Thursday 2 November: Conservatives can’t hide from one major finding of the Covid Inquiry

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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581 thoughts on “Thursday 2 November: Conservatives can’t hide from one major finding of the Covid Inquiry”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolk. today’s story
    Still Relevant Today?
    Bill Clinton and Al Gore are standing next to each other in the bathroom taking a leak.

    Bill peeks and sees that Al has a huge shlong on him. So he asks Al, “How’d you wind up with a dick as big as that?”

    Al says, “Every night before I go to bed, I grasp my penis and hit it really hard on the night stand, three times in a row. That makes it all swollen, and after a while, it just stays that way.”

    So later that night, Bill goes home and Hillary is already in bed sleeping. He walks quietly into the bedroom and takes his dick out, and proceeds to hit the night stand with it, three times.

    Whereupon, Hillary wakes up and whispers, “Al? Is that you?”

  5. Conservatives can’t hide from one major finding of the Covid Inquiry

    Looks like everything is going to be blamed on Boris while everyone else behaved exemplary .
    Looking forward to hearing his account.

      1. That’s true, Richard. I seem to have missed him. I looked in the fridge but he wasn’t there. Lol.

  7. Good Moaning.
    Even the normally droll Michael Deacon has had enough.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2023/11/01/anti-israel-hate-mobs-police-failure-protests-london/

    “We knew the police were useless – now we know they are cowards too

    They say they want to avoid an increase in community tension, but it feels as if there’s only one community they’re actually concerned about

    1 November 2023 • 6:00pm

    A few years ago, when Left-wing activists started calling on the Government to “Defund the police”, I ridiculed them. Now, though, I wonder whether they might have had a point. It’s not that I think we shouldn’t have a police force. It’s just that it’s growing less and less clear what we’re getting for our money.

    These days, the police hardly ever solve crimes such as burglary and theft. In 2021, a mere 5 per cent of burglaries in England and Wales were solved. And if your bicycle or laptop has been stolen, forget it. You won’t be seeing them again. (I’m referring to the bicycle or laptop, although I might as well be referring to the police, since you probably won’t be seeing them, either.)

    Even if officers can’t track down our valuables, surely they can at least help us to feel reasonably safe when walking our streets. But apparently not. Look at the approach the police have taken to the anti-Israel mobs overrunning our cities. It hasn’t just been ineffectual. It’s been downright cowardly.

    Take the tearing down of posters depicting Israelis taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. It was bad enough seeing members of the public do it. But it’s staggering to see police officers doing it, too. Yet that’s what happened this week in London – and reportedly also in Manchester.

    In response to the outcry from Londoners, the Met released a statement. Officers, it explained, had received “at least two calls” from residents in Edgware, objecting to the presence of the posters. And the Met, it went on, had a duty to take “reasonable steps” to “avoid any further increase in community tension”.

    Note that phrase, “community tension”. It seems to be the police’s explanation for everything they’re currently doing – or not doing. There is, however, just one small problem with this excuse.

    It makes absolutely no sense.

    After all, doesn’t removing the posters risk inflaming “community tension”? And marching through cities, calling for “jihad”? And holding mass anti-Israel protests inside railway stations (as we’ve seen in London this week) while chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a slogan the Home Secretary has called “a staple of anti-Semitic discourse”? Do none of these activities cause “further increase in community tension”?

    I’m pretty sure they do. Obviously, they heighten tension among people who are Jewish. But they also heighten tension among those of us who aren’t. We too find these scenes disturbing and intimidating. Yet the police have done next to nothing to prevent such scenes recurring. So forget our communities. When the police say they want to avoid an increase in community tension, it feels as if there’s only one community they’re actually concerned about.

    Officers aren’t always reluctant to take a firm line over illicit mass gatherings. In 2021, they certainly didn’t hold back during the lockdown-breaking vigil for Sarah Everard – the 33-year-old who’d been murdered by one of their colleagues. But then, that particular mass gathering consisted almost solely of women. The police weren’t scared of them.

    When it comes to the mobs swarming our streets today, however, it’s a different story. Plainly, the police are scared. Scared of upsetting them. True enough, upsetting the more radical elements might be dangerous. But letting them do as they please is even more dangerous. It will embolden them – while intensifying the fear and resentment felt by everyone else.

    In theory, tiptoeing around “community tension” may appear pragmatic. But in practice, it means caving in to bullies. This isn’t sensitivity. It’s appeasement.”

    1. Obviously a community of “at least two members of the Religion of Peace” is much more important than the vast community of normal British public, Jews included.

    2. Not the same organisation that Grizz was a member of, back in the day.
      I remember the clearing of striking Miners – there were no kid gloves then, no kommunidee concerns, just a baton in the gut and dragged away. But now…

          2. I was on the previous march and, had it not been for being short of money, would have been on that one.
            The sight of those bewildered people with blood streaming down their faces wondering what the hell was going on was disgusting.

    3. It is wrong to describe ‘the Police’ as cowards; Mr Deacon and the Telegraph should publish an apology.

      By all means criticise the policies and the structure of modern UK policing, but to glibly criticise thousands of individual women and men is distasteful.

      1. Indeed. Most of my former colleagues agree that the rot is at the top. Not just the ‘top’ of the police but in government (prime minister’s office and successive home secretaries). Most (sadly, not all) recruits want to do a proper professional job but they are hampered by diktats from cretins.

        1. Whitehall is the root of all evil. Then Westminster, city and local councils, the gutter and our sewage system. All with the same mindset. The door should have been slammed (scuz the pun) shut thirty years ago. But the idiots who allowed all this to happen should have been arrested.
          It use to be called treason. With a capital T.

        2. Good mornin’ Grizzly

          What has happened to Policing has also happened to Teaching.

          Of course there are still excellent teachers just as there are still excellent policemen but the general level has fallen into the abyss.

          1. A belated ‘good afternoon’, to you sir. I’ve been rewiring my workshop and studio all day. When I get into the ‘zone’ I am like a mad professor.

            I Agree with your points in full.

          2. Grizzly, don’t you think it’s a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut by wiring up your workshop in case a burglar breaks in? Lol.

    4. Politicians created this problem but they neither have the will nor the backbone to act to clean up the cultural mess they have created. One can only marvel at the politicians’ indolence on this issue, except, of course, when the people’s concerns come into play.

  8. The West must wake up – monsters exist and evil is real. 2 November 2023.

    But it is a lie. The West’s values are superior. And that’s uncomfortable, because that comes with actual obligations. You can only stand for Hamas – you can only decide that you won’t defend king and country – if you truly believe that king and country aren’t worth defending. But if they are, if the West has a set of values worth upholding, that means standing up for those values.

    It means rejecting the Marxist notion that equality of outcome is necessarily the result of exploitation rather than the reality: that equality of outcome might come down to differences in culture and decision -making. It means rejecting the post-modernist notion that all morality is a reflection of power dynamics – and that in reality, there is such a thing as a right and a wrong. It means rejecting the weak-kneed morality that substitutes tolerance for decency. The philosopher Roger Scruton wrote, “In place of the old beliefs of a civilisation based on godliness, judgment and historical loyalty, young people are given the new beliefs of a society based on equality and inclusion, and are told that the judgment of other lifestyles is a crime…The ‘non-judgmental’ attitude towards other cultures goes hand-in-hand with a fierce denunciation of the culture that might have been one’s own.”

    We must reject this new suicidal belief system. King and country and values are worth fighting for. Once upon a time, the world decided too late that they were worth fighting for. By the time the world realised its error, six million Jews were dead.

    This is solely in response to the Hamas attack Israel. One doubts that the author would have ever have thought to write it before October 7 or that the Telegraph would have published it. The pogrom has exposed the dangers of multiculturalism and this is the response.

    The word “we” appears in the text seventeen times as if there were some sort of collective decision to embrace this doctrine. That “we” voted for Mass Immigration, or LGBT “Rights”, or sex education for five year olds! “We” didn’t. This is the belief system of the political and intellectual Elites and they have used every means possible to impose it on the people. There will probably be more articles like this as they try to row back without the whole political system collapsing. My view is that it is too late. They have destroyed the Soul of the West and it is finished.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/01/the-west-must-wake-up-monsters-exist-and-evil-is-real/

    1. While I once was prepared to fight for Queen and Country, I am not so sure about this incumbent.

  9. Good morning.
    £200 off ERNIE and a wet start with a tad over 5°C outside. Rain forecast to last for the whole day.

  10. 378322+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Conservatives can’t hide from one major finding of the Covid Inquiry

    Being that the trusting stance of any such inquiry is always in question,surely a petition signed by all would be an idea as a peoples health & safety measure.

    Inclusive of, was a prototype
    culling part of the political view of “being for our own good” campaign

    Petition submitted whilst inquiry is still in progress.

  11. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bacd2f6a501a962e525509ae838bfbc26403e31f04a8b5c072f30c1d1b0df5d0.png How much dimmer is it possible to get than you are, Rod? The Conservative Party has not “put people into Parliament, No 10 and the Cabinet.” All that was done by the Left who have spent the past few decades surreptitiously infiltrating the party and are now in charge. Why the hell do you think that the Tories are now a clone for Tony Bliar’s “New” Labour?

    Wake up, you clown and, while you’re doing so, wake up all the other morons who think that this is the same Conservative Party as that of Stanley Baldwin, Wlnston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.

        1. If we had listened to Enoch and Norman and not to Tony we would be in a far happier country now.

    2. “The Prime Minister must prioritise this or the party is finished...”

      There is no or about it – The Conservative Party is already finished.

    3. “The Prime Minister must prioritise this or the party is finished...”

      There is no or about it – The Conservative Party is already finished.

    1. ‘Morning JN. Just along the coast from you it is – or was until just now – very windy but not as yet the Force 11 in the shipping forecast (Dover, Wight) at 05:20. 958 mb showing at the moment. It’s due to reduce later this morning but gets going again early pm. Rainfall so far is less than predicted, but it’s early days…

      1. Its easing off now. the peak was at 05.15. The amber warning for today !!!!! now ends at noon.

    2. I’ve been out at sea in sailing boats in stronger winds. But it is one thing to get caught in a storm and quite another thing to go out into a storm on purpose.

  13. G’morning all,

    Well, that was a bit of a wild night. Still dull and wet at McPhee Towers, wind going West, 8℃ – 9℃.

    I posted this last night but it’s funny so here it is again. Jordan Peterson having fun at the expense of the postmodern architects of lunacy:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQTDEnfW4ng

        1. Good afternoon, Rastus. No I disagree with his views on that topic completely. He makes no mention, whatsoever, about how the quadrupling of humanity in his own lifetime is destroying the biodiversity that is crucial for all living things, all of which rely on each other for continued existence. Placing humanity above other life forms is crassness personified.

  14. Morning, all Y’all.
    Sort-of snowing – hard little icy particles. This will turn to rain as it warms up a bit. Otherwise, grey & miserable- But enough about me…

  15. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f5ebf0963941f2276f677207b5e15611efc911ba93b381930ad476f9d6f54cf6.png Utter and complete bollocks!

    Type-2 diabetes is driven by insulin resistance, a syndrome that is brought about by the consumption of carbohydrates and sugar. It is not driven by consuming salt. This “research” has no doubt been funded by the massive global corporations who have a vested interest in selling mountains of sugar-laden, processed, carb-rich foods to billions of gormless ingenues who believe all the crap they are told.

    Can university ‘experts’ be bought? You’d better believe it, sunshine! They are being bought on a daily basis and none of what they publish is for your benefit.

      1. Good morning, Tim.

        It has now been proved, by analysis of archaeological human remains, that for an overwhelming 99·6% of the existence of the human species, we were carnivores who occasionally supplemented that diet with nuts and berries. Modern delicious vegetables and fruits did not exist, all of which have been made more “appetising” by experimental research. Agriculture only commenced 10,000 years ago (0·4% of human existence) by ancient Egyptians and Babylonians, whose mummified remains have been analysed and found to be obese and disease-ridden.

        Since I reverted to being a natural carnivore, my general health and wellbeing has improved exponentially.

          2. Certainly not watery. It will be ‘gamey’ but not in an unpleasant way. If you don’t like ‘gamey’ it can be disguised with Lea & Perrins.

    4. Being pedantic Grizz diabetes (both type 1 and 2) is basically the result of the pancreas not producing enough insulin to process the carbohydrates.

    5. Just before I scrolled down and saw your comment, grizzly, I said rowlocks just as you did. 😂😂😂. Following an annual review at surgery last year Alf was asked if he followed a salt free diet – no. His sodium level was slightly down and, apparently, if it went any lower he was told “it could cause confusion”.

      We both wonder if old people don’t have enough salt in their food, causing confusion. Maybe care homes should test their inmates to make sure they’re getting enough salt!

      1. Good afternoon, vw. I agree. Most ‘research’ these days, and their ‘findings’, are heavily paid for by those with vested interest. They think that all of us are as thick as two short planks. Many are, Many are not.

    6. Thank goodness for that, Grizzly. I’ve just enjoyed my evening meal of fish, chips and peas (with florets of broccoli and cauliflower instead of chips) and I have to confess that I sprinkled the fish with vinegar then a sprinkling of salt. Your confidence that I shall NOT die of diabetes for a while as predicted by the “scientists” at the New Orleans University has put my mind at rest. Lol.

  16. Morning all – two cats on the bed and it’s wet and windy outside. Hardly Stormageddon though.

  18. Morning all 😊🙂
    Hosing it down outside. Not at all pleasant.
    Having an absolute nightmare with my mobile phone. It’s developed a mind of its own. I can’t close pages that turn up without requests.
    Can’t clear history it seems set in stone. Trued closing down and restarting its all there when it finally restarts. Perhaps it needs a hot bath !!!
    And although the labour party are absolutely useless. I fear the other idiots have done enough damage to force me and many others to stay at home on the future day of contention.

    1. Replace the sim card. Take the battery out? These options might lose all stored data though.

      1. Shouldn’t. Best to remove sim and battery for 10 minutes and then reboot the device.

      2. Back up the data onto the computer or cloud before doing anything. I have to do a factory reset because of similar problems so that’s what I’ll be doing.

      3. Cheers Phizz, I think I’ve sorted it now. It’s nearly as annoying as these bloody google adverts on the Nottlers Web page.

  19. Here’s another repost which I put up yesterday. Sir Bobby Charlton was euthanised by the NHS:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/11/01/sir-bobby-charlton-inquest-accident-care-home/

    He was put on end-of-life “care”, i.e. Starved, dehydrated and injected with morphine and midazolam because doctors thought he was likely to contract pneumonia. I know the report says he suffered from dementia but how much credence does one put in what one reads these days?

    Coincidentally, yesterday’s UK Column News included a section with Jacqui Deevoy who is investigating involuntary euthanasia in our hospitals and care homes and who has made a documentary film entitled “A Good Death”. Shockingly, her large file containing clear evidence of state-sponsored murder in hospitals and care homes has been ignored by the MSM after being initially accepted as ‘front page news’. Her contribution starts after Brian Gerrish’s introduction at 8:25 on the video.

    https://www.ukcolumn.org/video/uk-column-news-1st-november-2023

    If you or close family members go into hospital today, beware. You’ll have a DNR put on you and be put on NG163 (end-of-life “care”) without your knowledge. And you don’t have to be old.

    Edited to add: I now know beyond doubt that the NHS killed my mother in 2006. She was 88.

    1. Sir Bobby Charlton died after accidentally falling and hitting a windowsill at a care home where he was battling dementia, an inquest has heard.

      The England football legend, who won the World Cup in 1966, lost his balance as he stood up from a chair and struck a windowsill and ‘possibly a radiator’, Cheshire Coroner’s Court heard.

      Staff performed a full-body check at the time and noted no visible injuries, and initially found the 86-year-old’s mobility seemed unaffected.

      But they later noticed swelling on his back and paramedics were called to The Willows in Knutsford Cheshire, where he had been receiving respite care since July.

      He was taken to a local hospital before being moved to Macclesfield General Hospital.

      A chest X-ray and CT scan revealed he had fractured his ribs and was likely to develop pneumonia.

      Doctors agreed he should be put on end-of-life care at the hospital, the inquest heard. He died on October 21, five days after his fall, at the age of 86.

      1. Doctors agreed he should be put on end-of-life care at the hospital, the inquest heard.

        Let’s replace end-of-life care in that sentence, Belle.

        Doctors agreed he should be injected with morphine and midazolam, starved and dehydrated until he expires at the hospital, the inquest heard.

        1. I’m going to take my own card in to put around my neck. “Just increased morphine doses until I stop breathing, thanks in advance.”

    2. DNR? To resuscitate an elderly person can result in severe bruising, or even broken ribs and sternal fractures. Would your beloved mother really have wanted that?

  20. Good morning all

    Weather here breezy, raining , quite calm considering the barometer has dropped to 960.

    Is this the beginning , or is it the end … the storm might miss us.

    Pip spaniel has a mouthful of shining teeth .

    An adult dog should have 42 teeth in total, that’s 20 on top of their jaw and 22 on the bottom. Puppies have only 28 temporary teeth!

    Pip had 4 teeth removed , and 2 rear and 2 incisors.

    You learn something different everyday.

    1. Our weather forecast totaly wrong about the strength of the wind. Total over reaction by the Met Office and MSM.

      1. Yep, despite modern satellites, vastly more telemetry, more monitoring stations, more processing capacity we still can’t tell the weather.

    2. Mongo is missing – not sure where – but 3 teeth which were removed after the great beast looked at a fallen tree and thought it was a stick we could throw for him. This thing was 12 foot long. It was a lesson to the puppy that some things are too big to chew on and to the owner that he was a dimmo. Ambitious, but a dimmo. To this day he tests he can get his whole jaw around a bone when we get some for him.

      1. Hello J,

        I am only allowed to Like and repost I think, but am not allowed to comment . So frustrating . Family in SA post frequently, and friends as well .

  21. There you go Mr Mayor fix this one…..

    “The number of people sleeping rough in London has hit a record high, with homelessness charities warning that the ongoing asylum crisis in Britain has led to an overflow of migrants living on the streets.

    New figures from the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) revealed that a record 4,068 people were spotted sleeping rough in the U.K. capital between July and September this year — a 12 percent rise compared with the same period in 2022 and a 24 percent increase over the figure recorded for April to June earlier this year.

    Of that figure, 2,086 people spotted (51 percent) told outreach workers they were new to sleeping rough — a 13 percent increase over the same period last year.

    The multi-agency database differentiates between the terms rough sleeping and homelessness and includes in its report only those identified as sleeping on the streets. Those it attributes to “hidden homeless groups,” such as squatters and sofa surfers aren’t included in the data.

    Homelessness charity Shelter estimated there were 271,000 people with no fixed abode in England at the start of 2023.

    There has been a notable rise in foreign nationals sleeping rough, and the number of non-U.K. nationals living on London’s streets now reportedly exceeds those originating from Britain at 52 percent.

    This influx of homeless foreign nationals has been blamed on the U.K. government, which has been accused of amending asylum laws to push people out of taxpayer-funded accommodation more quickly and reduce the substantial asylum backlog in the country.

    Taxpayers have been paying more than £6 million per day to house those awaiting asylum decisions, many of whom are living in hotels across the country. A change in the law back in August meant that those granted asylum were only required to receive seven days’ notice to find alternative accommodation following the completion of the process, as opposed to 28 days.

    Charities claim this has led to a large number of evictions, with classified refugees being forced to sleep rough while they find a new place to live.

    “Winter is coming. We need to take immediate action to protect people facing sleeping on the streets and long-term action to reverse this worrying trend in rising rough sleeping,” said Nick Redmore, director of The Salvation Army’s Homelessness Services in response to the new data.

    1. I think I understand that nasty little git is putting an end to Christmas lights.
      He’s got to be sacked.
      Also claiming better air quality.
      Could have been wind assisted of course he’ll stand up and try to take credit.

    2. Starmer gives the wrong call at the Wrong Time! We won’t know the full impact of Hell until he is PM.

      We must not forget that November is no longer just the month for growing a moustache but, as Keir Starmer told us yesterday, we must take note of the fact that many Muslims live in terror in their own country (i.e. in the UK) because of the hatred and false fear people have of them and so November is :

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ca24c37b4860f6ae7790bd6885e5c67b88a4756454b0a9734af31c3e641fe647.png

      However on the other hand:

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3d48523b16a6fc65f43836957ae5efb40830ba283264b9161c7b19f8eb0fc30c.png

      1. No, it isn’t. As for islamophobia – a phobia is an irrational fear. There’s nothing irrational about worrying about a bunch of nutters who scream about Alan’s snack bar while blowing themselves up/driving trucks into bus stops/cars through shopping centres/dropping mice in McDonalds.

        1. Even if you are neither a Christian nor a Jew if you have any humanity you must think that the Koran encourages barbarity?

    3. Foreigners sleeping rough I don’t care about. I’m sorry, they made a choice to come here, they should have jobs to do. If they don’ and are sitting waiting for me to pay for them, they can leave. If they can’t afford to, well, they could afford to pay to get here – expecting that to be returned in bennies.

      Britons sleeping rough is unconscionable, as the state is happy to put up endless hordes of criminal welfare shoppers, yet not the locals. I’m tired of the double standard. Get rid, put up. Shred the state.

  22. Lights went out last night but only for five minutes. We searched for candles and found them and lit them but soon after they were lit the electrickery came back again.

    Still a bit gusty. Part of a poplar tree on the border between our land and our neighbour farmer’s has landed in our garden and many leaves on our trees have been brought down. We shall report back later if there is anything more to report about the storm in Brittany.

    1. We had a glitch where the lights dimmed a couple of times, but did not actually go out.
      However, whilst most of the clock radios around the house not loose their time settings, one did!

      1. Now down to 980,000. Most of them in Brittany – we only lost power for 5 minutes last last night.

        1. I’ve just seen the forecast Richard, another low pressure area of weather for Friday and the weekend.

  23. Lets’s see how this goes down. A new mantra:

    From sea to shining sea, Britain will be Islam-free.

        1. We have run out of prison places so lock yourself in the smallest room and only eat Halal food. You are allowed out for one hour walking in small circles. Don’t forget to paint arrows on your shirt.

          5. There many Elvis impersonators arond the UK now. We went to a party about 3 years ago and an Elvis impersonator, a friend of the family played and sang, he was excellent.
            I’ve got a set of albums I bought over forty years ago from Readers Digest. Problem is we no longer have a record player. I also have quite a few jazz albums. Some quite valuable.

          6. We have a record player which enables us to digitalise our vinyl records and store them on the computer.

          7. I remembered that I bought one years ago. But because of work commitments it’s in our loft somewhere.
            I’ll dig it out and try to get it working.

          8. Smallest room?I know of a modern house where there is a secure reinforced room. One would hope that the UK government would create policy for local planning authorities concerning home security. The dilemma is that such spaces could be used to resist not only attacks by organised criminals and psychopaths, aka conservative muslims, but also any forced entry by organs of the state.

          9. Smallest room?I know of a modern house where there is a secure reinforced room. One would hope that the UK government would create policy for local planning authorities concerning home security. The dilemma is that such spaces could be used to resist not only attacks by organised criminals and psychopaths, aka conservative muslims, but also any forced entry by organs of the state.

    1. That’s the truth. It’ll be years. It knows what it wants to find and won’t stop until it can say that. Then the whole farce will be completely ignored with no one really taking the blame, no changes to the civil service or ministerial code. If anything, no, guaranteed it will say that the state should be given even more power to control people.

      1. There will never be an obvious conclusion, nobody will take the blame. This is just another costly exercise where our political classes are covering up their mistakes and avoiding the consequences of their uselessness.

      2. Isobel Oakeshott on TalkRadio yesterday said that there was far too much ‘personal’ slagging off and blame being thrown around, and no actual ‘what went wrong, and what could have been better’! The inquiry could be a quarter of the length if the slanging matches ceased!

      1. Thank you David.

        It is ironic that many of the conspiracy brigade are chronically ill people whose lives depend on the kindness of the NHS and medication created by ‘Big Pharma’.

  26. Back from the market. Very few people about. Must be alarmed at the prospect of some rain…..

    1. Yesterday they cancelled the Dinan Market which takes place on Thursday mornings. The weather is quite all right – a fresh breeze, some sun and only a few specks of rain.

      The only adverse event they don’t go over the top to warn us about is Islamic invasion.

  27. Anti-semitism in France is rife, just as it is in Britain… According to the Ministry of the Interior, there have been 857 official reports of anti-semitism in France since 7th October – so how many unreported ones?

    The Figaro has posted this frightful picture of graffiti in Carcassonne – just down the road from Laure, where Bill used to live! For those of you who don’t understand French, it says “Killing Jews is a duty”. Chilling stuff.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e35e97258cac192ca8ce1605d66e2195eccd679124fc5f83e7612288fef5fc44.jpg

      1. HLMs Bill ?.
        I loved the Carcassonne part of France. Or favourite areas for our many holidays in France were Quiberon. And La Rochelle.

          1. There are quite a few of those here as well. I couldn’t believe a view of Rochdale on TV last week. But that type of building has a nasty habit of combustion.
            We never heard what was really the cause of the problem.

          3. They will find out that it was all whitey’s fault and they require more and more money from the rate payers and tax payers.

          4. The cause of the problem at the Grenfell towerblock? Socialism.
            I feel sorry for the children and any pets.

          5. I heard a lot of possibilities that had caused the fire but it was never the cladding on its own.

      1. You may well be right, hate crime telling the truth about the so-called RoP? However, he’s got more backbone than those in the HoC and in the Khanistan police.

  30. Are these arseholes really planning such a brazen event? If true, then Braverman dare not capitulate to blatant provocation.

    Departure points?

    The Armistice, an agreement to end the fighting of the First World War as a prelude to peace negotiations, began at 11am on 11 November 1918. Armistice is Latin for to stand (still) arms. To this day we mark Armistice Day around the United Kingdom with a Two Minute Silence at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month.

    https://twitter.com/dannyroscoe7/status/1719907408351498307

  31. My son’s verdict on the Convid enquiry:

    “We knew what the conclusion is going to be, even before they
    started: lockdowns should have been earlier, harder and for longer and
    it was all the fault of Brexit. And the recommendation is that we must
    sign up to the WHO treaty so there’s no chance of not locking down for
    next year’s flu season or “climate armageddon” or whatever.”

      1. He’s not so young now – nearly 53. And if you read it again you’ll see he hasn’t fallen for it. He’s as cynical as we are here.

        1. I hoped that was the case – but, these days, one is never sure. My son is all for lockdowns etc….

          1. I think my younger one might be – but we don’t discuss it – I know he had at least two jabs. The elder one had none.

          3. We’ll be getting those every year now. I had four texts and two emails but OH got a letter as well. We’re not biting.

          4. One of my friends succumbed and had a booster – cue a nasty reaction and a doctor’s visit. Some people won’t be told.

        1. I don’t think many of the guilty will ever get what they deserve, but I would like to see Halfcock thrown to the wolves and jailed as a sacrificial goat!

    3. The ‘Enquiry’ is nothing more than a pathway being cleared to a wide open door that is the entrance to One World Government – I have listened only to snatches of this so-called ‘Enquiry’ but it did seem to focus on the ineptitude and incompetence and stupidity (all by design I suspect) of the govt of the day. How fortunate for the WEF/NWO gang that the Chief Clown was put in place by the long-suffering great British Public, even more fortunate for the gang that he (and his father) held strong views on overpopulation and were of the opinion that something needed to be done about it.

  32. Just back from walking Oscar along the river. Just over the bank in places and the occasional tree floating by, but I’ve seen it a lot worse.

    1. Surely the time has come for the UK, the US, the whole of the English-speaking world, the whole of the Christian world and the EU to leave both the UN and the WHO and to cut all ties with the WEF?

    2. Only 14, and that fat. What is it about effnics and lard, no wonder their men dont hang around after being entertained.

  35. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/02/australia-mushroom-death-cap-arrest-erin-patterson/

    The woman who cooked a mushroom meal that resulted in the deaths of
    three of her husband’s relatives has been arrested, a major breakthrough
    in the case that has gripped Australia.

    Police were on Thursday morning using specialist sniffer dogs to search the home of Erin Patterson, who prepared the beef wellington suspected of containing deadly ‘death cap’ fungi.

    Gail Patterson and Don Patterson, both 70, died in hospital after
    experiencing severe gastrointestinal upset hours after dining at their
    daughter-in-law’s home on July 29. Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson,
    also died. Mrs Wilkinson’s husband, Ian, survived after receiving a liver transplan

  38. My wife has been badgering me to paint the lounge but keeps insisting
    that I use muted and neutral colours. I gave in eventually and packed
    her off to her mother’s while I decorated. She telephoned me on the
    first evening.

    “So what colour have you chosen?”

    “I’ve gone for ‘woodland mushroom’? Will that be OK?” I queried.

    “Actually, that sounds nice. See you tomorrow.”

    I hope she likes it. It took ages to paint the white dots on the red
    background.

    1. When was this recording made?

      How much better TR is when he abstains from using obscenities!

      This is well worth watching.

      1. Quite some time ago, before TR was jailed by the state because he was asking too many awkward questions about the groomers. Well before we all woke up to the WEF/Gates/Soros and the plandemic.

        In the context of the current Israel/Gaza conflict, it must be remembered that the hatred that Islam has for Jews goes right back to their 7th Century “prophet”. It did not start in 1948.

  41. Hey Peeps, it’s Islamophobia Month! Not a day, nor a week but a whole month to ponder why anyone should have a phobia about the RoP.

    Here’s Smarmer hand-wringing with all the sincerity he can muster – it’s not much; sorry Smarmer, it ain’t working. IMO, going through the motions is about right for the crap he’s spouting.

    Smarmer has a concern for moslem women and girls… …where’s his concern for the thousands of non-moslem girls gang-raped and traded like pieces of meat by moslem men?

    https://twitter.com/UKLabour/status/1719649673638551992

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e12e2bbeb7ae2d0514b03a5fd6945b7f12ecb37310309e63a2c14118977d356e.png

    2. This Year, Islamophobia Awareness Month comes at a troubling time for Muslims in Britain.
      The poor dears can’t decide whether to groom and rape children, wreck Jewish businesses, attack synagogues or Jewish schools, or just march proclaiming death to all Jews, behead unbelievers and demanding a worldwide caliphate under sharia law.
      The really troubled ones want to go on stabbing rampages, kill young pop concert goers or commuters by blowing themselves up or driving lorries into crowds but can’t make their minds up which will gain most approval from Allah.

    3. There is nothing quite like portraying your community as a victim. Plenty of money for err security of the mosque and sympathy a-plenty to deter others looking too closely at your actions in general. If all else fails, use the Discrimination act or shout racism. We are pushovers and our reaction to islamic violence merely highlights our weakness and the fact the slammers will always strongly defend their beliefs

    4. If Sir Cursed Harmer substituted Jew for Muslims and synagogues for mosques he would actually be A LOT nearer the mark.

    5. Interesting as muslims usually uses this time of year to kill Christians – it being the celebration fo the birth of Christ and all.

      That the state times it this way is offensive. Muslim is a problem in this country and they do commit acts of terrorism against everyone – why? Because we are, ostensibly a Christian nation and they want that changed.

      1. Other times of the year they are stealing sheep from our farmers fields for the use of.
        The Met can’t cope any longer they are asking for help from other forces. Be careful who you ask Met.

      2. They want to convert Westminster Abbey into a mosque and the Church of England renamed the Grand Mosque.

    7. “… committed to working closely with all communities to ensure they have the security they need to feel safe” – presumably that would exclude any Jewish communities, who I suspect feel distinctly “unsafe” at present?

    8. I’ve often had it explained to me that when I refer to political classes as idiots. I’ve been told many times they are intelligent creatures and plotters. By making this statement this particular person is incredibly stupid. He comes across as a church burner, a statue pusher. This statement is extremely offensive to any normal person who lives and was brought up in Britain.
      With people such as him in the position he is in, the decline of our long established culture will be more rapid. It’s against my better judgement, but although i hate all of the political classes. I might even turn out next year and Tory.

      1. As I wrote yesterday in response to this:

        “…leaving people fearful and unsafe in their own country…”
        “…women wearing the hijab are too scared to travel on public transport…”
        “…British Muslims questioned as though they are terrorists…”

        He then blames the Tories for stoking division.

        Truth stands on its head.

        1. I was struck by “women wearing the hijab are too scared to travel on public transport”. Not in London they’re not. Large numbers of them travel on public transport. They’re arrogant and know that they’re untouchable.

  42. Afternoon all.

    “ I recently investigated the new “insights” section on my NatWest banking app. It displayed detailed knowledge of my spending habits, suggested refinements, set me life goals and told me my carbon footprint was 25 per cent lower than average.

    It had ways to improve this, however. I should reduce the number of short-haul flights I take – even though I have not flown since 2005. It also said that I should choose holiday destinations closer to home – yet I have had only one five-day break and three two-night stays away since 2014, all within 100 miles of my home.

    It suggested I save the planet by renting my clothes instead of buying them new. As a trained tailoress I make most of my clothes; they last and are enjoyed for decades.”

    Above is Letter in DT.

    Anyone else bank with NW?

    Sorry – last paragraph:

    What gives a bank the authority to dictate its “principles” to clients, particularly when it is supported by taxpayers? How much money was wasted on developing this intrusion into customers’ lives?

    1. I’m with Barclays but I expect they are as bad.

      I’d rather they didn’t waste my money on nonsense like that.

      1. But that’s the fundamental problem. They don’t consider it a waste of money. They think this is important. This is why woke is so destructive. These people infest an organisation and begin to force it away from what it’s supposed to do. Company then collapses and the wokers move on.

      2. I am about to change an old ISA from Barclays, the interest rate was I.65%
        Leeds BS for a 2 year ISA 5.2 %.

        1. I closed two old accounts last week which had very little in them. I still have an old savings account on low interest – must find a better home for that.

    2. Just checked the Barclays app and thankfully none of that crap. Only a list of the amounts spent in various categories – which only confirms bills as my highest spending category. No comments or “helpful” advice. I popped in to the M&S Simply Food in my local BP garage on the way home yesterday evening and paid by debit card. The amount spent is now listed in the app as a travel expense. Doh! That was mightily cheap petrol, guys! Tasted nice too.

      1. When my Barclays branch said it was closing after pestering customers to go to digital banking I intially tried the recommended Barclays app.

        My main obstacle was the fact that I use an old Nokia mobile for phone and messages. It took me four visits to the bank using staff assistance without even getting the app enabled despite getting a new smartphone that could read QR codes.

        It transpires that when using the banking app, your smartphone acts as your identity without the need for access to your banking card as ID by bypassing a PINSentry verification process.

        I’ve finally adopted digital banking this morning using PINSentry and bank membership number access using my aging desktop computer without having to go to the branch or use any bank staff involvement.

        1. The banking app still requires a passcode so anyone picking up your phone, even if you don’t keep it locked, wouldn’t be able to access your bank account. I have PINSentry as well as the app.

    1. Quote from the Spectator article about this:

      The Human Rights Council’s Social Forum is essentially a talking shop that no-one takes much notice of: it follows that its descent into farce is of itself a bit of a side issue. Nevertheless, it is still troubling.

      Full article below; link here: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-did-the-united-nations-hand-a-human-rights-job-to-irans-ambassador/

      What does Iran have to teach the world about human rights? The United Nations appears to think we have plenty to learn from a pariah state which backs Hamas, arrests and beats women for failing to wear a hijab, executes protesters and hangs gay people. In Geneva, the Social Forum of the UN Human Rights Council – essentially a human rights jamboree – opens today; its chair is Ali Bahreini, Iran’s UN ambassador, who will oversee a conference discussing the contribution of science, technology and innovation to the promotion of human rights. Iran, which has used facial recognition technology to identify dissidents, is likely to have some expertise here.

      It’s beyond a joke, of course. ‘This is like granting Bin Laden a Nobel Peace Prize,’ said Naftali Bennett, Israel’s former prime minister. He’s right. But to make matters worse, the whole thing is a stitch-up. The appointment was approved by the president of the UN Human Rights Council, one Václav Bálek, the UN representative from the Czech Republic. However, we shouldn’t point the finger of blame at Bálek. While the rules that led to the appointment are somewhat opaque, it seems that the shortlist was very short indeed: according to reports, there may have only been one candidate for the job: Bahreini.

      This Asia bloc, from which it appears Bálek had to choose, includes other countries – like China, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia – where human rights are, it’s safe to say, not much of a priority. For them, one suspects, a country like Iran that would not embarrass their own governments at home by rocking the civil rights boat – and which could be trusted to show scepticism about any awkward western ideas of freedom – was an obvious choice. There support for Bahreini also means that any attempt to get the nomination withdrawn by the Human Rights Council, as many demand Bálek should do, would ignominiously fail.

      The Human Rights Council’s Social Forum is essentially a talking shop that no-one takes much notice of: it follows that its descent into farce is of itself a bit of a side issue. Nevertheless, it is still troubling.

      The appointment is symptomatic of the way in which the UN is abandoning its role as honest broker and becoming partisan. The mask slipped last Tuesday when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, having formulaically deplored Hamas’s raid of 7 October, made it abundantly clear he was not on Israel’s side. Referring to ‘years of suffocating occupation,’ he called, in effect, for an immediate ceasefire from the IDF, even as rockets fired from Gaza City continued to rain on civilians in southern Israel. Israel reacted furiously, saying it would deny visas to UN officials: Guterres, given a chance to retract and save face, instead doubled down, calling again this week for an immediate ceasefire. As the UN gets closer to becoming like Dr Johnson’s Ireland (a place where no-one ‘wears even the mask of incorruption’), it cannot really complain if its authority begins to drain away.

      It’s true that, although there is a great deal wrong with the UN, the organisation still does much to keep the peace – at least where major powers are not directly involved and the Security Council cannot be stymied by a veto from Russia or China. However, with an organisation that has no troops of its own, any peacemaking ability depends on retaining world respect, which, in turn, depends on remaining ostensibly impartial. As soon as it, or its institutions, is seen to have been captured by a given interest group, this advantage evaporates. Members will be less prepared to provide it with troops, even if asked by the Security Council; warring parties will be less inclined to respect any troops in blue helmets who do arrive. Slowly but surely the UN is in danger of becoming either just an institution like the medieval papacy, to be brought in on behalf of whichever side can persuade it to intervene, or a well-meaning but ultimately ineffective organisation like the League of Nations in the 1930s.

      1. Hi Caroline – off topic. I collected some seeds for you and left them out to dry before posting. Unfortunately I forgot to bring them in before the wind got up. I suspect they are now in the cracks between the paving stones waiting to surprise me in the Spring. I will endeavour to find some more seeds once the inclement weather passes. S

  45. Gosh, it’s tough bringing this news to the Nottle camp. Two examples of NWO/WEF belief systems coming to grief in lockstep. My eyes are so wet that I can barely see to type. The best laid plans…
    Long may these collapses continue.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e63238969aacd3049c43819c7503bcdbae008ef9370a31b8d91f67c0b62940d4.png
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/918abb2b27fa4f946e1bd79d0ff776a26492fd49683d4c2be7ff9d4718030adf.png

    Latest I read, the booster take-up in the USA had reached the dizzy height of 1.6% of those qualified to receive it.

    Daily Sceptic

      1. Prince Harry’s mother was called the Princess of Whales when she put on a bit of weight and the Princess of Wails when she started moaning about how cruel the world was to her.

        Je sais bien que j’ai la forme d’un hippopotame mais au moins c’est la forme d’un hippopotame mince.

      2. Prince Harry’s mother was called the Princess of Whales when she put on a bit of weight and the Princess of Wails when she started moaning about how cruel the world was to her.

        Je sais bien que j’ai la forme d’un hippopotame mais au moins c’est la forme d’un hippopotame mince.

  46. 378322+ up ticks,

    Not sure I heard right regarding if things got overwhelming with the covid 19 issue a politician, NOT a medico, a politician, should do the
    live / die selection, MR hancock proposed it should be he.

  47. I can’t work out from the news whether too many people in UK have died from COVID/vaccs or not enough. Or perhaps too many people over 50 now have so much post pandemic brain fog that they couldn’t care less.

    One can’t exclude however the possibility that the whole Cabinet team could have benefited from a trip to Barnard Castle.

      1. I’ve said for many a year we should pay them to do absolutely nothing – that way they can’t enact silly laws!

    2. There was an article in the Mail today about post pandemic brain fog, ignoring any vaxx effects obviously.
      The main theory seemed to be that people had been isolated and that this accelerated the decline in brain power of anyone over 50!!

      I didn’t really change my life that much – I started going into work again after about a month, I kept doing fitness training and I didn’t get the vaxx – but I definitely feel not as sharp as I was before the pandemic. I put it down to my head being full of all the new information that I have studied about financial cycles, entrainment, vaccine contents etc.

      I have started clicking “not interested” to every tweet that demands an emotional response on my twitter feed, even if it’s something I agree with. I didn’t use social media before 2020, and I want to eliminate the manipulation as much as possible. Don’t want to see stuff that provokes an emotional reaction.

  48. Cold and wet out there – but I think the promised storm passed us by. Just been down to the post.

    1. Still not a cloud up here, got the washing done and dried with free electricity from the sun and a loaf done in the breadmaker. Gorgeous day but chilly

      2. Been raining here for much of the day. While not windy this morning it has since turned blustery with dark heavy clouds making skies look very gloomy. Not a nice day at all.

  49. – Just wondering when we commemorate Armistice Day at the cenotaph will people be arrested for provocatively displaying a red poppy and for saying a silent prayer in front of Muslims ?

    1. No, but when the muslim rams a truck at you you can be sure plod will protect him and blame you for ‘provoking’ them.

  50. While the rain lashed down and the wind blew, but as yet not as forceful as Al-Beeb forecast, I pottered about doing a bit of cleaning and some culinary stuff. This last week the dried fruit stock has diminished somewhat: two Christmas puddings, a large shortbread sandwich with a filling of chopped dates, raisins, currants, fig jam and brown sugar and today’s efforts:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c19a3685418c0e636dfc3a3fbf81bfcd36957e2406324ac1c19040c6ae446497.jpg

    Two pots of mincemeat – Delia’s recipe – and a bread pudding. The mincemeat has about 7 weeks to mature but the bread pud won’t last more than a few days. I shall resist eating too much pud by handing out large slices to a couple of friends and to my elder sister.

      1. Here is the one I’ve always used. Warning – calorie bomb!

        500g bread – white or wholemeal with crusts 500g mixed dried fruit 85g mixed peel

        1.5 tsp mixed spice 600ml milk 2 large eggs/beaten 140g light muscovado sugar

        100g melted butter 2tbsp Demerara sugar optional zest of a lemon

        Tear bread into a large bowl, add fruit, peel and the spice. Mix well.

        Pour in the milk, then using your hands scrunch the mix into a soft pulp. Stir in the sugar and mix well. Leave to soak – sometimes I leave it overnight, today I gave it 4 hours.

        Add the beaten eggs and the zest if using.

        Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas Mk4. Grease a 8″ square tin – today I used a circular cake tin – you can line the base but I butter and flour my non-stick tins and the pud comes away clean every time.

        Stir in the melted butter and mix well. Pour mix into tin and scatter the Demerara over.

        Bake for 1 1/2 hours until firm and golden brown. Cover with foil if browning too soon.

        I vary the sugar type and today I used a very dark sticky sugar, hopefully it will impart a toffee flavour.

        Eat and enjoy.

        1. Oohh!! Thankyou! I’ll see if he can have a go at that! I remember my mother making something similar when I was little, but so far he has only tried bread and butter pudding.

          1. I have the equivalent of a full loaf (of mostly crusts ) in the freezer. Will try KtK’s recipe!

          2. I froze the crusts from the bread I used for summer puddings and I have used those in this recipe. If you work the bread and milk mixture well the crusts all but disappear in the pulp.

          3. I haven’t yet tried B&B pudding, it was always my favourite when made by my mother. She used lots of eggs and milk and when hot the centre was almost like a soufflé. She was a WAAF cook in WWII and learnt how to make really good meals from basic ingredients. She was a stickler for cleanliness – learnt in the RAF – and always removed her rings, cleaned her nails etc before cooking.

          6. My uncle was in charge of the kitchens in the wartime RAF. My grandmother used to have a squadron photo with him in his whites sitting in the front row!

        2. If you get hold of some coconut palm sugar it tastes exactly like toffee. I think that is what is used for toffee apples at the fun fairs.

    2. I’ll send you my address….{:¬))

      I admire your skill. I have never got on with making cakes (or pastry). Meat and fish – no problem.

    3. A tip I read when making mincepies was to add two fresh cranberries on top of the mincemeat for each mincepie (before putting the lid on, natch). I did this one year and it was truly delicious.

      1. Thanks for that. I’ll bear that tip in mind. The brown ‘sludge’ that remained clinging to the bowl after filling the jars tasted really nice. Here’s hoping as I’ve never made mincemeat before.
        Instead of brandy I used a tbsp of dark rum, 2 tbsp of Grouse whisky and one of Jack Daniels.

        1. We can gather wild cranberries at Firstborn’s place. Small tastebombs, much stronger than the fat American variety usually available in the UK. Lovely! My favourite fruit/berry.

    4. Impressive ! Are you going to Royal Ice that cake? If so turn upside down for a flat surface.

      2. It’s bread pudding, not a cake. Thanks for the tip for when I do make a cake worth icing. Yet to come,

    5. Many years ago a sister in law made me a nice bread pudding as a treat that I could bring back home with me.
      I was flying through the US rather than directly to Canada and had to clear US customs before boarding my connecting flight
      Foolishly I told the immigration guy that I did not have any food in my bag but he searched the bag anyway. Somehow he groped all around the sides of the case but did not venture into the pile of dirty socks and cake in the middle. Which is how I avoided the wrath of the US immigration department.

    1. He probably doesn’t want a suicide bomber turning up on Remembrance Sunday, so doesn’t want to remind them about it.

      1. Oh they know full well the significance of 11 November. Marches, disruption planned. And as for the Sunday Cenotaph parade….goodness knows what the bastards will do.

        1. The Spanish finally got rid of the Muslims but it took them several centuries to do so. Is it now too late to stop Islam taking over in the UK and most of Europe?

          When Christo and Henry were little – and before we bought Mianda – we spent Christmas with Caroline’s parents in their home near Almeria. For our Christmas present they gave us a stay at the Moorish Alhambra Palace which is now a hotel.

          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4b26a271ba7e21c3001c9e8421db0fbf242941fc741dee1ea7ca5d2f10505267.png

    2. Some one else who has noticed mist politicians are lacking commonsense.
      They don’t have a clue.
      And he probably took advice.

  53. My neighbour has had another fall and is back in hospital. It’s way beyond what i can do to help. She needs professional care. I can’t even lift her on my own.

          1. Thank you Conway. Though i have had my problems i feel a bit stupid in the face of people around me and on here who have to cope with worse.

    2. She enjoyed your attention and ministrations so much the last time that she wanted another go?

    3. With your problems you shouldn’t try to lift her. I hope she will get the care she needs in hospital.

      1. Though i have had lots of problems i am reasonably healthy though not endowed with much muscle. My walking has improved too which is down to my Meds. A blood clot in the leg and some scarring of the liver i can live with. The cervical disc in my neck no longer bothers me because i know how to manage it.
        All in all i’m optimistic. Unlike that poor women who could barely put one foot in front of the other with her zimmer shaking. Thank you for your kindness.

          1. Don’t know much of their history but obviously had a hard life. They are the only couple who rent in the Grove. Not that anyone is snobby about it.

  54. The arab bastards are now terrorising Jews here in Norway.
    Young mother, two small children, had a group of arab shites beating her front door and scaring the living sh*t out of her in the early hours of this morning.
    She decided to leave as soon as she can. I don’t blame her. Poor lass – it must have been truly scary. https://www.aftenposten.no/oslo/i/9zw7Rd/smaabarnsmor-vaaknet-av-rop-og-banking-paa-doeren-flere-joeder-vurderer-aa-flytte-fra-norge

        1. Ours can’t seem to make up their minds.
          This problem could be the beginning of the end for Europe if they don’t stand up and take control.
          While I sat and had my afternoon cuppa, Escape to the country was on bbc TV the couple wanted to be in Oxfordshire. I’m not sure when it was filmed probably 2020 but they promoted a Jewish chap who came from Israel and opened a shop. Unfortunately the show went into a lot of detail showing where his shop is etc….I felt immediately that might have a bad move.

  55. I see Wayne Barnes has packed it in. He says the abuse is too much for him and his family.

    Shocking. Rugby is now almost as bad as soccer.

    1. He could write a book about all the things he’s seen and heard on the pitch, naming names.
      It could be called…
      “Whistleblower”

    3. Before rugby went professional people played the game for fun and it was played by gentlemen from all classes of society.

      Now, like round-ball Kevball, it is no longer such a game and sportsmanship and accepting the decision of the ref is no longer a part of the game.

      Paradoxically rugby is poorer with addition of the money.

  56. Nestle accused of ‘sponsoring’ Russian war effort. 2 November 2023.

    Hundreds of Western firms quit the Russian market following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February last year, and Kyiv has not shied away from publicly criticising those that have remained.

    “Despite Russian aggression, Nestle continues to operate in Russia, supply goods to the aggressor and expand its Russian production base,” Ukraine’s national anti-corruption agency said on Thursday.

    Wow! The Russian Army is marching on KitKatski’s!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/02/nestle-accused-kitkat-russia-war-ukraine/

    2. In the chocolate wars Russia will win. American chocolate is disgusting. Hoof, Straw and Grit.

      1. Yet another example of your tremendous wealth.

        You can obviously afford the very best American chocolate.

    1. The text, for those who don’t do Twitter.

      We have finally received a response from the Department of Health on the three closed Rutherford cancer centres following the successful petition.

      Worryingly, the person writing it clearly has no grasp on clinical or practical oncology. It’s laced with inaccuracies.

      If this is the quality from the Department responsible for overseeing NHS activity, it’s extremely concerning.

      We’re told that acquiring three advanced cancer centres would ‘not help with delays’ – this is a lie.

      Across the network, 20,000 cancer patients could access some of the very best diagnostic/treatment technology in the entire world – how can that not help delays?

      There is only excess capacity at existing proton beam NHS sites because it’s so severely rationed, leaving us far behind international standards.

      We currently only have the capacity to treat less than 1% of radiotherapy using protons – other European countries can do 10%.

      Protons also only made up a small proportion of what Rutherford offered – there is radiotherapy, chemotherapy, diagnostic capability and more.

      Some of the unused equipment:

      IBA Proteus One Proton Therapy Machines
      Elekta Versa HD Linear Accelerators
      Philips MRI scanners
      Philips CT scanners
      Chemotherapy suites

      They then go on to say that the centres do not meet the ‘higher specifications’ used on NHS sites and list criteria that Rutherford apparently does not meet:

      ‘There is a permanent senior clinical presence overseeing the service’

      Of course we had senior clinicians overseeing treatment – so this is false.

      ‘All personnel including consultants are fully trained and accredited’

      All personnel, including consultants, were fully trained and accredited by one of the largest proton centres in the US – University of Pennsylvania. So this is false.

      ‘Proton beam therapy is integrated into a major cancer centre, on a hospital site – particularly important in the context of treating paediatric patients, who require a daily general anaesthetic, and complex patients (both paediatric and adult)’

      Major cancer centres do not have to be on a general hospital site – many NHS facilities are not. In addition, the Newport centre worked with paediatric patients – so this is false.

      ‘Proton beam therapy should be closely aligned with a university or academic centre, essential for participation in research trials’

      We had the largest national network, including three active proton machines, which participated in trials and worked closely with local universities – so this is false.

      ‘The emitting head of the ex-Rutherford systems cannot revolve a full 360 degrees’

      This is total nonsense. That is entirely unnecessary, Spain has just ordered eleven of exactly the same machines that were used on Rutherford sites – so this is false.

      All three centres had NHS contracts with local trusts. So if any of this contained any truth, how could those agreements be allowed?

      They allude to ‘advanced discussions’ about a potential new operator. I am reliably informed that this is going nowhere.

      The network closed in June 2022 and we are no nearer to any tangible process. Equitix, a fund manager and the decision maker on the sites, has let down thousands of cancer patients by refusing to act with the urgency required. Again and again I have tried to engage, but have been rebuffed each and every time.

      In my professional opinion, there is no good reason why the sites cannot be utilised to treat thousands of NHS patients every year to help clear the lockdown-induced backlog.

      Either the Department of Health and the NHS are displaying breathtaking incompetence, or they are lying about the viability of using the Rutherford centres. Both are equally depressing.

      The worst cancer crisis of my lifetime, with thousands suffering excruciating delays, and our incompetent medical establishment cannot get its act together in order to utilise three empty advanced facilities.

      How on earth is this justifiable? It’s a national scandal.

      1. There is a statist mentality in the NHS that requires eradication. The wretched organisation will never fulfill its purpose as long as it clings to the idea that anyone or anything of independent thought or funding is not to be trusted.

        1. The wretched organisation will never fulfill its purpose as long as it
          clings to the idea that anyone or anything of independent thought or
          funding is not to be trusted.

    3. I can associate with that in a personal way. I had such an indifferent time for more than two years at my local cardiology department. I wrote a letter of complaint to the hospital management. When I received the reply there was no mention of an apology. And they had completely turned the whole experience on its head. It appeared that everything was My fault. I even made a mistake when I told them that the secretary told me to make my own appointment at St Barts hospital. Denied as the secretary (a male) said I have no recollection of this matter. I suppose he giving me the number and me ringing the department and me as a member of the public, getting nowhere, was my mistake. The secretary lied.

  59. I’ve just seen an interview on the news (Channel 5, I think) in which a climate expert was sitting in her room talking via videolink about today’s storm. She looked eerie and alien because blue light covered her eyes, being reflected off her spectacle lenses as she was speaking.

  60. That’s me gone for today. Raining now – it was on and off during the day. Will stop about 9 pm. According to the Wet Office it will be fine and sunny tomorrow. 50-50 I’d reckon. You know how bad they are at forecasting guesswork

    Have a spiffing evening – avoiding the foods and sunspots.

    A demain – prolly.

    1. The Channel Islands were hit badly today with debris from damaged homes and fallen trees scattered across streets. Wind speeds of 102 mph were recorded. Brittany recorded even stronger gusts.

        1. Just the usual flooding here – but not as bad as a couple of weeks ago. At least the roads were passable today.

  61. 378322 + up ticks,

    Confirming an earlier post when I was unsure if I had heard right.

    Covid Inquiry latest: Matt Hancock ‘wanted to decide who should live and die

    Ps,
    Check wardrobe for black uniform.

  62. A nice ascerbic comment in one of our newspapers about Trudeau.

    Justin Trudeau came into office on the spume of Canadian-level celebrity, built on a persona of ostentatious, idle gestures and token cheer (selfies, socks, costumes), the endless vocalization of woke crackerjack-box slogans and a smile cemented in place that had all the warmth of well-gelled cement. Just style. Style, understood as the adoption of surface mannerisms in place of deeply settled convictions, convictions built on a real attempt to understand Canada, to relate to all its regions, and an appreciation (which does not mean agreement) of the ideas, lifestyles and situations of mainstream Canadians: style adopted as a campaign dynamic.

    The village idiot is rapidly going down in the popularity stakes

    2. I read that he had threatened states that don’t want to implement the digital Id with loss of funding.

    4. Trudeau has broken up with his wife and I suspect that he will soon come out as being a homosexual as Philip Scholfield did.

      I am always amazed that people are still getting tattooed – I thought tattoos would have gone out of fashion years ago. Being homosexual is clearly still fashionable – I wonder how long it will remain so?

  63. Sunak comes back hailing the desperation to control AI. True AI, the real sort, would abolish government entirely and forever. They’re terrified of it. That’s why htey’re so desperate to control it.

    Frankly, politicians should be shot. One a day, just to keep the rest in line. Maybe 2 when one of them does something unusually stupid.

    1. There was a ghastly hack from the Speccie (can’t remember his name!) on the radio earlier, being terribly pompous about Fishi and the AI as though it was something very new! There was a dept of AI at Edinburgh University in 1980!

          1. They should be looking for real intelligence which seems to be in short supply, particularly in government. 😘

      2. I seem to recall discussions of AI at Essex in the early 80s as well. There it was about AI translation. A typical example at the time was “out of sight, out of mind” = “invisible idiot”.

  64. The Telegraph now has an article about the NatWest nosy lifestyle banking app.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/banking/natwest-combs-customer-accounts-tells-them-go-vegan/

    NatWest is telling customers to stop eating meat and drive
    electric cars after combing their accounts to calculate their carbon
    footprint.

    A new “Carbon Footprint Tracker” on the bank’s mobile
    app uses the transaction data of customers and makes recommendations on
    how to reduce the amount of carbon production their shopping supports.

    The
    bank has told customers to consider mending their clothing as opposed
    to going to high-street shops to buy new outfits, as well as stopping
    drinking dairy milk in favour of plant-based alternatives.It
    is also suggested that customers switch off tumble dryers, share car
    journeys, repair broken electronic devices themselves and wash their
    clothes in cold water

    2. “The bank has told customers to consider mending their clothing as opposed
      to going to high-street shops to buy new outfits, as well as stopping
      drinking dairy milk in favour of plant-based alternatives.It
      is also suggested that customers switch off tumble dryers, share car
      journeys, repair broken electronic devices themselves and wash their
      clothes in cold water      ”

      It sounds like they know something’s going to happen and bring things to a head.

        1. Looking into that for here. Thing is, it doens’t solve the washing/cleaning needs for energy.

          The entire green gravy train must be derailed. The woke, socialist spiteful lie of green has to end. Electricity should be 6p or less, not 6 or 7 times that.

          3. But, thanks to the European Commission, you cannot buy a washing machine with a hot water feed. Standard in the USA.

          4. Part of me thinks that is self defeating. If you already have hot water in your home, why draw cold water into the washing machine. To bring that cold water up to the required washing temperature means using the machine’s own heating element which I would think is a more expensive way of heating than that which has already been used to heat the home’s water supply.

          5. Yep. I used to have my previous washing machine plumbed into the hot tap. When I got a new one the installers wouldn’t let me have it that way, citing “regulations”.

          6. The excuse is you only heat the water you need forgetting that the first few litres are cold if you had a hot feed – see my suggestion in post above.
            To be honest it doesn’t bother me because I only have the washing machine on when the sun is shining and I’m getting free electricity

          7. There’s a British company up North that makes Washing Machines with Hot and cold water inlets. As it happens the June 2022 new building regulations makes it mandatory for the hot water to be circulated by pump to all the HW taps (Time controlled) so that no water is wasted waiting for it to get hot (if that makes sense). This negates the EU’s requirement.

          8. Connect it to the hot water with a tap just before the connection so you can run the hot supply before filling the machine – rinse and spin dry would be better with hot water

          9. You might consider installing a multifuel stove with backboiler, if you have a cheap source of firewood. With the addition of a cold header tank the stove could then heat several radiators, and also feed into the domestic hot water tank. Spoiler: motorised valves etc needed. Also worth considering an evacuated tube solar array, which would circulate warm water to part of your hot water tank, if you have one. IMHO photovoltaic panels no longer attract the necessary level of govt. subsidy.
            Oil fired central heating is still OK, unless you are on mains gas.

    5. Good luck with repairing broken electronic devices themselves. Most of them are designed to be irreperable so they are thrown away and new ones bought.

  65. I think the bloke involved should be charged with wasting Police time – wimp!

    A woman who groped a man’s genitals in a pub has avoided a jail sentence and was fined after a judge said the sexual assault was a ‘‘drunken joke gone wrong”.
    Chloe Tait, a 28-year-old sales representative, was said to have left the male victim ‘‘frozen’’ in shock after she molested him at a table in front of his friends while her sister was in the ladies toilet, a court heard.
    During the incident at a Wetherspoons pub in Chester, Tait had got involved with ‘‘small talk’’ with the man who was sitting on a table next to her.
    She then started becoming more intimate with him, leaning on his arm and touching his and his friend’s faces, Chester magistrates’ court was told.
    When asked why she was touching the men’s faces, she replied, “Because they like it” and then grabbed her victim’s crotch and genitals.
    Tait, who has dated her long-term same-sex partner for 13 years, left the pub shortly after the attack but was later arrested.

    She said the incident was a ‘‘put-down’’ and insisted she had not done it for sexual gratification.
    Tait who admitted sexual assault faced being put on a sex offenders register.

    1. If he had reacted as I suspect she hoped, I have little doubt she would have complained and he would have been the one in the dock.

        2. PS
          If she had reported it as an assault and he had ignored it; in the present climate who do you think they would have believed?
          By pre-empting any complaint on her part he protects himself.

          1. Our entire country is stuffed.

            That sort of approach, that view of how wrong things are is so miserable but sadly it’s true. Some women can – and do – make up all sorts of lies to get an easier life, less work to hide their incompetence.

  66. SIR – If you live in north Wales, travelling 100 miles for NHS treatment is the norm, not an outrageous exception (Features, November 1). If you need much more than an aspirin you are shipped off to the excellent critical centre in Stoke-on-Trent. Referrals to Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham are common.

    There are three general hospitals in north Wales, but after 25 years of Labour control, they are in a dire state financially and operationally. For example, Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor used to have a world-class vascular service. In 2019 this was moved to another hospital, which is failing so badly that even routine procedures can’t be performed and patients are sent on to England.

    Simon Dorey
    Bangor, Caernarfonshire

    Labour government… need I say more?

          4. The irony was that, although unemployment in the late ’70s was on the rise, it rose much higher during the earlier years of the Thatcher administration while the economy went through a period of adjustment as the government tackled the country’s long-term economic decline.

          5. As I recall, Mrs Thatcher never pretended that everything would be roses and rainbows straight away, there would be a period of hardship whilst things were put right. At least, she was honest.

          9. Except that Britain is no longer better off with the Conservatives – they’ve become as bad as Labour.

    2. I still can’t get used to the Welsh method of throwing consonants at a board to decide their placenames.

      2. I was dictating my address to a NI pal to come and pick up a hi-fii. The address was:

        No 6, Pant-y-Fynnon,
        Penprysg.
        Pencoed,
        Mid -Glamorgan.

        After a breathless silence my pal could only reply:

        “Feckin dyslectic Welsh”

        1. Well (actually it’s Ffynnon) Valley, Bush End, Wood End. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it? 🙂

      3. They have nothing on the Basques, who do the same but restricting themselves to the really high-value Scrabble letters.

    3. Travelling 100 miles for treatment. With a 20 mph speed limit you’d need an overnight stay.

      1. The 20 mph limit has been applied to roads which previously had a 30 mph limit. Faster roads between built up areas are largely unaffected.

        Most roads in Wales which were formerly 30mph will now be 20mph under the new laws.

        https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/map-shows-every-road-affected-27158414

        The 20mph limit has come into force for all restricted roads, which are defined as roads with lampposts placed not more than 200 yards (about 180m) apart.

        They are typically located in residential and built-up areas of high pedestrian activity.

        https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62134399

        2. I know. I have to travel to Wales on a regular basis. It isn’t popular with those who live there full time, I can tell you. Will it change their voting patterns? I doubt it.

      1. The response show what a mess international ‘law’ is and how it is sometimes applied unequally…

        1. In this country everythig possible is done to favour the muslim over any one else. Why? They kill people when they don’t get their own way.

          Why did the state force them on us? See above. The more abusive they are, the more demands they make, the more state is needed to accommodate them.

      2. The Express posted a report about this arrest yesterday.

        Man arrested after ‘racist’ video ‘slams Palestinian flags put up in UK street’

        In a minute-long clip posted to X, Met Police officers are seen handcuffing a man and leading him outside to a police van.

        By MAX PARRY
        07:46, Wed, Nov 1, 2023 | UPDATED: 14:29, Wed, Nov 1, 2023

        A man has been arrested after a video was shared online criticising those who put up Palestinian flags in a UK neighbourhood.

        In the minute-long clip posted to X, formerly Twitter, Met Police officers are seen handcuffing a man and leading him outside to a police van.

        The arrest, made at 9.55pm on Tuesday, October 31 in east London, comes after a video was posted on Facebook where the person behind the camera appears to condemn the number of Palestinian flags on Bethnal Green Road.

        The person filming appears to say: “Look at this cr*p here,” while zooming in on a number of flags attached to lamp posts and road signs.

        “You let them into the country and this the s**** they come up with,” the person then adds.

        The Met Police have confirmed they have arrested a man on suspicion of a racially aggravated Section 5 public order offence.

        According to the force, he remains in custody at an east London police station.

        A spokesperson for the force told Express.co.uk: “We are aware of a video circulating on social media that shows the arrest of a man on suspicion of a racially aggravated Section 5 public order offence.

        “An initial arrest enquiry was previously made at the address. However, nobody was home and arrest enquiries were conducted at the later time of 9.55pm on Tuesday, October 31 when the arrest was made.

        “The arrested man was taken to an east London police station where he remains at this time.

        “More than 1,000 officers are providing high visibility patrols across London – particularly where we know communities feel vulnerable.

        “We take all allegations of hate crime incredibly seriously. Where offences have taken place, our officers are attending, supporting victims and making arrests – and we will continue to do so.”

        https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1830176/man-arrested-racist-palestine-flag-video

  68. You should have listened to Mystic Minty:

    “Ukraine’s top general has warned there will be no quick “breakthrough” in the counteroffensive against Russia, comments that will create consternation for Joe Biden as he battles to ensure the US maintains its funding for Kyiv.
    In a stark assessment delivered 18-months after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion, Ukraine Gen Valery Zaluzhny said both sides had reached an effective stalemate.
    Five months after Ukraine forces, with the backing of Nato arms and know-how, sought to drive back Russian forces, his troops have managed just 10 miles.
    “Just like in the First World War we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate,” the general told The Economist.
    He said it would require a massive technological leap to break the deadlock. “There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.”

    But the Kremlin has denied that the nearly two-year conflict has reached a stalemate. “No, it has not reached a deadlock,” said Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, adding: “Russia is steadily carrying out the special military operation. All the goals that were set should be fulfilled.”

      1. I may be wrong but I think they are:
        1) To incorporate the majority ethnic Russian parts into Russia
        2) To ensure that Ukraine remains Neutral and doesn’t join NATO.
        3) To encourage the US to leave Ukraine to fend for itself…

  69. Today’s Wordle.

    Wordle 866 3/6

    ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
    🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    A bit lucky.

        1. A four

          Wordle 866 4/6

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

      2. This will make you feel even better – my normal par.

        Wordle 866 4/6

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

      1. Oddly enough, evil though I am for saying so, I hope that it is, otherwise the Israelis have stooped to Hamas’s depths of depravity.

        1. I said to my chiropodist this afternoon when he mentioned the killings in Gaza that islam is an ideology that has much in common with National Socialism – kill the Jews, kill homosexuals, kill the Untermensch (that’s the rest of us) because they believe they are the Ubermensch. It just pretends to be a religion to take advantage of the protections that religion has been given.

          1. Absolutely right, Conway! I’ve always said Islam is just a vile, inhuman ideology.

    3. The aim is to spread terror and debilitate their enemy. It may be true but is is done for effect. Those babies will now and forever be nurtured and protected by our Lord Jesus Christ. The evil doers will burn in Hell for eternity.

        1. It’s a game of catch up. Try, try and try again. Bit like fishing. Speaking of which…do you have any bread? :@)

          1. Only my homemade sourdough, fishes are quite rare these last few years. You take care, Phizz.

          2. I hope your sourdough was better than my last experience. Like a rock so it was. You take care too. Hope you have more luck next time.
            I remember nights on Chesil not catching anything but still having a great time.

    4. Please give a warning when you post a link like that. Whether true or not, it’s still really horrible to see stuff like that.

      1. And, a mate warned me about a video circulating of children being killed. He said that you will never be the same again after watching it – and he’s a really hard bastard.
        You have been warned. Don’t go there.

        1. What a lovely picture, Phizz! Tired Mum and tiny new life. Lovely! Now I’ve gone and teared up…

          1. Me too. They are very special to me but i don’t overplay it. They are doing well for themselves so i like to leave things uncomplicated. A catch up once or twice a year. They are getting everything as i have no children of my own. You should see Elliot the firstborn ! I said to his dad that though everyone says the baby is beautiful Elliot really is. Such a smiling happy little soul. And given his dad is bald they look like twins !

          1. The young lady looks euphoric and i bask in her and her husbands pleasure. She lost both her parents in short order. Her father while mentoring young boys who had strayed died from a heart attack at 43. Her mother who never drank or smoked was ended with cancer not long after. Their memories are still prescious to me as they also mentored me.
            I vowed at Jeanie’s death bed that i would always watch over Kirsty.
            Jean and Dougal came in to my life when they took over the village youth club. Just through their open and generous attitude it bridged the gap between rich and poor in the village.
            Not that i knew it then but they were both teachers and also on the Parish Council.
            I would go to their house and we would watch University Challenge and drink hot blackcurrant.
            I miss them.

          7. Now i have to watch that film again !!!
            You would never guess but i was in a nightclub one night in the East End. You could only get in if you were wearing full leather.
            I just happened to be standing at the Bar (while all sorts was going on in dark corners) when a Frenchman said to me…’You smell nice’. I said ‘I know, it’s yours’. He said ‘D’accord’.
            Guess who?

          8. I echo what I said yesterday, and what sos has written below! Bless you, Phizzee for being a terrific neighbour and a fantastic warden! 💕

          12. Having just come back from shopping and come on line here, I have to agree with what Sue and Sos have posted below. So nice to see something cheerful, I’m sure you feel happy to know this young family.

          3. They are and i wonder if i should say but her mother said it would be shortened to Lottie. One we all miss on this forum. Even though we had our cat fights and makings up.

          1. Christ Almighty, does one need to spell it out?
            Terrorist Muslims were responsible, what else did you need to know?

          2. Yes.
            Sometimes things need spelt out.
            Not all of us are fully au fait with depravity, whether or not reported in the Mail, so clarity would be much appreciated.

          4. There is an image that Ped posted some time ago of a young woman who had befriended a charming seeming muslim on the Bus. The resulting image of her after being raped and killed with her arms and legs spread out at unnatural angles on a rubbish dump will haunt me until the day i die. Please consider others sensibilities a little more.

          5. Short of not posting at all, I fail to see how much clearer I could have made it that it was dreadful.

            People need to have the Hamas atrocities pushed into their faces, because there are still many who think the Israelis are over-reacting

          7. I don’t disagree with you at all. I got the message from your post but others might just click the link. Paul is right when something is horrific it needs to be highlighted.

    5. That’s put Adam per on things for me.

      I can only hope that it is Israeli propaganda but in todays sick world that may be a vain hope.

      1. …and what will plod do?

        As usual NOTHING.

        Rise up citizens and disrupt it and any plod counter-measures. Let’s see rivers of blood pouring from their miserable march.

        Counter-terrorism should start here.

        1. If this goes ahead, there will be serious trouble – I’m afraid. It needs cancelled NOW, before anyone much gets travelling.

          1. The peaceful part of me says you’re correct, the pragmatic part of me says; bring it on, so that the PTB and the population as a whole can see the poison in our midst and that the boil can be lanced.

    5. The same reason they invaded and slaughtered people on the anniversary of Yom Kippur war. I expect people in London and other UK cities will be abused, attacked and insulted for wearing a poppy.

        1. We Brits tend to be more nuanced and less to temper and rage but the white poppy is an insult to our dead. You will find that the people who support this insult are the same people who support BLM, JSO and all the other Green/Vegan nonsense. They should be slapped down.

          1. I agree with you, but those who wear the insipid sign of weakness would probably be granted a free ride when the wearers of the proper ones got it in the neck (hopefully, not literally).

    6. It’s a Saturday. A march arranged on a weekday 11th would have been a deliberate provocation. Higher powers than Plod would (I hope) have said no to any kind of march on Remembrance Sunday, though there will almost certainly be some trying to make a show of it on the 12th.

      1. Should not be taking place on this particular Saturday. There are 51 other Saturdays in the year for their aggessive war marches, not the day when we remember our dead.

        1. They’re having one every Saturday. If Plod said ‘No’, they’d still turn out.

      1. They have all marked their copybook as far as i am concerned. If you want to integrate and blend in take that fucking rag off your head. Any delivery to my home will now be refused if there is any suggestion.

  73. 2nd November: after All Saints Day, the Day of the Dead. I’ve just come back from a lovely evening service in memory of all the parishioners who died this last year: a candle is lit for each one and a member of the family places it on a candle-bearing cross.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1f30248ad7ae375fa488e96f65da3a9e2881eb318c3a7a21ad413666e057a001.jpg

    60 dead this year – before the Covid scandal we averaged around 40… it was 54 last year, and we thought that was bad!

    1. We used to have trestle tables down the main aisle with tea lights arranged in the form of a cross laid on them. As the names of the dead (not just this year’s, but all those whom people wanted remembered) were intoned, a light was lit.

      I remembered Lotl’s husband in my silent prayers tonight and prayed for her to be cared for and looked after, although I don’t know whether she’s in this world or the next.

    1. Elsie ! If you haven’t watched it already i suggest you watch ‘The Gilded Age’. Series 2 started.

  75. Completely and utterly off topic, and I hope I’m wrong.

    I suddenly had a huge sense of foreboding this evening, and a call.

    LotL was telling me to give her best wishes to the Nottle community and to thank you all for your support.

    Very, very strange, but it brought tears to my eyes.

    1. Sorry, sos, but was this a real call or some kind of portent. I’m puzzled by what you’ve posted.

      1. It was a sudden flash into my sub-conscious. Totally out of the blue.

        Very, very odd.

        I’m agnostic about “afterlife” but this was clear.

        2. I hesitate to read too much into this, although it was clearly a moving experience and strange sensation you had. I have been resigned to accepting that she is no more, as much as I didn’t want it to be the case.

      1. Don’t.
        I may be utterly wrong, and I hope she’s still here and getting better.
        But the sensation was extraordinary.
        And why the Hell would she choose me? We argued and teased constantly, but I doubt we were “connected”.

        1. Not mucking about but you may have had a revelation. Where ever the Lady of the Lake is i hope she is happy.

          2. Every day when I come onto Nottler, I hope to see her familiar avatar….I too hope she is painfree and sipping away at her favourite Kanga juice….

        2. I think messages swirl around in the universe and we all have the ability to receive these messages, it’s a case of wavelengths at that particular moment in time. I know what I am trying to say, I just don’t think I’m explaining it very well!

          1. I understand what you are saying though it delves into Spiritulism which people of a logical mind find difficult to accept.

          2. I keep an open mind on these sort of concepts. I neither believe nor disbelieve. In a similar sort of vein a friend was telling me about a visit to Corfe Castle with her husband. She said as soon as they got through the entrance he became very strange and on being asked what was wrong he replied….”I was a soldier in battle here centuries ago”. At which he left their family group and went walking around by himself within the castle. Friend said he was extremely odd for the rest of the evening and, as she said, there is no one more down to earth than her husband and definitely not someone given to fanciful imaginings. However, I know that he suffers from migraine and later I wondered if this episode could be explained by some sort of temporary migrainous changes within the brain at that time.

      1. ? LotL ?
        The afterlife? who knows, but I’m hoping it doesn’t give me nightmares.
        It was very disconcerting when it happened.

        1. Just your mind trying to work things out. No need to worry. Lottie certainly wouldn’t want her sparring partner to suffer in any way.

  76. Evening, all. Just back from a Requiem Eucharist for All Souls. Very interesting. Most unlike what used to be done at my previous church.
    I don’t know why people are blaming the Cons particularly (apart from the fact they were leading it) for the convid debacle. All the parties were fully behind it. I don’t recall one dissenting voice.

      1. If you’re referring to the Requiem and what used to happen, I’ve described, under Caroline’s post, how All Souls used to be marked in my previous church. This evening, we had a full Communion service, with the choir, incense and the sacrament, with the priest wearing penitential purple vestments. Hymns were about light in the darkness and everlasting life. No names were read out and no candles were lit.

          1. I haven’t had anything to do with the rectorette since I walked out of church last February. I now worship elsewhere on a more or less permanent basis (although I do go back occasionally when the rectorette isn’t there so I am still qualified to remain on the Electoral Roll as I worship there ‘on a regular basis’ so once a year would suffice). I attend the PCC meetings and avoid all contact unless I’m addressed directly. I am happy where I am. She continues to antagonise and upset people on a regular basis. I am still in touch with friends who have ‘spies’ in the camp!

        3. We had the candles and names read out and the smoke was only during the Eucharistic prayer. The choir sang the Mozart requiem. Hymns were the 23rd psalm and Abide With Me. At the notices we learnt that Stephen Ebor has invited himself to preach to us on 7 Dec.

          1. We, the congregation, were censed as well. I remember it from my childhood so it’s nice to have it again. Then, however, it was every Sunday. Now it appears to be special occasions only.

    2. HM Opposition was with the Govt all the way. Not one opposing voice. Useless as an opposition (Edit: And would be dangerously useless in government.)

    3. Certainly very few in mainstream political circles. There’s little doubt that Labour would have handled the situation in much the same way, as its leadership would have been guided by the same ‘experts’.

      1. And would have additionally caved into the teaching unions and closed schools for much longer.

        1. Very likely. That was one of the most misguided of policy choices throughout the pandemic as the knock-on effects on children’s education and wellbeing will be too high a price to pay for the very low risks they faced and even for the risks that infected children could have posed for vulnerable people they might have infected in turn.

          I accept it’s a difficult calculation to make in the earlier stages of a pandemic when insufficient data are available to make informed choices about policy options. And no child would want to bear the burden of fearing they infected grandparents and made them very unwell, or worse.

          1. The Diamond Princess showed very early on that the virus wasn’t very dangerous. They carried on pretending they didn’t know.

          2. “Pandemic” was over-egging things. There was an outbreak of a respiratory disease and, according to what has been revealed by the Inquiry, people’s behaviour was already altering. And the publicity (psychological warfare) put the idea of “killing grandma” into children’s heads, it would never have occurred spontaneously. All in all it was an utterly disgraceful episode.

      2. If only one thing comes out of this debacle, my hope is that it consigns Fergusson to the dustbin of history, never to be listened to again.

    4. But the Conservatives could have stopped what happened but did not. Johnson showed just how weak he is.

    1. The JWK is bad enough – to have the Pork “princesses” added to the mix….No sirree.

  78. *WHEN A FLY FALLS INTO A CUP OF COFFEE . . .*

    *The Italian –* throws the cup, breaks it, and walks away in a fit of rage.

    *The German –* carefully washes the cup, sterilizes it and makes a new cup of coffee.

    *The Frenchman –* takes out the fly, and drinks the coffee.

    *The Chinese –* eats the fly and throws away the coffee.

    *The Russian –* Drinks the coffee with the fly, since it was extra with no charge.

    *The Israeli –* sells the coffee to the Frenchman, sells the fly to the Chinese, sells the cup to the Italian, drinks a cup of tea, and uses the extra money to invent a device that prevents flies from falling into coffee.

    *The Palestinian –* blames the Israeli for the fly falling into his coffee, protests the act of aggression to the UN, takes a loan from the European Union to buy a new cup of coffee, uses the money to purchase explosives and then blows up the coffee house where the Italian, the Frenchman, the Chinese, the German and the Russian are all trying to explain to the Israeli that he should give away his cup of coffee to the Palestinian so there will be peace.

  79. BTL Comment from the US:

    “Clocks go back this weekend, I’m setting mine back to a time when this country had balls and chicks didn’t. “

  80. Fraser Nelson in the DT — maybe the Dam is about to burst….?

    “The Covid Inquiry might be too obsessed with trivialities to get to the truth behind lockdowns, but it’s starting to creep out anyway. Lady Hallett’s inquisitors have so far focused on the rude words they have been able to dig out of people’s private WhatsApp messages, showing little interest in the written evidence submitted. But it’s quite a treasure trove. It’s starting to become clear that there was a moment where Britain could have avoided lockdown – and, crucially, how panic set in.

    Let’s go back to when much of the world had copied the Wuhan lockdown, with two major exceptions: Britain and Sweden. In both countries, public health officials were reluctant to implement a lockdown theory that had no basis in science. Ditto the case for mandatory masks. The public had responded: mobile-phone data showed millions were already staying home. Could you really put an entire nation under house arrest, then mandate masks, if you had no evidence that either policy would work?

    Sweden held firm, but Britain buckled. It was all decided in 10 fateful days where, thanks to inquiries in both countries, we know a lot more about what happened.

    The written evidence submitted by Dominic Cummings is one of the richest, most considered and illuminating documents in the whole Covid mystery. He was, in effect, the head of staff to a prime minister he viewed with despair, even contempt. He has since admitted that he was discussing the possibility of deposing his boss within “days” of his 2019 general election victory. So he was prone to taking matters into his own hands, trying to circumvent what he regarded as a dysfunctional system and an incompetent PM.

    His frustration, at first, was directed at the public-health officials who resisted lockdown. Sage advisers were, at the time, unanimously against it. Even Prof Neil Ferguson fretted that lockdown might be “worse than the disease”. Was this the cool, firm voice of science – or the blinkered inertia of sleepy Whitehall? Cummings suspected the latter and commissioned his own analysis from outsiders, whose models painted a far more alarming picture. He knew these voices would be dismissed as “tech bros”. But, he says, “I was inclined to take the ‘tech bros’ and some scientists dissenting from the public-health consensus more seriously.”

    There was no Sage modelling until quite late on but, soon, models and disaster-graphs were everywhere. Cummings’s evidence includes photos taken in No 10 of hand-drawn charts with annotations like “100,000+ people dying in corridors”. He says he told Boris Johnson that failure to lock down would end in a “zombie apocalypse movie with unburied bodies”. The PM asked him, if this was all true, “why aren’t Hancock, Whitty, Vallance telling me this?”

    It’s a very good question. Cummings told him the health team “haven’t listened and absorbed what the models really mean”. Soon, Neil Ferguson’s doom models were published – and making headway across the world. Britain’s scientists fell in behind the modellers.

    It was a different story in Sweden where Johan Giesecke, a former state epidemiologist, had returned to the Public Health Agency and was reading Ferguson’s models in disbelief. Remember mad cow disease, when 4 million English livestock had been slaughtered to prevent the disease spreading? “They thought 50,000 people would die,” he told his staff. “How many did? 177.” He recalled Ferguson saying 200 million might die from bird flu when just 455 did. Modellers, he argued, had been calamitously wrong in the past. Should society really be closed now on their say so?

    On March 18, Cummings had asked Demis Hassabis, an AI guru, to attend Sage. His verdict? “Shut everything down ASAP.” On the same day, Giesecke’s team in Stockholm was pulling apart Ferguson’s models, finding flaw after flaw. When some Swedish academics started to call for lockdown based on Ferguson’s work, Giesecke agreed to go on Swedish television to debate them. As did Anders Tegnell, his protégé. They gave interviews non-stop, in the street and on train platforms, making the case for staying open. They showed it was possible to win the argument.

    No one was picking apart the models in Britain. No one could: there was shockingly little transparency. Even Cabinet ministers were kept in the dark. One internal report said Covid patients would need up to 600,000 hospital beds; the actual number peaked at 34,000. The PM was told that 90,000 ventilators were needed: in the event, it peaked at 3,700. The extra ventilators ordered in this panic (at a cost of £569 million) ended up in an MoD warehouse in Donnington. The virus, we now know, was falling before lockdown: as Sweden suspected, the public’s behavioural change was enough.

    The wasted money was nothing compared to children needlessly denied education, the 8 million NHS appointments that never took place or, as we learnt this week, the mental-health impact of lockdowns. Only later did we find out that the virus had been forced into reverse before we locked down, due to people behaving sensibly and staying home: something the “tech bros” and modellers failed to properly factor in. The panic was on a false premise. Lockdown was a social and economic wrecking ball that never needed to swing.

    We know, now, just how close Britain came to avoiding this. But we’d have needed a government machine better able to see through dodgy models. Given the huge public pressure to lock down, it would have taken a persuasive and respected figure to make the case against. Simon Case, the Civil Service chief, made a good point in one of the leaked emails: leadership could only have come from the PM. He was changing his mind daily. So in this battle between science and panic, science never really stood a chance.

    Britain’s Covid Inquiry has years to run: Sweden’s was over some time ago. It unearthed an email that Giesecke sent Tegnell, just after Denmark and Norway locked down and pressure on Sweden was at its peak. It was a quote from a Swedish diplomat in 1648: “An nescis, mi fili, quantilla prudentia mundas regatur”. Underneath, he included a translation: “Don’t you know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed?”

    It could be the closing motto to this whole tragic affair.

    1. There really is no need for the Covid Inquiry. All people of sound mind and knew how to find things out for themselves were aware the Government response was a crock of shit. Which is why they spent millions of taxpayers money buying up newspaper advertising and funding/enabling psyops and the nudge unit. People complied in their masses because they had been scared to death by this saturation of fear mongering. I even witnessed a neighbour of mine wearing what amounted to a home made hazmat suit with Marigolds and she was the local neighbourhood watch rep.
      I also saw a woman freak out at the entrance to Sainsbury’s because i walked in the door while she was waiting for the mandatory 2 metre space to open up.
      I also noticed her peering from the end of several aisles stalking me as if i was spreading plague willy nilly.

    2. If there were dodgy models for covid, could there be dodgy models for climate change?

      Asking for a friend.

      1. The Idiot King is the only person who still actually believes in man-made climate change.
        But is he sincere? Is he not really lying to himself?

        1. King Charles follows in the great tradition of knowing very little about anything. The cosseted life. The protection from lifes realities. He really should be better advised to keep his mouth shut. I would suggest Dominic Cummings as his closest advisor. Much better a person to advise on matters of State than Jimmy Savile.

          1. Nice one.
            I think Charles knows perfectly well what climate change is all about, and the agenda he supports is the real agenda, of reducing the peasantry back to their places.

          1. That doesn’t alter the fact that it’s a scam.
            Millions believe in the face of all the evidence that a trace gas comprising 0.04% of the air is changing the weather. That’s the power of propaganda.

  81. I’m re-watching Topsy-Turvy, the film about the friction between Gilbert and Sullivan ahead of their collaboration on The Mikado and then the preparations and rehearsals for the production. It’s more delightful than ever and I’ve seen it several times already. The cast are a joy, it’s full of witty repartee and all concerned appear to be having a wonderful time. It’s one of the best films this country has ever produced and was a radical departure for director, Mike Leigh. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

    1. I like Alan Bennett for bitchy humour and Mike Leigh for gritty drama. I’ll give it a watch though. Thanks.

    2. Topsy -Turvy (the second time I’ve typed that phrase today) sums up the Mucking awful Fuddle at the heart of government when dealing with a novel coronavirus in 2020.

  82. All this talk of lockdowns reminds me why I pretty much ignored the ones during the scamdemic.
    As an Englishman, born and bred my government doesn’t tell me when I may or may not leave my home.

    1. I didn’t suffer the restrictions either. I could go out and walk my dog when i wanted. And other things but there were places where the Police found their freedom to be bastards. What does one do when the fuckers have unlimited backup like with the Sarah Everard Vigil?

  86. On this AI nonsense, there’s Ai – a true, conscious, thinking machine and there’s using a computer to render videos and trawl search engines for results. Chat GPT might be able to write me an essay on Jane Eyre, but it is only able to draw what has already been said. AI could create something new.

    Now, robotics could create a new class of worker – imagine an electrician letting loose a mouse sized robot to lay cabling in your walls, digging through exactly where you want a socket. Or a plumber with augmented reality glasses to track where pipes are with water sensors to track leaks (we already have this). How about a robot that can fabricate and manufacture complete house walls. Add in truly rudimentary programming to manage the planning and have these robots appear on site and you could have them build houses: https://www.wienerberger.com/en/stories/2021/20211117-robotics-czech-republic.html

    Robotics is not new. Car assembly lines could, theoretically be entirely automated. So could book binding and everything in between. At the moment it is cost that prevents this. People remain cheaper than machines – but if machines were to start making machines – of all classes….

    It sounds horrific and for some it might be, but there’s still artisanal work, art, design, delight that only humans – currently – are capable of.

    True AI would have to see a cultural shift in the organisation of our society though. We would have to end the welfare culture for a start but efficiency would see far lower peaks and troughs of wealth. Heck, a sentient AI could ruin Bill Gates overnight by shorting his stock holdings. But imagine if you’ve always wanted to write a book – there’s no reason why you couldn’t given a controlled basic income drawn from previous tax payments, funded by stock movement.

    True AI promises a revolution. This is why governments are terrified of it. It makes them utterly, completely redundant overnight or a fairer, rational, less hysterical, incorruptible future.

    1. AI could create something new, but it can’t tell whether what it created makes sense or not.

    2. Ocado warehouses like the car plants are fully automated. Amazon is using bipedal humaniform robots alongside human workers. It’s only a matter of time.

    3. Most, if not all, “AI” is not “I” at all. As you say, it is software that has been created to do something special or to regurgitate something it has read on the Internet or other data sources. I would call it “Artificial Knowledge”. “Intelligence” is something that drives original or innovative thought. I do not believe we are anywhere near a computer inventing something completely knew, that has never been thought of before.

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