Tuesday 6 February: The pitfalls of granting asylum on the basis of conversion to Christianity

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its commenting 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.

465 thoughts on “Tuesday 6 February: The pitfalls of granting asylum on the basis of conversion to Christianity”

  1. Good morrow, gentlefolk. Today’s (recycled) story
    THE BENEFITS SCROUNGER

    A young man with his jeans hanging half off, two gold front teeth, and a half inch thick gold chain around his neck; walked into the local Jobcentre office to pick up his cheque.

    He walked up to the counter and said, “Hi. You know, I just HATE drawing benefits. I’d really rather have a job. I don’t like taking advantage of the System, getting something for nothing.”
    The social worker behind the counter said, “Your timing is excellent. We’ve just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who wants a chauffeur and bodyguard for his daughter.

    “You’ll have to drive his 2024 Mercedes-Benz CL, and he will supply your clothes. Because of the long hours, meals will be provided.

    “You’ll also be expected to escort the daughter on her overseas holiday trips. This is rather awkward to say, but you will also have, as part of your job, the assignment to satisfy her sexual urges as the daughter is in her mid-20’s and has a rather uninhibited sex drive.”
    The guy, just extremely wide-eyed, said, “You’re bullshittin’ me!”

    The social worker said, “Yeah, well… You started it.”

  2. Morning everyone. Just a quick word (and hopefully my last) about the Monarch’s ailment. I turned the TV on last night to catch the headlines and was confronted with the announcement about his medical condition. I have to admit that it was; well not exactly a shock, more disturbing than anything. Why this should be so I’m not sure. Charles and I are not fellow travellers. It could be because it is an intimation of my own mortality. Like most Nottlers I am fast approaching that moment when it will be time to go. Anyway it ruined my evening.

    Later when I get up during the night to answer the urges of my blood sugar levels I read Poppiesmum’s post. My initial reaction was one of repugnance and then the realisation that I wasn’t entirely sure that such a manoeuvre was beyond him. In fact when I thought about it, couched in the right terms, avoiding the boost to his popularity and reuniting the family “you would be saving lives your Majesty” it would probably appeal to him. Since then I’ve upvoted the post and cancelled it twice. That is the state of play at the moment.

      1. The other problem is that should Charley pop his clogs, Woke Willy V is going to be around for a while and Georgie Porgy VIII will, like Granddad,, have to wait and be inculcated into all the same woke nonsense.

      2. Thank you, Sir Jasper. Life experience has made me cynical. I have just replied to Minty above (or below, it depends which way one is travelling!). I have tried to explain my reasoning in a paragraph, but there is oh, so much more.

    2. Given the depths that the powers sunk to in getting people to submit to the Covid-19 ‘vaccines’ (especially the banning of Ivermectin as a possible treatment) I have completely lost faith in those that should by virtue of their positions command trust and respect. There are reports that a ‘vaccine’ for cancer is being /has been developed. Only time will tell if there is a massive push to vaccinate everyone (on the back ‘The King was the first to benefit’ headlines.

      “That’s not to say that early vaccination programmes supported by a Monarch weren’t beneficial. For example:
      It was during Catherine’s reign that the first-ever inoculation (an early version of vaccination), designed to protect against smallpox, was invented. A lover of science and all the advances brought forth by the Enlightenment, the monarch embraced this medical innovation with open arms, becoming the first person in Russia to undergo the procedure in 1768. And then she promptly deemed anyone who didn’t get inoculated an idiot. Truly, ahead of her time.”

      In today’s world vast fortunes stand to be made from billions of doses given….

      Edited: Good morning Minty and all.

      1. There are reports that a ‘vaccine’ for cancer is being /has been developed.

        Morning Stephen. We need to keep an eye open for this! If it surfaces, case proved!

          1. A vaccine against the papillomavirus that is implicated in causing cervical cancer, not the actual cancer its self.

    3. Given the depths that the powers sunk to in getting people to submit to the Covid-19 ‘vaccines’ (especially the banning of Ivermectin as a possible treatment) I have completely lost faith in those that should by virtue of their positions command trust and respect. There are reports that a ‘vaccine’ for cancer is being /has been developed. Only time will tell if there is a massive push to vaccinate everyone (on the back ‘The King was the first to benefit’ headlines.

      “That’s not to say that early vaccination programmes supported by a Monarch weren’t beneficial. For example:
      It was during Catherine’s reign that the first-ever inoculation (an early version of vaccination), designed to protect against smallpox, was invented. A lover of science and all the advances brought forth by the Enlightenment, the monarch embraced this medical innovation with open arms, becoming the first person in Russia to undergo the procedure in 1768. And then she promptly deemed anyone who didn’t get inoculated an idiot. Truly, ahead of her time.”

      In today’s world vast fortunes stand to be made from billions of doses given….

      Edited: Good morning Minty and all.

    4. Given the depths that the powers sunk to in getting people to submit to the Covid-19 ‘vaccines’ (especially the banning of Ivermectin as a possible treatment) I have completely lost faith in those that should by virtue of their positions command trust and respect. There are reports that a ‘vaccine’ for cancer is being /has been developed. Only time will tell if there is a massive push to vaccinate everyone (on the back ‘The King was the first to benefit’ headlines.

      “That’s not to say that early vaccination programmes supported by a Monarch weren’t beneficial. For example:
      It was during Catherine’s reign that the first-ever inoculation (an early version of vaccination), designed to protect against smallpox, was invented. A lover of science and all the advances brought forth by the Enlightenment, the monarch embraced this medical innovation with open arms, becoming the first person in Russia to undergo the procedure in 1768. And then she promptly deemed anyone who didn’t get inoculated an idiot. Truly, ahead of her time.”

      In today’s world vast fortunes stand to be made from billions of doses given….

      Edited: Good morning Minty and all.

    5. Sadly our King, by his subservience to the WEF and his adherence to the Climate Change Cult, has created a lot of disillusionment with the Monarchy so when this announcement comes so hard on the heels of Bill Gates’s promotion of a “Cancer Vaccine”, a certain amount of cynicism becomes understandable.

    6. If he has prostate cancer, which is what I had. I would not be that concerned about the King. I had reached 4th stage by the time it was discovered, that is the end stage. However they still managed to cure me in double quick time despite a doom and gloom prognosis. I still have to take an injection every three months and things are not perfect in the nether regions. But I am OK, if not perfect. Given who he is he will be given the best care and, I’m sure, will be fine. Perhaps problems with long engagements in public, to be delicate about the difficulties with waterworks, right as rain otherwise.

    7. If he has prostate cancer, which is what I had. I would not be that concerned about the King. I had reached 4th stage by the time it was discovered, that is the end stage. However they still managed to cure me in double quick time despite a doom and gloom prognosis. I still have to take an injection every three months and things are not perfect in the nether regions. But I am OK, if not perfect. Given who he is he will be given the best care and, I’m sure, will be fine. Perhaps problems with long engagements in public, to be delicate about the difficulties with waterworks, right as rain otherwise.

    8. Minty, I simply don’t trust any of them now. I have followed ‘covid’ right from the word go. Charles was one of the first to remove himself from society and travel north to Balmoral with ‘covid’. Thus demonstrating to the public how easy it was to catch it. Charles is a founder member of the WEF and a Malthusian. He does not see himself as a man of the people. These people are not one of us, they are not ‘of the people’, we are there to be manipulated to achieve their aims, ambitions and profits, to be milked as cash cows. Words are simply tools that they use to exploit our emotions to get what they want ‘the end justifies the means’. I profoundly distrust the nhs, our authorities, government, royalty (with the possible exception of the Princess Royal). It was not always thus, but following closely and looking at the events of the last four years – the truly criminal fraud that has been perpetrated upon the public – my cynicism has deepened. I did wonder if we were being set up for something when it was announced that Charles lll was going into hospital for a prostate problem; the Royal Family have never before paraded their illnesses (nor their health) so publicly.

      I apologise, as I seem to have upset some people. I will keep my opinions to myself in future.

      1. If it’s announced that the King has taken the “cancer vaccine” and miraculously recovered then we’ll know we’re being played. The publicity around his diagnosis reminds me of the headlines proclaiming that Boris Johnson was at death’s door with covid, which was almost certainly not true.
        The late Queen had cancer but didn’t consider it to be our business and it’s anyway unlikely to be what killed her. My mother was found to have breast cancer at the age of 95 but at that age it grows so slowly that it was never going to be her cause of death.

        1. Sue, I think it is a little late to vaccinate for cancer if he already has been diagnosed. But it would not surprise me if they ‘injected’ him with something and he made a swift recovery (the billions of unused, unwanted mrna – the saviour, and not the cause of cancer!). It is all so very reminiscent of the Johnson theatricals. It may be that all this is a distraction from something else that is going on, the Epstein list for example. It all seems so out of character for royalty to blare it from the front pages of the media, all possible angles exploited for the story. I feel that the ‘discovered during the course of the prostate operation’ was a red herring, this man would have blood tests, urine tests, stool tests and the rest on a weekly basis, it would not be left to a chance discovery.

          I am sorry about your mother, yes, cancer cells do grow slowly in the elderly but it unpleasant to know that it is there and is a constant reminder of one’s mortality. My husband has prostate cancer, and has done for the last fifteen years, it is of the non-aggressive variety, and it was decided to simply monitor the condition. He takes lycopene (a chemical in the tomato plant) capsules on a daily basis having read it was beneficial. The consultant in whose care he was asked him on one occasion if he were taking anything for it – he was surprised at how stationary was his condition.

      2. I apologise, as I seem to have upset some people. I will keep my opinions to myself in future.

        Afternoon poppiesmum. You should not do that. What is this forum for but to say what cannot be said on the mainstream?

          1. Poppiesmum, my initial reaction to your post about the King was that I read it as suggesting sympathy for him, which to me was in sharp contrast to other NoTTLers showing nothing but vitriol which I believe we should never show to another human being with health problems. And then this morning your post suggested (to me at least) that you had changed your views and now thought him to be pretending to have cancer as a distraction. I just couldn’t understand your change of attitude. But the way things are today, it really could all be a distraction. Since I am not a doctor I can only agree with you. If the cancer is real then I give him my sympathy; if it is all a pretence then this would not surprise me either. As I say, I am not a doctor and so I am keeping an open mind.

          2. Thank you for your reply, Elsie. As I thought more about as the hours passed, my views changed. I had a reply to my comment from another Nottler late last night which unsettled me, his comment actually said far more about him than it did about me if he did but realise it. I feel that we are being continually exploited by govt and the mef, our sympathies and emotions, just as our fear was exploited over covid. There is no honesty, no integrity in public life and I am exhausted by it. I can see no future because most people do not realise we are at war, a spiritual war, good versus evil. Charles lll is a founder member of the WEF, the group that is pushing for net zero, attempting a soft coup over the globe, removing our personal sovereignty over our health via the WEF. He supported the push for the vaccines which have caused the early death of millions around the globe. I suppose the fact is that I simply do not trust him nor the organisations which surround him and manipulate him.

          3. Elsie, I have replied to you, I had to stop suddenly because new pup pounced on me and caused the reply to whip off into the ether so the reply, if you receive it, is a little garbled, unfinished and unpolished! What I think I am trying to say is that these people, these ideologues, have been decades and decades in their planning and working towards their ambitions and will stop at nothing, absolutely nothing, to achieve their ends. Everything will be exploited. Thus it is just so important, as you say, not to be taken in but to keep an open mind on the events unfolding. We live in interesting times! – but how I wish we did not.

  5. More musings from the dark,those rock and roll rebels sure stuck it to the “man” during Convid……….truly no propaganda stone was left unturned actors musicians pundits msm etc etc etc

    They threw the kitchen sink at us

    https://twitter.com/FiveTimesAugust/status/1754373092988608617?t=BnM7QD_SLgowcybnKhllig&s=19

    https://media.greatawakening.win/post/CSMci95XJ20C.jpeg

    Rest of the medley

    http://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/22981b998e23f117131107da76fc032feac04f9fca2ba2984b2e01481fc73b5b.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/432b97682bb77a4d21a781041eda774e276628008c4ca4f6b75ee36fe18a95f5.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d21da29ce52788f95c746481ed803e10fdcbb155c318abbb6f4b53aff4ac7cf5.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fa04e684056992675c6ffdf296ccf43c2339b31f46ec5bbc9ec764431f00455a.png

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b9af78dfea1797d2a99017491e5b9bb30f538f1a1ab0f1ea638d91220bc7bd25.jpg

    1. 8:00pm Parish Council Meeting. Main agenda item: To consider the Planning Application to covert the redundant Church to a Mosque.

      1. I’s prefer a church building to be demolished and the footprint to be covered with solar panels than allow those evil cultists to use a Christian church building.

  7. Good morning, chums. My Wordle score today was 5 and I posted it an hour or so ago on Monday night’s site if you are interested. Enjoy your day, everyone.

  8. Snow could cut off UK’s rural communities as temperatures plummet. 6 February 2024.

    A band of snow across large parts of England could cut off rural communities this week, the Met Office has warned.

    Most of northern England, Wales and the Midlands are under a yellow weather warning for snow on Thursday and Friday as cold air from the north causes temperatures to drop.

    The snow could trigger power cuts and could cut off some rural communities, the weather service warned. Delayed or cancelled rail and air travel is also likely.

    Vlad probably sent it! We are doomed!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/rural-parts-facing-heavy-snow-and-temperatures-of-minus-10/

    2. With all that carbon dioxide floating about I wouldn’t be the least surprised if it was ‘dry’ snow falling.

      I’m surprised that the likes of 57 Varieties Kerry hasn’t mentioned the possibility of this phenomenon occurring. Anyone who states that farmers should cease farming so as to stop people starving is capable of any nonsense.

    1. Today is Lame Duck Day (yes, it really is)

      Glad to see that the Government is celebrating it.

  10. Hmm seems some green fantasy chickens are coming home to roost……

    Electric van maker once valued at £10bn collapses into administration

    Move comes a week after the company’s shares were delisted from the Nasdaq

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/02/05/electric-van-maker-arrival-collapses-administration/

    Inside the battle to recharge Britain’s slowing electric car market

    The Tories are facing growing calls to support EV sales in the upcoming Budget

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/02/05/electric-cars-ev-demand-tumbles-backlash-high-prices/

    They mean of course more threats and subsidies to support tech that simply isn’t yet fit for purpose it’s the greeniac way see heat pumps,windmills and mass storage for further details……..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0bfde9e889b37eafc12f2aaaeb27cc41a0680113237fee21546892e8df5640be.png

  11. 382986+ up ticks,

    Morning Each,

    Tuesday 6 February: The pitfalls of granting asylum on the basis of conversion to Christianity

    Mass rape, mass paedophilia, mass welfare abuse, acid by the gallon, knifings, shootings you name it WE AS A NATION DESERVE TO BE SUFFERING IT,we have far worse to realize yet.

    Don’t get real get scarred up or dead.

    1. BTL Comment:-

      R. Spowart
      4 HRS AGO
      Message Actions
      This “Pray to stay” fiddle is a bit like the old “Fake Marriage” fiddle where people wishing to be permitted to live in the UK would pay to be “married” to someone they’d never met, who they would never live with and who, after the ceremony, they would never see again. Forcing the Guv’ment to change the law and creating the hoops UK citizens have now to jump through when bringing a foreign spouse back here.

      1. Hmm, in order to marry my Swedish Spouse, we were married in Stockholm. No hoops to jump through.

        1. Getting married is not the problem, it’s the getting them permitted to live with you in the UK.

          1. She lived with me within various places in the UK with nary a murmur, and also worked with no further requests for money or legal documents 13years in total.

      1. Don’t be unfair – see the family likeness – look at her middle name – she’s Rastus’s favourite aunt…or Oggy’s Godmother, perhaps?

    3. Ann throw Pissed ? She/it has never enjoyed anything.

      If you are reasonably healthy.
      Before anyone has any so called vaccine jab. Take a letter asking for a signature on a confirmed statement and guaranteeing none reactive side effects to the injected solution.
      If you’re not reasonably healthy don’t bother. What’s the point in taking such a risk.

  13. Clapham chemical attacker ‘may be dead’ after disappearing near Thames
    5 February 2024 • 8:26pm

    An Afghan asylum seeker suspected of carrying out a chemical attack in Clapham may be dead after last being seen near Southwark Bridge, police have said.

    Abdul Ezedi was pictured on CCTV close to the Thames two hours after attacking a 31-year-old woman and her two children, aged three and eight, with an alkaline substance and attempting to run them over before fleeing.

    How convenient. Don’t tell me. He tripped over a Koran.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/05/clapham-chemical-attack-abdul-ezedi-suspect-manhunt-live/?li_source=LI&li_medium=for_you

    2. Shirley the Met aren’t going to fall for that and call off the man-hunt?

      Only an identified body will be good enough reason to end the man-hunt. Any other reason and the stench of two-tier justice will intensify.

      1. Suicide is strictly against the Qu’ran.

        ………and as he’s such a devout Muslim, we’d bet that he’s alive.

        1. Surely it’s allowed if he takes a kuffar or ten with him – then he earns his 72 virgins.

    4. “He said: “It is always more difficult to crack a manhunt when [the suspect] doesn’t have their mobile phone on them”.

  15. 382986+ up ticks,

    Clapham chemical attacker ‘may be dead’ after disappearing near Thames

    Alternatively,

    🎵,
    Underneath the burka in a 5* hotel I lay
    Underneath the burka
    I dream my dreams away.

  16. Good morning, all. Grey cloud and blustery at the moment with strengthening winds and rain forecast for later.

    The election shenanigans continue in the USA.

    This coming Thursday is the Republican caucus in the state of Nevada to select the preferred candidate for the presidential election: it’s clear who is the favourite. In an attempt to offset the result a ‘primary’ election has been scheduled for today: the clear favourite is not on this ballot. However, today’s ballot has no standing as the caucus is the sole means to select the candidate in Nevada.

    Trump supporters, Steve Bannon and Kash Patel, believe that this ‘primary’ has been arranged in the hope that Nicky Haley will win and therefore make it appear that she has won a State. With the ‘win’ she could draw in more campaign funds and increase her standing.

    If there’s one thing we in the UK would like to take from this early ballot – mail-in, postal here in the UK, ballots only – is the list of candidates that includes, None of these candidates at the bottom of the sheet.

    Bannon and Patel are urging Trump supporters to fill in their ballots with ‘None of these candidates’ such that this vote will exceed Haley’s total.

    God bless America!

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/19656cf3d88b625379affa565e56fe7bf97ab546e715bda9d66fb6948930e0c5.png

  17. Good morning all.
    After my mug of tea in the early hours I’m up a bit earlier than I want to be, but the bilges needed pumping and the DT’s breakfast Weetabix sorted. She’s at work today, Grad.Son is off to Derby for something arranged by the Job Centre and
    I’ve a load of logs to get chopped and stacked.

    A windy but dry start to the day with 7°C outside.

      1. Euphemism for having a pee. Though i think ‘pump’ is an unfortunate word in this context.

    2. Are you okay re your full bladder during the day , Bob.

      Moh is up and down several times during the night , but during the day he hardly needs to pee , which is very strange .. I think I mentioned before that he is type 2 diabetic .

      So he says he hardly ever has a full night’s sleep , and the consequence of that , neither do I !

      3. My OH and I both get up during the night. We usually manage to get back to sleep again. I used to have to many years ago so it’s not just an old age thing.

  19. Morning all 🙂😊
    Normal for February grey but not too cold.
    The pitfalls of this government allowed invasion have been perfectly obvious right from day one. And still it continues. BUT WHY ?

  20. Good Moaning.
    Tout Dower House feeling v.v. smug.
    Outside jobs done yesterday and we can devote the next dull wet days working indoors sorting stuff and stacking them in the revamped attic.
    All I have to do is remind myself how to assemble archive boxes. (“DON’T bend that side ….. too late….”)

  21. I’m off to play Bridge shortly with a new partner a sweet Italian grand mother. We will be playing East-West and during the course of the morning we will play my other partner who will be playing South. I will be playing with my other lady partner on Thursday. 🙂 [For those with filthy minds – please don’t bother!!! ;-). ]

      1. I don’t know if you have ever met Our Bargee, but he gets his bit in first and is a pre-emptive no-trumper if there ever was one.

      2. Old photograph albums, so you actually have something to do when you’re up there and then run out of time.

    1. Almost two years have passed since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. I have come here to stand with our Ukrainian sisters and brothers; to pray with and for them, to learn from them and to say loud and clear that, amid all that is going on in other places, the world will not forget Ukraine.

      The irony!

      1. Of course it was NOT a “full scale invasion”. Had it been so, the Ukraine would have been overrun in a matter of weeks.

      2. Of course, the hypocrite that he is, is not bothered by the fact that the Ukrainians have been bombing the Donbass region for 14 years and committing acts of terror against the Russian speaking Ukrainians ever since the Zelenskyy regime came to power.

    7. A country so dangerous that hundreds of thousands of Ukes are living here and elsewhere in Europe, yet it is safe enough for Wetby to visit?

        1. He does have a Windsor look about him, I can see the Queen Mother in his features, and also Prince Philip. There are also rumours about William’s patronage. Goodness knows what this group of people really get up to, we are told only what they want us to know.

          1. I think William looks like Diana’s family. He was conceived only a few months after their wedding, when she was young and naive – well before her affairs began, I’m sure. Harry could well have been a wrong ‘un, but the older he gets, the more he looks like Charles, so I think he’s ok.

          2. Yes, it grieves me that Harry gets mocked, even if it were true, for something that would be absolutely no fault of his. He does bear a resemblance to Charles, the DofE and the QMother; I don’t think we are told the truth about the circumstances of his marriage and character by the palace or the press – I did read that Harry said he would fall on his sword (regarding his marriage to MM) in order to save the Monarchy – this was from a journalist by the name of London Scoop, it was whipped offline pretty quickly which made it even more suspicious! I try to keep an open mind and not get sucked in. Regarding William, the implications were more along the line of AI (Spanish Royalty) rather than affair on Diana’s part – in order to mitigate the effects of inbreeding. However, I have thought from time to time that William does bear a resemblance to his Uncle Edward (Wessex). We will never know.

          3. I think Diana was chosen by the QM and her own grandmother for her innocence and good breeding. I’m sure William and Harry are who they are supposed to be. The problems lie with her untimely death and the effect that had on Harry mentally.

          4. I am sure you are right – Diana simply brought different genes into the mix. And I cannot see any resemblance in Harry to Hewitt – I feel sorry for him too as his life seems to have been blighted because of his association with Diana.

    2. What is ‘prodigal’ about him?

      History will tell you that ‘spares’ have always been a loose cannon. In recent times we have seen the shenanigans of Princess Margaret and Prince Andrew. It goes with the territory.

      1. The shenanigans of Edward VII in Parisian brothels would also turn a few heads even today.

        1. Edward VII had a small railway station built at Gunton, south of Cromer, so that Lily Langtry (and a few others) could alight and be taken, secretly, in a carriage to Sandringham while His Majesty carried on to his usual Royal arrival at Cromer station.

  26. Executions and public floggings rise in Yemen under Houthis’ reign of terror. 6 February 2024.

    The Houthis’ reign of terror in Yemen is growing ever more brutal, with executions and public floggings on the rise in the conflict-torn country, experts and civilians say.

    Human rights activists, media officials and even fishermen have been targeted in recent weeks by the Houthis, who, since November, have imposed a shipping blockade on the Red Sea in allegiance with Hamas.

    I don’t doubt that the the Houti’s flog and execute with a vengeance but this article is just to make you feel good about our bombing them.

    The bombs of course only hit the Floggers and Executioners!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/houthis-reign-of-terror-yemen-human-rights-watch/

    1. Let them get on with it. It’s none of our business. If the people in Yemen want these practices to stop, they should take action themselves. The same goes for Iran and Afghanistan.

      1. We should send a ship or two of the clowns presently marching in favour of such actions out to Yemen. It might open more than their eyes.

    2. Apparently, all the bombing of the Hooties has made no difference. As I have said before, when you already live in the stone age and its a privilege to die for your cause, that is no surprise.

  27. 382986+ up ticks,

    The state pension is doomed to disappear
    The ticking demographic timebomb leaves us with few good options: raise the retirement age significantly or slash the welfare bill.

    First,

    With the country in a state of war against the ruling politico kapos, deny them support of any kind.

    Second,

    STOP any new welfare payments NOW, as in, only indigenous allowed to claim.

    Third,
    The Dover invasion (lab/lib/con, coalition party boosters) the entry point, as a beneficial consequence of ruling two, will be able to be policed by the ladies tea & cake club of
    Folkstone.

    1. Those of us who receive the State Pension did actually pay for it with our NI contributions when working. As for the freeloaders, just stop paying them.

      1. 382986+up ticks,

        Morning N,

        The way things continue to shape via the polling stations we could be in great danger of having the paid up, deserving cases denied a pension to subsidize the foreign occupation forces.

        To the victors ,the spoils.

      2. As someone pointed out yesterday, the politicians have been saying for years that we need more immigration to help support the pension scheme. Instead, as we all surmised, they are just another stone tied around the neck of our welfare state, with the subsequent knock-on effect to financial areas that do not include benefits.

      3. They are giving the state pension out to people who never paid NI contributions. When I realised that, I stopped having any faith that I would get anything when my turn comes.

        1. They give an equivalent amount based on need rather than contributions. It’s Income Support rather than SP.

  28. Moh agreed with this letter , and said it would upset the you know whats !!

    SIR – Given the shortages in our Armed Forces, surely now is the time to switch the resources invested in the Red Arrows to the front line.

    Peter A Fish
    Truro, Cornwall

    1. Unfortunately we suspect that if the MOD closed down the Red Arrows the money would evaporate

      into the bureaucracy.

      1. The same as Brown’s 2% NI hike for our national treasure. Disappeared into the black hole along with much more.

        1. T hen downhill all the way afterwards. Unless, of course, someone else did the exam for him….

  30. John Sturgis
    Have I been cursed by a white deer?
    They are a sign of purity and the coming of death
    5 February 2024, 4:59am

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/iStock-1284537454.jpg

    It was standing completely still, about 40 yards away, partially obscured by a clump of hazel: a pure white deer. It looked almost iridescent in the gloom of on an overcast winter day. My dogs were straining at the lead but otherwise all sense of movement ceased for half a minute, maybe longer.

    I managed to decapitate it with a twist and fastened the head and horns to my car roof with bungee cords

    Then something broke. The white deer twitched. It was only when it began to run that we realised it had been accompanied by half a dozen other, darker-skinned herdmates. In just a few seconds we were alone again. The straining dogs were the only sign that anything had happened at all.

    I had met an old friend in Blackboys, east Sussex, early on a Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago and we were the first out walking. It was my friend who first spotted it. He’s always had better eyes for this sort of thing, going back to our days fishing at school. I’ve seen a white deer once before. The last time, 21 years ago, was also early on a Sunday morning, a few miles further north, in a clearing in Hargate Forest, on the Kent side of the Sussex border near Tunbridge Wells. On that occasion the deer was a stag with antlers, a white hart, and was part of a herd some 40-odd strong which emerged out of low mist.

    I’ve often thought about that moment since and wondered if I’d ever encounter a white deer again. Two decades on, I have. This time the deer was, I think, a female fallow. If it had had red eyes (it was impossible to tell at that distance) it would have been an albino but the more common cause is leucism, an absence of pigment, so it was almost certainly this that we saw.

    There are as many as two million deer in Britain, a record high; it’s now not uncommon to see them in our suburbs, thanks to an abundance of food and a lack of natural predators – and a decline in human ones, too. In the last couple of years I’ve seen muntjac in our local park in north London and a group of roe deer in the woods by the A4 near Heathrow. A family friend recently wrote off his car hitting a deer on the A26, a couple of miles up the road from where I saw my white hart.

    Deer are among the earliest elements of European culture; there are ancient tools made of antler and they appear in cave painting across the continent. The 15,000-year-old image known as ‘The Sorcerer’ in caves in Ariège in south west France, shows a human figure with the horns of a stag. Pre-Roman cultures repeatedly depict similar horned man-beasts, including the Greeks’ Pan and the Celts’ Cernunnos.

    As Christianity spread northwards from Rome, such pagan figures were subsumed into the new religion. Peter Stanford in The Devil: A Biography describes how the folklore image of the horned man became a template for depicting Satan, continued today in the red devil horns which are a staple of Halloween costumes. Sinister horned figures appear in British folk horror films like The White Reindeer, Blood on Satan’s Claw and The Wicker Man.

    I spotted a decomposing stag on a slip road off the M23 in Sussex a couple of years ago. I managed to decapitate it with a twist and fastened the head and horns to my car roof with bungee cords. A boil and a bleach later and the antlers were on the walls of our front room. Then last summer, on Arran, I found the remains of a proper monarch-of-the-glen, a huge red stag that had died in a remote gully. This provided an even more spectacular set of antlers which is now mounted on our back garden fence. It’s too big for any room in the house.

    All deer have some folkloric resonance but white ones are, of course, much rarer. They are symbol of purity, a sign of imminent change, a messenger from underworld and a portent of death – though I’m rather hoping this doesn’t apply to my recent sighting.

      2. Originally referred to Richard II. Apparently it meant the publican was a supporter. (Presumably he would change the name after 1399.)

    2. Bizarre. The deer population of England is (IMHO) out of control. A worst case scenario would involve a combination of herds spreading foot&mouth disease, rabies, blue tongue, along with TBE and Lyme disease (other pestilences are available). No idea what the PTB would do if a nationwide cull were necessary; easy to order squaddies to kill sheep and cattle, but spending a night in a tree to perhaps kill or wound one animal is a luxury that few gamekeepers or sportsmen could afford.

  31. Meant to post this. I thought the business section was quite interesting today but this article, with it’s “typo” in the second para, made me laugh. Oh, Terriblegraph!!!

    “ Has there ever been a policy as widely and completely misunderstood as the bankers’ bonus cap? Just listen to howls of outrage accompanying Rachel Reeves’s announcement that a prospective Labour government won’t reintroduce the rule after it was ditched by Jeremy Hunt last year.
    Fran Boait, the head of campaign group Positive Money, said: “It’s deeply disappointing to see Labour go from criticising giveaways to bankers to simply aping the Government’s policies.” Caroline Lucas, the former leader of the Green Party, tweeted: “What is the point of Labour if they just rubber-stamp everything the Government does … I thought they were supposed to be against extreme inequality.” Implicit in these criticisms is a clear belief that the bonus cap was a ceiling on the total amount bankers could be paid and therefore removing it constitutes a giveaway and will worsen wealth inequality. This is ardent nonsense.
    For her part, the shadow chancellor has obviously opened herself up to charges of hypocrisy after objecting to Hunt’s proposal just a few months ago and has also spouted plenty of piffle. She claimed the cap had originally been brought in “to rebuild the public finances”. Err, no it wasn’t; it’s not a tax.
    So, let’s be clear: the cap resulted in precisely zero pounds flowing to the Exchequer. Scrapping it is not a giveaway. The rule only ever limited the amount that could be paid as a bonus to two times a banker’s salary. And that was never a particularly tough obstacle for the City’s combined financial acumen to circumnavigate – think molehills and Sherman tanks.
    Let’s say a bank wanted to pay a member of staff £9m. Before the cap, this might have comprised a £1m salary and a £8m bonus. After the cap was introduced, the bank had to pay the same member of staff a salary of £3m and a bonus of £6m. This is not just a theoretical possibility. It is, in fact, precisely what happened. In 2022, the Bank of England sifted through the data of six large UK banks and found that “the bonus cap did not reduce bankers’ total remuneration but rather shifted it from the variable to the fixed part of the package”. Net result: champagne bars and Porsche dealerships are doing just fine.
    There are a couple of things to note here. The first is that the cap clearly doesn’t represent a massive hardship for the individual bankers: they get paid the same amount of money. That’ll teach ’em! But it also means that a smaller portion of their overall remuneration can be deferred and therefore “clawed back” if a risky bet subsequently sours.
    In other words, they’re arguably better off! Indeed, it’s an open secret in the industry that UK and EU banks operating in Asia dangled the fact that the bonus cap applied to their worldwide operations as an enticement when trying to poach staff from US or Asian banks for whom the cap only applied to their UK and EU operations. What does that tell you?
    The second point is that boosting the salaries of staff in order to sidestep the bonus cap raises a bank’s fixed costs. The firm is committed to paying out more even in lean years, which theoretically gives it less leeway to shore up its finances. That’s right, the bonus cap arguably makes banks more risky not less.
    And you don’t need to take my word for it. Last March, Sam Woods, the head of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the UK’S main banking watchdog, told a panel of MPS that imposing the bonus cap had “precisely the opposite effect” to the one intended. Brilliant. Well done everyone. High fives all round.
    Given all this, the question isn’t why has the bonus cap been scrapped; it’s why wasn’t it binned years ago. The answer is also provided by Woods. He told MPS that ditching the bonus cap was probably the “single most unpopular thing we have proposed”. The politics of the bonus cap and the actual consequences of the policy exist in parallel universes. This disconnect was baked in from the start. The drive to introduce a cap was spearheaded by Jean Lambert, the Green MEP for London. In 2013, she wrote a piece chiding David Cameron and George Osborne for opposing the policy, claiming they were out of tune with the vast majority of voters “who blame, rightly or wrongly, the banks’ culture of excessive bonuses for contributing to the economic mess we’re all in”.
    “Rightly or wrongly”? That seems like a detail that would have been worth ironing out.
    The fact is, the new rule, which was eventually introduced in 2014, always had two objectives. The stated aim was to make banks safer. The unstated aim was to make bankers poorer and thereby appease an angry public. Many argued at the time that it was unlikely to do either of those things. And that’s exactly how it panned out.
    But no politician was prepared to put their hand in the air and admit the cap may have benefited bankers and made banks riskier. So it remained in place. Banks learned to live with it. (The cap only really causes problems for the big foreign banks who may want to move staff to London for a stint but don’t want to award them nose-bleed salaries, which is why the PRA has argued it has been “a factor in limiting labour mobility”.)
    And now the bonus cap has finally died much as it lived – for entirely political reasons. Hunt has gone through with plans initially proposed by Liz Truss and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in an attempt to revive the UK’S moribund financial sector and to demonstrate a clear Brexit dividend.
    It’s certainly true that the UK wouldn’t have been able to junk the cap unilaterally had it still been part of the European Union. However, if you buy the argument that the rule didn’t much affect how the City operates, removing it is unlikely to provide a massive shot in the arm.
    Reeves has gone along with this because the Labour Party is currently engaged in a full-bore pro-business charm offensive. More specifically she wants to signal that the era of constant policy flip-flopping will end when and if Labour gets the keys to the Treasury.
    The pledge not to re-introduce the bonus cap is therefore best viewed as part of the shadow chancellor’s attempt to reassure executives that a Labour government will maintain Conservative financial regulations and deliver a “stability premium”.
    Yet again, symbolism wins the day.“

    1. I don’t believe in bonuses just for doing your job. If you do your job then the bonus is keeping it. If we must pay bonuses for doing just your job then there should be ‘negative’ bonuses for not doing your job – either money off your salary or the grand order of the boot

    2. The Warqueen would max out her pension from her bonus. Some years she hit the limit without a lot of effort.

      It’s a cruel joke played on thick people. Because banks make a lot of money, the idiot on the street is jealous of the telephone number salaries and want to see those people humbled by taking away what they earn. It seems to take a pile driver to get through to these thick idiots that without that tax money there is no NHS. It’s as simple as that.

      As for Labour’s policies now before getting in – they are lying. As soon as they get in they’ll introduce crushing taxes, moronic legislation, endless red tape. I wouldn’t be surprised if they force companies to hire ‘diversity’. Big fat state cannot help but meddle and socialists love pulling down what others have built.

  32. RAF hero soars again – 102 years old, doing 210 knots flying a Spitfire
    For former bomber pilot Jack Hemmings, you’re never too old to relive your youth and use the heavens as a playground.

    In 1940, he would have rolled his eyes at the Spitfire lads, he said, deeming them “fighter boys” and “kids”.

    Now, it was his turn to find out what all the fuss was about.

    Speaking before the flight, he wondered if he might find a Spitfire – a slip of a thing compared to the aircraft he flew in the war – easier to handle.

    “I expect I’ll find it vastly more manoeuvrable but of course there will be limits on the manoeuvres we can do. I’m sure they’ll want to keep it fairly straight and level.”

    On the airfield at Biggin Hill, as the Spitfire roared into life on Monday, you could feel the judder of its powerful Merlin engine. But as soon as you take flight, Jack said, soaring into the air at 210 knots, aiming for the clouds, it’s a different story – there is a great sense of peace that comes with being airborne. “Once you’re on the ground and away from controlled airspace, the sky is yours, you get all sorts of emotions.

    “Sometimes it’s just pleasure at a lovely outlook. Other times it’s relief when you maybe weren’t quite sure where you were.”

    Coming into land after his 30-minute flight, Jack wore a look of pure contentment on his face.

    His co-pilot, Barry Hughes, had handed over the controls mid-flight. “I don’t think he’s lost his touch,” said Mr Hughes.

    How did Jack find it? “Absolutely delightful,” he said, beaming as the propellers slowed and the roof of the cockpit lifted.

    “Slightly heavier than I expected. We were flying at about 210 knots which is faster than I used to fly in my Air Force days. I was a bit rusty. Not surprisingly, as I am rusty.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/bomber-pilot-says-youth-today-scattier-than-my-generation/

    I have cut and pasted short section from a long article .. a nice read .. 😊

    1. He wouldn’t be able to loop the loop from Biggin (I speak from experience), but he would be able to do barrel rolls. I wonder if he flew MJ772.

  33. Electric van maker once valued at £10bn collapses into administration. 6 February 2024.

    A British electric van maker once valued at $13bn (£10bn) has gone into administration after burning through $1.5bn without having sold a vehicle.

    Oxfordshire-based Arrival has appointed administrators at EY to find a buyer for the business, blaming “challenging market and macroeconomic conditions”.

    Arrival’s Nasdaq flotation in 2021 was the biggest ever for a British company but shares have fallen by 99.98pc as it became clear that the company was unable to service its debts.

    Another net-zero turkey squalks its last!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/02/05/electric-van-maker-arrival-collapses-administration/

    4. All those jobs lost. The people now looking for work. All because someone thought government would continually bail them out.

    5. And just as important, another one that shunned the F.T.S.E. for a big ticket listing in the U.S. and was massively over-valued from the start. Expect to see more of these listings going bust.

  36. Phew and treble phew. Another 3/4 ton of well-rotted shifted and spread – most on what will be the tomato bed. Also two barrows on the trombetti site. Rain forecast quite soon – so we wanted this srted while it is still sort of dry and sort of mild in a chilly way!

  37. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b0c7d1ed759234147793180682b05e8676d9567d6c8c18fd13f2511953e1a1c6.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/02/06/unravelling-national-champion-blow-french-prestige/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-onward-journey

    BTL

    Anyone who runs a small business in France – as we do – will know just how anti-business France officialdom is.

    George Bush was renowned for his strange utterances such as: “The French do not have a word for ‘entrepreneur‘. It was absurd in that entrepreneur is a French word but bang on the money in that France does not understand those with business aspirations and wants the fiscal system to punish them.

  38. China executes couple who threw two children to deaths from 15th-floor apartment. 6 February 2024.

    Zhang and Ye’s crime sent shock waves across China for its cold-blooded premeditation, as well as the age of the victims.

    Their executions quickly rose to the top of a list of trending topics on the Chinese social media site Weibo on Wednesday, receiving nearly 200 million views.

    “Today is truly a good day,” read one widely liked comment under a related post by the state news agency Xinhua.

    “The punishment fits the crime,” wrote another.

    Chinese Nottlers?

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/02/02/china-executes-couple-who-threw-two-children-to-deaths/

  39. My late father never got on with his elder stepson, Jim. Towards the end of father’s life, Jim visited. “My God,” said the old man, “If Jim is here I must be ill.”

    I expect the JWK has similar thoughts about Brash’s impending visit….

    1. For my mother’s 95th birthday, my siblings, their spouses and I thought it would be nice to celebrate with her. The nursing home people arranged a special lunch for us but when we gathered around mum in her room, her response was along the lines of were we expecting her impending demise!

      1. I arranged a surprise 80th birthday party for my Mum, in the Church Hall. Considering I was living 280 miles away, I was quietly satisfied with the planning. Guests, catering, decorations all in place. Just needed a bit of subterfuge to get her into the hall – which succeeded.

        Her reaction? She was furious! “I don’t want all these people to know how old I am.”

        Sometimes, you can’t win…

        1. My mother said the same when we arranged flower, cards etc from the Lodge to maker her 90th.

    2. I thought that, and the fact that they have been very open about everything, apart from the type of cancer. I should start a conspiracy theory…

    3. Probably an attempt by Brash to pretend he has a decent bone in his body. I’d like to be a fly on the wall when he’s in the room – will everybody be very careful of what they say in his presence? The only saving grace is that he didn’t bring his poisonous wife along for the trip.

      1. I bet Brash decides to hold a press conference in order to tell the world how concerned he (and his wife, of course) are

      1. Well said, sir.

        Expect in the UK we debate “with” people🙂. Time for the pedant’s meme to make an entrance. Or, possibly, the pedants’ meme.

      3. I hit ‘pause’ part way through watching that, as the Tuesday Fish and Chip van arrived. Next-door neighbour’s son joined the queue. Said his Dad had died this afternoon. I knew he had been admitted to hospital a couple of days ago. He’s had recurring health issues for as long as I’ve lived here. Sue, his widow, often chats over the garden fence, and has often proudly announced that “Edgar and I are getting our boosters today/tomorrow/whenever”. Inevitably, a week or so passes before she reappears and says “Edgar and I haven’t been well – we’ve had Covid”.

        I had gently sugested that perhaps they should hold off on the boosters, to no avail. Edgar had multiple infections, and was on repeated antibiotics, to no avail. In the end, pneumonia took its toll.

        I looked in on Sue to pay my respects, then returned with my rapidly cooling cod, to watch the rest of the video.

        Dr David Cartland, you’re an absolute bloody hero. Would that there werre many more of you.

        1. People do have cognitive dissonance – they’ve all had the boosters, yet they’re still getting covid, and testing for it.

          Sorry to hear your neighbour died.

          1. TBH, Jools, it’s been looking likely for some time. Nice guy: had a butcher’s shop, then a milk round. Mad about sports. At least the end was mercifully brief.

  41. Who will oppose Labour’s racial dystopia? Spectator.6 February 2024.

    Britain’s ruling class are currently conducting an enormous experiment – perhaps not consciously or intentionally, but with great enthusiasm – to discover the effects of extremely high levels of immigration on British society.

    We will not be sure of the result for some time yet. In the meantime, we need to be doing all we can to ensure that our multi-ethnic society remains as harmonious and peaceful as possible. Our overriding aim ought to be reducing and minimising, rather than heightening, the salience of ethnicity as a political issue. Once upon a time, this appeared to be the goal of self-proclaimed anti-racists. In my naïve way, I assumed that they, like me, wished for a future where character and achievement would be much more important than skin colour, where we would relate to each other not as representatives of our race but as fellow humans, fellow fathers, fellow football fans, fellow birdwatchers.

    Nowadays, of course, this is much harder to believe. Progressives do not seek a colour-blind meritocracy but rather what amounts to a spoils system, not entirely dissimilar to the old Ottoman millet arrangement.

    The goal is implicit and explicit racial quotas and highly intrusive monitoring, across great swathes of both the public and private sectors. If you doubt this, consider the newest round of planned racialist legislation, as trailed recently by Anneliese Dodds, Labour’s shadow women and equalities secretary.

    According to the Guardian, the new laws would require that public services – the NHS, police, schools and councils – ‘collect data and issue reports on staffing, pay and, where relevant, outcomes, by ethnicity.’ Additionally Labour wish to mandate ‘ethnicity pay gap reporting, ensuring police officers and staff undertake anti-racism training, and reviewing the school curriculum to ensure it is diverse.’ This is, in other words, an absolute field day for the bureaucrats and commissars of the total state, who will be able to create pointless busywork for each other while further distracting public servants from their essential tasks.

    An intellectualised version of the views of Nottlers.

    https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/who-will-oppose-labours-racial-dystopia/

    1. The problem of course is that genuine equality of opportunity does not create equality of outcome, since equality does not exist naturally and can only be brought about by unfair and unjust manipulation which in the end merely serves to prove that equality doesn’t exist but does so by far more damaging means than actual equality of opportunity.

    2. An annoying, pointless, time expensive and wasteful exercise that could only be dreamt up by a state machine with no interest in service delivery. One with far more money than competence.

    1. It is cruel to force rapists to undergo such treatment by medication.

      Much better to perform the castration physically.

  43. What a day it has been……..
    Finished washing up after breakfast, all set for my long awaited telephone appointment sitting at the kitchen table, paperwork pen at the ready etc. But the phone didn’t ring at the appointed time. Half an hour later I sent a message to the department, the only way to contact them.
    I have tried to ring the hospital but had no connection, tried getting in touch with Vodafone on line, the results were there but only regarding Sydney and NSW.
    After two hours of banging my head against the well known proverbial wall. I find an email address for the hospital complaints department.
    I am half way through the email and my mobile rings. Its some one from the cardiology department. She told me she tried to ring earlier but my phone was switched off. I don’t think so……..but I noticed a call from the same time yesterday but didn’t hear it. She wasn’t aware of this !!!
    I think the lady made a mistake but didn’t want to admit it. But never mind, a pleasant chat any way, all sorted now. An echo cardiogram in 6 months time. That will be one year after the procedure. Don’t you just love the attention to fine detail made these days. I’ll be popping off the GP surgery later for a review of my meds.

        1. Thankyou. He’s more concerned about the heart condition these days. The prostate cancer seems to be kept under control by the antigen jabs.

          1. I’ll be honest that, after reading of the aches, pains, trials and tribulations of others on here I have two reactions.
            First how lucky I’ve been up to now.
            Second, when is that luck going to expire and how???

          2. That’s the way I feel too – 75 and in good health at the moment – I’m off to Kenya again next week and Brazil in September. Got to keep going while I can.

  45. Isn’t it good to know whose finger is on the nuculer (sic) button?

    “President Biden confused his French counterpart with a long-dead former leader, François Mitterrand, in a speech that went viral online.

    Addressing a campaign event in Las Vegas on Sunday, the 81-year-old American president described President Macron’s reaction to a speech at a G7 meeting in 2020. As well as getting Macron’s name wrong, he muddled the country he leads.

    “And Mitterrand from Germany — I mean, from France — looked at me and said, ‘You know — what, why, how long you back for?’” Biden said, according to a White House transcript. Mitterrand was the president of France from 1981 to 1995, and died in 1996.”

  47. There is so much morbid news nowadays that I’m not taking too much interest in it.

    However, what I did think of note was the fact that people have been spontaneously dying of what is called sudden unidentified death syndrome (SUDS).

    As far as I can see, SUDS is characterised by the Brugada Syndrome, an inherited channelopathy, which can be diagnosed by sudden cardiac death (SCD).

    https://youtu.be/DQBWmThTShk?si=5Zm_SuPd9eMOESUf

    The great thing about SUDS is that medics are unlikely to be able to frighten you with a prognosis of a sudden unexpected death because they won’t be looking for any symptoms until it is too late.

    1. Average age of death by SUDS is 40. Apart from that, it doesn’t sound like a bad way to go.

      1. I’ve had to buy a second set of drain rods so I can push blockages all the way to the main drain. It not so much a SUDS issue that causes drain death – it’s a fat unsustainable congested drain (FUCD) problem.

  48. Liz Truss: “Britain is full of secret Conservatives, people who agree with us but don’t want to admit it…”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-68219261

    We’re not even sure if Truss is a conservative even though she is a Conservative. Perhaps some of the people not brave enough to admit to being conservatives because they think they will be thought of as Conservatives could stand as independent Conservatives. If enough were elected they could form an association in Parliament, as long as they avoid calling it the Conservative Independent Alliance…

    2. Liz Truss – what few remember about her is that in her brief Premiership she sacked Suella Braverman, allegedly for leaking or some procedural violation, but in reality to remove a voice opposing unlimited immigration, seen by Truss and HM Treasury as the key to increasing (the sacred cow) GDP (but, of course, reducing GDP per head).

      1. Agree with you.
        National GDP is as meaningless as the average house price. How many people live in average price houses. Very few.
        GDP per capita, the true measure of Individual wealth is stuck in 2008.

    3. There are, indeed, a lot of Conservatives in the country. It’s a shame they’re are so very very few in Parliament.

  50. Good afternoon all
    Three anniversaries today
    1944 – the younger of my two brothers was born.
    1952 – King George VI died.
    1958 – Manchester United plane crash at Munich airport.

    3. My calendar mentioned some Maori day but i really can’t be arsed to look up what it was now.

  51. WTAF is going on

    Earlier I watched a vid where a teenager was swarmed by a gang of ‘groids suffered multiple life threatening kickings and was stabbed in the head

    One offender (of nine)caught and convicted result a £50 fine and ordered to write a letter of apology that’ll learn him!! (sorry lost link)

    Now this……

    https://twitter.com/addicted2newz/status/1754653474728390742?s=20
    So if it isn’t hurty words the METaween aren’t interested how the hell did we get to here………..

    1. The UK has become the exact polar opposite [to coin a tautology] of the country I happily served with distinction.

      Had I still been in situ I would have routinely and incessantly pissed off those of higher rank by my unstoppable insistance of being a public servant. I would have dared them to tell me to stop.

    1. No-one is going anywhere against Trump. He always was the Republican candidate. I’m not sure about Ramaswamy. I’ve learnt to trust my instincts and there’s just something a little off about him. I can’t define what it is, though. Maybe it’s that he’s just too perfect, too well rehearsed. It’s like watching someone do an act.

      1. Perhaps part of that is that he has a phenomenal memory for facts and statistics so that could make him appear ‘rehearsed’.

  54. Well, how about that for timing? Five hours gardening – the most since the back end – and fifteen minutes after packing up – the rain started. Reet chooofed.

    Gus WAS surprised. Having slept since 8.30 am, he needed a comfort visit outdoors – and returned sharpish – and very wet! Pickles remains asleep.

    1. Inspired by you i have just purchased 0.75 cubic metre of well rotted horse poo from a local business. Only £6 delivery.

      I have decking at the back of the property that gets full sun. I intend to go all out and grow tomatoes, chillis, courgettes, cucumbers and anything else i can think of. I might even grow Trombettes this year.

      I am going to need a ton of compost.

  55. A slow Bogey Five!

    Wordle 962 5/6
    ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
    ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
    ⬜🟩🟩🟩⬜
    🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

    1. Tricky par four today

      Wordle 962 4/6

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

        1. Uninspired today!
          Wordle 962 5/6

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

    2. Par for me.

      Wordle 962 4/6

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

    3. Me too.

      Wordle 962 5/6

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

  56. 382986+ up ticks,

    They have never put a foot right to benefit the peoples and they still find support,

    Richard Braine reposted
    Pete North
    @PeteNorth303
    When they started building wind turbines, they knew about intermittency problems and the backup problems. I knew about it. They can’t not have known about it but they did it anyway. Wind turbines weren’t just new sources of energy. They had an entirely new system in mind and they knew it would require a complete grid transformation.

    Nobody sane would actually invest in such a system in ordinary market conditions because it’s an overly complex concept that’s fraught with expensive problems. So they rigged the market. They created generous subsidies and incentives while piling stealth taxes on conventional generation. If you punish people for building power stations and reward them for building windmills, then windmills they will build.

    For the first twenty years, the backup problem wasn’t real issue. Until they started blowing up coal stations and decommissioning old nuclear plants (phase two of the green transition). But by that point they could point to a huge fleet of windmills and claim it was working and the green energy revolution was well under way – even though they’d started buying industrial backup diesel generators. It was time for phase three.

    That’s where EVs come in. They don’t actually care if we don’t want them or even if they’re fit-for-purpose. They need you to have an EV because they want the V2G system, in which you mugs go out and buy a grid balancing battery on wheels. Slap a few fancy gadgets on it and some daft sods will fall over themselves to get one. (a fool and his money…).

    They knew that EVs alone wouldn’t be enough. They’ve never had a comprehensive answer to what happens when the wind doesn’t blow. It was always contingent on some or other future techno MacGuffin. They poured billions into hydrogen and biofuels research.

    They seem to have settled on the idea of grid scale battery storage and a convoluted system of electrolysis to produce hydrogen. 1.3 TWh of UK wind generation wasted due to lack of grid-scale storage.

    The idea is to use the surpluses to make hydrogen, and either pipe it to power stations, or convert it back. It’s expensive and and inefficient, but when has that ever stopped them? Some even propose converting existing gas infrastructure to hydrogen – which is why they’re so keen on forcing us to use heat pumps. Politicians love this idea because they love the idea of “green jobs” even if it makes energy more expensive.

    There are other peripheral problems with this, not least grid congestion and the lack of transmission lines, for which we’ll need to find, accounting for inflation, an additional £90bn. (which would buy you three Hinkley Points at today’s prices).

    At the end of all this, we’ll have a convoluted, expensive and unreliable system that depends entirely on maintaining (now antique) gas power stations and foreign interconnectors. The entire system is underwritten by French nuclear and Norwegian Hydro. All the batteries in the world won’t plug prolonged capacity shortfalls when the wind doesn’t blow.

    This, of course, demands smart metering as a means to ration energy, which was always the intention. There’s nothing much wrong with the idea of demand side management, but Net Zero is the redesign of the people around the needs of the grid, rather than designing the grid around the needs of people. By its very nature, it is coercive. It has to be because Net Zero is a utopian fantasy.

    What it actually means is sky high energy prices, deindustrialisation and the export of jobs, emissions and pollution. It’s not even green. It is a transition to a mineral intensive energy system that will require an infinite expansion of mineral mining and seabed strip mining. It will destroy marine habitats, but hey, we’re saving the planet here!

    Course, none of this will ever come to fruition. Every single aspect of Net Zero is turning into an unmitigated disaster. Demand for EVs looks to have peaked, there is no great enthusiasm for heat pumps, and they’re not suitable for at least half the national housing stock, and the third big push for insulation is as much a flop as the first two times it was tried.

    Meanwhile, the investment capital to connect new windmills to the grid simply doesn’t exist. Material input costs have spiralled by forty percent. Battery production in Europe is struggling to stay afloat, and much the same can be said about solar. The vast majority of solar panels will come from China and there’s a 75% chance they were made using slave labour.

    Wind is also a non-starter because the fleet is getting up there in years and turbines are not reaching their rated lifespan. Any new production will struggle to keep pace with the rate of retirement. It is also said that there isn’t enough copper in the world to make the transition to Net Zero. Dwindling copper supply from Panama and Peru could wipe out the global surplus in 2024.

    This is just a summary of the issues, but I could go on at length. The short of it is that the grid was never designed for diffuse, intermittent energy, and the only way to mitigate the problems is ever more expensive and elaborate subsidy funded contraptions that drive up your bills.

    They always knew this. They just didn’t care because they view the billpayer as a bottomless pit. Affordability was never factored in, convinced as they are that this is necessary to meet an arbitrary political climate target. Which brings us back to what we already knew. We are ruled by narcissistic sociopaths and there is no economic recovery until they are removed – by any means necessary.

    2. I’d love someone to tell me how I could manage with an EV when I can’t park within 100yds of my house.

      1. 382986+ up ticks,

        I believe at first for many it was just greed that over these last three plus decades
        has festered into power craziness.

        End game, rodents in a sack winner takes ALL.

        NWO then the real resistance will start.

        ,

  57. Actresses still want to do sex scenes, says Peaky Blinders star Sophie Rundle
    Actress in hit TV series underlines the importance of using intimacy coordinators for safeguarding so that women can feel comfortable on set

    Actresses still want to film sex scenes, a Peaky Blinders star has insisted, but said intimacy coordinators were “vital”.

    Sophie Rundle, who plays Ada Thorne in the hit gang series, explained that trained coordinators could help facilitate better intimacy scenes on camera.

    Speaking to The Radio Times Podcast, she said: “Putting in intimacy coordinators as an element of safeguarding is really important.

    “Having someone assigned to oversee the process is vital because it allows for a neutral third party and anonymity if you feel uncomfortable.”

    She added: “Women are allowed to be sexual. We’re not saying no more sex scenes.

    “Can we do them in a way that isn’t just titillating for someone else to watch? There are more interesting ways of exploring that narrative than just boobs.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/06/actresses-want-sex-scenes-peaky-blinders-rundle-coaches/

    Why have I posted this?

    10 days ago I had an appointment for an echo-cardiogram .. which I apprehensively agreed to and gratefully received , in order to find out why various symptons since my earlier bout of Covid in 2022 had caused such a horrid long breathless energy sapping prolonged coughing spasms I could ever wish I could do without .

    I sat waiting for my appointment amongst a selection of waiting patients of various ages , The clinic was busy.

    Can you imagine my reaction when my name ( Christian name was called ) and a very tall African chap with beautiful English summoned me to the gadget room !!

    I looked around for a female companion nurse , nope .. just me and this charming man . He handed me a gown and asked me to strip off my top garments .. and then I plunged into absolute shyness , red cheeked and presented myself nude from head to waist ..

    So I boldly thought who on earth would have thought , me of all people would be chatting to the radiologist , and talking about Nigeria , my experiences and adventures , as he pressed the gooey gadget across my abdomen , rt breast, side as my heart pounded and ticked throughout the procedure , and the vague images of my valves and aorta were scanned .

    The experience was unusual , and never ever did I expect a Yoruba clinician/ radiologist as an examiner ..

    It was one of those moments when one realises how diverse the NHS has become in every way, and that there are qualified people of all shades and shapes who are kind , gentle and communicative .

    I haven’t had my results yet , and I do hope my treasured heart still has plenty of tick left to see me through .

    1. I do hope my treasured heart still has plenty of tick left to see me through
      So do we, Belle!

      1. I had an ECG in the days before my “extreme chiropody”. It was fascinating to see a colour image of my heart, doing its job. “Hello, heart,” I said to the monitor “So pleased to meet you after all these years. I’m most grateful for what you do. Please keep up the good work.” I hope I showed my gratitude by eschewing any mRNA vaccines…

    3. Crikey Belle! What a shock! I’m amazed there was no female companion. Well done for dealing with a very odd situation with aplomb! I’m very impressed!

      1. It was a shock , Sue.

        I guess maybe as I was a mature woman , they assumed I didn’t require a female companion , but he was utterly respectful , not arrogant .. and I left wondering whether he also had to take a deep breathe to get on with the job .

          2. As both children were cesarian sections, both Obs & gynaecologist were male – what the hell…

          4. When I was last in hospital, I was given a bed bath by a male and female nurse.
            My granddaughter was shocked. I explained to her that to a male nurse it was just a job.
            (I didn’t add that he was also as camp as a row of tents.)

          5. I thought the expression was…as camp as a row of pink army tents !
            In my experiences in hospital i have been very appreciative of the care and concern for my well being. If only we had people of similar mindset governing the country.
            I do have a story about a male nurse who went above and beyond the call of duty. Not for me i hurriedly add…………..

        2. Could your husband not have accompanied you?
          I accompanied vw to a ultrasound last week when there was a black radiographer.

        4. When I went to my very gorgeous GP after I had our first daughter, for the check up etc I also had a coil fitted. I’d made a joke in the chemist when I picked up the prescription, which was in a box about 10 x 4”, and asked how I was going to swallow it! Not a titter from the pharmacist! But when I told the doc the pair of us were helpless with laughter, and me naked from the waist down! Not a nurse in sight, but they must have heard us in the waiting room! Goodness knows what they thought we were doing!

    4. Of course, he wasn’t actually qualified, Mags – just an imposter who likes looking at naked ladies!!

        1. And he discovered that the NHS was the ideal place to do so – no questions asked; no qualifications needed to be produced…just slip on a white coat and look confident. Worked for me!!

          And you thought I was joking…!!!

        1. I’d have a happy smile if I was fondling you, Mags. In the nicest possible way, of course!!

    1. What is remarkable is him not telling his children. It must have been about repressing the horrid memories.

      1. We only discovered that the MR’s father had been in the LRDG when it came out on his death bed.

        1. Odd isn’t it, but these men and women who went through tough times often just don’t talk about it.

          1. My late elder brother was “honoured” in 1956 during the EOKA business. He and his CO were shot up by Greek terrorists. Never spoke about it – except at lunch after the Investiture he said that The Queen had asked him about it – and he replied, “Oh, there was a bit of shooting, Ma’am.”

          2. Brave brother , Bill and it must have been a horrendous experience .

            One of our Canal Zoners , now sadly gone , was also out in Cyprus , brave man received a BEM for dismantling a pipe bomb .

    2. During the older DT days before Geoff opened the gates for us on here , we could all comment and post photos , troll and chat as we do now on the old style DT boards .

      Can any of you remember a barrister called Peter Codner , he commented a lot and sometimes used an Avatar called V Hawk . Peter had had the worst luck in the world , he had a stroke so the ability to comment was paramount … he could speak , but was badly disabled , and came from somewhere in Wiltshire .

      This was his father https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Codner .. Stalag 3 !!!

      The story of his father is heartbreaking , but considerably one of the bravest ever .

      I often wonder what happened to Peter . He used to ring me sometimes , I am talking about years ago , and I always thought he would follow back on Geoff’s new site .

      2. Peter must be no older than us as his parents married in 1948. What a very brave man his father was. And how sad that he was later killed aged only 31. I don’t remember Peter commenting but I only plucked up courage to join in in 2014, having lurked silently there for a couple of years. I think one of the first topics I commented on was the German Wings airliner that was flown into the mountain by the rogue pilot.

  59. Phew – of a different kind. Just half way typing a humorous reply to Maggie’s chest experience – and the keyboard just stopped working.

    Panic briefly – then remembered that it needed batteries and that the last ones were put in aout 5 years ago…. Batteries replaced. All is well.

    And I was able to polish my comment to Mags…!!

  60. No I don’t. Many many years ago in the village of Conisbrough the local GP was arrested and held in Lincoln jail. It turns out he was only a qualified vet. His patients thought he was an exceptional GP. I suspect he was only twigged when folk got suspicious of the practice of being examined on all fours….

    3. I thought vets had to do human medicine first and then a further period of training to become a vet.

      1. I don’t believe so, Alf. Dianne’s daughter did her degre at Glasgow University Vet School over five years. Just before she graduated, they changed the rules, which mean – fully qualified – she can now be addressed as “Doctor” – but I don’t think the NHS would take her on…

    4. Vets seem to be much more sympathetic towards their patients, kinder bedside manners. Perhaps it is the background threat of those teeth and claws.

        1. Absolutely. We took our little pup to the vet the middle of last week, there was something wrong with his paws, extreme irritation, he was chewing at them, whining, shaking them, running around trying to shake them off. To cut the story short, we saw the charming new trainee vet from an eastern European country (whose grasp of English left a lot to be desired). He didn’t know what was wrong, but found Rico has a luxating patella during the course of examination. He suggested it be investigated – x-rays and, no doubt, blood tests. Cost – £820. As this was not the cause of the visit, after thinking about it overnight, we declined the investigations, as pup had just had his ‘little operation’ mid-January, and for the investigation he would also need to be sedated again. We also felt the cost was astronomical – although we have insurance this time round we felt bad about using it so soon when we had scarcely contributed to the pot, and at the end of the day it is someone else’s money being used and we have the old-fashioned notion that this should be respected, especially as it wasn’t an emergency.

          The irritation to his paws wore off over the course of three hours. We think he had perhaps walked upon some nettles with hindsight but we panicked because we were meeting up with friends from France for lunch and they would have already left the house. Otherwise we would have waited into the afternoon to see if the irritation abated.

          There are four stages of luxating patella. Stage 1 requires no treatment, and does not trouble the dog. Stages 3 and 4 require operation, cost probably several thousand, followed by possible physiotherapy and hydrotherapy, so Dr Google tells me. It can remain at Stage 1 all the dog’s life.

          1. Good heavens , pm , what a shock for you both .

            Our vet practice has bods from Italy, Portugal , Estonia , South Africa and Germany, I think they are on 6 monthly contracts / visas or whatever is required .

            We were so shocked at the bill we had to pay when Pip had a loose canine ( ball catching ) and 3 rear teeth out .. £700 bill , we thought that our pet insurance would pay up, but nope, not a penny .

            I hope your pup is more comfortable now , new nettles are a darned nuisance and hurt like hell .

          4. Yes – Google says it is also a problem for Yorkshire Terriers and Poodles as well, of which Rico is a cross – double whammy! We will let him get over his ‘little operation’ before inflicting anything else upon him. And we will see the chief vet next time – trainees straight out of university tend to be enthusiastic – look what I’ve found! – although we never forget that the chief vet is running a business (£££££).

    5. Of course he was an exceptional GP; vets can’t get their patients to tell them what’s wrong, they actually have to work it out!

  61. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1a9e1336d38e9d7b78706458171e2b6bf6f8453dda3f064839203972d23d3a0e.png
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/02/06/france-suffers-unprecedented-decline-in-sex-relationships/

    BTL

    As a schoolmaster I used to write scurrilous songs which I sang to the accompaniment of my guitar to amuse my Sixth Formers. I wonder if this would be banned today – there are six verses in a similar vein!

    Women’s Lib’s Destroying my libido
    And I just won’t stand for it any more
    My macho’s getting mangled, my morale is sinking fast
    My self-esteem’s not been so low before
    I used to wear the trousers in my happy little home
    I used to rule the roost in kingly style
    But women’s lib’s destroying my libido
    And I find it hard to even raise a smile.

    2. The Times headline is that, “One in four French aren’t having sex, poll reveals.”

      Presumably the other three are at it like knives…

  63. Just watching the film ‘Edie’ on Iplayer starring Sheila Hancock. I like these British productions.

      1. How would i know. Do your own research you lazy bugger ! Anyone would think toiling in the garden counted as work !

        It is a good film for women to poison their abusive husbands though.

  64. That is me gone for today. And a very satisfactory – if tiring – day, too. Five hours gardening. Real progress. Tomorrow several tons of waiting to be well-rotted will arrive – and be stored for use this time next year (DV). The rain will stop before midnight and tomorrow will be chilly, dry and calm.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain.

    3. Look. It is perfectly obvious to anyone with half a brain that the woman and the children deserved everything they got. She had clearly said no to a Muslim man. End of story !

  68. JPR a week ago and Barry John yesterday. A sad time for Welsh rugby. Not to mention Saturday’s result.

  71. Justin Trudeau has extended a ban on foreign nationals purchasing homes anywhere in Canada, in a blow to British expats.

    Only foreigners who are asylum seekers, some international students and temporary workers will be permitted to buy residential property in the country until 2027, the Canadian government said.

    2. Perhaps it is to hide the fact that, at the moment, pats do not wish to be ex in Canada under Trudeau’s seemingly communistic regime.

    3. Grasping at straws again. The housing market is totally screwed up – a million immigrants a year can do that.

      One of numbnuts key policies is to bring in more and more people so despite there being no infrastructure to handle that many immigrants, they will not change policies.

      Todays scandals:
      1) Spending $50,000 on a banquet at a cabinet working session.
      2) Trudeau being shown to have lied to parliament when he claimed that he did not know about some old ukranian veteran who flight against Russia (think WW2 and who in Ukraine was fighting the Russians).

    4. Surely, being British and with the state of our politics, any Brit would qualify as an asylum seeker.

  74. A bit of a washout today.
    Shifted some of the split logs into the wood shelter and then went to Cromford to post a letter to British Gas, ref. Stepson via recorded delivery and by the time I got home the weather had turned wet, so I got on with the beef stew & dumplings I was making.
    Didn’t do much more and went to bed for an hour.
    Will not be stopping up much longer either.

  75. Evening, all. Rain here has been of Biblical proportions. The roads (and pavements) were flooded. I was glad to get home and change my clothes (wet despite wearing a mackintosh and leather boots).

    Thanks to taqiyya and kitman nobody can trust a muslim. The parish council has been sent a load of guff about Martyn’s Law and dealing with terrorism. Nowhere did it address the problem of who it is that is actually carrying out the acts. The end result will be our freedoms will be further curtailed.

      1. Oscar is not allowed walks (or to climb stairs). He is not well at all. I think I may only have until Monday with him. Kadi looked like a drowned rat despite wearing his mackintosh.

          1. The vet gave him 14 days on this medication and said if there was no improvement it would be a one-way trip. He’s no worse, but he’s no better. When she rings (or if she doesn’t as she promised), I’ll book a consultation and see what the verdict is. I don’t want to make the wrong decision.

        2. You have done your best with patience and love, rescuing Oscar .

          He will thank you in bucket loads for being a good friend , and helping on his way when you eventually have to say goodbye xxx

          2. You have, Conway! Your kindness and patience has given him new life. And we never have them long enough in our lives. Hoping for the best for you all💕

          3. Conners you’ve done a marvelous job with Oscar and if now you have to make the toughest decision of what’s best for his welfare i’m sure you’ll do what’s best for him albeit with a heavy heart
            All the best to you both

        5. Oh Conway, I am so sorry – you have given him a lovely home and when he realised he was safe he responded in kind. He knows he is loved. That is all a dog asks for – somewhere warm and safe, food and affection ( not necessarily in that order).

          1. I’m crying now. Had an email from the neighbour their cat has just been run over and i’m sitting here listening to Dolly snoring.

          2. Oh, it’s so hard, Phizzee, we get involved with the lives of other people’s pets as well as our own. It is an echoing reflection of how much we love them, how much they mean to us. We identify with their loss. So sorry for your neighbour’s loss, they will be having a few sad days and weeks coming to terms with it.

          3. Very kind of you. They have also had previous. I helped her bury two in her garden. It is life. And we love them.

          1. The vet thinks he has a tumour in his neck/spine, which is causing the problem. Basically he’s on pain relief.

    2. Not been that heavy here, apart from a heavy short shower, but it’s been a miserable day and not conducive to working outside. I had planned getting some wood chopped and stacked.

    3. Sadly our parish do-gooders are far too trusting and sooner or later one of them will pay the price.

  76. I’m having an early night tonight, chums. I was up at 5.30 am to listen to a radio broadcast of THE GLUMS with Jimmy Edwards as Mr Glum, Derek Bentley as his gormless son Ron, and Ron’s fiancee played by Joy Nichols. Very funny indeed. I also went into Colchester to watch Jeffrey Wright in AMERICAN fiction an excellent film which I can recommend heartily to all. In the meantime, chums, Good Night, sleep well and see you all tomorrow.

  77. If you misssed this evening I can thoroughly recommend Yes Prime Minister about the appointment of a bishop. It was on BBC 4 but I believe is also on iPlayer. Comedy (and truth) at its finest!

  78. DT The state pension is doomed to disappear
    The ticking demographic time bomb leaves us with few good options: raise the retirement age significantly or slash the welfare bill
    MATTHEW LYNN

    No comments allowed.

    The government could save over £10 billion by stopping foreign aid
    It could say no benefits for illegal migrants
    It could save money by abandoning Net Zero

    But it won’t and therefore needs to be cast into oblivion at the next GE

    1. We know that the indigenous whities are going to be royally stuffed. No matter what party comes to power.

    1. Made in China of course. What i find funny/strange/amusing is ….the authorities can’t work out why a crime is committed in buying one. Obviously if you are a white male it is a crime but if you are of another ethnic persuasion it’s a grey area.

      1. You are a very naughty boy. And you know what happens to naughty boys…

        Julie Waters…Personal Services.

    1. Purists tend to dismiss Andre Rieu but he does entertain. The reason why people buy tickets in the first place!

      1. I love Andre Rieu, his enthusiasm for music and performance is so infectious, one cannot help but fly along in the slipstream.

          2. I take it from your love of the Las Rose of Summer, that you have a strong Irish connection. My first wife was a Dublin Jackeen and we were married for 37 years. Parting is always such sweet sorrow.

          3. No Irish genes here, Sir Jasper, mine are, as far as I know, strictly northern! A mix of Yorkshire and Cumberland.

          5. It is beautiful. We are born and bred of the British Isles and can appreciate and love the music its peoples produce; all of it is part of our background and heritage.

        2. I agree. I looked at buying tickets for the Maastricht concert and accommodation. Then decided to watch it at my local cinema !

          Loved the massed bagpipe one on Youtube.

          1. We went to one of his performances in Manchester years ago. The arena was so vast, the performing figures tiny and the crowds enormous. We decided we enjoyed seeing the performance much more on television and dvd. When I need cheering up we spend an evening watching him and his entourage on stage in the comfort of our home! I’ll look out for the bagpipe one.

          3. Thank you! I have often though the Maastricht ones look great fun and everyone looks so happy.

      2. Yes, I agree, but does he ever actually play that fiddle he continually waves around???

  84. Nottingham triple-killer Valdo Calocane can claim £360 a month in
    benefits after being locked up in high-security hospital rather than
    prison as victims’ families call for change in law.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13053169/Nottingham-triple-killer-Valdo-Calocane-claim-benefits-hospital-change-law.html

    I have Peripheral arterial disease. Cervical 3 compression. Hypertension. Hypergonadism. Secondary Polycythaemia. Gynaecomastia. Gall stones. And for some reason i don’t qualify for any type of help.

    Who do i have to kill to qualify?

    1. ‘cos you’re an indigenous white supremacist and the other is a poor black man subjected to white supremacist slavery a 100 years or more ago..

      1. I forgot. I also have Diverticular disease.

        I suppose i could go for King Charles. I’d be famous.

        1. I am amazed you are still with us with that list, Phizzee. You must have the constitution of an ox. Please keep on keeping on.

          1. You are too kind. My conditions are not considered worth operating on so we come down to pain management. The consensus of the medical profession is strong pain killers. I will not go down that route as that can only lead to addiction. Plus when i do need to resort to them they give me brain fog and constipation.

            There are alternatives.

            Yoga for the neck pain.
            Fybogel for the diverticular.
            Tonic water for the PAD cramps.

            Good friends.
            Good food.

            Cocktails.
            Sense of humour !
            I’m not done yet.

          2. Brad Pitt is 60. As am i this weekend. I know who i think is the better looking !
            Mirror mirror on the wall…………………….. :@)

          3. There are lots of people on here who have similar troubles. Age and all that. I just find this site a place to vent frustrations.

            At the end of the day i am happy. Content. And looking for the next lunch with people who can still have a laugh. Geoff Graham being a fine example.

  85. Wordle 963 6/6

    A struggle today, but I just scraped through in six:

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

      1. ‘Morning Sue and everyone. I have a seven year old grandchild’s tea party to attend to this afternoon so I must away and tart myself up in readiness – it doesn’t happen naturally – the main event, a trampolining party will be on Sunday! So I won’t be around very much today.

        1. Ooh! Have a wonderful time! And don’t forget the ear-plugs! The screaming can be truly sacary!😱

Comments are closed.