Wednesday 27 January: Lockdown policy must give more weight to people’s well-being

Posted on by Geoff Graham

An unofficial place to discuss the Telegraph letters, established when the DT website turned off its comments facility (now reinstated, but not as good as 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:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2021/01/27/letterslockdown-policy-must-give-weight-peoples-well-being/

975 thoughts on “Wednesday 27 January: Lockdown policy must give more weight to people’s well-being”

  2. I just went on Breitbart Europe and discovered a dozen Disqus responses to me from one and two days ago which haven’t shown up here in notifications. Must be a Disqus glitch.

    1. I think it is, because I saw a lot of responses yesterday evening that haven’t shown up in the Disqus notifications.

  4. Build up I should have posted yesterday

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f0b6258ab7d2afe7d6a1b67664b50cad3f7efa0799d21add071a51d8a6b6a5a.jpg

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    https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/063/288/216/original/bc6188ccff67c8ff.jpg

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0803107c15cf42fcc017c6bd535cb804943403da0af4d8df3cf2a0b0230f5006.jpg

    1. The apparent screengrab of Betty Swollocks may be a fake, but if it is real it would not surprise me!

  6. The Dems want Obedience, not Unity. 26 January 2021.

    Watching the behavior of the Democrat/Marxist/Anarchist coalition over the last couple of weeks, I am drawn to the conclusion that they think their seizure of power through elections and street theater is permanent or at least something as durable as the long, long reign of the Bloody Shirt Republicans after the Civil War. In that time all you had to do to beat the Democrats was talk about “Rum, Romanism and Rebellion and you were “in.”

    The Democrat led alliance is now seeking to proscribe the opposition root and branch, beginning with the man 75 to 80 million citizens voted to re-elect and extending down through the ranks of probable or possible successors to the Orange One.

    Banning from social media, actions to eject members from legislatures at the national and state levels, prosecutions for supposed incitement of violence. These are among the tools contemplated. People who work for the leftist media like Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post openly advocate pressuring advertisers to threaten Murdoch over commentators like Carlson and Hannity. The Democrat coalition supports bans on hiring their opponents at universities and in the business world as well.

    “Re-education and de-programming” are advocated in the MSM as solutions for re-capturing control of the Smelly masses.

    It is now probable that Kamala Harris will preside over the senate trial of former president Donald Trump. The US Constitution requires that the Chief Justice of SCOTUS preside over the trial of a SITTING president because of the obvious conflict of interest involved in a trial in which conviction results in the accession to power of the vice-president, but Trump is not a sitting president so she evidently is free to run her possible opponent in 2024 out of public life.

    How long will the Smellies endure all this? Well, pilgrims the tyranny of Communism lasted a long time in the USSR. Pat Lang.

    Morning everyone. The view from the States.

    https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2021/01/the-dems-want-obediance-not-unity.html

      1. Sieg Meow!?

        Morning Rik, Minty et al and Bill’s cats, and an especially Happy Birthday to Michael.

    2. Another view from the US:

      ““Democracy Has Prevailed!”

      Yes, it was touch and go there for a while, as there was no guarantee that the Intelligence Community, the military-industrial complex, Western governments, the corporate media, supranational corporations, Internet oligarchs, and virtually every other component of the global-capitalist empire could keep one former game show host with no real political power whatsoever from taking over the entire world.

      More here:
      https://consentfactory.org/2021/01/24/thats-all-folks/

    1. It is people like Sowell who make racism seem absurd; it is organisations such as BLM which make it inevitable.

    1. I don’t think it will be too long before the white population takes BLM measures and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Armed Forces joining in.

      It’s small wonder that Obama wanted to outlaw the NRA and remove the ‘right to bear arms’ – he knew what his policies could lead to and in this administration, more so.

  9. Boris Johnson ‘deeply sorry for every life that has been lost’ to Covid. 27 January 2021.

    Boris Johnson told the nation he was “deeply sorry” for a coronavirus death toll that passed the 100,000 mark on Tuesday and accepted “full responsibility” for the grim milestone.

    The Prime Minister said it was “hard to compute the sorrow” caused by the “appalling and tragic loss of life” over the past year, during which Britain has suffered the fifth-highest number of Covid deaths of any country in the world.

    This is of course purely theatre. It has no reality. Johnson no more than any other politician feels nothing for people. I don’t write this from malice or a political viewpoint, history alone tells us that it is not merely unlikely but impossible. Two of his predecessors, Blair and Cameron, initiated wars that brought about the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents and, so far as I can detect, has not caused either of them the loss of a single night’s sleep. There is also the point that it goes with the job. No matter what your moral standing, you must know if you give any thought to it, (not something that is guaranteed) that you may be called upon to do things that would cripple the decision making of the majority of decent people.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/01/26/boris-johnsondeeply-sorry-every-life-has-lost-covid/

    2. “deeply sorry” for a coronavirus death toll that passed the 100,000
      mark on Tuesday and accepted “full responsibility” for the grim
      milestone.

      Takes full responsibility. Okay…what happens next?

      Good morning, Minty.

      2. ‘Morning, Philip, usually when things go badly wrong the person ‘responsible’ resigns. At what time today will the announcement be made?

        I trust that you are progressing to good health.

        1. Good morning.

          It keeps waking me up and i have to walk around even though i just want to go to sleep.

          3. Oh, that’s not good news, I get that both with cramp and backache but mine is just a result of getting old. With your spare parts, hopefully they will bed in quite soon.

  11. Wednesday 27 January: Lockdown policy must give more weight to people’s well-being

    It has certainly given me more weight to mine

  12. Good medical advice

    1. F***ing once a week is good for your health, but its harmful if done every day.

    2. F***ing relaxes your mind & body.

    3. F***ing refreshes you.

    4. After F***ing don’t eat too much; go for more liquids.

    5. Try F***ing in bed cause it can save you valuable energy.

    6. F***ing can even reduce your cholesterol levels.

    So remember, Fasting is good for many aspects of health & may the good Lord cleanse your dirty mind.

    1. Funny, Tom, but terrible “advice”.

      Fasting every day, as I do, is beneficial, and not harmful at all.

      1. It can be very harmful for others though. Your regime suits you, but it would be disastrous for some. There is no universal lifestyle panacea.

      1. ‘Morning, J, considering the (high) quality of my previous funnies, an understandable mistake.

  14. The Guardian view on Russia’s protests: Navalny isn’t Putin’s only problem. 27 January 2021.

    Russian officials and state media are already busy portraying Mr Navalny as a western stooge, though he has always been careful to keep his distance from foreign governments. Mr Putin’s real problem is not his jailed opponent, but the Russian people whose dissatisfaction he harnesses. Their daily experiences do as much to erode the Kremlin’s authority as Mr Navalny’s viral videos. While the president may prefer to ignore it, there is no denying public discontent.

    Vlad has an approval rating of 65%!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/26/the-guardian-view-on-russias-protests-navalny-isnt-putins-only-problem

  15. ‘Morning, Peeps. Oh dear. How sad. The EU is squealing like a stuck pig as it finds itself at the back of the vaccine queue. What do they expect when their order went in three months after ours? For once the Remainiacs are strangely silent…

    From the Tellygraff:

    The EU’s vaccine fiasco threatens the very future of Project Europe

    The botched vaccination rollout has been a reputational disaster, proving the European Union to be a petty and dysfunctional bloc

    LIAM HALLIGAN
    26 January 2021 • 10:00pm

    The EU’s Covid vaccination programme is a fiasco. So badly has the bloc bungled its vaccine rollout that an escalating row between Brussels and the 27 member states, to say nothing of voter outrage, is damaging “project Europe” itself.

    At the start of the pandemic, the European Commission decided that it would take responsibility for sourcing the vaccines, despite its limited competence in the area. It reasoned that its size and the “efficiency” of its bureaucracy would enable it to seize a lead on its rivals in the vaccine race, and show the tangible benefits of European unity.

    Instead the experiment has turned into a catastrophe. The UK has administered 10.3 doses per 100 of our population, including four-fifths of the over-80s. No EU nation comes close. Germany has managed just 2.1 doses per 100, the EU average is 1.9 and it’s 1.7 in France. Other member states, such as the Netherlands and Sweden, are lagging further behind.

    Now public confidence across the EU is deteriorating fast. Parts of the German press have accused Angela Merkel of sacrificing lives by overriding the vaccine policy of her own government and entrusting it to Brussels. There have been riots in some member states among populations who can see no realistic hope of an exit from lockdown. That’s why the Eurocrats are lashing out, indulging in dangerous vaccine nationalism and seeking scapegoats for their own failures.

    In doing so, however, they are exploding another EU myth: that it is a rules-based body devoted to international law and truth. The commission is threatening to obstruct exports of vaccines made in the bloc, including to Britain, in breach of commercial contracts. We’ve also seen what appear to be attempts to discredit the UK-made vaccine. Such disinformation wars are reckless. The AstraZeneca vaccine is vital – set to be used across the world, given that it is cheap and can be stored in a domestic fridge. The UK is right to be furious.

    Of course nobody in the EU is prepared to own up to their mistakes. Instead they are doubling down on the ridiculous suggestion that Brussels has received unfair treatment at the hands of the vaccine manufacturers. But at a time of intense demand, shortages are inevitable. Production is an unpredictable biological process and both AstraZeneca and Pfizer have admitted to understandable delays. 
The bottom line is that, for all the UK’s failings during the pandemic, this country invested much earlier and to a far greater extent in the production, clinical trials and procurement of vaccines than the EU. So did the US – and again, America’s vaccine rollout is far superior.

    The commission has displayed its usual combination of cack-handedness, bureaucratic torpor and a tendency to bend to special interests. Having dithered over the summer, Brussels buckled to pressure from Paris, ordering 300 million doses of the GSK-Sanofi vaccine. That bet back-fired – a major trial setback means this “French” vaccine won’t be ready until at least the end of 2021.

    Brussels placed no firm order with Pfizer until mid-November – even though its partner firm BioNTech is German and had emerged as a front-runner months before. By then, other customers having moved much faster, the EU was way down the list.

    “Obviously, the European purchasing process was flawed,” says Markus Söder, the Bavarian premier among the favourites to replace Merkel as chancellor. “It’s hard to explain why people elsewhere are being vaccinated more quickly with an excellent vaccine developed in Germany.”

    As for the AstraZeneca vaccine, the European Medical Agency has claimed its “higher standards” have prevented it so far granting approval. And, even then, there may be further delays as labels for the vaccine are printed in the EU’s multiple languages.

    The Brussels-made vaccine fiasco will result in more deaths, a longer lockdown and a deeper recession. As government debt ratios across the bloc spiral upward, a repeat of the 2011 eurozone crisis looms into view.

    The UK has made serious mistakes – our high Covid death rate isn’t only due to our global connectedness. But the vaccine challenge has been a reputational disaster for the EU – with these latest moves revealing it to be spiteful and dysfunctional, a shabby, protectionist bloc.

  16. Morning all

    SIR – Now that those in the highest-risk groups for hospitalisation and death from Covid-19 are being vaccinated, there will come a point where the risk of harm caused by the lockdown will outweigh that caused by the virus.

    The dangers posed to mental well-being, and by the loss of access to services such as screening for cancers and heart problems, are often cited.

    In the epilogue to his book Being Mortal, the American surgeon Atul Gawande writes: “We’ve been wrong about what our job is in medicine. We think our job is to ensure health and survival. But really it is larger than that. It is to enable well-being. And well-being is about the reasons one wishes to be alive.”

    The NHS would do well to recognise Dr Gawande’s point.

    Graeme Tobyn

    Lancaster

    SIR – I always thought that one of the Government’s responsibilities was to help raise morale among the people it represents. However, judging by the words of Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, that it will be a “long, long, long” time until lockdown restrictions are lifted, I was wrong.

    It appears that Mr Hancock is not prepared to let us even hope for a life after Covid-19.

    Julie Capewell

    Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire

    SIR – We now have about 9 per cent of the population vaccinated.

    What is the minimum percentage that must be reached before the current restrictions are eased?

    Dr Roger Grimshaw

    Manchester

    SIR – It is certainly possible to 
reopen schools well before Easter (report, January 26). Those of us who run them have good measures in place, and can identify the main areas of risk.

    Given the strict requirement to report all incidences of Covid infection, it would be very straightforward for local authorities to close down an individual school or a local cluster should any outbreak exceed a critical level. The key to keeping our premises safe is to ensure well-ventilated classrooms, provide plenty of opportunities for outdoor learning and insist on strict hygiene.

    “Social distancing” is a laudable aim but unrealistic with young children. Prevention of close parental contact at the school gates is probably the hardest factor to control, but this is where local authorities could provide some assistance during staggered start and finish times.

    Let’s aim for March 1. There can be no excuse for keeping children out of school any longer.

    Alastair Graham

    Headmaster, Hall Grove School

    Bagshot, Surrey

    SIR – I am tired of the calls for the Government to provide a lockdown exit strategy. How can it make a plan for next month when it doesn’t know how the pandemic will develop?

    G M E Barber

    Sudbury, Suffolk

    1. BTL Comment reference Mr. Tobin’s missive:-

      Robert Spowart
      27 Jan 2021 8:17AM
      Graeme Tobyn states “Now that those in the highest-risk groups for hospitalisation and death from Covid-19 are being vaccinated, there will come a point where the risk of harm caused by the lockdown will outweigh that caused by the virus.”

      I think the point where the risk of harm caused by the lockdown outweighed that caused by the virus was on day one of the first lockdown.

    2. ‘Morning Epi. I think Dr Grimshaw means that 9% have had their first injection. Consequently they cannot be considered to be vaccinated until they have the second and final injection.

  17. Lost to the Holocaust

    SIR – On Holocaust Memorial Day today, we mourn the victims of some of humanity’s worst ever tragedies and remember the horrors of the past, so that they never happen again.

    We also remember those who, risking their own and their families’ lives, helped to save thousands from death. An incredible example of both a victim and a helper is Witold Pilecki, a Polish officer born 120 years ago this year, who volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz to organise internal resistance and gather information on the Holocaust taking place there.

    He was the first to inform the West about the real nature of the largest German concentration and extermination camp, also organising a series of escapes and escaping himself. Pilecki even tried to organise an underground attack on the camp. Yet, after all this, he was arrested in 1947 for his opposition to the communists, brutally tortured and later executed by a shot to the head.

    On this special day, let us remember all those who lost their lives during the Holocaust and fighting totalitarian regimes – a sacrifice of which Witold Pilecki has become a symbol.

    Arkady Rzegocki

    Polish ambassador to the UK

    London W1

    1. Leaving Poland to the care of the USSR was a massive injustice and tragedy at the end of the War, but sadly, given the state of the UK at the time, we had little option to go along with America’s appeasement of Stalin.

        1. I would have thought that, by the end of 1945/early 1946, people had had enough of warring and just wanted it all to be over. Not to continue another 5 years fighting the Soviet. And the economic damage by then was horrendous, too.

          2. It was all for nothing. A simple EU like trading deal with Germany in 1938 would have been fine.

          4. Much like we have now. Hmmm. Actually better then as no one at that time destroyed our food exports to Europe, or demanded documents so complicated that the bureaucrats of Byzantium would have balked at their use.

          2. The Americans had already conceded Poland & the rest of Central Europe to the USSR before the Trinity test.

      2. Having got to Berlin, Churchill wanted to continue and take out Russia – he saw the communist menace for what it was/is.

        1. But we didn’t get to Berlin. We stopped short and allowed the Red Army to take it.

      3. FDR’s main war aim was the destruction of the British empire.
        WWII gave him the opportunity.

        1. Aye. He was a very sick and bitter pussy-cat….as told to me (namedrop, namedrop) by one of his posh Oyster Bay/ Long Island cousins in approx 1964

        2. Good morning, Anne

          Just as COVID is giving some people exceptional opportunities which they will grab greedily. Did you see the list of billionaires such as Gates, Bezos and Zuckerberg showing how much wealthier they have all become since March 2020?

    1. Morning Bob. Corruption and nepotism are endemic to Pakistani culture! They simply cannot help themselves! It has now spread to the native elites!

    3. Khan will get away with it – just as the Democrats will get away with it even if the evidence is overwhelming that the election was stolen.

      That’s the way the world we live in now works.

  19. Morning again

    Doling out despair

    SIR – I thank Janet Daley (Comment, January 26) for her excellent piece on intrusive news reports from hospitals. I can only hope that the broadcasters are paying attention.

    I am certainly aware of the awfulness of the pandemic, but would like to see facts and analyses reported, rather than grief and suffering, which will only perpetuate feelings of despair.

    Barbara Smith

    Hinchley Wood, Surrey

    SIR – I have moved my early-evening dog-walking time to 6 pm to avoid the negativity of BBC news.

    It’s been going on for so long now that Miss Willow perks up, looks at me with beautiful eyes, stretches, then walks to her lead just as Pointless ends.

    Mary Kay

    Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire

  20. SIR – I sympathise with members of the Dyke Women’s Institute (Letters, January 26).

    Here in Kent we have the Loose Women’s Institute.

    Sue Batchelor

    High Halstow, Kent

  21. SIR – Most of us who live in wellington boots (Letters, January 18) during the winter for dog walking sadly had to give up on our treasured Hunter boots years ago, when they switched to production 
in China.

    My boots for the last five years have been Aigle – still made in France – which are top-quality and last for at least a couple of years. Hunter’s brands are now “fashion” boots and can’t cope with hard use. Somehow the French seem to know that some of us still prefer top quality to the lowest price.

    Jane Thornton

    Dorking, Surrey

    2. Two years? Just two years? Does your dog eat them, or do you walk to China on a frequent basis?

  22. Good morning all from a dull, overcast Derbyshire with a balmy 1°C on the yard thermometer!

  23. It just goes to show the lengths a government will go when they would rather take the blame and condemnation for the hugely over exaggerated covid death figures that bear no reality to the actual figure than to give us the real figure and risk playing down the severity of the pandemic.

    1. Bob3, I wrote the following last night. Admitting the truth now would raise more damaging questions that could expose the truth of what is behind the policy of inflating the figures. Also, it would show that the “conspiracy theorists” i.e. seriously concerned people, are correct to express doubts about what Johnson & Co are up to. Better to admit to a six figure death count and ride out the storm than expose their real motives. Amoral isn’t a strong enough word to describe these people.

      Hoist with his own petard because he agreed to publish inflated figures i.e. died with cv-19 as opposed to of cv-19. He did this to push the fear factor up to suit his ulterior motive.

  24. SIR — I agree with Ross Clark (Comment, January 20) about so-called smart motorways. Anyone could foresee that if you turn a refuge – the hard shoulder – into a live running lane, then collisions and deaths will occur. That this is still not fully comprehended by Highways England is beyond belief.

    Smart motorways have the support of Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, who has also been a cheerleader for disastrous low-traffic neighbourhoods, and the ludicrously hazardous electric scooters that are starting to infest our pavements.

    It seems that common sense is no longer a requirement for that particular office of state.

    Adrian O’Connor
    Ruislip, Middlesex

    Ach! Dinna fesh yersel, Ady. Common Sense is now illegal, having been outlawed by Section 1 (1) of the Common Purpose Act, 2015.

    Anyone seen displaying signs of it will be shot on sight!

        1. Hmm, don’t know what’s going on here, Phil. I’ve refreshed but I still don’t see it…

      4. I tried to reply to it when it first appeared but Disqus forbade it.

        I wrote: “Richard Cranium”.

  26. Good morning, all. Snow? What snow? All gone replaced with drizzle and mist.

    The famous “deaths” are not BPAPM’s responsibility. Why does he virtue signal and “take personal blame”?

    He really is a complete arris.

    1. Good morning, Billy.

      Freezing fog at -5ºC and visibility down to 20 yards here this morning.

    2. ‘Morning, Bill, as I’ve said to Phizzee, if he accepts responsibility for a fiasco, then he must resign – it’s the only honourable solution, other than a bottle of whisky and a revolver.

      Did I say honourable? Hmmm….

    3. Good morning Bill

      Damp morning here , but brighter than yesterday and milder .

      Politics v Scientific advice.

      We should have closed all the borders from March 2020.

      1. February 2020. Certainly as soon as any inkling of what was happening. It should not take hundreds of cases to make those responsible for public health realise what was going on. They are well aware of Ebola and similar.
        It is self evident that there was realisation but an entire absence of willingness to act. Our rulers had no desire to upset air travel and tourism.
        Now they are pretending sorrow over the unprecedented damage they have caused to the country in loss of lives and loss of treasure, jobs and the very fabric of our society. More civilian deaths in the UK “from” Covid-19 in one year than were incurred the six years of WW2.

    6. Apology without responsibility or penitence?

      If one hurts somebody by accident then of course one apologises: one sincerely regrets the consequences of an unintended action; however if one hurts somebody intentionally an apology is meaningless without genuine contrition.

      And in an act of forgiveness there should be a forgiver as well as a forgivee. I remember the case of a man called Gordon Wilson whose daughter was murdered by the IRA at Enniskillen. He ‘forgave’ the murderers and tried hard to work for peace. Ultimately the man’s forgiveness counted for nothing because the murderers were proud of their evil, treated him with contempt and ridicule and held his compassion to be weakness.

      Of course Christ said: “Lord forgive them for they know not what they do.” But should one – can one – forgive unrepentant people who know exactly what they have done and do not repent?

  27. Covid lies cost lives – we have a duty to clamp down on them. 27 January 2021.

    Any control by governments of what we may say is dangerous, especially when the government, like ours, has authoritarian tendencies. But the absence of control is also dangerous. In theory, we recognise that there are necessary limits to free speech: almost everyone agrees that we should not be free to shout “fire!” in a crowded theatre, because people are likely to be trampled to death. Well, people are being trampled to death by these lies. Surely the line has been crossed?

    Those who demand absolute freedom of speech often talk about “the marketplace of ideas”. But in a marketplace, you are forbidden to make false claims about your product. You cannot pass one thing off as another. You cannot sell shares on a false prospectus. You are legally prohibited from making money by lying to your customers. In other words, in the marketplace there are limits to free speech. So where, in the marketplace of ideas, are the trading standards? Who regulates the weights and measures? Who checks the prospectus? We protect money from lies more carefully than we protect human life.

    Not this old chestnut! You are allowed (it is difficult to see how it could be prevented unless we follow Moonbot’s reasoning and close all the theatres) to shout “fire” in a theatre. You just have to accept the consequences if loss of life results. Similarly with “the marketplace of ideas” you can claim what you please provided that you know in advance that they are false but what if you do not? How can something be judged if it is original? Is there to be some Super Censor to whom all ideas are to be sent prior to publication? They did actually have such a system in the USSR! Writers particularly absolutely hated it!

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/27/covid-lies-cost-lives-right-clamp-down-misinformation

    1. ‘Morning, Minty, “Writers particularly absolutely hated it!”

      The Graudian doesn’t do ‘writers’ they only have scribblers with crayons.

    2. I note that the deaths ‘with covid’ has become ‘covid deaths’ at the 100k mark. It seems that the change has come from above as all the media reports I heard last night had switched.

    1. Morning Sos

      BBC Breakfast bods have had a lengthy interview with Nazir Afzal . I really believe he means business , he is going for Boris’s throat.

      We were also treated to a Godly rant from the ArchBish of Cantab.

      2. I thought he was on 6 month’s holiday.
        Was he ranting from his kitchen or beside a hotel pool?

        1. He had what I assumed to be a small Tryptich or what ever it is called on the wall behind him.

          Dunno where he was , but he was very severe and in Holy mood .. but where has he been when all this has been going on ?

    2. Bad advice or not Johnson has ordered three lockdowns and a tier system all in ten months. He appears to have spurned advice coming from outside of his magic circle e.g. Barrington Declaration and plodded on with his failing plan. There comes a time when replacing the battery in the TV remote is the sensible thing to do rather than pushing the buttons harder.

      1. I don’t disagree, but there are far more people far more culpable. Did none of the Government’s advisors at all point out that there were alternatives to what was being done?

        1. Possibly, but the ultimate decision is made by a committee of one.
          Remember where bucks stop.

          1. Tell that to those who were executed at Nuremberg.

            I’m not suggesting that BJ should escape scot free, merely that there are a lot of other wazzocks who need to be strung up at the same time.

  29. SIR — Jane Shilling (Comment, January 25), writing on the mountain of food waste produced each year, might be interested in the fate of my Christmas pudding from December 2019.

    My husband and I ate half of it on Boxing Day; the remainder went into the fridge to be polished off in January. I rediscovered it in early December 2020, still looking and smelling fine. It was stabbed all over with a kitchen knife, “fed” every few days with a teaspoon each of orange juice and port, heated in the Rayburn on Boxing Day and smothered with cream. It was 10 months past its best-before date and was delicious. We lived to tell the tale.

    Jan Pickup
    Llandevenny, Monmouthshire

    SIR — Jan Pickup is evidently not aware of the great age-old British Christmas Pudding tradition (Letters, January 27). My mother always made her puddings the year before they were required. She steamed them then stored them under her bed for a year. They were then retrieved the following Christmas, steamed again and serve with Christmas dinner. The year-long maturation made them exceptionally delicious. I still follow that tradition.

    A Grizzly B.

    1. In the days when I used to make them I made enough for two years supply. Nothing wrong with keeping them indefinitely.

    2. You keep your pudding under your Gran’s bed? :-))
      We buy a pudding every January, left-over from Christmas, and eat it at Christmas.

    3. Mrs H J used to make ours, but now organises raids on local supermarkets immediately after Christmas in order to replenish her stock, at reduced prices, for us and the rest of the family. The puds are definitely better for keeping for at least a year or two.

    4. My paternal grandmother made Christmas puddings every 5 years. According to my father, the last one nearly blew your head off.

    5. My mother always did that. I make my puddings the day before they are eaten! They are a mild suet pudding packed with fruit and spices, and I much prefer the flavour! I never liked Christmas pudding as a child.

      1. I love heavy fruit cakes and puddings, but the lighter version pudding that a friend gave me was certainly more manageable for a Christmas blow-out.

        1. I love all fruit things but I’m not a fan of heavy, dark, Christmas or Wedding cakes. Too stodgy. I prefer a light sultana cake, which is effectively a Madeira cake with sultanas in it.

  31. SIR — May I make a plea that, before binning disposable face masks, people snip the two elastic loops that are designed to fit over the ears?

    There have been worrying reports of wildlife becoming entangled in them and dying.

    Jean Pike
    Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

    The very fact that masses of wildlife are being killed by the careless disposing of what are unnecessary items is more than ample proof of the ongoing decline in intelligence of the human species.

    1. I jusr wish that the masks throwers would wash and dry them, before getting rid of them

      They are most uncomfortable to wear otherwise (so I am told)

  32. The large numbers of “Covid” deaths in recent weeks are probably due to the NHS inability , in some parts of the country, to treat people properly for other more common death threatening diseases and conditions. These unfortunate people are, in many cases, now terminally ill and extremely vulnerable to a Covid infection. Lockdowns are crippling the UK and may be having little effect on the course of the outbreak with its stop/start application.

      2. Bonjour ‘Arry.

        I can remember my first decimal transaction in a greengrocer’s shop as though it were yesterday. I made a shilling on the deal.

    3. The decimalisation of our currency was a typical British Government cock-up from day one. When Australia and New Zealand went decimal, they called their ten-bob unit a “dollar”, with 100 cents per dollar. The South Africans took a similar approach, calling 10/- a “rand”, again with 100 cents per rand.

      Could our Government follow this simple method? Oh no, that was far too easy. They kept the pound as it was and divided it into 100 new pence but since there were 240 old pennies to the pound, this meant they had to introduce “half-pence” pieces, which were so ridiculously small they were difficult to handle. Few retailers could be arsed with the new “half-pence” so it led to overnight price hikes in the shops, since price-rises were inevitably “rounded-up”.

      On top of this, everybody started using the linguistic abominations, one”pee” – two “pee” and so on. The whole change-over was a complete fiasco IMHO.
      :¬(

      1. Surely it was the half penny as pence is plural.

        Just saying and I did notice the quote marks.

        1. It should indeed have been half penny, Alf – or even ha’penny as we use to say – but the singular noun , penny, was suddenly dropped. All part of the decimalisation Newspeak, which is why I used the quotation marks.

          2. So it did, but most folk – including the media – dropped the term penny and the new unit was referred to as pence, whether singular or plural. Maybe to avoid confusion with the old penny in the £sd system.

          3. Your compatriot was particularly adept at talking about “one pence”…..

            Whatever happened to him…?

      2. What I thought was ridiculous at the time was having a fraction of a penny (½) in a new decimal currency (0·5). Whoever sanctioned that idiocy needed a good thrashing.

      3. Every metric change was a cock-up, some are still on-going. Weather forecasts, weights & measures, you name it.

    4. Apparently, after the Seven Day War, it was realised that the price of oil – and thereby almost everything – would rocket up.
      That, and our joining the ‘Common Market’, gave politicians the perfect moment for its introduction. It covered up the rampant inflation because prices meant little and it prepared our monetary system for the Euro.

      1. In Germany, prices effectively doubled within 6 months of the introduction of the €. Originally 1€ = ca. 2 DM, but after 6 months, what had cost 5DM, cost 5€.. There were probably similar increases in other €-countries.

  35. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8af23ae77e19a58cd8b0635ac419096a14ddb0b8d5f19e7fe191d3b80493d247.jpg Good Moaning.
    Health matters – but not THAT health matter.
    This is the house where we lived 30+ years ago. Lily Nevard, the nurse mentioned in the records, was still alive and living in the village.

    https://greatwarhomehospitals.wordpress.com/home/great-horkesley-woodhouse-horkesley-v-a-d-hospital-essex-46-coach-road/

    GREAT HORKESLEY: ‘Woodhouse’ & Horkesley V.A.D. Hospital (Essex 46)

    WOODHOUSE & HORKESLEY V.A.D. HOSPITAL (ESSEX 46)

    Woodhouse Lane, Coach Road, Great Horkesley, Essex

    Photograph from V.A.D. Nurse Lily Nevard’s Photograph Album. Courtesy/© of David Seaborn.

    “The Great Horkesley Voluntary Aid Detachment of the British Red Cross opened and fully equipped a hospital at Woodhouse, Coach Road, in September 1914.

    Woodhouse was the home of Col. H. J. Lermitte (Henry James Lermitte of the Essex Yeomanry) and his wife (Susan Ismay), the latter was Commandant of the hospital. Col. Lermitte died 20 June 1918 aged 60.

    The first wounded soldiers arrived on 22 October 1914 and the number of beds quickly rose from 15 to 60. During the course of the war no less than 1,522 wounded soldiers passed through the hospital and not one died while in care thanks to the devotion of the staff.

    Woodhouse finally closed on 15 April 1919. Mrs. Lermitte was awarded the Royal British Red Cross Decoration by King George V in 1917.”

    The above text is taken from the Photograph Album of ‘Woodhouse VAD’ Nurse Lily Nevard. See the next chapter for Lily’s photographs.

    ‘Woodhouse’, Woodhouse Lane, Coach Road, Great Horkesley, Essex. Courtesy/© of Heather Anne Johnson.

    Courtesy/© of Heather Anne Johnson.

    The ‘Woodhouse’ photograph, as above-shown, dates to the World War One era – on its reverse side, the “WOODHOUSE” HOME HOSPITAL, GREAT HORKESLEY stamp has been applied.

    Chelmsford Chronicle – Friday 30 October 1914 [sic]:

    “Thirteen of the wounded who arrived at Colchester have been quartered at West-Wood House, Great Horkesley, the residence of Col. And Mrs. H. J. Lermitte, where a capital barn has been converted into a hospital. The charming grounds are open to those able to walk, and Col. Lermitte’s smoking-room has been placed at their disposal for mid-day meals. The Hospital is carried on under the superintendence of Mrs. H. J. Lermitte, who is the Commandant of the Essex, 46, Red Cross V.A.D., and a trained nurse. Dr. Cant, of Great Horkesley, is the hon. Medical attendant.”

    Was PRIVATE 8849 GEORGE SAUNDERS of the SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGIMENT (who was wounded on 20 September 1914), one of the above-mentioned 13 wounded soldiers who arrived at ‘Woodhouse’? See the end of Lily Nevard’s photograph album chapter.

    Chelmsford Chronicle, Friday 24 December 1915 [sic]:

    “GREAT HORKESLEY. AN ENJOYABLE ENTERTAINMENT was given on Tuesday evening to the wounded soldiers at the V.A.D. Hospital at Woodhouse, the residence of Col. and Mrs. H. J. Lermitte, by Mr. Peart, Mr. Barker, and scholars from the Colchester Royal Grammar School. Trooper Wade, Essex Yeomanry, also assistanted. The hospital was established by Col. and Mrs. Lermitte sixteen months ago, and over 250 men have been treated there.”

    October 1917 War Office List:

    In a War Office List of V.A.D. Hospitals (under Eastern Command), dated October 1917, Woodhouse had 17 occupied beds and Mrs. Lermitte was named as Commandant. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c27606212147956e7bf097ff975e5ac493d8ae711d6c40e1319326f4c50d4bf4.jpg

      2. Apparently the officers slept in the house; the other ranks were bedded down in the farm buildings.

      1. There is a link! I’ve just noticed that we had the same tortoise stoves in our classrooms during the 1950s.
        Thinking about the outside classrooms, I think our headmaster not only bought a failing girl’s school after WWII but also job lots of Nissan huts and heating stoves.

  36. It is very depressing to see what is happening in the US, especially with Biden’s signing numerous executive orders, willy nilly, apparently without bothering to read them. It is pure vindictiveness to reverse all of Trumps’ actions, many of which were very successful.

    As far as the Middle East goes, it is reported: “Under the new administration, the policy of the United States will be to support a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state”

    These empty words have been repeated ad nauseam for many decades. There will never be a viable Palestinian state unless:
    – They act like a viable state such as holding regular elections (none for the last 14 years).
    – The West Bank and Gaza cooperate and work in unison.
    – The terrorists in Gaza are neutered, especially Hamas.
    – The Muslim Brotherhood is listed as a terrorist organisation, particularly in the US and the UK, as it has been in a number of other countries. Hamas is an offshoot of the MB. The MB doesn’t recognize the State of Israel. When Hamas took over Gaza in 2007, the MB found itself virtually ruling Gaza.
    – Iran is not appeased. Iran supports Hamas in its goal to eliminate Israel from the face of the Earth. It is Iran that supplies training and weapons to Hamas. The rockets that are regularly fired into Israel come from Iran.
    – Most of the rest of the Arab world are actually seen to support the Palestinians (as well as maintaining good relations with Israel) instead of empty words and gestures.
    – Hezbollah, another Iran proxy, is chased out of Lebanon. Hezbollah’s central rationale is the elimination of Israel.

    The many Palestinians whom I have known over the years are reasonable, talented people who are held back by the militants.

    In my opinion, (after spending most of the last half century in the Middle East) President Trump’s approach was the only one that might have worked. This is partly because it strengthened opposition against Iran and partly because the obvious success of the relationship between Israel and many Arab countries, might have encouraged Palestine to reject militancy in favour of reasonableness and the prospect of stability and prosperity. This would lead to a viable state.

    Iran is at the root of so many problems in the Middle East, including its presence in Yemen supporting yet another proxy, the Houthis. Of course, Iran is Shia, but it is perfectly happy to work with Sunni militants for the greater benefit of Islam. Iran is the most dangerous country in the world with its malevolent tentacles spread throughout the Middle East, the northern half of Africa and further afield. If Biden appeases Iran, especially if he renews the nuclear deal without tying it to the elimination of Iran’s terrorist activities, there will NOT be peace in the Middle East let alone a viable Palestinian state!

  37. The BBC seems to be very anti-government in tone this morning. All over the many failings of those paid highly to look after us.

    1. Only this morning, HP? Gosh, it must be really bad. I had the misfortune to watch about 20 mins of the BBC ‘News’ this morning while I was waiting for a job to be completed on Mrs H J’s car. The BBC has obviously given up on news today, preferring instead to interview endless family members who have lost someone to Covid. There were frequent references to “the 100,000 Covid deaths” when we all know that the true position is significantly less than this. (From the ONS: “In the 2018 to 2019 winter period (December to March), there were an estimated 23,200 EWD in England and Wales (Figure 1). This was substantially lower than the 49,410 EWD observed in the 2017 to 2018 winter and lower than all recent years since 2013 to 2014 when there were 17,280 EWD.”) In other words, they are indulging in a huge sob-fest, complete with a period of silence (more please) and hundreds of photos in the background of those who are no longer with us. Every death is of course sadness for family and friends, but it doesn’t help that our national broadcaster just wants to wallow in it instead of providing a balanced news service. I have no idea how the programme ended because, mercifully, the car was ready long before, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the presenters managed to blub as well. In my view this thoroughly mawkish indulgence serves no one but themselves and, at the same time, provides endless hours of just about nothing. Am I being unreasonable? Is it just me who sees red when they go completely OTT to the exclusion of everything else??

      1. Define unreasonable. If it means expecting a “news service” to deliver news in the form of statistics and meaningful words, instead of being a vast social media transmitter retweeting, re-facebooking, re-videoing. re-tik-toking, and re-instsagramming and the rest, then yes you are.
        A quick overview of this site would suggest that we are all very unreasonable, I am pleased to say.

      2. I can assure you that if Sir Keir Starmer had been in charge the BBC would have denied all deaths, and attributed them to winter ‘flu.

          1. Send in the clowns. The Democratic Party have morphed into The Slapstick Party. The Republican Party have transmogrified into The Slapdash Party.

            They all need a good Slap.

    3. Jeez!
      She was in an episode of Kavanah QC which I saw the other night – she’ cracker even now

    5. She looks extremely good for 62. That will not have happened without self discipline and hard work. All credit to her. Being able to do a decent job of ‘mid 20s dolly bird’ in her 60s is quite an achievement. I contrast this with the DT front page item today “Growing old disgracefully”, showing 4 women wearing outfits, none of which actually work, except possibly the trouser suit (looks good but she doesn’t know how to put her hand in her pocket when wearing a jacket, so can’t be sure of the jacket).

    6. She looks extremely good for 62. That will not have happened without self discipline and hard work. All credit to her. Being able to do a decent job of ‘mid 20s dolly bird’ in her 60s is quite an achievement. I contrast this with the DT front page item today “Growing old disgracefully”, showing 4 women wearing outfits, none of which actually work, except possibly the trouser suit (looks good but she doesn’t know how to put her hand in her pocket when wearing a jacket, so can’t be sure of the jacket).

  40. Just a reminder. 100,000 people have now died in the UK due to COVID.

    If the Chinese Communists had not tried to cover things up and instead allowed the virus to spread many of them would still be alive.

    This is on them, not one single person in this country bears any blame.

      1. 17,000 average ‘flu deaths; 20,000 average pneumonia deaths – all, now, called “covid deaths”.

        And they think we are stupid…

  42. Good morning all

    Have had a telephone consultation with the Orthopaedic Surgeon who operated, keyhole) on my right knee last January. A smashing chap who is always upbeat. The conversation went beyond how I am now, which is as good as it’s going to be, to general wellbeing.

    Although not diabetic I have peripheral neuropathy in my lower legs and feet and has suggested I take vitamin B12 or B-complex which may help. I also added that we take Vitamin D3 supplement which he said is essential in his country. We take a capsule a day of 5000iu which he endorsed. In fact he went further and said for the first 6 weeks of winter we should take a bolus dose of 10,000iu a day and the 5,000iu for the rest of the year. He went on, although we may get hot weather in the summer the angle of the sun means we don’t get enough to keep the skin in good condition and lack of vitamin D3 is why so many people in this country have wrinkly skin. In hot countries of the middle east and Africa he said you need a 20 minute ‘roasting’ each day to keep vitamin D levels up.

    If you’re interested this is where we bought our D3 from and they seem to be reasonably priced. https://www.naturplus.uk/collections/vitamin-d3-1/products/copy-of-vitamin-d3-4000iu?variant=18954171711584

    2. I feel your pain…

      Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) units are used in moderate to severe neuropathy when trying to avoid drug therapy or when drug therapy is unsuccessful. A series of local nerve blocks using injections can also be used.12 Aug 2009

      How can I ease peripheral neuropathy pain? – CNN.com

      1. Thanks Phizz
        I’m not particularly in pain but sometimes not sure if my feet are going where I think they should. I’ll see if the vit B helps.

  43. I have just cooked baked potatoes for lunch, and am rather chuffed because the cooking cost me nothing.
    Anyone want to guess how they were cooked?

        1. Where abouts is here?

          Okay , you have a BBQ sitting in your garden ( I hate the things)

          Although , the men in this house love a BBQ, and son purchased a deboned leg of lamb from the local butcher’s shop lit the BBQ in the middle of winter and slow cooked the meat … I hate to admit that it was really delicious.

          Summer BBQs are usually heavy and horrible .. a piece of fish satisfies me !

          3. Then, bb2, you’ll agree with this?

            The Barbecue Season

            We may soon be entering the BBQ season. Therefore, it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

            Routine…
            (1) The woman buys the food.
            (2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables and makes dessert.
            (3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill – drink in hand.
            (4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three-metre exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.
            Here comes the important part:
            (5) The man places the meat on the grill.
            More routine…
            (6) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
            (7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another drink while he flips the meat.
            Important again:
            (8) The man takes the meat off the grill and hands it to the woman.
            More routine…
            (9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauce and brings them to the table.
            (10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.
            And most important of all:
            (11) Everyone praises the man and thanks him for his cooking efforts.
            (12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed her ‘night off,’ and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women.

          4. What that list leaves out is preparing the beastly thing to the point where you can just put the meat on it without passing motorists calling the fire brigade!

            I’ll happily swap with preparing the food and clearing up. But I won’t be watching the grill to tell the men when the meat’s ready – like a true boss, I know how to delegate!!

          5. I came up with a short parody routine of this phenomenon over some beer in the Mess, back in the 70s.

            “Wives can never get their menfolk to do much of use in the kitchen, but after one whiff of the barbie lighter fuel and he turns into MAN, THE HUNTER, recalling his primitive past. “Step back, little lady – this is mans’ work!!!” as he proceeds to produce charred specimens which invariably attract such reactions as “Err…this chicken could do with a little longer…””

          12. When we we had our wedding party in the garden here, friends brought their Weber barbecue with a shoulder of lamb and it cooked slowly in the garden and was, as you say – delicious. That was 24 years ago this summer.

          13. “Summer BBQs are usually heavy and horrible … a piece of fish satisfies me!”

            Depends on who the cook is.

      1. Good guess, but no!
        When we moved house, we left the oven til last, and I drove back to the old house to cook the Christmas turkey.

    7. I love spuds cooked a million different ways but the only method I’m not fond of is baked.

      Roasted is my all-time favourite way.

    8. Got to take son to dentist now, but am intrigued that nobody apparently owns this very useful device….

      2. I just looked hay boxes up, what a good idea. Electricity and gas has made us very inefficient with cooking!

    10. OK bb2, despite all the wrong guesses are you going to tell us – so that we may all benefit?

      1. I used my new Dutch Oven for the first time!

        It is a cast iron pot on three legs with a lid that sits on top of the wood stove (I have the kind of stove you can put the kettle on). It cooked the potatoes perfectly, in about an hour and a half. I am going to try a small cake next.

        I have just had the electricity bill, so the idea of getting something for nothing is particularly attractive at the moment…

  44. Amid the doom and gloom, I had a good laugh this morning.

    A Canadian man, one Jamie Alexander, said: “The best businesses are ones that solve real problems,”

    So what was his ‘real problem’? Designing a bikini for young boys who want to live like girls!

    1. Never trust a grown man called ‘Jamie’.

      I once worked with a young bloke who had been given that idiotic name by his parents. He told me that he hated it since it made him sound like a toddler. So I started to call him Jim, which he much preferred.

      1. My mother used to say that names like Robin and Wendy were just for children and not for grown-ups

          2. I spent four happy months on exchange with the NZ Army but when one bloke, on a long drive, referred to a “wooden pig” on the roadside.

            “Pig” I enquired.

            “That’s right – a wooden marker pig”.

            Ah A peg.

          4. We had a scrawny and haggard old crone called Miss Daffin.

            I searched high and low for her broomstick, cauldron and black cat but I never found them!

      2. I like the Scandi name Bård – prnounced “Bored” – great to snicker at when being introduced… “Hi, I’m Bored…”

  46. Off Topic. I purchased a copy of Michael Connelly’s latest paperback, “Fair Warning” in Sainsbury’s at less than half price on Monday. I don’t think H Bosch or the Lincoln lawyer will appear in it. It features Jack McEvoy, who appears in previous books and is a crime journalist. His current investigation concerns, among other matters, the security of the DNA data submitted by the individuals tracing their family trees to such companies as Ancestry. The companies don’t seem to be regulated as firmly as the police DNA databases and are open to illicit use . Ancestry is not the company involved in the book.

    1. My barber (Colin), when I lived in Norwich, recommended Connelly’s Bosch books to me. I didn’t enjoy them half as much as his other detective recommendation, Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole [pron: ‘Hooler’] from Oslo.

    2. I enjoyed all the Bosch books and am watching some of the TV series. Not quite so keen on the TV version. People submit their DNA to companies, what could possibly go wrong?

    3. Over here the police have used the DNA from those ancestry sites to track down a few murderers. Get a close match in the database and then focus on the relatives of the person that played the game.

  49. Joe Biden presses Vladimir Putin on poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. 27 January 2021.

    Joe Biden challenged Vladimir Putin over the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, and reports of Russian bounties on the heads of US soldiers in Afghanistan, in their first presidential phone call.

    Mr Biden also raised concerns about Russian “aggression” against Ukraine, and reaffirmed Washington’s “strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.”
    Mr Biden also raised concerns over Russian cyber hacking, interference in US elections, and treatment of peaceful protesters.

    It must have been beyond embarrassing to sit there and listen to this twaddle from a kiddy-fiddling senile old fool. What do you say in response? I note that there’s no verbatim report from the Russian side! That clearly Navalny was not poisoned or he would be dead? That only six Americans have been killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan in the last two years so it must have been cheap! That there only appears to be Russian cyber-hacking when the Republicans win!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/26/alexei-navalny-not-counting-western-support-says-key-ally/

    1. The bounty story was completely nixed a long time ago. It’s total rubbish. That tells me that the whole conversation was just a game.

      And Ukraine – will Biden actually do anything for Ukraine beyond using their soldiers for proxy power projection?

      1. The “bounty” story was dreamed up by the New York Times! There is not the slightest evidence to support it!

        1. A journalist on a small Russian TV station, I forget which, ruminated that it might be a good idea. It went from there.

          The question is: What is the game? It seems to me that they are trying to ‘back off’ Putin to make space. Space for what? I don’t know but it looks like a plan. It’s very clumsy because you won’t shutdown Putin with these techniques. Obama tried it, it didn’t work. Sanctions did a bit, but Putin has simply focused on upgrading his armed forces, and here is no straight answer available on how effective they are now.

        2. That was a genuine question. Do you have any suggestion as to what they are playing at? Because that conversation wasn’t Joe speaking off the cuff, these things are carefully planned. So what is the game? Any ideas? Anyone?

          1. The USA built a ring of steel around the Soviet Union. It was constructed with no regard to the countries in which it was based, that is, the USA expected no help from them. Europe is different. Most of the counties are part of NATO. However, the EU is military mush. A determined troop of Boy Scouts could overpower the EU. The Turks are dangerously insane, pushing the limits with Cyprus and Greece. (The fact that Cyprus is still illegally occupied by Turkey shows how useless NATO really is, and how the EU lacks the guts to take any action to restore Cyprus to how it was.)
            That leaves the UK. It does not look good.

          2. I am told the Polish army is pretty good, and the French army isn’t bad, for the rest it’s as you say. Putin wants the Baltics to secure his western frontier, I think he will do something about that, one way or the other. He doesn’t want Poland or any other EU states.

            I have been told for a long time that in Washington the collective view is that NATO is a policy for the past not the future, and it seems to me that it is. So … and there’s the problem, I don’t know.

          3. I think, Rodger, that you may also discount the French Army, not only on past performance but also for their insatiable appetite for the output of French White Flag Factories.

          4. Oh dear, 1940, again again again. Are you aware that it was the French Maquis who disrupted the Das Reich timetable to be at the invasion beaches in 36 hours and delayed them to 10 days? Had that not been done the Normandy beachheads would have been assaulted by a fresh and fully worked up Panzer Division. It would have been a disaster.

            1940:-
            Britain: Our troops retreated piecemeal to Dunkirk and were able to escape by sea.
            France: The British ran away.

            France: Our troops were overwhelmed and retreated piecemeal to a line pivoted on Tours, but the German forces were too strong and we had to seek terms.
            Britain: The French ran away.

            The plain fact is that both armies ran away, which is all you can do when you are roundly defeated.

            If you think the French can’t fight, I suggest you read up on WWI.

          5. I’m fully aware that there were 1,750,000 maquis (at the last count) who totally, single-handed defeated the German Army and that those same Poileaus who didn’t cover the allied advance on the Belgian front, caused our chappies to leave before the krauts could cut off Dunkerque.

            Apart from all that they still deserve the epithet, “Cheese-eating surrender monkeys.”

            I have no need to read up on WW1 as my father fought in that as well as WW2

          6. So nothing to do with the air raids (interdiction) carried out on the railway networks in the run up to D Day? I knew some people who were really in the resistance and some who merely played at it.

          8. I’m sure I might have mentioned this before but when I was a lad the family were sitting listening to Peter Brough and Archie Andrews on the radio and my mother said “He’s good isn’t he” and wondered why we all fell about laughing.

    1. Ada – Where did you have the vaccination, Bert?
      Bert – Epsom Racecourse, Ada?
      Ada – Did you have a bad reaction, Bert?
      Bert – Yes, Ada, I took a wrong turn and ended up in the stables, then a vet came in and stuck a big needle up my arse.
      Ada – Are you all right now though.
      Bert – Neigh Ada, Neigh, do you fancy a game of leapfrog out in the back field.

  53. Following the lockdown riots in Holland, the volume of tutting loudly in the UK has risen significantly.

  54. Last week I received a letter, a general circular in fact, from Nicola Sturgeon MSP, First Minister of Scotland. Also in the envelope were a couple of documents about services offered by the NHS and ways to access them.
    In the letter Ms Sturgeon said, “I will never be able to thank you, your family and your loved ones, enough for what you have sacrificed to help Scotland through this pandemic so far.”
    I have written back to her, as below, in the white heat of irascibility:
    “Dear Ms Sturgeon
    Thank you for your letter dated January 2021.
    You say that you, and I quote you, “will never be able to thank you, your family and your loved ones, enough”. I neither need nor want your “thanks”. Your “thanks” are entirely inappropriate.
    You have passed laws that confine me to staying at home. I am not a volunteer; I am an unwilling prisoner.
    We have seen the violent, most depraved and most dangerous terrorists and terrorist supporters such as Anjem Choudary and Abu Hamza walking in our streets while under house arrest, even giving interviews on the radio.
    Such liberties are not available to me. Nor does it seem that they will ever be, as lockdown follows lockdown without any discernible consequential effect on the trajectory of the pandemic.
    We have unfeasible faith being placed in a vaccine that is untested and whose efficacy, in short and the long term, is unknown, as are the dangers of side-effects.
    Don’t thank me.
    You are my jailer, having imprisoned me for crimes as yet uncommitted and you give me no respite, or timescale for release, something that even the worst convict may reasonably expect in a civilised nation.
    Yours sincerely,”

      1. I don’t care for him either. Every Scottish government since devolution has made a real mess of things, in every way imaginable and some beyond even that.
        The UK media is ignoring the current horrors that seem to be indicating a conspiracy to pervert justice, and a subsequent cover up involving lots of lies.

    2. A couple of weeks ago a woman in BC wrote a terror to the police thanking them for the care that she received while in jail, apparently giving them a 4 star rating.

      I know that pot is legal over here now but I wonder what else they are taking in BC.

    3. When I was shopping I glanced at the newspaper rack and spotted a photo of Bojo on the front page of, I think, the Sun, head bowed in his hands. The headline was something like “all those grand-parents, parents, blah, blah, blah, lost to Covid, we remember them”. What about all those who lost their lives fighting for our freedom, Bojo? You’ve given away everything they sacrificed themselves for. Not fit for purpose!

  55. I’ve just been reading that, by law, you have to turn your headlights on when it’s raining in Sweden.

    And I’m thinking, “Who the hell is going to let me know when it’s raining in Sweden?”

    2. I see that you’re now ploughing through your 1001 Jokes book you got for Christmas. 😉

    4. In truth, Philip, in a Swedish car, the headlights always come on automatically once you start the car but – I get the joke.

      1. I had a Swedish-spec Golf which was like that. It grated at first, because I was taught to switch on the headlights (& radio, etc.) after starting the engine to avoid straining the battery. The car also had heated front seats, wonderful in winter.

  56. I phoned my wife earlier and asked her if she wanted me to pick up fish
    and chips on my way home from work but she just grunted at me.

    I think she still regrets letting me name the twins.

  57. I scared the postman today by going to the door completely naked.

    I’m not sure what scared him more. My naked body or the fact I knew where he lived.

  58. Like Charles Dickens’ other novels, “A Tale of Two Cities” was
    originally published in serial form, in this case in two local
    newspapers.
    It was the Bicester Times, it was the Worcester Times.

  60. And still they come.
    Instead of closing all our airports to passengers a year ago the airports have been open the entire time. Anyone and everyone who cared to come to the UK for any reason or none. They have all been allowed in with no checks and no controls, nor any means of tracing them. Such has been our practice for decades, of course. We have had no reports of anyone being turned back from our border at airports (or beaches).
    In the early days of the pandemic tens of thousands of students returned here from China after the Xmas vacation and many of them were infected with the virus. Now the government is snivelling, and panicking, and almost begging for us not to demand answers just yet.

    2. But then, you’d surely be arrested if you tried to go anywhere once you got off the plane?

          1. Jim Apple had a terrible time trying to introduce himself in Paris but not half a bad a Gordon Morgan in Berlin.

          2. I actually have a friend, an American I met when living in Germany, whose surname is Deutscher. She had an absolute bugger of a time whenever she had to speak to someone on the phone 🙂

        3. That would be me, then (I only very occasionally drink Spitfire – or Lancaster Bomber, come to that) 🙂 I do like their Spitfire Ale crisps, though.

        1. Yes, you are right of course, strictly speaking. I am not strictly speaking. I am joshing. Joking about the jokester. Alas, that my jokes are seen through by the sharp-eyed and intelligent.
          I shall go…

        1. Au contraire Nanners, I would say there is no such thing as a ‘good’ Scotch.
          Can’t stand the stuff meself.

  62. The reason why EU is in a pickle over AstraZenica supply is because they put a big order in too late.
    UK was quicker off the mark but Israel got in first for trusting the Pfizer jab and are now giving it to adolescents where there is some left over.
    Palestinians are left behind somewhat but the Russians are letting them try the Sputnik V vaccine to see if it works before they approve if for their use.

      1. They’re taking social distancing to rather an extreme level, doing it from space…

      2. The Sputnik V vaccine has the advantage that the vaccinated can be readily identified as they give out a “bleep – bleep” signal, which can be monitored on the 20.005 and 40.002 MHz frequency.

        …. I’ll get me crystal-set.

        1. Gosh, Duncan. I remember vividly listening to the Sputnik’s bleeps on my parents’ huge, pre-war valve radio at 4 metres on the short-wave band. 64 years ago….{:¬((

          1. Same here, Bill. We’d an enormous “radiogram” that stood about a yard-and-a-half tall. The cabinet was made of walnut; it was a fine piece of furniture in its own right.

            Happy days…

          3. We were intrigued by the whistling, whining, squeaky noises emitted when you spun the selection dial. Nowadays they put it on tape with some tattooed moron wailing in accompaniment and sell it as pop – or whatever it’s called nowadays.

    3. The various member countries of the EU probably haggled for weeks over how much each should contribute to the multi-million pound non-refundable up front payment that the vaccine manufacturers required before the vaccine was actually made.

      (Last time I mentioned this fact, it attracted a downvote from someone who does not believe it, even when it is said by advisors to governments and senior EU officials. So, I wait with bated breath.)

    4. They got carried away with their own bureaucracy, which is a very German thing to do. By the time they said “Yes, now, good, We are ready to place an order”, they found the UK, US, Japan and Gavi all in front of them with some very big orders. Cue foot stamping.

        1. Nope, the Germans don’t goosestep any more. The Russians do, were you talking about them?

          3. They only do it on parade. In Russia it dates from Peter the Great who hired German instructors to modernize his army.

          5. The Russians march swinging hands across the front, not straight-armed. They do it on route marches too, it’s actually very efficient.

  63. The reason why EU is in a pickle over AstraZenica supply is because they put a big order in too late.
    UK was quicker off the mark but Israel got in first for trusting the Pfizer jab and are now giving it to adolescents where there is some left over.
    Palestinians are left behind somewhat but the Russians are letting them try the Sputnik V vaccine to see if it works before they approve if for their use.

  64. We could say to the French that they can have ten free vaccinations with every dinghy refugee they take back

        1. If only it was, we wouldn’t ever been in the mess we generally find ourselves in at the moment. Unfortunately, common sense is normally a bar to going into politics or middle ranked and above parts of the Civil Service.

        2. You want Jennifer DV running the place? Oh gawd.

          And she got a degree of sense compared to some others.

      1. That BBC report will piss them off. They refer to “Stroke City” (Londonderry/Derry) as simply “Derry”.

        2. I did some work at a power plant near Stroke City. My hosting engineer was Ex forces and mentioned the way they used to dance around which version to use. I suggested Dry Laundry. He asked why. I said to say it quickly in a Norn Irish accent…

  66. I’ve just got first place in a national bullshitting competition.

    Well, I actually came 12th.

    To be honest, there wasn’t even a competition.

  68. I accidently shot a Golden Eagle while out Duck shooting and ended up in
    court. The judge said..”this is a very serious crime, do you have
    anything to say in your defence?”
    “Yes your Honour, it was very misty and the light was fading and, once I
    realised the horror of what I’d done, I remembered what my late father
    said. ‘If you kill an animal you must respect it’s spirit and eat every
    part of it’ so I took it home and fed my family for a day”
    ” That’s very moving young man and, under the circumstances, I’m
    prepared to admonish you but..just before you step down..I’m curious,
    what did it taste like?”
    “Hard to say Your Honour, kind of like a cross between an Osprey and a
    Peregrine”

  69. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c8367f12fe7361b08c971cc32f2e512305aec5b25fd54c42b0d64a5d89e3cda4.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ff067da4a42192096baa07fa7f72e01475a15069afca9b357f0b25d98fdfa5c4.jpg

    Apropos the earlier discussion on the move to decimalisation of UK currency on 15 February, 1971, I have made a few observations from old and new coins in my possession.

    The minuscule size of the ‘new’ ½p coin (at 17·1mm) was actually slightly larger in diameter than the old 3d ‘joey’ (at 16·3mm). Compared to those two the old farthing, ¼d, was quite large at 20·2mm.

    When it was introduced the ½p coin, along with the 1p coin, had the words ‘New Penny’ embossed on them. After a few years, when the word ‘New’ had become passé, all future pennies had the word ‘One Penny’ embossed on them instead. Since the ½p coin had, by this time, been taken out of circulation, this didn’t happen to that coin. Coins of more than 1p in value originally bore the words ‘New Pence’ (plural), which was changed to just the coins’ value later; e.g. ‘Two Pence’. ‘Five Pence’, ‘Ten Pence’ and so on.

  70. My mate said, “I like your sports car.”
    I said, “It’s not very practical now we’ve got a baby.”
    He said, “How about I buy it off you.”
    I said, “Yeah go on then. Four grand?”
    He said, “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
    I said, “Nice one… you’re going to make a brilliant dad.”

  71. Bbc News – and Starmer – still describing the 100,000 deaths figure as ‘deaths from COVID’, which they clearly all aren’t.

  72. Mr Whippy has been found dead in his van. He was covered in strawberry sauce, crushed nuts as well as hundreds and thousands.

    Police reckon he topped himself.

  73. Oh dear. Apparently the 6:PM curfew in France is not working as well as the French government had hoped and expected.
    I suppose that means that it will now be introduced here in the UK, in Scotland first of course.

    https://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/le-couvre-feu-a-18h-ne-freine-pas-suffisamment-le-virus-differents-scenarios-sont-etudies-affirme-le-gouvernement-20210127?utm_source=CRM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=%5B20210127_NL_ALERTESINFOS%5D&een=24114703173b957b2409c240fd1cc65d&seen=6&m_i=Y78bdPeevHW4nKFUsABT2mTvHVel2WZe5_fCTYFmDBT9aJ%2BYBxo0i0GQJi2huRg05kPp81_r7rr8NULOU%2B4VzzDfX%2B9ZX0TqYy

  74. A horrible thought has come into my mind. Given that the foreign policy actions of the new Biden administration have so far not gone beyond bash Trump and doing the opposite of what Trump did, perhaps the explanation for all that is provided by Occam’s razor – they haven’t got a plan, perhaps there is no real policy.

      1. That’s not foreign policy. It’s also not what Biden wants, he’s actually quite right wing for a Democrat except on immigration.

        1. he might be but there are a lot of left leaning dems in congress who are flexing their muscles and seeing what they can do.

          1. Agreed, but Democrat Presidents always manage to control a Democrat House, and the Dems in the Senate are on the right like himself. I don’t know if AOC plans to run in 2024. If she does it will make it far more difficult for him in the House as that time approaches.

    2. Bashing Trump and reversing his executive orders is hardly foreign policy since it’s internal to the new USSA.

  75. Napoleon’s manuscript on victory at Battle of Austerlitz goes on sale. 27 January 2021.

    Napoleon Bonaparte’s account of his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, dictated during his exile on the island of Saint Helena, has gone on sale in Paris for €1m (£880,000).

    The account of the 1805 “three-emperors clash” with Russo-Austrian forces, which is considered Napoleon’s greatest military victory, takes readers through preparations for battle and the fighting itself, and is completed by a battle plan drawn by his loyal aide-de-camp Gen Henri-Gatien Bertrand on tracing paper.

    Boney is notorious for rewriting history in his exile. His opinion of Wellington altered drastically after his defeat at Waterloo and his account of the battle itself is somewhat incoherent. One would hope that Austerlitz which was a great victory will be better treated though his quote at the end of this article makes one doubt it.

    “I will lose a good number of brave men,” he is recorded as saying on the eve of the battle. “I feel bad that they really feel like my children, and, in truth, I reproach myself sometimes over this sentiment since I fear that it will leave me unqualified for war.”

    He never evinced the slightest concern over the losses on the battlefield in pursuit of what was after all personal Glory and Power!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/27/napoleon-bonaparte-manuscript-victory-battle-of-austerlitz-goes-on-sale

    1. It’s not surprising his account of Waterloo was incoherent, he wasn’t there for most of it. He had acute cystitis and a bad attack of the squits on the day. He spent most of the battle on the pot. Had he been well the stupid mistakes of Ney would have been averted and Wellington would probably have lost well before Bluecher arrived.

      But then, Napoleon was always very full of himself, he was told to keep out of the rain in the race to Quatre-Bras, but he knew better – and made himself ill.

      1. One might equally argue that had the battle been fought differently on the part of the French, Wellington’s tactics would have changed too.
        Fortunes of war.

        1. Forget who said (might well have been Napoleon himself) that the most important quality in a General is to be lucky.

          1. I believe it is attributed to him regarding a conversation where a general/senior officer was being praised, when he asked the question, “but is he lucky?”

          2. Did Napoleon, when asked how he planned a battle, not reply, ” I turn up and see what happens”?

      2. One would’ve thought his spending most of his time on the chamber pot would have gone some way to alleviating any “fullness” in himself that he may have felt.

      4. Accounts of Napoleonic battles always remind me of the verse by Hilaire Belloc about the motor car and the sequence of the battles in which the boy’s great grandfather fought:

        “Oh murder! What was that, Papa!”
        “My child, It was a Motor-Car,
        A most Ingenious Toy!
        Designed to Captivate and Charm
        Much rather than to rouse Alarm
        In any English Boy.

        “What would your Great Grandfather who
        Was Aide-de-Camp to General Brue,
        And lost a leg at Waterloo,
        And Quatre-Bras and Ligny too!
        And died at Trafalgar!–
        What would he have remarked to hear
        His Young Descendant shriek with fear,
        Because he happened to be near
        A Harmless Motor-Car!
        But do not fret about it! Come!
        We’ll off to Town
        And purchase some!”

    2. And much of his Napoleonic Code that has been applied in so much of Europe is a disaster and is still wreaking havoc.

      1. Like driving on the wrong side of the road, which goes against the natural dextrous inclinations of humans.

        1. I was quite surprised to come across an old Shell map of Austria which had a line dividing the country. One side of it drove on the right and the other on the left! Historically it was to do with the bits that had been conquered. Hitler soon put a stop to that and made everybody drive on the right.

  76. Man walks into the chippy with a four foot salmon under his arm.

    He says ‘Do you do fish cakes?’
    The chippy says ‘yes’.

    The man says ‘That’s good, it’s his birthday today’.

      1. That was no oops. That was a WHOOPS.

        All she needs to do is brazen it out. Or say her mother was visiting. :@)

    4. Hull City football club passed through Norwich airport late one evening after playing at Norwich some years ago. As the team and officials waited to pass through the screening area a young phsysiotherapist at the club attempted to pass her case through bypassing the X-ray machine. I told her to go back and put it through the machine as normal. her face was already as red as beetroot. I then instructed one of my officers to conduct a search of her case. Her face got even redder as the case was searched revealing the biggest dildo I’ve ever seen. I said to her, “If you’d not drawn attention to yourself by acting silly then we would probably not have bothered you.”

      1. Exactly. Don’t make a song and a dance about things you want to keep hidden. Doing so makes people investigate.

        1. I knew a chap whose todger was so long he had to bend it double to get it in.

          He didn’t know if he was coming or going.

  78. DM Story : https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9192355/Maintenance-firm-called-Handymen-refused-business-grant-council-gender-discrimination.html#newcomment

    Maintenance firm called Handymen is REFUSED lockdown business grant by council over its name because of ‘gender discrimination’
    Property maintenance firm Handymen has managed more than 2,000 properties .Company in South Wales was launched in 1987 and employs a number of women.
    Penarth Town Council has refused a £1,000 grant, citing gender discrimination

    This madness must be stopped before it is too late.

    The Gods are nearly there in their desire to destroy us – very little sanity is still left.

    1. It, will be interesting, when they tell

      Manchester United
      Manchester City
      The City of Manchester
      etc
      why they must rename themselves

      2. I suppose a female harridan is a manager – i.e. someone who ages the poor man whom she nags. So the man in charge of women who find him tiresome would be called a womanager.

    2. If they desire to destroy me they must try much harder.

      Both men and women are members of mankind.

      1. Its called Humankind now Grizz. Try and keep up. Like you would no longer be called a policeman even though you were.

          1. The started out as “policewomen” (PW).

            In the mid-1970s they then became “women constables” (WPC).

            Now they are simply “constables” (PC).

        2. It never will be called that, John. I only speak and write standard English in the manner that I was taught.

          No one is capable of telling me to alter my innate love of proper English.

          No one.

          1. I like the older English, where the personal pronoun reflects whether it’s the object or subject of the sentence. I like my English as thou likes thine. It’s good for thee! ;-)) It’s much more specific than just “you”, single and plural. (and I prolly got that wrong, it’s been a long day…)

    3. I really hope one of the council has a day at sea and falls overboard

      The crew will be standing about, dithering what the call should be to inform the ‘Captain’ of
      the boat/ship of the calamity.*

      Meanwhile the Gender Person drowns

      * The established call is “Man Overboard”

    4. Simply a contraction of the founder’s friend, one Harry Andrew Dymen. Dymen is apparently a surname from Ireland.

    5. We’ve just had some grab rails installed at the request of the Occupational Therapy Team. It was done by “Handyperson”, I kid you not.

    1. Shirley

      We are suffering from the same restrictions. If they do not like it, let them Foxtrot Oscar, to use Military Parlance,
      as they are living how our troops have for years and years.

      I would think, that the fence and wire were there long before the Recon Patrol of the Close UK Army arrived

      1. The troops have to pay for their own food these days .. poor things are always hungry thanks to the government outsourcing the catering facilities .

    2. They only came for a place of safety ( asylum ) but once here show their true colours – nothing but greed at our expense.

      1. ‘Afternoon, Walter, “They only came for a place of safety ( asylum )…”

        I cry bullshit, they only came here for the bennies WE provide. Kick ’em out, tout suite. The use of French is intentional.

          1. And it is about time that the people who have allowed the ones to stay who have then committed horrific crimes here ( like the triple killer FAILED asylum seeker now jailed for his whole life at MASSIVE expense to us ) – are shown to have responsibility for not doing their jobs. They should – at a MINIMUM lose their jobs – NOT just continue to get paid – why wasn’t the failed triple killer deported – instead of being free? I bet his family are granted the right to come and visit him – and as soon as their feet are in the UK – Asylum claim in – job accomplished. Whole family here – on our taxes. For ever.

      2. They are not refugees. It is not possible to arrive here from another country in Europe and be a refugee, or an asylum seeker. That is the case regardless of whatever country you started out from. They are economic migrants entering the country illegally. As a country we are perfectly entitled to pass a law that would see illegal immigrants being shot dead for attempting to enter the country.
        But we don’t do that. Why not? They are liars and thieves.

      1. When the grooming gangs start there I can see a lot of them getting shot by the parents of the victims. Or there is plenty of areas where people “disappear” – like the Everglades where the alligators and snakes need feeding.

          1. Or take the “new neighbours” hiking into the wilderness – to show them the bears and other cuddly wildlife.

    5. I’m disheartened to read that there are only 400 locked up there – I trust that they are all, nurses, doctors, teachers, engineers etc., slated for deportation.

      1. Ever since Priti appointed Dan O’Mahoney to take the flak from her – WTF has he done? Apart from import hundreds more freeloaders and “punish” them by putting them in hotels? Not exactly a deterrent to the others desperate to come and live here while not working.

  81. Just in from a couple of hours hedge trimming. Warm as toast; 11ºC in the garden this afternoon.

    Kittens went out again, briefly – VERY suspicious….!

    1. I chopped 3 trays of kindling and clad one end of the triple wood-stack with the plastic cladding that I took out of the van when I took the chav-cage out.

    1. The first video didn’t go down too well…funny, they didn’t seem to realise in advance that the proles would get alarmed on being told that they would own nothing…

    1. Very simple answer, old chap, it’s because they ain’t ‘fit for purpose’.

      And why, you might ask?

      It’s because the ADMINISTRATION, not knowing its ar5e from its elbow, has yet to recognise that there is a greater demand on its MEDICAL services during the winter months and perennially fails to make adjustments to its manning (or womanning) levels during that peak purpose.

      Sad to say that the Highways authority is in a similar pickle and ½” of snow causes their heads to explode and results in universal grid-lock throughout the UK.

      But, at least, it identifies that the public sector as a (w)hole is not fit for purpose and cannot be relied upon in any way, shape or form.

      Understood?

    2. It must be all them degrees they’ve got what makes ’em much clevererer than thicko scumbags like me.

    3. Struggling? Always several ambulances ( and crews ) waiting at Dover for the replacements arriving by Border Force taxis. Saw one video where a replacement was pushed up the ramp on a wheelchair. Wonder how they got in the dinghy at Calais? Probability be on disability benefits by now, in an adapted house and an expensive new Mobility car parked outside ( courtesy of the UK taxpayer of course ).

  85. Biden has signed 37 executive orders so far, in his first 6 days. One of them is to ban the term ‘China Virus’.

    Yet more evidence that the Dems don’t do free speech!

    1. Assuming that that 37 is executive orders and doesn’t include memoranda etc. he’s going at it like a Bull (ho ho) in a China shop.

      Trump signed 220 in total and the Democrats were complaining about how many he was signing.

        1. I suspect they were written in October last year, when the Democrats had the confirmation that the fix was in.

          1. I just read that General Flynn’s Four Star General brother has been appointed to command operations from Hawaii.

            It looks as though the US Military are actually in control. No red button for Dementia Joe and Kamaltoe.

          2. It never got off the ground around here, and even the original version was only supported for the first couple of weeks. The NHS PR Dept is presumably dreaming up the next cunning stunt…

          6. I read that the starter of the original one quickly distanced themselves from the follow-up.

    3. Good to know, Sg. Remind me to work ‘China Virus’ in as often as possible. What a ridiculous use of an executive order. What next, the banning if free speech? Oh wait…

      1. But surely China Virus is the name of a Hollywood star? Or am I muddling my China Virus with another China Virus, modelled by Meissen? Or was that China Virus from Dresden? Oh well, me old China, Virus later.

    4. In 2016 I seem to recall the MSM complaining that Trump was being dictatorial by signing too many EOs. It took him his first 100 days to sign . . . . the same number as Biden has in one week!

      Of course it was a bad thing when Trump did it but it’s now a good thing when Biden does it at 10 times the rate.

      1. Yes but all they know is this:

        In 2016 their television told them Trump signed too many executive thingies and thats Hitler. When TV said that it gave them sads.

        In 2021 their TV didn’t compare those orders, and instead ran a story about a cute kitten. That gives them glads!

        So you see their life is better in 2021.

    5. In 2016 I seem to recall the MSM complaining that Trump was being dictatorial by signing too many EOs. It took him his first 100 days to sign . . . . the same number as Biden has in one week!

      Of course it was a bad thing when Trump did it but it’s now a good thing when Biden does it at 10 times the rate.

  87. Are you capable of reading this out aloud at normal reading speed, or does it completely flummox you? Let me know, below.

    Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

    5. Speaking as someone with a mild form of dyslexia, which also shows up in speech – that’s a relief. BTW – that’s why my posts always say ‘Edited’, they have to be.

      1. I can only see the typos once I press the “post” button. Then they are glaringly obvious!

    6. Versions of this have been doing the rounds for a long time. It’s blocklos wehn you alppy it to the odrer of wrods in stenneecs, toghuh.

      SP You missplet ‘iprmoetnt’ wnorgyl. Wehre is teh ‘a’?

    8. ‘Evening, George, an old Cambridge University test that proved that provided the first and last letters were in the right place in their anagrammatical mish-mash, most intelligent English speakers could read it. If any NoTTLer fails I would have to ask, “Why are they here?”

    1. “Ve know where you leeve” said a spokesperson who would not give her name. However, she wished the UK the Wurst.

  90. Good news – the BBC has withdrawn the “100 genders” video.

    This from the C4M website:

    Good news: BBC caught out again, pulls 100 genders video

    Dear marriage supporter,

    Back in September 2019 we wrote to you about a BBC Teach video series which told 9-12-year-olds there are “over a hundred” genders.

    The controversial series was back in the news this week as journalists discovered the BBC was still promoting the video to teachers as part of its Relationships and Sex Education package.

    This was despite Government guidance published last year advising schools to exercise caution and balance when teaching children about gender issues. Resources should always be “age-appropriate and evidence-based”, it said.

    It also came as the NHS Tavistock Centre, which treats children for gender issues, was last week branded “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission. Among the problems was staff not keeping basic records on vulnerable children given hormone treatments.

    As Conservative MP Jackie Doyle-Price said: “Telling children there are more than 100 genders is nonsense, and potentially harmful as it risks normalising something which is extremely rare.”

    It is likely to create a generation of confused and angry young adults who will ask us: ‘How did you let this happen?’

    Thankfully, the BBC has now “made the decision to retire the film”. It’s good news for vulnerable young people that this dangerous resource has been withdrawn.

    But the BBC has done the right thing only grudgingly. It says the video has been “wilfully misinterpreted” and that the “original purpose and intention has been overshadowed”.

    The BBC’s intention has been exposed rather than overshadowed. Our national broadcaster continues to promote radical transgender ideology to children.

    At Coalition for Marriage we stand for the truth about men, women, and marriage.

    If you would like to support us financially, you can do so using the button below.

    1. Can we now have TV adverts that reflect the actual makeup of the UK population, rather than portraying every other relationship as mixed race?

      1. HA! HA! HA!
        breathe
        HA! HA! HA!
        Sorry, AA, that’s very rude of me, but it’ll take more than reality to change that!

      3. Even one of the last ads to only have white has changed. The Flash advert has now changed to a darker skinned man – instead of the white man/white dog combo.

  91. Violet EUlizabeth Bott is scweeming; next she’ll be sick.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/01/27/eu-astrazeneca-vaccine-row-descends-farce-crunch-talks/

    “EU demands AstraZeneca diverts 75m Covid jabs made in UK factories

    Officials say UK-made supplies should be sent to the bloc or pharmaceutical giant will face legal action for breach of contract

    27 January 2021 • 2:54pm

    The European Commission has demanded that AstraZeneca diverts tens of millions of coronavirus jabs made in British factories to the EU as the row between Brussels and the pharma giant deepened on Wednesday.

    EU officials said UK-made supplies from the two British plants should be diverted to the bloc or AZ would face legal action for breach of contract and efforts to recoup Brussels’ roughly €300 million (£265.3 million) investment in vaccine production.

    The European Commission’s chief spokesman said: “If UK plants are working better, are we expecting UK plants to deliver doses to the EU? Yes we do.” That was part of the contract signed with AstraZeneca, the spokesman said.

    EU officials said the bloc has only been offered a quarter of the 100 million doses it had been promised for the first quarter of the year, meaning Brussels wants 75 million jabs from the British factories.

    In an interview with European newspapers on Tuesday, Pascal Soriot, the AstraZeneca CEO, said the company’s contract with the UK meant the supply coming out of the British supply chain would go to the UK first.

    “Basically, that’s how it is. In the EU agreement it is mentioned that the manufacturing sites in the UK were an option for Europe, but only later. But we’re moving very quickly, the supply in the UK is very rapid,” Mr Soriot said.

    “As soon as we have reached a sufficient number of vaccinations in the UK, we will be able to use that site to help Europe as well. But the contract with the UK was signed first and the UK, of course, said: ‘You supply us first,’ and this is fair enough.”

    The row over vaccine supplies between the EU and AstraZeneca descended into farce on Wednesday after the company denied a European Commission claim that it had pulled out of a crunch meeting.

    The EU has threatened to block exports of the Belgian-made Pfizer jabs to countries outside the bloc after AstraZeneca said it would have to cut deliveries of its vaccine to Europe by 60 per cent.

    Brussels has told AstraZeneca it must fulfil “contractual obligations”. There is suspicion that some supplies bought by the EU ended up in Britain.

    The commission had summoned AstraZeneca bosses for more talks on Wednesday after calling the firm’s explanations for supply delays in two Monday meetings “unsatisfactory”. It had earlier announced that AstraZeneca had pulled out of the meeting.

    However, an AstraZeneca spokesman said: “We can confirm we have not pulled out and will be attending talks with the EU Commission later today.” EU sources later said the call with AstraZeneca would go ahead.

    Sources said AstraZeneca had been given a deadline of January 29 to explain why there were delays to supplies.

    Mr Soriot said the contract between the two sides was based on a best-effort clause and did not commit the company to a specific timetable for deliveries.

    But an EU official accused him of revealing confidential information, such as the best-effort clause and the production capacity, in his interview and said: “Best-effort is a completely standard clause when you are signing a contract with a company for a product that does not yet exist. Obviously you cannot put a completely legal obligation under these conditions.”

    The EU contract with AstraZeneca is an advance purchase agreement for the supply of at least 300 million doses and up to 400 million.

    The commission, which negotiated on behalf of the 27 member states, came under increased pressure to publish the contract on Wednesday. EU sources said the commission could publish it if the company agreed, but Brussels has repeatedly refused to do so over the last few days.

    Bernd Lange, the chairman of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said: “Instead of blaming each other in the media, just make the contract public. Since vaccine is supposedly non-profit, what’s the problem?”

    The European Ombudsman opened a maladministration investigation into the commission’s refusal to grant public access to the contract after a complaint.

    AstraZeneca announced a cut in supplies to the EU in the first quarter on Friday, which an EU official told Reuters last week amounted to a 60 per cent reduction to 31 million doses caused by production issues at a factory in Belgium.

    The commission said it would introduce a mechanism that would force companies producing vaccines in the EU to ask it for permission before exporting jabs, amid fears that EU vaccine stock had ended up in non-EU Britain.

    AstraZeneca said in a statement on Wednesday: “As each supply chain has been set up to meet the needs of a specific agreement, the vaccine produced from any supply chain is dedicated to the relevant countries or regions and makes use of local manufacturing wherever possible.”

      1. Very appropriate, Tom!
        Even the EU-arselickin’ Aftenposten was writing this morning that Norway should not have piggybacked on the EU ditherers, but just gone & bought the stuff, like Bahrain & Brunei have, very successfully.

          1. I was testing to see if it was possible, and managed to not remove it! Clumsy… :-((

      2. I wouldn’t laugh too much; wait until you discover what all those pages and pages of special clauses in the Brexit agreement actually mean.

        {;-((

        2. Just what I said this afternoon to the chap who was telling me that Brexit seemed to be going well.

    3. As with the mandatory wearing of ineffectual masks so the ‘vaccine certificate’ is merely a political tool to control the masses. The politicos, medicos and drug companies have expropriated public health for profit.

      Merck have stopped development of Covid vaccines because they are almost ineffectual and say the best immunity to Covid is if you contract it and recover, as most do.

      1. In the UK, 99.84% seem to survive after getting tested positive, according to todays statistics.
        A pisser if you’re in the 0.16% who are unfortunate, though.

          2. Those who died mostly had 5 or more years of life expectancy. Only a small number had less than 2 years of life expectancy.

            So the truth would be… Almost certainly not.

          3. How do you know that? The average age of those dying with COVID-19 is higher than the average life expectancy of people in the UK.

          4. There’s plenty of documentation out there. Those who reach the age of 82 (which is bandied about so frequently) can expect a further 5 to 7 years of life.

            Since I have recently been informed on these pages that only trolls ask for evidence… I won’t bother to provide any.

            But you could try stopping to think about whether anyone you know who is overweight, diabetic, asthmatic has died recently under the age 75 – and I think you will find that the answer is a pretty tiny number. Quite a few of those who have died had a reasonable expectancy of a further 20 years of life, let alone 5. Even those in care homes (not nursing homes where the average stay is much shorter) mostly had a life expectancy of around 2 years.

            At 61 my life expectancy is 87. But the life expectancy of my 86 year old mother is now 92 and my 88 year old father can “expect” to live until he is a similar age (though, of course, any one of us could die tomorrow from a completely unforeseen circumstance like a road accident). Life expectancy calculations are complex (and arguable) so the statement that

            The average age of those dying with COVID-19 is higher than the average life expectancy of people in the UK.

            is pretty much meaningless.

          5. Given I’m not a troll, I would be grateful if you would provide the evidence you’re referring to, if you believe I’m ill-informed. As an engineer, I value reading factual information.

            BTW – unless you’re a cyclops, I’d love to know how you know when you’re likely to die to the exact year.

          6. You don’t know – as I actually mentioned. Note the use of “arguable” and the “any of us could die tomorrow”. Never the less, actuarial tables usually turn out to be surprisingly accurate on a population level.

            I’m a science graduate but can’t be trusted with the (non-existent, I strongly suspect) data on ivermectin in case I disagree with it; so I’m afraid I have no alternative but to return the compliment as there is no doubt that any data I provide would be trashed from many directions – by the resident non-scientific, conspiracy theorists trolls.

            I should add that I’m pretty busy and hunting up the correct sources takes time.

            Of course some of those who died were within weeks or months of their expected demise – but most were not.

      2. It is a box ticking exercise. I have little faith in it, but if it allows our grandchildren something approaching a normal life, then MB and I will go through the palaver for their sake.

    4. Well Astra-Zeneca can contact Jennifer SP about the £300million advance payment. Jennifer will confirm to the EU that it never happened. There was no advance payment/non-refundable deposit.

          1. I think south Africa has been making a demand for vaccines. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Brussels mafia stole ours from the Belgium plant and sell it on for a bigger profit.

  93. I sent the following to my MP on 24th January.

    Do you MPs have any idea of the damage you are doing to the people of this country? Safe in your jobs, salary, pensions and “perks” guaranteed? And I understand some MPs are even charging the public for their utilities while “working from home”? How do they have the barefaced effrontery?

    Try looking at this:

    image1.jpeg

    The incessant propaganda, constantly changing “progress” towards easing any restrictions and goals are, as I have said before, psychological warfare against the population. The in phrase is “gaslighting”.

    Government propaganda is incessant – on TV, radio, and in the streets. And you’ll be wondering why there are many more people with mental health problems. It is squarely the fault of your government. As will be increased joblessness. It is truly appalling what’s happening.

    I hope you will think of the above pictures when you next vote on extending the restrictions of our freedom and civil liberties – e.g., sneaking the law through giving councils the right to close public spaces at whim until 17th July.

    How is it the government claims one minute to be “following the science” and the next deciding that manufacturers’ instructions for their Covid vaccinations can be ignored simply because you’d rather more people had the first dose rather than the second being administered at the recommended interval? It is senseless. It’s like your GP prescribing antibiotics for a week but Matt Hancock telling you to only take three and give the rest to someone else.

    For pity’s sake end this lockdown now.

    Thought you may like to read the above sent to my MP on 24th January. Not sure if the pictures will come out.

    I have received a reply and will post it later.

      1. I’m sorry the pics didn’t come out, I wasn’t sure they would. I’m having a trawl through Monday’s posts but can’t remember who posted them. I hope Alf can do it for me, he has just found them on Rik’s avatar.

        Alf says if you click on Rik’s avatar and find Sunday’s post it is the next one. Sorry I can’t put them on. They are good.

        Edit: https://discus.com/by/rikredux/

    2. They don’t care about the damage they cause – because THEY do not live in the world they create for the rest of us. Like having a system that hands £500 a week to immigrant Gypsies for doing nothing. Like the MPs awarding themselves £10k to “work from home”. Like the MPs putting their energy bills for US to pay for – on their expenses. And much much more.

    3. 328852+up ticks,
      Evening VW,
      He / she or it knows they can count 9 times out of ten on anybody who writes to “their MP.”
      After witnessing these politico’s
      treacherous actions over the last three decades, many can still be counted on for support.

      1. Here it is.

        Thank you very much indeed for sharing your thoughts and concerns. I have read your email very carefully and noted the key points that you raise.

        As I think you know, I am an active member of Steve Baker MP’s “COVID Recovery Group” of Conservative MPs which is highly, highly sceptical of lockdown and is hugely concerned with both the ‘evidence’ behind the restrictions that the Government is imposing as well as the huge economic, financial and public health consequences of those restrictions.

        As a Group we have been, and still very much are, campaigning hard for full transparency re. the decision making process, demanding the collection and collation of, and the ability to see, ALL relevant data, including, of course, all the data that SAGE members are using to advise on policy, so that we can challenge SAGE and the Government on sound evidence wherever and whenever appropriate. Some members of our Group also oppose restrictions on essentially libertarian grounds; freedom and our individual freedoms are important.

        I hope that this response reassures you that a good number of my Conservative MP colleagues and I are continuing in our efforts to hold the Government to account and to ensure that the restrictions put in place are proportionate to the threat we face as a nation. Please do understand that most of our strong lobbying on this with Ministers and with other colleagues is taking place behind closed doors, but you will also see that several senior and influential colleagues are also making these points very plainly in relevant debates, such as my friends Steve Baker MP, Sir Graham Brady MP and Sir Desmond Swayne MP.

        Thank you once again for taking the time to contact me.

        1. That’s a letter from the “lessons will be learned”, “we are debating the matter” and “don’t you worry your pretty little head about it” box of replies, isn’t it?

          1. I thought it was as good as it was going to get. He was never going to agree unconditionally with what I accused his government of. And in any case with an 80 seat majority Boris is pretty well insulated. But I felt better for writing it! Who knows how many other constituents are writing to their MP with a similar opinion to mine? It would seem that the majority of the public are fully supportive of all the measures and in some cases want even more drastic measures.

    5. Apparently they are trying to sneak through a law to allow them to bail in (à la Cyprus) by raiding out savings.

  95. Have we all suffered immeasurable pain because of the flawed invitation to migrants over the past forty years .

    Would we be having over 100,000 deaths if this island of ours wasn’t so overcrowded with different communities , with the disobedient public hosting raves , protests and denying that the impact of this virus results in mortality , and thus putting us all at risk ?

    Will there be an inquiry into how the NHS is manned , especially by a HUGE diverse range of nationalities , and as we all know has made families bereaved , and decimated many foreign born doctors and nurses of the NHS.

    Will we have a breakdown of figures … We know that sadly 30,000 elderly people in care/nursing homes have died from the virus , but who are the remaining 70,000 who have also died from the virus , will we ever know?

      1. So sorry I put forward an uncomfortable comment , perhaps I should delete it .

        The number crunching is just so nightmareish , Moh worries, I then say , go and swing a golf club in the garden .. He takes a couple of irons with him when we travel to our favourite peaceful dog walking area, and he has a bag of spare balls to practise with .

        1. Why delete the truth? A lot – probably the majority of the population – think exactly the same. The difference is that some people will say it – the rest cower – awaiting their next order.

        2. I think with Lockdown there are a lot of chaps with bags of spare balls and no one to practice with…..

  96. Here’s one for you:
    With the isolation, distancing, masks etc these days, how is it that SWMBO and I have caught a cold at the same time? Surely all that would ensure that we’d not catch any airborne virus? Or have I been sleeping in class?

      1. Serves you right if you did, Bob. You should’ve installed anti-virus software on your ‘puter.

      2. I had a bit of a snuffle last Sunday, so you must have got it from me 🙂 It didn’t last, just a runny nose and then nothing.

  97. Here’s a thought. What with Gates complaining that he’s wrongly seen as a megalomaniac, Schwab trying to assure us of the WEF’s benevolence and assorted arseholes protesting the virtuous intent of the Davos gathering, I’m wondering if these “globalist elites”, in spite of their prior arrogant belief that the plebs will swallow whatever they’re told, have suddenly noticed the growing public disquiet and realise that they’ve gone too far, too fast.

    Could it be they’re trying to put the brake on the narrative before serious trouble breaks out, compelling them to delay their long-term plans?

      1. Clearly Duncan is an optimist. But I agree with him 100%, as the govt haven’t found a way of taxing hope – – yet.

    2. Perhaps they are fearful of Governments coming to the conclusion that every cent of their wealth, over a very generous £5 million should be confiscated to pay for the pandemic.

    3. Perhaps they’re worried that after the seriously troubled plebs have dealt with their governments said plebs will come after the elites. There’s going to be very many very angry people after this nonsense is put to bed.

    4. I thought it was interesting that when I was chatting to the (pro-Brexit) chap who works in my local supermarket, he said that people were beginning to wake up to what was going on. He mentioned lots of videos on YouTube (which, I pointed out, then disappeared). He said people were turning to bitchute so he thought the message was getting out anyway. Fingers crossed.

  98. I think with the covid death figure they are trying to get it up to the one predicted by Ferguson, then they will make him a Sir

      1. Precisely. The forecast of 500k deaths (I forget the figure) was if the UK did nothing, a point routinely missed by those who attack Ferguson.

        1. And as is usual with Ferguson’s projections he knows that having thrown out a huge number, nobody would dare to ignore him.

          I can’t prove him wrong, but I am equally confident that had we done absolutely nothing other than treat it as best we could, like ‘flu, that the total deaths would not have got to anywhere near his figures before herd-immunity set in.

          1. Several published studies have shown that heavy lockdowns don’t make a difference, so I think we can infer that the total would have been unlikely to be 500K if nothing had been done beyond handwashing and banning of large events.

          2. Indeed.
            But from the perspective of chancers and con artists like Ferguson, they know that the two factors, greed and fear, will always favour their “pitch”.

            Greed: If you lock down you’ve saved millions and you’re the hero.
            Fear: If you don’t lock down you’ll be blamed.

          3. ‘Heavy’ lockdowns may not compared to ‘light’ lockdowns but we haven’t had a heavy lockdown. What has happened is that most people meet considerably fewer people each day than every before = fewer opportunities for the virus to spread = fewer deaths even it the death rate is less than 1%.

          4. What sort of lockdown is a “heavy ” one then? Welding our doors shut? Never going out at all?

    3. This morning I spoke to the guy who next month is coming to renew, as in change our 20 plus year old gas boiler. He told me that his next door neighbour had just lost his battle with Covid. And had already passed it on to his family. And he said it’s the 8th person he knew who has died from covid. I having second thoughts about the boiler.
      And even if as I did this afternoon, again tried to book a vaccine appointment. I was informed that there wasn’t any available.

      1. I’ve just booked MOH in for a jab on Sunday afternoon. We have to travel about ten miles, but then it will be done and dusted.

  99. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned today that the world risks sliding deeper into instability as the coronavirus pandemic combines with global rivalries and other international tensions.

    Speaking by video link during a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum, Putin pointed at growing inequality and unemployment and a rise of populism as potential triggers for new conflicts that he said could plunge the world into a ‘dark anti-Utopia.’

    ‘The pandemic has exacerbated the problems and disbalances that have been accumulating,’ the Russian leader said. ‘International institutions are weakening, regional conflicts are multiplying and the global security is degrading.’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9193429/Putin-warns-end-civilization-global-fight.html?ito=push-notification&ci=72151&si=7271111

    2. I sort of understand him saying it – he’s a dictator. Of course he hates democracy (what the Left call populism). I’m sure he also hates unemployment and inequality, but as he’s pro markets I’m surprised at that.

      It’s as if they have a script and just trot it out verbatim regardless of how relevant it is.

        1. One of my uncle’s use to work for Sandeman. We always had a bottles in the drinks cupboard.

    2. Have sung this with the Choir when I gave it a 1/Faure.

      When I sang his Requiem it was definitely a 4/Faure!

  101. So far I have received two replies to the cat naming conundrum:
    Sonny Boy decided ‘this story is a Phallusy’.
    School chum suggested ‘Jules’; think regally.

  103. A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper has cheated him out of $10 million bucks.

    His bookkeeper is deaf.

    That was the reason he got the job in the first place. It was assumed that a deaf bookkeeper would not hear anything that he might have to testify about in court.

    When the Godfather goes to confront the bookkeeper about his missing $10 million, he brings along his attorney, who knows sign language.

    The Godfather tells the lawyer ‘Ask him where the $10 million bucks he embezzled from me is’.

    The attorney, using sign language, asks the bookkeeper where the money is?

    The bookkeeper signs back: ‘I don’t know what you are talking about’.

    The attorney tells the Godfather: ‘He says he doesn’t know what you’re talking about’.

    The Godfather pulls out a pistol, puts it to the bookkeeper’s temple and says, ‘Ask him again’!

    The attorney signs to the bookkeeper: ‘He’ll kill you if you don’t tell him’!

    The bookkeeper signs back: ‘OK! OK! You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed in my cousin Enzo’s backyard in Queens’!

    The Godfather asks the attorney: ‘Well, what’d he say’?

    The attorney replies: ‘He says you don’t have the balls to pull the trigger’.

  104. Kier says our COVID demise is not just “bad luck”.

    I don’t know why he didn’t blame the French for building China’s first level four (BSL-4) biosecurity lab and then the Chinese for closing the doors after a French official opened it.

    Labour must be bats.

    1. They obviously like to keep their hands in. I suppose it gives them the right to claim their domestic heating expenses.

  105. 328852+ up ticks,
    Will this warrant an indigenous oldies pension cut, what an incentive for doubling the Dover invasion numbers.

    breitbart,

    Post-Brexit Britain Offering £2K Resettlement Payments to EU Migrants

    Plus illegals. Pass GO,( Dover) get £ 2000.

    1. About 40+ years ago I was project architect for a building built over Pimlico Underground Station. The Site Agent carried a roll of £10.00 notes in his back pocket. Every day some London Transport Executive member of staff would complain about dust and noise and gratefully accept a ten pound note to go away.

      We discovered that once word got around, LTE staff from all over the network would take turns at complaining and pocketing the bribes.

      If our government are stupid enough to pay these resettlement fees it will simply encourage more and more illegal migrants to pay our shores a visit. In no time at all half of Africa will be trying it on.

    2. About 40+ years ago I was project architect for a building built over Pimlico Underground Station. The Site Agent carried a roll of £10.00 notes in his back pocket. Every day some London Transport Executive member of staff would complain about dust and noise and gratefully accept a ten pound note to go away.

      We discovered that once word got around, LTE staff from all over the network would take turns at complaining and pocketing the bribes.

      If our government are stupid enough to pay these resettlement fees it will simply encourage more and more illegal migrants to pay our shores a visit. In no time at all half of Africa will be trying it on.

  106. Facebook apologises for Plymouth Hoe ‘error’.Facebook has apologised for removing posts that named part of a city it deemed to contain an offensive word.
    Fuck knows how they treat Hoedowns in the US….

    5. What about Westward Ho!

      Kipling was at school there at The Imperial Service College and Charles Kingsley wrote a book with the title Westward Ho!

  108. That’s me for the day. Useful hedge work (no ladder involved). 11ºC – no breeze. Smashing January arvo.

    Wussy kittens alarmed by the great outdoors. .They will learn….

    What was the answer to the baked potato conundrum? Look forward to discovering….

    à demain

    1. I posted it, but a long way down now!

      I used my new Dutch Oven. It sat on top of the wood stove, which has a flat surface for cooking, but no oven.
      It is small for an oven, but I am looking forward to experimenting with baking in it.

      2. Ah but…
        The cooking took out some of the energy from the wood stove, so it wasn’t totally free.
        If it was, you’ve invented a perpetual motion machine, and you should get your patent in NOW!

        1. Nope! Not if you consider the whole house as an energy system.
          The same amount of heat was generated. It was just differently distributed. The pot was effectively a storage heater that dissipated its heat after cooking. We ate the potatoes, thus increasing the amount of heat in our bodies.

          1. But there your theory fails; if the whole house and the inhabitants actually are as you describe, then it would never run out of energy.

            Turn off all the external sources of power now, take off all your clothing and sit in armchairs and report back tomorrow on whether you are feeling cold…

          5. We aren’t a sealed system – wood is regularly brought into the house and converted to heat!

          1. We have a cast iron one we use on the bbq – we have used it to make a salt-marsh lamb casserole – it was delicious. The juices just coated the lamb, vegetables and new potatoes when it was cooked without any of it sticking to the bottom.

            Edit: (Weber gas bbq and Dutch oven)

          5. Preheat the stone first, though. It’s the closest I got at home to a real pizza oven.

          7. You can get the temperature right, and the crisping effect of the stone. We have one too for the electric kitchen oven, but it doesn’t get hot in the right way.

          9. I was just thinking that sounds good, but I’d probably end up with raw smoked pizza given my record with BBQs

          11. It is a certain skill, I would agree. A skill I do not possess. It is strange how outdoor cooking suddenly becomes acceptable to males and turns into a complete mystery to women.

          12. I can never get the wretched thing going! And what is more, I am not motivated to learn this mysterious skill. I understand fire. Glowing embers inside half an hour would appear to defy logic. I’m quite happy to leave it to the men!

        5. A Dutch oven is a thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens are usually made of seasoned cast iron; however, some Dutch ovens are instead made of cast aluminium, or ceramic. Some metal varieties are enameled rather than being seasoned, and these are sometimes called French ovens (bloody French always have to be Vive la difference!)

        6. They are good for baking sourdough TB but you’d need to line with baking paper, the steam helps to make it crusty, but you have to remove the lid after about 20 mins on 240c, turn it down and let it bake for another 15 to 20 minutes.

      4. So (© telly totty) You had to buy the Dutch Oven; buy the wood stove (and the fuel)….

        Free??? I think not………….{:¬))

          1. He is a lawyer, he can’t help it.
            Probably looks both ways crossing a one way street too….

          3. It’s a software developer’s joke; good developers look both ways crossing a one way street.

            I expect more road sense from a chicken than from a cyclist.

          4. Is that like a lawyer joke?

            You lose, you pay me, you win, you pay me, nothing happens, you pay me?

          5. I guess so. In our case, you pay us. If we make mistakes, you pay us more to fix them.
            The only reason this system hasn’t fallen apart years ago is that software developers are so nerdy and pedantic that they actually do try their hardest to get it right!

          7. I certainly do!
            Was nearly splattered by a bomb squad Land-rover in 1980, they were on their way to a shout & I was crossing the road, blithely happy that I’d looked the right way. Ooo, it was close!

          8. Also, in Sicily, one-way was advisory, not mandatory.
            Traffic came the other way, you just drove onto the pavement & continued.

          9. A few years ago, I was driving on a main road full of bends in Germany, behind an Italian car that was going very, very slowly. The Italian was driving very close to the verge, obviously being considerate enough to allow room for an unofficial centre lane for the cars behind to overtake him.
            Being Germans, they all obeyed the No Overtaking signs, and he had a long tailback behind him…

          12. I understood that in Northern Italy traffic lights were obeyed.
            In Middle Italy just advisory and in the South merely decorations….

        2. Yes, but that’s my normal expenditure apart from the Dutch Oven. The wood stove is the only heating in our house so it would be on regardless of whether I am cooking on it or not.

          I found an estimate on Quora that it costs 72p to run an oven for an hour. The Dutch Oven cost about 20 pounds, so it’ll have paid for itself after about 28 cakes!

      2. That’s the only advantage of falling off a ladder and landing on your head, things get inverted…

        1. Yup, where I see and hear my cuckoos (on Kit Hill), the parasitised birds are the meadow pipit and the dunnock.

          3. I searched for, many times, and invariably failed to see the very similar Marsh Warbler Acrocephalus palustris when I lived in the UK.

            It was one of the first birds I discovered breeding along a stream near my home when I moved to Sweden. I see them every year now. They look Identical to the Reed Warbler A. scirpaceus but have a much more musical and varied song.

          4. What’s Reed Warbler in Swedish, Grizz? I pretty well only know wildlife in Norwegian, not learning until I came to Norway, so the English term is unknown to me.

          6. From my Journal written on the day I took the Photo:

            “Given the prospect of yet more rain it was an easy decision to stay put for the day and I’m glad I did. Towards the end of the afternoon I became aware of some very melodic birdsong coming from the tall reeds 15 feet away on the opposite bank. Although I had never consciously heard it before I deduced the song could only be that of a Reed Warbler. As I peered intensely into the reeds trying to spot the bird, I suddenly spotted three of them, each just slightly larger than a wren but with distinctly different markings. For me it was as close as I will ever get to a David Attenborough moment when he had a very close encounter with a gorilla in the wild.

          8. I searched for, many times, and invariably failed to see the very similar Marsh Warbler Acrocephalus palustris when I lived in the UK.

            It was one of the first birds I discovered breeding along a stream near my home when I moved to Sweden. I see them every year now. They look Identical to the Reed Warbler A. scirpaceus but have a much more musical and varied song.

          2. It’s OK Phil I’ve been retired 10 years and no longer have to get the job done either “through or despite people”….

          9. My neighbours went to Skye and brought me back a bottle. I didn’t tell them i mixed it with coca cola. :@(

          11. #MeToo, Stephen the Western Isles stuff is too smokey and peaty – it spoils the otherwise clean but rich taste of a single malt.

          17. Pa died three days before his 65th….
            No one has written on their Tombstone – “I wish I’d spent more time in the office”….

          19. I’m sorry to hear that, Stephen. My father was still working (albeit part-time) when he died. My mother never really came to terms with not being able to enjoy their retirement together.

          22. That must have been very poignant. I have London Pride in my garden – London is no longer the place that Noel wrote about.

          24. Yes, Conway, I have to agree, Khan has made it a place to be ashamed of.

            One wonders if the postponed elections will take place in May.

            And, if they do, will they be fiddled by infernal machines or will the Electoral Commission step in to ensure that they are free and fair, as they used to be.

          25. On the rare occasions I visited (Battle of Britain memorial service in Westminster Abbey mainly unless I was meeting up with friends), it seemed to be a totally foreign city. Even the red coats in the Abbey were foreign and so were the police.

          26. My father is the longest-lived in the male line. He managed 72. His father died at retirement. One feels a deadline looming…

          27. Poppiesdad’s mother told him throughout his youth “the males in our family don’t live much beyond 50” and indeed his own father died at the age of 42. Poppiesdad will be 80 on his next birthday in June this year. His ambition now is to live long enough to dance on his sister’s grave….. she is two years older than he is and has inherited certain family characteristics which p’dad has fortunately not inherited. On my side of the family, my aunt said at 90, “if I had known I was going to live as long as this, I would have paid more attention to my pension! – because my family mostly died around 60.” She shuffled off this mortal coil at 102, and at the age of 98 she was baking for her guests for her birthday party.

            I have a sense of déjà vue writing this, perhaps I have said all this to you before? At 74 I too feel a deadline looming, even though I come from a long-lived family on both sides. I now know with a visceral certainty that life is no longer infinite and for some reason my mind dwells upon this on waking every morning these days. And then these thoughts disperse in pretty much the same manner as does the morning mist as the day gets going. What will be will be, but this generation has done better in the longevity stakes than those that have gone before.

          28. I don’t recall your writing this before, pm (but then I could just be forgetful!). My mother was 90, so I aim to beat her target. I’ve already lived longer than my father. My brother is ten years older than I am and still going, so there’s hope for me yet. I know what you mean about looming deadlines. I think it’s being locked down and marking time.

          29. Paternal grandfather 44 (after fathering 11 children with my paternal grandmother)
            Paternal grandmother 89

            Maternal grandfather 61
            Maternal grandmother 85

            Father 86
            Mother 97

            Sisters – one very much alive at 85; the other died 10 years ago at the age of 73

            I shall be 75 in July and I hope I have a few more years as Caroline (58) needs me to help get the business up and running again post Covid!

          30. One of the healthiest lifestyles.es in their youth due to rationing and before driving replaced walking.

          31. That is true, but my mother ate way too much sugar, and often talked about rationing in her youth, so I wonder if she over-compensated later. She ended up with diabetes.

          32. Most impressive, PM! 80 & 74, eh?
            I know what you mean about a deadline, I feel it too. I’d like to get the experience of grandchildren in before I shuffle off, but as yet, no woman has taken on the task of sorting out either of my lads, so I’ll not be holding my breath.

          33. My father – an all-round sportsman in his youth (rugby, tennis, swimming, sailing and, laterally, walking) was a heavy smoker – 30/ 40 cigarettes a day – died one month before his 93rd birthday …

      1. Glad you enjoyed it. It’s my Canadian friend who has been building the Hauptwerk organ that people were talking about on here the other day.

        1. It was me. I was thinking of buying a virtual organ for my elder brother. I like the idea of him playing Elgar using a sample from Hereford Cathedral.

          2. I love organ music. My woodwork teacher at the City of Bath Technical School was Raymond Jones, for decades the Deputy Bath Abbey organist.

            My elder brother, who plays the organ, thought Ray Jones a better organist than the then Chief Abbey organist, Dudley Holroyd.

            As a choirboy I enjoyed singing at Christmas Carol services as a treble and then alto. Memories of the space and audience I retain to this day.

            I love Elgar for his organ music, apart from the other beautiful symphonies and instrumental pieces.

      1. Glad you liked it. I’ve been to Lincoln and to the Derwent dam. The nearby ATC Squadron is number 617.

    3. I have stood on the Möhne dam and touched a practice bouncing bomb I found that was launched across the Fleet behind Chesil Beach. It brings back memories.

  113. Just thought I would mention that when I replied (“it’s only a matter of time” [for the snow to go]) in Swahili to peddy he replied “Kutomba wewe”. In case you are not up in Swahili, it means “fuck you”. What a lovely person he is.

    3. PTV never ever wishes someone on here a Happy Birthday. He never offers condolences to people who are suffering. His bestie is JennySP. Lol.

      1. They deserve each other. I only posted it here because I thought his nastiness needed a wider audience. It was totally uncalled for as a response to an innocuous remark.

        1. Must be off colour. He’s normally pleasant, if a bit pedantic over grammar and the like.

          1. I mentioned yesterday that I had upset him by pointing out that if he hadn’t made such a song and a dance about Geoff giving out JSP’s surname, it would have passed everybody by. Then, of course, he likes to show off and clearly that somebody else (other than Kifaru) could understand his conversation in Swahili really got up his nose.

          2. We’re all a bit grumpy these days. Shut in & shat on, and it’s not very light yet.
            It’s not characteristic of him, though.

          3. Ha ha…I don’t give a **** about Jenny. And yes it did pass me by.

            What is it?

            Pierce

            It is a patronymic surname from the Welsh personal
            name ‘Piers.’ The name ‘Piers’ come from the name ‘Peter,’ which comes
            from the Greek word ‘Petros’ meaning ‘stone.’

          4. Exactly. If peddy hadn’t made such a fuss about it, I would never have bothered to look through Geoff’s posts and see what he wrote. Then I put two and two together. It wasn’t immediately obvious.

          5. I always thought her name was Street Porter and that she is Janet’s sister. (This is, I would have thought, a relatively harmless and inoffensive joke but some people are rather sensitive).

          6. I had a sharp exchange with him by email after he upset Eddy. You are right- he drew attention to Geoff’s comment and were not the only one who can add up. He’s upset a few people here and as social life is now illegal we need this outlet.

        2. We all have to accept our differences on this site. Peddy is ancient and looks like an Orc, even so, he is almost human. :@)

      2. Funny you should say that. I wished today’s Geburtstagskind “Happy Birthday” 10 hours ago. It’s on record.

    5. You’ve been harassing me for the last few days & you deservedly got your fingers burnt.

      Suck it up & grow up.

      1. How have I been “harassing you” for the last few days? Only in your mind. I have made perfectly civil responses to your posts, as any Nottler might. Don’t show yourself up further, peddy. It ill becomes you.

      2. If you want to know about harassment I recommend you study your mates JSP and Cochrane.

        Thankfully your other cohort, the Loch Ness Monster, has already left the stage (insinuating that her disillusion with this site was because of me I might add).

  114. Amusing:

    WASHINGTON, D.C.—Trump has been reinstated as president so Democrats in Congress can be sure the impeachment trial will be constitutional.

    Trump will resume serving as president effective immediately so that Democrats can vote on the article of impeachment filed against him.

    “We must make Trump president again so we can constitutionally impeach him again,” said Chuck Schumer. “It’s the only way to be sure. Normally, we don’t care about the Constitution, of course, but when you’re talking about impeaching Trump, we have to make sure we get it just right.”

    Democrats everywhere approved of the move, saying they have had nothing to live for since Trump left office last week.

    “I had all these protest signs and nothing to protest,” said Portland-area BLM activist Jacob Brier excitedly as he got on his gas mask. “We tried firebombing the local DNC headquarters, but it just wasn’t the same. Sure, we could protest Biden starting new wars, but it’s more fun to protest war under a Republican president. Feels more righteous-y.”

    https://babylonbee.com/news/trump-reinstated-as-president-to-make-sure-impeachment-trial-is-constitutional/

    1. I’ll just tell ’em that I identify as a black female Muslim, driving to collect my new burka.

      “D’ya know any young white girls I could fiddle with?”

  119. Goodnight, everybody. Tomorrow is another day and one day nearer to my leaping off the wagon – yay!

  120. Goodnight, gentlefolk. I detect a need for tolerance is required.

    God bless my NoTTL family.

    1. Good morning, Nanners.

      How bizarre, you pray for God’s blessings
      on the NoTTLers and receive a down vote
      for your comment!
      It says much of the down-voter, that she allows
      her vindictiveness to over-ride any decency she
      may have once had.

      1. Yo Gg
        Downvotes say more about the Downvoter than it does about the comment, to which they make it

    3. Good morning Geoff or is it a very late good night? What were your thoughts on our MP’s reply to my diatribe? I thought it was the best he could do under the circumstances.

Comments are closed.