Tuesday 5 April: Brave Ukrainians’ gains show the need for more British Army reserves

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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Today’s letters (visible only to DT subscribers) are here.

587 thoughts on “Tuesday 5 April: Brave Ukrainians’ gains show the need for more British Army reserves”

  3. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    The leading letter:

    SIR – Charles Moore rightly emphasises the importance of firm intent in dealing with dictators, and the cost-effectiveness of Operation Orbital in Ukraine. A further point is the critical role of Ukraine’s reserve forces – totalling, at the outset, some 800,000 across the National Guard, territorial force and veterans, compared with 120,000 regulars.

    Russia has far more fighter jets and armoured vehicles, but its 200-300,000 deployed soldiers are heavily outnumbered. As Lord Moore says, “almost the entire working male population wants to defend the nation”, but it is the huge reserve framework which can absorb them.

    The war in Ukraine is demonstrating much of what came out of Britain’s Integrated Review: the importance of cyber and electronic warfare to disrupt command and of bandwidth for directing weapons, as well as the critical value of operations like Orbital. Ukraine also shows, however, that mass is vital, and this can only be provided affordably by reserves.

    Britain’s Army Reserve is a little over one third of the size of the regular Army, whereas in America the National Guard and Army Reserve are, together, larger than the regular army. At little cost, we should expand our reserves and equip and train them with more anti-tank and anti-air capability. This – not expensively restoring regular Army numbers – is the way forward. The Ukrainians firing British anti-tank missiles are proving it.

    Sir Julian Brazier
    Canterbury, Kent

    Well said!  Trouble is, hardly anyone in government has the slightest clue about military matters because they wouldn’t dream of putting on a uniform and getting their hands dirty, and this probably explains why they persist in cutting when the very opposite is necessary.

      1. I don’t know, Phizzee. If they were blindfolded and lined up with their backs against a wall facing a firing squad, I don’t think too many of us would object.

        1. Indeed, there would be a long queue of people, ready to show their huge appreciation of these devious and useless bastards!

  5. Europe must turn off the Russian gas taps right now. 5 April 2022.

    In a speech on Sunday night, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, name-checked the former German Chancellor and French President: “I invite Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy to visit Bucha, to see what the policy of 14 years of concessions to Russia has led to … to see with their own eyes tortured Ukrainian men and women.”

    Their successors want to wean the continent of Russian oil and gas, just, like St Augustine, not yet. The moral stain from any delay will take decades to fade. On Sunday, Lithuania became the first EU member country to halt domestic imports of Russian oil.

    There is a slight problem here. This gas through which Russia profits passes along a pipeline that crosses Ukraine and for which they receive transit payments. If Zelensky feels so strongly about it why doesn’t he simply turn it off himself? One could also point out that if Ukraine should “win” this war this pipeline will eventually become completely redundant and they will lose all revenue from it!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/04/04/europe-must-turn-russian-gas-taps-right-now/?li_source=LI&li_medium=li-recommendation-widget

    1. ‘Morning Minty. I recall seeing very recently that Zelensky rejected such action because ‘it would make us as bad as Russia’. Besides, in doing so he would alienate much of Europe and NATO, which would surely be counter-productive. (I will search further for the clip.)

      1. Morning Hugh. If he’s so sensitive to criticism he could arrange for its demise quite easily. An artillery shell strikes it “accidentally on purpose” or a night attack by “Spetsnatz” troops. Having watched their “atrocity” narrative I imagine they would have no difficulty lying about it!

  7. SIR – The police were quick to act when they believed members of the public were flouting lockdown rules.

    Given that there was a continuous police presence at Downing Street, they must have known what was (or wasn’t) going on there. The fact that they did nothing implies that nothing illegal was happening. Or were the police failing in their duties?

    Celia Curran
    Marlow, Buckinghamshire

    SIR – Why would the deputy cabinet secretary have a karaoke machine in her office?

    Jane Eyles
    Mahón, Menorca, Spain

    Surely the system controlling staff passes was checked during the investigation, thus revealing the identity of the holders, whether they were entering or leaving No10 and the time they did so?  And didn’t the police check the ‘suitcase of booze’?  Security in name only, perhaps..

    1. A BTL response to the Jane Eyles letter:

      Steve Jones2 HRS AGO

      Jane Eyles asks a short yet excellent question in her letter – why indeed?

      I did note that the woman in question pumped out the usual meaningless apology. It’s a generational thing of course – meaningless apologies..and they are up to their necks in them in the civil service.

      Yes just do whatever one want’s and when discovered just pump out an apology – day in and day out, worthless apologies come think and fast.

      They are excruciating and when someone adds words like “my bad” or “I am reaching out” – I want to projectile vomit.

      * * *

      The master of this craft was Bliar – “I take full responsibility blah blah blah…” AND? Is that it, just mere words and no action?

    2. Now look here, Celia, the police may be a little late in issuing fines but – like the EU banning Russia from the Eurovision Song Contest – at least they have now issued various lawbreakers with £50 fines! Perhaps, the fault is mine for not forcibly swearing at both Russia and our own police. Well, let me make amends here and now: President Putin and Cressida Dick whoever is in charge of the Met are both Very Silly Sausages!

  8. SIR – When the armed helicopter came into existence, many questioned the future of the tank. Gunships would be the answer. Undoubtedly they were, to an extent, but they could not take and hold ground: they could just destroy.

    My cavalry regiment was used during the last Gulf war to get into Basra and do a lot of the work that the infantry were too exposed to achieve. Although subject to continuous anti-tank fire, no tanks were penetrated. What we are witnessing in Ukraine is extraordinary. This is not the Russian performance we expected. The T90, BMP and BRDM, among other armoured vehicles, have suffered hugely from brave Ukrainians using British anti-tank weapons and American Javelins to great effect. These anti-tank systems have proved invaluable in defence.

    However, as President Zelensky has rightly said, to attack, counter-attack and take back ground and urban centres, Ukraine will need good tanks and infantry armoured vehicles. This means the right tanks using the right tactics – moving and fighting in conjunction with infantry, artillery and air support.

    While the enemy has them, we need them. The British Challenger 3 tank upgrade is the bare minimum. Politicians and senior military figures need to reassess tank numbers. Finland has 239 Leopards; the British are reducing their Challenger numbers from 227 to 148. Is this really sensible?

    Simon Hearn
    Andover, Hampshire

    Of course not.  Unfortunately diversity courses and endless debates about the definition of ‘woman’ is what fills their minds these days.  The important stuff hardly gets a look-in – until it is too late.  If anyone needs an example of this, try pandemic planning…energy security…the list is almost endless.

    1. No. The solution is obvious. The MoD must recruit ten thousand administrators to enact a program of change, with a ten year life and 500 million a year budget t consider alternatives to armoured vehicles on the battle field.

  9. SIR – Once again we are in France for the presidential elections. However, something is different this time.

    Billboards sprout like spring flowers along the village streets. In previous elections the face of Marine Le Pen has been defaced, but not this year; instead she beams next to a very rudely defaced poster of Éric Zemmour, and a tattered one of Emmanuel Macron.

    This may be a small village by the sea – but perhaps the tide has turned.

    Daphne Price
    Loix, Charente-Maritime, France

    Fingers crossed!

  10. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    ‘Mine dogs’ – that’s a new one on me…what a fascinating insight into a little-known wartime activity:

    Lt-Col Peter Norbury, trained and led a platoon of dogs clearing land mines during the Second World War – obituary

    During the initial assault across the Rhine he and his dogs crossed by boat under heavy fire then cleared a groyne on the enemy’s bank

    By Telegraph Obituaries

    4 April 2022 • 5:56pm

    Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Norbury, who has died aged 98, commanded a platoon of mine dogs in the Second World War.

    In September 1944 Norbury, then a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers, crossed the Channel in command of No 4 Mine Dog Platoon, one of the last dog platoons committed to the continent and the advance to Germany.

    He had two sergeants, one a sapper, the other a vet. There were about four or five handlers in each of the three sections and each of these had two or three dogs. In addition, there were four drivers and a cook. Operations were restricted to the hours of daylight. The dogs could find mines in the dark but the handlers could not see the dogs.

    In March 1945 Norbury’s platoon took part in the initial assault across the Rhine and was tasked with clearing a groyne on the enemy’s bank so that the first of five floating Bailey bridges could be built. The groyne was about 10 yards wide and it projected into the river for about 35 yards.

    Norbury crossed the river in a small boat with his sergeants and five handlers, each with one of their dogs. During the crossing, the boat was targeted by an observation post in a nearby village. They came under mortar fire, and a stray artillery shell seriously wounded the veterinary sergeant.

    On reaching the far bank, the mine dogs cleared the groyne of mines. These included three “S” mines, which were greatly feared by soldiers because of their habit, when triggered, of jumping up, exploding and causing dreadful injuries to anyone close by.

    Peter Norbury was born at Billericay, Essex, on February 21 1924. He spent his early years in Australia. For many years his family had lived at Bendigo, some 100 miles north of Melbourne. They found gold there and built a large Victorian-style mansion called “Fortuna”, which still stands.

    In the 1930s they moved back to England and young Peter was educated at Oundle, and Truro Cathedral School. He was a member of the Army Cadet Force and held one of the first Lord Lieutenant’s Commissions, a scheme designed to identify future military leaders.

    In 1942 he left school, and after completing his basic training he joined the Royal Engineers and volunteered to work with mine dogs.

    The dogs came from two main sources – Battersea Dogs Home and families who wanted to help the war effort, some of whom perhaps found it a strain feeding large dogs during the war.

    Labradors were favoured, being strong, biddable and resilient, but other breeds, including Alsatians, Collies and cross-breeds were also sometimes used.

    All the dogs went through three weeks’ “obedience” assessment, and their training in mine clearance was carried out alongside exercises for guarding, searching for casualties, accompanying infantry patrols and carrying messages between units.

    Mine dogs were trained in several stages. At the start of a session the dogs would be fitted with a special harness to teach them that they were “on duty”. They learnt to quarter the ground, moving from left to right and back again as their handler slowly worked them forward.

    The first stage began with live anti-tank mines laid on the surface with a cube of meat inside the lid. The dog would smell the meat and initially try to head straight towards the mine, but it was restrained and taught to maintain the quartering pattern until it reached the mine. Then it was trained to sit with the mine between its front paws. It was then patted and rewarded with the cube of meat.

    In the second phase, mines were buried flush with the surface. In the third, they were buried to a normal depth, and in the final stage there was no meat in the mines, but the handler carried meat cubes on him.
    When the dog located a mine, the handler would prod for it with a sharp steel probe, and mark the site with a small white cone ready for subsequent disposal.

    In February 1945 the platoon’s dogs were deployed in the Battle of the Reichswald, an operation to clear German forces between the Meuse and the Rhine. They came under constant fire but Rex, a black Labrador, proved outstandingly resilient and continued to sniff out mines in the forest left by the retreating Germans.

    His courage saved the lives of many soldiers during the battle and he was given the task of making sure that an area of the forest was safe before it was visited by Winston Churchill.

    At the end of the war, Rex was awarded the Dickin Medal For Gallantry. The award, honouring the wartime service of animals, was instituted in 1943 by Maria Dickin, founder of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA).

    Norbury wrote the citation: “Rex has always worked with great zest. Whilst on duty in the Reichswald Forest, he worked under the worst of conditions both overhead and underfoot with complete disregard for the heavy enemy shelling. He helped to clear a pathway through a thickly sown anti-personnel minefield, so saving casualties that would have most certainly occurred but for his devotion to duty.”

    After the war, Norbury worked at the War Dog Training School at Sennelager, Germany, before gaining a Regular Commission. His postings took him to Singapore, Thailand and Sudan before he retired in 1973 in the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

    He then joined the Planning Inspectorate at the Department of the Environment.
    Settled in a village in Dorset, he enjoyed wood-turning to make a variety of bowls and platters.

    In 1948 Peter Norbury married Barbara Morgan. She predeceased him and he is survived by their two sons and a daughter.

    Peter Norbury, born February 21 1924, died February 28 2022

    1. Now they have dogs trained to sniff out the mechanisms that set off IEDs. One recently received the “animals’ VC”, the Dickin Medal.

    2. Police…”Would you like a cup of tea?”

      “Shall I nip down to B&Q and get another spray can for you?”

      “How are you off for superglue?”

    3. Her ‘community service’ should consist of a bucket of soapy water and a toothbrush.

      1. Ayup, young Grizzly. And I have got up. But I am so shattered that I might just go back to bed for a few extra ZZZs. Trouble is, I planned to make some more marmalade today and I just don’t seem to have the energy. Drat and double drat!

        1. I still have a stash of Sevilles in the freezer for making some more marmalade later in the year, Auntie Elsie.
          Just take it easy: rest is nature’s cure.

          1. I tried making marmalade last month.
            A almost total disaster, the one saving grace being that the result is a VERY tasty addition to a crumble and very nice baked with a sponge topping!

          2. I put all the oranges (and a lemon), halved, with the water, into a pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. When cooled, I easily scoop out the middles (pulp and pips) and put them into a muslin cloth. I then cut up the rinds thinly and put them back into the pan along with the muslin bag containing the pips and pulp, and the sugar. Sugar containing pectin can be a useful help for setting.

            My technique follows Elsie’s excellent published method, with a few twists.

          4. Peddy recommended a visit to Waitrose in January 2021 when I bought 5 x 1kg boxes of Seville oranges. I made a batch of 12 jars at that date (2 boxes) and then froze the remaining 3 boxes. With what I am making now (1 box = 6 jars) I will still have 2 boxes left in the freezer for summer 2023 and winter 2024 (6 jars each time). After that I think I shall stick to supermarket marmalade – too much hassle now for an “oldie”.

        2. Listen to your body – rest and recuperate- the marmalade can wait till tomorrow or the next day.

          1. That’s what I said to myself on Sunday when I took the frozen box of Seville oranges out of the freezer, Ndovu. And then again on Monday when a trip to the cinema tired me out somewhat. I didn’t want to end up throwing the oranges away, so I made a start today. And will finish the job tomorrow by adding the 4 lbs of sugar and stirring for 2 full hours.

          2. Will they need two hours stirring? I always use my mother’s old recipe – cook them first so they are soft for cutting up and then add the sugar and boil for the set when you are ready to do that stage. This year I left them overnight and it set quite quickly.

          3. Let’s hope you’re right. Once the sugar is all dissolved and I start doing the crinkly “set” test we’ll see how long it takes.

  14. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c6bf45a2a7b7b94eed02ff1df6037f2f51414e9a3ac654ba4f158b9ebafb75ab.png Ocean Rebellion activists use fake, environmentally friendly “nurdles” (mini plastic pellets), fake oil and fishing nets in a protest outside the International Maritime Organisation headquarters in central London. Some 230,000 tons of nurdles end up in the ocean every year and can harm fish.

    For once, I am singing from the same song-sheet as some “activists”. The continued use of micro-plastic pellets is an utter abomination and needs to be stopped right NOW!

    1. Pollution is one thing we should be cleaning up – but it is an entirely different matter to the climate emergency scam and ‘net zero’ rubbish.

      2. Until we acknowledge that we’re producing the pollution and creating it, nothing will change. That means we stop lying about how much waste we produce, get shot of the useless communist waste policies of the Eu and do things properly.

        But that’s expensive and big government doesn’t want to spend money on things we need, only things *it* wants.

    3. I’d bet they’re fervent supporters of the EU though.

      You know, the Eu that forced the WEEE regulation act on us that sees us posting our waste – because we’re not ‘allowed’ to create more than so many millions of tons – to India and Africa, where they dump it in the sea.

      But of course, let’s not worry ourselves with inconvenient facts.

  15. Nuremberg has shown that tyrants like Vladimir Putin can be brought to justice. 5 April 2022.

    In January 1942, with most of continental Europe under Nazi control and Allied victory a distant prospect, representatives of Britain, its dominions and nine European governments in exile met at St James’s Palace in London.

    They did so to declare that war criminals would be “sought out, handed over to justice and judged” and that doing so was “among their principal war aims”.

    Experience has shown us that War Criminals like Blair and Cameron will not be!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/04/04/nuremberg-has-shown-tyrants-like-vladimir-putin-can-brought/

  16. An interesting Sky News Australia commentary with Lachlan Murdoch talking sense to Australians 5m15 into this video and even more sense towards the end.
    I do not know who Gina Rinehart is, beyond the information on the screen, but we need similar people willing to stand up for our country:-
    https://youtu.be/qtDQPIqjqo0

  17. Good morning, all. Grey and windy – and it is much the same outdoors, too.

    1. Sunny here at the moment but the sky is full of dark clouds. Much like the state of the world.

  18. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0e79c1d04203967f4d7d662a9061ddb8eef31e868541d93d68d5005ff9ec24dc.png ‘Boring’ vanilla is not to be sniffed at, it’s the world’s top smell.

    From hunter-gatherers to city dwellers, study shows that all groups like and dislike the same scents

    VANILLA is often unfairly maligned as being a safe and boring choice – but it is in fact the world’s favourite scent, a team of international experts has found.

    Scientists from the University of Oxford and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm took 10 scents that span the entire sphere of worldly odours and presented them to 235 people from nine different cultures.

    The cultures included people from urban areas in America, Mexico and Thailand, as well as secluded farmers living in the South American mountains, hunter-gatherers in the South- East Asian rainforest and fishing communities on Central America’s Pacific coast.

    “Since these groups live in such disparate odoriferous environments, like rainforest, coast, mountain and city, we capture many different types of ‘odour experiences’,” said Dr Artin Arshamian, study author, from the Karolinska Institute. “We wanted to examine if people around the world have the same smell perception and like the same types of odour, or whether this is something that is culturally learnt.”

    They discovered that cultural connotations or affiliations had little impact on how much someone liked a smell, with the fragrance’s chemical structure eliciting a widely liked, or disliked, response irrespective of where in the world they live, what language they speak and what they eat.

    The 10 scents used in the trial were chosen deliberately to be representative of all the odours found in the world, as determined by a previous study that analysed almost 500 smelly molecules. They included chemicals that smelled like sweaty feet, decaying fish, mushrooms, lavender and vanilla. Study participants were asked to smell each chemical and rate how pleasant they found it compared with the others.

    Vanilla was the most preferred smell, followed by a chemical that smelled like peaches, and a lavender-like scent. The most unpleasant smells were isovaleric acid, diethyl disulfide and 2-isobutyl3-methoxypyrazine, which smell like sweaty feet, decaying fish and overly ripe green peppers respectively.

    Some people preferred certain smells more than others in their group, but overall the trends were consistent for all 10 compounds in all nine locations.

    “Cultures around the world rank different odours in a similar way, no matter where they come from, but odour preferences have a personal – although not cultural – component,” says Dr Arshamian. He speculates that people agree on what smells are more pleasant than others, irrespective of geography or lifestyle, because certain odours may be historically linked to an increased chance of survival. For example, our sense may trigger disdain for a certain smell because it was associated with a toxic plant by our ancestors.

    The study is published in the journal Current Biology.

    How many people, especially in the UK, are familiar with the odour of “sweaty goats”? For those of us over a certain age, I would have thought that the sulphurous reek of overboiled cabbage was more familiar.

    1. That’s an interesting article; thanks for posting. I am sadly familiar with the scent of goats, having friends who rear them, though.

    2. “For those of us over a certain age, I would have thought that the sulphurous reek of overboiled cabbage was more familiar.”

      09.00 – when walking into assembly.

        2. There was an old fellow called Carter
          Who was a phenomenal farter
          He could paly every tune
          From ‘Sleepy Lagoon‘
          To Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata‘

          And even Shakespeare made vulgar jokes about ‘breaking wind>

          OTHELLO (Act III scene i (Sorry trouble with computer posting this – see second post below)

          1. Clown: Why, masters, have your instruments been in Naples, that they speak i’ the nose thus?

            First Musician: How, sir, how!

            Clown: Are these, I pray you, wind-instruments?

            First Musician: Ay, marry, are they, sir.

            Clown : O, thereby hangs a tail.

            First Musician: Whereby hangs a tale, sir?

            Clown: Marry, sir, by many a wind-instrument that I know.

          2. Just one verse from The Good Ship Venus

            The First Mate’s name was Larter,
            By God he was a farter.
            When the wind didn’t blow
            And the ship wouldn’t go,
            They’d get Larter, the farter, to start ‘er.

    4. Pity these scientists can’t find anything more constructive to do at their universities – no wonder unis are strapped for cash after paying these people for useless research

    5. Scientists prove all humans have some physical attributes in common, Sensation!

        1. it’s bit like statistics. There’s science, medical science, and quackery.

    6. I used to have two goats, Twilight and Twinkletoes, who’s favourite exercise in vexing me was to stomp around on the roof of my cottage. There is certainly a goat smell but I never noticed that they sweat.

  19. Good morning one and all, it’s a tad breezy and damp on the Costa Clyde so I shall give the golf, rather than the ball, a swerve. TBF, plus-fours and waders isn’t a good look.

  21. ‘Morning All

    modern life laffs…….

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/438d0b3dc20fd3e23d3815ced084f3d78a8d9dd6b17d7f2d14cbdfeda2e451d3.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f518909cc2e9a71b80a4aa735ca3fcc4fa9546fd0e8e72870d1d6ce34951759e.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ebe98e4e22b299f3da4e8e78268a591deb6f22aaddd5791cbf9388f75edd2039.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/20e4095e849cae6c3afa6c20f83b064232317aa15e1f07ef5425cc766e7b1ce5.jpg

  23. Good Moaning.
    Have been trawling the DM so you don’t have to.

    Section 1: Colour Me Surprised:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10685303/Black-Lives-Matter-secretly-used-6-million-donations-buy-luxurious-6-500-square-foot-mansion.html

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10684893/Covid-cases-plummet-following-end-free-testing.html

    Section 2: I’m No Scientist, But Aren’t They All Chemicals?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-10685723/Can-tea-tree-thyme-work-antiseptic-creams.html

    Section 3: Richard Littlejohn.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10685607/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-matter-time-police-decided-entitled-work-home.html

      1. Precisely. As I say, I’m no scientist, but I thought everything on this planet is made up of chemicals.

        2. Go one step further down the scale:
          From Encyclopædia Britannica.
          Molecule, a group of two or more atoms that form the smallest identifiable unit into which a pure substance can be divided and still retain the composition and chemical properties of that substance.

          Sorry, been reading Brian Greene books 🙄 a theoretical physicist

    1. We did this last week, Robert. You were prolly shifting building materials – or cutting up trees.

      1. Still a good one though. It’s truly shocking how spoiled, entitled and plain rude the woman is. The Left are utterly devoid of self awareness, but she takes it to another level.

  25. Yesterday, young Phil posted about John Travolta visiting Morrisons in Fakenham. I ignored it – as I assumed he was being very silly, as usual.

    He wasn’t!! The story is even in The Grimes this morning.

    So – sorry Philip!

          1. I had forgotten how funny that film was. Tears streaming down my face ! I’m going to watch that tonight. Daft as it is.

        3. My mother used to say bald men with beards looked as though their heads were on the wrong way up.

  26. Charles Moore today:

    On the whole, I subscribe to the view of the Prime Minister’s supporters that “Boris gets the big things right” (while getting lots of the smaller things wrong). He got Brexit right, and vaccination, and he is getting the Ukraine war righter than any other front-rank Western leader.

    On Thursday, he is expected to announce his much-contested energy strategy. Unfortunately, he is being told that the Big Thing to get right in energy is the climate change ‘‘emergency’’, and the attainment of net zero by 2050. He must therefore, they go on, renew renewables. These will address the acute problem of energy security in the process, they say, since their energy is domestic.

    This is back to front. The Big Thing emerging from the current energy crisis and consequent price shock is the immense importance of a supply which is balanced, secure and economic – and the immense danger of dreaming dreams rather than facing reality.

    It is not true, for example, that wind power is cheap. If it is, why do we still subsidise it so heavily? Capital and operating expenses are high, as are the costs of system balancing and grid construction/maintenance.

    Nor is it true that we can rely on renewables when the wind fails or the sun doesn’t shine. We need fossil fuels for the foreseeable future. Nor is it true that voters, especially Tory voters, are so keen on “saving the planet” that they want the country infested with wind turbines. Opponents of fracking object to its supposed uglification of the countryside: it would be as nothing compared with, say, Scottish Power’s onshore scheme for east Suffolk or Sunnica’s plan for more than 2,700 acres of solar panels on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border.

    To have expensive and unreliable energy in the modern world is like having no motorways or only 20th-century computers. That is the genuine emergency we face – impoverishment in the name of idealism.

    * * *

    The BTL posters are not fully supportive of Moore’s view:

    Joseph Giffen
    2 HRS AGO
    Even banished to the back page the writer still shills for Johnson. When did the Buffoon get Brexit right? Among other things I think the invasion of our land by hordes of migrant scroungers is a big thing he hasn’t got right, the handling of the Covid 19 crisis, the establishment of a border between N Ireland and the rest of the UK, The paying out of £37 billion to fraudsters, selling out our fishing industry, continuing the wasteful HS2 project, refusing to use our plentiful energy resources, the insane net zero policy, and just about everything he turns his hand to.

    FM

    Finian Manson
    2 HRS AGO
    Bungling and bewildered BoJo has been a failure over Brexit as he has merely deliver BRINO and left us in the regulatory orbit of the EU and EC for the foreseeable future with the one-sided and wrongly named “Treaty of trade and cooperation” which is in fact nothing of the sort. Its many noncompete and level playing field clauses stops us competing on the world stage and being Singapore offshore which is what frightens the EU most of all.

    Richard Kenward
    2 HRS AGO
    How on earth can you defend that idiot, Charles?
    He’s chaotic and sclerotic. He’s still not delivered the Brexit we wanted and has done little to free business from EU red tape.
    His handling of Covid was a disaster apart from the vaccination. He’s wrecked the economy, wrecked peoples lives and wrecked peoples health with the lockdowns driven by fear.
    Are you also forgetting HS2 the biggest white elephant in the room?
    There are plenty of other wrong decisions I could dwell on so Charles I think you need to take off your rose tinted Boris spectacles!!!!!!

    1. “His handling of Covid was a disaster apart from the vaccination.”

      Including and especially the vaccination – is he in the pay of Big Pharma as well as the WEF?

      1. But he’s right about the bird mincers! [Not that that makes up for the comment on Brexit, vaccination and Ukraine!!]

    5. These diehard Conservatives like Charles Moore are no different in mentality than people who pretend that their ‘Dear Leader’ is perfection on earth. You find them in places like North Korea and China. Blind to the obvious and thus blind to the failures of their idols. It has to be some sort of mental derangement, what else would compel you to write such obvious untruths?

      1. Good morning Jonathan

        I can’t remember if you are a Tom Lehrer fan. If so then can you tell me the song in which he sings:

        I was blind to your obvious faults ?

        1. Good morning Rastus. I have no idea what songs that is from, in fact the depth of my ignorance on that is such that I have to ask you who Tom Lehrer is? On second thoughts I type it in to Duck Duck Go and it returned this
          The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz Lyrics
          Do you remember the night I held you so tight,
          As we danced to the wiener schnitzel waltz?
          The music was gay, and the setting was viennese,
          Your hair wore some roses (or perhaps they were peonies),
          I was blind to your obvious faults,
          As we danced ‘cross the scene
          To the strains of the wiener schnitzel waltz.

          Oh, I drank some champagne from your shoe.
          I was drunk by the time I got through.
          I didn’t know as I raised that cup,
          It had taken two bottles to fill the thing up.

          It was I who stepped on your dress.
          The skirts all came off, I confess.
          Revealing for all of the others to see
          Just what it was that endeared you to me.

          I remember the night I held you so tight,
          As we danced to the wiener schnitzel waltz.
          Your lips were like wine (if you’ll pardon the simile),
          The music was lovely and quite rudolf frimly.
          I drank wine, you drank chocolate malts,
          And we both turned quite green
          To the strains of the wiener schnitzel waltz.

          And on You Tube
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kMY61W9tfc

    6. Speaking of the big things Boris has screwed up… the fecking ECONOMY!

      He suffers from the delusion that big government is good government. It isn’t, never will be, never has been.

    2. Certainly “Flip” has gone insane – its tweet is right – there is a despicable bigot around but it isn’t Sharron Davies!

    3. I certainly agree with Sharron’s thoughts, but I’m just wondering if she’s aware that there are several lizard colonies (often island dwellers) that don’t have any bloke lizards, and are parthenogenetic.

    4. I have said it before on this forum (sorry Peddy!) – but Shakespeare’s Enobarbus got there first:

      That the truth should be silent I had almost forgot.

    5. ‘Flip’ is clearly bonkers. There is nothing remotely problematic with the truth.

  28. More from Moore, and this time I agree with him:

    What should the Beeb look for in its next political editor?
    The BBC is slow in choosing a political editor to replace Laura Kuenssberg. We should not complain, however, because a different vision of the job is needed. It may take time to think through.

    All recent incumbents – Andrew Marr, Nick Robinson, Ms K – have been highly talented, but unsuitable. They have been expected to hype up stories, seek exclusives and over-interpret. Their analyses, especially those on the website, inevitably slide into opinion. They have been beneficiaries, but also victims, of a star system rather than an information service.

    Given the BBC’s duty to impartiality and accuracy, its political editor should be an inconspicuous personality. He/she should tell the listener or viewer what is happening without trying to add excitement or spin. He should speak only what he knows, avoid prediction and retain some modesty. He should not be trying to provoke leadership crises, splits, rows etc; nor, of course, should he conceal them. If he searches for scoops, he will tend to unbalance the corporation’s coverage. If the BBC cannot rise above lobby chatter, what other media will?

    Within the BBC, journalists preen themselves on “speaking truth to power” but, given the compulsory nature of the licence fee, it is better to concentrate on speaking truth to the public.

    I shall not name any candidate currently in the frame, since endorsement in this column would be the kiss of death, but the sort of reporter I admire is one in whom no view whatever is discernible. Think of Hugh Pym, the BBC health editor. He just tells the viewer, intelligently, what is happening. It is a simple requirement, but not easy for journalists to fulfil in an age when they are supposed to raise their profiles on Twitter. How stylish if BBC reporters were the only ones in the trade who never tweeted.

    * * *

    I know I’m not alone in detesting the BBC’s constant practice of ‘explaining’ a news item. It’s simply a means to tell us what to think, and I for one became totally fed up with it – which is why I gave up on the Biased Broadcasting Corporation’s so-called news quite so time ago.

  29. Could someone explain to me why banning red diesel in the construction and manufacturing industries will save the planet – replacing it with white diesel just means more tax income for the government.

      2. Certainly makes it bigger. Dragging that mass of money about doesn’t ever return remotely better services.

    2. It’s not just that Boris Johnson and his band of gloomy goblins understand neither the environment not the economy explains why we are up Excrement Estuary without whores oars.

    4. Alec, why do you not believe the state lies any more? They’ve said it’s to save the planet, so that must be true. It’s nothing to do with a rapacious tax grab. Not at all.

    5. The definition of “Saving the Planet” is “More Tax Income for Government.”

    1. In these days of multiple telly channels, doubt we’d notice if it was completely vaporised.

        1. I only ever watched Channel 4 when they televised the racing. Now that ITV have it, there is no reason to watch Channel 4 (or Ess Pedwar Eck).

  31. Where was the EU when the Ukrainians were laying into the Russians in the Donbass? Why were Zelensky and his thugs not restrained years ago? When one strikes back against a bully, is the bully to receive sympathy and anti-tank weapons*?
    When were the people of the UK asked their opinion about supplying weaponry to the Ukraine? Is it free of charge, or repercussions?

    1. It’s quite obvious Horace, that murdered Russian speaking Ukrainians don’t count in the massacre stakes. Probably because they do not serve the interests of the Americans and their nefarious intentions in this fight in which it is rather obvious that Zelenskyy represents the Americans by proxy, even down to being a movie “star” and even staging fake massacres like some movie scene.

  32. Cat news. When Pickles stands on his hind legs and stretches upwards (for a piece of cheese, for example) he is 42 inches long.

      1. Tail not included! They are very, very long animals! BUT – they can wind themselves into very small balls when they zizz!

      2. That is just horrible. Cruelty in spades.

        Both G & P have a tiny piece of cheese once a week – as a treat.

  34. ogga1
    ogga1
    5 minutes ago
    351862 + up ticks,

    Morning Each,
    Tuesday 5 April: Brave Ukrainians’ gains show the need for more British Army reserves
    After seeing the way ex Tommy Atkins are treated, vets on pavement beds whilst others are involved in NI court cases will there not be a recruitment problem finding indigenous recruits

    So the plan then could very well be an army reserve made up of potential troops arriving via the Dover government
    orchestrated campaign, as in an internal foreign army, in waiting.

    Those in the electorate majority who have had a hand in bringing us to our present
    unpleasant state of affairs as a nation must be asked ” will you feel more secure knowing we have a mainly Muslim standing army in reserve , waiting”.

  35. Thanks, SAGE and Witless and BPAPM and Fishi Rishi

    Airport staff shortage chaos could last for MONTHS: Huge Easter queues start at 4.45am in Manchester amid calls for POLICE to be drafted in as passengers ‘jump barriers and abandon luggage’ – and Heathrow tells passengers to arrive three hours early

    Talk about Third World….

      1. This reminds me of the rather stupid practice of the Americans who, in applications to live in America, ask. “Are you, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” As if a Commie would answer, yes! I wonder if they still have that absurd question in their forms.

        1. My brother told me this: a mate of his was on a flight to the US some years ago now. In the form you have to fill in, in those days one of the questions asked was along the lines of, ” Do you intend to disrupt or overthrow the government of the USA?”
          Not realising that American humour is different, he wrote in answer, “Sole purpose of visit.”
          He was detained!

          2. He wasn’t kept for long- he was a musician and composer. Was my brother’s best man and gave a wonderful eulogy at his funeral.

          3. I think you are aware that although the Americans have a sense of humour it isn’t as comprehensive as ours. Although it does seem to be getting better.

          5. A few immigration officials are human. There used to be one in Ottawa that I came across most weeks. He would always follow up the where are you going question with tips about restaurants to try and places to visit.

            That is one of many.

          6. I was stopped at my local airport by a man with a most impressive badge//shield. He asked me the purpose of my visit. I told him i was going on holiday to Malta. He asked me why i was dressed as i was. I said i always dressed like this.

            I was wearing polished black shoes and black slacks with a lightweight black jacket.

            I suppose if i was wearing cargo pants, T shirt and flip flops i wouldn’t have been stopped. But i do have standards. Just because you are going on holiday doesn’t mean you have to go beach ready.

          7. Standards of years gone by.

            We used to get similar looks when flying down to Orlando. We were going for business meetings, the other hundred on the plane were in party mood.

            It was so much easier in the company plane.

          8. My clothes were lightweight staypress and cool and my shoes were comfortable.

            I think he was an Air Marshall so i didn’t resent his questions.

        2. You are now asked if you use recreational drugs. A positive answer will get you banned from the US.

          1. Doesn’t appear to have any effect on the amount of pot heads and drug users they have home grown.

          2. Better your own pothead than some foreign trash.

            I think the questions started after Trudeau legalized pot.

        3. Somewhere(?) there is an American regulation stating that if you fill in an incorrect answer you will be immediately deported.

          There is no appeal.

          In practical terms that means if they discover you have been a member of the Communist Party, or a drug user, or a

          criminal ,then they put you on the next ‘plane out. NO appeal allowed.

          Far more sensible, and cheaper, than the British way of having months or years of appeals paid for by the tax payer.

      2. Very good!

        I wonder how many people would tap the yes”…… One born etc etc

    1. More of a concern is now we have Musk’s concept of what free speech is. He’s better than most, but is an ‘unreliable narrator’.

      1. As I said yesterday, he believes in free speech, full on. In other words the first amendment. To quote from the Dailyn Telegraph
        “Musk, on the other hand, has held true to a corporate Twitterism coined by the company’s Tony Wang in 2012, namely that it is “the free speech wing of the free speech party”.

        Just after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Musk, who is also chief executive of satellite broadband company Starlink, said he would refuse to block Russian news sources from the service “unless at gunpoint”, adding: “Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.”

        So there is your answer. He is, fortunately, a free speech absolutist and as the richest man on earth able to do things that benefit us all.
        If you doubt that. Then think on this. He refuses to patent any of his inventions, everything is public, in the belief that anyone who can improve on any of his inventions is fine with him. He is interested in the advancement of humanity, not controlling people.

        Sorry, to add on. What do you mean by, ‘unreliable narrator’?

        1. I hope so, but there’s always a question that when pressured what will he do?

          1. Pressured by who. He is the richest man in the world. Do you think he really cares? From listening to him I get the impression that the answer to that is a resounding, no.

  37. Wordle 290 3/6
    ⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
    Quite chuffed with three!
    I suspect that chance overrides skill in getting it in one or two.

    1. Wordle 290 4/6

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

    2. Wordle 290 3/6

      🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
      ⬜🟩🟨🟨⬜
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
      ‘It’ said ‘impressive’; who am I to disagree?

    3. Worth a good chuff that.

      I managed in four tries
      Wordle 290 4/6

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

      I also managed the quordle puzzle. I am finally managing to use clues from multiple puzzles to help with guesses.

      1. She has been VERY quiet lately….

        Perhaps her plan to copy Treason May and make millions on the “speech” circuit has gone awry.

      1. Chris Rock and Will Smith mid slap. I thought the photoshopped instruments quite amusing.

  44. Morning all, This below could be my reply to the conservative party email i have just received.
    What they are a saying is…. That we have had two years of Capitain Hind sight.

    Meaning two years of Keir Starmer

    In just two years he has voted against:
    Tougher sentences for assaulting emergency workers
    Extra funding for the NHS and social care
    Whole life sentences for child murderers
    Life sentences for people smugglers
    Powers to stop reckless protests from blocking highways
    Making a success of Brexit

    My reply to a no reply email is ……….

    Let us be totally honest shall we ? I think nearly every one in the country has realised that everything the political classes and senior civil service comes into contact with, they Eff Up and big time. And as we can see from the current situation they make the working and spending (not including those on the now eternal benefits) British public pay for their monumental and extremely costly mistakes. This synopsis would of course include the now 40 plus thousand people this government alone has allowed to arrive on our shores in rubber boats. What does that cost us I wonder ? Probably in excess of 3 billion a year, when we already pay a stand alone 13 billion in foreign aid ? It has to stop, it’s not tour money, all of you people including the Lords with your collective arbitrary mannerisms that are set in stone against public opinion are destroying our culture and the long established social structure of this once fine and well respected independent nation. Over the past 4 decades, Your (the political classes) aphoristic actions and attitude have seriously maligned all the efforts of or more recent history, our fathers and grandfathers efforts to preserve the afore mentioned, has been laughed at by you people the over privileged publicly subsidised minority, who always think you know best. But actually never achieve anything worthy of approval, standing recognition or overall satisfaction.

    On 04 April 2022 at 16:29 Conservative Party wrote:
    There are ways around this.

    1. I can’t help wondering how many of us have realised that MP doesn’t mean Member of Parliament.

      No it stands for My Pocket or My Purse depending on sex.

      1. And they talk about ‘government money’, i doubt if many of them actually pay income tax. They be well sort of the targets on VAT etc they claim everything back on expenses. That’s why they got rid of Elizabeth Filkin, she was too good at spotting the crooks.
        A summary of all MPs’ expenses, all constituencies. All constituencies 1 Jun 2020 – 31 May 2021. Total claimed: £131,939,851.58.
        It works out at around 21 k per year for each of the greedy lying bastards. Around three times the basic UK male pension.
        My email has been sent, i’ll post any reply.

    1. Then a couple of heavies turn up, smash your door down and seize your property. Having first cut off the power supply.

        1. Ah I see my comment was a bit previous….. Belle confirms she doesn’t smell….

        2. Afternoon Stephen. One is minded of Doctor Johnson’s reply to his wife when she observed that he smelled!

          “Madam. I stink. You smell!”

        1. I made up a strong solution of water and TCP to test when my sense of smell was coming back. I clearly remember the joy when I just got a hint of its vile smell after a good sniff at it. It still took the best part of a week after that before my smell got back to something like normal. Hope it returns soon.

          1. There was a lad at the youth club years ago who used TCP on his spots- many! We could smell him a mile off. It really is a nasty smell.

          3. It wasn’t great fishing but I came home with about 20lb of filleted pollack and ling. Oscar will have poached fish supplementing his meals for a week or two. Freezing in the morning and balmy at lunchtime. It wasn’t a crew we normally go out with, but one always comes away from these boat trips having had a laugh. Should have taken some photos but got so tired I forgot. My first fish, an 8lb pollack, turned out to be the best fish of the day so it all went slightly downhill after that. Always great to get out on the water though.
            Oh, saw a tired swallow winging its way north towards the Cornish coast.

        2. Cucumber smells? You cannot be buying the sterile factory farm junk they sell over here.

        3. There’s a fish that smells like cucumber, and the clue to the fish’s name is the subject of this thread.

          3. “Chinese folk belief attributes male sexual health and aphrodisiac qualities to the sea cucumber, as it physically resembles a phallus, and uses a defence mechanism similar to ejaculation as it stiffens and squirts its own entrails at the aggressor. It is also considered a restorative for tendonitis and arthritis.[“

        4. Horror for an American, peanut butter sandwiches with cucumber slices. In California they would look at me as if I was a axe murderer for that combination. But it’s far more rational than peanut butter and jam. What a ghastly mix. Peanut butter with tomato is good as well.

          2. Leave out the peanut butter (sauce of the devil) and put marmite on your cucumber sarnies.

          3. Now a days Nany I buy Cashew Butter. It’s delicious. If you haven’t tried it buy a small jar and have a go.

    4. Hello.

      Chanel No 5 and Sublime by Jean Patou (my favourite perfume) are both vanilla-heavy scents.

        1. Hi Phizzee. You’ll be glad to know that we’ve bought a Dyson after Geoff kindly allowed us to borrow his. Looking forward to not lugging around a heavy Vax any more.

          Hope you’re feeling heaps better.

          1. Hi Maggie.

            Great news.

            I am feeling better now that i have dropped one of my medicines. The GP doesn’t know yet.

          2. Good on yer. Sometimes you need to listen to your own body and work out when something is not right for you. Obvs a good decision.

          3. We changed from a Dyson upright to a Vax uprighter because it was light. Strange old world.

          4. The Dyson was far too heavy for me too. Plus all the parts just got me confused. My cleaner uses a Henry. Mine is in the hall cupboard…waiting.

          5. I was finding the Vax heavy and awkward to manoeuvre although, when we bought it, it seemed light in the shop! Strange old world indeed.

          6. I gave my Vax upright to the charity shop because I found it awkward to use. I have a Henry now.

    5. We have a Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postil’ has a heavenly citrusy bouquet when it flowers throughout February and March. We also have a small Sarcococca confusa hedge under the, north facing, front windows which flowers in January and also has a delightful smell.

      1. We also have osmanthus in flower just now and are looking forward to the choisya flowering as well as the Beauty bush whose name I’ve forgotten. Our skimmia shrubs also have a nice scent.

  49. https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/a-few-questions-for-you/

    DO you know why the price of your domestic gas and electricity has
    just gone up by over 50 per cent and will rise again in the autumn? The
    war in Ukraine, perhaps? No. The Covid effect on world trade and energy?
    No. Brexit? Of course not. I’ll explain in a minute.

    Are you worried that you may have to choose between eating and
    heating? (If not now, certainly by next winter.) Are you delighted that
    to cover the £700-odd energy cost rise, the Government is giving most of
    us £150 off our council tax bills even though they have gone up by an
    average of £70, and is graciously lending us another £200 in the autumn
    to be paid back later? Meanwhile inflation rages all around in food
    prices, petrol, diesel and everything else.

    1. No need to explain, it’s the eco-loons’ green taxes and a failure to plan for a proper supply.

  50. Boris Johnson is ‘set to announce plans to send migrants to Rwanda’ to be processed under a ‘secretive deal worth millions’ to the African nation, according to reports.

    A government source said the Prime Minister has been told the plans are not quite ready after he intended to announce them last week following a surge in the number of migrants crossing the Channel.

    Ministers are waiting for Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill, which would enable asylum seekers to be processed abroad, to make its way through the House of Lords and be given royal assent before the terms of the deal with Rwanda can be finalised, the Times reported.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10685867/Boris-Johnson-announce-plans-send-migrants-RWANDA-processed-secretive-deal.html?ito=social-facebook&fbclid=IwAR2xgLv0rRtzwHOm73EXiLF3YU_d4nT18Gg3clRMQPA7lc_nB5tMIOaXi_M

    But hang on a second , haven’t we handed over £millions to France anyway to halt the flow of migrants across the Channel to us ?

    They say you cant travel for ten minutes or more before you see a rat , well I feel ashamed to say but here in these Dorsetty parts , five minutes or so before you see a dark face .. and it never ever used to be like that .. ever .

    1. Can this government be any worse?
      Can this government throw any more money down the drain?
      Can this government expect to be re-elected in 2.5 years?

      Don’t bother answering the last question. But if not them, who?

      1. With the help of a rigged selection process, postal voting and probably Dominian machines, yes, they’ll be re-installed. The faces might be different but the policies will be the same. No matter who you vote for, the government always gets in. Unless Davos is blown to the four winds.

      3. 351862+ up ticks,
        Afternoon VW,

        You had the answer in 2019 until
        treachery took a hand.
        The opportunity is there again in May
        to make a point but WILL NOT be taken up.
        The party name is what counts, tory (ino) not the political content.

    2. Boris Johnson is ‘set to announce plans to send migrants to Rwanda’ to be processed under a ‘secretive deal worth millions’ to the African nation, according to reports.

      Can I point out that they cannot get these people to go back to France. They cannot repatriate them back to their homelands! The chances of their going to Rwanda are essentially nil!

      1. All in two week holiday in Sunny Africa 5* accommodation all expenses paid….. might persuade a few….

    3. What a waste of time and money. Just don’t let then get here and deport the ones sat in hotels.

      Get. Rid. Of. Them.

    1. As I commented yesterday, they will never leave this guy alone. He is a woke magnet! I admire him just for sticking two fingers up at those who seek to destroy him. I’m sure it would be easier for him to disappear! Go Tommy!

  53. Time is running out to contain the Ukraine war in Central Europe. 5 April 2022.

    Seen in this light, public opinion could decide that it has been tricked by the Biden administration’s ulterior motives and that the huge international risks involved in continuing what began as a local war – that Ukraine can only lose – are not worth it.

    The longer Nato supplies the Ukrainian army with defensive weapons, which it has used with stunning success, the longer the war will last and the more other bad actors – specifically China and Iran – will be tempted to press their own agendas. It goes without saying that the longer Putin is forced to fight, the greater will be the temptation to use nuclear or biochemical weapons.

    We will not need “Bad Actors”; this thing will grow all of itself. Once food and energy shortages reach a certain level the pressure on all leaders to do something or be overthrown will become irresistible. The great powers will seize what they want; the rest will struggle merely to survive.

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/time-is-running-out-to-contain-the-ukraine-war-in-central-europe/

  54. Sometimes there is a bit of American bashing on here and I am occasionally guilty myself. Have just had an email from my son who is the Media Centre accountant at NC State. Over lockdown he undertook additional work as people were sick etc. He has stopped that work now and is back to finance. The woman he worked with gave him a $150 gift certificate for the Carolina Hurricanes team store. She was very grateful for his help. He was paid for the work but it was nice to know that his additional work was appreciated.
    This has largely been my experience of most Americans….kind hearted and generous.

    1. That was nice.

      I think the American bashing is more about the leaders and less about the ordinary folks.

          1. You’re very welcome!! How’s Dolly, haven’t heard much about her lately.

          3. What are these alien things? Am I depriving my own beast of such toys? He has his bed – which he never sleeps in and his blanket goes whereever he brings it.

          5. Oscar seems to have given up his manic tennis ball (or any other sort of plain ball) playing. When he first arrived he couldn’t leave it alone, now he has two squishy balls in the garden and only occasionally plays with one or other of them for a few minutes. A sign he’s less stressed and more relaxed.

          10. Oscar would be ripping that mat to pieces! He does love his ball in which I hide treats, though.

          11. Dolly likes to lay on her heat mat and pull the rug over her head. The only things she chews are my socks and slippers. She doesn’t chew her food. She inhales it.

      2. I would agree. If I go on about the American I do mean the government for the most part. Lets be honest, it’s a government as bad if not worse than ours in being against the people.
        However, there are certain traits that I do criticise about Americans in general. Their insularity, is an example. On being told that people in the rest of the world learn English the response being. “It’s because they all want to come here.” Ethnocentric much!

    2. Wholeheartedly agree, we have often seen people pick up the tab for service people, be they military, emergency, fire or police at local coffee shops.

      1. Oooh, I didn’t tell y’all. I emailed Stumpy Steyn’s show last week and said we were sick to the back teeth of all the constant going on about trans this and trans that. He didn’t read my mail out on the show but I did get a response next day from the production team. They were sorry that we weren’t enjoying his show as much and she promised to bring the matter up at the next production meeting.
        Monday, there was no mention of trans issues. Coincidence is possible but they’re a new channel and they need viewers and support.
        Whether they read the mails aloud on air is one thing but it is clear that the production staff are reading everything.

        1. Caroline had an e-mail read out by Mark Dolan which criticised his excessive use of hyperbole. To be fair Dolan actually took it in good part and referred to it again later in the show.

          GB News sent us a couple of Coffee mugs with their logo upon it but the French customs – in a spat of Brexit pique – demanded €18 so we told them they could have the mugs and hoped someone would put strychnine in them.

      2. I’m getting worried about getting on a bus now………….it’s transport.

    2. This is why the warqueen has the ensuite toilet and we all use the bathroom. I swear one day she’ll electrocute herself but I do like her hair in those long loose ringlets.

    1. Sam Wells is on a list compiled by Brian Gerrish of Common Purpose graduates in the church.

      I knew Joe Hawes personally, for the 15 years that he was Vicar of Fulham. Joe is an intelligent man and a talented preacher. He maintains the traditional format of worship in the CofE – everything has to be just so, down to the last detail – but cannot resist polluting the content. I don’t believe anyone in Fulham much cared about his sexuality and Joe has had an upper middle class charmed life but he couldn’t help himself politicising his homosexuality. Yet I overheard him once telling someone in the vestry that, “Of course sometimes you’re in a minority because you’re wrong”. Yes, Joe. Needless to say, Brexit also left him apoplectic, yet he considers that he handled it all with flawless tact. And sometimes he could indeed navigate a fine line between opposing views. There’s so much potential but so much that’s misguided.

    2. If someone believes themselves to be a sheepdog then the Church should treat them with respect and kindness – as it would any mentally ill person. It shouldn’t judge, but it should not encourage the delusion.

      1. Feed it Bonios and keep it in a kennel outside. Sanity will no doubt be soon restored.

  58. There seems to have been an outbreak of heart troubles in Scotland amongst the under 45 age group. I wonder why this is?

    Some interesting graphs here.

    https://nakedemperor.substack.com/p/are-youngsters-really-having-more?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo1ODkwNDQ5NSwiXyI6IjIvMFIzIiwiaWF0IjoxNjQ5MTY5NDI0LCJleHAiOjE2NDkxNzMwMjQsImlzcyI6InB1Yi02MDIzNzMiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.HmdQLcn06SQaZfLXY9S07ISDlYoolJ3zczocmzEptI4

    3. Well, Scotland suffers from appalling healthcare, a huge drinking problem, drug use and unemployment (likely hte cause of and also causing).

      But the SNP refuse these facts and blame England. It’s tiresome how demented and evil the Left are.

    4. I was listening to local radio this morning, and up popped an advertisement for how to avoid a heart attack.

    1. Flat screen tv, music centre, computers. Yep, they are definitely in need of child benefit if they are going to keep up that lifestyle.

      1. I am sick and tired of people having what they have not earned while others are forced to pay for it.

        1. And they are entitled to vote. I don’t believe anyone should be entitled to vote unless they are earning and are taxpayers.

    2. 4, sadly.
      Wordle 290 4/6

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

  62. Just got confirmation that my electricity costs have just increased by 33%. I should know in a day or two what the inflated Gas costs will be…..

  63. HAPPY HOUR …Hi NoTTlers

    What was SO great about growing up in the 60’s….?
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/37512fa7694fbf62a96285bcf01fb8032bca1f2e4818fb7ed3a563a62e42f7e0.jpg
    How a third of us would rather be living in the Swinging 60s:
    Decade voted best in history because it was ‘age of change for the better’ It is still seen as a carefree time of innovation, peace, fashion and great music.

    Afros. Everyone, young and old, had an afro or at least aspired to grow one. …Hippies
    Barbie Dolls. Bell-bottoms. …Beatlemania. …Go-go boots. …Lava lamps. …Miniskirts. …

    Peace and Love Brother

    1. It was good because we were growing up. I was a teenager for most of the 60s.
      I got married in ’69 and the 70s was a decade of realism and childrearing.

    2. Sindy dolls in the UK. Before launching with a tv ad campaign in 1963, Pedigree Dolls did a survey to find the girls name most popular with chldren and the winning name was Cindy.

      1. I had a Tressy doll! Her hair ‘grew’ from a hole in the top of her head, when you pressed a button in her tummy! My mum, who was a wonderful seamstress, made a lot of fantastic designer clothes for her, and my dad made a beautiful wooden wardrobe, complete with hanging rail and drawers.

    3. I wasn’t allowed an Action Man, mother thought that boy’s shouldn’t be playing with dolls.

        1. My wife still has her Barbie from the early 60’s. She has all the clothes too and a subsequent imitation version called Sindy with its clobber.

          I am hoping that after our planned downsizing and impending move to Norfolk that a lot of this sentimental historic junk will be sold and make a few bob towards our retirement.

      2. Neighbour’s youngest boy collected dolls and was always undressing them or else looking up their skirts. His older brother was into Action Man, Gigantor, Space Cadets, Thunderbirds and fishing.

        We thought the younger would be a poof but he eventually married and fathered six children.

    4. Since I sprogged in the 1960s, I think I really, really grew up; short of cash, short of sleep, learning 101 ways of making a pound of mince feed a family of four….

    5. Mini skirts. That’s all you need to say.
      The Animals.
      The Yardbirds.
      The Small Faces.
      The Kinks.
      Manfred Mann.

      1. But, but, miniskirts, George were the death of stockings and suspenders and the birth of the awful tights.

    6. I never had an afro, nor did I aspire to one! During most of the sixties I was at school, studying hard. Then for the last few years, I was at university, ditto.

    7. Some of us, mature enough, served Queen and country, here and abroad, during the 60s

  64. Cripes; wot a day.
    Debit card was rejected when I tried to take out some cash. Fortunately it was at the local post office where they know me and the postmaster printed off a statement for me. Plenty there to cover my cash withdrawal, so I came home and hit the phone.
    Have spent hours on the phone; problem solved (fingers VERY firmly crossed). New debit card on its way; I now have an excuse for the next few days to scrounge off my loving family when I need cash.
    The ghostly phone calls x 4 that I received on Saturday were automatically triggered by someone trying to use my card number. Checked my mobile and found a message with the same theme. How the hell am I supposed to know if the calls are genuine or some blagger?

    2. That happened to me once – someone shopping online with my card number and the bank systems fortunately registered that it wasn’t me – so I now have my debit card set up to block remote payments.

      1. That’s interesting. How do you set it up? What happens in shops outside your immediate area? How about ordering stuff online, by phone or one of those forms in catalogues?
        I do suspect that someone noted my number when I ordered online and tried to use it. Short of stuffing fivers down a cable or flinging them up in the air beside the router, I can’t see a solution to that problem.

        1. The fraudster on my account paid for three meals within an hour at Just Eat – in London. I’ve never eaten at Just Eat anywhere. My suspicion was that when paying for a meal in London a couple of months beforehand, someone had made a note of my card number. Not sure what the limit on contactless was then – early 2019.

    3. I had some weird, automated phone calls like that some years ago – I ignored them too. Then I received a letter about unusual activity on my account. All the activity was genuine – because I was at home on holiday that week, I ‘d bought some plants, a coach ticket and various other things……. it does make you wonder about ‘big brother’ watching.

      I was grateful a couple of years ago, though, when there really was fraudulent activity – someone, somehow had cloned my card and used it. Barclays fraud team was onto it before I was and replaced my card very quickly as well as refunding the fraudulent payments.

      1. It flags ‘suspicious’ activity. Such as if my card were used in Scotland and I’ve never been there, or if I suddenly start shopping for mobile phone cards in ASDA – where I’ve never shopped and I don’t have a pay phone.

        The AI is quite clever.

        1. I always refuse to tap my debit card, i always insist on inserting it into the reader; I do this so the bank sees a pattern to my card paying procedure.

    4. I’ve got the Lloyds bank app on my phone. Every time I use my debit card, I get a message shortly afterwards telling me it has been used.

  65. Two things….Ideal job for me who sometimes identifies as a penguin. People needed to run a post office on Antarctica. I think I am supremely qualified.
    Second thing…. Was reaching for the Kanga Pinot Grigio which is on the top shelf. 6′ 4″ husband awol. A little lady, shorter and older than I stopped to chat. She told me she had builders coming tomorrow and was wondering if she should cook them a meal. No, I said, they’ll have their lunches. Many cups of tea or coffee and some bickies. Oh, good she said, I’ve got some cake and I suggested a packet of Hobnobs.
    I hope you don’t mind me asking you, she said, it’s easier to ask a stranger sometimes. Told her it was fine and if she saw a tall man lurking to send him my way.
    It quite made my day.

        1. Sarky? Moi?? I was just thinking what fun your day had been compared with mine…

          2. Try that without leccy – with a spouse who relies on it for hours of work each day…{:¬(((

  66. Well, that was fun. At exactly 12 noon, the power went off. I assumed that it was the first of many planned power cuts à la Heath.. Rang the Netword thingy to report. They knew nothing. but said they would investigate. Went to see if neighbours were affected. Three doors down, neighbour has builders in – large hole in his drive – yes, they had cut through the cable. Neighbour then said, “I suppose I had better let the electricity board know….” Very woke chap. Best friends with his children. Thinks that preventing two uncontrolled dogs from barking for hours would be “just a little bit unfair on them…”

    Anyway – the leccy went on ten minutes ago. I must say one does rather miss it…{:¬((

    One good thing, though – saved a tenner in electricity!!!

    Anything much happened in the last six hours?

    1. That happened when there were road works in Wood Lane W12 once. All the BBC buildings went dark. It was mid-afternoon, so we were sent home. No laptops and “working from home” back then.

    2. Dogs should not be barking continually. Tell him to train them properly. Dogs need discipline. They like knowing where they stand in the pack. If you don’t provide that, you’re just causing them distress – thus they bark.

      1. Oscar has periods when he barks for no reason that I can discern. Then he’ll settle again. If I ever get to the bottom of it, I’ll prevent it happening, but at the moment, I’m at a loss. He isn’t barking to go out (because often, he’s just come in), he isn’t barking at anything in the garden (because the curtains are closed and he can’t see out). Perhaps he’s barking at something I can’t hear.

  67. Unusual wordle answer today, daughter said what does that mean, I said it’s when you’ve had a shower and have nothing to dry yourself with

  68. Scoop!

    BBC4 @ 7.00pm: ‘Pubs, Ponds and Power’
    Featuring CROMFORD !

    Will Bob be dropping trees or logs???

      1. A fascinating micro shot of the Industrial Revolution in picturesque surroundings, Bob!

  69. I am off now – for a well earned glass of medicine.

    Sorry that Reading were pipped at the post in Univ Chal last night. The winners irritated me, esp the one-trick Chinaman and the self-obsessed veiled one.

    Have a jolly evening.

    A demain (I hope).

    3. Hijab-wearing criminal barrister becomes first to be appointed Queen’s Counsel – DM, they get everywhere.

    5. My thoughts exactly Bilty. I was hoping Reading would win, although they were really a top person team. The two on the outer seats hadn’t contributed much in any of their matches.
      Ditto your thoughts about the two in the Imp team.

      1. I still cannot get my mind around a payment of £350.00 to house a foreigner, clothe and feed the person. We spend almost that on Council Tax alone.

        These Ukrainians are unknown packages. There are several European countries they could go to, closer to Ukraine, who speak Slavic languages, so why would our politicians invite them here, an overcrowded small island where we cannot afford to feed our own indigenous population.

    2. At one level, you’ve people who can’t speak English arriving who have nothing to do, no communication links, who have come from a war zone.

      It’s unfair on *them* to bring them to Ireland. They should be housed together, they should be given other Ukrainians nearby, there should be regular provided news information and thenthere needs to be productive, organised activity to allow adults to feel useful and children be occupied.

      Then there’s the economic consequences and social costs. It’s not fair on either side.

      2. The refugees, if indeed they were from the Ukraine, were exploited for an agenda. As such, Government did not care whether they were productively occupied or not. It probably did not cross its collective mind.

    3. At one level, you’ve people who can’t speak English arriving who have nothing to do, no communication links, who have come from a war zone.

      It’s unfair on *them* to bring them to Ireland. They should be housed together, they should be given other Ukrainians nearby, there should be regular provided news information and thenthere needs to be productive, organised activity to allow adults to feel useful and children be occupied.

      Then there’s the economic consequences and social costs. It’s not fair on either side.

  71. I see from the news that Can Arslan who stabbed his neighbour over a parking dispute is an enricher with actual mental issues. Another one who has cost the NHS a fortune and a neighbour his life. Obviously, not one of the highly qualified ones paying taxes and contributing.

    1. And of course the over emphasis and usual stupid excuses about mental health issues.

    2. And of course the over emphasis and usual stupid excuses about mental health issues.

    3. Of course not! And that’s why I have had no follow up after my biopsy which will be 3 weeks tomorrow.

  73. Is there anything like Vivaldi’s music? Listening to the L’ Amoroso Concerti. Sublime.

      2. That appears to be the whole of June (Pride Month) unless it celebrates lions.

        Why don’t we have circuses where gays are fed to the lions?

    4. They missed out World Lion Day on August 10th and World Rhino Day on September 22nd……… I’d have to look up the others.

    6. I’ve had a give it a rest day today. I didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything in particular, so Oscar and I chilled out with coffee in our favourite dog-friendly cafe.

      1. Since being blessed with Dolly i now only go to places that are dog friendly. Pubs, Hotels, etc.
        You meet a nicer type of people. The staff seem to enjoy the animals too.

        2. Yes, me too. I’m lucky inasmuch as most cafes where I live are dog friendly (and Bridgnorth prides itself on being the most dog friendly town in Shropshire).

    8. The Government have cancelled the event (Hooray!) because of the boycott — Shouldn’t that be Ciscott?

  77. And now for something very different .

    The world’s most famous tea clipper launches a new rig climb experience on Saturday. We shin up for a sneak preview and fantastic views of London

    Rachel Dixon
    Fri 1 Apr 2022 14.41 BST

    I am clinging to a rope ladder, 20 metres above the ground, in a howling gale. “Now imagine you’ve got no shoes on, never mind a harness and a helmet – and the ship is pitching and rolling,” shouts my instructor. Wow. It’s a miracle that any 19th-century sailor made it home alive. (Many didn’t.)

    The Cutty Sark, one of the world’s last surviving tea clippers, is launching a new rig climb experience on Saturday, and I was having a sneak preview. Royal Museums Greenwich has teamed up with Wire & Sky, the adventure company behind the O2 rooftop climb and the London Abseil. Its mission is to give visitors a taste of life at sea and a unique view of London – and no doubt to help recoup the losses incurred during the pandemic.

    After getting kitted up under the hull, which is almost entirely original and dates back to 1869, we were led through the ship and up on to the main deck. We were regaled with tales from the ship’s heyday, including the legendary race against a rival clipper, Thermopylae, in 1872, when Captain George Moodie refused to stop for repairs even when the rudder was lost.

    History lesson over, it was time to climb. I tried to imagine the poor 14-year-old apprentices being ordered to shin up the ratlines in all weathers – there is a reason most of the 653 men who served on the Cutty Sark did so only once. Even with modern safety equipment, it was a nerve-jangling climb up the rigging to the top platform, 21 metres up. The minimum height requirement is 3ft 9in (1.14 metres), but even at a comparatively lofty 5ft 2in (1.57 metres), I struggled to reach some of the rungs with my feet.

    The standard climb ends here, but I had inadvertently signed up for the “rig climb plus”. My harness was unclipped at the front and reattached at the back (crew take care of all the safety aspects), allowing me more freedom of movement. I steeled myself and climbed even higher, gripping the shrouds as I was buffeted by the wind. Then, leaving the relative comfort of the main rigging, I inched my way sideways across the lower topsail yard, with just one rope to stand on and one to grasp on to for dear life. This was daunting, but worth it for the crow’s nest view: the Royal Naval College to starboard, the Thames and Canary Wharf to for’ard and the skyline of central London off to port side.

    To descend, I shinned back down the ratlines to the tops platform, where there is a zipline to street level. You simply sit into your harness and step off – again, not an action for the faint-hearted. The zipline itself is a slow, smooth, controlled descent rather than a heart-pumping freefall; a final chance to soak up the view.

    Those expecting to climb right to the top of the mainmast, 46.6 metres up, might be disappointed – the highest point of the climb is about half that. But all apart from the most hardened adrenaline junkies will get a thrill; I found it much more challenging than similar attractions such as the O2 climb. Plus, it’s a privilege to get so close to a historic London landmark. Just cross your fingers for calm weather – and be grateful that you’re not in bare feet.

    From £41 adults, £26 children, including general admission to the ship (minimum age 12), rmg.co.uk https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/apr/01/climbing-the-rig-of-the-cutty-sark-greenwich-london

    2. Ooh that sounds fun although it sounds a bit over the top on health and safety.

    3. The representation of Cutty Sark as a disembowelled tourist attraction is a national disgrace.

      The penetrations of the hull to support the Disney style exhibition has destroyed the integrity of one of our finest ever and sole surviving Tea Clippers. If it can no longer float, let alone take to sea, it is a mere static museum exhibit.

    4. The representation of Cutty Sark as a disembowelled tourist attraction is a national disgrace.

      The penetrations of the hull to support the Disney style exhibition has destroyed the integrity of one of our finest ever and sole surviving Tea Clippers. If it can no longer float, let alone take to sea, it is a mere static museum exhibit.

    5. I’m terrible with heights, but as long as I have something to cling to I’m ok. That just sounds like they’re taking the piss out of our old sailors and making game of them.

    6. Time to burn the bastard again as she is doing nothing to portray her history.

    7. One midnight around fifty years ago I watched a well refreshed chap climb all the way to the top with no safety harness to win his £1 bet. His friend was going nuts down below shouting: “For God’s sake come down, I’ll give you the £1!”

  78. Evening, all. While Britain definitely needs more, better equipped and less “woke” military personnel (and materiel), going to Ukraine is not the reason.

  79. Good night, everyone. Done all the marmalade prep and early boiling. Tomorrow I shall add the sugar and stir for around 2 hours before decanting into 6 empty jam jars.

  80. I was called a ‘disgusting human being’ in the comments section of the DM yesterday. Perhaps I was called more than that, I didn’t bother to look any further when I checked. I had 73 downvotes. I had received an email from the DM to say they had received complaints about my comment so they had decided to remove it. It was only two lines long, I did not use bad language, I was perfectly polite. I presented a different point of view on the Russian/Ukraine débacle. I recall Churchill’s comment “If you have upset somebody, good! You have stood up for yourself in some way.” It may not have been Churchill, it may have been Margaret Thatcher, I can see her saying that too.

    I will give the DM a miss in the future, the propaganda is becoming extreme, it hurts my eyes and my head and my brain within. I read it only because it was free. It has also become very lurid and sordid. Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.

    Tomorrow is another day. Night-night, folks, sleep well.

    1. Don’t lose any sleep. If Brexit was divisive, Covid was worse, but Ukraine is even more worserester (© OLT). The merest suggestion that the UA situation might be slightly grey, rather than darkest black vs brilliant white, is likely to get you accused of being a Prigozhin troll, prolly slaving away in Vladivostok.

      Turned up at one of our churches for choir practice, to find the lych gate festooned in blue and yellow ribbons. If I might borrow a phrase from ‘Truth Revealed’, formerly of this parish, it’s just ‘virtue shyting’.

      1. The blue and yellow flags and the rest are the visual symbols of what is going on, just as the face masks were/are of covid. They are designed to saturate the brain so that it doesn’t thiink of anything else, doesn’t question. Brainwashing.

    2. You are not a “disgusting human being” you are a person with every right to hold your own opinions.

    3. That sounds a bit upsetting- and that one should have been removed – not yours. KBO Pm.

      1. Thank you Ndovu. I was a bit surprised, I thought I was quite mild, actually!

    4. I give the Daily Mail a miss. I suggest you give it a miss too. There is no warm embrace merely an army of fact checking imbeciles, indoctrinated by our useless education system(s) and accordingly unable to think for themselves.

      Should the Daily Mail carry on in their current editorial stance they will be broke by Christmas, if not before.

      Nobody with more than two brain cells is interested in their futile ‘celebrity’ click bait pieces. Their approach to the news is biased, tawdry and dehumanising. They deserve their just deserts.

      1. I really hope it happens. All the MSM deserves to fall for the parts they have played in our downfall over the last three decades.

        1. I try between times to keep a wary eye on ‘events’ as some politicians have described changes in public opinion in the past.

          You may be assured that we are in process of witnessing radical changes in ‘events’.

          We voted for Brexit, it has not happened and instead we remain tied inextricably to the EU through regulation and EU law.

          We voted on the promise that illegal immigration would cease. The precise opposite has occurred and we now
          apparently invite aliens to drop in on the promise that they will be awarded 4 & 5 Star hotel accommodation, free health services including otherwise very expensive dentistry to fix their rotten teeth, and free treatment in our NHS, often taking precedence over us, the poor fuckers who have contributed for 50 years or more in my case.

          We expected our government to take measures to assist the worst off in our society, Those struggling to pay for food, heating and other basic necessities.

          Instead we have a tripling of energy costs, ludicrous increases in an already staggering Council Tax (for what exactly, excepting council employee pension funds), and a steady deterioration in the services provided such that our roads are potholed, our road gullies clogged with shit and in need of cleansing, our power grid dilapidated and future power dependent on unreliable solar and wind farm ‘technologies’.

          Good grief. Is there a single person in government with a modicum of technical and engineering competence or are the whole lot of them thick as shit. I favour the latter description.

      1. Rose, I had hoped to at least make people think around the subject and that there may be something else going on. It is not possible. The public has been too successfully brainwashed, the preparation and groundwork for this having taking place in schools for several decades. I shall not return to the DM, I have read it in the past because it was free and it is useful to know what the rest of the world is thinking, but it is getting ever more untruthful, lurid and sordid.

        The reply to my comment in the DM did not puncture my soul so all is well!

    6. Your DM comment can be repeated here, and not taken down unless it is a personal ad hominem assault on someone here. Good-natured dissidence is always welcome here, especially if it can provoke a like-for-like response from an opponent.

      I have been fairly lurid in recent days myself against the Russian invasion, and have myself descending into calling for the extermination of these brutes like a pestilence of rats. I expect anyone reading Goebbels would have said the same about the Jews.

      However, it troubles me greatly to think that these horrible images swamping the news are a genuine report of the situation there, and I wish deeply and sincerely that they were all a product of the Zelenskyy Propaganda Unit, as serious as his piano playing.

      1. Regarding the ‘massacre’ dead bodies in the village – the mayor gave a speech a few days ago, prior to the ‘discovery’ of the bodies and did not say anything. There has been a report that they looked as though they had been there for weeks. Had they been taken from elsewhere and dumped there for the purpose of deception? I have also viewed footage of a heavy armoured vehicle going down a road slowly and deliberately bumping into cars deliberately placed in its way. Never forget that Zelensky is an actor and has investments in film production. I think something very dark and evil resides in Ukraine that the west is desperately hoping we never find out about. Have you seen the 2016 Oliver Stone documentary ‘Ukraine on Fire’? If you see that you will ask yourself ‘what took Putin so long?

        I have seen footage of Zelensky on stage and it was appalling, he was mocking Russian Ukrainians as though they were jews in n*zi Germany, it was chilling. After seeing that, and the documentary, my only question is – what took Putin so long?

        https://twitter.com/thekublakhan/status/1504367793575243778?s=20&t=vICYwA8bkX78VeKksSX5gA

        1. I remember Kenny Everett once going onto the platform at a Conservative Party Conference shouting “Let’s bomb Russia”. I don’t think Thatcher took him up on it. Zelenskyy is actually quite a similar character to Everett in many ways. Imagine Kenny Everett suddenly finding himself a wartime Prime Minister!

          There are so many conspiracy theories about staged versions of historical events, and this tradition goes right back to Shakespeare and beyond. I’m sure the Romans and the Greeks were not above cooking stories to suit their narrative. and the Bayeux Tapestry? I would not put it past Zelenskyy, with his media heritage, to cook up a few of his own. He has every reason to – he needs military allies right now.

          Nevertheless, all these horrible images of bombed-out buildings, let alone the bodies, cannot all be fake. Even Hollywood, at the height of its power and wealth could not generate so much footage in so short a time. Any one of them that turns out to be true is an outrage.

          What is probably more damaging to the Russians, who do not seem to care about the horrible suffering of ordinary people, and never have, since they have long had a tradition of victim blaming: “you were weak and did not bother to defend yourself; you therefore deserve all that is coming to you”, are the images of large numbers of their tanks and heavy weapons destroyed by the partisans. How could this be being done if Russia was one of the strong?

      2. Here you are Jeremy:

        The top comment:
        I wish Putin a slow and agonising death in the manner of these poor and innocent people.

        My reply
        Poppiesmum
        How do you know that this is not staged? ‘Accused’ means nothing. During an interview with the mayor he simply says ‘the Russians have left’. Zelensky is pulling out all the stops to draw in the west, into what is an internal matter.

        The reply to my reply
        UKuk1984
        Poppies you are a disgusting human being. Got forbid that you should die an agonising death. I for one wont miss people like you.

        I thought my comment was inoffensive actually!!

        1. I think you were being trolled. It is ironic that the remedy being offered by your troll is precisely the one that Putin is accused of when dealing with his Russian critics, and for precisely the same reason.

          Taking your point, I would argue that Zelenskyy would not be doing his job if he weren’t endeavouring to bring in as many allies on his side as he could. It is up to foreign nations to decide whether it is in their national interest to tackle what is a gross infringement by Russia of international law and violation of sovereignty, lest they be next. Remember the old poem “First they came for the Jews…”.

          As regards the lack of comment about dead bodies lying about coming from Bucha’s mayor, maybe he was so busy chasing out Russians, he hadn’t looked yet? First things first. I actually thought it quite an appropriate soundbite.

          Most of the bodies were in bin liners, so perhaps he thought the dustmen were on strike? Perfectly plausible if it were Birmingham. Also Russian soldiers aren’t terribly observant about taking their litter home, unlike revellers at Glastonbury.

    7. They have banned me from commenting, I have no idea which of my comments triggered that, but probably a forbidden opinion. It is quite a nasty world view, and looks even nastier when you haven’t read it for a week or two.
      It won’t go bankrupt though – it gives too many people what they want to read.

      1. The DM panders to the worst natures in people in many ways. When comments are moderated, my comment(s) on that article are never shown so it looks as though I am on some sort of black list for speaking the truth of the matter. And even when they are not moderated they are frequently not made public if that comment speaks the truth of the matter the DM does not wish to be heard. I have been curious to know what propaganda the DM is issuing but I’ve decided to give the whole thing a miss now. Much of the nation is beyond hope.

      1. I’ll see if I can find it in my profile. I’ll post it here. It was quite mild!

      2. The top comment:
        I wish Putin a slow and agonising death in the manner of these poor and innocent people.

        My reply
        Poppiesmum
        How do you know that this is not staged? ‘Accused’ means nothing. During an interview with the mayor he simply says ‘the Russians have left’. Zelensky is pulling out all the stops to draw in the west, into what is an internal matter.

        The reply to my reply
        UKuk1984
        Poppies you are a disgusting human being. Got forbid that you should die an agonising death. I for one wont miss people like you.

        I thought my comment was inoffensive actually!!

    9. Oh dear. Just can’t imagine you upsetting people. The complainants must be “woke” idiots. Don’t be upset.

      1. It’s ok, vw, the comment didn’t puncture my soul… I was more surprised than anything. I posted it to show however mild the comment, if you don’t take up the views and opinions of the herd you will not be tolerated. The herd view is ‘Ukraine very very good, Russia evil beyond hope. Russian man bad.’ I feel that there is something very, very dark and evil residing in the heart of Ukraine that the west is desperately hoping never comes to light. I should add that I was not so bold to make this comment in the DM. It wouldn’t have been printed.

      1. There are so many like that. All to create a film production to brainwash the public.

  82. V.busy day. Just had time to do me wordling.

    Wordle 290 3/6

    🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜
    ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟨
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

  84. Good news at the solicitor’s today. Sister et moi thought we would be stiffed for somewhere in the region of £150K IHT when our mother pops off. Turns out I’d worked it all out wrongly and we won’t be liable for any as it currently stands. Hope Ma will last a few years longer yet tho’ anyway.🤞

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