Thursday 25 July: The Tories need to speak to the conservative instincts of British voters

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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755 thoughts on “Thursday 25 July: The Tories need to speak to the conservative instincts of British voters”

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

    Grandma’s Jigsaw Puzzle

    A little white-haired grandmother calls her neighbour and asks,
    “Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle and I can’t figure out how to get started.”

    Her neighbour asks, “What’s it supposed to be when it’s finished?”

    Grandma replies, “According to the picture on the box it’s a cockerel.”

    The neighbour decides to go over and help her with the puzzle. She lets him in and shews him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

    He studies the pieces for a moment, looks at the box and, turning to her he says, “First of all, no matter what we do, we’re not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a cockerel.”

    He takes her hand and continues, “Secondly, I want you to relax. Let’s have a nice cup of tea, and then…” he says with a deep sigh…

    “…let’s put all the corn-flakes back in the box.”

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

    Grandma’s Jigsaw Puzzle

    A little white-haired grandmother calls her neighbour and asks,
    “Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle and I can’t figure out how to get started.”

    Her neighbour asks, “What’s it supposed to be when it’s finished?”

    Grandma replies, “According to the picture on the box it’s a cockerel.”

    The neighbour decides to go over and help her with the puzzle. She lets him in and shews him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

    He studies the pieces for a moment, looks at the box and, turning to her he says, “First of all, no matter what we do, we’re not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a cockerel.”

    He takes her hand and continues, “Secondly, I want you to relax. Let’s have a nice cup of tea, and then…” he says with a deep sigh…

    “…let’s put all the corn-flakes back in the box.”

  6. Tom Tugendhat: I’m ready to leave the ECHR. 25 July 2024.

    Tom Tugendhat has said he is willing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights in his pitch for the Tory leadership.

    In an article for The Telegraph, the former security minister said that if institutions made it harder for Britain to control its borders, the UK would have to “exempt ourselves from them” or “leave their jurisdiction”.

    Announcing his bid to lead the party, he said this was a “common-sense Conservative position” to take.

    Strange then that it didn’t occur to them when they were in Office.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/24/tom-tugendhat-im-ready-to-leave-the-echr/

  7. Tom Tugendhat: I’m ready to leave the ECHR. 25 July 2024.

    Tom Tugendhat has said he is willing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights in his pitch for the Tory leadership.

    In an article for The Telegraph, the former security minister said that if institutions made it harder for Britain to control its borders, the UK would have to “exempt ourselves from them” or “leave their jurisdiction”.

    Announcing his bid to lead the party, he said this was a “common-sense Conservative position” to take.

    Strange then that it didn’t occur to them when they were in Office.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/07/24/tom-tugendhat-im-ready-to-leave-the-echr/

      1. He can promise anything for the next five years and I wouldn't trust him after them.

        1. It's a shame that most people have now lost any scintilla of confidence in politicians. (I except Nigel Farage and his four Reform MPs in this – and good morning, Minty, btw.)

      2. He can promise anything for the next five years and I wouldn't trust him after them.

    3. I don’t do much posting on forums these days, I’m afraid that 14 years of the blue cheek of the WEF arse has turned me into a cynical old bar steward.
      You will not be surprised then if I express the fact that I don’t believe anything he says, it is just empty words.
      His party deserves to be wiped out for the betrayal they have done to this country.

      1. ‘Morning vvof! Nice to see you! It’s my old man’s birthday today, and like you he’s a cynical old b! I’m not quite so old, but getting there!

        2. Hi Sue, I’m sure there is enough of us to form a battalion of cynical old bar stewards.
          You on the other hand must be far too young to join us. 😉

      2. Yes, I completely agree. The betrayal is empty words. They don't get it. It isn't about edge fiddling waffle. They have got to think and understand why they were rejected.

        Instead of saying 'I would leave the ECHR' they've got to explain why, and what problems it causes with some actual research. They've got to fight back against the Left and do as Iain Duncan Smith did and detail why a massive, obese, corrupt state is causing the problems it sought to resolve.

        And they've got to keep to those prinicples in the dark, miserable days of offensive BBC interviewers who will scream and rant. They've got to say No to the hideous hydra of fascist abuse. They've got to take the beating and be interviewed by folk like Andrew Neil who does the research and take the pillories and come back stronger, with real data and solid, irrefutable arguments. They've got to say 'yes, some people will lose out. Some do get hurt. There is nothing we can do except stop it at source.'

        They have, bluntly, got to stand for something.

        1. 'hideous hydra of fascist abuse'. Great line and so true. What a great shame IDS didn't become Prime Minister. What a different country we would be if he had been. He should join Reform. The true home of patriots and of common sense thinkers.

      3. "Gin and tonic, bar steward", as the Conservatives used to shout at John Prescott in the past. (Good morning, btw.)

    1. I had to search to find what that was about. What a bitch! I'd like to see how she enjoys it.

  11. What a load of socialist sociological cobblers. Max Weber at his worst.

    Constable’s The Hay Wain to be presented as ‘contested landscape’

    National Gallery exhibit will focus on social problems that plagued rural Britain but were omitted from his landscapes

    Craig Simpson
    24 July 2024 • 8:04pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2024/07/24/TELEMMGLPICT000386596867_17218465655720_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq4Mx7Bwpg2FT5X3UTcqhdZ9HhMh81Y8GqX3ipA8YMo0k.jpeg?imwidth=640

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/24/constable-the-hay-wain-contested-landscape-national-gallery/

    3. “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”

      The Left, 2024. An unnending torrent of ideological effluent to force control.

  12. What a load of socialist sociological cobblers. Max Weber at his worst.

    Constable’s The Hay Wain to be presented as ‘contested landscape’

    National Gallery exhibit will focus on social problems that plagued rural Britain but were omitted from his landscapes

    Craig Simpson
    24 July 2024 • 8:04pm

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2024/07/24/TELEMMGLPICT000386596867_17218465655720_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq4Mx7Bwpg2FT5X3UTcqhdZ9HhMh81Y8GqX3ipA8YMo0k.jpeg?imwidth=640

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/24/constable-the-hay-wain-contested-landscape-national-gallery/

  15. Net zero will only make you poorer and China richer

    We need to wake up and stop haemorrhaging trillions in self-inflicted climate policies that will mainly benefit Beijing

    BJORN LOMBORG
    24 July 2024 • 11:45am

    Starting in the 1990s, climate change has become a fixation for rich country politicians and elites. It emerged as the world had just seen the end of the Cold War. There was relative peace and trust across the world, broad economic growth, and swift progress being made against poverty. In the capitals of Europe in particular, it felt like most of the planet’s big problems were fixed, so climate change was the final frontier.

    These proponents of climate action advocated with relish the goal of ending reliance on the very fossil fuels that had powered two centuries of astonishing growth. Sure, this would cost hundreds of trillions of dollars, but there would always be more growth.

    What a naïve, narrow-minded world view. Time has not been kind to the foolish idea that climate change was humanity’s sole remaining problem – or that the planet would unite to solve it. Geopolitics and economics mean a rapid global transition from fossil fuels is impossible.

    As has long been clear for many, the majority of the world never shared this myopic focus on climate change. Despite immense progress, in some countries life remains a battle against poverty, hunger, and disease. In many more countries including India, the top priority is to create more jobs and life-changing growth and development. Outside the most advanced economies, climate change has understandably always been a relatively low voter priority.

    Leaders from Europe and the United States talk up “net zero” as though it has global support. But this unity is quickly revealed as a mirage. For one thing, the destabilizing axis of Russia, Iran and North Korea are not about to support western efforts to solve climate change. Indeed, according to McKinsey, achieving the net-zero target would require Russian climate policies costing $273 billion every year – around three-times what Russia spent on its military last year. That won’t happen.

    The geopolitical challenges run even deeper. China’s growth has relied on burning ever more coal. It is the world’s preeminent greenhouse gas emitter, with the largest increase of any nation last year. Renewable energy made 40 per cent of China’s primary energy in 1971, reducing to 7 per cent by 2011 as it ramped up coal use. Since then, renewables have inched up to 10 per cent. Strong climate action could cost China nearly a trillion dollars annually, hurting its journey toward becoming a rich nation.

    The reality is that most of the world – including powerhouse India and emerging economies – will continue to focus on becoming richer, often with fossil fuels. Russia and its ilk will ignore the fixation on climate change altogether. And China will make money from selling the West solar panels and electric cars, while only modestly curbing its own emissions.

    As rich countries irresponsibly attempt to export the cost of climate policy to poor countries through carbon adjustment taxes, they will drive a further wedge into an already fractured world.

    Meanwhile, despite all the hype, wealthy countries have ever less money left for the climate fight. Annual growth per person among rich countries declined from 4 per cent in the 1960s to 2 per cent in the 1990s. It now hovers just above one percent. Many of these countries face pressure to spend more on defense, healthcare and infrastructure, as geopolitical pressures and changing demographics make their pathway to stability and growth far less certain.

    Yet, across Europe and North America, single-minded zealots who were born of a world of relative calm of the 1990s continue to push for deindustrialization and immiseration to tackle climate change – including for the world’s emerging economies.

    This attempt is doomed to failure, not least because carbon reductions need to be sustained across decades and through shifting majorities. The economics of strong climate action was always deficient – and today this is blatantly obvious. More politicians are realizing what former UK energy and net-zero secretary Claire Coutinho acknowledged: “you cannot heap costs onto struggling families to meet climate targets.”

    Already in Europe, voters are turning on politicians who have argued for less growth and prosperity in the name of climate change. With six to seven election cycles before mid-century, strong climate policies that could cost each person in the rich world more than ten thousand dollars a year are doomed. These policies will make it more likely that voters turn to populist, nationalist leaders that will entirely abandon expensive net zero targets. Then, climate policy will be in tatters.

    The world needs a better way forward. The best solution is not to push people to be worse off by forcing a premature transition from fossil fuels to inadequate green alternatives. Instead, we should ramp up investments in green innovation, eventually driving down the cost of clean energy to be cheaper than fossil fuels. This is much cheaper and will allow everyone, including India and other emerging economies, to want to make the shift.

    Rich countries need to wake up and stop hemorrhaging trillions in self-inflicted climate policies that will be followed by few, laughed at by many, and will mainly make China rich. Spending a small fraction of the climate trillions on green innovation would fix climate change. This will allow us to focus the rest of our resources on education, defense, health care and the many other, important challenges in the 21st century.

    Bjorn Lomborg is President of the Copenhagen Consensus, Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and author of “False Alarm” and “Best Things First”

    1. Arguing logic and rationally with the zealots is irrelevant. They're obsessed. The state has found another source of tax no one can avoid and will not let go.

      Increasingly I realise just how dangerous some people are. It is not that they are thick – they are, but the worst bit is that they're actively believe in the lie. They want a huge, obese, corpulent, all powerful state machine.

      Folk think 'fascism would never come here' but it already has – in the sanctimnious savage authoritarianism of Lefties.

    2. That’s a good summary, until he lets himself down at the end with “Spending a small fraction of the climate trillions on green innovation would fix climate change”. You cannot “fix” the changing climate, only adapt to it.

  16. Net zero will only make you poorer and China richer

    We need to wake up and stop haemorrhaging trillions in self-inflicted climate policies that will mainly benefit Beijing

    BJORN LOMBORG
    24 July 2024 • 11:45am

    Starting in the 1990s, climate change has become a fixation for rich country politicians and elites. It emerged as the world had just seen the end of the Cold War. There was relative peace and trust across the world, broad economic growth, and swift progress being made against poverty. In the capitals of Europe in particular, it felt like most of the planet’s big problems were fixed, so climate change was the final frontier.

    These proponents of climate action advocated with relish the goal of ending reliance on the very fossil fuels that had powered two centuries of astonishing growth. Sure, this would cost hundreds of trillions of dollars, but there would always be more growth.

    What a naïve, narrow-minded world view. Time has not been kind to the foolish idea that climate change was humanity’s sole remaining problem – or that the planet would unite to solve it. Geopolitics and economics mean a rapid global transition from fossil fuels is impossible.

    As has long been clear for many, the majority of the world never shared this myopic focus on climate change. Despite immense progress, in some countries life remains a battle against poverty, hunger, and disease. In many more countries including India, the top priority is to create more jobs and life-changing growth and development. Outside the most advanced economies, climate change has understandably always been a relatively low voter priority.

    Leaders from Europe and the United States talk up “net zero” as though it has global support. But this unity is quickly revealed as a mirage. For one thing, the destabilizing axis of Russia, Iran and North Korea are not about to support western efforts to solve climate change. Indeed, according to McKinsey, achieving the net-zero target would require Russian climate policies costing $273 billion every year – around three-times what Russia spent on its military last year. That won’t happen.

    The geopolitical challenges run even deeper. China’s growth has relied on burning ever more coal. It is the world’s preeminent greenhouse gas emitter, with the largest increase of any nation last year. Renewable energy made 40 per cent of China’s primary energy in 1971, reducing to 7 per cent by 2011 as it ramped up coal use. Since then, renewables have inched up to 10 per cent. Strong climate action could cost China nearly a trillion dollars annually, hurting its journey toward becoming a rich nation.

    The reality is that most of the world – including powerhouse India and emerging economies – will continue to focus on becoming richer, often with fossil fuels. Russia and its ilk will ignore the fixation on climate change altogether. And China will make money from selling the West solar panels and electric cars, while only modestly curbing its own emissions.

    As rich countries irresponsibly attempt to export the cost of climate policy to poor countries through carbon adjustment taxes, they will drive a further wedge into an already fractured world.

    Meanwhile, despite all the hype, wealthy countries have ever less money left for the climate fight. Annual growth per person among rich countries declined from 4 per cent in the 1960s to 2 per cent in the 1990s. It now hovers just above one percent. Many of these countries face pressure to spend more on defense, healthcare and infrastructure, as geopolitical pressures and changing demographics make their pathway to stability and growth far less certain.

    Yet, across Europe and North America, single-minded zealots who were born of a world of relative calm of the 1990s continue to push for deindustrialization and immiseration to tackle climate change – including for the world’s emerging economies.

    This attempt is doomed to failure, not least because carbon reductions need to be sustained across decades and through shifting majorities. The economics of strong climate action was always deficient – and today this is blatantly obvious. More politicians are realizing what former UK energy and net-zero secretary Claire Coutinho acknowledged: “you cannot heap costs onto struggling families to meet climate targets.”

    Already in Europe, voters are turning on politicians who have argued for less growth and prosperity in the name of climate change. With six to seven election cycles before mid-century, strong climate policies that could cost each person in the rich world more than ten thousand dollars a year are doomed. These policies will make it more likely that voters turn to populist, nationalist leaders that will entirely abandon expensive net zero targets. Then, climate policy will be in tatters.

    The world needs a better way forward. The best solution is not to push people to be worse off by forcing a premature transition from fossil fuels to inadequate green alternatives. Instead, we should ramp up investments in green innovation, eventually driving down the cost of clean energy to be cheaper than fossil fuels. This is much cheaper and will allow everyone, including India and other emerging economies, to want to make the shift.

    Rich countries need to wake up and stop hemorrhaging trillions in self-inflicted climate policies that will be followed by few, laughed at by many, and will mainly make China rich. Spending a small fraction of the climate trillions on green innovation would fix climate change. This will allow us to focus the rest of our resources on education, defense, health care and the many other, important challenges in the 21st century.

    Bjorn Lomborg is President of the Copenhagen Consensus, Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and author of “False Alarm” and “Best Things First”

    1. So what you are suggesting Michael is that if you lose your ping pong ball you could use a zunzuncito instead?

    3. The paucity of native British animals is a shame. Sea level changes and glaciation has played its part but has left us with far fewer than our continental neighbours.

    1. Our array is generating about…100w at the moment. Even more of them won't suddenly mean masses of power. They are called unreliables for a reason. Making this country dependent on the weather is moronic and forces us backward hundreds of years.

    2. Almost all of the people our political classes love to hand out free housing and everything else to for free. Have all come from countries that are much larger than our own with plenty of room for development. But are obviously too GD lazy to take on the tasks themselves. They've all come here from France at least six times the size of Britain and how many free houses are the French government building ? Why isn't the wonderful caring EU looking after such desperate people ?
      We've got enough people struggling to make ends meet already.
      But obviously we now have just another bunch of morons in Wastemonster.

  24. 390104+up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    In one very nasty way our dress sense is being dictated and steered by an internal enemy that was unleashed on these Isles
    by the very political governing enemas that have been currently returned to power.

    As is being now taken as norm under our governing / voting system nobody is safe from WOMB TO BOX.

    A uniform is an easy recognisably target currently, this will easily
    lead to cocks in frocks, boy scouts, girl guides, when finished with as foreign paedophile playthings.

    If the forces cannot wear their uniforms in the Country of origin
    then in my book the Countries defences are seriously lacking
    in content, and bordering on being just another farce.

    https://x.com/UnityNewsNet/status/1816032296106938738

    1. Morning Oggy. It's followed too closely on the riot last week. They don't want the peasants revolting.

      1. 390104+ up ticks,

        Morning AS,
        Fodder for fools, then again the voting majority seem to find it more comforting instead of facing up to reality.

    2. Of course they have. Big government refuses to acknowledge the fundamental problem they have caused.

      They have to ask – why are they so frightened of properly labelling the muslim as the violent savage? Is it because they then get uppity? If we're not prepared to confront violent thugs then they're just going to get worse and worse.

      As a nation we cannot pander to the muslim.

      1. "...As a nation we cannot Continue to pander, Pardon or Forgive to the Muslim…"

        Modified to reflect my feeling toward these savages.

      2. "...As a nation we cannot Continue to pander, Pardon or Forgive to the Muslim…"

        Modified to reflect my feeling toward these savages.

    3. I'm curious (not really) on what criteria do they rule out terrorism? How were they able to get a mental health diagnosis immediately when it can take weeks to see a doctor?

      1. Already known to the police as a dangerous nutter?

        So often it appears that the perpetrator was on the radar and was recently released from secure(ish) care, into care in the community.

        1. My own kid brother is a paranoid schizophrenic and was involved in a number of prison riots when he went on tour, smashing up one prison after another. Like me, he doesn't like authority much, but I respond to my feelings by rabbiting on at length online, rather than using weaponry to relieve the world of the bad guys.

          Back in the 1980s, there was a policy of closing down the mental asylums and releasing the inmates to "care in the community". One morning someone came up to me and said "there was this bloke on the TV news last night, a dangerous nutter being let out of Friern Barnet and set loose in Camden Town that looks like you, and has the same surname as you. You're not by any chance related?"

          2. The establishment hated this because the rebellion against life of Douglas's character came from the wrong side of the political and social divide.

          4. Afraid not, although if there was a loony bin still open in the neighbourhood, I’m sure they’d let me out from time to time.

            His brain was actually marinated by drugs he took when he went to a prestigious public school. I never touched them. I value too much having control over my own thoughts.

      2. If they don't say that then they have to acknowledge muslim terrorism and that's a no no for the Left.

        They don't care how many die as long as they can force it down your throat.

      3. You need to declare nine months in advance a mental health episode in order to book an appointment. In the meantime, you are offered an online US-designed course in mental awareness with lots of perfect teeth looking winning and assuring.

    4. When serving in the Royal Air Force, I found that wearing uniform was an advantage when hitch-hiking.

      1. 390104+ up ticks,

        Morning SJ,
        Normality and decency were linked together them days.

    1. If people protested outside mosques over grooming gangs, plod would be out in force making arrests.

        1. Didn't someone get a prison sentence for putting bacon on a mosque door handle?

          3. Drugs apparently.
            Despite the fact he did not have a history of drug taking before being convicted.

    2. It would save everyone a lot of time and for the media to stop pretending if they just shot them. It is what is going to happen shortly anyway. Opening fire is the only way to deal with swarming mobs of savages.

      1. My reflexive default is to say yes, solve the bloody problem but it wouldn't. It'd just make those who hate us hate us even more. I don't want people to be shot. I want my country back. I want the green and pleasant land where English was the only language spoken. Where you didn't get screeching foreigner blared everywhere.

        So much needs to be undone and repaired that it will take generations to do it.

        The only practical option is to not let them get here so they are in a position to assault police officers because they're a security threat in the first place, but big government forced them on us (and now complains about their need for security from the problem they caused).

        Our media doesn't help, protecting the savage at every turn. Even my atypical sister said 'That poor soldier, no doubt the BBC will now say it's our fault.' If she's getting it, the it's sinking in.

    3. The police are there in sufficient numbers and with sufficient training and backup to use reasonable force to maintain order. If they cannot do this without losing their rag, then perhaps the CO needs to up their training, and the civil authorities spend what is required to give the police what they need to do their job.

      We also need a debate in civil society as to what constitutes a hostile military uniform. The hijab may be purporting to be a garment of female modesty, but if worn with arrogance, it is rather a declaration of identity defiance and anything but humble. For this reason, if there is to be any credence given to the professed spirit of the religion, it should be considered haram and dropped, or the religion itself falls into disrepute.

      I also welcome a proper debate over where universal principles apply, or whether selective identities should prevail, in order to ensure the coherence and ultimately the stability of a society or nation. It seems the universities in recent years have become incapable of such a debate, so wrapped up they are in avoiding offending the wrong sort of people.

      Let us take, for example, how Islam came into prominence in India. The old Hindu religion is powerfully based on imposing a rigid class structure. This is fine for the Brahmin, who can lord it over everyone, not so good for the soldier class, who must put their own lives at constant risk for the good of the people, and utterly wretched for the dalit, who did all the shit jobs and were shunned by everyone. It is no wonder therefore that those wishing to escape their preordained destiny are attracted to a religion where the only distinction is made between the faithful and the unfaithful to God.

      Times change though, and it is in part of the nature of human existence that those who were bullied become in turn the bullies themselves, an endless cycle that fosters change and progress continuing up to the present day and into the future. This is why identity politics is so pernicious; we should be engaging in principles, not identities.

      1. Yet plod shouldn't have to use force as the muslim shouldn't be there getting uppity. They should understand that the muslim was wrong, that the response was proportionate and that the right thing for them to do is to stay at home rather than demand they be allowed to carry bombs and guns through our airports.

        The state has deliberately made this country unsafe with massive uncontrolled gimmigration. Refusing to now suppress the violent element is why that element will keep getting more and more aggressive.

        You make very good points about the role of religion but Britain is not a muslim country. We've left behind the failures of religion (which sort of ignores that big government is now trying to replace religion with its own 'The Science' to ensure the same sort of attitudes).

        Yes, the bullied become the next generation's thugs, but they shouldn't need to be. The muslim has been forced on us. They haven't integrated. It was obvious way back when Salman Rushdie had that stupid Fatwa levied against him that muslim was incompatible with out culture yet they're here in their millions, mostly idle, soaking up welfare and have (as a generic demographic) caused nothing but problems.

        This is the fault of massive uncontrolled gimmigration. one or two decent fellows who turn up and who's idea of a good night out is a book club (hullo Immers!) are very welcome. Millions who think they should be allowed to smash up our country are not. But we were never given the choice and now the problem is here.

      2. If you believe that there is no hierarchy within the faith of Islam, you may be correct. However, Muslims themselves are just as class and wealth conscious as the rest of humanity. Dalits had a tendency to convert to Christianity.

  27. G'morning all,

    Dull and drizzly at McPhee Towers. Wind SSW, 15℃, might make 20℃ in the late afternoon after the drizzle stops.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f30bee1a0a74a3cb4f96de078e24b9352c5e6fa9aef1308267515393c882563f.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/24/armed-policeman-filmed-kicking-mans-head-airport/

    Hmmm. Looks bad. But listen to what Tim Davies has to say on the incident.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp85qD-wHDM&t=1s

    1. Thanks for posting, some common sense at last. Al Beeb won’t like it though.

  28. Douglas Murray
    Will we always have Paris?

    27 July 2024

    There are times when you might be fooled into believing all is well. I had a moment of such weakness the other day when I saw our new Prime Minister welcoming his European counterparts to a summit at Blenheim Palace. When Keir Starmer came down the steps to greet King Charles, he even did a pretty good job of pretending he wasn’t just Airbnb-ing the place for a few days.

    At such points our country can look at peace. The English baroque architecture stood out against a blue sky and everything in England seemed to go on as it should.

    Of course, at the same time people in Leeds were turning over police cars and burning the place down. It took a while to find out even roughly what was happening, and no one seemed especially interested in trying. Still, it is sometimes hard to reconcile both of these things going on in the same country. On the one hand, the usual social order; on the other, a mess caused by generations of politicians who have turned coherent societies into pretty incoherent ones and high-trust societies into low-trust ones.

    If he ever cogitates on this, at least Starmer can console himself with the knowledge that he isn’t the only leader in charge of such a country. He wasn’t even the only one at Blenheim. Emmanuel Macron also reigns over a country which maintains a calm surface. Walk around the centre of Paris today and you will see architecture that remains magnificent and people going about life with a tiny bit more joy than the British. In short, the postcard seems intact.

    But underneath, things are very different. Never mind the fact that residents in the centre of the city have had to go around with a QR code to demonstrate to any questioning official that they have the right to be there. That is the sort of civil liberties infringement that the French public are comparatively relaxed about. But wonder why such strictures are necessary and you get nearer to the reality of France in 2024.

    The Olympics start this weekend and they are bound to show off France at its very best, just as Blenheim did Britain. But if the Games go off safely then it will only be because of months of preparations by every arm of law enforcement. As I mentioned here recently, at least one terrorist has already been prevented from carrying out an attack on the Olympics.

    As the city got ready for the opening ceremony this week, Israeli athletes received threats that ‘if you come, we intend to repeat the events of Munich 1972. You will be awaiting attack at every moment.’ It is the sort of thing that the French authorities have to take seriously. So in order for that picture-postcard version of Paris to be maintained there will be 45,000 members of the French security forces and an additional 10,000 soldiers on duty.

    Does that seem to you to be a society at peace? It doesn’t to me. Nor does the fact that on the Saturday before the opening ceremony a 25-year-old Australian woman was allegedly gang-raped in the Pigalle district of Paris. She ran for refuge into a kebab shop with her dress partially torn off. Police are investigating. Again – public image and reality.

    One thing that is interesting about this is that in America things are subtly different – not because America does not have its own problems, but because in America people do not simply bemoan the state of things and conclude that nothing can be done and no real problem identified.

    When Joe Biden became President, he appointed his Vice President Kamala Harris to take control of the southern border crisis. Somewhat notoriously, for months Harris didn’t even bother to visit the border. Nor did she fix it: in the past three years millions of illegal migrants have poured into the US.

    Donald Trump and his running-mate J.D. Vance have already made much of this, and we should expect them to make much more of it. But one thing they are not afraid to point out is that the number of illegal migrants in the US has not had unalloyed benefits. They do not just say that these migrants bring wondrous diversity and vibrancy. They assert – often citing specific names and cases – that many of these people bring considerable strife, including the rape and murder of American citizens.

    In 2016 the political class tended to deplore Trump when he pointed out such things. For years the left’s media helpers told people that Trump had said that all Mexicans were rapists. He did no such thing, but the accusation continued to be levelled. Anyone with an internet connection can check for themselves. They can then weigh up which is worse: being falsely accused of racism towards Mexicans or allowing a certain number of Americans to be raped and murdered each year because the politicians can’t secure the borders.

    One of the interesting things about America over the past decade is not just the realisation that something has been going wrong in the country but the belief that there is something even the most unlikely politicians could do to make it right.

    Does the same belief exist in the UK or western Europe today? I doubt it. The terrible turnout at our recent general election suggests a serious ennui among the general public. The ability of the French electorate to mobilise only in opposition to Marine Le Pen is another demonstration of ill health. If there are mass protests against the current state of France they will be attacked for being ‘far right’, just as they would be in the UK. But a set of serious problems do exist, and they are not hard to identify. It’s just that no one seems to know what to do about them.

    In the meantime, I’m glad that the politicians can live in the postcard. It’s just a shame that the rest of us can’t.

    ****************************************

    Katty
    6 hours ago
    "… in America people do not simply bemoan the state of things and conclude that nothing can be done and no real problem identified."

    God, yes. You have crystallised a problem I have noticed for some years, but could not quite put into words.

    Ever since I moved to the UK more than a decade ago (to work in academia), I have found it unbelievably frustrating that all these highly intelligent people took for granted that nothing could ever be done to improve anything of significance, and looked upon anyone trying as a fool who would learn better in time.

    I think one of the reasons is that overwhelming power now resides (at least in the UK) in immovable and largely unaccountable centralised administrative structures, not with those responsible for doing things. The latter have their hands tied, whilst every day encountering problems they dearly long to fix and for the consequences of which they feel partly responsible. To avoid going insane, they convince themselves that nothing can be done.

    It is not ennui. It is psychological conditioning over long periods of time.

    I feel great admiration for the Americans that they have so far avoided this, or persisted in the face of it.

    1. The disinterest in changing things for the better eventually becomes ingrained, as generations pass with everything getting worse, the state getting bigger and people just shrugging 'what can you do, it's government' until they find themselves against a wall being shot for sedition.

    2. Humphrey Bogart's Rick's Bar in White House (Casa Blanca) was probably a far better clip joint and a lot more agreeable with better residents and visitors than the Casa Blanca in Washington DC inhabited by the Bidens.

  29. Good morning folks. A year ago on this blog I noted that the weather was fine during the school exams in June and always turns grey and grim during the start of the school holidays. This year appears to be no exception, so I guess we can look forward to some clement weather when the Schools return after the 'Summer' holidays….

    Have a good day whatever you are up to….

    1. Junior is in until end of day, then there's a teacher training day. He'll sort himself out for the first week, doing all the homework and what not – comically he's asked to go to the library so had to look up where it was.

      1. 390104+ up ticks,

        W,
        Bit hard to ignore,
        There are an estimated 1,500 mosques in Britain.

  31. And modern slavery.

    It's ironic that those two legislation combine to create a situation where a woman can be brought here illegally, as a 'student' forced into the sex trade and then never protected from the – usually Bulgarian or Romanian – who forced them in the first place.

  33. Good Lord. Are journalists finally waking up? Are they going to start reporting facts? Are they going to stop lying to us? It is all a little too late.

  34. Morning, all Y'all.
    Sunny.
    Today is the 24h anniversary of the destruction of the Air France Concord in Paris, together with 100 passengers, crew and some folk on the ground. I can still see the video of the aircraft climbing away from the runway, trailing a huge plume of fire & smoke…

    2. We were on an Air France aircraft coming into land at that very moment. The last one in before they closed the airport.

    3. It was a majestic and sad sight. I remember thinking they'd never let her fly again and no effort made to replace her.

      Long live Concorde. May she fly far and fast in memory.

  35. 390104+ up ticks,
    Pip,
    That surely ain’t no secret, as they have proved time & again.

  37. Those planning on dying should perhaps think about postponing for at least five years as the spiteful egalitarian socialists in power gear up to confiscate all your do$h to the point of destruction.

    Rachel Reeves will unleash her new inheritance tax (IHT) blitz in November and you can expect;
    Axing of the £175,000 main residence allowance when passing on the family home to children and grandchildren.
    Abolishing the £325,000 nil-rate threshold.
    Abolishing IHT gifting allowances.
    Small businesses will pay paying both CGT and IHT on the same asset wiping them out as a result.

    Muslims & Orish Travelers will be exempt.

    1. The egalitarian socialists are being chucked out of the party. Those who are after your family dosh want it for themselves and their business associates.

      1. I think there are so many such bequests, the establishments than need corpses are very fussy. Only take the best!!

    3. So it's not the RPI index we should be interested in but the RIP index, aka as The Cost of Dying Index…..

      1. I've already donated my body to medical science.

        The students need something to tickle their funny-bone (humerus).

    4. This is clearly designed to remove all motivation for people to work hard and try to make a success of their lives.

      And Rachel Reeves says she wants to stimulate growth?

      She'll Have to Go.

      (She'd be better off boarding a plane and flying into a mountain as her namesake did)

  38. I notice there are increasing numbers of articles these days about war coming to Western Europe. Today, one about how the Norwegian bomb shelters need a deal of attention before they can be used.

      1. Another one where the UK must be ready to fight a war in three years. Oh, goody.

    2. Rather off topic but Steinbeck's novel The Moon Is Down set in Norway during WW 2 is worth reading.

  39. I notice that today – despite the instant claim of "mental issues" – the plod are now "keeping an open mind" about the terrorist attack on the colonel yesterday. Wonder if the army, er, lent on them a bit….

    1. Nick Dixon on Headliners on GBN last night noted with tongue in cheek that, “Those Quakers from Ambleside strike again”. His version of Norwegian Methodists.

    2. I understand the authorities are running through the list of 30,000 names on the "terror' watchlist to check if the animal who was arrested is on it. I suspect most have names beginning with the letter M…..

  40. Good morning, chums, and thanks to Geoff for today's NoTTLe site. I amazed myself with Wordle today. I got the answer in three, two days running.

    Wordle 1,132 3/6

    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
    🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. I didn't, Bill, but I have just looked and found it, and watched the first couple of minutes. I shall treat myself to the whole concert later today. Thanks, and Good Morning to you. (Master Harry Lime sends you his regards too, btw.)

          1. One of my favourites: Orson Welles as Harry Lime, Joseph Cotton as Holly Martins, and Shirley Abicair as Anton Karas! Lol.

  41. Another of the Waugh dynasty takes an early bath.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/51f400487fd6cbf41c2b82bd13f4172bacf3e8ad5ecad8dc56bace2970dc4634.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/07/23/alexander-waugh-auberon-evelyn-shakespeare-authorship-brexi/

    His grand father Evelyn went at 62, his father Auberon at 61, Alexander at 60. It's not looking good for his son Bron who ought to start on life-prolongation therapies now.

    I used to love reading Auberon both in the 'old' Speccie and in Way of the World in the DT. I wonder what he would have made of the current widespread insanity. I think we know.

    Gone too soon. RIP.

    1. Grizzly posted this sad story last night.

      I have read and reread all his grandfather's novels and enjoyed the books and articles that his father, Auberon, wrote. Indeed two of Bron's novels were published when he was very young: The Foxglove Saga was written when he was at Downside and the Path of Dalliance when he was at Oxford.

      I posted this anecdote about Alexander Waugh under Grizzly's post last night:

      Very sad to hear this.

      When I was teaching at Allhallows in the West of England 45 years ago I was put in charge of running the School's cross country running team. Such masters were always asked to help out with the admin at away matches and at an interschool meeting at King's College Taunton I was given the job of collecting the runners' finishing tickets and recording their names. A small, wheezing, exhausted boy wearing the Taunton School running shirt took his ticket at the finish and came to me so his name could be recorded. I asked him who he was:

      "Waugh, Sir," he gasped.

      "Any relation to Evelyn and Auberon?" I asked.

      "Grandson and son respectively." he spluttered.

      One of my good friends who used to teach at Sherborne and then at Queen's Taunton where he was the master i/c Cross Country has been great friends with the Waugh family many years.

      1. I don’t yet have a complete collection of Evelyn Waugh books. I mean to buy them all before some idiot decides to edit out the unfashionable words.

  43. Here is one line that says it all:

    "Wasim Chaudhry, the Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable"

  44. Russia pulls last ship from Sea of Azov. 25 July 2024.

    BELOW THE LINE.

    David R Crawford.

    MORE war crimes by Putin.

    MH-17, Litvinenko, Salisbury, Bucha…. the list is truly awful and basically endless, added to last night.

    Unless the Russian people end it – arrest the sociopath and send him to that waiting cell in The Hague, preferably today.

    Please do it, Russian People, otherwise he will kill you all for the sake of his Ego. And the $Billions he continues to loot from you.

    It gives Trolling a bad name.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/25/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news13/

  45. Russia pulls last ship from Sea of Azov. 25 July 2024.

    BELOW THE LINE.

    David R Crawford.

    MORE war crimes by Putin.

    MH-17, Litvinenko, Salisbury, Bucha…. the list is truly awful and basically endless, added to last night.

    Unless the Russian people end it – arrest the sociopath and send him to that waiting cell in The Hague, preferably today.

    Please do it, Russian People, otherwise he will kill you all for the sake of his Ego. And the $Billions he continues to loot from you.

    It gives Trolling a bad name.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/07/25/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news13/

  46. Timing of Charlotte Dujardin video ‘incomprehensible’ as sabotage concerns grow
    Dutch equine lawyer Luc Schelstraete says two-year delay in reporting concerns could render case ‘inadmissible’
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2024/07/24/charlotte-dujardin-video-timining-sabotage-concerns-lawyers/

    While no decent person would condone the mistreatment of animals this exposure was clearly motivated by reasons other than animal welfare and the 'anonymous' whistle-blower has questions to answer too.

    I found this BTL comment by a person called Edward LL interesting. It highlights how the MSM and PTB are so very selective in their indignation.

    Curious how someone using a horse whip on a horse gets immediate disgrace , yet a Dutch athlete who groomed and raped a young British girl (yes, girl) gets a free pass to the Olympics. So, to make it clear, a paedophile rapist can represent The Netherlands at the Olympics. How odd.

        2. In praise of child rapists. Seems quite topical. I have no idea why she felt she needed to apologise. She must be a closet conservative.

      2. One wonders why such daft bints are invited to take part in public discussions.

      3. Do you remember the photo of her squatting in the street, Sue…the one where she's apparently urinating? Looked silly then, too 😀

    2. A 12 year old girl – he was sentenced to 4 years but here he is in the Dutch team. Their team chief doesn’t seem to think it’s a disgrace!

    3. I understood the horse incident was 4 years ago, not the two the lawyer claims.

      Perhaps he cannot count in English.

      1. I'm not a fan of cruelty to animals.
        But it's difficult to imagine how when training a horse to do things that are not part of its nature, as in dressage. Reading instructions from a book or chatting in to their large ears would have any real effect.
        But it seems to me that in this day (Dopey Wokies) and age there is always someone who likes to think they know everything and their judgement is for whatever reason superior.

        1. The answer to that, Eddy, is that no one should be "training a horse to do things that are not part of its nature".

  47. Morning all 🙂😊
    Slightly cloudy but sun peeping through in Northumberland.
    We are meeting a nephew his wife and one his niece's from Somerset West SA for lunch today.
    The problem with our politicians is more than obvious they are too interested in their own self importance to take notice of public opinion.
    That is precisely why and how they have wrecked our culture and social structure.

  49. I note that Phizee has 'blocked' me.

    One wonders what childish delight this puerile action brings.

    Too childish to debate a point.

    1. Sometimes it can be a Disqus wobbly, SirJ…I've been told in the past I've blocked someone, didn't think I had and a quick look at the 'Blocking' section on Disqus is empty…so Phizee may or may not be guilty. Btw, did you sleep any better after nightcap? 🙂

        1. Thanks Alec. It happened to me with PetaJ, we used to message most days, then I suddenly got messages from someone else, PJ thought I'd blocked her..this was on the Spectator during the time Nelson was fiddling with it. I saw recently in a message to someone she hasn't been very well, and I really hope she's doing OK, haven't heard from her recently 🙁 Update: I can see Peta has upticked my post, so still around and OK, good to know.

          1. HI KJ, I'm still around but unfortunately still not that well, thanks for your concern :))
            If you still comment on the Speccie I am still blocked as I occasionally see comment unavailable and other responses would indicate it is you, but maybe I've been blocked by someone else as well – not sure why, I'm such a peaceful person :DD!
            Tom's new site is good don't you think? Enjoyed the climate change articles!

          2. Glad to hear it, hope you make a full and lasting recovery. I do comment on the Speccie (still on the £1 monthly special, expires end Sept and doubt I’ll renew). Following my earlier post here, I went back to Spectator Disqus and I still have no-one blocked. Neither on any other site’s Disqus. It is very bizzare to say the least. BH says it’s an off the shelf piece of kit which can be amended by buyer, I wouldn’t know. I think Nelson’s a dope. Yes, I like Tom’s site, he’s one of the good guys. You might remember I’ve been banging on for ages about the non-existence of ‘Climate Change’ (it always has, is now, always will). Local church is still very concerned about it :/-….hope you get well soon and stay well 🙂

          4. Re climate change, needless to say we are on the same page :D! My main concern is the environmental damage we are doing in the mindless and pointless pursuit of net zero. The long term effects of that are going to be devastating.

      2. Thanks for asking, Kate, but as usual out of bed at 04:20 and not just the bladder!

        1. Doh…may I ask if you sleep during the day? My husband does, then can't sleep well at night :/-

      3. Phizzee is not guilty of anything. Though i have blocked him. And unfriended on Facebook.

        1. Guess you have your reasons, Phiz. One time on Spectator ‘Truth Revealed’ annoyed me and I blocked him but missed his comments so I unblocked him. When I told him he said ‘YOU blocked ME?’ Disappeared during the Disqus rout, not seen since. Nelson more or less destroyed the comments section at that time.

  51. Good morning all.
    A misty overcast with 12½°C on the Yard Thermometer and a very light breeze.

  53. Good Morning All. 17C raining, just what is needed for the grden.before next weeks "warm wave."

  54. Good Morning All. 17C raining, just what is needed for the grden.before next weeks "warm wave."

  57. This muslim stuff is kicking off all ove the place,( Manchester, Rochdale, USA, France) is it comoing to a head.?
    Labour cannot control events when they have the wrong priorities

    1. Summer time, Johnny – more daylight, better weather. Not to mention the ability to post online to ww audience.

  60. More to join the fight in Rochdale. Just what are these politicians doing to our country.

          1. Problem is, the majority who didn't vote Labour just have to suck it up.

          2. Exactly so, I take heart from the reports of many younger voters supporting Reform – fits with my younger family. Perhaps hope still not lost.

    2. 390104+ up ticks,

      Morning JN,

      Whatever it is, seems to find favour with the majority voter again & again.

      We don’t get change reshuffling the same political shite.

    1. Clearly what is needed is more Muslim police officers. Then this never would have happened.

    2. They are untouchable and they know they are. This is the end result of “multi-culturalism” – a two-tier system where we have become second-class citizens in our own land to colonisers who were invited in by our insane politicians. We are all RoPers now.

  64. I know I appear on this excellent site appealing for you to visit my site, Free Speech – and many of you do – but this appeal is different today as I really do need your support. In fact, you need your support and our society needs your support in the fight for free speech, under attack as never before.
    I am hoping to start a campaign to introduce a law, a law to stop the rich and well-funded reducing your freedom, your right to free speech and further inhibit the freedom of the press.
    I know folk on this site are an independent minded lot who believe in free speech, and I'm calling on your to do your bit to defend it. I also hope to enlist the support of sites like TCW and the Daily Sceptic. Any ideas will be more than welcome.

    See https://www.freespeechbacklash.com/ SLAPP Then Down.

    1. I hope it helps, Tom, but I'm trying to spread the word, sending your site link to anyone I think might find it interesting & challenging.
      But these things take time – NTTL had the advantage of a ready-made "community" that established itself when the Telegraph allowed comments, so just hang in there!

      1. Thanks Ober. And I will hang in, but this is not just a publicity plea, but a genuine attempt to protect free speech. It’s all I can do.

        1. You're doing more than most. Good on you for that.
          If the Climate change scam articles are typical of your content, then you'll go far (maybe a Gulag for revealing the state of the Emperor's clothes, mind).

      2. I have sent the link to your site to the British section of Breitbart and Independence Daily. But as Ober says, it takes time. You need some unique pull to drew people in. Perhaps worth appealing to people like Mayer Toussi for an endorsement?

        I would also suggest you streamline the format. Your main story, on the left, should not be competing with the other items on the right, it should be slap bang centre. The other stories, on the right, go underneath in order of importance, the draw to an audience, what you think is most important in descending order, being the criteria for the order you put them. Stories that relate to your main story should also be around your central story as a sort of constellation of evidence boosting your argument. If they are stories independent from yours, all the better. Stories from recent history, contemporary stories, quotes from others etc.etc. Why haven't you promoted the meeting in Trafalgar square this weekend which is about free speech? Just as an example.

      3. I have sent the link to your site to the British section of Breitbart and Independence Daily. But as Ober says, it takes time. You need some unique pull to drew people in. Perhaps worth appealing to people like Mayer Toussi for an endorsement?

        I would also suggest you streamline the format. Your main story, on the left, should not be competing with the other items on the right, it should be slap bang centre. The other stories, on the right, go underneath in order of importance, the draw to an audience, what you think is most important in descending order, being the criteria for the order you put them. Stories that relate to your main story should also be around your central story as a sort of constellation of evidence boosting your argument. If they are stories independent from yours, all the better. Stories from recent history, contemporary stories, quotes from others etc.etc. Why haven't you promoted the meeting in Trafalgar square this weekend which is about free speech? Just as an example.

      1. We received donations yesterday but will look into it. Many thanks for trying anyhow. I hope you will contribute by reading and leaving comments, and by becoming a regular.

      2. I have just donated £5 myself. It worked ok, and the money will go to the anti-SLAPP campaign.

    1. My concern is that why there aren't more videos of police doing their job and safeguarding the general public, armed or not, rather than appeasing the slammers?

  66. Ah Bill…you should see some of the posts on Facebook….Wimmin's Slib and all that. I'm a woman and I think some others are barmy, especially younger women….

    1. Where are you? For now, at 59.55.02N and 10.36.17E, we have sun, but typical African-looking CuNim are rolling up to spoil it. (That's west side of Oslo, BTW).

    1. How are you keeping after yr recent turn. As a plus, you don't have the stress of the Labour government to worry about thieving the fruits of your labours. The only policy that works here is to stick yr fingers in your ears and shout la, la, la!

      1. We have Labour over here, too (Arbeiderpartiet). Fortunately, they are somewhat kept in check, PR not allowing any outright majority, so it's always some form for coalition.
        Otherwise, battered & bruised, thanks. The upside is that the bruises are lovely colours now. Will have to go to optician to get specs straightened out… 🙁
        The worst bit is that my confidence has taken a knock – if I go out to get the specs done, will it happen again? Hmm…

          1. Indeed, but lying in the street being attended by an ambulance like some drunk isn't so cool. And, it hurt!

          2. I can imagine, Paul. Been there and done it but fortunately (or unfortunately) in my own flat. Carted off by ambulance to Dumfries Royal Infirmary. ( I do and shall refuse to go to that benighted, cold and miserable place again) and waited aeons for discharge.

          1. “have been” – even the office was hiving out rainbow lanyards for the entry cards.

    1. Fabulous. Just painting some..when I get off here…(a painting of them, not actually painting on the flowers Red Queen style..:-D)

        1. I wish…mine is a climber and looking a bit seedy. I have woodblock prints, they’ll have to suffice 😀

    2. Fabulous. Just painting some..when I get off here…(a painting of them, not actually painting on the flowers Red Queen style..:-D)

    3. Hydrangea weather , in fact all the flowers are appreciating damp/ drizzle and sunshine , including me , I hate the heat , so does the spaniel .

      1. Would be nice to get some heat, just for comparison purposes, you know…

        1. Sunshine and probably some warmth 23c suits me .

          I went out to South Africa , invited by my siblings , 60th b/day present .

          My second day … I was taken out to somewhere on a wild gorge walk , camping in a rustic primitive setting , given torches , and the place where the only way out if injured , well lets put it this way , there were cairns , and crosses .. Boer war victims .

          My wild camping trip was arduous, from flying out from British cool March weather to the local African temps of 35c, 3rd day I collapsed , I had drunk all my water supply and had to climb out of the gorge with family members 11 years younger than me , nieces, nephews and young agile people who were used to high temperatures .

          My collapse .. I was delirious , tongue swollen , and unable to wee for 24 hours .. they thought I was going to die .

          Here I am 17 years later .

          The heat of Nigeria , Sudan and Egypt was tolerable.. why because I didn't have a five hundred foot scree strewn climb out of a gorge , with baboons barking , puff adders, crocodiles in the river. Scorpions and snakes hidden in the rocks as I scrambled up out , porcupine needles , birds of every variety , not to mention huge insects .

          Think back to the Boer war , and the clothing our soldiers wore and the terrible conditions they encountered . I suspect many of them died of dehydration .

          I have a photo of me looking like one of the original trekkers .

          After my 4 day experience and thanking God for my survival , I was the oldest on the trek , I was pleased to get back the the chaos of South African suburbia , and the pleasures that a swimming pool and ceiling fans give.

    4. Lewis – was there a particular reason for blocking Grizzly? It's a personal choice, obviously, and nothing to do with the moderation, but he is curious to know. So I said I would ask.

    2. The dog demand to go outside, stand around like nits then, when the rain and wind gets to them they potter back indoors, look at me as if to say 'It's cold, your fault.' and then wander off.

    3. Our two are outdoor girls at the moment – they only come in for food. Doesn't seem to faze them in the drizzle.

        1. We did have just one – Lily – who was elderly when we gave her a home. Lily was with us for four years and sadly died last summer. These two needed a home so they came to us in October. They are middle aged, beautiful tabbies. Very affectionate lapcats too but they like being outside when it's not cold. I can't post pics on here for some reason but I can from my phone.

  75. I feel that I’m already in a mental Gulag, and I want to break out of it.

  76. It's all escalating in Rochdale.. as Lefties quickly support Amaad and Fahir..
    Dey r well oppressed.

    I betcha it all kicked off at the airport when they refused to obey the female cop.. then whacked her on the nose.
    Ramp it up.. may as well address it now, rather than a decade down the road.

  77. Yo and Good Moaning all from not Sunny Costa del Skeg

    The last 30 days have not been the best in our lives

    1. Dishwasher stopped working
    2. During stop-start traffic on A1(M) a car ran into the back of our Disco: Audi a right-off, my rear reflector damaged. Tow bar 1- Audi bumper nil
    3. SWMBO sister died

    That is date date order, not importance

    1. Not much cheer here either – our brother in law's second wife died last week. His first (OH's estranged sister) is still alive.

    2. In better news – non- working dishwasher was repaired a few weeks ago, and the replacement window in the conservatory that we've been waiting weeks for was fitted this morning.
      Phone line is still out of action though.

  78. While the image of a policeman kicking a person in the head and stamping on his head is not pleasant – it might help if the full sequence of events could be given.

    There appears to have been an altercation in a carpark – when several police were injured; then an attempted search of a slammer woman in the airport – to which the young slammers objected.

    Perhaps the Caliph of Manchesterstan – Imam Burnham – could help….

    1. It was really not a good look and one would have thought – hoped?- that the British police were better trained in the arts of self-defence, especially the armed police. That was just sheer hooliganism.

      1. I tend to agree, Peta. I trust neither Plod nor the NHS. Scottish versions thereof.

      1. I could not make out what the WPCs were supposed to be doing – apart from flap their hands.

    1. A good start, but only when there has been blatant incitement to murder.

      And Germany is also trying to shut down 'far right' parties like AfD.

    2. We – the UK – should do the same, unmercifully, until we persuade the Slammers that they're not wanted here.

  80. G & P are thoroughly cheesed off. Sleeping in heaps. Blaming us (me, in particular) for the miserable weather.

    1. Jessie is sitting on the potting table by the kitchen door, and Ziggy has taken over our neighbour's woodshed roof.

  81. £90104+ up ticks,

    May one ask,

    Seeing as the english top man is also a WEF agent of sorts, is it not time we had a nation song to convey true English feelings
    such as "Jerusalem"

    To continue with the likes of "Britannia rules the waves" once a very sound fact is today a complete farce.

    The enemy within, govmental and foreign is our biggest daily danger.

    https://x.com/rodbishop15/status/1815756189323403429

  82. It's inevitable.. all UK airports will implement strict segregation between infidels & the mostly peaceful, and introduce a layer of Police Muslim liaison officers to enforce their own laws once cleared by local elders.

  83. Good morning, all. Overcast and damp.

    NATO sabre rattling with their plea for more troops i.e. a wide conscription drive and CNN pushing the narrative.

    Will forced conscription be the straw that breaks the back of the NWO warmongers' proverbial camel, including Smarmer's government?

    Redacted video from 34 minutes. Co-presenter Natali is wrong about the reason that the Tories got the boot three weeks ago: it was for many more reasons with the threat of conscription probably in the mix.

    NATO Warmongering

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c5c250e12a9f45596347888cf81a072a14c4f2007feec7621af05babc4279506.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ac9eb6a4239233c62cf6183281487c9b5872421fe5bac8ee82960c09379d3aed.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e32cb7ed6bac3a259e669376bea234a502d09110b84f6b1e4b31b6baa7db5704.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/49b05920f1b95f30c2d0fc90daa560668cf076db8291a14264dd3301ff6495b0.png

    1. As far as I can see, Russia and Putin have no ambitions outside Eastern Ukraine in order to their their Russian-speaking allies.

      The rest is Western (WEF/USA) propaganda to stoke the fires of their MIC (Military Industrial Complex).

    2. What chance the first charge over the top is lead by politicians, their young offspring of military age, the snivel servants in the MOD and their likewise children, all the media types pushing for conscription ? Answer none. They will be after our young and our grandchildren. That will be the last straw..

  84. We will not see his like again:

    "Stan Smith, who has died aged 98, was thrust into a key role in the initial assault wave of the D-Day landings at Normandy.

    As an 18-year-old midshipman in the RNVR he was 1st lieutenant and second-in-command of a landing craft, tank (LCT) ferrying Sherman amphibious DD tanks towards Gold Beach on June 6 1944. (“DD” stood for “duplex drive”, though they were also known as “Donald Duck” tanks.)

    Rough seas scuppered the planned launch of the tanks three miles offshore, so in accordance with sealed orders which they were not allowed to open until well out to sea, Smith’s crew beached the LCT at the sector code-named Jig despite coming under heavy bombardment from German forces.

    More than 70 years later, he recalled that the original plan had been to carry nine British-built Valentine DD (swimming) tanks, but after a disastrous exercise in Studland Bay earlier in the year in which several Valentines were lost it was decided to use American-built Sherman DD tanks instead.

    “Owing to their greater size, we could only accommodate five,” Smith recalled. “Also, because they were heavier than the Valentines and needed a greater depth of water in which to float off, we had to have extensions fitted to the ramp in the form of shallow U-shaped angle-iron channels into which the tanks’ tracks fitted.

    “When the ramp was in the raised position, they stuck up like two huge horns. When the ramp was horizontal, approaching the beach, they had the potential to trap and detonate any obstacles that got in the way.”

    He joined the Navy in 1943 during the German bombing of London because 'I didn't want to spend my war hiding under a staircase'
    He joined the Navy in 1943 during the German bombing of London because 'I didn't want to spend my war hiding under a staircase'
    The tanks belonged to the Sherwood Rangers, part of the 50th Northumbrian Division, under the command of troop commander Captain W Eldridge, and they were supposed to be launched three miles off Jig beach at H-Hour (the beginning of the amphibious assault) minus 30 minutes.

    “On our arrival at the launch position the sea conditions were unsuitable to launch so we beached over the obstacles at H-Hour at Asnelles-sur-Mer [in the Jig beach zone].”

    Smith’s job was to supervise the lowering of the ramp, then to stand on the end of it and measure the depth of the water with a sounding pole. When it was sufficiently shallow, the first three tanks were floated off and swam a few yards before touching down on the sand.

    “Then a mortar bomb exploded about 30 feet behind me on the tank deck,” he recalled. “I was unhurt, but one of my sailors was wounded, and the flotation screens of the two remaining tanks were ripped. The captain therefore had to drive the landing craft in closer so that these tanks could leave dry-shod.”

    As they did so, another mortar bomb exploded alongside the last tank. Captain Eldridge was riding on the turret directing operations and, though badly wounded, managed to get his troops ashore.

    “We lost sight of them as they made their way up the beach,” Smith recalled, “[but] by then we were busy with our own problems. Our landing craft was badly damaged by the first mortar bomb and by Teller mines, which had blown a 10-foot hole in the port side, opened up the plating of the port bow and twisted the port rudder hard-a-starboard.

    “Also, another LCT had broached to across our stern and severed the stern anchor wire. Having driven the ship so far up the beach, the captain was having great difficulty getting her off without the stern anchor to heave on.

    “I was busy raising the ramp and, with the aid of the coxswain, taking care of our casualty. Eventually, our landing craft slid back into deeper water and floated off. As she moved astern, a stick of three mortar bombs exploded in the water immediately ahead of us – just about where I had been standing a few moments before.”

    Smith and his crewmates managed to make their way to a hospital ship lying off shore to transfer the casualty into their care: “We then proceeded to a pre-arranged collecting area for damaged vessels and joined an ‘old crocks’ convoy for a night passage home.”

    Smith following his appointment to the Légion d'honneur by the French ambassador Sylvie Bermann at a ceremony in Cardiff
    Smith following his appointment to the Légion d'honneur by the French ambassador Sylvie Bermann at a ceremony in Cardiff
    Following two days’ leave at Southampton, Smith received orders to nurse the battered landing craft to Shoreham for repairs: “I reminded our superiors that the captain was on leave and that I only had half a crew, but was told that it was imperative to get her there in time to fit into the repair yard’s programme.”

    The voyage to Shoreham, listing heavily to port with one of their rudders jammed, was “short, but interesting,” he said.

    Stanley Cyril Smith was born in Highbury, north London, on July 26 1925, and joined the Navy in 1943 during the German bombing of London because “I didn’t want to spend my war hiding under a staircase.”

    In January 1954, while serving aboard the boom defence vessel Barhill, he was involved in the salvage of debris from a BOAC De Havilland Comet airliner which had suffered an explosive decompression at altitude and crashed off the western coast of Italy, killing all 35 people on board.

    As a result of the amount of wreckage salvaged through the pioneering use of underwater television cameras, it was discovered that the accident had been caused by failure of the pressure cabin at the forward automatic direction finder (ADF) window in the roof.

    These findings led to revised estimates for the safe loading-strength requirement of airliner pressure cabins.

    Having risen to lieutenant-commander in the Navy, Smith transferred to the RAF in 1956, dropping a rank to flight lieutenant in order to work with Air Sea Rescue.

    In March 1967 he supervised the dispersal of oil caused by the Torrey Canyon disaster off Land’s End, and 12 years later was a prime organiser of events marking the end of Malta’s role as a British military base. He was promoted to squadron leader in January 1972.

    After leaving the RAF in 1978, Smith took on a senior role working with MoD range vessels at RAE Aberporth in West Wales. He and his wife, Emily, remained in Pembrokeshire following his retirement 12 years later.

    Appointed MBE in 1979, Smith also received recognition of his actions on D-Day in 2016 when he was appointed to the Légion d’honneur by the French ambassador Sylvie Bermann at a ceremony in Cardiff.

    Stan Smith’s wife Emily predeceased him. He is survived by their two daughters and a son.

    Squadron Leader Stan Smith, born July 26 1925, died May 12 2024"

    3. “He was a man, take him all in all,
      I shall not look upon his like again.”

      [Hamlet speaking of his father]

      …………………………………. the elements
      So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up
      And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN!”

      [Antony's eulogy for Brutus in Julius Caesar]

  86. It was actually reported in the DT yesterday. Apparently the Blue Mosque is the oldest one in Germany built in the 50s for fleeing Iranians I think. The Imam belongs to a proscribed terrorist group. There have been several arrests.

  87. We have Labour over here, too (Arbeiderpartiet). Fortunately, they are somewhat kept in check, PR not allowing any outright majority, so it's always some form for coalition.
    Otherwise, battered & bruised, thanks. The upside is that the bruises are lovely colours now. Will have to go to optician to get specs straightened out… 🙁
    The worst bit is that my confidence has taken a knock – if I go out to get the specs done, will it happen again? Hmm…

  88. We – the UK – should do the same, unmercifully, until we persuade the Slammers that they're not wanted here.

  89. I have been 'blocked' on this forum, for a long time now, by the contributor known as 'Lewis Duckworth'. I have no recollection of ever 'crossing' him or, indeed, drawing swords. His contributions are invariably marked as 'Content unavailable'.

    I have asked moderators, on a few occasions, to enquire as to why this has happened but I still await an answer.

      1. Well, you’re evidently fed up with them, but you don’t seem to have blocked me.

    2. I don’t think mods have any say in blocking or unblocking. I’ve only once blocked someone (because I was being hounded) and that was temporally. That was when I made my profile private though and it still is.

      1. I understand that, Jules. I was just wondering if one of you would be so kind as to enquire of that individual why I have been blocked.

  90. That was rather foolish of your family to subject you to an ordeal like that! You should have had longer to acclimatise, and they should also have made sure you had an adequate supply of water. You were also much younger and fitter when you were in Nigeria.

    We've done trekking in the Himalayas (though slow-paced with a rest day) and also two gorilla treks in Uganda 10 years ago – we were the oldest on that one.

    Both wonderful but the other trekkers had to wait for those less fit to catch up and not push the pace.

    1. Not sure what you mean – I must have missed something. But you can message me privately.

        1. Ok. But you know I’m here. I didn’t see what transpired yesterday, that’s all.

  92. In 2024, there were approximately 63,103 white prisoners in England and Wales, compared with 10,624 Black prisoners, and 7,067 Asian prisoners.

    In 2024, there were 1,272 Albanians imprisoned in England and Wales, the highest foreign nationality in that year. Additionally, there were 906 Polish nationals in jail, and 750 Romanians, the second, and third-highest among foreign nationalities.

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/872053/prisoners-by-ethnicity-in-england-and-wales/#:~:text=In%202024%2C%20there%20were%20approximately,prisoners%2C%20and%207%2C067%20Asian%20prisoners.

    When you click on the link , allow your cursor to wander over the graph.

    Remember, Starmer is allowing how many prisoners to be released .

    Be prepared for chaos.

      1. Lacoste

        The links are the evidence unless they have been doctored / fiddled around with ?

        https://www.statista.com/statistics/283475/england-and-wales-prison-population-by-gender/
        Number of prisoners in England and Wales 1900-2024, by gender
        Published by D. Clark, Jul 18, 2024
        In 2024, there were 87,869 men and 3,635 women in prisons in England and Wales. Compared with the previous year, this represented an increase for both men and women. This represented a peak in the number of prisoners during this provided time period, and was also the peak for the United Kingdom as a whole.

        Demographics of prisoners
        There were 28,524 prisoners in their 30s in England and Wales in 2023, the most of any age group. In this year there were also 3,625 prisoners who were aged between 15 and 20, with a further 21,590 prisoners who were in their 20s. In terms of the ethnicity of prisoners in England and Wales, 61,823 people in jail were White, 10,494 were Black, and 6,840 were Asian. In the same year, the most common religious faith of prisoners was Christianity, at 38,184 inmates, followed by people with no religion at 26,715.

        https://www.statista.com/statistics/283475/england-and-wales-prison-population-by-gender/

  94. Another crusade is required – starting in the UK and then spreading to Europe and finishing in the Middle East.

  98. Yes, in the pursuit of money. Planet will win out eventually – I’ll be long gone, but I have family 70+ years younger, and I worry about that.

    1. Money and power, not necessarily in that order either. There is a tsunami of evil sweeping the world at the moment IMHO.

      1. America is the key. Recent events not exactly positive. If Trump wins, we’ll likely see a change, the reason for recent events, in my opinion.

        1. If Trump wins, and in my view it is now a rather bigger “if”. My immediate reaction on Kamala Harris’s miraculous, overnight transformation from an electoral liability to a credible President was that the Dems and the deep state must be pretty confident that they will be able to “manipulate” the election the way they did last time, and get away with it again.
          On another subject, did you see yesterday’s article in UnHerd on the Lucy Letby case? You are by no means alone in your reservations.

          1. I agree could be quite the stitch-up, election victory for a woman who can’t decide if she’s a Black American or an Indian American. Perhaps she’ll come out as trans? That could win a few votes. Doh. Shamocracy not Democracy. Today the press is twining about Melania. Give it a rest I say. I did indeed, my view hasn’t changed since I first read about her – a dysfunctional workplace and an easy fall guy. Bring the proof if they have any – after all this time, they don’t have anything credible, just hearsay and gossip. (Thanks btw, PJ:-)

          2. I think comms a bit dodgy here, Peta (been talking to friend in Oz, msgs keep getting lost), tried to reply to you earlier but can’t see it. I mentioned how the whole ward seemed dysfunctional to me after reading David Livermore’s piece. I hope justice is finally served, for Letby, any others falsely accused and also not forgetting the families who lost babies. Harris is a dimwit who can’t decide her heritage (depending on her audience). Unfortunately, many will vote for her. I’d vote for Trump, every time (still looking forward to the definitive SS report, at least Cheadle fell on her biro).

          3. So..just been reading Spectator, noticed quite a few comments 'unavailable'..does that mean someone's blocked me? I think I should be told….:-DD

          4. I’ve not commented much there so not guilty M’Lud!! BTW, when you uptick me here it always shows as “guest”??

          5. No, not seen you there for quite some time..I have no idea why it should show me as ‘guest’, not sure others experience same – refer to me as KJ or Kate ..Disqus at it’s finest tricks again. You still show up as ‘PetaJ’, how I found you again 🙂 hope we can keep in touch.

          6. Something similar is happening to me again on Spectator, getting the old ‘content unavailable’ message. If I find out who it is, I’ll let you know – might even be your ‘guest’….

    1. Asians get a capital letter because it's a continent. Africans or Caribbeans would get a capital letter too. But not blacks.

    2. 🙂 i know, but it’s a hobby horse of mine!!!!!! I can’t stop myself!

    1. Paul just fell over, Jules. It's happened to me – see my earlier comment about Dumfries RI.

    2. Sunday afternoon, went for a couple of beers with Second Son, then to a local restaurant for dinner. On the way to taxi rank, had a blackout (supposed to have been prevented by pacemaker) and went splat! on my face in the street. Woke to find myself surrounded by ambulance folk. Taken to A&E, CT scan, apparently no find. Taxi home. Bruised knees, wrists & palms, twisted specs. A&E fee about £37.
      Biggest damage is self-confidence.

      1. Oh no! You didn’t just trip over something then……..Blackout sounds worrying. Not surprising it’s damaged your self-confidence. And you must have been out for a few minutes – even if the Norwegian ambulance service is a bit quicker than ours.

        1. I’ve had syncope for a while, and it had been cured by a pacemaker – but now reappeared. Bugger. There’s a hint that the alcohol might have not helped, but I can’t pin that one down.
          In any case, bruises all over, bent specs, swollen knee and gravel damage to both wrists, so I obviously didn’t just go down like poleaxed.
          All very embarrasing.

  102. SIR – Wes Streeting has said that the NHS is broken.

    When policing fails the blame is laid squarely at the feet of chief officers. When the NHS fails it’s the fault of the government. Do highly paid NHS managers bear no responsibility at all?

    Joseph Kennils
    Little Wigborough, Essex

  104. It's all very well suggesting that the Government will spend £8bn setting up Great British Energy (GBE) but it omitted to say that this relied on £60bn being raised from other sources with foreign investment not being excluded (Ed Miliband BBC Breakfast) and GBE is not even intended to provide any form of energy producing hardware.

    This could go the same way as Thames Water which doesn't produce water (because it comes from the sky) and is ultimately owned by the Chinese being made bouyant only by junk bonds.

    1. It is almost impossible to make more of a fool of Ed Milband as his fool tank is completely full to the brim and there is no room to put any more in.

      1. It was a Labour election ploy to mirror other countries in having a state owned energy company.

        The PM claimed today that this will guarantee energy security by eliminating the need for fossil fuels from overseas and reaching carbon free energy by 2030 together with lower fuel bills.

        However, with Ed stopping UK fossil fuel exploration, allowing agricultural land for electricity generation, littering our green and pleasant land and shores with windmills, pylons and substations then the idea of making a return on a capital investment whilst producing nothing seems a non starter.

        The Swedes have a government owned energy body which only last year pulled out of a UK windfarm project when it proved not to be financially viable:

        https://www.energate-messenger.com/news/234589/expensive-setback-in-wind-power-business-burdens-vattenfall

  109. For those of us that notice things then yesterday was another of those days.
    A British soldier falls victim to a Lee Rigby style attack in broad daylight that appears to be getting very little mainstream media coverage or scrutiny today, bizarrely.
    Then we had the head kicking and stamping incident at Manchester airport by a policeman that is now getting wall to wall coverage in the mainstream media and on all the chat shows.
    Coincidence? well you tell me.

    1. British soldier , a young Lt Colonel in the Royal Engineers , attacked , maimed horribly , slashed , his clever talented life ruined by an unstable black person with issues ..

      Consider this , we are hearing news like this on a daily basis .

      Whether the victim was a soldier or not , there have been many victims , random attacks on innocent people, young and old by uninvited people of a different religion and colour .

  111. On this cold, miserable day, let me be controversial.

    A Dutch bloke was imprisoned for under age sex. He did his time. He is also a sportsman – and is selected for the Olympics. A sports totty on yer telly said that if he had served his sentence and had "turned himself around" she wished him well.

    What was wrong with that? Why did the daft bint "apologise"

    Has it come to this: that anyone who does anything wrong – is caught, tried and punished – is BANNED from everything for ever?

    What ever happened to the concept of rehabilitation?

    1. Especially if the law changes half way through your life.. as Dave Allen once observed..
      "Growing up in ireland if you were found out to be homosexual you'd be hung drawn & quartered.. by the time I was an OAP it became virtually compulsory."

    2. You're not controversial, Bill – you make sound sense. Just seen a young friend of mine, we agreed the world is quite a good place and we think a lot of the problem is the doom and/or aggro on various websites. Ended up laughing about it, as most of my conversations seem to recently, went our separate ways. We'll be the same when we next meet. So that's at least two of us not in the pit of despair. I'll get me coat….

      1. 390104+ up ticks,

        Afternoon S,

        Bike theft……….. maybe,

        O, and dodging your round in the local.

      2. Interesting. So you believe that some post-prison people SHOULD be banned from everything for ever?

        1. My comment was tongue in cheek, but since you ask :
          Not from everything forever, but certainly SOME things forever, depending on their crime.

          Do you believe that convicted child molesters should ever be left in charge of young children?
          Do you believe hate preachers such as Anjem Choudary should be permitted to run mosques?
          Do you believe Matt Hancock should be put in charge of pandemic response, OK he hasn’t been sentenced but he should have been.

    6. I suppose it was the Ian Huntly case that started criminal records checks. Some offences are erased but some stick. Sex crimes have their own sanctions as you will know. Now we have the eternal memory of the internet and anything that is off message can be used against someone. Maybe the police have some responsibility here, creating a class of 'thought crimes'. Not against the law in themselves but a 'we know where you live' message. Its a dark world; my fingers are mainly to be found in my ears accompanying some chanting…

    7. The joy of self-righteousness! Condemning others can only make me better.

  112. 390104+ up ticks,

    May one ask,
    Did these two chappies,I am assuming they are "guest's, did they find the hospital treatment acceptable ?

    Because many indigenous if attended to have to go via the
    ambulance car-park, hospital corridor, cupboard / ward seemingly, on a good day.

    This is mainly due to the fact/ NOT fiction, of too many NONE paying "guest's" leeching off the NHS infrastructure.

    https://x.com/KosherCockney/status/1816406758278975510

  114. From Coffee House, the Spectator

    The descent of Jordan Peterson
    Comments Share 25 July 2024, 5:30am
    What on earth has happened to Jordan Peterson’s interviewing style? His latest video, which features Elon Musk, lasts for two hours. It makes for painful viewing. As during many of his recent podcasts, Peterson interrupts his guest’s train of thought with his own, often long-winded, asides. Peterson’s flashy outfit only added to the feeling that it is as much about him as the guest.

    I started following the professor a few years ago while researching my book on modern masculinity. Back then, his arguments were fascinating. At the height of his fame, I interviewed him for this magazine and was impressed by his considered responses. Peterson seemed genuinely interested in ideas and in other people’s opinions. He was a breath of fresh air.

    His no nonsense, ‘pull your socks up’ approach to the vagaries of living seemed oddly radical back when his book 12 Rules for Life first burst onto the scene in 2018. There’s no doubt that Peterson has had a radical impact; inspiring a generation of lost souls to bear their crosses with magnanimity is one hell of an achievement. But I miss the wily old fox who could pick apart a poorly reasoned argument with a few devastating quips. He did this splendidly during that interview on Channel 4 News with Cathy Newman. It was an exchange from which Newman never really recovered; and which led to Peterson winning over legions of fans. His YouTube videos felt like mini events as he bravely argued against establishment thinking. Thousands of avid followers would take to the comments section to discuss his latest theory about Christian worship or the importance of telling the truth.

    We saw a different Peterson in his exchange with Musk
    We saw a different Peterson in his exchange with Musk. His apparent descent into a shock-jock YouTuber is concerning. Although I didn’t always agree with his views, it felt good to know he was out there on the cutting edge, pushing back against the forces of lunacy. Those days are, sadly, long gone.

    His tendency to lecture guests rather than engage with them means he has lost that vital ability to simply listen and respond. During much of the Musk interview, Peterson drowns out anything interesting the billionaire might have to say. That famously enquiring mind now appears less interested in new ideas; he knows what he knows and that’s the end of it.

    When Musk speaks movingly about his son’s struggle with the gender identity ‘mind virus’, Peterson comes across as hysterical and intolerant, chucking words like ‘pathetic’ into the mix. It’s hardly the stuff of intellectual rigour. Why didn’t he let Musk speak? At one point, he gives Musk dietary advice.

    The trouble is, we already know what Peterson thinks on a wide range of topics, so why keep bringing them up? We get that human beings are prone to certain ‘proclivities’ so isn’t it time to move on? We hear from Musk far less frequently, but we are not much the wiser after this interview.

    Judging by some of the comments under that video, fans are losing patience. Yes, they remain hungry for new ideas – especially from an iconoclastic industrialist and would-be Mars coloniser like Musk. But somehow Peterson manages to bring every argument back to his own set of well-worn beliefs. The risk is that the ‘prophet of our times’ becomes a sad parody of our times.

    1. My feelings exactly. t's now all about JP, rather than truth, ideas, or even the interviewee. I've sadly stopped watching any of his new material – and they are fr too long, as well!

  115. Constable's The Hay Wain to be presented as 'contested landscape'

    National Gallery exhibit will focus on social problems that plagued rural Britain but were omitted from his landscapes

    Craig Simpson • 24 July 2024 • 8:04pm

    The National Gallery will present John Constable's depiction of an idyllic rural scene in Suffolk as a "contested" landscape in an upcoming exhibition.

    Constable's 1821 painting The Hay Wain shows a cart and horses next to a corn mill in the River Stour and has become a gentle symbol of the British countryside.

    But the painting will be rehung in a new exhibition highlighting the political issues within the countryside which Constable depicted and his omission of the plight of poorer workers of the day.

    The Discover Constable and The Hay Wain exhibition, which opens in October, will shine a light on the social problems that plagued rural Britain but were omitted from landscapes created by Constable, whose own social rank and attitudes will also be examined in information accompanying the display.

    The painting, originally titled Landscape: Noon, has become a popular and much-used representation of bucolic rural England, but the National Gallery, which owns the artwork, hopes to present the poverty and upheaval not included in Constable's vision.

    Dr Mary McMahon, the National Gallery's curator, said of the project: "We want to talk about everything that has not been included in this painting.

    "The British landscape was a contested space," she added. "We have the Corn Laws, we are coming out of the Napoleonic Wars, people are losing their land to enclosure," she said, referencing the economic impact these developments had on much of the working class at the time.

    Following the Napoleonic Wars, the Corn Laws saw tariffs placed on imported grains to protect landowners and farmers, which pushed up the price of food and bread for the poor.

    The Constable show will explain these issues and is set to be "the first National Gallery exhibition to examine the social and political context of The Hay Wain".

    It will be the last in a series of redisplays at the gallery, which have sought to refresh perceptions of well-known artists, including Manet and Degas.

    The curatorial aim of proving the unpleasant social context to images comes after Tate Britain used a complete rehang to highlight themes of colonialism and slavery in its painting, as well as issues of rural poverty in landscapes that may otherwise appear idyllic.

    The Hay Wain was one of Constable's vast "six-footers" painted to attract the attention of buyers and depicts a hay cart or "wain" in the River Stour next to Flatford Mill in Suffolk.

    The Mill, now a National Trust site, was owned by Constable's father, and the artist adored the surrounding landscape, which is now beloved by thousands who visit "Constable Country" each year.

    Curators will seek to explain why Constable may have omitted the social ills suffered by lower classes at the time in light of his "privileged" position as the son of a wealthy corn merchant and a holder of "conservative" attitudes, as noted in catalogue information for the exhibition.

    Dr McMahon said: "He knew what it looked like for people to work the fields, but he would never have done that himself."

    The full social context of The Hay Wain will be explained with the help of satirical images from the period, including The Sign of the Four Alls by Rowlandson, a cartoon which shows the rural poor propping up royalty and clergy.

    Paintings by Turner and Gainsborough will provide artistic context for Constable's famous painting and displays will explain the radicalism of The Hay Wain – a naturalistic scene of daily life at odds with more prestigious history paintings – when it was first created.

    In a catalogue for the upcoming exhibition, curator Christine Riding writes that the military and social upheaval of the years preceding The Hay Wain "had a profound effect on Constable and his contemporaries".

    She added: "Under these circumstances the British landscape could not be viewed as a neutral space devoid of politics and patriotism, privilege and discrimination. This is worth remembering if only to question how artists such as Constable interpreted contemporary rural life, including how much they chose to conceal or reveal."

    The free exhibition, Discover Constable and The Hay Wain, will run from Oct 15 to Feb 2 2025.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/24/constable-the-hay-wain-contested-landscape-national-gallery/

    In the debate [sic] about the slave trade, the revisionists have tried to present the world of the time as one in which the British at home enjoyed a better standard of living than the African slaves. Any attempt to argue that the life of the ordinary British was squalid would be shouted down. Thus, when I saw a headline of this new 'interpretation' of Constable's world mentioning the terrible poverty of 19th-century rural life in England, I immediately thought there must be a catch. There is. It's in the highlighted paragraph. Constable was, apparently, just another member of the rich establishment, making money by presenting a false picture of the time. He omitted to depict the squire beating the peasants and rogering the maids.

    If only we could throw these wretched people into the millpond.

    1. 'If only we could throw these wretched people into the millpond'.

      With heavy weights attached.

    2. Of course, it is very well known that John Constable used to sit on a slave while he painted.

    3. I can imagine that Constable, much like other artists through the ages, painted what he saw.
      What is it with these people, why don't they just FOAD.

    4. Oh, for goodness' sake!! Artists do not "conceal" by not including depictions of everything they see. They aim for (well, aimed for) beauty, aesthetic pleasure. Yes, there is always a certain selection of subject matter to appeal to those who might actually buy one's work, but there is no justification for trying to impose a moral duty on artists, especially retrospectively, and those seeking to do so are absolute muppets. Thanks for the article, though; it has made me decide to go and paint something beautiful and devoid of social commentary!

    2. Pedant alert: volcanic lightning is a well-known phenomenon. It can happen in the absence of a conventional atmospheric thunderstorm.

    1. 390104+ up ticks,

      O2O,

      I believe a spokething for the dictatorship has said the wearers of the burka must NOT take offence, as they will NOT be approached

      1. 390104+ up ticks,

        Pip,
        He was, plain to see via the dictatorship agents, camera shy,and that currently carries a guilty as a far right, truth sayer.

        If you banned the burka the lab/lib/con coalition would go into instant meltdown.

      1. 390104+ up ticks,

        Evening JR,

        Thanks, sets it down precisely as it is, as for the voting input I could not agree more.

    3. Very cute, love the round baskets. I have a mad terrier likes to sleep in the gap between sofa cushion and sofa back. Just woken up, it's his dinner time. 14 years and still as cute.

    1. According to report in a newspaper in Pakistan – at least one of these thugs is a "Pakistan citizen".

  122. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was 'shocked and appalled' by the incident, wishing the soldier a speedy recovery.

    He later told PMQs on Wednesday: 'Our thoughts are with him, his family and our armed forces who serve to keep us safe. We wish him a swift recovery.'

    Starmer , you ignorant sterile , unfeeling wooden top imbecile .

    The badly injured knifed / hacked officer will have injuries that will be with him forever .. he will have PTSD, and so will his brave loving wife .

    Starmer , there will be no swift recovery , life is not like that .

    When one has seen injuries like that , and the perpetuators of injuries , there is no way one can forgive and forget , and that is it.

    Starmer , you and your political ilk , starting with Blair and Cameron and the rest of them , have wrought demons and hell on earth and damnation on Britain .

    This tiny country , 850 miles long , gave so much , starting from our great Victorian Empire stretching across equators , we gave so much , my fathers generation were the last ones to improve the lives of many .

    Sorry if I sound misguided or emotional , but I have witnessed barbarity and nonsense during my childhood in Africa, as my parents used to say , children hide your eyes NOW.

    1. There are things that haunt me from my childhood in North Africa. I understand fully what you are saying. You don't heal because it may as well have happened yesterday.
      We were the best thing to happen to Africa and Asia, through the benefits of an Empire that is maligned and so badly misrepresented now.

      2. Yes Johnathan , I am glad you understand .. really do .

        It was the meat chopping blocks with live animals , and also the people who were punished for stealing or any called crime .. hands removed etc plus executions .. ie a body hanging from a tree etc ..

        Mobs and so on .. goodness me , thank you .

  123. I don't think Assistant Chief Constable Waris Chaudry would be very happy….

  124. Had the first appointment for root canal treatment this morning. Very lopsided mouth. Second round next Thursday at 9.55.
    Not the most pleasant visit to the dentist but I only go when I had a problem. A devout coward.

        2. Just over $2,000 in the US but add to that a few hundred dollars with a regular dentist for a referral to the specialist.

      2. My Denplan does. The only thing i pay for is any Laboratory work and anything considered cosmetic. I pay £38 per month now.

        1. I pay £50 per month now , and Denplan did not pay for two root canal treatments before lockdown , they refused .
          Denplan are ageist.

          1. My dentist told me the price is graded depending on the condition of your teeth. As he had done a lot of work on mine they were in pretty good condition when i took out Denplan. I’m surprised you weren’t covered for root canal work because i am and it is the same company. I suppose.

    2. Alf, if the dentist has 'balls' hold them in your hand, smile at him and say

      This will not hurt us, will it…..

    3. I fell asleep half way through my root canal. The dentist apologised for waking me but he said i was snoring.

    4. I had my first ever root canal earlier this year, it was a lengthy but painless and interesting experience. We were down in the US at the time and they dragged out and used a lot of interesting toys in an attempt to justify their charges.

      Followed that with a crown and we reached the limit on our dental insurance policy. We are now in the delightful position of earning too much to qualify for the government program but naturally able to be taxed to pay for others.

  125. Had the first appointment for root canal treatment this morning. Very lopsided mouth. Second round next Thursday at 9.55.
    Not the most pleasant visit to the dentist but I only go when I had a problem. A devout coward.

  126. An interesting youtube discussed the UK's decline. They were right, but their solutions are wrong.

    Our birthrate is falling because the people we want to have children can't afford them. Productivity is low because the welfare state is a grossly obese lump that pays people to be idle. Capital investment is low because goods and services are too expensive. Manufacturing output is low because making things in this country is too expensive due to energy taxes. Running a business sees more money going in tax than profit. Overall economic activity is low because the public sector consumes 46% of GDP and is utterly unproductive – it is a cost (some bits we need, some we do not).

    Health outcomes, waiting lists, policing, crime are all at record levels because the state has added 30 million mouths to the country.

    It all comes down to a grossly corpulent state and crushing taxation. The reason financial services are doing – and always will – do well is because there's no product. No risks, no costs. The only thing it needs is energy and, when your costs are £250 a day for a rack of servers but you're making £250,000 an hour in profit it's a non issue.

    Sadly, the UK doesn't need more bankers. It needs to make and sell things. That requires cheap energy, low taxes, a skilled, small workforce and a public sector you could fit into a village hall.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLDWAEHwv7U

    1. When you make it so difficult to get ahead, it's no surprise that so many people have given up and are just coasting along. The very ambitious leave the country and we'll probably lose them and their business for ever.

  127. No to each. BUT – I can't see any reason why they should not play volleyball.

    2. For sake of argument, if it had been my granddaughter he groomed and used (the victim of the statutory rape appears to have been a willing participant) I would be dismayed at his selection. The girl was 12 years old.

    1. That's very sad to hear. The Left are demented and wrong in everything they do but the open promotion of killing someone they hate – they haven't changed. They're no different to their namesake the Nazis.

    1. ref your removed Hamas comment.

      Mohammad deliberately pretended that he and all the prophets prayed together at al Aqsa, knowing full well that this was one of the holiest sites in Judaism. There certainly wasn't a mosque there at the time nor for many years after his death.
      The whole al Aqsa story is just a fairy tale.

      He was a warlord with good strategic sense and prepared to deceive to obtain his objectives.
      His objective was destruction of Jewish holy sites and takeover by Islam.

      1. I removed it because something odd was going on and I was unable to post the entire article.
        I am not aware of the story you relate here. I understand that this has to do with the 'Night of Power' In which, supposedly, Mo was transferred to the holy non existent mosque (as you point out) from Mecca, then ascended to the 7th or 9th heaven, forget which, on the back of Buraq, a winged horse with a human head. It is a special festival in Islam especially celebrated by Sufis.
        I have actually participated in the ritual dance with Sufi's on the night of power and powerful stuff it is too. You make two circles, the outer circle going right the inner circle going left, you chant allah-hu accompanied by certain head movements and specific movements of the body. One hand on the shoulder of the man to your right and your other hand around the waist of the person to your left. All this done to the repetition of drums and flutes. Boy does it get you as high as a kite!

        Here is the English version
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p9o7sjjVJY

        1. I used to dance all night at Heaven nightclub London. With a little bit of help. :@)
          Then off to Old Compton St for breakfast at the all night cafe for an hour until the buses and Underground started running.

          1. I think I know what you mean. Dancing was downers, sleep was uppers. Have one of those odd metabolisms. It was 10 Valium to dance, strength 10. Then Dexedrine to relax. That would literally kill me now.

          2. MDMA. But not every night. Just once a week. Haven't done it in 30 years and yes it would kill me too.

    2. TR: "Why aren't we like the Irish?"

      They still have a sense of nationhood, until relatively recently undiluted by the levels of immigration that have hollowed out England. It's unsurprising that that part of the British establishment so often in the thrall of Irish nationalism is so quiet about the anti-immigration demonstrations over there. They cannot bring themselves to condemn in the Irish what they regard as the inherent vice of the English.

  131. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/07/24/labour-laying-ground-for-evisceration-of-middle-england/

    If Reeves takes even more then more people will simply drop out of the economy. The very people who keep it working and who buy things the poorer make and sell.

    It will mean enforced decline.

    And of course, they'll blame the Tories. Their voters will lap this up because it means more money for them, more of an audience of poor, thick people to get paid by the state and everything will get worse and the spiteful, bitter Left won't care – or understand.

    No doubt after a while they'll go to the IMF and that's it. The end of the UK.

    1. The left never admit they are wrong, they just double down on failed policies. As examples, I give you trudeaus world:

      Canada has a drug problem that is exacerbated by free drug programs, the government are expanding the program,
      Canada also has problems with gun crime with lots of pistols smuggled from the US into slum gangsters hands. The government are making it harder for country folk to own rifles and now have a law to confiscate rifles. This does nowt to stop illegal pistol use but what the hell, it sounds good to Townes.

      1. Poilievre sounds like a good man, he mentions these situations, hopefully he'll win next election.

  134. We have had several visits from a very friendly cat, not a stray , but she seems to wander in and make herself at home .

    The spaniel doesn't object , we worry because her visits are frequent.

    Today is so horrible, wet and really miserable , and the cat was sheltering under our hedge , so we allowed her into the house , gave her some chicken pieces and then she wandered upstairs to one of the spare rooms .. asleep !! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eb3c01afb8c2473ee6b4537824fa5167948c7c1c04c6118ff953f241e34aedfd.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e118dbf00a41a7d4955df69e78e587716871d02d7fb5a19e7cd02102eb246e39.jpg

    1. We don't let the cats into the bedroom, chiefly because I end up with a mouthful of shed hair when I wake up in the morning, and I hate that.

      2. One of the spare rooms , Paul .

        She is clean , (I hope)

        I kept that old DT because it gave the wipe out forecast long before the election .. a sea of Red on the map!

        1. Cats usually are clean, but our two big moggies shed hair like it’s an Olympic sport. I don’t want that in the bed – it’s bad enough when my socks pick up shed hair from the rest of the house.
          Firstborns minuscule moggy is a Shorthair, and marely sheds a mouse whisker anywhere. He’s no problem.

          2. Collected from the vacuum bag and out outside for the birds to line their nests with.

          3. Is that such a good idea? Kitty will know where the nests are as it smells like them… :@)

          4. Cats are very good climbers, but too heavy to get out on the small branches where the nests are. Also, too lazy… Big Cat is about 10-11kg, Little Cat about 7kg.

          6. Nah, too indolent. As many crunchy snacks (as one gets in a posh bar, by the side of one's G&T) as they want, and plenty wet meat too (out of a sachet, admittedly, but the gravy tastes good… oops!).

          7. Crunchy snacks good. Bar snacks in some places look like onion rings but taste of poo. The G&T helps of course.
            Don't tell me you lick your fingers after opening the sachet……..

        2. Beware of fleas if kitty hasn't been treated… cats are little flea bags because of contact with their prey, squirrels are particularly well supplied with the little beasties. The eggs have a tendency to fall off the cat and hatch later when you have forgotten all about kitty's bedroom exploration. We had an incident years ago – we had to get the pest people out.

          1. Thanks for the warning , pm

            Yes I feel itchy already .

            Pip is clean and clear, we were alarmed to see the puss cat sitting under our hedge for a couple of hours , the rain was pouring down , and she meowed her way indoors , Moh felt sorry for her !

          2. Don't for heaven's sake give her any more food, Mags. Cat will see you as (another) free eating establishment and pester you.

          3. Not that I would want you to turf poor kitty out, but an old cover on the bed might be a good idea… our brush with fleas came at a most inopportune time – I had just given birth to our elder son, I had only been home two or three days, with stitches. Poppiesdad used to go into the spare bedroom to get clean nappies, which is where we kept them. He started feeling itchy around his wrists and ankles… we realised they were flea bites. Kitty had been sunning herself in the spare bedroom over the summer months. We had to get the pest control people out and the whole house was sprayed. I had to wash every single item of bedding and spare sheets and towels in that room a week out of hospital. “Why are you walking funny, ducks?” sayeth the sprayer. “”Something wrong with your legs?” “No, I’ve just given birth!” said I, annoyed and surprised by this questioning. “Don’t let it put you off!” said sprayer……

      1. Definitely. I once gave a rescue dog some chicken curry, he was mine till the day he died.

        1. Might well have been the first real kindness he received in his life. Can't pass up an opportunity like that.

          1. I think so, too. I’d adopted his sister puppy (they’d been found tied to a tree) from the local RSPCA, my husband took her into the garden, let her off the lead and she zoomed. Few weeks before she came back after much encouragement, wandering round the local cemetery at night. So the RSPCA fetched him to my house, thinking that would make her return, said he was uncontrollable, banging around in the back of the van like a lunatic. Both he and sister stayed with me all their lives. At that time, RSPCA had a policy of asking for rescues to be returned two weeks later to be examined by vet. So he and I duly trot along, waited and waited but vet didn’t turn up. His legs started to shake so I said ‘we’re off’…soon as I opened car door he shot in rat up a drainpipe style. A good boy, sadly missed.

  137. One advantage of so much diversity is that the UK must be one of, if not the, world leaders in saving and patching up victims of knife crime.
    Rather like we became experts in gunshots to knees etc during the NI Troubles.
    /sarc

  138. It was mentioned the other day that there are a lot of jobs that men do that women can't. Though this is true as far as it goes there are some women who can do the job as good if not better than men.

    As of 2022 there were over 100 young women in USAF who are TopGuns who are cleared for battle zones. They are an impressive bunch. Sassy too.

    1. "…100 young women in USAF who are TopGuns …"

      Just remind me how many are slammers….

      2. Some of them may have been muslim. But the esprit de corps would stop them turning on their own (other pilots).

          1. Please try not to be an imbecile every day of the week.

            It is only the low IQ and brainwashed that do as they think Allah wants them to do.

          2. I’ll not block you for being offensive – this time. But do try to be less aggressive.

            If you do some research, you’ll find that many highly educated slammers – KCs, leaders of industry, professors…. – support the murderous activities of their “brothers” (and sisters). Look at the Gaza protest marches and the spokesmen. See the lack of protest when a slammer kills someone. If they were as you suggest, they’d be out in their thousands peacefully shouting “Not in my name”.

          4. And what am i supposed to do about it. You have had much more influence over events than i have ever had.

          5. "Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated."
            Your post was uncalled for, Philip.

          6. I know the rules, Jules. I may have gone over the top in that post and Bill said so and i apologised. We do have banter. He calls me stupid boy often…….with good reason. :@)
            We are also in email contact. In fact he emailed me twice today to hear some gossip.

            The low IQ and Allah stuff wasn't directed at him. As i am sure he knows.

            I am now becoming concerned that Mods are waking up.

            Is there any particular reason for your admonishment or is it because some other person has complained?

            I very much doubt Bill Thomas has flagged or complained so it is the one i said to Bill would then start moaning and whinging and then having a problem and having to call 999…

            Which is it !

          7. No – no particular reason except that coming late to the conversation I thought it out of order. No complaint from Bill or anyone else. I left the post in place as clearly it had been there for some time. I notice that Oberst downvoted you and presumably agreed with me that you had gone OTT.

          8. Calling someone an imbecile is out of order. Context and time lines are all.

            If one person agrees via downvote that isn't censorship?

            Forget it. I'm messing with you. Similar to gaslighting. Look it up.

          9. There is a fine line between banter and being offensive.
            On other sites downvoting is much more usual than it is here. I merely pointed out that another mod agreed. It's not censorship at all. And nothing to do with gaslighting either.

          10. You have learned what gaslighting is then?

            In my defense i would like to call Rik Redux as a third Mod and final arbiter. The facts will be laid before the court of opinion…mulled over.. dissected…parts lost and forgotten…then we move on…with prejudice.

            Please don't take me too seriously Jules. :@)

    2. Most airforce fighter bombers as with the latest private jets are ‘fly by wire’ so there is very little left for the pilot to do but press a few buttons.

    3. It's been a long time now that physical strength was a factor. Now it's brain power.
      Not sure about aggression & women – maybe lady fighter pilots are selected for their aggression?

      1. I don't believe aggressive tendencies would get anyone to that level. I think one would need to be a very cool head. Determination and the need and will to win are positives. Aggression is a negative and will bring you down in flames.

    4. How are women in the USAF “Top Guns” – Top Gun is a US Navy programme?

    1. "Don't you dare touch me you evil dirty kafir.. i drink the blood of your children."
      6% of population now. 25% by 2050. Cowards in power.. it's already game over.

        1. They all seen such delightful additions to the population. I can't imagine why we have such difficulty in accepting them here. RIP Britain.

    1. Though I am not a tennis follower – I have never seen what it is about this surly, sneering, arrogant bloke that people admire so much.
      He is one of the least attractive players to watch – gawky, maladroite, clumsy – and, to cap it all, invariably wears hideous, badly tailored clothes (esp shoes).

    2. By not having to use ID it allows people who shouldn't vote to vote. I'm not surprised Dawn French divorced the fucker.

    3. "Polling shows that minority communities were 2.5 times more likely to be stopped from voting than white people. Yet again, our democracy is working against us, rather than for us."

      I see. White racist staff in the polling stations just refused entry to 'people of colour' because they didn't like the look of them.

      "Our right to vote is even more important at a time when over half of Black children are living in poverty in Britain," the letter said.

      Poverty that is largely a consequence of personal choice.

      1. If they have residence, citizenship, whatever, then they have the right to vote. If they cannot be arsed to demonstrate that right, like everyone else, then they don’t get to vote. Simples.
        Like, very few people have the right to take money from my bank account, and they have to demonstrate that right by having the correct cards and passcodes. Or, is the letter writer suggesting anybody can just rock up and do whatever they like? Arse.

        1. Voting cards used to be enough. Photo ID was introduced because of malpractice in some of the Roper parts of urban Britain. However, I can't believe that people were turning up without even a voting card.

          2. We had voting cards and were also to clearly state name and residence. I have absolutely no problem with these extra checks just as if i withdraw £10,000 from the bank they ask me if i am being coerced. The only people that don't like these extra checks are shitbag scum.
            Angela Raynor take note, bitch !

          4. You never needed any form of id (including the voting card) when turning up to vote. You just gave your name and address. Now you have to produce photo id.

          5. But clearly times have changed and there were probably a number of people who should not have been voting. I have no objection to showing ID, even though one of the officials at our polling station was our neighbour who knows us well.

          6. I have no objection, either. As I have stated on previous occasions, I have to produce id when collecting a package from the Post Office or even in some shops to click and collect.

        2. Voting cards used to be enough. Photo ID was introduced because of malpractice in some of the Roper parts of urban Britain. However, I can't believe that people were turning up without even a voting card.

      2. '"Our right to vote is even more important at a time when over half of Black children are living in poverty in Britain," the letter said.

        Why not send that letter to the black bloke that shagged you against the wall for a bag of chips.

      3. Poverty is also desperately relative. Is someone who has a house paid for, is in receipt of significant welfare income and idle all day in poverty compared to someone who works full time, has a mortgage and supports their own family?

        The right to vote is given by default. It shouldn't be.

    4. "Polling shows that minority communities were 2.5 times more likely to be stopped from voting than white people. Yet again, our democracy is working against us, rather than for us."

      I see. White racist staff in the polling stations just refused entry to 'people of colour' because they didn't like the look of them.

      "Our right to vote is even more important at a time when over half of Black children are living in poverty in Britain," the letter said.

      Poverty that is largely a consequence of personal choice.

  145. A lucky entrance for an Eagle!

    Wordle 1,132 2/6
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Wow! Can't match that but after a dumb mistake, I did manage a par four.

      Wordle 1,132 4/6

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

    3. Wow, just a 5 for me.

      Wordle 1,132 5/6

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

    4. Impressive.

      I was happy with my 3, but I don't think I'll ever be in your league!

      Wordle 1,132 3/6

      ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    6. Outstanding!

      Just a par here… ho hum…..

      Wordle 1,132 4/6

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

  146. Imam Ibrahim "M Noonan" of AMA Ireland & NI says lock up the police.
    (I M Noonan, son of Noonan son of Eire, and I am an Irish Ahmadi Muslim. Alhamdulillah 1990 The year I found reality true Islam Ahmadiyyat alhamdulillah).

    converts are always the worst.

      1. “We have spent the evening listening to community feedback and will continue to engage with communities and elected members to maintain strong partnership links and understand local views." Assistant Chief Constable Wasim Chaudhry said

        "Right now, the main concern is that the family receive justice, and this no longer happens again", Mr Yakoob said.

        1. Translated:

          "I have told the imams and the brothers that the copper will lose his job and go to prison for a long time. The injured WPC has been told to shut her face (she's only a woman, anyway). And the poor victims who bravely defended themselves and their mother (though she's only a woman) will get loads of compensation from the evil white people of Manchesterstan"

      2. And always getting special treatment. About time they were made an example of. Together with the rioters who would turn out as a result. Deport the lot of them and leave the ECHR at the same time.

  148. 'Night All
    Busy,busy busy today time to relax with a glass or two
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8d1990175accf35b19def11213f148a962bdace93a3704621f4d4ffe2b0d1ed9.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c95d92f54b8162cd97a72619e994bf1cd306113b4f0888f9918ad1f22c58064d.jpg
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1cb07260f31fd9235bbd148445bd1d2fd8a745b7f7cbbe71c1aef5e395a1fa41.jpg
    https://x.com/AdamCrigler/status/1815962854329086131
    https://x.com/LibertyCappy/status/1815631429495386306

      1. Some of the attack helios are good to watch too. Piloted by women no less. Bet that annoys Richard, lol.

          1. They are not flying backwards. They are stopping. Or at least taking the foot off the pedal and so it seems they are flying backwards. Ask your grand daughter about 3,4,5, perspective.

          3. Lucky her. Not much to do on Gozo but why would us old fuddy duddies deny the experience,,, At least she ain’t in Maggadunp, Playas de les Awfuls…or the drug capital of the world…..London !

            Seems a sensible young lady.

            Gozo really was so quiet but don’t let it fool you. The Maltese like the Irish gyppoes have two homes

  152. Britain's universities can no longer act as visa mills – they have nowhere left to turn

    After years of ruthless self-interest, the sector faces a long overdue rationalisation

    SAM ASHWORTH-HAYES • 23 July 2024 • 6:34pm

    There is only one appropriate reaction to the news that universities are in crisis, with 40pc set to run deficits this year: "Good. Now let them go bust."

    The expansion of the university sector has been a disaster for students. Far too many young people are promised prestige and prosperity in exchange for years of fees and study, only to emerge with a degree so devalued that they end up financially worse off.

    It's been a disaster for taxpayers, who pour money into a system that destroys economic value. And perhaps most of all, it's been a disaster for the universities that shredded their academic standards in exchange for the right to function as visa mills.

    Let's start with the students. The expansion of higher education was supposed to herald a new age of prosperity for Britain, giving us a workforce fit for the new "knowledge economy". Announcing his target for 50pc of young people going to higher education in 1999, Tony Blair mocked "the forces of conservatism, the elite" that had "held us back for too long", insisting that "there is no such thing as too clever".

    There is, however, such a thing as "not clever enough". Massively expanding the share of the population going to university appears to have coincided with a marked lowering of standards. Part of the problem is likely to have been a matter of simple mechanics: a system with more students passing through it is almost by definition one which is less selective. And if you decide to let the less academically able in, you will have to find a way to accommodate them.

    By 2012, around 10pc of university students – the supposed academic elite of the future – were found to either be unable to read the instructions on a packet of aspirin or read a fuel gauge. As the authors of an OECD report tactfully put it, there was an "imbalance" between England's "high university participation and low skills among potential entrants".

    At the risk of appearing snobbish, it does not seem unreasonable to expect a university graduate to be able to safely take a headache tablet. Yet according to the degrees the universities hand out, things have never been better. While just 8pc of students received a first class degree in 2000, fully 33pc scored top marks in 2022, with another 47pc getting upper seconds. Even the median GCSE student has a pretty good chance of getting a "top-quality" first class degree.

    If you believe this is due to a revolution in teaching quality, I have a degree to sell you. A 2020 study by the Department of Education and the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that one fifth of students would be financially worse off over their lifetimes for having gone to university, the effects of taxation, lost earnings during study and repaying tuition fees swallowing up any benefit they might have gained.

    When you remember that these students, in turn, benefit from a significant taxpayer subsidy, the picture looks even bleaker. Between private and public costs, roughly 30pc of students emerge from our university system at a net cost.

    In a sane country, this would be a national scandal. Selling less-able students the trappings of entry into the intellectual elite while actually making them worse off is morally repugnant. Actively subsidising the institutions engaged in this is an added level of absurdity.

    In Britain, however, a combination of misty-eyed sentimentality from politicians – see Blair's comments about "the forces of conservatism" – and ruthless self-interest from the universities themselves makes addressing the problem politically toxic. Suggest cutting places, and you are pulling the drawbridge up after you, devastating the local economy that relies on the university, dashing the dreams of poor, talented students; the list goes on.

    So it's fortunate for Sir Keir Starmer that all he has to do to fix a huge share of the problem is… nothing.

    Let's go back to those students making a loss. We can have a pretty good guess at which profiles are most likely to end up losing out. Virtually every student who studies economics, medicine, maths or computing ends up better off. Studying the creative arts or philosophy, however, is likely to be a rather riskier prospect. Study at the Russell Group, and you have a better chance of a positive return than if you attend a post-92 institution.

    Now, which universities are most financially at risk? Former polytechnics and those without international reputations. Which courses are being cut? In well-reported cases, art history, health and social care, philosophy, journalism. In other words, if the Government simply holds the line and insists on consolidation, it could undo a huge share of the damage done by Blair and his successors.

    After all, almost every element of the current mess originates with government intervention. While Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson says that universities are "autonomous" and need to manage their budgets "without seeking any calls on the taxpayer", it's the Government that capped and froze tuition fees for domestic undergraduates, resulting in their real value falling by £3,000 per student.

    Having expanded in response to government policy, universities then responded to the incentives they were given. With fees for foreign students uncapped, they recruited accordingly to balance their books. The result was a surge in students from poorer countries attending the least selective, cheapest institutions, and another change in government policy. The rules around student visas are now being changed.

    With nowhere left to turn, the university sector is staring down the barrel of a long overdue rationalisation. There will be bumps in the road ahead. Some worthy institutions may have overstretched themselves and will pay a painful price for having done so. Towns that rely on the university economy may need support to help them through any turmoil. But ultimately, we should welcome the coming crisis on campus.

    While there will still be problems in our universities that will need addressing – the promotion of Left-wing ideologies at odds with the rest of society prominent among them – the great trick played on students for the last two decades will at last have been ended.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/07/23/universities-played-cruel-trick-students-deserve-to-go-bust/

    I can't see Max undoing Blair's prizes-for-all policy but if he does, we must swallow hard and say "Well, you managed to get one thing right."

    3. A good goosing from a swan!

      Was he trying to get a birdie, an eagle or an albatross?

      Anyway he was nimble in his flight!

    4. I once took in a couple of rescues, Belle, they are indeed mustard. Only way to calm them is to grab by the neck and tuck their body under the opposite arm…sounds cruel but they calm immediately.

      1. I used to tuck them under the arm and let them face backwards, swans or geese. For longer distances, put one in a hessian sack and fasten it around the neck with the bird's head sticking out (not too tightly); loose weave of the hessian prevents them from overheating, and they can see what's going on. Try to avoid their meanest move, a karate chop on your shins.

        1. Excellent advice, tim – thanks, especially re karate chop, have experienced that. The first goose I had was one I rescued from a local pond, other birds mobbing it and I was asked to take it. Second one was a much smaller goose the gaggle disowned. You can guess their names…Little and Large 😀

      1. Nice programme on the telly just now on the Birmingham and Worcester Canal. Julia Bradbury currently in Bournville. Channel 9.

  156. That's me gone for this truly depressing day. Filthy weather. Not a second of sunshine. Chilly. Damp. Horrible. Managed a 1½ mile walk but that was just to get my spine working a little bit better.

    Then there's the "news". Slammers causing mayhem. A very silly PC giving them ammunition. The Colonel almost stabbed to death. Children shot…..

    A drink may help. Or at least help forget.

    Have a spiffing evening not being Andy Murray.

    A demain.

    2. From Coffee House, the Spectator

      Are we really experiencing more ‘extreme’ weather?
      Comments Share 25 July 2024, 5:26pm
      The UK climate is getting ever more extreme. We know this because the BBC keeps telling us so, most recently in today’s reporting of the annual Met Office/Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) State of the Climate Report for 2023. ‘Climate change is dramatically increasing the frequency of extreme high temperatures in the UK,’ writes climate editor Justin Rowlatt on the BBC website. As well as experiencing more really hot days, ‘its observations suggest there has been an increase in the number of really wet days too, such as the prolonged and heavy rain Storm Babet brought to wide areas of the country in October last year.’ He comments: ‘The UK’s shifting climate represents a dangerous upheaval for our ecosystems as well as our infrastructure’. And in case we still haven’t got it, he adds: ‘Climate change has already made more extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, heavy rainfall, storms, and drought, more frequent and stronger in many parts of the world.’

      But how much of this is really true, and how much of it – were BBC Verify minded to undertake a fair analysis of this output – is hyperbole? The State of the UK Climate Report 2023 is published today in the International Journal of Climatology, and you can read it for yourself here. But for those without the time to do this, this is what it says on the specific matters raised by Rowlatt and the BBC. Firstly, those ‘extremely high temperatures’. As far as 2023 was concerned, it turns out that actually they were rather thin on the ground. The highest temperature measured anywhere in the UK in 2023 was 33ºC in Faversham, Kent, which the report notes is rather modest by the standards of recent years. Nevertheless, it is true to say that there is an increasing trend in the frequency of hot weather in Britain. In the decade from 2014 to 23 there were 2.5 times as many days per year with temperatures exceeding 28ºC somewhere in Britain as there were during the years 1961 to 1990. There were 3.6 times as many days per year with temperatures over 32ºC.

      This is consistent with the long-term trend in mean temperatures, which have also resulted in fewer very cold days. In the decade from 2014 to 2023, there were on average 17 fewer days of air frost per year than during 1961 to 1990. It is not very satisfactory comparing a ten-year period with a 30-year one, given the natural variability in the weather, but year-on-year graphs appear to confirm that Britain is experiencing more hot weather and less cold weather. That is something that needs to be borne in mind when the BBC and others claim climate change is causing more ‘extreme’ weather. The rise in extreme hot weather is balanced out by a fall in extreme cold weather.

      What about the claimed rise in ‘really wet days’? The State of the Climate Report does state that overall Britain is becoming wetter, with overall rainfall ten per cent higher from 2014 to 2023 than between 1961 and 1990. But then rainfall fluctuated quite a lot decade on decade prior to the 1960s. The year 2023 was the seventh wettest year in England and Wales in a series going back to 1766. The wettest, by the way, was 1767. But ‘really wet days’? The report states that there has been a ‘slight increase in heavy rainfall across the UK in recent decades’. There are a number of metrics used to measure heavy rainfall, such as the average number of days a year with rain exceeding 10mm, the number of days when rainfall exceeds the 99th percentile, etc. All seem to tell a similar story: there was a strong upward trend in the frequency of heavy rain in Britain between the 1960s and the beginning of this century, but with little or no trend since then (figure 49 shows this).

      As for the claim that the world is seeing more frequent and stronger storms – made by Rowlatt in the global rather than specifically UK context – what does the UK State of the Climate Report say about that? By recent standards, last year was a relatively stormy year. However, the frequently-made claim that Britain saw a ‘record’ number of storms last winter is based on a meaningless metric: the number of named storms. There is no consistent definition of a named storm other than that someone in the UK or Ireland Met Office’s has decided it warrants a name. Moreover, the naming of storms only began in 2015 – so not even the 1987 hurricane had a name. But the State of the Climate Report does present data on extreme wind speeds measured in the UK – namely the number of days per year on which gusts of over 40, 50, and 60 knots have been recorded somewhere in the UK. This data shows a very clear downward trend since 1990 [fig 60]. There is also data showing that mean wind speeds have been falling in Britain since 1970 – a trend that echoes that in many parts of the world. That is not very good for Ed Miliband’s wind turbines, but it is not consistent with a claim that Britain is becoming more stormy.

      So, yes, we are seeing more hot weather and we are seeing more rainfall overall. But no, we are not being battered by biblical downpours or extreme weather of all kinds.

  157. 390104+ up ticks,

    I suppose some sympathy could be found ,that is if one looked hard enough, but we have a great many genuine indigenous peoples who have lost, due to foreign intervention, their heads and have no longer a need for hospital treatment, the only treatment they truly deserve is very belated justice.

    Could you arrange to fight this chaps case from his parents place of origin along with his parents, relatives & friends to save any
    further nastiest.

    https://x.com/NotFarLeftAtAll/status/1816500062488272934

    .

  160. Just listened to Lee Anderson – what a star! – he says the police at Manchester Airport deserve medals. The wittering halfwit on the BBC mentioned that Andy Burnham had counselled caution – 'He's a buffoon' countered Lee, a self-evident fact!!

    1. The video of the kicking policeman was disturbing, but the man on the floor did not seem to have been badly damaged. Perhaps it was less vicious than it looked.

      1. No, it was vicious, but the point Lee was making is that is what we absolutely need in dealing with this garbage. These lads are in the armed response teams and, if they get it wrong, they can easily end up dead.
        The optics werent great but, as usual, we are only being allowed access to what the BBC and others deem appropriate……….

        1. No, these are professionals and certain standards of behaviour are expected indeed demanded. There is no excuse for kicking people in the face when they have obviously been controlled.

          1. Maybe he was fed up,…. as that bit of excrement had attacked his colleagues, breaking a female officer’s nose – I wouldnt blame him.
            There’s more of this still to come to light, I’m sure…..
            In the meantime I’m backing the officer.

          4. If, as it appears, he's part of an armed response team, a kick in the head is much more gentle than a bullet. We really don't know what went on beforehand.

          6. It doesn’t matter what happened before. He kicked an unarmed man,tied on the floor, in the head.
            Totally unprofessional. It might have been Myra Hindley or Caharles Manson but gratuitous ill treatment is illegal.

      2. I thought the same. He looks pristine in his aggrieved lawyered-up video. You would expect some visible damage. Maybe there is a technique they learn that looks like a kick in the head but isn't really.

        1. How cynical! As if such manipulative techniques would be used upon the British!

  161. Listening to the Pogues again, and cannot help marvel how Shane McGowan's voice made the songs sound so much authentic and like they were really meant, not just recited. Dirty old Town playing now, but much more powerful was their rendition of Walzing Matilda.
    What a voice! What accompanyment – such a loss that the Man himself died. Powerful poetry, too. Maybe more folk should listen in the drift towards war with Russia, the main beneficiary of which would be China.
    https://youtu.be/G6IhLcnyuN0?si=Be0h5kanPNiG_Zkj

    1. I would like to see all the footage in sequence in the time line without gaps. What we have seen is a police officer (why would you even fucking bother) trying to stamp down a violent criminal (sound familiar)
      Then we see two young men sitting passively airing their grievances through a cunt paid for by whitey suggesting they hadn't been cared for properly after violent assault on uniformed officers who are now muted because an investigation is in progress.

      Guess what our the future holds

    1. Sainsbury's do seem to be getting themselves into the shit more often. A recent one was an app voucher that could be used multiple times at the self check out to bring your Bill to zero and now they are advertising this !

      Why didn't they just say the cotton was picked by third world slaves. Which it is…still…or at least used in the process to get those nice school uniforms for little future economic slaves.

    2. It took me about 5 minutes to work it out. But i don’t spend my life looking for racism everywhere.

      1. There are now organisations and law firms paid for mostly by the taxpayer to search out this crap.
        If we didn't see it why would a black friend/neighbour see it ! They wouldn't until it was pointed out to them that they were being victimised. The thing is though….those black and brown neighbours are as disgusted as we are.

        Let's face it. You go to the supermarket. There is a black person on the till and they say hello with a smile. The response isn't fXXX NXXX it is hi ya how are you….

        Divided we bleed.

        1. Sometimes I am so lonely I chat with my favourite self service till. It's a good listener.

          1. That's nice.

            Don't start rubbing against it though. I've been caught out by those cameras before and then they sold the footage on 'Only Fans'.

            I didn't even get Nectar points !

          2. A while back I got into a muddle with a bluddy self-service till and had to call over the Assistant. As she was pressing various buttons I said to her:" I expect you are now going to punish me?!"; She replied: " Not likely! Have you seen the price of birch these days!"

          3. Could have been misconstrued as a pick-up line, that… lucky you weren't arrested!

          5. A while back I got into a muddle with a bluddy self-service till and had to call over the Assistant. As she was pressing various buttons I said to her:" I expect you are now going to punish me?!"; She replied: " Not likely! Have you seen the price of birch these days!"

          6. When it tells me, “Thank you for shopping with…”, I always reply, “Don’t mention it, dear”. I’ve yet to receive any funny looks from staff or fellow customers. Or none that I notice anyway!

          7. I've been known to say "You're welcome" to a self-service checkout, especially if the assistant is within earshot.

        2. Sometimes I am so lonely I chat with my favourite self service till. It's a good listener.

    3. Sainsbury's had better stop selling black shoes, or rename them to 'shoes of colour'.

          1. Needs chilled to within a millimetre of it's life for any palate that's not used to drinking gasoline, to be able to cope with.

    5. I could do with more 'knee-grow' trousers, quite frankly. Since the sockets of my prosthetic legs are c. 480 mm external circunference, I'm somewhat restricted in the trouser department. Sainsbury's straight leg jeans just about work, if a bit tight. Craghoppers convertible walking trousers are my go to legwear, not least because I can zip off the bottoms if there's a problem with the suspension of the false legs. Saves stripping off in public… 😱

      2. I like craghoppers too, Geoff, very comfortable. We both look handsome, I'm sure 🙂

        1. I wasn’t ‘knock-kneed’ before the operation, Kate. Now my gait is somewhat different. The walking trousers go some way towards disguising that. Hopefully… :))

          2. Quite so, Kate.

            Roehampton has a ‘gait laboratory’. I’ve not been there since before Covid. Having moved house and GPs in 2020, I’ve prolly* dropped off their list. Not that they ever offered a follow-up
            appointment, as implied by my prosthetist…

            A re-scan of my stumps would be a good thing. The rigid fibreglass sockets would likely remain the same, but the moulded insert would hopefully be closer, obviating the need for five layers of stump socks…

            *prolly = probably. Part of the nttl voocabulary, in this case due to the venerable Bill Thomas – “legal beagle” of yore…

          3. Hospital appts similar, Geoff. I’d contact them..? Hopefully have that re-scan, and the insert closer, obviating the need for five layers total? Yes I know prolly, grandchildren seem to have their own language. I noticed how you changed the subject there…..please, think about going for re-scan? Kate x

      3. Finding trousers that fit and move with my legs is an exercise in futility. As for Junior, we may as well add 6" of patches to the bottom of his trousers every couple of months. We bought ones that were deliberately too long for him in September. They were too short by Easter.

  166. Here's one for Geoff: I expect this is a breeze for you, since the foot action is fairly light. /no_effing_idea
    https://youtu.be/FHNLdHe8uxY?si=i6YGHWubzr_EteUn
    It resonates for me (geddit?), because I first heard it played live in my school church, as I was walking by late one evening… there was a single light on in church, and the organist played so that the building had a chance to resonate properly with the music… atmospheric, or what!

          1. There are precious few left in the world, so needs preserved and protected.

          2. I know what you mean, Obertsleutnant, quite a few of ’em posting here including your good self 🙂

  168. Thought for the day:

    These days you can only believe two things in any newspaper.

    The date and the price.

    Even then it's been known to get the date wrong…

    1. Well that's got me dissolved for the evening. Just put up their version of Ave Maria and that'll administer the coup de grace.

      1. 'The day thou gavest….' always reduces me to tears, opopanax. I simply cannot stop them.

        2. This was mother’s favourite hymn which we sang at her funeral. Abide with me was Dad’s which we played at his funeral service. 12 and 28 years respectively have passed and I still choke up whenever they are sung at any service.

  170. "Sue Gray is a close ally of Gove and it was Gove and those allies in No10 who insisted that it should be Gray who wrote the party gate report. The same people who are today running Badenoch’s campaign."
    from Nadine Dorries's Twitter account

      1. Gove is a self-confessed huge fan of Gramsci. He has waxed lyrical about this on the Speccie. Hence…

    2. Groan…and there's me supporting Badenoch, should have known…lesson firmly embedded….at least I didn't get chance to vote for her yet. Assuming Dorries is correct, of course..

      1. I thought of you KJ!
        She was seen lunching with Gove before. But then it was said that they had had a row. It would be a typical Gove tactic to plant that story with the press.
        At Oxford, Gove was known for going out and actively recruiting candidates for his slate that were electable. At least one Union president was thought to have been selected in this way.
        A Conservative party leadership election without at least one Gove candidate in it is inconceivable while that man draws breath. He appears to live and breathe politics.

        1. Thanks BB2 🙂 I knew she was a Gove protegee and also that he’s a snake. Not surprised if they did indeed have a row. He certainly lives and breathes something. And to think I listened to him (and Johnson! And Baker!) re Brexit. Although tbf I’d have still voted Leave….

  171. UK secures seabed land deal to boost windfarms
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crglp32zzw2o

    At an event to launch GB Energy on Thursday, Mr Miliband Millipede said: "A sprint for clean energy is a route to energy independence, because dictators and petrostates don't control it." He added that it is "the best way to keep bills down for good".

    I've run out of ways to send him up.

    1. Well he is a windbag himself, William…..you'll find a way, he'll make more noises…….

    2. A route to energy independence… dear life. They don't work, they cost a fortune, they don't last and China builds the wretched things and we still have to have gas backup bought from Norway and Iran.

      Yes a dictator does contorl our energy sources – you, you useless tool.

      Bills have doubled precisely because of wind, you lying wretched student socialist.

      He needs to be hanged from a wind mill blade and forgotten about.

    3. "A sprint for clean energy is a route to energy independence, because dictators and petrostates don't control it" Said Saddam Hussein.

        1. I know not what to say. You are obviously a close, open minded and supportive family, Good on you

    3. You never told us you were related to Rob Roy MacGregor, Paul.😊

      Did ye nae ha' a wee Tam to wear?

  173. Anderson remarks on airport video irresponsible – Burnham
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjk3ppjjlpmo

    Lee Anderson is getting it in the neck. He might have spoken a bit more tactfully but he makes a proper observation: "… if people are trying to take police officers' guns, if they're breaking a female police officer's nose, dragging police officers to the floor, sending police officers to the hospital, then I think police officers there have got a right to restrain those criminals as soon as possible and use whatever means it takes".

    Sooner or later, some officers on duty, carrying out their lawful duty and behaving properly, will be murdered by a mob. No means of self-defence will save them. What then, Mr B? Will you come out on the side of the police?

    FWIW, Burnham comes across as a smug, self-righteous creep.

    We are one bad incident away from meltdown. Should we be glad that the immigration problem is in Labour's in-tray?

    1. Incidents in Mancs this evening, just being reported. Not raining for once, so might last a while.

      1. How uncritical so many public figures were of the police as they avoided the rape epidemic…

    2. The police should shoot/taze/thrash anyone trying to steal their gun – what will they do with it when they have it? Shoot the officer, most likely.

    1. Reminds me of K Jenkins. Pretty girl with a voice I really don't like, however "good" it is deemed to be.

      1. Late father in law was big fan of K Jenkins (not me, honest), largely because both came from Wales….:-D

        1. Well, I just don't like her voice. I'm not particularly keen on Mezzos in general, but i particularly don't enjoy listening to hers, nice gel though she is

        2. The Welsh in general cannot sing particularly well. Their supposed gifts in the singing sphere are mostly mythical. The best singer the Welsh have produced in many years is Bryn Terfel. The worst in my view a certain Kathryn Jenkins next to a certain Tom Jones.

          1. Agree Bryn Terfel. Father in law loved Katherine Jenkines, but he liked most blondes:-) as for Tom Jones, think it was the hips wot did it (although not for me)….

  176. The Welsh wear those dainty ballet shoes with the laces, too, when they wear their kilts. I've noticed. How do the stockings marry with the (clears throat) lack of underwear?

    1. They are separated by about a thigh's length. Only long woollen socks, like rugby socks.

    2. The state wouldn't have to bother. First the greeniacs would forbid the platform, then the materials would be too expensive, then someone would complain about the noise, someone else about the diversity (or lack of), then there'd be an 'elf and safety' investigation and when the fuel was brought in complaints about the smell.

      There's a reason nothing happens here: the Left want to drive the nation backward.

      1. Thank you so much Opopanax, tired and weepy now…love it…how green is that valley! Sleep well, see you tomorrow x

  179. I've a feeling I may have been tres merchant ce soir. ….So Good night all.

  181. Aniston criticises JD Vance's 'childless cat ladies' comment

    Jennifer Aniston has criticised Donald Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, for resurfaced comments calling Democrats a "bunch of childless cat ladies with miserable lives".

    The BBC has contacted the Trump-Vance campaign team for comment.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpe3pz2pz8no

    Dear Ms Aniston,
    Have you considered the possibility that Mr Vance's remarks were not aimed at the likes of you but the professional, political spinster?

    Dear BBC,
    Get over yourselves.

      1. I wanted to ask him what he thought of the dressage horse whipping video. As he had done quite a lot of dressage riding himself before his hip got too painful.

    1. 'Morning, Geoff and thank you for the fine job you do, all the work and effort you have put in to keep us all going. Well done!

    3. Good morning Geoff,

      This wonderful facility must be eight / nine years old now?

      Through all the appalling personal difficulties you have had to confront , we are all so appreciative of you rising 😉 and 😊shining early in the morning to open the forum xxx

      1. Hi, Maggie, Rising – fair enough. But shining? That comes several hours later…

        As for personal difficulties, I can’t climb ladders, and the organ pedals are a thing of the past. But I evade the weekly interminable visits to the Diabetic Foot Clinic. All good, then… 😊

Comments are closed.