Tuesday 6 December: Union demands can’t be met at a time when Britain must make sacrifices

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but we prefer ours),
Intelligent, polite, good-humoured debate is welcome, whether on or off topic. Differing opinions are encouraged, but rudeness or personal attacks on other posters will not be tolerated. Posts which – in the opinion of the moderators – make this a less than cordial environment, are likely to be removed, without prior warning.  Persistent offenders will be banned.

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

474 thoughts on “Tuesday 6 December: Union demands can’t be met at a time when Britain must make sacrifices”

  1. Good morrow, Gentlefolk. Today’s story:

    A teacher’s story about stuttering

    A teacher was explaining biology to her Year 4 pupils, ‘Human beings are the only animals that stutter’ she said.

    A little girl raises her hand, ‘I had a kitten who stuttered.’

    The teacher, knowing how precious some of these stories could become, asked the girl to describe the incident.

    ‘Well,’ she began, ‘I was in the back garden with my kitten and the Rottweiler that lives next door got a running start and before we knew it, he jumped over the fence into our garden!’

    ‘That must’ve been scary,’ said the teacher.

    ‘It was,’ said the little girl.

    ‘My kitty raised her back and went ‘Ffffff! Ffffff! Ffffff!’ but before she could say ‘F *** off!’ the Rottweiler ate her!

    1. Excellent, as usual, Tom. And to all on here: “Good morning afternoon and I hope you all enjoy your day”.

    2. That reminds me of a sixth form lesson when I was a pupil. One of the lads had a terrible stutter and the young teacher asked what the letters “FO” stood for, expecting the answer “Foreign Office” (It was a British Constitution class). The chap with the stutter told him but took ages to get out “Fufufufufufu koff”.

  5. I may not be around too much over the next few days, as I’m frantically packing before changing flats on Friday.

          1. I am flitting in and out between boxes, I get so fagged out so easily, that I have to have a rest in between.

    3. Argh!
      Be sure to leave a forwarding address… Christmas cards won’t reach you otherwise, Tom!

  6. Union demands can’t be met at a time when Britain must make sacrifices

    Sacrifices to the gods of climate change and saving the planet

  7. Here’s a comprehensive, well-written summary, with links, illustrating the polished corruption of US media. (Well worth reading whilst waiting for Bardot!)

    e.g.: “Once a story is deemed antithetical to left-wing agendas, there arises a collective effort to smother it. Suppression is achieved both by neglect, and by demonizing others who report an inconvenient truth as racists, conspiracist “right-wingers,” and otherwise irredeemable.

    The Hunter Biden laptop story is the locus classicus. Social media branded the authentic laptop as Russian disinformation. That was a lie. But the deception did not stop them from censoring and squashing those who reported the truth.”

    https://amgreatness.com/2022/12/04/how-corrupt-is-a-corrupt-media/

    2. I’m certain that I’ve read that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics is an ill-advised strategy and to be avoided. ‘Be seen to be doing something’ even if that ‘thing’ is totally wrong, and possibly dangerous, appears to be the modus operandi of the people thought to be in charge

    1. ‘Morning, Clyde. I can’t imagine what possessed Sir Kneel to involve Bull-Boy Brown. He’s almost as toxic as his predecessor!

      1. Do you think they’re moving towards a national government? coz I thought I read of Tony Bliar being involved in some government thing? Sorry to be so vague about what it was. Although it hardly matters. Both political parties are in favour of the major policies. I said to Alf just now that the U.K. is doing exactly the opposite of Dubai. They invite and encourage people to earn more and don’t let anyone in who doesn’t have a job. HMG actively brings in scroungers and taxes everyone so much that “white flight” must have taken off again.

      2. Do you think they’re moving towards a national government? coz I thought I read of Tony Bliar being involved in some government thing? Sorry to be so vague about what it was. Although it hardly matters. Both political parties are in favour of the major policies. I said to Alf just now that the U.K. is doing exactly the opposite of Dubai. They invite and encourage people to earn more and don’t let anyone in who doesn’t have a job. HMG actively brings in scroungers and taxes everyone so much that “white flight” must have taken off again.

    2. Morning, all. Clear, calm and with a light frost showing on the shed roof here in N Essex.

      Our priorities are the British people’s prioriities.

      Well, Sir Kneel, here are a few of my priorities: I do not think that I am alone.
      Stopping mass immigration, legal and illegal; expanding choice and improving outcomes in education; ending wasteful expenditure e.g. HS2; cancelling the drive to the unattainable Net Zero; secure our energy supplies by ending the risible idea that renewables can supply a First World economy; leave me to decide which medical interventions I will accept; oh, and stop lying through every orifice of your body you insincere git.

      2. And stop the petty tyrants in Local Government who are trying to confine people to their homes by only allowing them 100 days a year out of their “15 minute bubble”. That needs to be stopped now.

  11. I fear nobody can save Britain from its inevitable, catastrophic collapse. Sherelle Jacobs. 6 December 2022.

    And yet our leaders seem to have decided that it is far easier to carry on plodding through the chaos, until something finally gives way. If what we need is a total revolution, it may only come from the ashes of total systems collapse.

    TOP COMMENT BELOW THE LINE.

    Graham Cushway.

    I’m totally up for revolution, and yes we do need one. Parliament has utterly failed the British people, consistently and completely. So have the Civil Service, police, NHS and indeed every single government institution. They are all anti-patriotic, desperately incompetent woke-obsessed failures. They are all also captured by Far Left activism, and as soon as that has happened they become absolutely useless. They need to be destroyed and started again from the ground up.

    And of course the deepest and most insidious rot of the lot – uncontrolled immigration – destroys everything and is the root cause of every malaise. Still, that can’t stop. Massive overpopulation is the Tories’ only ‘achievement’.

    I’m with Mr Cushway; though this does not mean that I think it is going to happen, just that it is the only method remaining to save the UK and its people. Ms. Jacobs is wrong; the collapse is not to come, it has already occurred. Britain’s Political and State institutions are already dead. None of them work and the poison is spreading to what is left of the Private Sector. The few signs of life they give are due to the Zombie urge to feed off the living. These are the last remnants of Freedom and Democracy that are left in the system. When these are gone we will have entered the perfect Totalitarian State.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/12/05/fear-nobody-can-save-britain-inevitable-catastrophic-collapse/

      1. … and sack the entire Civil Service, and anybody over the rank of Matron in the NHS.

  12. Good morning all.
    A dry start and, with -2½°C outside, the first frost on the windscreens!

    1. Break out the shillelaghs!

      With me shillelagh under my arm,
      And a twinkle in my eye,
      I’ll be off to Wicklow County in the mornin’.

  15. What a man!

    Colonel Peter Castle-Smith, Royal Engineer awarded an Immediate MC for his bravery during the invasion of Sicily – obituary

    He single-handedly took prisoners from an enemy demolition squad and foiled their attempts to block his troops’ progress

    ByTelegraph Obituaries 5 December 2022 • 12:27pm

    Colonel  Peter Castle-Smith, who has died aged 99, was awarded an MC in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily in 1943.

    In July 1943 Castle-Smith was a lieutenant in command of a section of 295 Army Field Company Royal Engineers, part of 4th Armoured Brigade. On the night of August 15 he embarked with a force from Catania and sailed north-east up the Sicilian coast before landing at Scaletta, about 15 miles short of Messina.

    He led the assault on the beach; his task was to prevent the Germans blowing prepared demolitions along the strategically important coast road. The railway tunnel at Capo D’Ali was a prime site for demolition. Castle-Smith ordered his men to keep clear while he made a personal reconnaissance.

    He ran through the tunnel despite the danger and, as he emerged, the Germans blew it. At great risk, he succeeded in taking prisoner three members of the demolition squad before they were able to block the road. He was awarded an Immediate MC.

    Peter Maurice Castle-Smith was born in Egypt on October 10 1922. His father, Major Hugh Castle-Smith, had been ADC to King Fuad. Young Peter went to Marlborough before going up to Christ’s College, Cambridge, to read Mechanical Sciences. He left after six months and joined the Army.

    In 1942 he was commissioned into the Corps of Royal Engineers and was posted to 6th (Rocket) Field Squadron RE, part of 24th Armoured Brigade, 8th Armoured Division.

    In the Battle of El Alamein, he was a recce officer. Two of his Dingo scout cars were blown up on mines but he was unhurt. It was slow and dangerous work sweeping the ground for mines. Mine detectors were not very reliable so bayonets were used instead. Anti-personnel mines were set off by a tripwire. They would jump about eight feet into the air and discharge a hail of metal pieces.

    Corridors had to be taped along which the tanks could advance but these were sometimes blocked by stricken vehicles and became vulnerable to attack from the air. If a lot of wire had to be cut, Bangalore torpedoes – steel pipes crammed with explosives – were used.

    In April 1943, Castle-Smith was posted to 295 Field Company RE to train for the invasion of Sicily. After the action in which he was awarded his MC, he landed on the Italian mainland and linked up with the force that landed at Salerno.

    He returned with his unit to England to train for the Normandy landings, but during an exercise with his troop on his motorcycle he was involved in an accident and broke his wrist. As a result, he was put on general duties and worked in the offices where General Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, was based.

    While delivering messages, he learnt what was absolutely top secret, the date of the proposed invasion and the location of the landing. Castle-Smith said afterwards that he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. He did not dare stop at a pub to relax with friends in case, unwittingly, he gave something away.

    In early August he rejoined his troop in Normandy. One of the most important jobs they had was to make holes in the thick hedges to let the tanks through. He was wounded in Belgium and ended the war as second-in-command of 233 Field Company RE.

    Castle-Smith was posted to India as an instructor at the Engineer Officer Training School at Bangalore. He ran a jungle-bridging training camp but found time for hunting and shooting game.

    After the Japanese surrender, he obtained a regular commission and, in 1947, he was posted to the Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency. In 1954 he commanded 64 Field Park Squadron RE in Korea. It was after the Armistice, and the work consisted mainly of bridging and stores. In 1959, the last year of the Emergency in Malaya, he commanded 2 Engineer Squadron, Federation Malay Army.

    His final postings included appointments on the directing staff at the Royal Military College of Science, the Inspectorate of Fighting Vehicles and Mechanical Equipment and the Military Engineer Experimental Establishment. After two years as Director General Fighting Vehicles and Equipment at the MoD, in 1974 he retired in the rank of colonel.

    He lived on the banks of the River Tay, near Dunkeld, Perth & Kinross. He had a passion for fishing, mainly for salmon on many of the Scottish rivers, and tied his own flies using feathers from his days in India. He was also a silversmith with his own Edinburgh hallmark and made some beautiful cups and tumblers.

    In 1949 Peter Castle-Smith married Jean Curtis (née Rutherford), the widow of an RAF officer. She predeceased him and he is survived by their two daughters.

    Peter Castle-Smith, born October 10 1922, died September 8 2022 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7bc6c385cf19865342812da651a275d26ced20addaf3e7141aa72edb76251516.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d0a42eae9b811660c0aba3f0c53db94fb1da357571ea4a9ee66782a8ccd4c546.jpg

    A couple of BTLs:

    Hunza Tasker8 HRS AGO

    Thank you for your service sir.

    What an incredible, long-lasting and wide-ranging career. Once again I’m left almost speechless by the great lives that men like Colonel Castle-Smith have lived in service of our country.

    Dunkeld is a beautiful place in which to pass a well-earned retirement; rivers, hills and crags.

    Rest in peace.

    David Rasmussen17 HRS AGO

    Superb, such gallantry, consistency and leadership. 🇬🇧🏁

    1. Didn’t quite make 100… looks like he used most of his 9 lives quite early on.
      Respect.

  18. Another hugely talented aviator and leader has departed:

    Sir Michael Knight, top RAF pilot and energetic commander at the height of the Cold War – obituary

    Knight, who led the Vulcan restoration appeal backed by Telegraph readers, admired flyers with an aggressive spirit – in and out of aircraft

    ByTelegraph Obituaries4 December 2022 • 2:44pm

    Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Knight, who has died five days after his 90th birthday, rose from being a National Service pilot to be the UK’s Military Representative at Nato HQ in Brussels.

    By 1980, Knight had held a series of senior posts directing RAF operations when he was appointed as the Air Officer Commanding No 1 Group. Under his command he had Vulcan and Victor squadrons (which in the 1960s were the cornerstone of Britain’s Cold War nuclear deterrent), Buccaneer strike squadrons, and strategic reconnaissance units.

    In early 1982 his Vulcan bomber squadrons were due to begin standing down as the new Tornado was beginning to replace them. But when the Argentines invaded the Falkland Islands on April 2, Knight was ordered to prepare, and support, his air-to-air refuelling Victor squadrons and a Vulcan squadron for possible action.

    To equip his aging force for this unexpected commitment 8,000 miles from their bases in England required the aircraft to undergo a series of non-standard modifications: these included fitting the Vulcans with an air-to-air refuelling capability, additional secure communications and the ability to fire new precision (conventional) weapons. In addition, Knight had to oversee the intensive training of his crews for a role very different from that needed for operations in Europe.

    As the Vulcans flew their unique missions in the South Atlantic, Knight had the unpleasant task of co-ordinating the disbandment of other Vulcan squadrons and attending the stand-down parades. On a more positive note, he was able to personally welcome the first RAF Tornado strike/attack aircraft into squadron service as they arrived at two of his bases.

    Following the campaign in the South Atlantic, Knight was charged with organising (in the event, under marginal weather conditions) the Falkland Victory flypast over London.

    Michael William Patrick Knight was born in Leek, Staffordshire, on November 23 1932, and was educated at Leek High School before studying English Literature at Liverpool University, where he joined the University Air Squadron. After graduating with a First, he began his National Service and completed his training as a pilot.

    After deciding to make the RAF his career, he flew VIP transport aircraft, initially around Europe before joining a squadron of Hastings transprt aircraft flying world-wide routes. This included regular flights to support the RAF activities at the weapons-testing range at Woomera in South Australia. With the introduction of the Comet airliner into RAF service with 216 Squadron, Knight joined one of the first crews to fly the jet transport.

    In 1957 he converted to the Canberra bomber, the beginning of a long association with the aircraft, and one in which he would accumulate 2,500 flying hours. He joined 139 Squadron in Lincolnshire, which, in addition to its bombing role, also marked targets with flares ahead of the main bomber force.

    The RAF decided this role was needed in the Middle East, and in 1959 Knight was sent to Cyprus to join 249 Squadron and train crews in the special marking techniques for operations in the area. He was to remain in Cyprus for more than four years, the latter two as the commanding officer of 32 Squadron where he developed tactics for the operational use of the recently introduced air-to-ground rockets.

    His squadron was placed on high alert during the Kuwait crisis of June 1961 when Iraq moved troops to the border and threatened to claim the oil-rich state. For his work in Cyprus, he was awarded the AFC.

    After attending the RAF Staff College in 1964, Knight was posted to the Ministry of Aviation. There he was involved with plans for the soon-to-be-cancelled TSR 2 strike aircraft, and introduced to the Buccaneer, a low-level strike/attack aircraft he would soon get to know well.

    In 1967 he was posted to Tengah, the RAF’s largest operational base in the Far East, to command the Strike Wing. His squadrons included three operating the Canberra, a Hunter ground attack squadron and a Javelin all-weather fighter squadron. The Confrontation with Indonesia had recently finished and, within two years, the British withdrawal from the Far East would begin. As in all his appointments, Knight took every opportunity to fly and he was able to travel widely, usually with his rugby boots in his baggage.

    In late December 1970, Knight was appointed the senior military assistant to the chairman of Nato’s Military Committee, the former Luftwaffe fighter “ace”, General Johannes Steinhoff, who had been severely burnt in the final weeks of the war when his Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter crashed on take-off. Although badly disfigured, Steinhoff joined the new West German Bundeswehr on its formation in 1952 and rose to command the German Air Force. Knight held the general in high regard and established a close friendship with him, and his two years in Brussels were to prove particularly valuable later on.

    In December 1973, Knight took command of Laarbruch, a large base on the Dutch/German border, and the home of two Buccaneer squadrons, a Phantom squadron and a surface-to-air missile squadron. He flew with his squadrons whenever possible, and was a very popular commander who understood, and enjoyed, the “work hard, play hard” ethic.

    After attendance at the Royal College of Defence Studies, Knight served in MoD responsible for air support operations. During his time, he was closely involved in the operation to send reinforcements to Belize following threats of invasion by Guatemala. Six Harrier jets, supported by the Hercules transport fleet, were deployed to Belize in July 1977. The presence of this show of force prevented any escalation of trouble.

    After two years, Knight became the senior air staff officer at HQ RAF Strike Command responsible for the efficiency and the day-to-day operations and exercises of the many squadrons and operational ground units – an appointment he described as “very busy”.

    In 1980 he left to take up his appointment at No 1 Group; in June he was appointed CB.

    On promotion to air marshal in 1983, Knight was appointed to the Air Force Board as the Air Member for Supply and Organisation giving him responsibility for all the support and maintenance aspects of the RAF.

    After three years he returned to Brussels in August 1986 to be the UK’s Military Representative (Milrep), providing a link between the UK government and Nato. Leading the military team in the UK delegation, and working in partnership with the UK permanent representative, the political lead in the delegation, the role of the Milrep was to protect British interests and to articulate the UK military contribution to the developing Nato strategy – at a time when the end of the Cold War was in sight. He reported directly to the Chief of Defence Staff in London in this important political-military role. As the UK member of the influential Nato Military Committee, seated alongside his United States colleague, he applied his outstanding networking skills to good effect.

    A significant development occurred shortly after his arrival when in 1986 President Ronald Reagan met the General Secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev, at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland. Although the talks collapsed at the last minute, sufficient progress had been made for the signing the following December of an Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the USSR.

    Over the remainder of Knight’s time in Brussels, a steady thawing of relations between the West and the Soviet Union culminated in the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War shortly after Knight left his post to retire from the RAF in August 1989.

    Throughout his long career, Knight enjoyed the camaraderie and banter of the squadron crew room. Always insisting on the need to fly according to the regulations and the aircraft’s limitations, he admired and encouraged those with an aggressive spirit – in and out of aircraft.

    He was advanced to KCB in 1983 and a year later was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

    After retiring from the RAF, he became the chairman of the leading aerospace company, Cobham, which specialised in air-to-air refuelling equipment and providing specialist training for RAF units. He held numerous non-executive directorships with other aerospace companies.

    He was also heavily involved in the fields of healthcare, education and sport, together with numerous charities. He was chairman of the RAF Charitable Trust and of the Exmoor Calvet Trust, which helps people with disabilities to experience a variety of challenging activities in the countryside. When he served as the president of the Aircrew Association, his obvious ability to relate with Second World War veterans was appreciated.

    Knight was assiduous in promoting aviation among the young. After leaving the RAF, he reverted to the rank of flying officer in the RAFVR (Training), spending the next eight years giving air experience to young ATC and CCF cadets flying in Chipmunk aircraft.

    He was chairman then president (and later life vice president) of the Air League, the aviation and aerospace charity which, inter alia, offered flying scholarships to young people. Until the end of his life, he gave strong support to a scheme to provide flying scholarships to the disabled.

    His two favourite aircraft were the iconic delta-winged Vulcan, in his words “a masterpiece of British design”, and the Buccaneer attack aircraft. As chairman of the “Vulcan to the Sky” trust, he was heavily involved in the campaign to restore to flight the last Vulcan bomber XH558, to which Telegraph readers contributed £300,000.

    He was the first president of the Buccaneer Aircrew Association, a position he held for almost 20 years, never missing the annual “Buccaneer Blitz” reunion. His post-lunch address was a highlight, enlivened by his wicked humour and irreverent sideswipes at other fast-jet squadrons.

    He was passionate about rugby, having his first game when he was 11, and until his early forties he played all over the world as a second row forward. His final game, as a group captain with the Laarbruch Ancients, resulted in a 41-0 victory in Berlin, when he scored the final try. He was chairman of the RAF Rugby Association and served as the RAF representative on the Rugby Football Union.

    Charismatic, larger-than-life, energetic in pursuing his many interests and seemingly indestructible, Mike Knight rarely missed a party and was in demand as an after-dinner speaker with a limitless fund of jokes and anecdotes.

    He married, in 1967, Patricia Davies; she died in 2008. He is survived by his son and two daughters.

    Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Knight, born November 23 1932, died November 28 2022 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/762ba3a4078efb724eee2d358c938fbf14e720f04455ce0a53fde27627f894b1.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1a00bb425fb5df459155a945878580078c22f11863b0615cf24079b032ee02d3.jpg

  19. Party Pauper
    28 MIN AGO
    Whilst I don’t disagree with what you say, and I have huge respect for our armed forces, you do still have to bear in mind that many service personnel (not all I know) are fed, clothed, and housed as part of their remuneration. Nurses aren’t. You’re spot on about the train drivers though!

    Can someone with access to comment please tell Party Pauper that it is several decades since food and accommodation were actually part of the Forces remuneration? The introduction of the “Military Salary” in ’71 or ’72 introduced payments for these.

      1. Saved me from saying it. When I left in 1897 I was paying about £240 per month as a SNCO living in the Mess.

          1. it wa’ tough in those days, lad.

            Note correct spelling of “wa'” not “were”, an abreviation of “was”

            btw I was using a tablet on the Eurostar.

          2. By ‘eck lad. Eurostar? You’ll not get me inside a thirty-mile undersea tunnel. No sirree! Not for all the tea in Lipton’s.

    3. ‘Morning all! Done that Bob, but Steve Lee who appeared here the other day, beat me to it!

    4. are fed, clothed, and housed as part of their remuneration.

      For the RN, only when on ‘sea going ships

      If Shore based, you now have to pay!

      A year’s ‘Kit Upkeep Allownce’ would not buy you a new No 1 Uniform

      1. I joined the RAF in 1977; food and accommodation was taken at source from my monthly wage. The only change to this (other than operations) came in 2007, when ‘Pay as you dine’ was brought in, to the detriment of the standards provided.

    5. A local young lad in the Anglian Regiment is off to Cyprus today. A grateful nation expected him to have a hotel room near Brize Norton and to pay a taxi driver £75 to take him the eight miles to the airfield at 04.30 this morning

    6. Judging by the army accommodation I’ve seen, in most of them, you should be compensated to even step over the threshold.

  20. SIR – For years the Government has talked about plans to limit the effects of strike action, which included guaranteeing minimum levels of service during strikes.

    It is long past time that these plans were put into action. Or is it all hot air?

    Charles Penfold
    Ulverston, Cumbria

    Of course it is, Mr Penfold. Pretty much like everything else they say they will do, and none more so than stopping illegal immigration. It’s all just window-dressing. They think we don’t notice, but they are in for a shock in two years’ time.

    1. Strikes damage the economy. As preventing strikes would be against EU policy, that won’t be allowed.

      Noe that it’s always the public sector. never the private. More, it’s always to hurt a Conservative government and the government never does anything about it.

      When the fuel taxes hammered freight Brown used the army to force them to move – at gunpoint. That was a strike the public supported and the state opposed.

      The double standard is utterly putrid.

  21. Grattis på födelsedagen to The Monarch of the Glen (Duncan Mac).

    I’ll raise a wee dram t’ ye! 🥃 Slàinte Mhaith!

  22. SIR – Public sector strikers need to see that there is usually a workaround. It may initially not seem attractive but as time goes on it becomes preferable to the pre-strike situation.

    This is mine for the postal strike. I would normally post around 80 Christmas cards; this year it will be fewer than 10. The local cards are being hand-delivered; those going a distance, including overseas, to anyone with email will be electronic cards, and those going a distance to family will be parcelled with Christmas presents and sent by courier. As I am close to the Irish border, parcels going overseas will be posted in the Irish Republic.

    This is easier and cheaper than the status quo, so that is business Royal Mail has lost forever, with the Communication Workers Union putting resultant superfluous postal workers out of a job. A nice own goal.

    W F Shipman
    Limavady, Co Londonderry

    Quite so – Currys and other big customers are voting with their feet, as did we in Janus Towers some years ago when we were fed up with their slow and increasingly expensive ‘service’. Royal Fail needs to pull its socks up or die.

    1. We use Amazon or similar for presents – courier delivery, and sourced in the country of delivery so the only thing crossing a border is electronic money. No customs delays, no import duties, and Amazon deliver even before you order it! (actually, too soon, but hey).
      Cards are often electronic, but since I like a cardboard version that you can put on a shelf and see every day, I’m willing to pay for that.

      1. I hope you downloaded mine, printed and folded and propped on a shelf.

        Much, much cheaper than buying cards and e-mail is free.

        It just requires a little thought and imagination to lay it out. I might even get a job at Hallmark!

  23. Word of the year shows longing for laziness

    “Goblin mode”, a slang term that captures post-pandemic rejection of a return to normal life, is Oxford University Press’s word of the year.

    The term is defined as “a type of behaviour that is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy”.

    Use of the phrase rose in the months following the pandemic, when a return to office work increased the desire to stay home.

    Casper Grathwohl, president at Oxford Languages, said: “People are embracing their inner goblin, and voters choosing ‘goblin mode’ as the word of the year tells us the concept is likely here to stay.”

    How the hell can two words be the “word” of the year? Who are the woke idiots at Oxford choosing this rubbish? What does it say for a modern (Oxbridge) university education?

      1. I have always been a fan of proper limericks and ‘dirty jokes’ – especially those with a good play on words and spoonerisms. I always hide the things which might cause offence behind a spoiler.

        1.Q. When do pixies leave their false teeth at home?
        A. When they’re going to a Goblin Party.

        2. Q. What do you call an ingenious, multi-lingual person?
        A. A cunning linguist.

    3. Yesterday I went in to the office. As I left at 5:30, I was tired all day and called time at 4. I got home at half past 5 due to traffic. I was knackered. I couldn’t walk Mongo, so did that late. I didn’t see Junior off to school, nor pick him up until after his scouts thing.

      And despite that long, boring hike I achieved even less than I have in the 2 hours I have spent this morning at my ‘lazy working from home’ desk.

      I know there used to be a culture that it was a doss, but that’s a problem for the people, not the environment.

  24. SIR – Once again the Armed Forces are about to step up to help this country through strikes.

    Our servicemen and women stand head and shoulders above all the other public sector workers who are striking for above-average pay awards. The Armed Forces have to accept what is offered to them and are not allowed to strike. Not only do they deploy abroad away from their families on a regular basis, but they are also prepared to cover for those on strike at home.

    Other public service workers could do a lot worse than look to the military to see how best to serve your country.

    Patricia Abbott
    Wattisfield, Suffolk

    A couple of BTL posts:

    Martin Selves1 HR AGO

    Our Armed Forces personnel will receive a 3.75% increase (3.5% for senior officers) in base pay for financial year 2022/23. Our Nurses want 19%. Our well paid Train drivers now earn an average of £60,000 and have turned down 8%+. Plus they work a 4 day week.

    Megan wants lots of hankies and will trouser $1 million ++++ for her Netflix and hardback book of distortions and downright lies.

    Our Army Navy and Airforce agree to work 24/7 and 365 days a year if required. They also work as firemen, vaccination personnel, ambulance drivers and much else without complaint when HMG demand them. They also sorted out BSE, helped against the Taliban, train the Ukraine Army and just about everything else that breaks down in breakdown Britain. These are our silent heroes. EDITED

    Party Pauper45 MIN AGO

    Whilst I don’t disagree with what you say, and I have huge respect for our armed forces, you do still have to bear in mind that many service personnel (not all I know) are fed, clothed, and housed as part of their remuneration. Nurses aren’t. You’re spot on about the train drivers though!

    * * *

    I fear that Party Pauper is out of touch – accommodation and food all have to be paid for by soldiers, sailors and airmen, even though there is still some subsidy involved.

      1. Goodness knows why when the damned statists are bringing in the very people they fought against into the country in hordes.

        Perhaps we could have the military deployed to the hotels the criminal gimmigrants are in and use them as training exercises with live rounds. .

    2. We don’t need higher wages. That’s just a ratchet that leads to more tax take. We need lower taxes. That means far less state spending to prevent this sort of idiocy again by neutering the state permanently.

    3. I wonder if Ms Abbott is part of the ladies gang called the Wattisfield Warriors who preyed on RAF personnel from Wattisham in the 60s?

    4. Uniforms we should provide, and, frankly, if we ask soldiers to die for the country we should house them.

      So many things are back to front it’s staggering.

    5. Derriford hospital, Plymouth has quite a large number of military personnel making up the nurses’ and doctors’ numbers. I’m sure there are lots more in the larger hospitals around the country.

      1. Frimley Park in Hampshire used to have military nurses and medics working alongside the civvy staff, but that may have changed since I had connections there some ten years ago. Always very efficient and helpful in my experience.

    6. It used to be like that but not quite true now Hugh, RAF ordinary ranks get their uniforms free but they are not fed – they pay for their food. Officers pay for uniforms but get an allowance towards it AFAIK and pay for their food. Accommodation and food is taken off their pay
      In other words the married mens allowance was removed and everyone gets the same but accommodation and food are taken off single personnel.

    1. He’s been told to pay.

      Now let’s see whether the authorities ever try to enforce payment.

        1. The sheep and goats will have been slaughtered outwith licenced slaughter houses on illegal farms or in gutters.
          I have seen them on a remote farm in droves with individuals in white coats walking about with knives to slaughter the animals. Not the sort of environment in which a wise man would intervene.

          1. And if a group of farmers got together to do something about it they would be the ones arrested.

            Funny how the animal rights activists never get involved protesting. (Not that I would take the risk myself.)

          2. That is what is the trouble with Muslims. Some of them are willing to kill non-Muslims if we interfere in what they consider to be their right to do.

    5. Main route to getting rid of bones – leave them near the badgers sett, and by tomorrow, they’re gone.

  28. 368717+ up ticks,

    Tuesday 6 December: Union demands can’t be met at a time when Britain must make sacrifices.

    At this moment in time I’d wager the very peoples that
    continue to support and vote these political cretins in are the very same peoples that are now putting the boot into
    a semi deceased Country NOW.

    These strikers are using the people ( their own kind) as a lever against a government that, as proven, don’t give a shite and, get this, they the electorate majority voted in, AGAIN.

    Currently ALL parties inclusive of the strikers are pro repress,replace,RESET.

    IMO, an encapsulating General strike, followed immediately by a General election would be beneficial to peoples and Country

    1. Possibility of evil? Evil is what it is – the malicious intent to create unhappiness, misery and pain for individuals or groups. That’s all Western governments do in their every action. It is the ‘reason for being’ of Lefties everywhere.

  30. Some weeks ago I asked where the massive interest on our National debt went. It was suggested that some of the interest comes back to the Treasury. If so what does the Treasury do with this large amount of money? Some investigative journalist could perhaps look into this. Does the money just disappear? We taxpayers should know the facts.

    2. Indeed, some of the interest cancels itself out by coming back to HM Treasury. But most of the debt is held by institutions such as pension funds (indirectly us) and foreign bodies, including central banks.

  31. 368717+ up ticks,

    Seemingly the political king Cobra is going hyperactive he has to be suffering acutely from, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD causes you to become overactive,impulsive, inattentive,and NOT listening to the peoples It’s usually diagnosed at a young age.and I believe is rife in governing politico’s

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak plans to clear the ever-growing backlog of asylum applications by simply granting what amounts to an amnesty to migrants from a number of African and Middle Eastern countries, reports suggest.

    1. They were always going to let the scum stay. There is no interest in removing them.

      It’s repellent. The entire commons needs to be burned with the wasters inside it, then all the criminal gimmigrants removed – by whatever means.

    2. This is gross negligence by the Home office and the PM. They are responsible for the backlog and heads should roll.

      1. 368717+ up ticks,

        CS,
        In reality, if this same voting pattern is adhered to then heads will indeed roll
        probably every Saturday in the market square.
        The politico’s are working from a different agenda than the peoples requirements.

  32. Article in today’s DT:

    Asylum seekers in their 20s were ‘fast-tracked for Covid vaccines ahead of the elderly’

    In Pandemic Diaries extract, Matt Hancock attacks ‘bleeding hearts’ who prioritised those who ‘may not even have any right to be here’

    “Mr Hancock’s entry for Feb 12 2021 in his Pandemic Diaries says: “The Left never ceases to amaze. The bleeding hearts who run North West London CCG (one of many health quangos nobody will miss when they’re abolished) have taken it upon themselves to prioritise vaccinating asylum seekers.

    “They have fast-tracked no fewer than 317 such individuals – ‘predominantly males in their 20s and 30s’.

    “So, while older British citizens quietly wait their turn, we are fast-tracking people who aren’t in high-risk categories and may not even have any right to be here?”

    Blimey, what is going on?  I actually agree with Handycock!

    2. I am elderly and don’t want the Covid Vaccine. The invader can have mine. My son and young cousin have had severe colds which have kept them housebound. Both are fully Covid vaccinated. Is this more evidence that the rna vaccines are destroying peoples immunity system?

      1. Mine too, but there are plenty of people who will deeply resent tbis kind of prioritisation.

      2. As we have repeatedly said here we had Covid in February at the same same time as Caroline’s sister, our son and his girlfriend and some other friends. We had it very mildly. I went to bed for one day, had a good sleep and that was that – Covid over; Caroline did not even take to her bed. All the others listed were really quite ill. The difference : Caroline and I have had no Covid jabs – the others in our ‘unrepresentative sample‘ were all triple jabbed.

        Amazing how many people in ‘unrepresentative’ samples ‘have been badly protected from Covid and actually harmed by the jabs.

    3. The state doesn’t care. In fact, I’d imagine the entire point is to diminish the citizen.

      1. A tongue twister for you:

        How many jabs have the hijabbed had if the hijabbed have had jabs?

      1. Did this actually happen or is the politician rewriting history in an attempt to avoid the piano wire and lamppost that awaits him?

  33. A large number of people have had knee replacements which are failing prematurely. The replacemets are from a USA company and will add to the queue of people awaiting a knee replacement. I am in that queue.

    1. On the upside we could inspect our import now if we chose to. Of course, that provision was forbidden by the EU.

      1. Nah! A naughty driver’s course in lieu of fine & points.
        Though I will admit that it was more interesting and enjoyable than I remotely expected it to be!

        1. I did one of those a few years ago – four hours of chat. Apparently I did 38 in a 30 mile zone – I didn’t see the unmarked white van with the spy camera.

  38. Good morning, all. I DID make it! Gosh, that old London has changed in the last three years. Barely heard English spoken and very few white faces on public transport. Ludicrous “security” at the British Museum and National Gallery – 15 minute queue just to gain entry. Fortunately, at the BM, I went to the Montague Place door – old security chap said that entrance was only for members, groups and “the elderly” – “So you go on in, sir”. Saved all the hassle. There is some advantage in looking at death’s door! Likewise at the Nat Gall. Sensible lady explained the queue but told us to go via the “pre-booked” entry….

    We spent nearly two hours at the BM’s Hieroglyphics expo – I still don’t understand the link between the shapes and the sound “attributed” to them….
    Called in to Camisa’s Italian grocers – which I first visited in 1961. Exactly the same.

    Glad to say that there was nothing of that sort at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Just polite men holding doors open for us and wishing us good afternoon. And if you are in King Street, St James’s – Christie’s have re-started their free coffee bar. The best coffee in London – the bloke making it comes from Naples…..

    Wonderful break – no rain – half a day with grand-daughter who presented me with her latest drawing of me…. Not a dry eye…

    Then back to Narfurk last night – one of the few trains from King’s Cross that didn’t suffer from the Great Copper Wire theft that caused most trains to the north to be cancelled.

    Now I discover that, since I was away, yet another killer medical thing is out to get us. “Strep” – what I believe the Yanks call a sore throat will kill everyone before the end of the year. Good that Project Fear grows and grows. Still lotsa masks in yer London, by the way….

    I hope you are all well.

    1. Living to be as old as you look should be everyone’s aim.

      Welcome back to civilisation, glad you enjoyed most of the visit.

      1. Actually, we enjoyed it all – though the otherwise excellent hotel has suffered – they have great difficulty in recruiting staff. But they have increased the free alcoholic drinks and snacks throughout the day, which sort of makes up for it! I do like to start the day with a glass of fizz!!

    3. Last time I was in London was 2018 and there was a huge queue at the BM then and bag checks, etc. Had to go in via a tent instead of the main doors.

      1. Still there. Madness. Jobsworthiness. The chap at the Montagu Place entrance saw that neither the MR nor I were likely bombers…. Just glanced into her handbag. Job done! A young couple 50 yards ahead of us he sent packing to the main queue.

  39. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1ebb9b33bbd81c077bf33849daac0eb77af6894c20ec9401ade6f47c44a9a965.jpg Any irrational fat-phobes still out there may care to look away now.

    Yesterday I bought just shy of 5 kg of tallow (beef fat) which my butcher kindly minced for me. Right now I have started to render it down to make a superb batch of beef dripping in which I shall fry my fish and chips in the natural style (still de rigueur in Yorkshire and Belgium). Most fish and chips shops have succumbed to using foul and unnatural industrial effluent known, humorously and idiotically, as “vegetable oil” (which is absurd because it contains no vegetables).

    My fat does not seep into the food and my fish and chips come out dry (not oily) crisp and exceptionally tasty. Swedes are bemused by my fat-rendering. They soon change their minds when they taste my fish and chips.

        1. Brilliant- thank you. Last week was an AFib – they come and go. I’d forgotten that the worst would soon be over. I was 99% by Friday morning when we left for Lunnon.

    2. My first introduction to proper fish & chips was on a rainswept Blackpool promenade. Had had a day at the pleasure park and was cold and wet. The food of the Gods !

    3. My parents ran a fish and chip shop in York for 16 years, through the 60s to mid 70s and dad always insisted on frying in dripping. Mum tried very hard to get him to change to veggie oil but he insisted their cumstomers wouldn’t accept the change in taste.

        1. On the Carr Estate in Acomb. There was a block of four shops with spacious living quarters, a forecourt and road around the back for deliveries. All demolished to make way for tiny houses crammed into all the available space.

      2. Your dad knew that dripping is food (which will nourish you); whereas ‘veggie oil’ is recycled industrial lubrication (which will kill you).

    4. What time are you frying tonight, Grizzly? I’ll be round pdq, just set an extra seat at the table. Lol.

  40. Good moaning.
    Strange bright thing in the sky.
    Should I thrown another Greeniac on the fire to propitiate the gods?

    3. Chuck a few on anyway – it might not satisfy the gods, but it’s a start for the rest of us!!

      2. Afternoon Sue. Built by the Nabateans and “lost” to the West until 1812 when it was rediscovered by Burckhardt. It was the centre of the Frankincense trade into the Roman Empire and was indirectly responsible for the Invasion of Arabia Felix by Augustus.

      3. Afternoon Sue. Built by the Nabateans and “lost” to the West until 1812 when it was rediscovered by Burckhardt. It was the centre of the Frankincense trade into the Roman Empire and was indirectly responsible for the Invasion of Arabia Felix by Augustus.

      5. I’m looking at the new theories that many of the ancient places like Petra and the Pyramids are far older than everyday historians would have us believe, the accuracy, enormity and craftsmanship seem to suggest there were very advanced civilisations before the great flood some say was caused by a comet striking earth. It looks a facinating place..

        1. I went there in 1994, when there were still bedouin living in the caves. I asked one guy if he’d ever thought of living anywhere else and in perfect English he replied, “Yes, I lived in Earls Court for six months. I hated it”.

          3. Yes, there’s even one of me on a horse at Petra but none of it was digital then. I had a camera with 35mm film so the snaps are printed on card and in an album. I could try and scan some I guess.

      7. I see something as beautiful as that and wonder how quickly that daft part of the world will try to destroy it out of spite.

  41. 8:00 am: I made a snowman.
    8:10 – A feminist passed by and asked me why I didn’t make a snow woman.
    8:15 – So, I made a snow woman.
    8:17 – My feminist neighbor complained about the snow woman’s voluptuous chest saying it objectified snow women everywhere.
    8:20 – The gay couple living nearby threw a hissy fit and moaned it could have been two snow men instead.
    8:22 – The transgender man..women…person asked why I didn’t just make one snow person with detachable parts.
    8:25 – The vegans at the end of the lane complained about the carrot nose, as veggies are food and not to decorate snow figures with.
    8:28 – I was being called a racist because the snow couple is white.
    8:31 – The middle eastern gent across the road demanded the snow woman be covered up .
    8:40 – The Police arrived saying someone had been offended.
    8:42 – The feminist neighbor complained again that the broomstick of the snow woman needed to be removed because it depicted women in a domestic role.
    8:43 – The council equality officer arrived and threatened me with eviction.
    8:45 – TV news crew from Ch4 showed up. I was asked if I know the difference between snowmen and snow-women? I replied “Snowballs” and am now called a sexist.
    9:00 – I was on the News as a suspected terrorist, racist, homophobe sensibility offender, bent on stirring up trouble during difficult weather.
    9:10 – I was asked if I have any accomplices. My children were taken by social services.
    9:29 – Far left protesters offended by everything marched down the street demanding for me to be arrested.
    By noon it all melted
    Moral:
    There is no moral to this story. It is what we have become, all because of snowflakes.

    3. Female Genital Mutilation is illegal, but taking your 16-year-old son to Thailand to be emasculated is not?

  44. Happy Saint Nicholas day all! Children’s party day at work. The place is overrun with toddlers. Used to be an annual event but of course cancelled for the past two years. Thankfully no masks. The little ones need to socialise normally? One wee lass was griping so I commented that maybe it was all a bit overwhelming but her mum replied, “Nah, she’s just got a mouth on ‘er”.

    1. There is a view that the Uke army was defeated back in the summer and it’s US/NATO forces now. Russia and the BRICS group are standing in the way of the reset and the Washington regime wants the conflict to go on as long as possible with the aim of grinding down their opponents. Russia could end it. The problem is that there really isn’t any such ethnicity as Ukrainian. The people are mostly ethnic Russian and the government in Moscow genuinely don’t want to slaughter their own.

      1. If/when service personnel across NATO start arriving home in boxes I’ll stay with the Ukrainians being the ones doing the face to face fighting. I agree re Russia taking a softer approach, certainly softer than history suggests they would normally.

    2. The Ukies are simply supplying the bodies. The rest; Command, logistic’s, reconnaissance, weaponry are supplied by the Americans under the cover of NATO.

        1. My thought, too. The RAF News was all about terrible Putin and no word of the reality of the situation. I was bitterly disappointed that they were so “right on” with the narrative. I had hoped their intell might have been better.

  47. Think that Canada could not fall further into madness?

    Simons a clothing manufacturer recently put together and released a video advert that featured some poor woman going through medically assisted suicide (MAID to the proponents). They were surprised at the negative response they have received.

    If you can face how bad it has become, look up Jennyfer Hatch.

    2. Good God, what’s the matter with people?
      I’d be happy to burn their offices with them locked inside. What scum.

      2. The United States. I have never heard the word except in US publications. There it means a “sore throat”.

    2. Oops meant to put this here

      Symptoms of diphtheria include:
      a thick grey-white coating that may cover the back of your throat, nose and tongue.
      a high temperature (fever)
      sore throat.
      swollen glands in your neck.
      difficulty breathing and swallowing.

      Diphtheria – NHShttps://www.nhs.uk › conditions › diphtheria

      1. How is diphtheria treated today?
        Treatments include: Antibiotics. Antibiotics, such as penicillin or erythromycin, help kill bacteria in the body, clearing up infections. Antibiotics lessen the time that someone with diphtheria is contagious.

  49. Just had yet another call from an unknown telephone number.
    I decided rather than block it straight away, I’d take a chance and answer.
    “We understand you have recently had a car accident” 🤔😎

    “Yes you must mean the one I had the other day, my Centurion tank ran over a Mini and it caught fire. Not to worry though, the occupants didn’t feel a thing as they were crushed”.
    A moment of silence from the caller, then the phone went dead.
    I wonder why.

    1. Andrew, what with that post of yours and Tom’s morning funnies, you have made my day.

    2. Off to read the newspapers so they could be the first to contact the dead people’s families?

    3. I keep getting call on the mobile from the USA, i don’t answer them.

      Hope it isn’t Trump and I’ve snubbed him

    4. Keep them on the phone for as long as possible.

      That prevents that one person scamming someone else. My record is about ten minutes before a torrent of abuse and my laughing at them.

  50. Further Good News for all followers of posts from Bloodaxe Towers. I rang the firm who installed and annually service my Combination Boiler which was supplied with a CH “gizmo’ which went bananas a couple of days ago. They are based in Chelmsford just down the road and I envisaged a long return trip plus a large expenditure of cash to buy a replacement “gizmo”. Fortunately I phoned them first and the receptionist suggested opening the batteries cover and replacing the two AA batteries. Within seconds I am back to normal. Thank goodness I always shop for new supplies (including batteries) before items run out! I can now enjoy the rest of the day. (Next job is washing the dishes!)

  52. A penguin fell asleep on an iceberg and woke to find himself
    encased in ice, unable to move.

    Luckily a narwhal swam by and the penguin called out ‘I say,
    could you break the ice?’

    ‘I suppose so,’ muttered the narwhal, ‘So, what are your hobbies
    then?’

    No ! You get your coat !

    1. I thought I was now over my cold/flu, but it took me a little while to get your joke, Phizzee. Maybe I’m not fully over things! Lol.

  53. An Arctic explorer comes face-to-face with a polar bear.
    Afraid of being eaten, he falls to his knees and starts praying.

    Noticing the polar bear kneel down and start praying beside
    him, the man shouts, “It’s a miracle!”

    The polar bear opens one eye and says “Don’t talk while I’m
    saying grace.”

  54. Egg thrown at King Charles. 6 December 2022

    An egg is believed to have been thrown in the direction of King Charles during a walkabout in Luton town centre.

    A man in his 20s has been arrested on suspicion of common assault, Bedfordshire Police said.

    The suspect is currently in custody for questioning after being arrested in St George’s Square in Luton on Tuesday.

    They didn’t have a chat with him then? Take his picture? Offer him a cup of tea?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/12/06/king-charles-egg-pelted-man-arrested-luton/

          3. Yes, Sue Mac. Dishes done, table laid out for my second portion of roast chicken this evening, a cuppa made and am enjoying it with a couple of shortbread slices. Hope you are also well.

          4. Certainly am! We’ve been to the Edinburgh Vet School to see our daughter and have 12 1/2 year old Hector examined as he’s been struggling badly to walk. Neither my old man nor I expected to bring him home with us and it’s been a very long day. However Emma discovered a very nasty infection in his left rear paw, cleaned it up and gave antibiotics ….and bingo…he’s a new dog! Slightly woozy from the morphine, but hey…he’ll deal with that! Also got to see our youngest grandson who is a hoot! So we’re celebrating with carrot cake! 😘

          6. Thanks Paul! It’s been a bit of a nightmare and I never thought to check his pads as I just thought it was part of his progressive degeneration! He slipped into the pond last night, in the dark and I had to lift him out! He prefers water with a bit of flavour!

          7. Britain in a nutshell: easier to obtain antibiotics for a geriatric dog than for a child with a Strep A. infection.

          9. Not mine, Herr Oberst! My grandmother was a whizz at the baking! Dreadful cook, but her bread, dropped scones and lemon drizzle were stunning!

          11. WOT? You are calling Paul and me SCANDIES? We’re not even plastic Scandies!

            Do it again and I’ll call you a JOCK! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😘

          14. Yes! Thanks Conway! We are relieved and delighted! Hector isn’t long for this world but after his 2 cancer ops and the surgery on his elbow, we want him to have the best remaining time Emma and we can give him! Sod the expense!!

          2. And a Ladies a little further on
            Where for a penny on deposit
            You can sit upon the closet
            and see sights worth at least half a crown….

          8. Little Miss Moffet went to the closet
            But when she got there
            She only passed air.
            That wasn’t a pennyworth was it?

    4. After his treatment of Lady Susan Hussey, his mother’s best friend and his heir’s godmother, he deserved a jolly good egging – or rather a thorough egging with very bad eggs.

      As Claudius, the murderer of Hamlet’s father, said:

      O my offence is rank it smells to heaven.

      If Charles gave off a strong pong of sulphur dioxide it would alert people to the rankness of his offence and to just what a stinker he is!

        1. I think people have made the mistake of underestimating the full extent of his pettiness and nastiness.

      4. Egging the King seems to be turning into a national sport. Perhaps it will unite the country that was divided by multi-culturalism. NB this observation should not be treated as support.

  55. Par four here today

    Wordle 535 4/6

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

    1. A bogey today, too many options.
      Wordle 535 5/6

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

      1. To plagiarize Morcombe and Wise, I had all of the letters, just in the wrong order

        Wordle 535 5/6

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

      2. To plagiarize Morcombe and Wise, I had all of the letters, just in the wrong order

        Wordle 535 5/6

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

    3. Me too.

      Wordle 535 4/6

      🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
      🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
      🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩
      🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

      1. “And the fools gave us an 80 seat majority and all we did was implement Brown’s policies!”

    5. Caption competition!

      “We’ve doe so much damage, Labour will have to go to the IMF, the IMF will force us into the EU and then they’ll get the blame!”

    2. Was the racism and abuse from Izzard himself insisting people call him a woman, which had folk raising eyebrows and asking… really?

    3. A shame, as having him/her/it as a contender might have shown what your average person thinks about the whole gender shite.

      1. Hopefully, he’ll get another constituency and get lots of attention during the election campaign.

  58. That’s the Christmas cards posted. 10 Norway stamps, 10 UK stamps & 1 to USA: £50! Looks like I’m single-handedly supporting the postal services of at least 3 countries!

          4. Mine, I exported to Norway in the hope that we’d be moving here.
            The firearms Sergeant in Horsham told me “Bloody well done” when I took the Customs-stamped documentation to show the guns were now in Norway. And, they still are. Firstborn now has my Walther P.38, but I retained the Redhawk 44 MAG and GP100 .357, and Walther PPK.
            Now joined by a Mauser KAR98k and a 12-gauge side-by-side shotgun.
            Armoury is downstairs…

          5. I had an over/under shotgun which I handed in when the licence went up – clay pigeon shooting and vermin control – could do with that now if the stop oil twats venture this far

          6. Second Son has an over-under 12 bore – and he’s a dead shot with it. Me, I prefer the look of a s-s, and they are often lighter, too. Since when hunting one spends 99.9999% of the time carrying the gun and a millisecond or two shooting it, weight matters.

          8. Mine, I exported to Norway in the hope that we’d be moving here.
            The firearms Sergeant in Horsham told me “Bloody well done” when I took the Customs-stamped documentation to show the guns were now in Norway. And, they still are. Firstborn now has my Walther P.38, but I retained the Redhawk 44 MAG and GP100 .357, and Walther PPK.
            Now joined by a Mauser KAR98k and a 12-gauge side-by-side shotgun.
            Armoury is downstairs…

        2. Sue, you have done it now.
          You have unintentionally convened a meeting of the military wing of NTTL, where the males are obliged to compare the size and power of their weapons.

    2. Mine all went 2 days ago, most of mine are e-cards now. If you get a card from me now you are either family or special.
      The local ones are either by hand or distributed by the primary school kids at 30p towards their school

      1. I have one (UK) parcel to post, but all the others have either been posted (cost an arm and a leg) or delivered by hand during the dog walk.

        1. The one present I’m buying is local. Haven’t given presents for years – if I think someone would like a particular item I’ll buy it for them regardless.. I heard this definition…Presents are defined as buying expensive crap which you can’t afford for people you don’t particularly like who don’t want them anyway.

          1. This is for an old school chum. We buy each other inexpensive presents for Christmas and birthdays. We’ve known each other so long we are on the same wavelength.

          2. That definition reminds me of the legendary Irish video cassette recorder which was designed to record all sorts of TV programmes that you didn’t want to watch and then play them back while you were out.

  60. OT – two things I noticed about yer London.

    First – signs. Bloody signs everywhere. Telling you to hold on, stand clear of the gap (even when there isn’t one), not to be rude, to stay safe, to watch out for racists (I made that up – but only just!)

    Secondly, the way young people – twenty+ age group – EXPECT elderly buffers to get out of their way. Used to be rather different.

    And don’t get me started on children in hotel residents’ lounges……

    Funny old world.

    1. In M&S the other day a woman pushed a trolley straight at me – it was a wide aisle, she could have gone around. She chose not to.

      As regards getting out of people’s way – no one gets out of my way – regardless of the consequences. I turned to check junior was with me and some lout bashed into me. He hit the floor and began complaining. Loudly. As if some skinny pea brained thug in a grey tracksuit is even going to register. I said ‘look where you’re going’ and walked off. If I make no effort to avoid people, vast numbers would walk into me, hit me with a trolley or otherwise get in my way. There are days when, if I’ve had enough and were in poor temper, I could comfortably push them away and likely over. People are rude as a matter of course, and decent people pay for that, which causes frustration.

      I contrast, a lovely lady once said ‘Would you mind getting me one of those from up there?’ and I did as it was a jolly nice thing to do.

        1. Being now only 5′ 3″ and shrinking, I’m usually the one asking people to lift things down from the top shelf 🙂

      3. I’m 6′ but it’s those really low shelves that bother me now, especially when trying to delve further back for better ‘sell by’ dates.

      4. I’m beginning to think that spatial awareness has also been wiped out by the ‘vaccines’.

        I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve opened the train doors to alight, only to be confronted by someone who is determined to push me aside and get on the train first – despite the fact that it isn’t leaving the platform for twenty minutes.

        And Guildford station has a subway with ramps connecting the platforms. There huge signs saying “Keep Left” every few yards. So everyone else insists on keeping right…

    2. The last time I were in yer London, a smidgeon over three years ago, it was just the same then with all manner of silly signs despoiling everywhere. And that was before all the madness broke out!

      2. And all those wazzocks who stand waiting for the green light to cross a road when there is no traffic of any sort in any direction for 300 yards….

    2. I note that although he was sentenced to three years in prison the word Deportation after completion of sentence was not mentioned.

      Funny that !!

    3. Not read the article but let me guess – criminal gimmigrant, muslim.

      Nearly there. Sadly always da blicks.

      1. Indeed.
        The Moroccan defence was superb, they will take a lot of beating if they keep it up, although injuries may stymie them from going further.

  63. Another tragedy for a family, but my view is that these things are too dangerous relative to any benefit that they might bring to the planet.
    They need to be FAR more strictly regulated or better still, banned.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11508075/Birmingham-Boy-12-dies-e-scooter-collides-bus-horror-crash.html

    We have a plague of the damned things here, mostly ridden by the diverse.
    I watch them driven through traffic, on and off pavements and cutting through gaps left by pedestrians.
    Too fast, too silent, too manoeuvrable and too often driven by mindless idiots.

  64. That’s me for tonight. If there are typing errors they arise because the light bulb “went” just as I sat down…

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain.

    1. Glad to hear you’re back to “normal” Bill. Have a good evening.
      ETA: Don’t forget – Wendy ball on tonight 7pm. I’ve even looked up the teams for you. Portugal vs Switzerland. 😉.

  65. Now back home.
    Pub ran out of Fullers London Pride. Bugger. New delivery on Thursday… and Morocco-Spain wendyball was shite.

    2. What I watched of it I enjoyed. Cooking a curry as I watched it on me laptop in the kitchen.

  66. Evening, all. Feeling festive! The trees are up, although I’ve probably made the worst attempt at decoration ever. I got all the boxes down and piled them in the sitting room (first, gather your equipment) then started to erect the ancient tree (I bought it in 1976). First problem was that, although I had made sure when I put it away I had included the colour code for putting the branches on in the right order, I couldn’t find it. Cue trying to do it from memory. Then I found the code, only to realise that the tree is so old the colour bits on the ends have almost worn away. Trying to sort out red, orange and maroon when there are only traces of paint is not easy. Then I put everything on the tree (except the candle lights because the socket nearest is not working and needs the workman who moved it to come back and sort it – it could be some time). Apart from the fact it looked a bit lop-sided, it also looked very bare. Then, after I’d put the star on the top, I discovered a whole box of ornaments that should have gone on. By this time, I’d given up and had a glass of sherry! If I can work up the enthusiasm on Saturday. I’ll finish it off, along with the two flanking the front door (they’ve only got tinsel on at the moment). The new hanger for the door wreath wouldn’t fit over the conservatory door, which was too thick, and wouldn’t let the front door close (it interfered with the door jamb). Add to that, I couldn’t find the pack of mince pies I am convinced that I bought and stored in the cupboard (I know I haven’t eaten them) so Christmas cheer was complete.

    2. Wot no fairey?
      Just before Xmas Santa got all his little helpers together and gave them all jobs to do, he told the fairey to get the Xmas tree which had been reserved for them in the woods. Off she went and spent days in the wood looking for this tree. By the time she’d found it and got back to Santa Xmas was over and Santa was furious that they didn’t get a tree. The fairey sobbed and apologised, she said she’d got lost. Santa told her to go away and never come back. The fairey asked him what she was to do with the tree – he told her…..and that’s why there’s always a fairy on top of a Xmas tree

      1. They’d have their feet in the air if they had; mince pies are full of things that are toxic for dogs.

    4. My old tree is the same age as yours , Conway.. pretty battered .with some lost branches .

      Now going free at the end of the driveway .. box of baubles and glittery stuff have already gone .

      Invested in a small tree with glittery illuminated branches that light up in all sorts of colours .. very pretty and acceptable and not likely to be sent flying by the dogs . Bought it half price in Dobies ..

      1. I was given a tree that lit up last year. I haven’t got it plugged in to twinkle this year due to the “cost of living crisis”.

    5. Still 2 weeks away from my allowing lights and trees et al to be set up. Bah humbug. She’ll put ’em up in stealth mode anyway, just testing the lights etc.

    1. If the silly bitches who buy such abominations actually did the work to create such jeans in the real world, they might actually start to understand the value of money.

    5. One interesting item in their extravagant gifts section is a shopping bag for a mere 1050 pounds.

      A bargain at one thousandth of the price!

        1. I remember reading it but can’t remember the plot much. A weird bloke fancying an old lady or something? East of England?

    1. Are youu hoping our military will remove the imposed Stooge Sunak and restore the elected PM, Truss?

      1. I live in hope…. but then reality kicks in. It would be good to think that the WEF have not got their truly evil way with rigged results around the world though.

    2. I read about this … these were drug cartel leaders taken out in the Favelas of Rio.

    1. It was about health initially. The problem wasn’t the model, it was the panic. Once the state panicked, it stopped listening to alternative views.

      1. I disagree, the interpretation of the God-damned models, which were wrong, caused the panic.

        1. Aye, you’re right.

          Although I would go back to the beginning of the state panicking.

          It’s funny, I’ve just had a letter form a doctor. It mentions my being fat many times. The doctor emntioned it himself many times. Oddly enough, I’m aware of it and don’t need to be told.

          Anyway, I did reply telling him prior to lockdown – initiated to ‘protect the NHS’ I was 137 kilos. After 2 years of forcing gyms to close I am now 150. Perhaps he would accept that had the NHS been more efficient, better organised and not needed us all locked away I might have maintained my ‘lighter’ weight.

  72. I have never been interested in wendyball but any sport played at world level is worth a look. I looked and saw shirt pulling, pushing, tripping, stamping and some yellow cards were issued. When a TV commentator said a player had to foul another to prevent him scoring I thought of a better way to prevent the foul.

    Forget and get rid of the yellow card. In its place put the red card which takes you out of the game. I think fouls will be few and far between.

    1. When a tackle results in a player writhing on the ground in ‘agony’ and slo-mo shows that there was no contact, perhaps there should be a penalty for bad acting or more accurately, cheating.

      1. When I was refereeing, many moons ago, I tried to play advantage at every opportunity.

        It was amusing how quickly the players shot to their feet when they realised that their writhing was being ignored.

  74. BTL Comment from ‘QuiteShocking”

    Presidents best known by their initials.

    FDR
    JFK
    LBJ
    FJB

Comments are closed.