Thursday 18 May: Nicola Sturgeon will be remembered as a politician who sowed division

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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583 thoughts on “Thursday 18 May: Nicola Sturgeon will be remembered as a politician who sowed division”

    1. On the contrary, the allegation that certain people in the SNP have discovered a way of converting legacies to their personal

      profit has stirred the interest of politicians of all shades.

      They are united in their admiration of the SNP.

  5. Latest Breaking News –

    Since the recent near catastrophic high speed car chase incident around New York, Harry has asked if Justin Welby will be his driver .

    2. Ha ha. What a couple of wasters. A concocted story to keep their Netflix paymasters on side, more like.

      ‘Morning, B3.

  6. Deluded Tories are blind to the scale of the disaster to come. 18 May 2023.

    It is time for the Conservative Party to get real: it is on course for a landslide defeat of historic proportions, brought about by its own cowardice and incompetence. There is too much delusion in Toryland, too much residual hope that Rishi Sunak will pull off a miracle, too little honest appraisal of public opinion. Poll after poll paints the same picture: yes, the Prime Minister is relatively well liked, but his party isn’t.

    The current 17-point gap may narrow: Sir Keir Starmer may overreach, frightening some electors. But barring a major black swan event, it is overwhelmingly likely that Starmer will be PM next year, quite possibly without even needing the support of other Left-wing parties. There will be tactical voting, and he may win the most votes even in England, as Tony Blair did in 1997 and 2001. He will wield immense power.

    Even aside from Oggy’s strictures on the voting public I’m not so sure that the defeat of the Conservative Party (and I’m not all that sure of that) will be as bad as Mr Heath thinks. The poison of Cultural Marxism seems to me to have seeped down into the General Public. I’ve just watched grown men at the recent Mogg Tory Revivalist meeting shouting “Fascist” at the speakers and there are enough wrinklies in Extinction Rebellion to make you wonder what they read. Anyway the accession of Starmer, whatever the numbers, would, unbelievable as it may seem, be even worse. No one who cannot tell you what a woman is has any business in Government. He is clearly unhinged.

    The end has come my friends. The end of a thousand years of History. We need feel no shame. We have been a Light to the World. We have held off the forces of European Tyranny more times than seems right. Now they have won. May God have mercy on those yet unborn who are native to this land.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/17/deluded-tories-brought-coming-disaster-on-themselves/

    1. They don’t care because everyone including Tories knows that LibLabCon offers the same policies whichever donkey is nominally in charge.

    2. 371354+ up ticks,

      Morning AS,
      Sad to say current innocents will suffer once again as for the majority voter they will get what they truly deserve.
      As for the very young & unborn in the future they will be allowed time to celebrate their parents passing, entering the cemetery and relieving a full bladder.

      1. 371354+up ticks,
        O2O,
        Did you know Og,
        Never in the historical annals can be found where so many have bowed down in appeasement to so few.
        By the by,
        “unhinged” is rife among the political top rankers.

    3. He will wield abuse immense power.

      It has become fact that no-one knows what they are voting for. The politicos are such accomplished liars and frauds that voting is, frankly, a waste of time. It changes nothing, except perhaps the rate of decline, with Labour in the van of that particular attack.

  7. Not a word today by the MSM about the Durham report into the FBI in America. Total bias against Trump.

  8. Good morning.
    Interesting article on folk heroes and villains
    https://thefederalist.com/2023/05/17/daniel-penny-is-a-real-life-superhero/
    Daniel Penny put an arm lock on a man who was harassing commuters in front of multiple witnesses, and the man died, so Daniel Penny is the left’s new hate figure – the article points out that that may be backfiring.

    What about Musk hiring a WEF CEO of Twitter, but laying into WEF man George Soros? I think Musk’s trying to convince us that he’s a good guy while he manoeuvres Twitter into being the WeChat of the west. I have always thought that Soros, Schwab and Gates were expendable middle managers for the elite bosses who smoothed their paths to where they are now. I think they’re being set up to be the scapegoats for this dystopian mess.

    1. There is some evidence from her Likes record on Twitter that the new CEO is a Closet Conservative.

      1. That would be wonderful if it turns out to be so!
        OK, judgement suspended on Musk for now….

  9. Morning, all Y’all.
    Sunny. More farmwork today in prospect, this time involving poo.

      1. Regretfully not. Winnie has an haitch, anyhow.
        The choice was spiky blackberry plant wrangling, or forking poo. I preferred to fork.

  10. 371354+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Wuhan lab leak ‘happened about the same time as Covid emerged’
    Chinese city’s Institute of Virology was an ‘accident waiting to happen’, says US analysis

    When one appraises this odious issue
    surely “release” would be better terminology, which then begs the question accidentally or intentionally.

    Whether by design or accident it was used as a controlling / manipulating tool by the majority of political top rankers, and accepted out of hand by their followers.

    A political killing could very well have taken on a new menacing meaning.

    If it so comes to pass as true without doubt, may one ask, will it alter the voting pattern

    1. Increasingly I lean to the view that the Lab Leak was deliberate … a key ingredient of a Get Trump Out plan, in which China had a big stake.

    1. I expect he’ll ask them nicely to stop coming. That’ll work a treat.

    2. They all say that, but what happens? Numbers go up. Useless to$$ers all. They lie.

    3. Did he manage to keep a straight face when making his declaration of wanting to, as opposed to actually going to do it? Perhaps the eyes have it?

      Henley and Frey of the Eagles knew it when they wrote:

      You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
      And your smile is a thin disguise
      I thought by now you’d realize
      There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes

    5. He’s blowing smoke. It is illegal immigration he has to get to grips with. Legals tend to keep their documents and are employable.

    6. 371354+ up ticks,

      AS,
      Same said by the wretch cameron then he promtly upped the numbers.

  12. Good morning, all. Grey start to the day. But not as breezy as yesterday.

    Don’t believe a word of the Brash and Trash “car chase”.

    1. As they put themselves out there for people to worship, I’m not quite sure why they don’t just let the paps get some shots and go home quietly. Maybe, South Park was spot on…

    2. #meneither. What plonker thought that would be a good thing to boast about?
      Morning, Bill.

  13. Why do so many people vote Democrat in the US. ( The Slave Party.)? I just do not understand it.

    1. Not just the Slave Party, they went to (civil) war to defend their ‘right’ to own slaves; they instigated the Jim Crow laws; and they are the only political party in the history of the planet to have used atomic weapons to kill people.

      1. Slavery though was a relatively minor issue in the outbreak of the American Civil War, largely because a couple of Northern States also permitted slavery.
        It only became a more important issue when Lincoln realised that, by promising an end to the foul practice, he could attract more negros to enlist in the Union Army.

        1. Morning,
          As Lincoln’s VP Andrew Johnson is a very distant ancestor of mine I have a particular interest in the American Civil War. Been to Gettysburg and Appomattox and a few other sights of interest. Gettysburg is awe inspiring and the rocks around the battle field hold the details of the number of men arriving from states far away to fight for either side – and the numbers killed and wounded. The field must have been deep in blood.

          1. I’ve also done the Gettysburg battlefield tour (open-topped ‘bus), Nags, back in 1983.

            I remember the seeing the cannonball still embedded in the brick of the Methodist Chapel in the town. Also saw Jennie Wade’s house (Jennie was the sole civilian casualty in the town, killed by a stray bullet.)

          2. WE walked the battlefield and stopped to read the stones. Heart-breaking.
            I was also impressed by Arlington Cemetery which also has connections to the Civil War in that it was built on confiscated property.

  14. Hertslass.
    Tillykke med fødselsdagen, min gode ven, Dukke.
    Håber du nyder en dejlig dag.
    Jeg tænker på dig og hæver mit glas til dig!
    Mange kram,
    Bamse. 😘🎂👍🏻🥂😊

    1. Tusind tak, Bamse!

      I’m on the Isle of Wight today, will spend today pootling around and out for the evening with NoTTLer friend, so will not be online much. Have a good day, all!

      2. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday, Tine! Have a wonderful day and enjoy every minute! 😘🌹🍾🎂💕

      6. 🎶Happy Birthday, Hertslass! Have a great day, maybe some sunshine out there?! 🎉🥳🎂🥂🍾

        1. Thank you, pm. It has been beautiful sunshine here for the last 4 days…

        1. Thank you, mm!

          Just off now, for an amble round NIoW before heading back to Blighty mainland this afternoon.

          1. Enjoy the day with Phil. I lived in Gurnard Bay for 9 months 50 odd years ago.

        1. Thank you, dear.

          Chin up, there are so many here who are very fond of you…that’s something well worth having.

    2. Wash your mouth out with soap, young Grizzly. Who do you think you are – John Lennon? ;-))

    3. Wash your mouth out with soap, young Grizzly. Who do you think you are – John Lennon? ;-))

  15. Vladimir Putin’s secret Black Sea bunker. 17 May 2023.

    But, despite all these princely luxuries and castle-like defenses, the palace’s builders appear to have neglected one crucial detail. They failed to hide plans showing two elaborate tunnels running beneath the palace complex — plans that any competent state-security apparatus would fight tooth-and-nail to keep secret.

    In fact, they were posted publicly to the Russian internet. Metro Style, a now-defunct Russian contractor, posted the diagrams to their website to showcase their work in the early 2010’s. They were viewable online as late as 2016.

    Yes that’s because it’s not Vlad’s bunker. There is no evidence of any kind that he has ever visited let alone owned this building. It’s not even finished! It is a building site! The whole story is an invention of Navalny’s crew and has been disproved countless times.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/revealed-vladimir-putins-secret-black-sea-bunker-russia-kremlin-palace-2023-5?r=US&IR=T

  16. ‘Morning, Peeps. Sunny and dry again as we are about to head back to Blighty after a few days of R&R in yer lovely Dorset.

    Headline in today’s DT:

    “Radio 4 loses 1.2 million listeners in a year as Today programme ratings drop

    Flagship breakfast show registered 5.76 million listeners in the first quarter of 2023, believed to be its lowest audience since 1999”

    This is what going after yoof and unbridled wokery does – people have had enough. Quick scan of the article (full of BBC smugness and deluded self-justification) and then straight to the BTL comments:

    Alexandra Seear
    1 HR AGO
    ‘Stale’? Tell it like it is. We’re fed up with WOKE carp every minute. I used to have R4 on all day if I was at home but I havnt listened to more than a few minutes for over a decade. I occasionally try in the car but it rarely lasts more than ten seconds as I hit the off button if identity, diversity or climate change is mentioned.

    Peter Thomas
    58 MIN AGO
    R4 said that it wanted to reach a younger audience, but my guess is the young don’t listen to R4 type radio.
    In order to get to that audience they seem to believe that the only way you can do that is alienate their long term audience, like you I have listened to R4 all my life, I’m now in my 70s, but no longer, even the afternoon plays have become mired in the current obsessessions of gender politics, cultural antipathy to Brits etc, etc.
    The final straw was someone at the beeb saying that Today was to become more of a magazine programme with opinion pieces, far from its original remit of being a news reporting programme.
    I wonder what other stations would do about loyal listeners for 60 years? Not alienate them would be my guess……

    Andy Bell
    1 HR AGO
    As a formerly ardent Today fan, I now physically cringe if I accidentally switch on this woke, British-culture-loathing, hand-wringing, man-hating embarrassment of a programme. Urgh, shudder.

    Tim Ledbury
    47 MIN AGO
    We used to have it on most of the day. Always Today, Archers, comedy slot, dramas. Stopped listening around 2016 when its leftie, anti Tory, anti Brexit woke agenda started to really come to the fore. Havent listened to a minute of it since. (Mrs L)

    * * *

    The BBC is in denial and I, for one, want to see the back of it. Wokery, global warming, blik voices who are mostly NFG at their jobs, smugness, more global warming, plugs for their own programmes masquarading as news items…the list of negatives is almost endless.

    1. I too used to have Radio 4 on all day…but like the commenters above, I am the kind of listener that they want to get rid of – English, middle class, educated, conservative…we know they hate people like us.
      I can’t bear that screeching and ugly accents, and that’s before you hear any of the awful content.

      1. I listen to the radio only while I’m driving buts always R4. Re:Archers and DID, I switch them off when the music comes on. Sometimes I switch back on to listen to the program but I’ll get distracted and miss half of it.
        If only they’d change those bl**dy theme tunes.

        Another prog getting a bashing is Just a Minute. I listen to and enjoy that but find Superkings just as fawning and obsequious as Parsons used to be.

        2. ‘Morning, Stormy. I can remember when Just a Minute was a game of skill, but I gave up on it a long time ago when it decided it was comedy…

      2. I used to love R4, some times of the day I will listen, but recently there have been very woke afternoon stories .

        They are forgetting their core listeners .. even Desert Island discs is way out, some guests I have never heard of .

      3. I have R3 on in the car but otherwise no radio on at all. Haven’t listened to R4 for decades.

        1. #metoo!
          Though I do find the morning programmes a bit like a classical music version of the old Radio 2!

      1. ‘Morning, Belle. Thorncombe, a delightful little village with peace and quiet, much bird life, friendly locals and unlimited walks. Good weather helped, of course.

    3. “…back to Blighty after a few days of R&R in yer lovely Dorset.”

      I thought it was just yer Cornwall that thought itself a separate country.

    4. Like many others who have commented, I used to listen to R4 and was an avid Archers fan until I got fed up with the overt Left Wing bias.
      It must be 15 or 20y since I gave up on the Archers!

  17. The Beeb flooding the airwaves again with predictions of biblical disasters arising from the alleged 1.5 deg temperature rise coming very soon, maybe. Floods, wild fires, drought and heatwaves all on the way apparently. A chap just on was bleating about the cyclone that recently glanced Bangladesh as if its never happened before. Strewth, if they dont get the rains, the rice crop fails. I’ll be tending my crops today and watching out for frosts in these cold summer evenings as I have planted a few seedlings out.

      1. Essentially, too many eco meteorologists these days drawing conclusions about long term temperature trends on short term observations. Morning..

      2. It’s fascinating, Belle, how the weather changes all the time. Nothing changes. What a scam to end all scams this ‘climate change’ is. I am surprised that information hasn’t been removed.

    2. Morning KP. A Scare Story. It was so riddled with caveats and sophistry that it was essentially meaningless. Of course you had to listen to it to understand.

    3. It’s warmed up to +1.5C at breakfast time today.
      Coldest spring in ages, there’s not enough grass for the farmers to put the animals out yet, their stocks of hay and silage are running low, and it’s barely rained yet. At Firstborn’s place, and ours, the snow has basically gone, but the ground is still cold, and not much apart from the willow catkins has sprouted.
      This is global warming? You can keep it. Too effing cold.

    4. The bbc seems to be stuffed to the gunnels with prophets of doom.
      Never mind they will soon be able to announce the warmest day of the year. But it’s not going to be today.

    5. No doubt they’ll all be off on the summer hols to somewhere that is a least 10 degrees warmer than here. Perhaps it’ll kill them all.

      1. You need to become pregnant first Phiz, not easy if you don’t know if you’re Arthur or Martha.

        1. Given that deluded men who think they are women are allowed a smear test it wouldn’t surprise me to learn they are allowed an abortion without a foetus.

    2. Shirley a ‘café’ and a ‘shop’ exist to make money; otherwise, what’s the point.

      Making money is, by definition, capitalism (it’s what makes the world go round).

      Why are Lefties too retarded to assimilate this basic fact?

      1. Indeed – and the interior of the coffee shop is very commercial, up-to-date and conventional. Perhaps if it had been a bit more grungy and cheaper, they might have survived to push their satanic* views…

        *not hyperbole. The US Temple of Satan is pro-abortion.

  19. Good morning all.
    A dry, overcast start today with 7½°C outside.

    A BTL Comment, I wonder what these SERCO plans will do to the rental market?

    Dave Rush
    34 MIN AGO
    Regarding the shortage of rental property.
    Private contractor Serco wants more landlords to take in asylum seekers as record numbers continue to cross the Channel.
    The company is offering to organise a five-year lease with no void periods, regular rent payments without arrears, free repairs and maintenance, full HMO and property management costs as well as covering tenants’ council tax and bills while the asylum seekers’ claims are being processed.
    Serco promises to consider all types of property in the Northwest, Midlands and East of England including empty properties, HMOs, residential homes and student accommodation.
    It was awarded a 10-year contract – worth a record £1.9 billion – by the Home Office in 2019 and is already housing at least 30,000 asylum seekers in 6,000 homes. Serco’s operating model is based on leasing properties from a wide network of landlords, investors and agents and acting as a tenant

    2. And who is going to pay for all that I wonder. Yes of course, All those hard working young brits like our three sons who have just found their mortgage payments increased and the prices of everything worth living for going through the roof.
      The outset of yet another Whitehall and Westminster eff up.
      They don’t have a clue do they.

      1. …….. And who is going to pay for all that I wonder.

        Most definitely not the shirkers of South Cambridgeshire District Council.

  20. https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2023%2F05%2F18%2Fthe-failure-of-russias-wunderwaffe-is-game-over-for-putin%2F
    The failure of Russia’s Wunderwaffe is game over for Putin
    In Kyiv I witnessed first-hand Moscow’s wonder weapons fail. They were its last throw of the dice
    Kemp writes that, since Russias conventional forces aren’t doing well, the West can ignore, or at least discount, Russias nuclear forces as being the same kind of useless shambles. Well, maybe, but the consequences of getting that decision wrong are rather more serious than getting decisions over conventional forces wrong – a nuke in Trafalgar Square would be noticeable, I think.
    LIkewise, if Russia is backed into a corner with no reasonable way out, then they may well use the nuclear weapons, having nothing much else to lose.
    What’s needed is someone (Trump?) of some political heft to broker a peace that doesn’t result in much loss of face for Russia.

    1. Would so much military hardware have been left in Afghanistan and would Putin have invade Ukraine if Trump had been president?

      Probably not but Afghanistan and Ukraine will be irremovable permanent stains on the senile Biden’s presidency.

  21. The war for your child’s soul. Spiked 18 may 2023.

    Just when you thought the woke couldn’t get any weirder, now they want the right to cause psychological distress to your children. How else do we explain their agitation with one part in particular of Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s Stop WOKE Act – namely, the bit that forbids schoolteachers from making kids feel ‘guilt, anguish or other forms of psychological distress’ on the basis of their race, gender or national origin?

    There is no one remotely resembling De Santis in the UK. Not a single political voice raised to save the most innocent of all!

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/05/18/the-war-for-your-childs-soul/

    1. After the Bridgen-Myers pile of poop, to find spiked supporting Desantis makes me even more suspicious of him than I was.
      I’m fact I already know he is the RW Estab”L”ishment the never-Trumpers wish the voters would adopt instead of Trump.
      No thanks.

    2. I wonder how children and youngsters in general feel when they see TV advertising. They must at the very least feel left out of the mainstream recently, now having little identity and being insignificant. Especially if they are unfortunate enough to be white European and British.

  22. Town halls aren’t working: how civil servants moved to a four-day week

    Staff in Cambridgeshire are working fewer hours for the same pay. Who will be next?

    People support a four-day week, but that changes if working less damages the economy; ‘Council tax has gone up by 20 per cent, working hours have reduced by 20 per cent’

    Snivel Serpents could do with a dose of reality. If they are only sitting on their backside in an office for four days each week, they should be made to do a 10-hour shift sweeping streets, or mucking out pigs on the fifth day … or forfeit all wages for the week.

    1. And repairing millions of pot holes Grizz.
      Something else we have already paid for, but never happens.

    2. I reduced my working week to four days after I was 60, but with reduced pay. I dropped from 37 hours pay to 32.

    3. We work a compressed week. In fact, my hours are so flexible it’s almost silly. But usually – our most practical person comes in at 8, finishes a 4 Monday – Thursday.

      The difference is he usually doesn’t take a lunch break and sees 5 or 6 clients a day consistently rather than the 4. He prefers this way of working as he gets to play tennis on the Friday.

  23. Morning all 🙂😉
    Was sunny earlier…..
    It seems quite a lot of people have declared the car chase in New York as staged for an attempt at regaining respect. Whoops.
    I noticed quite a lot of publicity has evolved.
    I simply cannot be bothered with anything to do regarding Olga Krankie.

  24. A letter here that Ndovu will be interested in

    SIR – Joe Shute (Weather notes, May 13) writes about the declining number of swifts that arrive from Africa each spring and fears that one year they may not return.

    In my village they return in the first week of May to one property only, and for 50 years I have been counting their numbers on arrival and departure at the end of July.

    Last year there were fewer than ever and they didn’t stay to nest. This year they have yet to return. One cannot do much about declining insect numbers but the installation of swift nest boxes helps to alleviate the lack of nesting eves inherent in modern housebuilding.

    Martin Henry
    Good Easter, Essex

    One or two swallows here , no housemartins .. and very few insects .

    1. I haven’t seen any swallows yet, but I expect them to arrive in the next few days.

    2. We usually have quite a lot as well, but as suggested they appear to be reduced in numbers.
      We also use to have a number of bats in our garden. And owls. But despite having bat boxes, I have not seen any for a few years now.
      My own theory is that there are far too many people who are leaving too many lights on all night in their gardens.

    4. Plenty of swallows here, no martins yet (that I’ve seen) and no swifts. This cold spring could be the reason and they’re just delaying the last leg of their northern transit. Swifts are always last anyway.

    5. We currently have two pairs of swifts home, the first pair have two eggs in the nest. One bird from the third pair arrived two days ago, waiting for the mate. There is still time for others to arrive – many were seen a couple of days ago over Portland Bill observatory. These are established breeding pairs.
      The main wave of young birds (screaming parties) will arrive in June.
      Our first bird was early this year, arriving on 29th April.

    6. As an aside. Those interested may like to download an App called Merlin which you can use to pick up bird song. The app will identify the bird and show you a picture of it. It’s rather good.

    7. No swallows nesting here which they’ve always done in the past.

      Plenty of food around the pond so it can’t be that.

      Our local farm usually has a number nesting, but none this year.

    8. Similar here – spring is late. Nice lady dropped round to a) say hello, and b) ask Firstborn if he has any spare pasture for her horses. As I wrote before, late, dry spring means there’s no forage yet, and the stocks of hay and silage are getting low. Ground is still cold and dry, so not much is growing yet. It’s getting concerning.

    1. Happy birthday T have a lovely day
      🥂🍾 cheers all the best to you 🤩

    2. Happy Birthday dearest T!! Sung with immense gusto whilst trying not to scare the cat…

      Have a wonderful day x x

  27. 371354+ up ticks,

    May one ask,

    Why are the voting majority voting for more of the same, ongoing.

    Search on GETTR
    ogga1
    ogga1
    Post
    Gerard Batten
    @gjb2021
    ·
    8m
    The Tories have absolutely NO intention of reducing immigration. The last Tory who even remotely tried was Mrs Thatcher.

    Mass uncontrolled immigration is a vital element of the Globalist plan to destroy national sovereignty, national independence, national loyalty, & national identity.

    If Sunak had any real intention to control immigration he would immediately deploy the Army, Navy & Border Force to repel the daily invasion of illegal migrants. The UK is an island, no one can legally enter except through a port or airport.

    Our Govnt is a gang of asset stripoers there to facilitate the pillaging of our country by the Globalist forces.

    Rishi Sunak reverses away from Tory election pledge to reduce net migration –

    https://gettr.com/post/p2hctmp102a

  28. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/%2Fmethode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F9011973a-f4e4-11ed-99c7-9412839daee7.jpg?crop=2686%2C1791%2C605%2C207&resize=900

    (For anyone who missed the Martha Stewart story…)

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2023/05/16/TELEMMGLPICT000335767969_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpeg?imwidth=960

    On March 4, 2005, billionaire mogul Martha Stewart is released from a federal prison near Alderson, West Virginia, after serving five months for lying about her sale of ImClone stock in 2001. After her televised exit from the facility, Stewart flew on a chartered jet from nearby Greenbrier International Airport to New York, where she would serve out her remaining five-month home confinement on her 153-acre Bedford, New York, estate.

    1. Five months for lying ?
      Does the US or Europe for that matter have enough jails ?

    2. Why is she all bandaged up? Other than that she doesn’t look too bad for 85.

    1. Not finding any proof does not diminish the situation. Thousands of dead people did, miraculously manage to vote. Either that’s a huge error or deliberate fraud. equally the dominion voting machines were full of bugs. The code should be open sourced so anyone can view it and scrutinise it.

      Otherwise you end up like this:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=609nwWfMxRU

      1. The tweet is in reply to a 53 minute film that has just come out that claims to have a smoking gun. I haven’t watched it myself.

      2. Steven Crowder went to Nevada addresses that voters were registered to and had voted from, but were suspect. He found empty lots, no building and no people. Two senators are Democrats. To say that is suspicious is to understate the situation. I know the state and there is no way that Democrats win fair and square in Nevada. It is a Republican state through and through.

        1. I think that’s the kind of low level cheating that has been done by both sides for years though. The mysterious vertical steps in Biden’s votes that saw him going ahead of Trump in key states are new. “Corrections” doesn’t explain them adequately.

        2. I think that’s the kind of low level cheating that has been done by both sides for years though. The mysterious vertical steps in Biden’s votes that saw him going ahead of Trump in key states are new. “Corrections” doesn’t explain them adequately.

  30. Re-tweeted by James Delingpole…the morally bankrupt EU and UK apparently too, are bribing Africans to go and be cannon fodder in Ukraine.
    Of course, the main aim of these young men will be to stay alive for the five minutes it takes them to find the Polish border…and I don’t blame them. They might be sorely disappointed when Europe runs out of money in the near future.
    https://twitter.com/NovichokRossiya/status/1658883128478269441

    1. Europe will never run out of money. While governments can debase the currency there’s an infinite amount of money with only annoying tax payers to think of – and most of those are too dim to know what’s being done to them.

      1. I beg to differ. Every fiat currency in history has failed sooner or later due to over-printing…ours are no different.
        When the Chinese and Russians move onto a gold link, our fiat shyte won’t last long. Cue, panic, launch of CBDCs and finally, after all other options have been exhausted, some kind of link with gold.

  32. Campus extremists

    Kathleen Stock would not strike most people as dangerous. She is a softly spoken academic who holds the mainstream view that biological sex is real. But Prof Stock was hounded from her previous appointment at Sussex University after a campaign of intimidation by trans rights extremists. Now she is being targeted again. Activists at Oxford University are attempting to prevent her from speaking at the Oxford Union debating society, professing themselves dismayed that she should ever have been invited.

    Prof Stock’s critics are not just disagreeing with her opinions. They believe that she has no right to express them and have been accused of employing sinister tactics to punish the venue planning to host her. Their behaviour is borderline totalitarian. Since they erroneously believe Prof Stock to be “transphobic”, they argue that allowing her to speak would be “harmful” to the welfare of trans people.

    The bizarre notion that speech equals violence has spread rapidly on campuses, emblematic of the infantilisation of swathes of a younger generation that is so lacking in resilience that it cannot bear to have its views challenged. The majority of students may still support free speech, but an outraged minority has been allowed all the running.

    The Government’s new free speech Bill received royal assent this month, and many hope that it will shift the dial back towards free expression on campus. But this is about leadership as much as legislation. University administrators have been shockingly craven, failing to defend students and academics who question contemporary orthodoxies. They should realise that there is no future for academic institutions that prioritise ideological purity over inquiry and debate.

    If those ‘activist’ students are too stupid to accept a biological fact, then they should not be permitted to study at a university and should be kicked out and made to muck out pigs for the rest of their miserable lives for a pittance.

  33. Big floods in Croatia including where i was to have a Spring holiday this year. I dodged that bullet.

      1. Yes, I noticed today, the climate is different from yesterday.
        I’m a plant fanatic and I like to grow things that are on the very edge of possibility in terms of climate. If warming is a real thing I should be able to grow certain things outside that were impossible 50 years ago. In fact there isn’t a single thing I can grow now that I couldn’t then. There were plenty of plants I tried 50 years ago that died, the same plants die now because our climate hasn’t changed. This alone, tells me that climate change is a lie, plants tell me otherwise.

      1. 371354+ up ticks,
        AS,
        In the nicest possible way NOT.”How I wish” but “How
        can I help”

        A million ways, let us remember for instance that, cash is king, by using it instead of the card defiance is shown.

        On its own of no great consequence, but numbering
        multi millions, of great consequence.

    2. These people are excellent, they have nailed it and we all need to follow their example.

    1. Comments under the tweet are mixed, some agreeing, some pointing out that many cultures traditionally ate brown rice for years.

      1. I like it. But not keen on consuming heavy metals.
        Lately I have been buying white basmati rice though, which is very nice.

        1. A quick scan on Google reveals lots of sites saying the same thing; however, they maintain that the arsenic levels in rice, though higher than in other cereal crops, is still microscopically low.

          Rice, in common with all vegetation, will absorb whatever is in the soil. Although the word ‘arsenic’ is scary, it is simply just one of a hundred-or-so basic elements that exist in various proportions, in the earth’s crust. Arsenic has been used in small proportions, for centuries, as a chemical used in the tanning of leather.

          I fear that this ‘report’ is nothing more than unnecessary sensationalism.

          1. Yes, it’s low, and as all Dorothy L Sayers fans know, the body can tolerate arsenic surprisingly well if fed low levels over a long period of time! Still, I like to get these things clear.

            It was also said that nitrites in processed meat are lower levels than found naturally in some foods. Not sure I believe that.

          2. I don’t use nitrites (nor nitrates, for that matter) when I cure my own bacon or make my own sausages or pork pies. Those I don’t eat straight away I freeze, so there’s no need for chemical preservatives.

  36. Harry and Meghan’s ‘catastrophe’: A gap between fantasy and reality that you could drive a car through
    The no-nonsense NYPD response to the Sussexes’ ‘challenging’ journey takes the drama out of their tale

    Camilla Tominey : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2023/05/17/harry-meghan-confrontation-paparazzi-new-york/

    Was Migraine chased?

    We have heard about Harry’s loss of virginity but one thing is certain – it has been a long time since she has been chaste!

    The top BTL by Gary Limericker

    Harry and Meghan involved in paparazzi chase around New York. Paparazzi say they finally escaped the couple after two hours.

  37. Since the Second World War, however, the West has been under the spell of an international vision involving spreading liberal ideals. The idea that we should export a liberal political system, either through bombs, as in Iraq, or through courts and economic zones, like the EU, is in the minds of many conservatives a false step. It overreaches by taking political action away from institutions rooted in loyalty and giving power instead to bodies that operate by coercion. The reason given for this being necessary is that it spreads peace, harmony and efficiency.

    Unfortunately, an approach that flattens the world into one big policy sphere is a recipe for bad policy. Either it will fail to achieve its goals or it will inflict massive harm on national life in achieving them, and generate a backlash. The UK’s approach to implementing net zero has failed on both counts.

    Immigration is another example. Why is it that repeated promises to bring down migration are broken, so that we are expecting net immigration of more than a million this year? The problem is that the need to protect national cohesion by slowing the pace of population change is always seen as less urgent than some other more immediate problem, like the shortage of care workers.

    The Tories are finding it impossible to reduce migration because they think like multinational corporate managers rather than national statesmen. Their habitual view is that if a division of UK plc — the NHS, farms or whatever — has a shortage, it must be plugged in the cheapest, quickest way possible. If this means adopting a policy that, over the long run, accelerates cultural and social change at an unprecedented pace, then so be it. Signs of national anxiety and backlash, such as Brexit and rampant nimbyism, are put aside. There is no conception that we should solve problems ourselves as a national community, by raising wages and expanding training, for example. Instead, people are seen as fungible.

    Even this attitude, however, is mild compared with the wild liberal overreach on Labour benches. Labour is seriously considering expanding the franchise to millions of non-citizen EU residents living in the UK. EU residents already vote in local elections; now, the idea is to give them the same political rights as British nationals.

    It is easy to see why Labour might want to do this for cynical reasons, to gain votes. But to anyone who opposes massive foreign interference in domestic politics, it is morally incomprehensible. To understand how anyone could justify such a move, one has to recognise that the British left has long regarded the idea of nationhood as distasteful and illegitimate. Labour politicians regularly argue that it is wrong to prioritise the interests of Britons over anyone who arrives here on a boat. Officially dissolving the distinction between national citizens and others is just the most brazen step down the same path towards dissolving the nation. We are, once again, in the realm of “planetary” thinkers.

    Many of us, of course, hover between the McDonalds and the Hazonys of the world. The nation is fundamental, but arrangements such as EU membership have some advantages so long as their power to centralise remains weak enough. A lot of people in this position like to say they are happy to be “patriots” but not horrid “nationalists”, a distinction Hazony rejects.

    The real problem is not terminology. It is that we are being governed by a political class incapable of recognising and protecting our national interests: incapable because too many of them don’t even believe those interests are legitimate. Either they will change their view or, ultimately, the voters will change them. Unless, that is, we are gerrymandered into submission.
    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/britain-isnt-enough-for-our-lofty-leaders-8f99p30rz

    1. I take issue with this statement…’The idea that we should export a liberal political system, either through bombs, as in Iraq’.
      If it were about bringing a liberal political system we would have bombed Iran and Saudi.

      It was about control of the oilfields.

      1. Apparently Saddam Hussain and Gaddafi both separately wanted to launch gold-backed trade currencies.

        2. For oil.
          Yes and we all know who didn’t like that. Gadaffi’s people had free education interest free mortgages and a water pipeline from aquifers in the south of county to the north. And Nato bomb some of the pumping stations.
          And we all know who was behind that.

  38. Harry and Meghan’s security blocked street during ‘reckless’ escort, paparazzi claim. 18 May 2023.

    The Duke and Duchess, accompanied by Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, claimed they were chased by paparazzi after leaving an award ceremony in New York on Tuesday night.

    The pursuit lasted more than two hours and resulted in several incidents in which there were nearly collisions, according to the Duke and Duchess.

    A source close to the couple said they had been forced to seek refuge in a police station on three separate occasions as they sought to shake off the photographers.

    It is understood that the trio were staying at a friend’s house but felt unable to return as they were being followed. They eventually made it back at 12.30am after “waiting it out” long enough to lose the paparazzi.

    What a performance!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2023/05/18/prince-harry-meghan-security-block-paparazzi-ny-car-chase/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

  39. Back from the market. Busy again today, which is nice to see.

    Did I miss anything? Car chases, drone attacks??

    1. After a gruelling 2hr car chase, the paparazzi finally managed to lose Harry & Meg.

  40. Good morning all,

    Sunny morning at the McPhee’s with cloud and perhaps a shower or two later. Wind in the Nor’ East, currently 14℃ with 16℃ forecast.

    I skipped a day yesterday due to being pretty much pole-axed by the ‘coof’ but I can feel an improvement today. At least I’ve stopped shivering and don’t need to wear a duvet.

    I see that ‘scientists’ say that global warming will hit the 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels (i.e. during the Little Ice Age) tipping point within 5 years. This while the average temperatures in Southern England continued to be 2℃ below the long term avarage. It’s the Sun, stoopid!

    1. Glad to hear you’re improving.
      They can’t stop pushing the warming scam but I think more people might be wising up to it.

      1. But won’t the economy and our lives have been destroyed by the time we wise up?

    1. I have a very powerful telescope but even that can’t see much in the UK from here in Sweden.😊

      I’m in contact with ‘Elsie’ most days. Some days he’s a late starter.

      1. He was very gloomy last night.

        I do hope his spirits have rallied.

      3. To clarify matters, Grizzly. I went to bed at a reasonable time last night but after a couple of hours’ sleep I awoke feeling restless so got up and started working on reading/discarding a long series of emails until 5 am when I returned to my bed. I reset my alarm clock for 9 am but slept through until 10 am. Got up, checked the weather report, then on to this site. However, once again I am feeling rather tired, so may have to return to bed for a few extra Zeds. I am in pretty good spirits but fatigue is affecting me somewhat these days.

        1. I’ve just emailed Tom as he was very down last night and hasn’t posted his story today.

          Glad to see that you are here and well, apart from being tired, Elsie.

          1. Thank you kind Sir/Madam. (Never quite sure which you are – I think you are a lady.)

          3. Thanks, Ndovu, for that information. Grizzly post that you are “our Jules” but that simply confused me. I thought: “Is Jules a Frenchman or is Jules short for Julie?”

          4. My parents named me after a Belgian girl – but to confuse everyone, it’s spelled as a French man. My second name was after a man who was a bit of a Svengali figure for my father but they did make that one the female spelling. My mother thought he might leave me something in his will but he didn’t. He and my father fell out big-time shortly before my father died. My uncle said that he’d picked my father’s brains for his business.

      4. To clarify matters, Grizzly. I went to bed at a reasonable time last night but after a couple of hours’ sleep I awoke feeling restless so got up and started working on reading/discarding a long series of emails until 5 am when I returned to my bed. I reset my alarm clock for 9 am but slept through until 10 am. Got up, checked the weather report, then on to this site. However, once again I am feeling rather tired, so may have to return to bed for a few extra Zeds. I am in pretty good spirits but fatigue is affecting me somewhat these days.

      5. To clarify matters, Grizzly. I went to bed at a reasonable time last night but after a couple of hours’ sleep I awoke feeling restless so got up and started working on reading/discarding a long series of emails until 5 am when I returned to my bed. I reset my alarm clock for 9 am but slept through until 10 am. Got up, checked the weather report, then on to this site. However, once again I am feeling rather tired, so may have to return to bed for a few extra Zeds. I am in pretty good spirits but fatigue is affecting me somewhat these days.

    2. He said, to applause from the audience, “Movements like critical race theory and Black Lives Matter are not what they pretend to be. They are attempts at destroying the entire legitimacy of the Western political and cultural tradition. The idea that they are there to defend Black lives is a preposterous notion. They do not care about Black lives, they only care about the symbolic destruction of white culture”.

      Yes!

  43. Nicky Campbell bbc 2 etc discussing the increase of sewage being dumped into rivers and our surrounding sea.
    I think they have covered all aspects of the problems, share holdings, profit margins, even people flushing the unwanted into thier toilets. All except of course coverage of the most obvious. There are probably around 5 plus million more people in our country than the infrastructure can cope with. And still the government are allowing and still building more new houses.
    And now the ‘near catastrophic’ crash in New
    York. Don’t the media love to invent possible outcomes. That didn’t actually happen.

    1. The Coffey woman was on Peston last night trying to tell us that sewage dumping is not on the rise just that the monitoring of it is better,
      Yeah – well that solves the problem then – NOT

      1. She may have a point regards the better monitoring. Very often the overflows due to heavy rainfall would once have gone largely unnoticed, but, given the amount of house building that has gone on in the worst affected areas, the frequency of such events MUST have increased over recent decades.

        My question is still “How much do housing developers contribute towards the upgrading of the local infrastructure, including water and electricity supply as well as sewerage, to cope with the extra strain?”

        1. Good question Bob. From council experience and working with the planning inspectorate I have learned the following.
          There is very little consideration given to the “services” when planning is granted. If there are services in existence then the providers (water boards, Grid etc) will be consulted and if they think they have the capacity then it is systems go. But one should bear in mind that more houses mean more revenue for these business.
          Developers do pay a “Section 106” levy which goes to the local and council and filters down to the Parish Councils but this money has to be spent on community projects.

          1. Exactly.
            I think the developers should be expected to pay for the utilities to be upgraded as a matter of course.

      2. Their “Farm to Fork” slogan originated at the WEF. Can’t even think up their own propaganda these days.

      3. She is clearly ignoring the truth.
        As is the well known sequence of events in politics.

  44. Phew!
    3 x bags of soil filled and ready for humping up to the Folly and a dead tree root pulled up. Only a 4″ diameter one and it’s been dead a few years, so not THAT hard a job!

    Also a few lumps of stone to carry up too, including a decent lump of basalt that will look nice set into the front of the Folly.

    Now sat with mug of tea.

    1. Has your garden reached the height of Mount Everest yet, BoB? (Good morning, btw.)

  45. From the Gatesograph letters:

    Landlords’ retreat

    SIR – Twenty years ago my wife and I invested in buy-to-let properties as a form of pension provision. The war on landlords (Letters, May 17) has now led us to dispose of one property and convert another to Airbnb. Over the next few years we will retreat from the market, as is the intention of the Government’s strategy.

    These moves will only make the housing situation worse. The reduction in properties to rent will increase rental costs and prevent young people from renting for a few years before buying. It will also make it difficult for councils to house people in need as there are not enough council houses and they rely on renting properties from the private sector.

    The underlying problem in this country is a shortage of housing for a growing population. Everyone is in favour of more housing as long as it is not near to where they live. The war on the rented sector will do nothing to solve this, but it will stop me voting Conservative at the next election.

    Richard Patch
    Chilcompton, Somerset

    Richard, my dear chap, this is exactly what they want. Companies such as Serco, Mears and Clearsprings Ready Homes are poised to snap up all the properties at knock-down prices and house the channel invaders in them. Can you not see this?

    1. If a private landlord, whose house was already tenanted contracted with one of these companies, I wonder whether they could evict those tenants to install gimmegrants?

        2. I was assuming it would have, when I posed the question.

          I am sure that there will eventually be a pecking order of tenants and that a public sector, which is to all intents and purpose what the Serco-type arrangements are will be able to evict, for example, a single childless couple in a three bedroom house to put a family with children in it and the couple will be given smaller accommodation from the Serco stock.

  46. Good mid-morning, chums. Now to look for Sir Jasper’s daily funny.

    1. Good hunting, Elsie, I’ve only just put it up after a night and a morning’s hospitalisation.

      1. Well, Tom, I’m glad to see you back. I’ve clicked on your logo, but can’t see a posting including a daily “funny”. I am baffled (not really, I am Elsie).

  47. Started to watch ‘A House Through Time’, although definitely not a fan of David Olusoga. Perhaps shouldn’t have been surprised that only minutes into the programme he was mentioning the slave trade. Switched off at this point.

    1. I wonder whether his white mother was made a slave by her husband’s slave-owning family?

      I note that his wife is called “Bristol” – a bit slavish, doncha think?

    2. He’s hell bent on never missing an opportunity to advance his racist beliefs.

      1. He’s probably blaming his mother’s white skin on all the ills of slavery and everything else. He could always go and live in Nigeria……..

        1. Dispite all the moaning they obviously never do that, we would certainly know about it if they ever did.

    1. Lots of people have seen through the CO2 fraud now, and are ready to say so in public!

      1. Someone should tell the Idiot King that CO2 is benevolent and necessary.

        But I fear the Moronic Monarch is too far up his own cul-de-sac to accept that.

        1. He must know perfectly well that CO2 is given to plants to make them grow bigger.

  49. The battle for real conservatives to take back control of our party

    Vlod Barchuk in The Conservative Woman – May 18, 2023

    TRIGGER warning! What you are about to read may cause you offence, distress, dangerously hysterical laughter or perhaps all three. You may want to have your comfort dog within stroking distance, go to your safe space or have sedatives to hand. OK, are you ready? I am a member of the Conservative Party and I have no plans to leave. If you’ve survived that, the rest of this article should be easy.

    On Saturday, I attended the inaugural conference of the Conservative Democratic Organisation, a body set up by Tory peer Lord Cruddas to campaign for changes within the party. In particular, the CDO wants to see the selection of parliamentary candidates largely taken away from Conservative Campaign HQ (CCHQ) and given back to members, with members also guaranteed a say in the party leadership election as well as on policy.

    The media were expecting the conference to be a Bring Back Boris jamboree. There was certainly a lot of support for the former prime minister in the Bournemouth conference room. In his introductory letter to attendees, Lord Cruddas complained that the removal of Boris Johnson was ‘a coup . . . by our own Parliamentary Party’.

    While Johnson put in a brief, anodyne, recorded video appearance, there was relatively little mention of him during the day. Far more ire was directed at failure of the Conservative government to be conservative. Andrea Jenkyns said when she looked at some her fellow Tory MPs she thought: ‘You belong in the Lib Dems’. Lord (Stewart) Jackson, former MP for Peterborough, stated that some Conservative MPs were using the party as ‘a flag of convenience’ solely to advance their careers. Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was the MPs who messed up the party leadership election, not the members, and bemoaned the Government’s timidity in not removing EU rules such as the Working Time Directive. Other speakers complained of the chilling implications of renewed efforts to bring in legislation on conversion therapy, the failure to tackle mass immigration and wokeism.

    How has the Conservative Party become so far removed from its members? Much of the blame was laid at the door of changes to the party’s constitution in 1998. This resulted in local associations losing most of their control in the selection of parliamentary candidates. Article 17 of the constitution was introduced, which states the party board (headed by the party chairman, who is appointed by the party leader) can ‘do anything which in its opinion relates to the management and administration of the party’. This catch-all clause in effect makes the rest of the constitution irrelevant and has allowed undemocratic practices such as the imposition of parliamentary candidates. In a safe Tory constituency in 2019, party members were not told the names of candidates to be interviewed until they turned up to the selection meeting, denying them the opportunities to do any research on them but handy for CCHQ in trying to stitch up the process for their favourite.

    The policy problems with the Conservative Party are thus a symptom of no input from party members. This bodes ill for those parties who aspire to replace the Tories. Take the experience of one speaker at the conference, Michelle Ballantyne, a former Tory member of the Scottish Parliament. She left the Conservative Party, having resigned when Conservative MSPs voted in favour of Covid restrictions including closing the border between Scotland and England. Mrs Ballantyne led the Reform Party in Scotland but stood down after about a year, telling the conference that Reform was not democratic in the way it operated. Therein lies the principal challenge for those parties who wish to replace the Tories: will they really be mass movements for conservative-minded people or vanity projects for their founders?

    You may have decided that the Conservative Party is broken beyond repair and mock my tilting at windmills. Perhaps you’re right. Efforts to make the party accountable to its members will face opposition from those who hold the levers of power. Although Paul Holmes MP, deputy party chairman, told delegates that the CDO would be listened to, there was nothing of substance offered. Some will be outright in their opposition; on the day of the conference, Tobias Ellwood MP wrote that ‘a drag anchor of a right-wing caucus is in our ranks’ and he would consider those attending the CDO conference to be part of that weight. But what Mr Ellwood and his ilk need to recognise is that the Conservative Party is ceasing to be a mass-membership organisation. Its membership has fallen from about 500,000 at the start of the millennium to roughly 170,000 now. Treat conservatives as a nuisance to be controlled and they will up sticks and leave. I may find myself on the losing side of this battle to take back control from the Tory apparatchiks, but it’s a battle worth fighting.

    BTL

    There is no room for real conservatives in the Conservative Party which is not really conservative at all.

    It is not just conservative voters who must find new parties for whom to vote but conservative Conservative MPs who must find new parties to join.

    1. Reading Vlod Barchuk’s missive makes it quite clear that real Conservatives will have to start a new party. One reason being that those currently in charge of the ‘Former Conservative’ party will fight tooth and nail to retain control for as long as it takes them to realise their globalist aims and secondly, the stench of bad doings and the obvious globalist agenda associated with the ‘Former Conservative’ party will ensure that decent people will not want to be associated with such an entity.

      1. I agree – but they should have done this some time ago. It is probably now rather too late to achieve anything constructive.

  50. Escape to the Chateau stars dropped by Channel 4 over bullying claims. 18 May 2023.

    The Times reported Angel, 43, was recorded branding one producer, who complained about his treatment, a “f—ing c—. Another featured her husband, a former army officer, telling a producer “f— you” after he became irritated during filming.

    Two sources told the newspaper they had seen unaired footage of Dick threatening to throw another crew member “out the f—ing window” of the chateau while brandishing a hammer.

    I can only imagine that being followed around every minute by cameras and asked endlessly stupid questions as being a pretty good preparation for hell!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/18/escape-to-the-chateau-dick-angel-dropped-channel-4-bullying/

    2. Big Dick certainly seems to have put on a lot of weight during the whole process of working flat out during the massive alterations that have been made at the family Shangri-La. Extensive Hard work normally has the opposite effect.

    3. Never understood that programme. Watched it once. And only once. Two big-headed, self-obsessed aggressive wanquers.

      1. Would they have received a grant from the French government to carry out the massive amount of repair work they took on in that huge property and it’s surroundings ?

  51. They are still in denial
    A new ‘vaccine’ is available.
    Received by email today. No reply of course.
    Dear Mr Ready Eddy your NHS record suggests you may have a weakened (not wrong there) immune system due to a health condition or medical treatment.
    Errrmm before the last covid jabs I had, I had actually been living a stable and enjoyable life until those pricks came along.

    It’s important you get this further vaccination as soon as possible, as protection fades over time. Your protection may reduce more quickly than other people’s does. This vaccination will lower your risk of hospital admission and help you to recover more quickly if you catch COVID-19 during the spring or summer. Sorry but it’s taken you two years to get a proposed priority treatment to cure the problem., caused by the original ‘vaccines’ and still waiting

    Soz about the alterations I get a lot of interruptions sometimes. 🤔

    1. Translation: Stick out your arm, your struggling local pharma giant needs you to maintain their profits!

      1. I can’t even get back to them and let them know why I’m not going ahead with it.

    2. OH had one of those letters. We’ve ignored it. Who’s to say if his heart troubles are a result of having three Pfizer jabs?

      He recovered very well from the surgery last December, but now he’s no better than he was beforehand. Last week the GP said he would refer him back to cardiology. Yesterday he got two letters – one from triage and one telling him to book an online appointment at one of these six hospitals. The earliest one (at a hospital 40 miles away) was in July, the nearest one could only offer December. The pass code is surely a piss take? “Frock cuff”??? Sounds like F-off to me.

      Anyway he’s now phoned the surgery again and is waiting for a call back. I can see we’ll probably have to go back to A&E again and wait.

      It’s horrible to see a previously very fit and active husband reduced to tears of frustration this morning

      1. That’s not fair.
        Email your local PALS you’ll find the email address on line.
        Let them know what is happening and they should be able to help. They usually will get back to you with in three working days.

        1. I will wait for the GP call back first but if we get nowhere with that I will try PALS. I walked past their office enough times when he was in GRH.

      2. Poor man. That’s no good. Please pass on our sympathy, and we’ll be thinking of him, in the hope taht gives him energy.

  52. They are still in denial
    A new ‘vaccine’ is available.
    Received by email today. No reply of course.
    Dear Mr Ready Eddy your NHS record suggests you may have a weakened (not wrong there) immune system due to a health condition or medical treatment.
    Errrmm due to the last covid jabs I had I had been living a stable and enjoyable life until those pricks came along.

    It’s important you get this further vaccination as soon as possible, as protection fades over time. Your protection may reduce more quickly than other people’s does. This vaccination will lower your risk of hospital admission and help you to recover more quickly if you catch COVID-19 during the spring or summer. Sorry but it’s taken you two years to get a proposed priority treatment to cure the problem., caused by the original ‘vaccines’ and still waiting

  53. A purring cat is not always contented. 18 May 2023.

    In his vast survey of felines wild and domestic, Jonathan Losos reveals, among much else, that a cat’s purr can convey hunger or panic as well as pleasure

    BELOW THE LINE.

    beachcomber •

    Yes … as Terry Pratchett said: In ancient times cats were worshipped as Gods, they have not forgotten this.

    Please do not feed you cat “kibbles” which is understood as dry pellets. They create dental decay – cats cannot lick inside their mouths to clean their teeth and may only be able to get clean teeth if they chew bones or flesh as in a mouse or bird or if you brush them.

    Cats are obligate carnivores and the best, cheapest and easiest source of this for your cat is tinned sardines or pilchards, chicken livers or meat offcuts – no fat. The only non-meat they need is grass – lemon grass is nice – to clean their gut or as a laxative to help with digestion.The surge in dry food for domestic animals began a few decades ago as the cheapest and easiest way to feed, also because both adults began working and there was less time to make cat or dog food naturally. It no longer is, with the excessive marketing for “older cats, overweight cats, kittens …” etc etc

    Your parents or grandparents fed their domestic animals scraps from the table or offal. They lived very well on this diet.

    The synthetic ingredients now lead to increase in cancers, tooth decay and especially kidney disease.

    Having been in the creation and production natural dog/cat food to international standards I am informed.

    For Nottl’s many cat lovers!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-purring-cat-is-not-always-contented/

    The Age of Cats: From the Savannah to Your Sofa: Jonathan Losos

  54. A purring cat is not always contented. 18 May 2023.

    In his vast survey of felines wild and domestic, Jonathan Losos reveals, among much else, that a cat’s purr can convey hunger or panic as well as pleasure

    BELOW THE LINE.

    beachcomber •

    Yes … as Terry Pratchett said: In ancient times cats were worshipped as Gods, they have not forgotten this.

    Please do not feed you cat “kibbles” which is understood as dry pellets. They create dental decay – cats cannot lick inside their mouths to clean their teeth and may only be able to get clean teeth if they chew bones or flesh as in a mouse or bird or if you brush them.

    Cats are obligate carnivores and the best, cheapest and easiest source of this for your cat is tinned sardines or pilchards, chicken livers or meat offcuts – no fat. The only non-meat they need is grass – lemon grass is nice – to clean their gut or as a laxative to help with digestion.The surge in dry food for domestic animals began a few decades ago as the cheapest and easiest way to feed, also because both adults began working and there was less time to make cat or dog food naturally. It no longer is, with the excessive marketing for “older cats, overweight cats, kittens …” etc etc

    Your parents or grandparents fed their domestic animals scraps from the table or offal. They lived very well on this diet.

    The synthetic ingredients now lead to increase in cancers, tooth decay and especially kidney disease.

    Having been in the creation and production natural dog/cat food to international standards I am informed.

    For Nottl’s many cat lovers!

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-purring-cat-is-not-always-contented/

    The Age of Cats: From the Savannah to Your Sofa: Jonathan Losos

    1. The wife told me the cat needed to be chipped.

      I only had a nine iron, but I still got it over the shed.

    2. My cat would roll on her back, tempting you into a tummy rub then ram all four claws into your hand when you went near her.

      2. I’ve had quite a few cats in my life and none of them really liked being touched on their tumms. After a few strokes it was growls and claws.

  55. V late on parade, sorry folks, I’ve had two lovely e-mails from Jules & Sue Mac and I’ve explained that I fell last night, couldn’t get up so had to use my call button and wait for the ambulance. A round trip to Dumfries RI and I’ve just now been discharged.

    So now for today’s story:
    Good morrow, Gentlefolks, today’s story

    Statues Я Us

    A woman was in bed with her lover when she heard her husband opening the front door.

    “Hurry!” she said, “stand in the corner!” She quickly rubbed baby oil all over him and then she dusted him with talcum powder. “Don’t move until I tell you to,” she whispered, “just pretend you’re a statue.”

    “What’s this, honey?” the husband asked as he entered the room
    .
    “Oh, it’s just a statue” she replied nonchalantly. “The Smith’s bought one for their bedroom. I liked the idea so much, I got one for us, too.”

    No more was said about the statue. Not even later that night when they went to sleep. Around two in the morning the husband got out of bed, went into the kitchen, and returned with a sandwich and a glass of milk.

    “Here,” he said to the statue, “Eat this. I stood like an idiot at the Smith’s for three days and nobody offered me so much as a glass of water.”

    1. Hope you’re in good shape, Tom, even despite the fall.
      It’s been an awful long time since I was in Dumfries – like 40+ years. Is it still dump?

      1. Even more of a dump, I hate the place and the hospital is bloody cold. I couldn’t stop shivering and my teeth were constantly chattering – not small talk.

  56. Just to let you know that I’ve had a email from Tom to say he’d had a fall and was taken to hospital to be checked. He’s fine and has been discharged so will be back on the site shortly!

    2. Yes – he replied to me but I’ve only just seen it as I was out in the garden weeding.

      2. Perhaps you could see your way clear to sending some of yours, pet??😘

          2. White? You mean Paul is white? And there I’ve been all these years thinking he was a cheeky bame!!

  57. Clip of Elon Musk talking to a journalist, who asks a fair question about why Musk makes some tweets that he does.
    https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1658823634893385731
    What I find interesting is how Musk (who is very clever) controls the dialogue. When he has decided on his response, he just quotes the film, and the journalist says “so you don’t care?”
    99% of people would have replied “no, I don’t care”, but Musk keeps quiet, and lets the journalist pick up the conversation again, while he formulates his reply into something that can be quoted.

    1. While he is right, and he is right, there is clearly a point where his views affect those of his company and thus his employees.

      When you’ve more than enough to retire on, fine. But when you’re the lady who empties the bins, on minimum wage, working two jobs who needs – needs – this one – has he a higher duty?

      1. In a free market, he doesn’t have that kind of responsibility, I would say, because if his company isn’t filling a gap in the market, someone else will, and the cleaner can get a job at the new company.

        1. This is true, but starting a business in America making high end electric vehicles is somewhat expensive.

  58. Popping out for a while. Unlike Captain Oates, I doubt if I shall be long….at least I hope not!

  59. A general observation and question.

    I have no recollection of seeing any black, Muslim or Asian trannies, (apart from Thai ladyboys who I assume are prostitutes catering to a particular clientele.)
    Are there such creatures or is it merely a white phenomenon?

    2. The diversity wallahs at work have excelled themselves. We now have a very short black adult person. The online dictionary Google permits describes a dwarf as a mythical creatrue. No it ain’t mate. I just passed him in the kitchen.

        1. Yes, “Little People/Dwarfism” seems to be allowed. Not just short. The physical characteristics are quite specific.

        2. I wondered about that but looking them up online, the pygmy people don’t seem to have the appearance of dwarfism in the same way. Hitherto my sheltered life has only brought me into contact with white people who have this condition, so waycist or not, I’m intrigued – but woudn’t dare ask him of course!

        3. I wondered about that but looking them up online, the pygmy people don’t seem to have the appearance of dwarfism in the same way. Hitherto my sheltered life has only brought me into contact with white people who have this condition, so waycist or not, I’m intrigued – but woudn’t dare ask him of course!

  61. The law is gone but they are still in jail: who will free Britain’s most wronged prisoners? George Monbiot. 18 may 2023.

    As a teenager, she was convicted of criminal damage and burglary. She tried to kidnap a man she believed had abused her younger sister. She then went through a phase of alcoholism, during which she had sex with two underage teenagers, leading to a conviction for sexual offences. In an alcoholic rage, she set light to photos of her mother, scorching the carpet of her lodgings and earning herself an arson conviction.

    In 2007, in her early twenties, she was prosecuted for actual bodily harm, among other offences. Her lawyer told her to expect a sentence of up to four years. This, the judge remarked, was roughly what she would have got under different circumstances: three and a half years. But instead he handed down a sentence of “imprisonment for public protection” (IPP).

    IPP sentences were introduced in England and Wales by the New Labour government as it sought to prove it was tough on law and order in the Criminal Justice Act 2003. If an offender had previously been convicted of one of 153 offences deemed to present a danger to the public, and had then committed another such crime, the courts had no choice but to impose either an IPP sentence or life imprisonment. IPP means indefinite detention.

    We see here Moonbiot standing up for Freedom and Justice for the individual. Is he going to offer this woman a good home? Of course not! Is he going to be responsible if she commits further offences against some person unaware of her nature? Of course not. This is the worst aspect of the Left and its Virtue Signalling hypocrisy. It is always someone else who has to carry the can.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/18/jail-law-britain-prisoners-ipp-sentences

      1. He’s just a pen-pushing coward. If he really believed in his cause he would be out there with them.

    2. There is nothing new about IPP. It used to be called “Preventive Detention”.

    1. Back in the day 2011 – yes, it was a spectacular mismanagement of dairy. God knows how they achieved it!

    2. Wait till they close down all those Dutch farms, Gouda won’t be had for love nor money!

      2. I haven’t been able to get Gouda for about 2 weeks- we both love it. Just not on the shelf.

        1. My latest cheese love is cambazola, A mix of camembert and gorgonzola. Sliced thin like brie and cut in 4 with TUC biscuits – yummy.

    3. Swedish butter is disgusting and inedible (though the Swedes love it). They add a milk culture to it, which makes it smell and taste rancid, even when fresh. Luckily I can source good Finnish butter, which is traditionally made (like all good butter) from just churned cream (with added salt).

      Even Lurpak has an added syrakultur these days!

    1. Holy Smoke. And they worry about the weight of EVs in multi-story carparks.

  65. An elderly couple are in church.
    The husband turns to his wife and says, ” I’ve just done a silent fart. What should I do?”
    His wife says, “Put new batteries in your hearing aid.”

  67. Oh dear…how sad…never mind…

    CAROLE CADWALLADR ORDERED TO PAY £2 MILLION* IN BANKS’ LEGAL COSTS

    The Court of Appeal has ordered that Carole Cadwalladr must pay 60% of Arron Banks’ legal fees to the tune of £1,242,634 £2 million.* Having already apologised and coughed up £35,000 in damages, the Court has today ruled she must now find another couple of million down the back of the sofa before the end of the month. Beyond that, and the interest starts raking up at “2% per annum above the Bank of England base rate from time to time”…

    The Court said:

    “The Claimant was the successful party on the appeal and overall. He has established that the Defendant was responsible for the unlawful publication to 100,000 or more people in this jurisdiction of a serious imputation, which caused serious harm to the Claimant’s reputation, which the Defendant accepts was not true, and which (as she also accepted on appeal) was no longer defensible in the public interest. He has established a right to substantial compensation, now agreed in the sum of £35,000. He has also secured an apology, an acknowledgment of the falsity of the meaning complained of, the amendment of the TED Talk, an undertaking not to repeat the allegation complained of, and the removal of some Tweets…”

    Banks tells Guido “victory is final and sweet“. Presumably the mainstream media will actually cover the news this time…

    *On closer reading of the costs order we think it will be nearer £2 million – we noticed another “£800,000 that the Claimant was ordered to pay her on account of her costs of the proceedings in the High Court. “

    https://order-order.com/2023/05/18/carole-cadwalladr-ordered-to-pay-over-1-million-in-banks-legal-costs/

        2. We don’t have Hos in this country, They’re whores

          A dirty ditty.

          I have a sister Lilly, she’s a whore in Piccadilly
          And me Muvver is another, on the Strand.
          Me Father flogs his arsehole
          At the Elephant and Castle.
          We’re the finest f**k*** family in the land.

          1. Found it at last, Sir Jasper. Not a bad one today. Sorry to read elsewhere that you spent some time yesterday in hospital.

    2. Obviously a bad loser. This is her recent tweet:

      “A dark day for freedom of the press, for everyone who cares about it and for every journalist & news organisation that believes in public interest reporting.”

    4. Other than being white and male, what else did CC have against Mr. Banks?

      1. CC has long been an awful person. Quasi-Welsh, Hertford Oxford, totally up her own kilt and truly believes that she walks on water. She thought she had enough clout to destroy Brexiteer funder Aaron Banks with specious innuendo and slurs. She’s now discovering just what a costly failure she. I loathe people of her ilk and hope she has a painful bankruptcy.

  68. Oh dear…how sad…never mind…

    CAROLE CADWALLADR ORDERED TO PAY £2 MILLION* IN BANKS’ LEGAL COSTS

    The Court of Appeal has ordered that Carole Cadwalladr must pay 60% of Arron Banks’ legal fees to the tune of £1,242,634 £2 million.* Having already apologised and coughed up £35,000 in damages, the Court has today ruled she must now find another couple of million down the back of the sofa before the end of the month. Beyond that, and the interest starts raking up at “2% per annum above the Bank of England base rate from time to time”…

    The Court said:

    “The Claimant was the successful party on the appeal and overall. He has established that the Defendant was responsible for the unlawful publication to 100,000 or more people in this jurisdiction of a serious imputation, which caused serious harm to the Claimant’s reputation, which the Defendant accepts was not true, and which (as she also accepted on appeal) was no longer defensible in the public interest. He has established a right to substantial compensation, now agreed in the sum of £35,000. He has also secured an apology, an acknowledgment of the falsity of the meaning complained of, the amendment of the TED Talk, an undertaking not to repeat the allegation complained of, and the removal of some Tweets…”

    Banks tells Guido “victory is final and sweet“. Presumably the mainstream media will actually cover the news this time…

    *On closer reading of the costs order we think it will be nearer £2 million – we noticed another “£800,000 that the Claimant was ordered to pay her on account of her costs of the proceedings in the High Court. “

    https://order-order.com/2023/05/18/carole-cadwalladr-ordered-to-pay-over-1-million-in-banks-legal-costs/

  69. “Albert, what shall we do for our wedding anniversary?”
    Albert- “How about a minute of silence maybe?”

    That concludes my joke contributions for today- you may all stand at ease 😉

    1. A divorce court judge said to the husband, “I have reviewed this
      case very carefully, and I’ve decided to give your wife $800 a week.”

      “That’s very fair, your honor,” he replied. “And every now and then, I’ll try to send her a few bucks myself.”

    2. I expect you remember the actor Yul Brinner, famous bald headed, clean shaven actor, the King and I amongst other memorable parts. Who infact never actually used after shave he may have had an allergy. And strangely was a keen supporter of Liverpool football club. So in effect Yul never wore cologne…….

  72. The second half of our third swift pair arrived home this afternoon. Rested for a while and then they both went off for a fly round. The first one only had a couple of days to wait. I don’t know but my gut feeling is that the first ones home are the females and the males follow. I posted a couple of pics from my phone on Facebook, and also on the Stroud Swift Group page. This was the late arriving pair which went on to raise two chicks which stayed till the end of August, much later than the others, which were fledged by the end of July.

      1. Nesting pairs? Our friends in Bristol (see blog Bristol Swifts) are still waiting for quite a few of their regular pairs but lots have been seen coming over near Portland Bill Observatory. They seem to be arriving in several waves this year, the first ones came in on a plume of warm air a few weeks ago, while others waiting for the weather to pick up again.

        1. Not pairs; individuals. We don’t have any hi-tech cameras such as you have. When it’s warm enough, we sit in the garden with our neighbours (and a G&T) and try to count them as they dart about in front of and behind the cottages catching their supper. It has been statistically proven that the swift ‘head count’ always increases with the G&T count.

  73. Inadvertently I stumbled across a guardian article on slavery. It said something like let’s tell the youngster’s the truth about slavery.
    I only scanned through it but saw no reference to the world’s worse slavery conditions and terrible effects on and now obviously unknown experiences held by the ancestors of the slaves.
    It goes back way beyond the Caribbean slavery and the article didn’t appear to mention Spain the Alhambra Palace and thousands of kidnapped white children crammed into caves. Used for sex and disposed of by feeding them to caged pet lions. Kept by the Islamics who invaded and took over someone else’s country for around 350 years. Dear ‘the guardian’, you like many other media outlets “Can’t handle the truth”.

    1. I thought the Guardian and their sort had already been telling children their version of the ‘truth’ for years and years. Of course, the truth and nothing but the truth does not suit the political narrative.

      1. Precisely.
        The article even mentions that drug dealer addict nasty who had his neck put our of place by the police in the US.
        I couldn’t be bothered to read it properly. I think I treated it with respect it deserved.

          2. Why?

            My tomatoes either glut or fail, apart from cherry tomatoes which always do very well.

          3. “Les œillets d’Inde sécrètent justement une substance appelée Thiophène qui repousse les nématodes. En plantant donc des œillets d’Inde à proximité de vos tomates et de vos légumes, vous obtiendrez des pieds bien plus résistants”

          5. Seriously, I have grown them for companion planting for at least 20 years – ever since we started the anglo-french potager.

          6. It was a jokey way of saying thank you.
            The use of companion plants is interesting. I would like something that chased off weeds even more than ones that prevent bugs.

          7. I’d settle for a triffid that would chase off the blasted cat who confuses my garden with a public lavatory. I’ve thoughtfully provided him with some mice in the compost heap in the hope that he will change the land use to hunting, but nothing doing. The little beast left a stink bomb right in the middle of the path to the woodshed the other day.

          8. Short of shooting it I can’t help.
            Perhaps leaving cut bramble or other spiny plant cuttings along and across its usual routes might put it off?

            I shout at any cat that I see in the garden.
            I would gladly accept them if they killed the moles; they don’t.

    2. The ones that I grew myself from seed are still about two inches high!
      I bought healthy looking ones like yours from the garden centre.

      I will try the heated propagators next year, if I manage to get my hands on some.

      1. They DO need warmth. Look online for propagators. Yer Chermans must have them….

        1. Try having a shufti at this (if it opens)

          https://www.ebay.de/itm/325077540456?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D249160%26meid%3D1728683e04194e06b25d85e713a13297%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D203874252468%26itm%3D325077540456%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuWithLambda85KnnRecallV1V4V6ItemNrtInQueryAndCassiniVisualRankerAndBertRecall%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A3250775404561728683e04194e06b25d85e713a13297%7Cenc%3AAQAIAAABUA2rugFlOq3qu1cLac%252F%252Fk6Vp0Oa0HaJIqoXKeIiOR%252BTUgsSvHaeyPxKYu6UqHqq7GaGyKVqHQnjeiiXcQpMGw2t3aB%252BssGfjtIWOBj8wExc7oYYP7xGMyQCrHDyDaSaWjB1CueI3A94n0yxXX5dx5gCOAAOOF3aFu5O9hm6AR7yuVBIHhxIzRQtPRxhUwVzzSqBQfqt2EClrT3LD1c3cdIv6JRUxDV7dgC1%252BPUy1c%252BDOYp8mf0oJRQ2yGM%252Bea5EjyhSWAgtlkn7TXu5zLDV5t8gO3%252FnYzAjnOXWtPAGBR9R%252F07OJDaUXAhWVv54YQEv2QrFDzP8vxlEstCqbWNXdJRQwnXotSHIqxx1ShaDggXbGEJacCScFw%252F0Ee5o3IxWr6XGIIdVka3m1FdOu1rb9%252BOnFjN09tHXB%252FFLYUI4yajAL9bMDYqMdXJOyHg0Fv04G%252Fw%253D%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2047675

      2. Have you tried LED grow lights? Give warmth and sunlight equivalent light.

        1. Our son in Canada grows all sorts under his LED lights. They are just ordinary LED string lights.

          4. LED grow lights have specific blue and red output that is specific to plants’ needs. He might be able to improve his plant growth with them.

          5. He did consider getting proper plant grow lights but, with the price difference, decided to give the cheaper ordinary ones a go.
            In 3 years of use, everything has germinated and thrived, no leggy seedlings or bending towards the window. They have successfully grown a variety of plants from seed, even during winter. Spring sowings are moved to pots on their balcony.
            His young children derive much fun from their ‘gardening.’

          6. TBH I didn’t know there was a price difference. It’s great for kids to see how plants germinate and grow.

          7. The children are well and truly hooked.
            Apartment living was so totally alien to our son, and I doubt they will ever afford a house so he is making the most of what he has. At least they have a decent balcony. He sometimes gets roped into helping his in-laws with heavy garden jobs.

        2. I haven’t tried extra lights, but it was clear that they needed more light than the kitchen window afforded.

      3. I have two little heated propagators, one of which is an Aldi special buy from some years ago. It is just as good as the more expensive branded one.

    3. Mine were grown for me by a friend – I collected them on Monday evening – must get them planted up soon – need some new canes. What sort of marigolds do you use?

  75. England has a surprising new triumph – and a hero to go with it

    The introduction of “synthetic phonics” into English schools has put our children near the top of the international literacy rankings

    JEMIMA LEWIS
    18 May 2023 • 6:30am

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/05/17/TELEMMGLPICT000284720437_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf0Rf_Wk3V23H2268P_XkPxc.jpeg?imwidth=680

    What’s this, landing at our feet as strangely as a froglet falling from the sky? A good news story! How disconcerting.

    England’s schoolchildren have surged up the international literacy rankings, overtaking even the hallowed Finland. While most countries’ reading scores have fallen sharply, due to educational disruptions caused by Covid, the performance of England’s nine and 10-year-olds has held steady. This is a triumph, given how much lesson time our own children have missed through strikes as well as lockdowns. Only Singapore, Hong Kong and Russia have fared better.

    My first instinct (perhaps yours too) is to search for the “but”. But the buts are hard to find. Despite everything – funding crises, low morale, unions balloting teachers about yet more strikes – here is an unequivocal success story. The credit goes to the long-lost Coalition government, which – to the fury of many educationalists – required schools to teach “synthetic phonics”. Despite its sciencey name, this is an old-fashioned way of teaching children to read: breaking up words into smaller, recognisable units of sound – cat, mat, bat – which can then be used to decode longer words.

    Bizarre as it now seems, this simple, intuitive and effective method of reading fell out of fashion in the 1970s. At my state primary in Oxford, we were expected to learn through some mysterious osmosis instead: by looking at pictures and guessing what the captions meant, or by singing Pink Floyd lyrics, or just by holding a book open and staring longingly at the marks on the page. I was lucky: my father stepped in and taught me to read the cat-mat-bat way.
    Incredibly, there are still some educationalists who reject synthetic phonics. They think it’s a dry, unimaginative, stifling of creative genius. But nothing stifles genius more effectively than not being able to read.

    Recognising when a policy has been successful is important – not just for the good feels, but because it makes that policy more likely to be retained by future governments. I would even go so far as to say we should applaud the politicians responsible. Nick Gibb, who helped push the policy through, is still an education minister today. Most people have never heard of him, but he has grown old and grey fighting this long battle, for the sake of our children.
    *
    *
    **********************************

    John Winter
    5 HRS AGO
    I was a teacher in the 70s. It was when progressive education theory wrecked the futures of so many of our kids. The grammars were shut down and replaced by huge comprehensives. Discipline disappeared. Excellence was junked, streaming abandoned. Grammar was no longer taught. Result? A collapse in standards and the achievement of the socialist holy grail. Equality. All the kids became equally mediocre.

    Linda Borg-Olivier
    8 HRS AGO
    Isn’t it strange that phonics fell out of fashion in the 70s when we had Labour governments – y’know, Labour governments that have such an excellent record on education.

    Grim Pol
    8 HRS AGO
    Only last year the government was urged to drop phonics,
    see article in the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jan/19/focus-on-phonics-to-teach-reading-is-failing-children-says-landmark-study .
    And in the TES it was “almost abuse” https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/imposing-synthetic-phonics-almost-abuse-says-academic
    Will they say sorry? Me thinks not.

    1. Fortunately, my children were taught to read using phonics in their primary school late 1980s-early 1990s. My two daughters were reading within a few weeks of starting school (my son was slower at everything, and it took a couple of years before he was fluent). Thank God for an ‘old-fashioned’ school (which had a waiting-list a mile long for entry).

      1. I am very old-fashioned. I haven’t a clue what “phonics” is (or are). My mother taught me to read when I was three. Never looked back. Got hooked on books before I went anywhere near a school. I expect that would be child abuse, today.

        1. Nowadays if a child arrives at school being able to read they are purposely held back.

          Ayn Rand again.

          1. That happened in many schools in the early 1990s, but that doesn’t happen so much now.

      2. I think I learnt from a variety of methods. Partly taught by my mother before I started school, then by a very experienced infant teacher when I went to the local village Cof E primary. I do remember some look and say cards, and she would label things on pictures around the walls. My life was very disrupted at the age of four when my father died – I had just started school then.

        I was useless at arithmetic but never struggled with reading.

        My sons could both read before they started school. I knew that the local school used the Pitman ITA alphabet so that is what I used with my elder son, who took to it easily. He’d gone right through the series by the time he started school. It possibly led to his written work lagging behind the reading, but he went up to the juniors a year early, and on to the grammar school at 10. He was the youngest and smallest in school at that time.

        By the time my younger son started infant school, they had dropped the ITA method, but he had no trouble learning to read, and his teacher assessed him as gifted.

        1. I’m sorry, but i am NOT a fan of ITA, having been made to learn it myself. Buggered me up for years – held me back.

          1. I certainly wasn’t a fan, but as it was what he would have at school, I didn’t want to confuse him. He had a trouble-free switch to the normal alphabet. I don’t think he was held back but his written work was not as good as his reading for a while.

      3. Fortunately our sons attended an ‘old fashioned’ primary school during the 1970s.
        Not only were they taught to read proper, but they learnt their times tables. In fact, the pupils were awarded a certificate once they were proficient up to 12X.
        The school had a smallish catchment area then – now the pupils have to practically live on the premises to be admitted.

    2. I suspect I will be going against the grain here, but I learned to read using word recognition, and I loathe phonics. It makes sense in languages like German where the spelling is more logical, but to read English quickly, word recognition is far better.
      It probably doesn’t suit all children, but it suited me. I recognise words by their shape, chiaroscuro and colours, and I read extremely quickly.

      2. I’m sure a lot of people are like you. The problem is that there are at least as many who are not!

        I taught both our boys to read myself because they both really wanted to learn well before they were going to do this at school. Our elder son picked it up in no time and hardly needed any phonics to shore him up – he could recognise whole words really quickly without a problem. Our younger son took a little bit longer and needed more phonics, which he really enjoyed because I had devised all sorts of phonics games to play with him.

        Both boys became avid readers, particularly the younger one who, as a teenager, would read four or five books over a weekend. But he always found writing difficult as his fine motor skills were really not brilliant. (Even today, he can’t carry a cup of coffee from one room to another without spilling some, because his hand trembles too much!).

        Because of his difficulties with writing, when our younger son went to university, he needed to be tested by an educational psychologist to see to what extent extra time in examinations was justified. Unsurprisingly, he was in the bottom 10% of the population for writing skills, and also in the top 5% for reading skills. But the great surprise was that we found out that he is dyslexic. And yet he is an excellent reader! It was phonics that saved him.

        In spite of all these “learning difficulties”, he did a humanities degree with lots of essay writing, and followed this up a few years later with a Master’s degree in Computer Science (he came out top in his year! Proud Mum). He’s going to see Julius Caesar in Blackpool this weekend, performed by the RSC. Goes to show the importance of learning in early years, maybe?

          2. Open goal, totally irresistible, and many apologies to your long suffering wife:

            I’ll bet you thought I was going to say something horrid!!

        2. Yes, this is the advantage of teaching children to read at home – you can adapt the teaching to the child. In the school, especially state schools, it’s one size fits all.

        3. Teaching them at home when they want to learn is good. I did it and it was never a disadvantage to my two.

        4. Having parents who are really enthusiastic about their subjects certainly gives a huge advantage, whatever underlying difficulties there may be.

      3. I think both methods are useful and children do learn in different ways. Whole word recognition is probably better once the basic letters and sounds are familiar.

      4. I’m led 5o understand that I learnt to read very early and by myself. Parents have told me that one night, when being read a bedtime story, I said out of the blue that I wanted to read it, and so I did.

      2. English: From the start to the end, which is about 1918. And with a concentration on the Civil War (not the boring Tudors) as that is very relevant right now.

        1. Gawd, I agree about the Tudors. One would think they’d been the only dynasty in England and a very tenuous claim at that.
          The Plantagenets were far more interesting with many wonderful and not so wonderful characters.
          Jacobite Rebellions are good studying also. Can’t say I care for the House of Hanover either.

          1. Plantagenets loom large in my family tree. Henry I, Matilda, Henry II , John, Henry III, Edward I, II & III. and then diverging to Lionel of Antwerp. Edward II had the despicable wife, Isabelle de France who plotted with her lover to depose him by impaling and death, putting her son Edward III on the throne. They certainly got it up ’em in those days!

          2. Yes, but he did have some rather dubious pals- Edward II that is. Piers Gaveston and the Despensers mainly. I think Isabella has had a bad rap in history as there were rumours at the time that improper relations took place between Gaveston and at least one of the Despensers.
            The myth about Edward II’s death have largely been disproved but another of those things we will never know for sure.
            Richard III’s body was found as was the small coffin of Anne Mowbray in London some years ago.

          3. Yes, I had heard that Edward II was as bent as a 9 bob note but that should not be how kings are deposed.

    4. Synthetic Phonics is a game changer. I have had great success teaching reading to less able children. It now includes spelling and writing.
      If it is taught well, children love the schemes. One of the best programmes is ‘Read Write Inc’ which was developed by Ruth Miskin when she taught in a very deprived area of London.

    5. I had to learn ITA at my state primary c. 1974. Eventually my parents took me away and coughed up for a private education (until I passes my 11+).

      I blame ITA on my inability to spell – but also my love of German (where what you hear is how you spell it).

      Having said that, and I’ve plugged it here before, Kevin Stroud’s “History of English” podcast shines multiple lights on why our spellings appear idiosyncratic. Fascinating stuff.

      1. Blimey, you really are young!
        I was already married in 1974 and I’m much younger than most Nottlers.

        1. Hoi! As Paul would say. I am not totally out of commission just yet….in a week or two…

          5. Sufficient to know that I’m older than thou and a lot older than your Norwegian secret admirer.

            Though to be fair I’m in better nick, if your posts are anything to go by….

      2. Do you feel outnumbered here, with most of us being much older? I’m glad you have settled in with us, anyway. You must be about the age of my elder son, born late 1970. ITA was a bit of a fad at that time.

  76. Par Four today.

    Wordle 698 4/6
    ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩
    🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Same here.
      Wordle 698 4/6

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

    2. For me, on daily racing Solitaire, an undeserved second in group, on average scores I would have been lucky to get into the the top three.

  77. Drove to Wimborne to have my hair sorted out by my hairdresser .. been going there since the 1980’s.

    The chap who has always attended to my hair is now showing real signs of age , he was very dashing when he was younger , a bit like Bobby Ewing from Dallas TV series .. lovely head of wavy hair etc and very popular .. excellent snipper . Those were the days when Dallas type perms were all the vogue .

    His clients are amazing ladies , and some with titles , sadly now many have died , he is always patient and polite and pleasantly gossip.

    A delightful pretty elderly lady came in and sat near me , she needed her hair washing , a trim , and blow dry , her hair was beautiful and so thick, a gorgeous silver grey.. 92 year old widow , sparkling humour .. her late husband had been one of the early Concorde pilots and 747 guys who put the aircraft through early paces .

    Wimborne was a lovely small market town.. it has expanded hugely .. building on the fluvial plain , the traffic was horrendous today, it seemed to me as if everyone has done a mass exodus from the home counties .

    1. Has there been any follow up from the car-burning outbreak the other night?

      I’ve stuck with my male hairdresser since the ’80s as well – he knows me and how I like my hair, though I don’t go quite as often now, since it got rather expensive, I make myself wait a bit. His clients are male and female – he sold the business a few years ago but stayed on as the manager of the branch. He has young children, so won’t be retiring for a while yet.

      1. We stick to who we feel confident with , don’t we . He knows how I like my hair , he doesn’t fiddle around .

        Moh used the kitchen scissors on my hair .. across the bottom of my neck probably in March he took an inch off.. not very evenly either .. and I will probably visit the salon again late summer .

        I really worry that mine will retire or something will happen to him .. I haven’t found anyone one comparable here .

        Some of the hairstyles here look as if they are copied from the village of the damned .

    2. Mother, in her care home, has access to a hairdresser, and gets her hsir done once to twice a week. It makes her happy, so I’m happy to pay for it. She does look good from it, I must say.

  78. That’s me for this horticultural day. Tomatoes planted out. Strawberries, er, strawed. Tomorrow the dahlia bed will be re-opened.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain

  82. RAF base that played key role in D-Day operations that saved Europe from Hitler is up for grabs as part of £13.8M sale of country estate

    An airfield that played a large part in the D-Day operations has been put up for grabs as part of the £13.8m sale of a country estate.

    Towed gliders took off from RAF Tarrant Rushton in Dorset on the night of June 5, 1944, and landed the first Allied troops on French soil on D-Day.

    Once landed, the men charged out of the aircraft and seized control of Pegasus Bridge in Normandy.

    https://twitter.com/True_Belle/status/1659269967538266131.

    I taught my younger son to drive on that airfield .. He was 14 years old !!

    1. I’ll be a contrarian here:
      Remember the history, celebrate and mark its position. Keep all the memorials in situ.

      But why not build on the land?

      Name all the roads and streets after the aircrew and the missions flown and the medals won.

      We need the housing for our own people even without the gimmegrants.

          1. Sos , you are living in France .. a huge country .. loads of space .

            Tarrant Rushton is a farm .. beautiful fertile fields , acres and acres .. of gorgeous farmland , with a history.

          2. True.
            I’m not disputing the facts about the area nor am I anything other than uncomfortable with it, but unless we use such areas as disused airfields for the building,where else is available? Better there than on the fertile fields themselves.

          3. PS
            If it was up to me I would be building Hong Kong style skyscrapers in the cities, on smaller land footprints, and telling the incomers it’s there or nowhere and if you don’t like it return to where you came from.

        1. I drive past it when going to and from the UK when we head for Tunbridge Wells.

    2. Hendon now unfortunately and wrongly known as London aircraft museum was built on a small area of the old Hendon aerodrome. Its squeezed between the railway line and the M1and massive housing estate. Even the old Hendon Met police training has been built over.
      A hugely over crowded over developed area. Corporate greed has wrecked another historic part of the country.

  83. £162m is a lot for a funeral – but Her Majesty was worth it

    I’m not sure what point is being made here, but I find statements like this rather annoying. They are taking the cost of servicemen, police and other state servants as “costs” but these people are paid anyway, so this is false accounting in the extreme. What might be of mild interest would be additional costs incurred. Smacks of a Treasury left wing agenda at play.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2023/05/18/queen-elizabeth-funeral-bill/

  84. £162m is a lot for a funeral – but Her Majesty was worth it

    I’m not sure what point is being made here, but I find statements like this rather annoying. They are taking the cost of servicemen, police and other state servants as “costs” but these people are paid anyway, so this is false accounting in the extreme. What might be of mild interest would be additional costs incurred. Smacks of a Treasury left wing agenda at play.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2023/05/18/queen-elizabeth-funeral-bill/

  85. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/south-africa-russia-weapons-putin-2t7fjpb5z

    South Africa is preparing to welcome President Putin despite an international arrest warrant against him, in the latest sign of Pretoria’s deepening ties to Moscow.

    A committee led by President Ramaphosa’s deputy is poring over international and domestic laws and the Rome statute which established the International Criminal Court, after the Kremlin spurned a request for Putin to attend via Zoom.

    Initial legal advice said South Africa was obliged to act on a war crimes indictment from the Hague-based court if he attends a planned August gathering of the Brics bloc of emerging economies, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

    “We have a legal opinion, but another independent legal opinion has been sought so that we make sure of the action that will be taken,” said Zane Dangor, director-general of South Africa’s foreign ministry.

    Putin’s invitation to the conference pre-dated the ICC’s allegations that he was responsible for abducting Ukrainian children and deporting them to Russia.

    1. I still have the impression that Vlad is a more honest trustworthy person than the people who are behind the planning against him.

      1. Off topic Ann, when do you next have a hospital appointment, sending happy thoughts to you and yours;-) Hope you have plenty of Pinot medicine in stock!! Take care.

        1. A week tomorrow. It’s nasty tonight. Yes, I have stocked up on Pinot- it’s all that helps.
          Hope you had a nice Mothers’ Day last weekend.
          Thanks for your good wishes Jill and best to Jack.

    1. It’s a sign of how far the BBC has fallen that some Radio 4 news bulletins made the ‘car chase’ the first item.

      1. It is impossible to effect a car chase in Manhattan. There are crosswalks controlled by traffic lights every 50 metres or so. When the lights turn red hundreds of people walk.

        1. So horribly white …. I’d be willing to bet that, from the very limited pictures we are honoured to see, their mother is most disappointed that neither child looks remotely like a p.o.c.

          1. Charles may have threatened them with dire consequences if they release pictures of the children or use them for publicity. A friend of mine said recently that she thought there must be some reason we hadn’t seen more pictures, and she was surprised that we don’t have Archie and Lillibet branded everything by now.

      2. I suspect they are photo-shopped. Just look at the base of their necks.

  91. Goodnight, God bless, Gentlefolk, Many missing hours of Zeds to make up.

    Bis Morgon fruh.

    1. Very good!
      To this day, I don’t think some people have realised that the “experts” telling them to take the vaxx were vaccine salesmen, directly or indirectly funded by the pharma companies.

  93. Am going to bed- perchance to sleep.
    Thanks for support again. Gawd it hurts.
    Goodnight.

  94. Nothing so far as I can see on the BBC about the war in Ukraine. It appears that the super-duper weapons we provided were destroyed on arrival by Russia’s most antiquated missiles.

    Zelensky gives the appearance of a frightened clown. His supposed army has been largely destroyed by more professional Russian officers. In addition it is reported that Russian missiles have destroyed the ‘state of the art’ US defensive missile system. It just goes from bad to worse for the US neo-cons (not that they care much for the loss of Ukrainian lives and property) as Zelensky loses control and risks lynching by his own people.

    The debacle illustrates the result when unqualified and corrupt persons cheat in elections and surround themselves with amateur fools. Biden in the US has caused this mess under the direction of Obama and his handlers.

    1. One has to wonder what the objective is. Are the West’s leaders really that determined to provoke a full scale war with Russia?

      1. The fall of the British Empire has been happening in slow motion for the last 100 years. The USA will happen in a much shorter time. Their only response is War.

  95. Good night, chums. I have done so much sleeping today that I think I will stay up until around 4 am before heading to bed myself.

    1. I too am awake at 00:35 but I’ll finish this cup of tea before preparing another and then back to bed until the alarm fires up at 06:00.

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