Tuesday 30 January: Soulless recruitment puts young people off joining the Armed Forces

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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421 thoughts on “Tuesday 30 January: Soulless recruitment puts young people off joining the Armed Forces”

  1. Morning all. Later start today as I am going in on my motorbike – have an audit committee meeting late tonight 🙁

    1. What bike do you have? I’m too unstable, but Firstborn rides a Triumph Rocket 3 – but only when the snow & ice is gone.

      1. These days just a Suzuki Gladius but last bike was a Kawasaki z1000. A bit redundant in 20 mph London🙁

  2. Good morrow, gentlefolk. Today’s (recycled) story –Might be appreciated by those on here, waiting…

    FIVE SURGEONS
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/be981c2d811a739224334a699003361828f63704aa4d5ba1d31abe42ee135d3d.jpg
    Five surgeons are discussing who the best patients were to operate on.

    The first surgeon says, ‘I like to see Accountants on my operating table because when you open them up, everything inside is numbered.’

    The second responds, ‘Yeah, but you should try Electricians! Everything inside them is colour-coded.’

    The third surgeon says, ‘No, I really think Librarians are the best; everything inside them is in alphabetical order.’

    The fourth surgeon chimes in, ‘You know I like Construction Workers. Those guys always understand when you have a few parts left over at the end, and when the job takes longer than you said it would.’

    But the fifth surgeon shut them all up when he observed, ‘You’re all wrong. Politicians are the easiest to operate on. There’s no guts, no heart, no balls, no brains, and no spine, and there are only two moving parts – the mouth and the arsehole – and those are interchangeable’

  3. Morning, all Y’all.
    By Christ, it’s dark this morning. Rain & snow forecast – puh.

  4. Good Morning All. +10C overcast, dry and a slight breeze. The South Downs National Park.

  6. Wordle 955 4/6

    Good morning, chums. I did Wordle in four today.

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    1. Same here

      Wordle 955 4/6

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      1. Five here – I made a silly mistake and used the same (wrong) letter twice
        Wordle 955 5/6

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  7. Soulless recruitment puts young people off joining the Armed Forces

    Maybe if they put some posters up of Klaus Schwab pointing his finger saying,
    ‘Your WEF State Needs You To Fight For Western Net Zero Dystopia’ !

      2. The main muscle in a rib-eye steak is the longissimus dorsi, a
        long, tender muscle that runs from the cow’s hip bone to the shoulder
        blade. It’s tender because it doesn’t get much exercise. It’s also a
        muscle where a good amount of intramuscular fat tends to deposit; this
        fat, known as marbling, adds tons of moisture and flavor to a steak. The longissimus is also the primary muscle in strip steaks. There is another strip of muscle at the top of the steak called the spinalis dorsi, or rib-eye cap.

        2. Thank you, Philip and what do we call cuts from this muscle in English? Would the butcher understand me if I asked for a couple of Rib-eye steaks>

  10. World War Three is approaching fast, and too few are willing to admit why. 30 January 2024.

    The great danger is that failing autocracies will reason that they have less to lose by starting a conflict.

    Around the world, authoritarian regimes are failing. In an era of global stagnation, their inability to deliver on promises to provide jobs, tackle poverty and grow their middle classes is coming to a head. Paranoid about internal dissent, autocrats thus have a growing incentive to bet the farm on shoring up their power by focusing on external enemies, whether via expansionist regional wars or high-risk existential conflicts against the West.

    This is a one eyed look at the world. The real failure is a West in which democracy and freedom are no more. The UK itself is actually in the process of total physical collapse. Its State institutions. Health, Law, the Military etc. no longer work while Government lacks both the will and ability to cure these ills. The War when it comes will be used to distract from these realities but will probably bring on the end.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/29/world-war-three-is-approaching-fast-and-too-few-are-willing/

    1. She writes what she is paid to write, whether or not she knows the truth.

      Edit: It’s actually a shameless piece of warmonger’s propaganda

    2. Under the jaundiced authority of the Tories and likewise of the incoming Labour government, extremist policies demanded by outside entities e.g. UN, WHO, IMF etc. will become the norm. The government will attempt to grind us down.

      Therefore, it will become the duty of the people to ignore government diktats, e.g. conscription and any attempts at future jabbing with poisons etc. The people will need a strong character to rally around, the USA has Trump but at the moment we have no clear candidate. The monarch is a nonentity at best and any calls from that quarter to rally to that institution must be treated with the contempt they deserve.

      The military leadership is clearly leaning well on the side of woke and the very idea that these people could lead the Country into war is preposterous. We had Lions led by Donkeys over a hundred years ago and the start of WWII wasn’t much better, certainly in the Army. Now the Navy and the RAF are in up to their neck in woke and DIE. And as for the police…

      What the hell, I’m morphing into an anarchist.😎

    3. I suppose they aren’t talking about Western governments, where people are now routinely accepting life-changing policies that nobody ever voted for.

  11. Good morning all,

    Dawn reveals a cloudy sky over the McPhee’s in the N W Hants/ W Berks borderlands with the wind in the North-West, 6-7℃ so a bit cooler than the last couple of days.

    At least one Tory is prepared to speak out even if he doesn’t go far enough:

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/68e6e5f1125efcc44beafeee7e90fa6396b5571d09592707895fc12e6962728b.png

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/01/29/craig-mackinlay-rishi-sunak-net-zero-green-agenda-decline/

    I suppose calling for complete cancellation of the policies and the repeal of the Climate Change Act would have put him beyond the pale so let’s give him the benefit of doubt and say his aim is to achieve that by degrees. He’d better be quick; he hasn’t got long.

    I like the ⚓︎ on his tie. His WiKi page is interesting reading: He started off with UKIP becoming its founding treasurer and obviously decided the only way into Parliament would be through becoming a Tory. It’d be a shame if he lost his seat later this year, he seems to be a sound chap.

  13. Why can’t the major banks combine to open one site with tellers for each bank

    We do have them, almost, they are called Cash Points

    Numerous supermarkets are going the same way, with ‘self’ checkouts

    AI, lads it’s a coming your way

  14. Perhaps until our recruitment offices are based in Moscow or Beijing.

    More like, Bradford, Luton, Londonistan, Tehran

  15. Good morning all.
    A dull damp and drizzly 3°C this morning.

    Another letter today highlighting the dangers of the Don’t Care In The Community policies on mental health. Why did this lady’s attacker need to carry out the attack before being put into a safe place?

    Life in the aftermath of an attack by a stranger
    SIR – Thank you for your Leading Article (January 26) highlighting the care available for the mentally ill. However, can I ask you to spare a thought for their victims?

    In September 2021, I was physically assaulted in a public place. The effect of this attack has been acute. Both my physical and mental health were affected, although thankfully, with the help of my family, I am now much better. My attacker was a 23-year-old paranoid schizophrenic. He was tried in absentia in a Crown court, found guilty of grievous bodily harm, and is currently detained in a mental hospital.

    The hardest part of my ordeal has been the lack of awareness of these assaults on innocent people like me. There is no support group for victims, and the low public awareness means that recovery can be a very lonely process.

    Greater appreciation of the devastating results of an attack by a stranger with mental health issues might improve care and mean that we can all walk safely on our streets again.

    Anne Roberts
    Bridport, Dorset

    1. My own younger brother is a dangerous paranoid schizophrenic, went on tour in the 1980s smashing up prisons, and is currently incarcerated in a hostel in North London. His two children are perfectly sane and decent people – one became a social worker, and the other a teacher in a special school, and my brother is the only one of me and my siblings to have grandchildren.

      One evening, a number of people came up to me over a news item on the closure of the Friern Barnet mental asylum and the release of the inmates into “Care in the Community”. They said that there was a dangerous London nutter with the same name as me and who looked like me being released on the streets, and the reporter on the Nine O’Clock News was wondering if this was a good idea. Were we by any chance related?

      It was from this news report that a chilled-out cockney lady eager for a bit of rough, tracked him down, seduced him and bore his children. My brother was a threat to anyone with power over him, such as police officers, prison warders and psychiatric nurses, but even in his most drug-fuelled craziness could be trusted with children. He was on a mission to protect them and keep them safe from bad people.

    2. When I first heard about “diversity” from an instruction from the Blair Government to civil servants in 2005, i was hoping that this would mean that morris dancers would be as well represented on the BBC as rappers.

      I am still waiting.

  23. The humble hatchback that’s becoming uninsurable amid a spate of thefts
    Vulnerability of older models’ catalytic converters means they’re stolen more frequently

    Joe Wright
    29 January 2024 • 4:30pm
    Related Topics
    Crime, Insurance industry, Motoring

    Honda Jazz SE models have become a particular target of thieves looking to steal parts
    The humble Honda Jazz is becoming uninsurable following a spate of thefts which has increased the risks of providing cover.

    Drivers of the car have been denied cover by the provider LV= following a sharp spike in catalytic converter thefts which has made theft too costly to insure.

    The insurer said it has made the “difficult decision” to stop offering quotes to drivers of the SE model made between 2001 and 2008.

    It said the model had become a particular target of thieves looking to steal valuable parts.

    Some 38,000 people drive a Honda Jazz SE. Thousands more drive the latest models, which have won a string of awards including What Car?’s “Small Car of the Year”.

    Criminal gangs wielding hacksaws target the popular hatchback as its catalytic converter – made of precious platinum, palladium and rhodium metals – is easy to access and strip off due to the car’s higher ground clearance.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/bills/cars/honda-jazz-se-lv-insurance-catalytic-converter-spate-thefts/?li_source=LI&li_medium=for_you

    1. This is only going to get worse as we go into a predicted commodity cycle and the value of these things rises.

    1. One dreads to think what Winnie would make of what his successors have done to that country he saved!

    2. My abiding memory of that day is the long-shot of the funeral train steaming across the Thames.

      1. The cranes dipping in the Pool of London.

        Above all hoping and praying that the Bearer Party – as it swayed down the aisle – would not drop the coffin.

    4. Churchill’s funeral is the first national event that I was aware of. Though there was a confusing crossover to the funeral of Mr Robertson, our village baker, as he died around the same time and his funeral cortege commenced from his bakery across the road from our house.

    1. I used to live in Clapgate Lane in Ipswich – I wonder if that’s how it got its name?

    3. Today’s ramblers are not as smartly dressed as the three walkers in the clip.

      Anoraks, sensible walking boots and woolly hats – with or without bobbles – are now de rigueur.

      Randonneurs and randonneuses, as ramblers are called in France, march through the countryside in gangs and use their elbows very sharply, purposefully and aggressively when they meet others on a footpath.

      When I go for a walk I do so at my own pace and not in a large group. I prefer my own company or the company of just one companion. I learnt this poem by heart when I was at prep school.

      Leisure (1911) – W.H.Davies

      What is this life if, full of care,
      We have no time to stand and stare?-

      No time to stand beneath the boughs
      And stare as long as sheep or cows:

      No time to see, when woods we pass,
      Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

      No time to see, in broad daylight,
      Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

      No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
      And watch her feet, how they can dance:

      No time to wait till her mouth can
      Enrich that smile her eyes began?

      A poor life this if, full of care,
      We have no time to stand and stare.

        1. Some phrases to put you off:

          ‘We’re lost – you’ve got us lost.’
          ‘My feet are sore’
          ‘My socks are wet.’
          ‘It’s getting dark.’
          ‘Mongo’s gone off.’
          ‘Mongo’s stopped and won’t move.’
          ‘I’m hungry’
          ‘I need to pee.’
          ‘Get out of that tree, now!’
          ‘Mongo, put that tree down.’
          ‘Me: Mongo. Drop. Drop it.’ (usually followed by Junior saying ‘Mongo, is that for me? Oh, thank you!’) – blasted beast
          ‘Is that a bear?’
          ‘Are they dangerous?’
          ‘Can I pat him?’
          ‘How much do they eat?’
          ‘Dear, would you call Oscar, please? He’s still in the river’
          ‘Mongo, no, not the….puddle.’
          ‘Mongo, no, not….(doggy shake and leaps at you) yes, I love you too.’
          ‘He’s not getting in the car like that. He needs a wash.’
          And from the 5 layers of t shirts, jumpers, fleece, coat, winter coat, survival tent, heated gloves, 3 pairs of socks, leggings, leggings (2 for emphasis), thermal underwear, jeans swaddled Michelin Man impressionist known in these parts as the Warqueen: ‘I’m cold’

          Usually followed by ‘It’s August, and 32’c I’m a human puddle. You’re wearing more clothes than an Arctic explorer. How can you be cold? ‘There’s a draught, I’m going back to the car.’

          It all sounds terrible (and it is) but sometimes you get moments so sublime they make life worth living: Such as Junior asking… if stars are other suns, why aren’t they yellow like ours? Or the five of us having pottered up a hill overlooking Lake Como, Junior was about 6, Mongo panting like a steam train as a 1 year old full of energy – and already taller than the boy sat down, both leaning against one another with the warqueen on the other side on a beautiful blue day with a nice breeze looking down on this wonderful view.

  27. US may take several rounds of action for fatal drone attack, Antony Blinken says. 30 January 2024.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last night that the Middle East is experiencing an “incredibly volatile time” as Israel’s war in Gaza continues to fuel violence across the Middle East.

    “We’ve not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we’re facing now across the region since at least 1973, and arguably even before that,” he told reporters, as he echoed President Biden’s vow to retaliate.

    The US response “could be multileveled, come in stages and be sustained over time,” Mr Blinken said.

    Sounds like the beginning!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/01/30/israel-hamas-war-latest-news-gunmen-jenin-hospital/

    1. Effective courses of action are rather limited when death for islam is seen as noble and most islamic countries cant be bombed back to the stone age, they are already there. I suppose it might be a change to take out their nuclear facilities.

    4. All absurd. Biden should be saying ‘Oi, Palestine! Wind your neck in!’ but for some reason we never demand muslim behave like adults.

  28. Need to spend a penny in the countryside? It could cost you.

    URINATING in the countryside is littering, a council insisted as it fined two men for the offence.

    Michael Mason, who has a weakened prostate, was fined by Dacorum borough council in Hertfordshire after he pulled his car over into a lay-by to urinate, BBC News reported in December.

    Another man was also fined under similar circumstances.

    Mr Mason, who was 45 minutes into a two-hour journey, told the BBC: “I made sure nobody could see me and was very, very discreet.”

    Both men were stopped by an employee of District Enforcement, a private company contracted by the council to issue penalty fines.

    However, David Armstrong, the lawyer whose advice the council has based its fines on has said it was misapplied.

    Dacorum council said some fines had been rescinded.

    Mr Armstrong, who specialises in public sector clients, wrote: “To be litter, it must be capable of causing or leading to defacement and also must be left behind. Both of these can be very difficult to prove evidentially. If challenged, both must be proven. For example, I have no problems at all with persons urinating in streets being prosecuted under section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act.”

    However, when Mr Armstrong was contacted by The Guardian, he said the council had misapplied his advice, but also defended his classification of public urination as littering (in an urban context).

    Nick Freeman, a lawyer who calls himself “Mr Loophole” on social media, questioned Dacorum council’s fines.

    He told the BBC: “I would argue as a lawyer that the very fact it [the Environmental Protection Act 1990] does not mention urine clearly indicates that urine is not a piece of litter, it is not in any way any form of litter.”

    He added that Dacorum council’s view of litter “is contrary to the legislation and it is contrary to its everyday meaning and therefore, in my view, legally, they are wrong”.
    In a statement to the newspaper, Dacorum council said: “The council has sought legal advice on the use of littering fixed penalty notices for urination and is satisfied that urination would be covered by the relevant legislation.”

    It added: “The council does acknowledge that each case has to be assessed on its own merits, taking account of the specific location and any particular characteristics of the individual involved, and there is a right of representation for individuals to submit representations which will be duly considered.

    “This process has resulted in fixed penalty notices being rescinded in specific circumstances.”

    Lambeth council also lists public urination as an “environmental offence” that can be punished by a fixed penalty notice of £150 (or £100 if paid within 10 days).

    Both Richmond and Bedford councils classify public urination as a littering offence.

    All other forms of animal life may piss in the open air but not humans. Except, of course, for Parisian men who openly use pissoirs in the street; and not forgetting scores of inebriated British women who squat in the shop-doorway of Marks & Sparks at 0300hrs after emerging from nightclubs.

    1. Aren’t “District Enforcement” and Dacorum Council both guilty of extortion by subcontracting statutory powers by issuing penalty fines? They should at least stand up in a court of law.

      There is also the issue of “litter”. I do consider anything that is readily biodegradable to be litter, so long as it is not a public nuisance or health hazard. Urinating in a rural hedgerow is not either, but leaving dog faeces unburied is (the test is that it would leave a shoe unmarked if trod on). Both would count in an urban street.

      1. Up here there are sheep turds everywhere but receptacles for dog poo and during the tourist season there’s human poo in all the laybys due to lack of public toilets

    2. Typically our over trained members of local authorities are being stupid again. What’s the big problem with stopping for a pee behind a tree or some shrubbery. What sort of plonkers would want the job of inforcement. If any saw two men snooping around in the countryside you might be very suspicious.
      Our dog use to pee whilst out for a walk with me. But I always bagged and carried away the solids.
      Then the idiots in councils took most of the bins away.

    3. Men – and even women and children – in rural France happily and unashamedly pee into the grass verge or hedge by the side of the road which is far better than peeing on tarmac. They do not have the British legal restriction that they should pee against the wheels of their carriages.

      1. I can personally vouch for that from last night, except it was into the ditch, and you would have needed IF goggles to see me.

    6. Does say exactly where these council low life’s were operating Grizz ?
      Littering is obviously so much more of a bad example of the disgusting behaviour we have in our country these days.
      Taking a pee behind some bushes is hardly a problem. It’s been happening for thousands of years.

    7. District Enforcement, a private company contracted by the council to issue penalty fines. Might be worth investigating whether there are links between the ‘independent’ company and any of the councillors who gave them the contract, and whether those handing out the fines are on a commission.

    8. Does this forum believe there is a lack of decorum in Dacorum, or are they just taking the pee?

    9. I wonder if they’d peed into a bottle and then emptied the bottle, would that be fined? Just say ‘it was gone off Iron Bru or Lucozade.

    1. There’s a little corner shop near us. It’s run by a little old lady who when we left Mongo outside went to make a fuss of him as he looked through the window (he has this little boy lost look about him).

      Now we pass it on our way home and Junior and Mongo go in together and do the shop – only boring stuff like eggs and milk and bread but it’s quite funny what Mongo’s occasionally had us buy. Beans and sausages was an expected, but shampoo wasn’t.

  30. Morning all 🙂😊
    It’s been raining, better than frost, but I suppose this time of year glow ball warming.
    Why would anyone in their right state of mind want to join the armed forces. Something else our political classes have effed up.

  31. Politics latest news: Justin Welby wrong over small boats crisis, suggests Nigel Farage
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/01/30/rishi-sunak-latest-news-dup-northern-ireland-farage/

    7 upvotes in less than a minute – this is the sort of BTL which will soon have upvotes docked by the DT censoring squad!

    Richard Tracey
    1 MIN AGO – 7 upvotes
    Message Actions
    Welby should be expelled from the Church of England.
    He is not a Christian – he is a Muslim mole and is working towards the goal of Islam replacing the Church of England.

    And another BTL Comment:

    Welby was hand-picked to be the Archpillock of Canterbury by his fellow Etonian and avowed atheist, David Cameron, with the specific instruction to destroy the Church of England.

    Now that Cameron is back in government he is delighted to see how well Welby is following instructions.

    2. Welby is typical of a champagne socialist clique. He exists in a gilded tower where money is infinite – because you’ve never had to worry about it – where there are no consequences for choices and where everyone can have anything – because you’ve never known any different.

      It is a uniquely rich Lefty attitude that stinks of over education and under experience.

      At the other end there are people struggling in genuine poverty who ‘want more’ but rather than government giving them the chance of earning and keeping more for themselves is, by those same rich Lefties; just given more of other people’s money by the state.

      Thus exacerbating and reinforcing the problem because saying ‘your life, your choices’ the rich Lefty gets to feel better about themselves and the state buys a vote/expands

  32. Two threes – I’m on a lucky streak. Euromillions tonight???

    Wordle 955 3/6

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  34. I don’t need my sexuality affirmed at a railway station – I just want the trains to run on time. 30 January 2024.

    London Bridge is quite a confusing station. So many exits and so many entrances. There is a massive number of platforms and sometimes services suddenly move from one platform to another, so you have to dash right across the station. Sometimes you look in vain for staff to help you, and sometimes when you find them, they say things like, “Your guess is as good as mine, love.”

    Call me a basic b**** but what I require of Network Rail is trains running on schedule, clear signposting, assistance for those who need it, and to feel safe on trains and at stations.

    At the moment I am re-reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which is set in the 1890’s. One of the things that has struck me is the ubiquity of the Rail Transport in the stories. Holmes and Watson have to use it in any journey longer than ten miles since no other viable long distance transport exists. In fact because of it Holmes himself could not have existed much before this time.

    This is the age of Steam and Coal and yet the Railway functions with astonishing efficiency. They are able to make connections and return from long trips within a single day. No mention of delays or breakdowns. Now of course it might be said that this is fiction but it is difficult to see how Conan-Doyle could have left himself open to a charge of misrepresentation that would have had a negative effect on the popularity of Holmes. It would have been jeered and parodied. There was I think a moment in British History where its Civilisation, Culture and Attainments reached their absolute zenith. That was sometime around 1900!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2024/01/30/london-bridge-pride-column-trains-virtue-signalling/

    1. A gentleman of the time was expected to be able to negotiate his way with ease through Bradshaw’s Railway Guide (the timetable, not the tourist guide used by Michael Portillo). I have a reprint of the 1922 edition. It is formidable and in places almost impenetrable.

      We might be critical of BR and what followed but the all-line printed timetable was a model of clarity compared with Bradshaw.

      1. I remember the big thick red Thomas Cook railway timetable from my interrailing days 1985-1988.

        We misread the journey time to Athens from Munich through Yugoslavia…

    1. I can hear the laughter from the state even now.

      Why we open a petition for parliament to debate it is beyond me. We are their masters. If we say leave the damned thing, then that is what should happen. Nothing else applies. The state has got to learn to metaphorically walk at heel.

      1. To paraphrase Mark Twain, These polls are much like voting; if they made a difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.

    1. In a similar vein, my local surgery texted me yesterday to offer me the opportunity to download a new app. ‘Holly Health’ will apparently help me ‘manage conditions and wellbeing’.

      There wasn’t time or space to mention the 1.3 million health records leaked by a Dutch IT company last week.

    3. This is totally unconnected to the news, was it two years ago? that the NHS is sharing its databases of patient information with private industry.
      Complete coincidence.
      Anyway, you got a tenner, what are you complaining about?

    1. Alex Chalk is the current Secretary of State for Justice and apparently the only person who can even query the parole board’s decisions.

    2. 382594+ up ticks,

      Morning P,

      That Tommy Robinson has a great deal to answer for in trying to stop the successful march of paedophilia.

      He was in the EDL
      you know.

    3. Unfortunately release on parole at mid-sentence is a given norm for all criminals sentenced to custodial terms and is only refused if their behaviour inside has been appallingly bad.

      1. Not many young white girls in a men’s prison might have something to do with their behaviour inside being ok?

        1. Nelson’s Column will soon have its own minaret on top as will the Shard and The Cenotaph.

  41. 382594+ up ticks,

    A great deal of good is currently hanging on Trump winning, hanging also comes into being with our politico’s, on an already proven treason charge

    I am anti hanging BUT these peoples, this criminal WEF cartel are running a very,very serious anti GB campaign, & via the polling stations, winning.

    In view of political treacherous actions, exceptions can be made.

    I do believe they, the anti Brit, WEF/NWO politico’s tire now in making the electorate their manipulative plaything, and seeking
    any war as a culling tool for the indigenous gullible.

    https://x.com/ExodusGhost/status/1751933688521097642?s=20

  42. ‘Morning All

    Not saying I’m a bit grumpy but……….

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b2c4a7d77af52f935733b1c499fd5803db2a632781a3857bf24047c961e183bf.jpg

    Rest of the medley

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b2e3eb73fd5d48bb7ac7af50f5a66cc34d1c93f2d578d29d9c29223305891b83.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e068a0eccb78701f60d70e7ee0cbe84da7512ce6393fc6db1ac8697cf73085ce.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a206f0d24a6228b2b8a1b95597a1aff0cd46fadd67cb3c3f5fabe9cf953475ca.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/12ae1e0acc9cc034df6a7011de1a95e8182572baf0a139172ebb626b53d4c8d1.jpg

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/32921bcb7cb0c80a4a5359da651e5aef03f153a670d32cb394bff82d85252790.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1259a755d4bc120e698a763661d5560acd718715f442e06d37e2306ad496ca8a.jpg

  43. By the way, that delightful special cunstable (sic) who told the pianist that singing hymns was illegal – is BULGARIAN.

    One wonders, does one not?

  44. 382594+ up ticks,

    Funny that innit,

    What is not funny is if the release of the political / friends dogs of war is down, unless there is radical change,
    to the electorate majority, and the last three plus decades regarding their pedigree is anything but encouraging.

    Could very well be mushrooms make giant killing,END.

    https://x.com/gazcon/status/1752097093278204295?s=20

    1. All this propaganda is coordinated. They’ve just come back from Davos with their instructions.

    2. I doubt if Russia has any designs on Europe. She just wishes to protect her borders from the NATO threat – so NATO beware.

  46. I have managed to encourage Moh’s help clearing stuff from the spare room , piled high with boxes of china , glassware and photographs , and stuff never used in a month of Sundays . We got distracted looking at slides early sixties ..Moh’s early youth, and his photograph albums of family holidays , many many albums , cutlery Edwardian NPS, plus an old PanAm flight bag in a bit of a sorry state.

    We haven’t cleared a thing so far .. 2 hours on .. although the landing is now full of boxes , so that we can access other boxes . No one collects stamps , uses dinner services , Royal Doulton , if any one is interested . Old books of poetry , non fiction, history , biographies , stuff I read in my early youth . Old nursing books etc, what am I going to do with stuff?

    2. Ask at your local charity shop, Belle. We cleared most of Mother’s house to Marie Curie, who were very grateful.
      Your lot may not take the broken PanAm bag, though…

    3. I would be interested in a Royal Dalton dinner service (i still give dinner parties). Any pictures? And what would you like £ for it?

    6. Sounds like life at the Dower House.
      On Thursday, our chap is boarding out the half done attic.
      Bit of a mixed blessing as it will give us more space to store STUFF; and MB is not as ruthless as I am.

    7. I use dinner services (but I do own an everyday and a “best” one so I don’t need any more).

  51. It isn’t just our manufacturing that has been bought by overseas concerns. The following car dealer groups have gone as well. US-based Lithia bought Pendragon’s dealerships plus Jardine Motors, US-owned Sytner bought Rybrook, Canada’s Global Auto Holdings bought Lookers and Constellation Automotive bought Marshall. These aren’t just local garage, some of them have about 100 outlets.

      1. The Muslipolitan Perlice Farce would never allow the protests that yer French are “enjoying”…

        1. Perhaps, but they’d be hard pushed if thousands of farmers drove their tractors and combine ‘arvesters onto the motorways or into the cities.

          1. Nah – they’d ban it before it started and have armed perlice stopping the tractors coming anywhere near London.

            And – unlike the French – we are not accustomed to mob violence in the streets (only on the wendyball terraces).

            Remember, too, that the French police belong to the same trade union as many workers.

        1. They are! Race relations act, on line harms act, human rights act – all designed solely to ensure you cannot complain about what criminal welfare shoppers do.

        2. No wonder the ‘They’ fixed things up so they could remove all firearms from public ownership.
          ‘They’ must have been planning these horrible offensive situations for decades.

        1. I’ve already suggested to our 8 year old eldest grandson he needs to go and live somewhere else as soon as he can.

          3. Things could change Ellie, but not in the cess pit that’s been created by our own politico’s.

          4. I’m sure i don’t need to say this but…………….try not to scare the little chap. Use wiles instead. look how wonderful such and such a place is…

  54. EU Plotting to ‘Sabotage’ Hungarian Economy over Orbán’s Opposition to Ukraine Funding: Report

    The European Union has reportedly drawn up a scheme to “sabotage” Hungary’s economy by attacking the country’s currency and access to capital markets over Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s opposition to a further 50 billion euros in funding to Ukraine.

    According to a report from the globalist Financial Times newspaper, a document produced by the EU Council — the agenda-setting federal body of the bloc — has laid out plans for Brussels to target the Hungarian Forint currency and scare off investors to “sabotage” the country’s economy in an unprecedented way.

    The document allegedly states that for the Hungarian economy, “jobs and growth . . . depend to a large extent” on investment from abroad and EU funding, giving Eurocrats the ability to severely damage the country’s economic stability.

    The scheme comes amid an ongoing dispute between Budapest and Brussels over the proposed €50 billion ($54bn/£42.5bn) in additional aid to Ukraine. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been the chief opponent to pouring more money into the conflict and a lone voice among European leaders consistently calling for peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

    The populist Hungarian leader has said that he plans to use his national veto power to block the funds, sparking outrage among globalist factions within the bloc that he would deign to use the democratic powers afforded to his country to oppose more funding for the war. There have even been suggestions of stripping away the national veto power within the EU to prevent further roadblocks to the neo-liberal agenda favoured by power players in Berlin, Brussels, and Paris.

    The document is claimed to have said that “in the case of no agreement in the February 1 [summit], other heads of state and government would publicly declare that in the light of the unconstructive behaviour of the Hungarian PM . . . they cannot imagine that” EU funding would be given to Hungary.

    Should this occur, the document goes on to predict that “financial markets and European and international companies might be less interested to invest in Hungary” and that Brussles’ actions “could quickly trigger a further increase of the cost of funding of the public deficit and a drop in the currency.”

    While the EU Council refused to comment on the leaked plans to attack the Hungarian economy, unnamed EU diplomats appeared to confirm the plot, telling the FT: “The mood has got harsher,” and “What kind of union do we have if we allow this kind of behaviour?”.

    Although the EU has previously used economic levers against member states, such as withholding coronavirus emergency relief funds against conservative countries like Hungary and Poland largely over disputes surrounding LGBT issues and migration, the plans reportedly laid out by the EU Council are considered to be a dramatic escalation.

    The Europe director for the political consultancy Eurasia Group, Mujtaba Rahman said: “This is Europe telling Viktor Orbán ‘enough is enough; it’s time to get in line. You may have a pistol, but we have the bazooka’.”

    Despite the public displays of consternation from Eurocrats, Budapest has offered a compromise on Ukraine funding, offering to back the latest round of funding so long as further funding is put up for a vote on at least an annual basis, rather than giving Brussels a blank check to fund the war indefinitely. Yet it appears that the EU leadership has little interest in such a compromise over concerns that Hungary could use the yearly vote to “blackmail” the EU into backing down on other issues, such as migration.

    Responding to the alleged scheme from the EU to attack his country’s economy, Hungarian EU Minister János Bóka said that Budapest “does not give in to pressure”.

    “Hungary does not establish a connection between support for Ukraine and access to EU funds, and rejects other parties doing so,” Bóka said. “Hungary has and will continue to participate constructively in the negotiations.”

    In addition to standing in the way of further funding for the Western proxy war with Russia, Hungary has also thrown cold water on the expansionist vision of EU Cheif Ursula von der Leyen and other globalists in Brussels to admit Ukraine into the European Union on an accelerated time frame. Orbán has argued that doing so would be irresponsible given the negative economic ramifications on industries such as farming, continued corruption in Ukraine, and most importantly, the likelihood of Europe being dragged into a full-on war with Russia over border disputes in Ukraine.
    *
    *
    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/01/30/eu-plotting-to-sabotage-hungarian-economy-over-orbans-opposition-to-ukraine-funding-report/

      1. They’d be less keen if, as in days of yore, they were expected to lead their troops into battle. They’re cowards as well as bullies.

      2. I think they do. A war would hide their crimes against humanity, the death and injury figures would get lost in the myriad death and injury figures of the war.

    1. Half of Hindu’s are vegetarian. As far as fasting goes i think he’s a liar. I am fasting today because i have a hospital procedure tomorrow and i already want to kill someone.

    2. Intermittent fasting is supposed to reset your body’s immune system and boost repair – because it has nothing else to do.

      It’s not bad or good for you. It’s just a choice.

    3. Fasting for between ten and twelve hours every day, that is to say, overnight, is quite long enough. As Jordan Peterson points out, it’s best to break-fast as soon as possible when you wake in the morning and never skip that meal.

      1. I breakfast at weekends, when there’s time to enjoy it. Very rarely eat lunch, and have supper pretty well every day. Keeps my grumpiness at top level!

      2. Well I usually have finished eating by 6:30 pm and have breakfast around 9:00 am. That’s must be acceptable as far as Fasting is concerned.
        I’ve never really considered it before.

      3. I don’t have breakfast very early so go 12-14 hours usually overnight. It’s different if you have to get up and go to work…… I can suit myself what and when I eat.

        1. Many years ago when I was at art college, my roommate and I decided we’d try going without food for 24 hours. About 20 hours in, one of our housemates decided to eat a hearty supper right in front of us. We were nice gels really but we threatened to ram the plate down the poor guy’s throat. He pointed out of course that it was our choice and he wasn’t wrong but we were past being rational by that point!

          1. Reminds me of when i let rooms in Birmingham. One of my lodgers was a right on veggie sister. Doc Martins and cardigans ! I bought a leather Chesterfield suite from Times Furnishings. She said it made her feel uncomfortable to sit on it. I pointed out she wore leather shoes.

            Can you imagine students living in digs where the landlord provides such furnishings?

          2. Leather sofas are hard-wearing, and relatively easy to clean – unlike cloth-clad furniture that wears away and is easily torn, and soaks up spills.

          3. I had it for 25 years. Even when i moved in to my now bungalow. Eventually got fed up with it because of the size. Plus i wasn’t entertaining such large groups anymore.
            I had a sideboard delivered from British Heart Foundation and i asked the guy if he wanted it. He had difficulty believing i was just giving it away. Other than a couple of claw marks it was immaculate.

          4. It is extraordinary the perfectly good stuff that they WON’T take – because of elfin safety, fire regs etc etc.

          5. I know. Soft furnishings that don’t have the new labels etc.

            No one seems to want the dark heavy furniture any more. I have some beautiful pieces from BHF for a few £’s and pennies. Lovely deep glow when polished and lasts forever.
            I have a very ornate writing desk with rare wood inlays which i got for £100.

          6. Tell us about it.
            Freecycle is your friend.
            And nice chaps at the tip who actually believe in recycling.

          12. I eat one meal every 48 hours and never experience hunger. Hunger is driven by eating sugar and carbohydrates, neither of which are necessary for the health and nourishment of humans. Eating such crap gives your blood sugar a spike that increases insulin production. This, in turn, drives a craving for more sugar and carbs.

            Since I started my intermittent fasting along with a natural (for humans) high-fat, medium-protein, low-carb, no-sugar diet, my health fitness and wellbeing have all improved exponentially.

      5. Jordan Peterson (as I’ve recently discovered) talks a lot, and on many subjects he talks bollocks.

    2. Can’t we try with a more positive and realistic goal in mind, not Carbon Net Zero, but Immigration Net Zero, just for starters.

      2. I’ve enjoyed a great deal of it to the extent that it’s a fundamental part of my cultural pleasure. If it disappeared in a puff of smoke, my life would be much greyer.

      1. I think Loni is perfectly serious, hence the reply. Some people on Twitt do take themselves awfully seriously!

  61. Net migration to push UK population over 70 million 11 years earlier than expected. 30 January 2024

    Net migration is on course to drive the population over 70 million by 2026, 11 years earlier than predicted, official figures show.

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also estimated net migration will increase Britain’s population by nearly 10 per cent, or 6.1 million by mid-2036.

    TOP COMMENT BELOW THE LINE.

    Jimminy Johnonson.

    A betrayal of proportions not ever seen in this country that will affect this country in not a single positive way. Our country has changed forever and not a single person has voted for it.

    I’m surprised that they allowed any comments! I don’t believe the figures either!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/30/net-migration-uk-population-over-70-million-2026-ons/

        2. Based on food purchases, too much of which is thrown away despite being perfectly edible.

          1. They may well factor that in. However it’s probably more accurate than the government finger in the air method.

    2. We have been invaded and when Suella Braverman used the word she was vilified and abused.

      This is no accident – it was planned many years ago by Soros who recruited Blair, Brown, Cameron Clegg and the grimy brothers Miliband amongst others.

    3. We have been invaded and when Suella Braverman used the word she was vilified and abused.

      This is no accident – it was planned many years ago by Soros who recruited Blair, Brown, Cameron Clegg and the grimy brothers Miliband amongst others.

  63. Fascinating chap and a great tosser.

    Charlie Allan, economist and farmer who was best known as a champion caber tosser – obituary

    Allan would run fast before jumping ahead of the caber, landing on his heels, legs bent, with only momentum stopping him falling backwards

    Charlie Allan, who has died aged 84, was a Scottish farmer, economics lecturer, broadcaster, newspaper columnist, singer, composer of bothy ballads – and champion caber tosser.

    Over 17 years beginning in the 1960s, Allan was a major figure on the highland games circuit, competing in all the heavyweight events, including throwing the weight over the bar, shot put, heavy hammer and light hammer.

    But it was for his caber-tossing skills that he became best known, winning the World Championship at the Aberdeen Highland Games in 1972 and coming second at Geelong, Australia, the following year.

    In a memoir, The World’s Greatest Tosser, his rival Doug Edmunds described his technique: “Charlie Allan… would run with considerable speed before jumping ahead of the caber, landing on his heels, legs bent, with only momentum preventing him from falling backwards. This enabled him to impart a mighty turning moment as the top of the caber raced forward while he lifted the bottom back over his head.”

    Allan was also a bit of a showman and, despite his 6 ft, 18 st bulk, enjoyed competing in the high jump. Unlike other competitors, however, he always kept his kilt on, to keep the crowd guessing – and make them laugh.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/obituaries/2024/01/29/TELEMMGLPICT000364497733_17065544164240_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqsCeQjxzWPLCChZfcK-aKCuBSLyzpthYZiErpOJGgojg.jpeg?imwidth=960
    Allan advertising Scottish beef in 1980

    An only child, Charles Maitland Allan was born in a taxi at Stirling on August 19 1939 to John Allan, a journalist and author, and Jean, née Mackie, an educationalist and poet. Both parents came from Aberdeenshire farming stock, and during the war, with his father away and his mother working, Charlie lived for a time with his maternal grandparents on their farm near Tarves. After the war the family moved to his father’s family farm, Little Ardo at Methlick.

    Charlie was sent to a succession of progressive schools, ending up at Dartington Hall in Devon, where he shone at football and cricket. He earned a month’s trial for Aberdeen FC and a contract with a club in the Highland League, but chose to go to university instead.

    He read economics at Aberdeen, where he was captain of the basketball team and played for the cricket 1st XI and the rugby 1st XV. He won small cash prizes in throwing and jumping events in athletics competitions and began competing in highland games, under the name Ivor Smith for a couple of years to maintain his amateur status, competitions with cash prizes being considered professional.

    After graduating with a First, he embarked on an academic career as an economics lecturer at Dundee University and later at Glasgow, St Andrews and Strathclyde universities. He was the author of a textbook called Theory of Taxation, published by Penguin Modern Economics Texts in 1971 and subsequently translated into several languages.

    In a later article he described the emotions he experienced after winning his first major trophy, the Chieftain’s Trophy at the Aboyne Highland Games in 1968: “To say I was pleased would be a gross understatement, but in the highland games you are not expected to… cry.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/obituaries/2024/01/29/TELEMMGLPICT000364485451_17065542759650_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqCfnMzJYqx8hdFOVBlzUhNw9KSQKEQVZATaOm2KyTsLc.jpeg?imwidth=960
    Charlie Allan in 1965 throwing the 28lb stone during the Braemar Highland Gathering CREDIT: Cowper/Central Press/Getty

    On the train back to Glasgow, however, he put the large wooden box containing the trophy on the table “and let go. A kind old lady came up and asked if it was the remains of some loved one in the box and if it would help to talk about it. I hadn’t the heart to tell her that these were tears of triumph.”

    Other highlights of his career included being part of an eight-week highland games exhibition event in the Bahamas, and taking part in games in San Francisco and Tokyo, where his caber nearly knocked out a few members of the pipe band.

    In the mid-1970s he moved back to Methlick to become the sixth generation of his family to run the family farm. There he became one of the first farmers to import Simmental cattle, a breed he showed to great success, winning the Supreme Championship at Perth Bull Sales.

    That led to broadcasting work with BBC Radio Scotland and Radio 4, presenting Scottish Farming News and Farming Today programmes until 1985, when he took three years off to accompany his wife Fiona to Kenya, where she had a British Council job. There he picked up work for the BBC World Service, joined the Nairobi Cricket Club and became a columnist for the Glasgow Herald.

    https://youtu.be/DIiU7X_OKKQ

    He continued to keep fit, running two marathons in the 1980s and later taking up cycling, once completing a 100-mile charity ride in four and a half hours. He established a cricket club, Laird’s, at Methlick on land owned by Lord Aberdeen. In 1997 he passed the farm to his daughter Sarah and her husband.

    At the age of 10, Allan had sung a bothy ballad on BBC Children’s Hour and he continued to perform and compose in later life, becoming fluent in the Doric dialect of the North East of Scotland. He published two autobiographical novels which contained anecdotes about such family members as John Yull, “whose horse, Clatterin’ Jean, would get him home from anywhere in Aberdeenshire, drunk or sober”.

    In 1961 Charlie Allan married Fiona Vine, who survives him with their two daughters and two sons.

    Charlie Allan, born August 19 1939, died December 13 2023

  64. Lines written* after a Battle of Britain dinner in 1963:

    “I came away from that gentle, touching, tatty little party with a heavy and sad heart. The England those boys died for has disappeared. Our history, except for stupid, squalid, social scandals, is over.

    We are now best by the “clever ones,” all the cheap, frightened people. The young men who are angry ad mediocre, the playwrights who can see nothing but defeat and who have no pride, no knowledge of the past, no reverence for our lovely heritage, nothing but sick kowtowing to fear of death. Perhaps – just perhaps – someone will rise up and say, “This isn’t good enough.” There is still the basic English character to hold on to.”

    Well, the old boy was wrong, wasn’t he. No one DID rise up…..

    *Author to be revealed in due course!!

          2. Julian Clary bought the 15th century farmhouse that had belonged to Noel Coward. He tells the story of how he moved in and hung his modern art collection around the walls. Apparently in the early hours of the following morning the whole lot fell crashing down, simultaneously. Clary says that he just shrugged, thought “that’s Noel saying he doesn’t approve” and didn’t attempt to re-hang them.

      1. He carried on:

        “I despise the young who see no quality in our great past and who spit, with phoney, left-wing disdain, on all that we, as a race, have contributed to the living world.”

        And he wasn’t wrong there, was he?

    1. And of course any one behind you too close to see their number plate is extremely dangerous.

        1. Riding my Kawasaki on the Autobahn was a new experience for me. Check mirror. Fine. 10 seconds later check mirror…arghhh. Kept happening too.

        2. I always make sure our wiper reservoir if full and squirt the bastards it usually works. Diving through puddles at the side
          Of the road does the trick as well.

    2. And you reach an age when you become the kind of driver you used to shout at when you were in your 20s and 30s…

    1. Brilliant ! They could use that video as a tool to weed out psychopaths. Anyone not caring if it succeeded is suspect.

      1. I know – one is rooting for the little creature and that last long fall is a heart-stopping, hear-in-the-mouth moment. And mother bear pacing at the top in an “I don’t know what to do” fashion is distressing.

    2. “Come on, son, do keep up.”

      That energy came from where? And then just continue running after mum!

    5. Interesting that the bear didn’t go down to encourage the cub. That, I suppose is the way to raise kids that are tough enough to survive in the wilderness.
      A human parent would be prosecuted by SS if they let a child struggle like that!

      1. I know, all the way through I was thinking, ‘isn’t she going down to help him? Why isn’t she going to help him?’ Survival of the fittest, which is why we are where we are today.

      2. I know, all the way through I was thinking, ‘isn’t she going down to help him? Why isn’t she going to help him?’ Survival of the fittest, which is why we are where we are today.

  67. Steerpike
    MPs lambast Spectator sale to the UAE
    30 January 2024, 1:42pm

    Few phrases are more likely to get the blood of ministers going than the words ‘Urgent Question.’ Today it was the turn of media minister Julia Lopez, summoned to the House to answer MPs’ queries about the sale of the Telegraph and Spectator titles to RedBird IMI, an entity run by the former head of CNN, Jeff Zucker, and backed financially by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    The UQ was tabled in the name of Alicia Kearns, chair of the influential Foreign Affairs Committee, who asked Lopez what safeguards were in place to stop foreign state-owned companies buying up the British media. Lopez told the House that she could not offer any new information but was there to listen to MPs’ views. It prompted Sir Iain Duncan Smith to remark drily on the novelty of being told that ‘it’s a waste of our time being here.’

    Julian Lewis got the loudest laugh of the day when he suggested that much like ‘that wonderful artist Taylor Swift’, perhaps the affected journalists ought to ‘re-record’ their back catalogues in the event of a sale. Jamie Stone meanwhile perhaps put it best when he remarked that ‘the mood of the House is that this is simply not on.’

    Over to you Lucy Frazer…

    https://youtu.be/BQcFoS1DMIc

    https://youtu.be/oPZyiykd0_A

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

    No HS2…No EU
    2 hours ago edited
    The UAE maybe one thing but Jeff ‘CNN’ Zucker is as bad as selling out to a consortium headed by Rusbridger, or whatever his name was, the destroyer of Grauniads ……

    1. In truth, none of them cares a hoot about it.

      They appear to be working themselves into a lather – but conveniently ignoring net zero, tens of thousands of illegals flooding in etc etc.

          1. What is shocking is the fact that they tout the Net Zero bollocks as if it was a new religion ……

    2. If only they’d thought as much about when previous governments sold off our utilities, nuclear power, closed our oil and gas exploration and other lunatic decisions.

    3. All Parliamentary committees are labelled “influential”.
      Looking round at my overcrowded and spavined country, I’m wondering what sort of influence they exert.

  70. Is this Putin’s ‘secret hideout 18 miles from NATO border’? 30 January 2024.

    New video has emerged claiming to show Vladimir Putin’s secret northern hideout – just 18 miles from Russia’s border with NATO.

    According to unverified reports in Russia, the dictator, 71, is accused of ‘stealing’ a scenic waterfall and a slice of commandeered national park – larger than Monaco – for his lake-and-forest retreat.

    Another one?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13023029/Putin-secret-hideout-NATO-border-presidents-estate-Roman-Abramovich.html

      1. Old woodchip painted over many times is not as difficult to get off as people think. Score. Steam. Off it comes.

          2. One of the lads in my class was called Bucknall. His name was Graham, but we all called him Barry.

  72. Another Bogey Quintet.

    Wordle 955 5/6
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜
    ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Another bugger for me, double bogey.

      Wordle 955 6/6

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

    2. Four here

      Wordle 955 4/6

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

    3. Yep, me too.

      Wordle 955 5/6

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

    4. Yep, me too.

      Wordle 955 5/6

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

    5. That was nasty especially after a full day’s drive
      Wordle 955 4/6

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

  73. Thunderpants Are Go !

    2 litres to be consumed by 9pm containing a laxative. Tena pants on. Bucket ready !
    Gosh i wish it was tomorrow.

      1. While i have been bland dieting and now fasting i received a call for my cardio review. BP readings for a week then blood and urine/stool test then ECG. After that i am changing my name and going into hiding.

    4. You will be fine, think positive thoughts and come back to torment us tomorrow!! Seriously, take care and do as you are told by the nurse and all will be well.

    6. No point in asking you help me paint the fence tomorrow morning, then.
      Well, not with paint.

    7. It isn’t pleasant (and that’s only the preparation!), but it’s a relief when it’s all over. If they tell you your BP is low afterwards, remind them you haven’t had anything to eat for 24 hrs and nothing to drink for 12. Once they’ve fed and watered you, you’ll be fine.

    1. My previous dentist had that picture taped to the ceiling above the chair.
      I think it was some form of distraction technique.
      All I could think was that none of those pictured would have decent teeth.

        1. Thanks, Bill. I think I shall now spend a little time on a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle which I have, in order to give me a break from time to time from de-cluttering.

    3. We gave Mother a couple of big jigsaws, plus a tray to build them in, for her birthday last year. Sadly, last time we were there, she’d not opened them.

    4. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881.

      It took you-two three weeks!

      Pierre-Auguste Renoir would have had an hour or two at most to sketch and define his original painting of the Luncheon of the Boating Party, Bill!

          1. I like the look of the girl with a green band around her straw hat leaning on the railing!

    5. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881.

      It took you-two three weeks!

      Pierre-Auguste Renoir would have had an hour or two at most to sketch and and define his original painting of the Luncheon of the Boating Party, Bill!

  78. 382594+ up ticks,

    Politics latest news: Reform UK backing among 2019 Tory voters reaches record high

    The percentage of 2019 Tory voters who now say they intend to vote for Reform UK has increased to its highest ever level, according to a new Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll.

    The survey, conducted on Jan 28, found 47 per cent of 2019 Conservative supporters said they would vote the same way if a general election were held tomorro.

    Keeping the Country in a record LOW rating the zoms have it, the zoms have it.

    1. I dont know where Duchess314 lived but I took advantage of fresh air and sunshine during Covid lockdowns. Did he/she/it live in a different country?

      1. I think a lot of it was a bit of a post-code lottery.
        Like so much this country is supposed to organise.

      2. 382623+ up ticks,

        Morning DW,
        Many will abide by what they see as governing rulings, even if it kills them.

    2. Good evening ogga

      I would not vote for Lib, Lab, Con , Green and I have my doubts about Reform.

      For whom should I vote or would you suggest abstention or a spoilt ballot with NOTA is bold letters written on it?

      1. Write Gerard Batten’s name on the ballot paper, draw a square to the write of it and insert an X in the box. That would be my ogga1 advice to you.

      2. 382623+ up ticks,

        Morning R,
        Abstention is not an option they the political enemas take that as content with the status Quo.

        Nota is in my mind an empty gesture, the political enemas don’t give a shite as there is a supporting core of
        dangerous idiots always on hand.
        My choice if a suitable candidate is not in play is seriously “Daisy the cow” she has serious part to play in ALL our futures as in cattle breeding for milk & carnivores satisfaction, also supporting farming via “Daisy”
        I see “Daisy” as a useful focal point with a purpose, when penned on a voting paper in place of nota or destructive scribble.

  80. Well, chums, my bedtime alarm has just gone off. So I will wish you all a Good Night, a restful sleep and see you all tomorrow.

  82. Evening, all. It has not been a good day; Oscar started limping and having trouble with his back legs, so I took him to the vet. It seems he has a rare neurological condition (he was taken off to show to the students as they might not get another chance to see it!). He’s been given strong painkillers for a fortnight and forbidden to climb the stairs, so he’s going to have to sleep in the kitchen. Absolute rest – no running or walks (not that he does either) and then at the end either he’s stable or improved or we have to say goodbye. It might be possible to operate, depending on the results of an MRI scan, but given his age, I don’t think that’s fair on him and I’ve ruled out that option. Needless to say, I have not been the cheeriest of people since I received the prognosis.

    As for recruitment; the sort of people who would most likely join are the very people whom the wokerati don’t want.

    1. A shame, to say the least that’s not good for Oscar.

      Two weeks is a long time for him to perk up.

        1. Oh Conway! I’m so sorry for you and Oscar. He’s done so well and you’ve made him a part of the family. Hope all goes well with him and that he improves dramatically. My thoughts are with you.

          1. He is no longer cantankerous, I’ll have you know! He has mellowed and become a loving dog. In a way, that’s what makes it so sad.

    3. Oh, I’m so sorry to hear this. Poor Oscar and poor you. Fingers crossed. Illness in animals causes stress like no other, it follows different pathways to your heart.

    4. Hoping for the best, Conners, me and my Oscar wish your Oscar a reprieve. I know I’d be devastated if my Oscar was like that. I’m leaking bloody tears onto the laptop.

    5. Oh, how distressing. I’m so sorry. Wishing Oscar all the very best, and a big hug to you x

    6. Oh, man, Conners. That’s awful. Poor old Oscar! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for him – and you.

    7. Heartfelt best wishes for Oscar.

      I know I’ve been saying it for 6 months now, but our lovely Jasper (age unknown, about 14/15) is not long for this world. Every day is a relief. He is still motivated by doggy treats, but spends 99% of his time asleep. He enjoyed Christmas when “his” children were home from Uni.

      Dogs are wonderful people.

      1. Enjoy every moment and think that every day is a bonus. Tell him often that you love him. I’m sure Oscar knows he’s loved.

    9. Sorry to hear your news. I dread what the future holds for my two. At least you have given him a better time than he would have had.

      1. Thank you. I like to think I’ve made his last few years happy ones. I knew when I took him on I wouldn’t have him long, but I had hoped it might have been a bit longer.

    1. If Sinn Fein think that one million Unionists are going to go peacefully into a united Ireland, they have another think coming.

  84. Goodnight, all. It’s going to be very lonely without Oscar in the bedroom. I find his snores quite comforting. Kadi has ensconced himself in the bed in the kitchen which I’ve moved in for Oscar, so he’s going to have to be turfed out and Oscar installed.

  85. Outstanding DT Letter – 31/01/2024:

    SIR – My grandmother had a parrot that shrieked “it’s that dreadful woman again” every time the doorbell rang.

    Alex Kimbell
    Brixton, Devon

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