300 Responses to Weekend 27 August 2022

  1. Guest Who says:

       6 likes

  2. Guest Who says:

    Seems the US has ‘investigations’ too.

       9 likes

    • tomo says:

      Tim Collins’ investigation in Iraq comes to mind…

         1 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      A lawsuit charges that the U.S. military’s indifference to the crime of Afghanistan officials sexually abusing boys led to the killings of three Marines in 2012 by the youthful companion of a corrupt Afghan police chief.

      Despite warnings that the chief, Sarwan Jan, and his boy entourage should be expelled from Forward Operating Base Delhi, Marine Corps commanders let him stay. On Aug. 10, one of his “tea boys” walked into the base gym and gunned down the three Marines, including Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. of Long Island, whose parents are fighting out a lawsuit in U.S. District Court.

      https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/22/us-military-indifference-to-afghan-sex-abuse-led-b/

         1 likes

  3. Doublethinker says:

    In the Spectator there is news that wee Krankie was in Copenhagen yesterday to open a new Scots Scandinavian hub office. Apparently it is the ninth in worldwide network of such hubs.
    Why on earth was the very first of these allowed by the UK government, let alone nine?
    Scotland is not a independent country . Foreign Affairs are a matter reserved for the UK government. Understandably from the SNP point of view they will strut the international stage as often as they are allowed to by Westminster. If the rules aren’t enforced they cease to be rules and breaking them becomes tacitly accepted. Just like borders aren’t borders if no one defends them.

       25 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Didn’t the Danish PM ignore the strutting daft harpie?

         11 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Anyhoo, reports are coming in that in the spirit of blatant, obvious, if sad, empire building, the BBC are establishing a Pidgen bureau in the Shetlands.

         11 likes

    • digg says:

      A bitter, twisted, self obsessed nutcase, how the normally canny Scots don’t see through her is baffling!

         10 likes

  4. Fedup2 says:

    Not exactly the BBC … but …. They keep on going on about the ‘average ‘ energy use going up to £3500 a year . To me this just obscures matters .

    There are 6 million ? Single households in Blighty . So how will energy use affect them ? Not a clue . Also – how many fixed contracts are there? I reckon millions ….

    Any way back to the BBC . They find a single parent with 2 jobs and 3 kids who won’t be able to cope ….

    … but what can the government really do and for how long ?

    The remaining big providers are not making big profits but the multinational producers are – but only a small proportion from the UK ….

    …. And there doesn’t seem to be any drive by the government to reduce energy use – either by the State itself or individual households . Will cold nights be on us before any effort is made ?

    It’s all very well Johnson going AWOL in a sulk in the last month – but the rest of the government seems gone too.

    Don’t get me wrong – I believe is self reliance and not state dependency – on the few times I’ve needed the British state it has nt been there – and I learnt from that .

    Self reliance is hard work . Takes thought and application – but I think dependency is even worse .

    I know I’m someone out of my time . I’m not wealthy – no inherited wealth – not a lottery winner – but work hard – long hard hours and careful with money .

    But we seem to be in a post thatcher time of almost total state dependency which has been made far worse by the Virus . The BBC is encouraging this – is complicit in State Welfare dependency .

    Whatever plan the new government come up with won’t be enough . Or too late . Or for the wrong people . Or putting Blighty even further into debt than the virus has .

    Even trying to see through the next year – assuming there is no wider war ( maybe ) – food and fuel remains available ( maybe ) – the coming years – decade is not going to be a happy one
    ( financially )for the majority of people …

    Naturally I’ve written in terms of the UK without reference to what might happen in other neighbouring countries .

       21 likes

  5. Fedup2 says:

    Late Today

    Meeshal has the Pakistani ambassador to talk about flood in their homeland – ‘is the UK government giving you handouts asks meeshal ?’ – I could hear that one coming .

    I guess the BBC will be showing the massive effort pakis in the UK are making for the folks back home – and all those wealthy Muslim countries throwing money and resources at their brothers …. Or maybe not ….

       19 likes

  6. Guest Who says:

    If only Ben Hunte was here to analyse.

       8 likes

    • BigBrotherCorporation says:

      Is that wookie behind him one of the lesbian group?

      Who says comedy is dead? Everything about that clip is absolutely hilarious, especially the trans(?) personage screaming at lesbians for wanting to take part in an LGBTQRPQSTUV+ march!

      Who the hell would want to be in the British police today?

         18 likes

  7. Guest Who says:

    Oldie but goldie.

    She and Cathy Newman could inspire a comic strip.

       27 likes

  8. Guest Who says:

    They all look like the slappers the bbc digs up to be outraged about something.

       9 likes

  9. Guest Who says:

    Like Tik Tok, only more HD and blonde.

    Envy of the werld.

       7 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Emma Barnett
      @Emmabarnett
      BBC Broadcaster:
      @BBCWomansHour
      . New TV show: ‘Emma Barnett Meets’
      @Bloomberg
      . Newsletter: ‘Trying.’ Column:
      @theipaper
      .Author: It’s About Bloody Time. Period🩸
      Londonemmabarnett.substack.comJoined January 2009
      11.6K Following
      192.2K Followers

         0 likes

  10. tomo says:

    80 million votes eh?

       12 likes

  11. Zephir says:

    “Dancers prepare their costumes for Notting Hill Carnival as shopkeepers board up their premises ahead of event’s post-Covid comeback”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11152283/Dancers-prepare-costumes-Notting-Hill-Carnival-shopkeepers-board-premises.html

    Ban the black crime fest

    2018:

    “Notting Hill KNIFE Carnival: One stabbed, 49 knives seized, 385 held – crime 33% up
    THE MET Police force confirmed that it made over 370 arrests at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival over the August Bank Holiday weekend. But despite poor weather conditions and rain showers, record numbers turned out to the annual street party, considered the largest in Europe.”

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1009350/Notting-hill-carnival-metropolitan-police-knife-crime-street-party-arrests-violent-crime

    “Since 1987 there have been five deaths caused by violence at Notting Hill Carnival:

    30 August 1987 – Michael Augustine Galvin, 23, stallholder – stabbed.[93]
    26 August 1991 – Nicholas John Hanscomb, 38, bled to death after being stabbed in the thigh.[94][95]
    28 August 2000 – Greg Fitzgerald Watson, 21, stabbed to death after an argument over food.[96]
    28 August 2000 – Abdul Munam Bhatti, 28; the police treated his attack as racially motivated by a gang of “mainly black males”, as described by a witness.[97] Nine men were sentenced for violent disorder in 2002.[98]
    30 August 2004 – Lee Christopher Surbaran, 27, was shot by a gang using a machine pistol “for showing disrespect”; in 2005, three men were jailed for life for his murder.[99]”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notting_Hill_Carnival

       13 likes

  12. BRISSLES says:

    Domestic abuse increased by a third since cost of living crisis took hold. Um, do we have a date when the c of l started then ?

    Any trauma or drama was first blamed on Brexit, then the Pandemic, now its the Cost of Living. Climate Change must be a shoo in as the next contender.

       16 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Brissles, my dear old thing (England won a Test Match in three (3!) days) the cost of living crisis started the day after New Year’s Day (1st Jan) because the BBC and the Labour Party couldn’t get rid of Christmas although they tried their hardest to have it cancelled so they decided to start the New Year – once the partying & BBC hangovers were over – off on a suitable gloomy note. That said, the BBC did notice something going on with gas prices at the start of October 2021 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-58849727 but they were far too dishonest to attribute it to the fact that the Western nations were abandoning oil, coal and gas for an uncertain future with so-called ‘renewables’. I notice that the dishonest BBC have tried to claim that it was due to a heatwave in Western Europe in summer 2021 except we didn’t have one. We did have lots of rain and cold and grey skies with flooding of the Rheine in Germany.

         2 likes

  13. Zephir says:

    “nearly half of Caribbean women surveyed in 5 Caribbean countries face at least one form of violence: physical, sexual, economic, or emotional. This is unacceptable and should motivate all of us working and living in the Caribbean into action to end this violence.

    A new data hub called “Caribbean Women Count: Ending Violence against Women and Girls” is a central repository of knowledge on the prevalence of the different forms of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence from Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The tool is based on national surveys conducted between 2016 and 2019 that were done in collaboration between governments, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, United Nations Development Programme, United States Agency for International Development, the Caribbean Development Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank.

    The results show that violence against women is endemic: 46% of women in the five countries have experienced at least one form of violence. Among the countries studied, lifetime prevalence rates of intimate partner violence (physical, sexual, economic, and emotional) range from 39% in Grenada and Jamaica, to 44% in Trinidad and Tobago, to 48% in Suriname. ”

    https://blogs.worldbank.org/latinamerica/casting-light-shadow-pandemic-caribbean-violence-against-women

       6 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Party would insulate broadcaster from political pressure, says shadow culture secretary, as Liz Truss prepares to wage war on it

      ….

      Has the BBC ever lied to me …. YES.
      “Gavin Hewitt in 2015 replacing video with still photos to hide a nasty refugee pushing a pregnant female refugee and small child onto a train track, the BBC made it look like the border guards were being tough.”

      Has the BBC ever hidden news from me …. YES.
      “May 2018 the Day of Freedom march was not reported on the main website or the main news channel and is not available on the BBC £3.5bn online search page – other news agencies including the Guardian reported it.”

      Has the BBC kept the public in the dark …. YES.
      “We know that the UK MP expenses continues and should be investigated with the £3.5bn BBC New Service every year to keep the MPs on their toes, David Lammy bought a bike for £650 on expenses (Claim Ref:387540/17oct2014) which is blatant misuse of Tax Payer Money. How come the BBC don’t check up each year?”

      Has the BBC ignored politician’s lies …. YES.
      “UK Politicians are on TV shouting austerity and recession but all have taken an 18% pay increase from 2010 to 2018. How can they talk for the people when the live in their own bubble?”

      Has the BBC moved from news to social engineering …. YES.
      “By 2020, the BBC wants its employees to comprise 50% women, 8% disabled people, 8% lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people and 15% people from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds.{bbc.co.uk 14sep2017}”

      Has the BBC let journalist break their guidelines …. YES.
      “Gary ‘£1.75m’ Lineker uses his twitter account to say Brexit is bad, EU is good. But not once has he confronted Jacob Rees-Mogg or Nigel Farage to talk about it. It is a one sided echo chamber.”

      https://biasedbbc.org/blog/2018/05/20/start-the-week-open-thread-21-may-2018/comment-page-6/#comment-918185

         8 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      #CCBGB

         8 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Any input from Justin Rowlatt, flown in by Elton with the kids?

        The Media Graun takes #somuchguardian to a new level of satire.

           6 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          Spellcheck decided Trudeau should stay in Canyada. Ok.

             0 likes

        • MarkyMark says:

          Britain’s future king has apparently been wheeling and dealing in a reckless manner, according to a new report from the Sunday Times, entitled “Prince Charles accepted £1 million from family of Osama bin Laden.” This news comes mere weeks after the same paper announced that Charles personally accepted suitcases full of …2 Aug 2022

             4 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Four shares in a day.

        The Graun fights also single han… audience figures.

        Yet the BBC uses it to speak for a nation.

        No wonder both are keen on XR’s ‘new form of democracy’ where they choose representatives like Amy Rutland and Di Tiplady as directors of QT audience selection.

           6 likes

        • Guest Who says:

          The 14 year-old had been accused of flirting with a white woman. His killing still haunts America, but his mother helped galvanise the Civil Rights Movement. This is the story.

          BBC Sounds

          ***
          FB currently. Reeling in Graun numbers.

          Seems folk know a desperate BBC stir effort when they see it.

          Any events more recent, closer to home, not covered by bbc Honour Haunt Editors?

          Or BBC Race Bait Scotland?

             7 likes

  14. Fedup2 says:

    Here is the. bBC news for Tuesday 30 August 2022

    A mostly peaceful Notting hill carnival has been hailed as an outstanding success by community groups and political leaders . Police have said crime was down on previous years because they couldn’t bother reporting or counting them .

    Incidents of murder , rape and robbery – together with widespread looting didn’t happen

    ( BBC radio news is big on vibrancy diversity and heritage today – but only one mention of Idris – dot Lawrence – the tower block they burnt and Charlie Windsor writing for the coloured folk ….)…

       12 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Fed, ‘couldn’t count them’ (crimes) thanks to the broken educational system in this country where pupils coming out of school know about transgenderism, diversity and sex but cannot count or speak or write decent English.

         8 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Up2
        Plod is pretty good at obscuring crime numbers by changing the ‘counting methods ‘ – before I expose by criminological past -( and go on and on ) – a chief method is to close police stations , put victims ( customers ) on hold and only deal with stuff with a 100% clear up rate – such as self discovered online hatey words ….

        But compared to the corruption of law enforcement revealed by the likes of Tucker Carlson our lot are amateurs…..

           6 likes

        • Sluff says:

          Fed up
          I have a hunch the Police can report huge clear up statistics when required.

          On the M4 they have carried out a motorway ‘upgrade’. The result is a permanent 60 mph max speed limit irrespective of traffic conditions, or vehicle numbers, or weather, or time of day; speed cameras on most gantries, AND yellow ‘ vulture’ cameras which measure average speed over distance. This level of surveillance would put East Germany to shame. On a lesser scale, this is repeated nationwide. Literally millions are being criminalised for basically driving with common sense looking at the road in front of them. The clear up rate is nearly 100%.

          I wonder which Tory leader would rescind the unwritten but clear policy of the state apparatus being deliberately hateful to the private motorist?

             13 likes

          • Fedup2 says:

            Sluff
            – I’m currently in a country which has few speed cameras and none that are ‘secret’ … coming from londonistan where they are Everywhere – it is quite hairy driving ….

            … I just hate so much regulation – so much control – all done in the name of ‘community safety ‘ or crap ‘net zero ‘._…
            Even the ‘land of the free’ doesn’t seem so anymore ….

               14 likes

          • BigBrotherCorporation says:

            Having recently completed a gruelling 6 hour car journey (which was expected to last 3 – according to Google maps and my SatNav), I’ve come to the conclusion that motorway driving is the slow option, and in future, I’ll be sticking to the back roads.

               4 likes

            • Guest Who says:

              My preference long ago. Longer journey if motorways not closed for a leaf on the line, but more scenic and the ability to pause, retrace, etc.

                 1 likes

  15. Up2snuff says:

    That’s interesting …. the BBC now becomes an Election issue for 2024. Cost-of-living-millstone around the UK public under the Labour Party or reformed (voluntary subscription instead of Licence Fee cost-of-living burden?) under the Conservative Party. I know which I would prefer.

       10 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Up2
      I was hoping it became inevitable as victims examined their DDs and saw the one marked TVL – surely the most painless one to cancel – therefore in a few months time the BBC will be reporting big reductions in TVlicences and maybe then the bullet will be bit …

      We are about to be pre occupied with ‘cost saving ‘( a good thing ) with the likes of the Sunday Times comparing and contrasting the cost of using a cooker v a microwave ….

      Much much more to come

         6 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        Fed, Labour are good at spending other peoples’ money, as the saying goes. I expect Der Starmer will ensure that guaranteeing and inflation linked TV Licence is in the next Labour manifesto.

           1 likes

  16. Sluff says:

    Good morning.
    On this Sunday, Mrs S related to me the Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25 v14-30.

    The Master of the House is going away on a trip. He calls three servants to him. He gives them money in the proportion of their abilities. One gets 500 ‘talents’ (a unit of currency), one gets 200, one gets 100. He tells them to invest while he is away. Then he goes away.

    When he returns he summons his servants. The guy who got 500 has doubled it to 1000. The guy with 200 doubled it to 400. The guy with 100 put it in a hole in the ground and so returns 100. He is chastised for being lazy. The others are rewarded.

    The moral appears to be to reward those who work hard or invest and take a little risk and not those who are stodgy and do nothing.

    What a shame we don’t run the country’s finances like that. No, instead we take from those who work hard and give to the indolent. A lady round the corner, a single mother with three children from three different fathers, is rewarded with a free council house. The rest of us pay for it through our taxes.

       19 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Sluff – I bet the banks love that parable – always troubles me …but like the parable of the sub prime loan ….

      My mind plays up but I’m sure years ago ( actually last month ) someone was talking about offering mortgages based on benefits to enable the feckless to buy their ‘home ‘…

      …and then I woke up …

         9 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        Sluff and Fed, the problem with that parable is that we tend to put other meanings to it. I seem to recall it was one of Margaret Thatcher’s favourite parables and she ‘humanised’ it.

        Many of the parables Jesus told had second meanings or disguised meanings (see Isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 & 10.) which were always ‘God-ward’, ‘not human-ward’ eg. Parable of the Treasure/Pearl of Great Price in Matthew 13:

        44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

        Who is the man & who is the treasure in the field. Who is the merchant & who is the pearl of great price?

        We have a natural human tendency since The Fall to make the parables about ‘us’ and not about the Kingdom of God.

           0 likes

  17. theisland says:

       14 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Maxi going to be busy elsewhere for a while, judging by the attempted justifications, snarks, etc.

         4 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Peas, pods, etc.

        Mad Al on Politics Today?

           8 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        GW, think maxi must be on his long hols or ‘resting’. Has he visited here this month?

           1 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      BBC staff have considerable experience knowing what gets shared and what need not be.

         11 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Hence, not a mention whilst Gordo was sharing on cost of living issues.

        Long ago I came to understand what ‘not for profit’ could mean for staff, especially Asst. Marketing Directors of charities on bbc red as red flag bbc sofas.

           10 likes

      • BigBrotherCorporation says:

        I have noticed some unusual juxtapositioning of certain words in numerous BBC articles over the last few years, and just wondered if it was my imagination or the apparently increasing illiteracy of their writers.

        Words like: infamous, notorious, disingenuous, misleading, dubious, doubtful, unlikely etc… which seem inappropriate, considering the context and much lauded BBC impartiality.

        There again, there is this one phrase that seems to appear randomly in nearly every BBC article, and I can’t for the life of me often work out why on earth it should be there at all: ‘climate change’, anyone got any idea?

           11 likes

  18. Guest Who says:

    The average bbc breakfast fan is ably summarised.

       2 likes

  19. AsISeeIt says:

    Sometimes you know full well the meaning of a word but its sudden unfamiliar usage in media headlines sends you off to the dictionary to check – just in case you’re missing something.

    Mulls: as in the verb to think about (a fact, proposal, or request) deeply and at length. That would seem to be the media buzz word of the day. We’ll come back to it.

    Having his own quick mull Mr AsISeeIt tends to conclude he may as well take a holiday. Afterall, these days the highlighting of BBC leftist bias is akin to shooting fish in a barrel, or trying to guess Emily Maitlis’s politics – and where’s the sport in drawing attention to the pervasively leftist anti-conservative culture found throughout our media and arts – when, for goodness sake, it’s an easy enough game pointing out leftist bias in our Tory MPs?

    If one were looking for some last hurrah – metaphorically, prior to putting ones’s satirical feet up – one need look no further than our national broadcaster’s first pick choice of newspaper frontpage for their Sunday online press review.

    Of course it’s the Guardian-on-Sunday, the Observer. How could a flagging tax-funded left-leaning institution not enjoy a certain rush of blood to its head – and members – at the thought of invigorating strike action in the public sector?

    The BBC’s own flaccid headlines may write themselves – Pakistan may call for international aid (climate change will be claimed to be at the route of that these days) and there’s a certain passing cause for concern that little girls meet violent deaths on Merseyside – history tells us the BBC after a little bit of fuss can live with that.

    In short the Observer supplies our BBC some viagra of a headline for a bit of Sunday morning glory: Unions join forces for wave of strikes over cost of living. Well, knock me down with a feather, it’s the public sector unions: Unison and Unite urge coordinated action.

    I’m minded here of the John Lennon line from Revolution 1: You ask me for a contribution, Well, you know, We’re all doing what we can – one can almost hear the BBC boys and girls (of a certain age) sing along to that one.

    Come to think of it, considering the day-to-day inefficiency and poor service in the public sector of late – would the public really notice if they all went off on strike?

    Rees-Mogg to sell off offices of civil servants who work from home… after civil servants refused to stop working from home (Sunday Telegraph)

    And so to the number two story on the Observer frontpage – which is the wonderfully BBC-friendly: Labour: we’ll protect BBC independence – confident that if left alone the BBC will happily big Labour up at every opportunity – and at this crucial juncture a barrister in a court of law would tend to smile and utter that familiar conclusion “No more questions, m’lud” – before no doubt shedding his horsehair toupée and joining the picket line. Meanwhile any stand up comic worth his salt and knowing he won’t get a bigger laugh tonight would perform what they call in the trade a “mike drop” leaving the stage and, hopefully, the audience wanting more but likely having his next performance banned because some student ticket checkers at the venue claimed they felt unsafe.

    Carnival time declares the Observer frontpage picture story as we enjoy the wonderfully punning un-British: Pan Nation Steel Orchestra play to crowds who flock to west London this weekend for the first Notting Hill carnival… since 2019 – lock up your pick n mix sweet shops and put some extra security on the door at McDonald’s.

    Truss mulls ‘nuclear’ option of 5% VAT cut (Sunday Telegraph)
    Truss mulls emergency cuts to income tax and VAT to tackle energy crisis (Sunday Times)

    There’s that peculiar word “mulls“.

    Big tax cuts ahead? Immigration controls perhaps? Reversing the ever-leftward march of our institutions? Restraints on BBC bias?

    Mulling new Tory promises? They’ll all disappear like Scotch mist

    And the last word goes to that other Beatle:

    Mull of Kintyre, oh mist rolling in from the sea
    My desire is always to be here
    Oh Mull of Kintyre

       12 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      So what about wine that has been mulled then ?does anything else get mulled ?

      My favourite story today is the cost of using a microwave v conventional cooker – (fuel crisis story ) – apparently it’s 3p to do a ‘baked ‘ potato in a microwave v about 26p in a cooker ….
      I wholly recommend the combo microwave ….

         5 likes

  20. Guest Who says:

    “In Sindh alone, we had rain, 780% more rain than average… So we are of course looking at a very challenging situation, a daunting challenge, a climate catastrophe.”

    BBC Menu

    ‘Drought? Sorry, drought’s off…’

       14 likes

  21. tomo says:

       9 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      A slight suspicion a massive prank is being enacted.

      Here in the shires a city has experienced something all too familiar in London.

      So of course plod has responded, up to the very highest of weight category. With a photo op. In day time. Smiling.

      The Chief is, of course, female and a sumo. Sexuality unspecified, but partnered by a PCSO who looks like he has eaten every doughnut in the Marches.

      They really are having a laugh.

      #CCBGB

      They are compiling a list.

         7 likes

  22. tomo says:

       7 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      CHarge at home?

         1 likes

    • tomo says:

      unintended consequences

         18 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Google parent Alphabet, Apple, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla won’t have to face a class action suit claiming the tech giants bear responsibility for the alleged use of child labour in Congo to mine cobalt, a key ingredient of batteries in electric cars and consumer electronics, a federal court in Washington ruled Tuesday.3 Nov 2021

           6 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        22315784-7797489-image-a-32_1576519893264.jpg

           6 likes

      • BigBrotherCorporation says:

        Looked into solar panels seriously this year, the cheapest option still would require around 28 years to achieve payback.

        I’m not sure I’ve got 28 years left, and given the panels would cost several £thousand, and add maybe £1K to the value of the house, if we sold up… it’s not really a goer.

           13 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Chinese Company Removed as Operator of Cobalt Mine in Congo
        A court has given the Congolese control of one of the world’s largest sources of cobalt while allegations against the mine’s Chinese owners are investigated.
        2022
        https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/world/congo-cobalt-mining-china.html

        Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, last year named a commission to investigate allegations that China Molybdenum might have cheated the Congolese government out of royalty payments from the mine.

           6 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      123458969_alamy_live_news_j561w0_bielefeld_germany_16th_may_2017_a_wind_turbine_blade_lies_on_top_of.jpg?quality=80&strip=all

         4 likes

  23. Zephir says:

    Have a go at this:

    tell your local council you are having a street party in a residential area starting at 6AM on a Sunday morning

    See how that goes down, unless you are black:

    “Things are ALREADY getting messy in Notting Hill! Early-morning revellers shower each other with paint as Carnival’s official ‘J’Ouvert’ opening event begins at 6am… ahead of a full day of partying

    Notting Hill Carnival kicked off morning with colourful celebrations for J’ouvert, marking the start of carnival
    J’ouvert began at 6am with revellers spraying brightly coloured paints and powders in the west London street”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11153817/Early-morning-Notting-Hill-revellers-shower-paint-official-JOuvert-opening.html

       9 likes

  24. Zephir says:

    Lovely sight to see at 6AM out of your window on a Sunday morning:

    61800819-11153817-image-a-10_1661668906334.jpg

       7 likes

  25. Zephir says:

    “Notting Hill Carnival is ‘frightening and drives residents from their homes,’ poll finds

    Nine out of ten residents living along the route of the Notting Hill Carnival flee their homes to escape the “frightening and intimidating” event, research showed today.

    Many are so fed up with the noise and nuisance they are forced to leave every August Bank Holiday while some businesses resort to boarding up their shop fronts.

    Many officials have shied away from addressing the security challenges posed by the event to date, viewing it as a “taboo” subject inextricably linked to community relations.

    Yet the poll found that almost seven in ten residents felt anti-social behaviour was a major problem. The cost of policing the Carnival now exceeds £8 million and a third of Met Police resources are diverted to the event during the bank holiday weekend. ”

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/frightening-notting-hill-carnival-drives-residents-from-their-homes-a3287866.html

       17 likes

  26. Zephir says:

    “Six in ten locals said the noise from amplified music made staying at home intolerable while more than 75 per cent complained about urination in their gardens or on the streets.”

       15 likes

  27. taffman says:

    “The next prime minister will tackle “eye-watering” energy bills, Boris Johnson has said, amid criticism that he has failed to respond to the crisis.”
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62703858
    I think that the ‘Green Blob Tax will swiftly come to an end!
    Who is to blame ?
    The Green PM and the Tory Ministers for Energy for the last twelve years.
    The people never voted for the ‘Green Agenda’.
    The Tory Party with its high majority shot it self in the foot .
    The only salvation will be a coalition of UKIP, The Brexit Party and The Reform Party .
    Present Tory MPs should be worried, very worried.

       14 likes

    • G says:

      Taffman,

      I hope I live long enough to see many of the political elite in Europe and the UK swinging gently from a lamppost.

         10 likes

      • moggie63 says:

        I’d like to see them going round and round like the useless wind turbines they want us all to suffer.

           5 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Greta Thunberg speech to UK Parliament | Climate strikes
      111,650 views24 Apr 2019

      Greta Thunberg started striking from school, starting the Fridays for Future movement and calling out our global leaders on their climate inaction. Here she delivers a compelling speech to UK MPs.

      Sign the petition urging UK government to declare a climate emergency: http://ow.ly/3Qy430ow1Kb

         1 likes

      • taffman says:

        Forget Climate Emergency . Focus on Energy Emergency!
        What sort of government gives listening time to a little teenage girl ?
        A bunch of virtue signallers.

           7 likes

      • tomo says:

        She has been rather quiet….

           3 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      taffman, the BBC and their media co-conspirators shot themselves in the foot because they pushed Partygate to push Bojo out of No.10 knowing it would result in a Tory Party leadership contest.

      They got what they wanted and now they complain when they have it! “Ha Haah!” (Nelson Muntz)

         2 likes

  28. Emmanuel Goldstein says:

    I remember Live Aid and lots of other mass concerts where pop bands get on stage and perform to save others.

    I propose a pop concert to benefit the tens of thousands of little girls raped, tortured and abused by these rape gangs.

    If there are any pop bands out there who sympathise with these little girls and feel they can help them then get Wembley booked and have an all day concert for these victims.
    Unless of course, you don’t care about them.

       17 likes

    • Guest Who says:

      Concerns on what can happen at concerts if you go off message may also play a part.

         2 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      One night at dinner in late 1985, a friend talked about Ethiopia being in a civil war. Neither I nor anyone else at the table had heard that. It hadn’t been covered in the American press. This was just six months after the Live Aid concerts in Philadelphia and London had directly and indirectly raised over $100 million dollars for famine relief in the African nation. The next day I asked my sister Nina, an assistant at SPIN then, to research this, because if the country was at war, it would surely be difficult to move aid around and get it to people who needed it.
      In those days we didn’t have the Internet, so research was done by going to the library and trawling through endless spools of microfiche — film of newspaper pages from around the world. That evening she came into my office ashen faced — she had discovered it was clear, and very well evidenced, that this famine, the awful depictions of which had pulled on the world’s heartstrings, was man made, by government planes deliberately napalming rebel farms.

      https://www.spin.com/2015/07/live-aid-the-terrible-truth-ethiopia-bob-geldof-feature/

         11 likes

  29. micknotmike says:

    Headiline on the bbc this am :-
    “Edinburgh fringe : satirists bid farewell to Boris Johnson”
    Yawn.
    If the favourite wins the upcoming Conservative leader election, I assume we can expect plenty of childish jibes about hernias next year.
    I’ve not forgotten “alleged” comedian Andy Parsons saying that “Trump” sounded like an unpleasant bodily function. The audience, of course, howled with delight.
    Me? Laugh? I nearly did.

       12 likes

  30. Fedup2 says:

    Not BBC – but Peter hitchen in the mail on line arguing for ending the Ukraine war now .

    Sadly – pretty incoherent stuff – and make the assumption that putin would stop now . Would he ?( I don’t know ) . If I was him – and still had the resources – I’d keep going until all or some on my objectives were achieved . If it were to take the whole on Ukraine – I’d do that and then put nuclear weapons back in …
    … but as an ordinary punter being fed with msm type stuff I don’t know how strained or supportive Russia is of what putin it doing ….
    Hitchin also avoids any other ambition putin might have – he might have a real taste for annexation by now …. He has surely demonstrated the power he has to put our bills up..

    By the way I speak from ignorance and don’t claim to be an armchair general – although it must start to get chilly soon …

       7 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Would make sense to fight up to the natural border of the river at least.

      https://ukrstream.tv/en/liveuamap

      png-transparent-ukraine-natural-resource-map-field-natural-minerals-world-map-bodenschatz.png

      map-ukraine-soil-degradation.jpg

      The UAE is a popular destination for Russian tourists and also has about 100,000 Russian-speaking residents. A report by the Dubai property agency Betterhomes found property purchases in the emirate increased by 67% in the first three months of 2022.11 Jun 2022

         4 likes

  31. Zephir says:

    Ever wondered what the license fee goes towards? :

    “BBC tells its staff to watch out for 170 different forms of ‘unconscious bias’ which could fuel ‘discomfort’… including discrimination based on a colleague’s hobbies

    Employees were asked to ‘reflect’ on any assumptions made in the workplace
    This included any influence from race, gender, sexual orientation or disability
    They were also warned about discriminating by relationship and parental status, appearance, education, personality, communication and interests and hobbies”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11153049/BBC-tells-staff-watch-170-different-forms-unconscious-bias.html

       9 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Nike is facing a backlash in Japan over an advert which highlights racial discrimination in the country.

      The video shows the “real life experience” of three young soccer players from mixed heritage.

      It has about 25 million views on social media and almost 80,000 shares.

      But it has sparked fierce debate as Japan is unaccustomed to openly discussing sensitive issues such as race, with some questioning whether a foreign brand should have waded in.

      Nike Japan said the ad highlights how people “overcome their daily struggles and conflicts to move their future through sports”.
      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55140846

         2 likes

  32. Zephir says:

    And your iphone costs ?

    “Their delusions and hypocrisy are beyond parody: As Apple staff claim it’s racist and sexist to force them back in the office, ex-No 10 supremo STEVE HILTON heaps scorn on the ‘hippy-dippy mumbo-jumbo’ of the pampered whingeing millennials”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-11152711/STEVE-HILTON-hippy-dippy-mumbo-jumbo-pampered-whingeing-millennials.html

       8 likes

  33. Guest Who says:

    Surely UK media industry managed this years ago?

    Exception made for Gary Linek… ohhhhhhh…..

       12 likes

  34. taffman says:

    ‘Civil war’ in taffland.
    Who was the other “group ” ?
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62701100

       4 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      No place for hate, says Pride Cymru after Cardiff protest
      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62701100
      ……………
      ‘My first thought as I came round was Oh God! What have I done?’: Man suing the NHS over trans surgery he bitterly regrets has bravely waived anonymity to share his ordeal
      Ritchie Herron, 35, says life has been unbearable since surgery four years ago
      His case first emerged after he shared experience on Twitter under pseudonym
      He claims NHS failed to take mental health crisis into account before procedure
      …………….
      ‘There is a demographic of gay men that think I should shut up and sit down’: Meet the female drag queens
      As Drag Race welcomes its first ever cis woman queen to the competition, Joanna Whitehead speaks to some of the UK’s other female queens about their experiences of the sequin-strewn world of drag

      Saturday 02 October 2021 15:09
      20
      Comments

      Untitled-1.jpg?quality=75&width=990&auto=webp&crop=982:726,smart

         1 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Marky

        Please don’t frighten the horses or family pets ….😎

           8 likes

      • JohnC says:

        But there is plenty of space for hate the other way round. The really nasty kind – where people try to utterly destroy your life.

        As some who pointed out biological truths on twitter have found out.

           12 likes

  35. JohnC says:

    From the BBC article:

    Police want to know more about the movements of this black Audi Q3 in the days before Olivia’s death.

    _126456612_23857d1e-9270-4110-becc-9be3cfc2bcfc.jpg

    Damn – if only the number plate had been visible, it could have helped a lot. Same as how they could have narrowed their appeals for witnesses to some murders to 3% of the population if only they had mentioned he was black.

       19 likes

  36. pugnazious says:

    Allison Pearson in the Telegraph has upset the lovies by saying….

    ‘Emily Maitlis is the Meghan Markle of journalism ‘

    Triggered them or what….probably because they know she is 100% spot on.

    James O’Brien had to comment of course…..

    Now getting my two minutes of hate in and tuning in to O’Brien to hear him pleading with his listener to subscribe, like and sign up to his guff, I couldn’t help thinking that JO’BBY was not unlike the much maligned, by Emily Maitlis, Infowars Alex Jones whom she accused of not believing in a word of his own schtick and only in it for the money.

    Is JO’BBY LBC’s very own Infowars Alex Jones….not believing a word he himself says, just there for the likes and the cash? Gotta think so……I mean….who’d believe a word of the raving nonsense, total rubbish and flat-out lies that comes out of his gob? Not even his mother I suspect.

    The BBC is well shot of the pair of them…shame they jumped rather than being pushed.

    Maitlis is of course cynically intent on whipping up a furore, and slagging off her former employer and colleagues, in order to sell her new podcast….for which ironically she has been ringing round Tory MPs to get them to come on after slagging the Tories in her speech and all through her career.

    ‘Last night, a senior Government source claimed that Ms Maitlis has been messaging Ministers directly to ask them to take part on the daily podcast she presents with former BBC presenter Jon Sopel after the bookings ‘dried up’.

    The source said: ‘Maitlis is shameless. Her left-leaning, anti-Tory views coloured her reporting at the BBC at the time.’

       12 likes

  37. BRISSLES says:

    If she’s looking for ‘guests’ on her Pod, can I suggest…… Alan Yentob / Joshua Rosenberg / Vanessa Feltz / Claudia Winkelman / Jonathan Sacerdoti / Emma Barnet …….. for starters.

       5 likes

  38. Zephir says:

    “Bog standard! Plywood toilet shacks where users do their business into a WHEELIE BIN and wide-open urinals that pump waste directly into street drains make a return to Notting Hill Carnival despite concerns over public health

    Pictures from this year show a row of cubicles which appear to each consist of a hole above a wheelie bin
    On the other side of the structure is an assembly of sheet metal, signposted ‘urinal’, in the open air
    Historic social media posts from previous Notting Hill Carnivals voiced concern about the ‘wheelie bin loos'”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11154107/Wooden-shacks-housing-wheelie-bins-double-toilets-return-Notting-Hill-Carnival.html

       6 likes

  39. Zephir says:

    “BBC bias: Question Time’s most frequent panellists are ALL Remainers
    THE BBC was slammed for inflicting “Remainergeddon” on its viewers after it was revealed the broadcaster’s most frequent Question Time panellists overwhelmingly voted for Remain, as the broadcasters faces new accusations of a pro-Brexit bias.”

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1661443/bbc-brexit-question-time-panellist-bias-remainers-leavers-emily-maitlis

       11 likes

    • Emmanuel Goldstein says:

      Z, the problem is the LGBBC are so far to the left that even a normal left winger will appear to them as far right.

         5 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Question Time in Lincoln – 15/01/2014

         0 likes

  40. Zephir says:

    “Ofgem faces legal action for ‘unthinkable’ 80% energy bills hike
    GOOD Law Project, a campaign group, has announced that it is planning to sue Ofgem for raising the price cap to record levels, warning that the decision would “devastate families”.

    the choice they’ve made is to let low-income consumers and small businesses bear the brunt of this crisis.

    “We believe Ofgem can, and should, do more.

    “We intend to put the question before the High Court, and will ask for a fast-tracked timeline to reflect the urgency of this crisis.”

    “The group said that it would ask the High Court to “ensure the regulator upholds its legal duties to, among other things, carry out an impact assessment that includes assessing the disproportionate impact on elderly people, children and people with disabilities, before confirming the price cap increase”.

    https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1661436/ofgem-facing-energy-crisis-good-law-project-sue-bills-hike-October-price-cap-update

       4 likes

  41. MarkyMark says:

    “People feel very strongly about stupid things.”
    Question Time in Lincoln – 15/01/2014

       2 likes

  42. Docmarooned says:

    First positive thing I believe the GLP have done. On another note with regard to the civil servants wanting to continue WFH and not actually doing work. Sack the lot of them if this the case. This country is beyond belief now where employees start dictating terms.

       6 likes

  43. Guest Who says:

    Hard to rationalise, given the image.

       6 likes

  44. Guest Who says:

    No iwatch too. At least. Unlike most BBC regulars

       0 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      BBC has suddenly got interested in Pakistanis – not necessarily the ones who are Paedo racist rape gangs – but perhaps the relatives back home …..

      Plenty of gang members back home getting rather wet – goes around comes around ……

         8 likes

      • Guest Who says:

        Interesting country.

        Albeit in the Chinese threat sense.

           2 likes

  45. taffman says:

    “Sgt Gavin Hillier shot dead by soldier with ‘poor eyesight’ ”
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-62705206
    This is tragic !
    Are there no medicals?

       2 likes

  46. StewGreen says:

    ITV news
    – Opening item “floods in Pakistan”
    Sad for victims of course
    but bad things happen every week across the globe

    – Closing item “Notting Hill carnival .. a celebration of global values”
    ..emm that is gaslighting It’s a celebration of Caribbean culture NOT global

       9 likes

    • StewGreen says:

      OK so why would ITV make Pakistani floods #1 ?

      There is a line
      The death toll prompted the country’s climate minister to label the season as “a serious climate catastrophe”.
      .. Of course he did
      He’s not going to say “don’t look at me not doing enough flood prevention measures”

      “climate catastrophe” is a meme that fits right in with libmob so of course media will seek then amplify that angle
      ITV put up about 2 or 3 Youtube clips per day this Pakistan was one SELECTED by them to be put on YouTube
      Title: Pakistan floods death toll tops 1,000 as minister declares ‘serious climate catastrophe’
      .. https://youtu.be/lGGOif3rn4o
      ITV doesn’t allow comments on any of its videos

         3 likes

  47. Northern Voter says:

    I see from the papers today that the Rotting Hill Coonival stopped today for 73 seconds to remember the Grenfell dead. They could have stopped all day to remember all the stab victims in that great metropolis.

       9 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Or all the third world thicko s who got caught for fraud getting a piece of the charity action ….

         4 likes