his view on the world, is treated as an inconvenience, an irrelevance – a small piece of crap – then the colour of the dictatorship's politics is irrelevant.

    What are they? What do we call the new totalitarian Left without descending to their level?

      1. Movements such as Militant and Momentum purporting to be Socialist rely on the presumption of the goodness of human nature, especially that actually landed with the responsibility of power. A version of the 'Noble Savage' doctrine. Unfortunately the Proles are no better than the Elite and a Prole made good can quite happily do the dirty on anyone threatening to dilute that power, and as you say to the extent of committing mass murder as a means to an end.

        If we were all decent and honourable and fair, then Socialism might work well, but what is the likelihood of that outside a monastery or an English village?

    3. 'Marxist' isn't enough; attempt to discuss Marxism with someone on the Left and you will be treated to a lecture on the difference between it and Leninism, Trotskyism, Stalinism and Maoism.
      You can judge them all by the old saying:"By their fruits shall you know them." And their fruit is mass murder on a scale not equaled by any other ideology of the West.

      1. They always wilfully ignore the influence of Marxist thinking on National Socialism and Fascism. Like how they wilfully ignore the foaming hatred of the Jews from organisations like Hamas.

      2. They always wilfully ignore the influence of Marxist thinking on National Socialism and Fascism. Like how they wilfully ignore the foaming hatred of the Jews from organisations like Hamas.

    4. Part of the problem stems from the Right, and it is here rather than in the New Statesman (who long ago gave up on free speech) where it can be properly discussed.

      I am further to the Left than many here, but have never connected tax cuts with racism. It seems that this confusion stems from the Right, who lump in all lefties as one homogeneous whole, when in fact there are as many variants there as there are in the Conservative Party.

      For me, it is BLM and its sister Antifa movements that are actually the racists here. They are constantly pushing for more, not less racial awareness, and are actually as far removed from liberal universality as you can get. I had it out with Shirley Williams at the 1986 SDP Conference, when she first put in motion ethnic questionnaires based on U.S. race definitions, and I was and still am opposed to this sort of thing, which I consider racist. They want supremacy for favoured identity groups, not equality, and are more likely to find genial bedfellows in the fascist Right. Why socialists have any truck with them perplexes me; it seems quite inconsistent with what I understood about socialism. As for the Greens, what on earth has race (or social justice for that matter) got to do with environmental preservation?, especially since many environmentalists push the merits of native provenance over invasive exotics.

      When it comes to tax cuts, I have issue with the Laffer Curve and the consequence of the 1992 General Election where no party aspiring to Government has pledged to raise Income Tax to balance the books ever since. Reaganomics may have presided over an economic miracle by pushing up spending and cutting taxes, but all that did was to hand down a humungeous debt for successors to sort out. Liz Truss had the benefit of hindsight, and her version of the same thing was lunacy. The Laffer threshold needs to be raised to bridge the gap currently covered by borrowing and currency debasement, and rather than taking it as a Law of Physics; mechanisms are needed to do this. For a start, the wealthy taxpayer (and the wealthy that profit from national infrastructure without paying their dues are traitors in my eyes) need more reliable assurance that public money is money well spent, rather than frittered away on bling and corruption.

      I would prefer straight honest taxation to meet the level of expenditure demanded by the public to maintain standards, avoiding waste and false economies, than the sort of stealth taxation we saw when Gordon Brown was Chancellor, and which we are all anticipating in October. Much of that is profoundly unfair and far worse than Income Tax.

      1. And just how do you think tax rates such as you promote will do anything other than disincentivise the most entrepreneurial and hardworking people; except perhaps to move into the black economy or out of the country altogether?

        To "balance the books" requires a massive reduction in the welfare state and everything leeching off it.

        1. Parroting clichés such as “hardworking people” and emotive and rather spiteful hype such as “leeching” does not help. All that does is to put people off and hand the argument to the Left.

          You make the same point as me as regards the Laffer Curve, which sets a threshold over which a nation loses its entrepreneurs and as public services can no longer be afforded, hands them over to the spivs on the black market.

          This is why it is crucial for the entrepreneurs to appreciate that their taxes are well spent on infrastructure that supports their businesses and takes some of the burden of social provision off them without creating a vile den of crime and unpleasantness. For a start, more money should be invested in the seed corn of small business, especially at the vulnerable stage in any start-up between production and sale. If the banks are more interested in executive bonus than in acting honourably, then it falls to the State, in the national interest, to fulfil this function, and this means raising taxes to pay for it.

          The Welfare State, which you so despise, came about because of the betrayal of the war veterans of WW1, reduced to destitution while high society lived it up, gloating over their good fortune while kicking the beggars. The defeat of Churchill in 1945 was the nation saying they didn’t want that to happen again, and so the Welfare State came about. Whilst the Tories after the 1951 election knocked down the Festival of Britain site and replaced it with the Shell Building, even Margaret Thatcher’s Tories had little appetite for reversing what Attlee had put into motion. In recent year, a number of lawyers, special advisers and lobbyists have perverted the Welfare State, rewarding all sorts of chancers because they can, and are more inclined to tick boxes than to do good for the nation.

          I have a distaste for gated estates, as I do for SUVs, not out of envy, but because I find them in poor taste.

          1. Fit, healthy people who have no intention of working are leeches off the rest of society and they need to be called out as such. It’s the arrogance of the Left, like you, who do not acknowledge hardworking people are real, not a cliché.

            It’s those people who pay the taxes for your fantasy.

            I do not despise the concept of a welfare state to catch those who fall on hard times, often through no fault of their own, what I do despise are the people who abuse it and those on the left who allow and in some cases positively encourage it.

            I also utterly despise class-warriors such as yourself who seem to think that people who have worked hard, there I go again, or have inherited from people who have worked hard, oops again, should be taxed to the point of departing. It’s all well and good to bleat about seeing their taxes are well spent when they clearly aren’t. I acknowledge there are extremely wealthy people, but rest assured they pay far far more than their fair share of taxes, either direct or indirect and policies such as yours will see them leaving.

            Your constant inaccurate harping on about banker’s bonuses is founded on ignorance. Most bank employees are not particularly well paid, the exceptions tend to be in the trading areas

            I agree re supporting small businesses, but the problem we have now is that we have imported thousands of fraudsters to add to our own indigenous ones who rip off the system at every opportunity.

          2. We have warped the welfare state to attract millions with no skills or money, and often who have zero aspiration. This is very different to historical immigrants. This kind of immigration will only stop when we have run out of money to pay welfare. Labour will spend on welfare and will bankrupt us. They will get desperate and plunder the working more and more. No use. The pot is not limitless. Only then will a thoroughly discredited Labour be kicked out and hopefully, we can rebuild.

          3. Ah but!

            Rebuild with what? We’ll be utterly broke and full of wastrels.
            I fear it will be every man for himself and guess where all the young fighting age men are.

          5. If I may just put my small oar in sos, it is on just one point that you made (there are actually several that Jeremy and you make, which are too many to deal with in one post, and are being responded to by others). My point, which I have heard many times, is your statement that the "extremely wealthy" pay "far, far more than their fair share of taxes".

            For these purposes one really needs to agree as to what is meant by "fair" and what is meant by "share". This is based on two different calculations: tax as a % of income, and raw figures.

            The wealthy undeniably are paying far more in tax because
            a) the % rate of taxation on their income is higher
            b) the respective amounts in ££ are greater

            I have often found that the distinction between the two is blurred in deciding what would be a "fairer" way to tax people, within our current system. Obviously someone whose income is in the highest tax bracket is paying more, in percentage terms, of their income than someone with a lower income is. But taxing 20% of not very much leaves 80% of not very much, so it is limited how much the state can take away, especially if it means having to give back in terms of benefits (why government should want to make people more dependent on benefits is also another topic). Ergo, 40-45% tax for those with higher incomes, means those people are paying far more in terms of ££. They may only be left with 60/55% but they are also left with far more.

            I don't believe in putting tax rates up because, as the laffer curve indicates, people simply resent a bigger proportion of their income being taxed, and those who can eventually move themselves and/or their money away, so that tax from them ends up being 0%. While not agreeing that a universal % would be very workable for the lower paid, my view is that a top rate of less than 40% might be sufficient incentive for people to remain and pay tax (all other things in this country being conducive for them to stay – again, which is another subject altogether).

            However, someone "very wealthy" whose income is taxed a rate less than 40/5% would not, in my opinion, be said to be paying "far, far more than their fair share" of taxes, even if the actual amounts are higher. Which begs the question – is it the percentage rate that determines whether someone is paying their fair share?

          6. The argument “they’ve got far more left” is fallacious in my view.

            The only way to deal with that is to limit the maximum amount that anyone can have, and that takes us to “You will own nothing and be happy.” except that those promulgating that approach will be excluded.

            If I’m paying for 90% of every round of drinks then I’m paying far far more than my fair share.

          7. What someone has left was only an adjunct to my argument that the state can only take so much % in tax from the lowest tier.

            I am not sure how your drinks comment is relevant to what I wrote. You appear to be agreeing with me that is the percentage of income and not the amount that translates to in ££ that matters. Or perhaps not, in which case how would you describe a “fair share”?

            I was talking about the basis of our taxation not what for, or to whom, those taxes are used.

          8. The whole taxation system needs to be dismantled, there are far too many anomalies and complex “get out clauses”, this particularly applies to the business sector.
            If there were any logic to it, a living wage should be determined, and not the current stupid level, and income tax and NI should start at a figure a small % above that living wage. As an aside, NI is a crazy tax in my view. It doesn’t pay for what it was intended to cover and should be scrapped.
            Benefits should be limited to a maximum of 90% of that living wage and only payable to the fit and healthy for a short time, not for years on end.

            Tax should be focused on consumption, essentials such as food being exempt. You want a luxury good you pay luxury tax for it.

            I cannot get into an argument regarding what fair shares of tax should or should not be, but I really do fail to see why anyone should be paying significantly more than 40% of their total income in income tax and NI.

          9. Markets set wages, not government. If a business only values a job at £3 an hour then that's what it's worth – to them. If no one applies then they have to up the rate.

            The fundamental problem we have is that business can't do this. It has to pay the other 9 +NI, + pension, plus lighting, heating, kit….insurances, training…

            Which is where zero hours contracts come in, to give those not worth the min wage an ability to work.

            The frustration I have is the same people squealing for the min wage also want to do away with zero hours.

          10. If the market rate is below what the “minimum living wage” is they don’t get taxed. If they can live on what’s on offer, that’s up to them.
            It doesn’t change my hypothesis, in fact it supports it.

          11. except we live in a “social democracy” ( or something) x whatever it is, it’s not “ capitalist”

          14. “I am not sure how your drinks comment is relevant to what I wrote”
            I inferred it to be a reference to this:

            Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
            If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
            The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
            The fifth would pay $1.
            The sixth would pay $3.
            The seventh would pay $7.
            The eighth would pay $12.
            The ninth would pay $18.
            The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
            So, that’s what they decided to do.
            The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers,’ he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.’ Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
            The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’
            They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
            So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
            The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%savings).
            The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
            The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
            The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
            The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
            The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
            Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
            ‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’ declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, ‘but he got $10!’
            ‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I got!’
            ‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
            ‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’
            The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
            The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
            And that, ladies and gentlemen, politicians, journalists and think tank professors, is how our tax system works!!
            The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

          15. What you get when you hike taxes is , well, what you get when you make anything expensive: less of it. The government hasn't learned this.

            The Warqueen is a specialist tax accountant. She's paid to minimise her clients' taxes. She does this very well because the tax code is a mess because it's written by grasping thieves.

            There is plentiful evidence that lower taxes raise the same, usually far more revenue. The problem is that government spending has become used to taking vast amounts of money out of our economy and simply giving it away and then demanding more, with the temerity to blame the tax take.

          16. If I may just put my small oar in sos, it is on just one point that you made (there are actually several that Jeremy and you make, which are too many to deal with in one post, and are being responded to by others). My point, which I have heard many times, is your statement that the "extremely wealthy" pay "far, far more than their fair share of taxes".

            For these purposes one really needs to agree as to what is meant by "fair" and what is meant by "share". This is based on two different calculations: tax as a % of income, and raw figures.

            The wealthy undeniably are paying far more in tax because
            a) the % rate of taxation on their income is higher
            b) the respective amounts in ££ are greater

            I have often found that the distinction between the two is blurred in deciding what would be a "fairer" way to tax people, within our current system. Obviously someone whose income is in the highest tax bracket is paying more, in percentage terms, of their income than someone with a lower income is. But taxing 20% of not very much leaves 80% of not very much, so it is limited how much the state can take away, especially if it means having to give back in terms of benefits (why government should want to make people more dependent on benefits is also another topic). Ergo, 40-45% tax for those with higher incomes, means those people are paying far more in terms of ££. They may only be left with 60/55% but they are also left with far more.

            I don't believe in putting tax rates up because, as the laffer curve indicates, people simply resent a bigger proportion of their income being taxed, and those who can eventually move themselves and/or their money away, so that tax from them ends up being 0%. While not agreeing that a universal % would be very workable for the lower paid, my view is that a top rate of less than 40% might be sufficient incentive for people to remain and pay tax (all other things in this country being conducive for them to stay – again, which is another subject altogether).

            However, someone "very wealthy" whose income is taxed a rate less than 40/5% would not, in my opinion, be said to be paying "far, far more than their fair share" of taxes, even if the actual amounts are higher. Which begs the question – is it the percentage rate that determines whether someone is paying their fair share?

          17. If I may just put my small oar in sos, it is on just one point that you made (there are actually several that Jeremy and you make, which are too many to deal with in one post, and are being responded to by others). My point, which I have heard many times, is your statement that the "extremely wealthy" pay "far, far more than their fair share of taxes".

            For these purposes one really needs to agree as to what is meant by "fair" and what is meant by "share". This is based on two different calculations: tax as a % of income, and raw figures.

            The wealthy undeniably are paying far more in tax because
            a) the % rate of taxation on their income is higher
            b) the respective amounts in ££ are greater

            I have often found that the distinction between the two is blurred in deciding what would be a "fairer" way to tax people, within our current system. Obviously someone whose income is in the highest tax bracket is paying more, in percentage terms, of their income than someone with a lower income is. But taxing 20% of not very much leaves 80% of not very much, so it is limited how much the state can take away, especially if it means having to give back in terms of benefits (why government should want to make people more dependent on benefits is also another topic). Ergo, 40-45% tax for those with higher incomes, means those people are paying far more in terms of ££. They may only be left with 60/55% but they are also left with far more.

            I don't believe in putting tax rates up because, as the laffer curve indicates, people simply resent a bigger proportion of their income being taxed, and those who can eventually move themselves and/or their money away, so that tax from them ends up being 0%. While not agreeing that a universal % would be very workable for the lower paid, my view is that a top rate of less than 40% might be sufficient incentive for people to remain and pay tax (all other things in this country being conducive for them to stay – again, which is another subject altogether).

            However, someone "very wealthy" whose income is taxed a rate less than 40/5% would not, in my opinion, be said to be paying "far, far more than their fair share" of taxes, even if the actual amounts are higher. Which begs the question – is it the percentage rate that determines whether someone is paying their fair share?

          18. If I may just put my small oar in sos, it is on just one point that you made (there are actually several that Jeremy and you make, which are too many to deal with in one post, and are being responded to by others). My point, which I have heard many times, is your statement that the "extremely wealthy" pay "far, far more than their fair share of taxes".

            For these purposes one really needs to agree as to what is meant by "fair" and what is meant by "share". This is based on two different calculations: tax as a % of income, and raw figures.

            The wealthy undeniably are paying far more in tax because
            a) the % rate of taxation on their income is higher
            b) the respective amounts in ££ are greater

            I have often found that the distinction between the two is blurred in deciding what would be a "fairer" way to tax people, within our current system. Obviously someone whose income is in the highest tax bracket is paying more, in percentage terms, of their income than someone with a lower income is. But taxing 20% of not very much leaves 80% of not very much, so it is limited how much the state can take away, especially if it means having to give back in terms of benefits (why government should want to make people more dependent on benefits is also another topic). Ergo, 40-45% tax for those with higher incomes, means those people are paying far more in terms of ££. They may only be left with 60/55% but they are also left with far more.

            I don't believe in putting tax rates up because, as the laffer curve indicates, people simply resent a bigger proportion of their income being taxed, and those who can eventually move themselves and/or their money away, so that tax from them ends up being 0%. While not agreeing that a universal % would be very workable for the lower paid, my view is that a top rate of less than 40% might be sufficient incentive for people to remain and pay tax (all other things in this country being conducive for them to stay – again, which is another subject altogether).

            However, someone "very wealthy" whose income is taxed a rate less than 40/5% would not, in my opinion, be said to be paying "far, far more than their fair share" of taxes, even if the actual amounts are higher. Which begs the question – is it the percentage rate that determines whether someone is paying their fair share?

          21. I don't mean to be rude ( how can I help it?) but Jeremy is a Leftie and will support the Leftie view however destructive. That is how Leftie's operate. Here in Wales, whatever atrocities are visited upon us, everyone will vote Labour (except those that vote Plaid) . Doesn't matter what they do. It is tribal.

          22. Jeremy, Re. your final paragraph (I'll leave it to Sos to argue the earlier points); despite living in leafy Surrey, the only 'gated estate' residents I know personally own an estate which represents not far short of one percent of the entire county. They leave the gates open. Hence their York stone patio 'disappeared' overnight a few years ago. Actually – I tell a lie, I accepted the offer of a lift home from Church this morning from a fellow organist who lives at his FIL's old home. FIL was under age when he founded his fledgling construction company. So he enlisted his uncle – name of Woodrow – to sign the documents. You can work out the rest. It's Surrey's answer to Southfork. But I'm grateful to the late Lord Taylor for founding (and building) the housing society and retirement bungalow which is now my "forever home"…

            As for SUV's, I've only owned one, and that was a punt on Ebay. A Landy Discovery with a supposedly blown engine. Didnt expect to win, but such is life. Sourced a replacement engine on Ebay; swapped them, then realised the original lump was basically OK, but for a technical reason that I won't bore you with. Sold the replacement engine, with caveats. Drove it for two snowy winters, then sold it to webuyanycar.com for more than I paid for it.

            I like the increased ride height, and the view. Given my disability, I also find that modern SUVs seat height is easier to access. But each to their own. If you're happy with your 2CV, fill yer boots…

        2. Tax rises over here means that the very rich are leaving Norway, so the actual amount of tax they pay is both less, and to Switzerland.
          That went well.

          1. For similar reasons, there is quite a brain drain from Canada down to the US.
            Higher salaries, lower cost of living, less government (even with Biden), what not to like.

            If only we could cover medical costs in the US, I would be off.

          4. What the left do, from my experience, is make a sh hole of somewhere and then move. They are not to be confused with those who were forced to move because of the lefties ideologies in the first place.

          5. What the left do, from my experience, is make a sh hole of somewhere and then move. They are not to be confused with those who were forced to move because of the lefties ideologies in the first place.

        3. The uni-party is too scared to do that. We will, of course, go bankrupt. We have Mr McCawber prime ministers.

          2. As the IMF strongly disapproved of Brexit, may we assume that any request

            to the IMF for funds will be met with the retort "only if you rejoin the EU" ?

          4. That, I believe; is the ultimate goal. Create so much chaos, blame everyone else apart form the very obvious cause – big government – and use that as a vehicle to undo Brexit and forever chain us to the failed communist EU.

          6. Of course. That's the whole point. It will be "nuffin to do wiv me, gov – the big boys (IMF) made me do it".

          7. 3 years. Two years prior to spend to the hilt and max out credit and 3 yrs would then leave 2 yrs to sweep away the evidence and present themselves as fiscally responsible.

      2. "I am further to the Left than many here, but have never connected tax cuts with racism."

        The 6th-form logic of the Left:
        Tax cuts are right-wing
        Racism is right-wing
        Tories like tax cuts therefore Tories are racists.

          1. The double entendre that also accompanied May's "no deal is better than a bad deal". She forgot to prefix her statement with the words "There is"…

      3. And another thing!

        When I introduced tax cuts and racism, I was simply making the point that the modern Left attaches values of virtue or vice to just about every subject under discussion so that it can damn people by association with ideas.

        It wasn't my intention to promote a discussion on tax policy…

        1. But taxation is the fundamental brick of freedom because low taxes limit government and high taxes enable waste. A government that has £1 to spend is far less destructive than one with £1m.

      4. The Reagan issue is because he kept spending before tax cuts had been effective knowing the money would be there longer term, but then only to see Democrats undo his work.

        Simply put, if you take private wealth and give it to the state you get a bigger, less efficient, more expensive state that wastes the money on things you do not want or need.

        You get, what we've seen this month – two tier policing, enforced double standards as government desperately buys favour with the only thing it has – force.

        When big government hikes the min wage all it does is give a bit, but take a lot more – from businesses. The min wage is a tax on business, the Left know this. The way to make people better off is by cutting taxes. Less state, smaller government, lower taxes give people power the state would otherwise deprive them of to claim for itself.

        Socialism does not work. The inherent prinicples of kindness, decency, responsibility, duty, family are NOT Left wing. I understand when you mean straight taxation but public demand is never ending. Someone will always want more at someone else's expense. Where government causes problems is by extorting that from the earner to give to the shirker. It does this at a national scale with massive unwanted gimmigration, with 'climate change', with inflation.

    1. Thought for the day:

      ANYONE who says they are 'offended' by ANYTHING I say …

      … then their very declaration of such 'offence' will be highly offensive to me.

      Deadlock!

      1. Yes, but your feeling offended doesn't count for anything, Bamse. Anyone in any of of our protected demographic groups who feels offended by you saying "boo" to them, carries far more weight.

        Personally, I feel highly offended by being told to accept that overpainted men, who often dress up as whores and claim to be women, are women. But it's their feelings, not mine, that count.

        1. Agreed, Dukke.

          O.T. I wish I could have made it over yesterday to join in with the fun.😘

          1. It's difficult, since some of us are scattered around the globe, Grizz. But you would have enjoyed it. Phil is an excellent host.

            More than one attendee opined that "should the Devil cast his net here…"

            I'm sure that GCHQ were on the case, given a "Far-Right" gathering in Fareham. I set my location to Farnham, to put them off the scent… 🙂

  55. R.I.P. United Kingdom

    You are too soft. You raised the cost of living so high that both parents are always at work, rather than spending time with their children.
    You took God out of schools.
    Parents were told 'No you can't discipline your kids'.
    Well, United Kingdom You shall reap what you sow, and we have lost a whole generation and turned them into rude, selfish, disrespectful brats who have no respect for people, property or authority!

    You deemed people with terminal illnesses and some with only a few months to live…fit for work!!!
    You allow our veterans of war to go homeless and hungry but give out millions to foreign aid!!!
    You stop people’s entitlement to welfare benefits thus leaving them so desperate that they commit suicide!!
    You bend over backwards to be politically correct, too scared to say enough is enough, in case you offend.
    You put the retirement age up so people must work until they drop!!
    People depend on handouts and food banks, whilst we give aid to others.
    Our retired generation rely on inadequate state pensions, their thanks for working hard.
    Things need to change! Copy & paste if you have the guts too!!!

    Pinched from F/B

    2. 391350+ up ticks

      Morning TB,

      It will only be RIP UK if the peoples consent
      en masse to it being RIP UK,

      1. And we don't. No more pessimistic talk. Reform will win next time. 2Tier is ensuring that.

  56. 391350+ up ticks,

    Ukraine seized a foothold inside Russia with first invasion since Second World War

    Excuse me BUT, that is true only if you, like many are doing deny the current invasion of Great Britain.

    Dt,

    Watch: How Ukraine seized a foothold inside Russia with first invasion since Second World War
    Hundreds of Ukrainian troops supported by tanks and armoured vehicles steamed across the border with their main target of Sudzha

    1. Surely you recognise this is the first invasion of RUSSIA since the Second World War. What does an 'invasion' of Great Britain have to do with it?

      1. 391350 + up ticks,

        Afternoon DW,

        I am allowed my interpretation am I not ?

        Are you one of kneelers
        “special ” policemen perchance?

      2. The current, ongoing, and very real invasion (the word does not require quotation marks) of the United Kingdom is a clear, present and very obvious ever-increasing threat to the realm.

        I think Ogga's analogy stands.

        1. Ogga's second sentence is a non-sequitur to the first, Grizz, unless one interprets the second sentence as being a refutation of an erroneous claim made in the first, in which case there have been numerous invasions in different parts of the world since the Second World War.

          I disagree with you, as well, about the quotation marks. Ukraine's incursion into Russia is a military invasion. The other is a mass movement of people, mostly, if deludedly, in the hope of self-betterment. If the current level of immigration into the UK is an invasion, then so were the European migrations to the Americas, Australasia and parts of Africa.

          1. "If the current level of immigration into the UK is an invasion, then so were the European migrations to the Americas, Australasia and parts of Africa."

            I don't think that anyone with functioning grey matter could give a persuasive argument to dispute that they were not. If you ask the direct descendants of the first settlers in many continents — e.g. the Aboriginals in Australia; or the Iroquois, Ojibwe, Hopi, Seminoles, etc in North America — you will discover that the incursions into their homelands by the various European nations were, indeed, invasions.

            By that rationale, Stig, I dispute that Ogga's first sentence — paragraph — was a non-sequitur to his first.

          2. One crucial difference: the American, Australian and African settlers moved for work or trade, not for benefits. Cut benefits and just see how many choose not to come here. It is a huge difference in motivations. This is an unnatural resettlement programme which has never seen the like before. We are not attracting workers or those with enterprise but the very opposite. Out of 1.3Million+ who came last year, only 15% of that number came for actual work.

          3. Recently the ONS stated that 1.1 million migrants and asylum seekers stated on their

            application forms that they had no intention of working once settled in the UK.

      3. The current, ongoing, and very real invasion (the word does not require quotation marks) of the United Kingdom is a clear, present and very obvious ever-increasing threat to the realm.

        I think Ogga's analogy stands.

  57. "Will no one rid me of this turbine-fanatic priest?" i.e.Ed Milliband (with apols to Henry II)

    Wind turbines taller than skyscrapers to march across British countryside

    Ed Miliband’s refusal to impose height limit means turbines could stand 850ft tall

    Jonathan Leake
    11 August 2024 • 8:00am

    Giant wind turbines taller than London’s Gherkin building are to be built across Britain’s countryside after Ed Miliband rejected calls to impose a height limit.

    The Energy Secretary’s decision means turbines as high as 850ft can be built on hills and fields – far taller than the London skyscraper, which stands at 591ft.

    Mr Miliband has lifted the previous government’s ban on all onshore wind in the English countryside, announcing plans to give himself the final decision-making power on applications in an attempt to hit net zero targets.

    A spokesman for the Energy Department also made clear last week that there will be no height restrictions imposed on new turbines, opening the way for massive models being developed by Chinese and other manufacturers to be erected around the UK.

    He said: “There are no national limits on turbine height in the UK.”

    The spokesman added that “landscape and visual impacts must be measured and taken into account”.

    It comes after the first approvals were granted for next-generation models in Scotland, where – along with Wales – the Tory ban on building never applied.

    OnPath, formerly known as Banks Renewables, was granted permission for 10 machines up to 823ft tall at New Cumnock in East Ayrshire, despite opposition from locals and the campaign group Scotland Against Spin (SAS) which has called for height limits.

    https://cf.eip.telegraph.co.uk/illustrator-embed/content/9a9e8b5ea5b9c1d79762da8decabf4bd4ba9f3ca/1723236539896.jpg

    Scottish government data shows planning applications for four similar schemes have been submitted, with at least 20 more at pre-planning stages. All are for turbines over 720ft high with around half exceeding 800ft.

    Aileen Jackson of SAS, who lives in one of Scotland’s “turbine belts” in East Renfrewshire, said: “Our greenbelt has been carpeted with wind turbines. Where the new housing estates end, the turbines begin, multiple turbines of every size.

    “The peace and tranquillity of the countryside no longer exists. It is a mass of constantly rotating blades of different sizes creating a visual confusion and worse they all have different sounds.”

    Wales is experiencing similar surges in applications for giant turbines. The largest proposed so far, by Bute Energy at Y Bryn, 12 miles north west of Cardiff, would be taller than the hills on which they would be built.

    Jonathan Dean, director of The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW), said that renewable energy was important but not at the price of destroying landscapes.

    He too called for height limits on new onshore turbines, saying: “If you put an 850ft turbine out at sea it could look majestic.

    “But where I live on Anglesey the island is typically 100m above sea level. An 800ft-plus turbine would be visible from everywhere. We can see Ireland and the Isle of Man, so the Irish and Manx people would see them too.”

    England’s tallest onshore wind turbine is in Bristol with a height of 492ft, double the height of the average English turbine. Amazon is planning a slightly taller one, 500ft high, to power its warehouse in Swindon.

    The Tory ban has prevented anything larger until now, but a rash of successful applications for solar projects is expected to embolden wind developers to push boundaries in England too.

    The 2,500-acre Sunnica solar farm on the Cambridgeshire border with Suffolk has been approved by Mr Miliband despite widespread local opposition, as were the Mallard Pass Solar Farm and Gate Burton Energy Park projects in Lincolnshire.

    Renewable UK, the trade body, expects a surge of planning applications for large new turbines in England in the coming months.

    James Robottom, head of policy at RenewableUK, said larger wind turbines were more efficient: “Modern onshore wind turbines are larger, but they also generate considerably more power than those built in previous decades.

    “Not all new wind farms will use larger turbines, but it’s reasonable for the option to be available given the clear benefit for the UK’s energy security, and for bill payers in having more low-cost electricity on the grid.”

    Many local groups from CPRE, the countryside charity, are supporting calls for height limits, including Vicky Ellis from its Kent branch.

    She said Mr Miliband would face huge opposition if he tried to force giant turbines into the county. “Kent is home to the Kent Downs National Landscape which spans the length of the county from Greater London to the White Cliffs of Dover. There is no space for turbines of any size where impact on landscapes won’t occur.”

      1. Problem is, Tom, by then there's a huge block of concrete foundation, and lots of transmission lines in place to ruin the countryside. And money spent in China, giving them employment and allowing them to pollute their envirnment.

          1. Army surplus barrage balloons, that is the answer. Tether a hydrogen filled to the top of each turbine so that it will not fall down.

    2. Chinese-made turbines. Lovely. Another industry taken by the Chinese, who make cheap shit that doesn't do what it says on the can…

    1. 391350+ up ticks,

      crudity warning,

      Morning Ped,
      A famous chap in Gibraltar ( sugar) is reputed to answer on being asked if he wanted his salami sliced " do you think my @rse is a letterbox".

    2. The Daily Mail used to apply the word 'pert' to bottoms.

      As bottoms go this is a pretty pert one but our expert on the subject, The Legal Beagle, isn't here today to pass judgment for us.

  59. Labour pressured to pay back prison bed and board for those wrongly jailed
    Government says people will not be refunded costs retrospectively
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/08/10/labour-pressured-pay-back-prison-bed-board/

    "The Government has said that people who were wrongly jailed will not be refunded rent and food costs retrospectively for their time spent in prison."

    A very simple question: WHY NOT?

    A follow up question: "Why should all illegal immigrants who are subsidised, housed and fed by the state not pay all the state's costs?

    Unless and until Starmer understands that the majority of British people do not think that it is fair that illegal (ergo law breaking) immigrants should receive benefits that the indigenous population does not receive his government will not lift the feeling of resentment and total oppression that is hanging over the country by his proposed draconian measures.

    1. The channel migrants could save a lot of money by buying a ticket for a couple of hundred pounds to travel from the Gare du Nord to St Pancras instead of paying thousands to be put in a rubber boat. They could pay their own hotel bills with that money. But of course they’d have to show papers.

    5. Sue E. Tina (Hertslass). Alison Kobeans (rear view). Harry Kobeans (ditto).
      Neighbour. Phil. Neighbour, Harry's back.
      Alison Kobeans. Sue Edison. Tina (Hertslass).

      1. Run out of Ale. Citroen and Anne went off to the supermarket to restock. I didn't offer to pay !

  69. Some of the files are too big. Difficult getting some of the people in as they are all over 6 foot !

      1. First pic…StorminaDcup, The pushy nurse Anne, Alf the Great.
        Second pic… Rik Redux
        Third pic…VW and Kaypea's backside.
        Fifth pic… Geoff Boss Man.
        Seventh pic…Kaypea and the adorable Kiki.
        Ninth pic…My lovely neighbour Joan. And MY HAIR !

    1. Olusoga – half-white communist professor? Done well for himself in this country, didn't he?

      1. His African ancestors did well too. His name suggests he is from the Yoruba tribe which were a slave owning and slave trading tribe. But he won't mention that.

  71. I think Uncle Bill is recovering – he's up and about, sat in the sunny garden and had some scrambled egg on toast. I've sent him our good wishes.

    1. They don't make it easy, do they?

      You go to the ink, it's a collection of their own articles. All fine, except they don't link internally. For example, the Winter fuel payments research. can't find the actual research. The link isn't a link to it, but to a Sun article. Which doesn't mention it either.

  76. Good afternoon all and greetings from a beautifully sunny Cheshire!
    Sat in the Cheerbrook Farm Shop just outside Nantwich.
    After a visit to Apedale Mining Museum and a look round the narrow railway collection there, I spent a very quiet night on one of the parking viewpoints on Mow Cop ridge.
    The van is not behaving its self, the starter motor in on the way out!
    Just hope it gets me back home.
    Some pictures:-
    t'Lad enjoying himself with a 2' gauge Ruston locomotive:-
    A 2' gauge 0-4-2 ST locomotive; https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/50a03cfd928a0d756bf4fc090aaa38b01937890a6a8c5fe9cf8cb0b17b8c3e9e.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0f03475fcc3a309932e3062eb02ee3847793ec0ed96bf21612b74e3a8d1ec852.jpg
    An AEC Mammoth passing through Mow Cop:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/232152420639baede8df2ba251efbd1ad1366734f7694b0f6a6d47ba116ad211.jpg
    The view from my parking place just after sunset:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0bb591d585657bdaef78c116c6f5f6f035d0541b0147d162087dc8ca8bf3dfa5.jpg
    And in the opposite direction about 06:00 this morning:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/624722147e477992bdb2b7a2444a28ad174c1d5affdc21657f6917fa25bd010d.jpg
    And the folly of Mow Cop Castle:-
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ff8d6b9031ea67188e1b6354af4e60a28cf5c0c8177fdbc3c36939a4ee275cfe.jpg

    2. Some radio amateur friends of ours transmitted their proposal from Mow Cop. MOH and I looked at each other and said, "it'll never last" – it didn't!

  78. I see the met office is slowly bringing down theit heat forecasts. At one stage it was going to be 31C tomorrow and now its down to 26C. What a shower ( get it) they are.

  79. Far-Right violence is ‘racist’, says Justin Welby. 11 August 2024.

    The Most Rev Justin Welby said the riots had been fuelled by “misinformation” on social media which wrongly claimed that an asylum seeker on an MI6 terror watch list was the suspect behind the attack.

    In an op-ed for the Observer newspaper, the Archbishop said far-Right extremists had exploited Christian iconography to try and justify their criminal behaviour.

    He wrote: “Let me say clearly now to Christians that they should not be associated with any far-Right group – because those groups are unchristian.”

    This man would make Judas look respectable.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/11/riots-latest-southport-victim-funeral-live-updates/

    2. “Let me say clearly now to Christians that they should not be associated with any far-Right group – because those groups are unchristian.”

      Is that a doctrinal edict – something like a Papal Bull?

      3. Then he should lead by example – what he is consorting with is far from Christian – eye of a needle and all that.

      4. What has Welby to say about the Muslim invasion of churches. I expect the full force of the law to be brought down on their heads. Will we see it, I doubt it, two-tier policing.

    5. Since the word filter is turned off, and despite my employment by a rural outpost of the C of E, my considered response to this is "Fuck Justin Welby".

    6. Since the word filter is turned off, and despite my employment by a rural outpost of the C of E, my considered response to this is "Fuck Justin Welby".

    7. If they will not work, they won't eat sounds pretty "far right" to me – is St Paul not a Christian?

  80. Phew! Wot a scorcher! I don’t know what the temperature is out there, but it’s pretty stonking hot! I’ve done a couple of hours tidying up and cutting back, and it looks a lot better! The wind has done quite a bit of damage and they’re now giving us an amber warning for a thunder storm!! Might save me having to water!

    1. We have had 26.9C today on the way down now.You can see the moon in the east its first quarter.

      1. If the sky is clear there should be a good chance of seeing the Perseid meteor shower!

  81. Turning Point have posted a video on Faceache of a guy singing about how much safer the streets of Poland are in comparison to the UK. It reminded me of the time I was waiting in the lobby of a hotel in Krakow while the woman checking out in front of me gave the receptionist a lecture. She warned that the Polish must hold on to what they have and not allow it to be taken away. She said that we have immigrants in the UK who behave very badly. That was her expression. She was a middle aged middle class tweedy lady whose mode of dress was reminiscent of QEII at Balmoral. This was in 2008.

  84. T'Internet has been busy today so Medley 2
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c17c837742fa7aa1cc9a4a8059d0a433fd1b9939ffba886d5acb895804001d7f.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f6f75561456efd543b6b9ce18608e556d8321f36e1673728fb88fcfb330dba6f.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/36852683af15832f9605f9bc397c9e170bacae292f873281120202fc4b656518.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c7635d38e1258c0b654c7eb6d602576ef1127b56815fbf2e6d6e138af9257966.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b203bc481cd9692398327bcabc317790b3f85e153812f83b5158b6f8b6442563.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7c143cc7b129d5ab0d0d19d3364ac260c8c64bd5952438ce4a3e8717f0ac2dfa.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f447f8b0669963bc40653488979673a475e7d469dca1c9398d5db39f4056b690.jpg

      1. Thats what I thought – Rosetta, are you better, are you well well well……Great song!

  88. Far-Right violence is ‘racist’, says Justin Welby

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/11/riots-latest-southport-victim-funeral-live-updates/

    I am astonished that with his mouth completely full of both his feet which he has put in it that he has the ability to move his tongue and lips at all and say anything. Why does he not just stay silent?

    BTL

    Justin Welby, The Archpillock of Canterbury is a disgrace to the Church of England, a disgrace to the United Kingdom, a disgrace to the whole of Christendom and a disgrace to himself.

    In my opinion he should be defrocked, kicked out of Lambeth Palace and send to dwell in the darkest and dampest cell in the Tower Of London.

    1. In my opinion he's free to say whatever he likes. However, whatever he says is of little importance. He's an occupant of an ancient position which no longer much matters. Others, wrongly, think otherwise and give his opinions a degree of publicity they're not worthy of.

      2. He's free to speak his mind as a private person but he dishonours his ancient position with his utterings.

      3. Sadly, the position he occupies no longer matters because of what he and his predecessors have done to undermine both it, and the beliefs that they were entrusted with preserving into the modern age.

        We now have an influx of people who have a belief system that does not sit well with most of us, and it likely to harm our society. Their belief is upheld by its pedagogues; conversely the destruction of Anglican Church which Welby and the others have ruined has taken away much from the people it previously guided and/or helped.

      4. Sadly, the position he occupies no longer matters because of what he and his predecessors have done to undermine both it, and the beliefs that they were entrusted with preserving into the modern age.

        We now have an influx of people who have a belief system that does not sit well with most of us, and it likely to harm our society. Their belief is upheld by its pedagogues; conversely the destruction of Anglican Church which Welby and the others have ruined has taken away much from the people it previously guided and/or helped.

    3. We have an American lay pastoral visitor, who will be one of our few Churchwardens in a month or two. While I like her on a personal level, her background is Holy Trinity Brompton, which is far removed from my churchmanship. Someone in her family is related to Welby by marriage. Hence, we had one of Welby's sons attend her licencing service. He seemed quite normal, in conversation after the service. And gave the distinct impression that one of his siblings "has ishoos". Just saying…

    1. A, B, C and D came easy to you and then you started f'ing around and never got any further!

  90. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d8b3b4f36ce1edb94f571da53c139308a745ca1df72e4acf1abf35397f16b50.png
    Each Olympic medal this year, whether it be bronze, silver or gold, has a hexagonal chink of metal from the the Eiffel Tower in it.

    French structural engineers have become worried by this and they have expressed fears that this has led to a structural weakness in the tower and, of course, if it collapses hundreds of people could be killed.

    No decision has yet been taken but there is a possibility that this world famous tourist attraction and iconic symbol of Paris may have to be closed after the closing Olympic Ceremony this evening and some extreme right politicians are calling for it to be demolished completely.

    (I suspect that this is fake news – but it is very hard to tell what is true and what is false nowadays)

    1. If it is true, what a daft thing to do. In any case those "medals" look more like something you would find at craft-stall at a local fair. Those aren't medals, they are more like dipped and flattened paper cupcake moulds.

    2. If it is true, what a daft thing to do. In any case those "medals" look more like something you would find at craft-stall at a local fair. Those aren't medals, they are more like dipped and flattened paper cupcake moulds.

      1. Thank you, Hertsl! Yes indeed; it is one of about ten that I use from time to time. Luck of the draw today!

    3. That stops my thoughts about bragging
      Wordle 1,149 3/6

      🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

        1. Hi, S. Understandable, but it's a shame you couldn't join us yesterday.

          Next time, perhaps? Actually, let me know of future plans to visit Blighty, and we'll see what we can arrange…

    5. Outstanding! You're on a bit of a trot here.

      And I thought I was doing well with a birdie!

      Wordle 1,149 3/6

      ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
      🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. Bloomin' par 4

        Wordle 1,149 4/6

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

        1. I think somebody posted earlier that they had been in touch and that he was a bit better – sorry cant be more specific, maybe someone else can enlarge……

    6. Well done! Birdie here.

      Wordle 1,149 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
      🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  93. Good evening.
    Well, wot a weekend.
    Travel arrangements varied but always interesting (in case anyone's interested, I now know where Fratton is).
    Phil's do was a blast (not sure Dolly and Harry would agree).
    Met a load of fellow reprobates including one who drove his ancient Skoda estate like a lunatic when we went on a booze run.
    Fareham's ASDA is even more chavvy than Colchester's.
    Tina and I did our bit for Britain's GDP by polishing off a bottle of Chapel Down 'champagne'.
    Oh, and this morning we were politely kicked out of the Red Lion's breakfast room after the v. necessary gallon of coffee and salmon royale.

        1. Although I couldn't have been there anyway, like you TB, I didn't even get a invitation. 🤔

      2. I would have liked to have attended but it's a shade too far. Hope we can have another Northern one, soon.

    2. Ditto Anne.
      I witnessed a rather peculiar occurance driving home. Every one in the country who has a car was driving it on the M3.

    3. Did you take the MB with you? Glad you had fun! I thought Citroen went on the booze run with you – do you mean to say he doesn't drive one?

      2. No, a blue Skoda estate.
        We got lost returning from ChavShop-on-Sea.
        And I thought Colchester's traffic system was 'interesting'.

    3. they always say.. warn of legal action.
      like he said.. Humza Yousaf's talk about leaving Scotland after violent rioting..

      The drama of the Cry-Bully.

      Then, there's the Afghan migrant left 'traumatised' by Rotherham riots and says he misses home.

    4. Insignificant little prick threatens a multi-billionaire. I wonder who will come out on top?

        1. Yep. Shame you're far from Fareham, Sue. You'd have enjoyed Phil's party yesterday.

          Latitude notwithstanding, we Nottlers are an agreeable bunch. Of 'far-right racist fascists', obviously, but nevertheless… 🙄

  96. Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen from a warm and sunny Verwood.
    I had a little bimble around The breath taking countryside by Tollard Royal this afternoon. The views are from the top of Win Green Ridge looking toward the Cranborne Chase and away toward Shaftsbury westward. The somewhat overgrown pond is in Tollard Royal itself.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/40bb0d5441c46d95afeda2c029d0dd829eb4d9d4502679f12acbd55d33e60557.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ef0b4263d381e0af1d3c673dab2e45ac07e3272decf79e7e21d71068e80dfe8d.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2788ccc58daa87f7005a800e738ae00e28e59f3018f5802eb2405ee1077c0b4f.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9207fadce8c950018313e8e05b458d2f24949091cd9ced35a102081028421c94.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4022b61c0a972f1b59e3e4ed27de80a52da7ac19975e1c9d124c84ccad14f97f.jpg

    2. 391350+ up ticks,

      Evening GTLQ,

      The planning committees will be slavering all that super prime building land, acres of illegal Zulus.

    3. Is Verwood home, GTLQ?

      I worked in Ringwood for a while, for what was Dean and Dyball. Then off to So'ton on the Ocean Terminal. Getting home to Surrey in time for choir practice on a Thursday night (I'm Director of Music) was simply impossible by car. So every Thursday, I leathered up, and took the "mid-life crisis" 600 Hornet to work. There was something uniquely satisfying about weaving through the rush-hour traffic on the way home. Even in the rain.

      2. Waiting for the embarrassing video of you being made to play the Joanna, Geoff (bet it was better than you think). Would also like to see Ashes contribution from SA. See how envious I am!

  97. So Lucie’s Con Northampton councillor husband happened to be Northampton Hospital’s first Covid patient…

    And then Lucie just happened to be the first of the recent arrests!

    On top of which, the alleged perpetrators of the two recent atrocities were both former young actors. One in BlackRock promo videos and the other in videos for a famine relief charity.

    What are the chances???

    Does that really mean four actors?

    Psychological operations???

      1. They say it's about climate but we know it's a con. I grew up in the chilly 1950s without central heating so I'd rather be warm in my old age. Definitely control of the masses is the aim, along with killing off the old.

      2. I wonder how much carbon has been consumed and or created during the Paris Olympics ?

        2. Ahh but that’s different because the elites want to use it as bread and circuses to fool the.pleb oh look a squirrel

  101. Ha!
    US Attorney-at-law, Bryan Reo forwards the following list of FreeSpeech wordies protected by the 1st Amendment that Elon Musk is welcome to use in his on-going spat with the UKs commie dictator, and Met Chief Mark Rowley.

    The following are all protected by US Free Speech.
    1/ Elon Musk could openly call for the ambushing of British police as they go to serve an arrest warrant.
    2/ Elon Musk could even call for the violent over-throw of the British govt., bombing of parliament and execution of Keir Starmer in a manner similar to Charles I.
    3/ Elon Musk could burn an effigy of Keir Starmer and proclaim I hope this happens for real.
    4/ Elon Musk could even threaten to raise an army.. train it.. organise it and lead an invasion to the UK. Still not illegal speech under American law! Because it has no immediacy.

    However, the lines is crossed if Elon Musk calls for help in carrying out these actions.

    1. Elon Musk will not do any of the above because he is far too intelligent. He will keep taking the piss, though, and long may he so do

      1. I believe he forwarded the list to illustrate how much of a Silly-Billy.. the head of the Met police was.. when he suggested even bringing charges & extradition orders against Elon Musk.. for the "crime" of opining about an imminent Civil War.

      2. Did you see the spat with Humza Yousaf, where Musk intimated he had other tweets….cross him at their peril…

        1. Humzah Yousseff is a thick, horrible Islamist who sent public money to support Hamas. He is fair game, and I hope he goes to prison.

          1. That may just depend on the 'private' messages he's tweeted. (Didn't he send it via his parents, opopanax?)

          2. I don't know, KJ. But he did send about a quarter of a million pounds of taxpayers money to UNWRA against the counsel of the Scottish legals (such as they are) just before his in-laws were ushered out of Gaza, where they were on holiday with family.

          3. Yes I remember, opopanax…might just depend on where that 250k ended up, and accompanying tweets. Did you see Musk the other day, speaking about losing his son, he didn't lose his cool but very moving.

          6. Yes, I fell out with him over the Thai cave rescue but he has redeemed himself 100% in the last few years.

    3. The present Prime Minister should do well to remember that Elon Musk has multiple satellites circling Earth, often visible in the night sky on account of their low orbit, without access to which the UK would be at grave international security risk.

      We are truly Lions ruled by Idiots. Starmer is a WEF trained and indoctrinated Flunky. Starmer is about the most ignorant among some of the most ignorant prime Ministers of this and the previous century. He is no leader but a mere follower, faithfully implementing his instructions to destroy the UK, destroy our culture and Christian values and consign us and our nation state to the dustbin of history.

      We are British and have dealt with the likes of Starmer before. The man is hapless and lurches from multiple poor judgements to total miscalculation of the public mood. In essence Starmer is just thick.

    4. The present Prime Minister should do well to remember that Elon Musk has multiple satellites circling Earth, often visible in the night sky on account of their low orbit, without access to which the UK would be at grave international security risk.

      We are truly Lions ruled by Idiots. Starmer is a WEF trained and indoctrinated Flunky. Starmer is about the most ignorant among some of the most ignorant prime Ministers of this and the previous century. He is no leader but a mere follower, faithfully implementing his instructions to destroy the UK, destroy our culture and Christian values and consign us and our nation state to the dustbin of history.

      We are British and have dealt with the likes of Starmer before. The man is hapless and lurches from multiple poor judgements to total miscalculation of the public mood. In essence Starmer is just thick.

    1. Yes – the pictures are wonderful and reveal some very mischievous smiles (wish I'd been there!) But you are right, Phizz had promised pictures of The Food, and none has been forthcoming.

      2. The canapés were excellent. Mostly distributed by Phil's delightful (and – dare I suggest, long-suffering – Sister). In the absence of photos, just use your imagination.

      1. Very sorry indeed to read that, opopanax. Really difficult condition to deal with, wish you both all the best x

          1. Sometimes I'm ashamed of my reactions! Fortunately there is only the dog to hear me and he isn't telling.

        2. I suspect after this weekend my parents think I have it (background. Mum did insist on watching BBC1 News at 10 last night which opened with the “anti-racism” (sic) marches).

          1. My parents are long dead, but they would have defended the status quo as, in their view, exemplified by the BBC. Both my Grandfathers fought in two world wars to defend the freedoms all these little shits enjoy today. I despair.

  104. Effing ell, they’re desperate, aren’t they? Soon they really are going to tax the air that we breathe. (A song cue there?)

          2. They fell out. Apparently, Don was a Democrat and Phil was a Republican. It seems that Don shunned Phil, although I believe they made it up before Phil died.

            Not confirmed.

          3. I think he drank, but they feuded for years about who wrote their hits. They did make up before Don died.

        2. Mid 1970s I was working in Hampstead close to the heath, I often saw Alan Clarke taking his dog for a walk.

          2. He was at the Olympics last week
            I was working at LHR in the 60s came out of a door into a corridor and the Stones were walking towards me.
            All said hello. Satisfaction or what ?

    4. I've just had my electricity bill. Despite the fact that I no longer have an electric stove or an immersion heater and use gas for making my drinks, my bill has gone up to £60.22. Last month it was £45.71 and the month before, £33.67. They are taking the pee.

    2. What an utter knob! Single-handedly taking on a gang?

      What the hell do they teach them in these "academies" these days?

  106. Snow White. Superman and Pinocchio were out walking one day, When they saw a sign "Beauty Contest for the most Beautiful Woman in the World"
    "I am entering" says Snow White. In she goes, about 30 minutes later she comes out. "How did you do" they asked her. "First place" replies Snow White..
    They carry on walking when they see another sign. "Worlds Strangest Man Contest", "I'm in for that" said Superman, and inhe goes. about 30 minutes later he comes out, "How did you get on" they asked. "Won it Easily" say Superman.
    They carry on down the Road. they saw a sign, "World's Great Liar" " I am bound to win that" Boasts Pinocchio, in he goes. a little while later out he comes with a very sad face and tears in his eyes. "What happened" they asked.
    "Who the Hell is Keir Starmer" he shouts.

  107. 69-Year-Old Retired Widower Sentenced to 32 Months in Prison over Anti-Mass Migration Riots

    William Nelson Morgan, 69Merseyside Police
    https://media.breitbart.com/media/2024/08/mugshots-disorder-1-640×480.jpg
    A 69-year-old retired widower has been sentenced this week to 32 months in prison for involvement in the anti-mass migration riots after being arrested for failure to disperse from the scene.

    William Nelson Morgan, 69, is believed to be the oldest person to be sentenced to prison as a result of the anti-mass migration riots that swept the UK following the killing of three young girls and the injuring of several others in a mass stabbing in Southport allegedly by a second-generation Rwandan migrant teen.

    Morgan was sentenced to two years and eight months behind bars by the Liverpool Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon during a riot on County Road in Liverpool last week.

    According to The Guardian, Morgan, a retired welder, widower, and father of three, did not have a previous criminal record.

    Police body camera footage of his arrest shown to the court filmed Morgan, carrying a bat, saying to police: “I’m English, I’m 70, all right, leave me alone!” and: “Get off me, I’m fucking 70, you pricks.”

    An officer attempting to arrest Morgan replied: “Then why are you here? Why are you at a fucking riot, man?”

    After being detained by three officers, the 69-year-old man is heard apologising, saying to the police: “I’m sorry, I appreciate what you’re doing.”

    Representing Morgan, barrister Paul Lewis beseeched the court not to imprison the elderly man, given that jail would be “particularly hard to bear” for him.

    Lewis said that the incident was “entirely out of character” for Morgan and that “he accepts that he acted in drink and was disinhibited by the presence of a large crowd.”

    Nevertheless, the court found that it was necessary to jail Morgan for taking part in a crime “committed against the whole community.”

    Sentencing him to 32 months in prison, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Menary KC, said: “It is very sad indeed to see someone of your age and character in the dock of a crown court.”

    Morgan was jailed alongside three other men, including John O’Malley, 43, for two years and eight months for violent disorder, Adam Wharton, 28, for one year and eight months for burglary with the intent to steal, and Ellis Wharton, 22, for 11 months for burglary with the intent to steal and an assault on an emergency services worker.

    2. I look forward to someone in the media providing a compare-and-contrast with the BLM and Mark Duggan riots.

      2. How long before these people are referred to as 'political prisoners'? (I am not suggesting it, by the way).

        1. Regular Twitterer June Slater posted recently about the Controlled Spontaneity Unit. I hadn't heard of it before but it didn't take much to work out that at the time of the Manchester bombing, someone somewhere in the bowels of government had come up with a plan to keep a lid on it. It'll blow soon. The recent events were just a little bit of bubbling over the rim of the pan.

        2. Regular Twitterer June Slater posted recently about the Controlled Spontaneity Unit. I hadn't heard of it before but it didn't take much to work out that at the time of the Manchester bombing, someone somewhere in the bowels of government had come up with a plan to keep a lid on it. It'll blow soon. The recent events were just a little bit of bubbling over the rim of the pan.

    3. "… Judge Menary KC…"

      Why does he keep popping up in this sentencing, an unbroken and unmitigated member of the Stasi.?

      3. And he's expressing what amount to political opinions in court. Justice this ain't.

    1. It was posted on here a couple of days ago.

      Of course, the 'Left' will say: 'The immigrant works for these low wages. Why can't you, you racist trash?'

  110. We were watching Olympic women's weightliftng this afternoon and the Chinese contestant gave a forearm gesture before her lift.
    The best explanation I found was that it was an interrnationally recognised gesture known in France as the Bras d'Honneur
    as explained in https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-origin-of-Bras-dHonneur-How-did-it-become-an-obscene-gesture .

    Translated to English it may be interpreted as Up Yours.

    Have any Nottlers got any explanation of other possible meanings in the context of Olympic competition.

  111. Burka clad woman walking by a building site is subjected to wolf whistles and heckling: "Carm on luv, show us yer face!"

          1. My Greek brother in law also still laughs uproariously at Pink Panther, and Airplane!

          2. It's the silly things, Sue…get me every time, just re-watching Big Bang Theory – very similar…:-DD

          4. I’ve seen them all before, and remember them, but still I find them funny. Identify with Penny…:-D

        2. ‘Morning opopanax…think it was you the recently telling me about magnets (and Peta, although I can’t seem to find her just now so she may see this)…well I bought one and have used for last two nights, good news is no cramp but bad news is nightmare I used to have as a child returned both nights. A nightmare I haven’t had for decades. So I’ll try now without the magnet and hope it’s the cause of the return of the nightmare, as I’d rather have the cramp. Doh!

    2. Perhaps 40-odd years ago, I was working on the "Lanes" Development in Carlisle. A local loony female strayed onto the site, followed the Project Manager up a ladder, and grabbed him firmly by the danglies. Not sure he ever recovered from that episode… 😟

  112. Their voices were lovely together, Used to do "Dream" in one of the bands I was in, Very pleasant to sing.

    1. 'One of the bands I was in'?

      Who are you – Stevie Nicks? Debbie Harry? Chrissie Hynde? Do tell…..

        1. Of course not – I’ve just realised given your location, you’re Cerys Matthews arent you?

          It’s all over the front page, you give me Road Rage!!

    1. By compare-and-contrast I meant sentencing as much as social conditions.

      The media will never allow poverty to be used as an excuse for white riots.

      1. I thought he was talking about unemployment being higher, it is very high in a number of areas, benefits having replaced wages. Add in social media (which it seems everyone can afford), result…unrest. Some areas/families, more unemployed than employed. Doubt that will change.

          1. Exactly, replied a few secs ago on that. Some places, a number of such families…benefits plus buying/selling whatever…once on benefits, seems you can stay there unless you cancel it yourself.

        2. There is very high welfare dependency in some ethnic minority groups. They are allowed to protest because they are victims. White welfare dependents have no supporters.

    2. A bit unfair – looks as though he's growing a beard – it looks as though it's past the 'designer stubble' stage.

        1. Speaking as an ex-beardie, I'd say it needs another couple of weeks before he's able to trim it properly.

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

  119. Evening, all. I've had an unproductive day because it was so hot and humid I couldn't motivate myself to get out into the garden when I got back from church. I lay out on the chaise longue and read a book instead. Hopefully I'll finish off the area for the bench to sit on before it finally arrives.

    I don't consider these anti-racist demonstrations; I think they are pro discrimination against the indigenous.

    2. Whatever they are, they are obviously highly co-ordinated. The professionally produced placards are evidence of that.

    3. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      Britain isn’t a free country
      Comments Share 23 January 2024, 2:48pm
      I’m old enough to remember when ‘it’s a free country’ was a phrase people used in conversation. It feels like it was the kind of thing they said regularly, either when someone asked permission to do something or when commenting on some particular eccentricity. Can I sit there? It’s a free country. You want to walk around dressed up as a pirate? Well, it’s a free country.

      Perhaps it reflected a self-conscious British sense of themselves as freedom-loving people – which isn’t really true, or at least hasn’t been since 1914 – or maybe it was a Cold War thing. But I don’t think I’ve heard the phrase in at least 20 years, and perhaps that’s because it’s just not true anymore. If that sounds like the sort of hysteria you’d expect from a conservative commentator who’s been on the sherry, just consider a few recent cases.

      Take, for example, the story of a singer called Louise Distras who was arrested by police and questioned about comments she made on GB News about ‘trans-right extremists’. According to the Mail story, officers appeared at her door and proceeded to take her fingerprints and DNA. She said she had not committed any crimes and was later told no action would be taken against her.

      Or the six former police officers convicted of sending offensive Boomer memes in a private WhatsApp group called ‘Old Boys Beer Meet’, private messages deemed to be too outrageous for the fragile public to see for themselves.

      They were lucky to escape jail. Last year another British citizen was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison for sending offensive jokes in a WhatsApp chat with friends.

      Or consider the case of police in Edinburgh turning up at the home of a parent who had complained to the school about a teacher ‘being allowed to impose her gender ideology on a classroom of little kids’.

      Or the teenager prosecuted for posting the lyrics of a rap song on her Instagram, because the music in question included the N-word. The 18-year-old girl, who has Asperger’s, was given an eight-week curfew and had to wear a tag, though the conviction was later overturned.

      Or how about the Conservative MP found guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence and fined £600 because he told an activist to ‘Go back to Bahrain.’

      Or the case of Newcastle United banning a fan for more than two seasons for tweeting that trans ideology was harmful. Perhaps that is the club’s business – after all, the Saudi Arabian-owned Premier League outfit are allowed to take a sincere stance on progressive politics – except that she was also interviewed by police.

      Or the woman who was interrogated by police after photographing a sticker on a trans pride poster, after which the police logged a non-crime hate.

      Or the Conservative councillor arrested for an alleged hate crime after re-tweeting a video criticising how the police treated a Christian street preacher.

      Then there was the case of the teenager arrested over saying a policewoman looked like her ‘lesbian nana’.

      Then there is the question of ‘silent prayer’, with police investigating Christians praying near abortion buffer zones, including a Catholic priest. This issue is admittedly less clear-cut than people being arrested for online comments, since there is the argument that it causes potential harm to women in a vulnerable state; nevertheless, it essentially means the authorities reading people’s thoughts.

      Some of the individuals caught up by these illiberal laws are very unsympathetic or idiotic. There was a Northern Ireland man jailed for three months for posting a ‘grossly offensive’ animated image of a murder victim which he somehow hoped would ‘lighten the mood.’ Or the man convicted after posting a grotesque mock-up video of the Grenfell Tower; a horrible and bizarre thing to do, but worth a conviction? So no, Britain is not a free country, and it’s worth pondering why this isn’t of greater concern.

      To show how disproportionate these punishments are, the six retired police officers received similar sentences to a teacher caught with 11,500 indecent images; last year’s four-month jail sentence for a man mocking George Floyd in a private WhatsApp chat came just a fortnight after two individuals were spared jail for putting a complete stranger in a coma. As I have attempted to show with my British crime thread, violent offenders routinely receive very short sentences, or escape jail altogether.

      In fact, if you walk around the centre of almost any British city you will see petty crime unpunished in a way that contrasts with the strict laws around speech. Around the corner from the Home Office in Westminster you may even see people taking hard drugs openly in daylight. This is anarcho-tyranny in action.

      Much of this is down to section 127 of Communications Act (2003), which creates very harsh restrictions on freedom of speech. The liberal Economist recently lamented of this law that: ‘For a government that portrays itself as the protector of free speech, this is a sorry affair. Conservative ministers may despair at “cancel culture” or the excesses of censorious students. Yet when it comes to something much more fundamental—restricting the ability of the state to jail someone for speaking out of turn—the government is happy to maintain a deeply illiberal status quo.’

      It is also an illiberal status quo that tends to punish only certain opinions. Aside from the Glasgow man convicted of tweeting about Captain Tom, the vast majority of these cases seem to involve people who have offended progressive norms, or who are seen as being enemies of the progressive alliance. While middle-aged women who question the prevailing beliefs over gender are visited by police, and football fans are arrested for the smallest offence, extremist imams who preach jihad seem to get a relatively easy ride.

      The law doesn’t seem to treat all groups the same. After the six former Metropolitan Police officers were convicted of sending messages on their WhatsApp group, Laurie Wastell noted in The Critic that:

      The same judge also heard the case of “Sarah Jane Baker,” a transwoman (i.e., a biological male) who had been out on licence while serving a life sentence for attempted murder, kidnapping, and torture. In July, Baker told an audience of trans activists in London, “If you see a TERF, punch them in the fucking face.” Quite unlike [the former police officer’s] boomer meme about parrots, this was said in a public place, by a violent felon, to an extremist movement that has repeatedly visited violence on said “TERFs” — that is, against gender-critical feminists, typically women. Ikram nevertheless ruled that this was not criminal speech, and even appeared to endorse the Trans+ Pride march that day, saying, “you wanted publicity for your cause”.

      All this would be bad enough if Ikram was an exception, but he and his ideas are in truth embedded in the British judicial establishment. At the 2022 New Year Honours he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Boris Johnson for “services to judicial diversity”. And Ikram is among contributors to the Equal Treatment Bench Book, UK judiciary diversity guidance which employs many central tenets of identity politics, like “systemic” or “structural” racism, “unconscious bias,” and “micro-aggressions.” This ideology, which holds that individuals should be favoured or disfavoured according to their immutable characteristics, runs flatly counter to the bedrock legal principle of equal treatment before the law.

      Indeed. In his review of Rod Dreher’s Live Not By Lies, Niall Gooch described ‘soft totalitarianism’ as a state where ‘interpersonal freedoms — those related to sexual expression and sexual self-definition, to the actualisation of a self created by an individual for themselves — are sacrosanct, whereas old-fashioned concrete liberties of speech and thought and assembly and debate, are up for grabs. This is Philip Rieff’s “triumph of the therapeutic”, where the state will protect us from disapproval, challenge and criticism — even if that requires the destruction of proper freedoms.’

      Old-fashioned concrete liberties are far more important than sacrosanct matters of sexual or cultural identity, yet these sorts of liberties are rarely considered in wider debates about the health of liberal democracy. Hardly a week goes by when the government isn’t compared to Nazi Germany, but there is relatively little concern over the things that really do constitute freedom.

      Richard Hanania once wrote about how the measures of freedom calculated by NGOs like Freedom House were skewed and worthless, because they were more concerned with those interpersonal freedoms than with actual concrete liberties. What matters to most people is simply whose side you’re on, and it goes without saying that a right-wing European regime in which police turned up at people’s doors for expressing unfashionable opinions would be roundly condemned – and rightly so.

      What makes our anarcho-tyranny all the more illiberal is that no one can be entirely sure what exactly are the unfashionable opinions deemed worthy of the state’s interference. In recent years moral norms have changed so quickly that people can find themselves in trouble for saying things that were totally mainstream ten years ago. In many cases they might not even be aware about the unspoken edict that such an opinion is now verboten, and I suspect it is not a coincidence that so many of the individuals caught out by this new tyranny have some form of autism.

      Yet we all lose out when our freedoms are eroded. Freedom of speech and freedom of association are by far the most essential bedrocks of liberty, and both have declined in recent decades for reasons related to issues of identity. Indeed, one might even say that those cornerstone freedoms are incompatible with the worldview which has now become all-powerful, and which sends the police around to the homes of citizens when they express a deviant opinion. It’s not a free country, after all.

      This article first appeared in Ed West’s Wrong Side of History Substack.

  122. Is that the modern day equivalent of knowing a man who knew a girl who danced with the Prince of Wales?

  123. One of my brothers has just told me that his doctor wanted to put him on statins and when he asked why, the answer was, “because you’re over 65”. Brother declined.

    1. Well, the doc was hardly likely to admit, "because I get paid a load of dosh for doing it," was he?

    4. I was once on 20mg Atorvastatin. I'm now on 40mg. I'm unaware of any adverse reaction. All I know is that I'm getting more at the NHS's expense. Thumbs up.

      Henry Winkler has just punched someone on the jaw. The Fonz would not have done that.

    5. A stupid reason. My cardiologist who fitted me with 8 stents 14 years ago explained the reasons for each of the meds he prescribed me, including statins. Statistical medication is very silly.

  124. Not really, I've got half a seating area done. I am a completionist – think Sheldon Cooper!

    1. Our young neighbour has a plaque on his wall which says ‘I have CDO! It’s like OCD but the letters are in alphabetical order – as they bluddy should be!’

      1. I need one of those! I have now got the tree stumps up so am feeling a bit better. All I need now is to fill in the holes with sand (I’ll have to get more sand as I only have two bags), lay the membrane and heave the slabs into place. The bench arrived (as a flat pack, of course) today and is residing in my kitchen at the moment. With a following wind, (and decent weather) I should get it finished tomorrow.

  125. Well chums, it's 10 pm, so I'll now wish you all a Good Night. Sleep well, and I hope to see you all tomorrow morning.

  128. That's a second rate olympic closing ceremony! Tom Cruise rappelling down from the stadium roof to collect the flag.

    It was much classier when Queenie did it!

    1. thank heavens.

      I fear that the next extravaganza in LA will be more intrusive than these were.

  131. Jesus. Thank God the bloody Olympics has passed for another four years. Wall to wall coverage with the highlights of men beating up women in the boxing ring. All sorts of other absurdities half witnessed such as professional golf and professional tennis players milking attention as though their own majors are insufficient to gain sufficient attention and monetary award.

    Good riddance to that miserable inelegant gangling mouth wide open he could trap flies narcissist Cur Andy Murray by the way.

    Perhaps the most irritating episode was not the demonic opening ceremony but at its closure. Number one probably Midget Macron attended by his Prime Ministerial boyfriend poncing around and later Lord Seb Coe smugly accepting some unearned compliment.

    This is far worse than Bread and Circuses of Imperial Roman times. This has been fake medals made presumably of base metal and plated for narcissists of the world unite.

    Of course without the participation of Russia none of those fake medals count for much anyway. We have witnessed the debasement of the supposed Olympic Ideal. The whole event is simply a money making racket with the participants the most gullible of humankind.

    As for the BBC and ITV commentaries I would rather suck lemons than listen to their self aggrandisements.

    3. Agreed in full. The Citius, Altius, Fortius vision of Charles Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin, has now been finally debased.

  132. Monday's spurdle:
    Wordle 1,150 6/6

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

    1. Thanks Geoff! Phew! Thought you might be the first victim of Phizzee’s party catering!

Comments are closed.