436 Responses to Midweek 30th August 2023

  1. tomo says:

    Amazing…

    Some actual reporting in The Guardian

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/29/uwe-bristol-rugby-player-maddy-lawrence-waited-five-hours-for-ambulance-inquest-hears

    The BBC doesn’t seem to think it rates above local news,,,,

       9 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      “UWE Bristol rugby player waited five hours for ambulance, inquest hears
      Maddy Lawrence, 20, was injured in match and died in hospital 16 days later after picking up an infection”

      Sadiq Khan to ban hospitals or charge £12.50 per visit.

         11 likes

      • tomo says:

        5 hours in utter agony

        I’ve dealt with a work incident where a colleague dislocated his hip and chipped the edge of the hip socket and the pain was obviously serious and relentless and the patient was obviously in shock and half out of his mind with the pain. Evacuation to the ER was immediate and purposeful. The paramedic went full serious detail mode about hip dislocation – it isn’t trivial.

        The tale of Maddy Lawrence made me angry beyond words.

        It seems likely this was a cascading failure – but failure it self evidently was. Hard choices have to be made but from what I know of SWAS – this has a whiff of manslaughter and humility seems MIA. The arses at SWAS are notorious locally for sending a 999 ambulance the day after a call some years ago in West Wiltshire.

        Keep clapping

           15 likes

        • Northern Voter says:

          Playing rugby in Hull in the 80’s I ended up with displaced rib cartilage. The ambulance turned up OK, but once we got to HRI I was on a trolley for 4 hours waiting for an x-ray. Sports injury, self inflicted don’t you see.

             11 likes

          • tomo says:

            Northern Voter

            dislocated hips are on another level – it can cause permanent injury or even loss of the leg (as in this case) if the femur is not put back into the socket as quickly as possible. 5 hours is very simply not acceptable – all on its own…

            There look to be serious questions to be asked about this failure and I’d argue that should fault be found there should be serious consequences for the failing individuals.

               9 likes

    • Sluff says:

      Surely not another example of our NHS heroes in action?

      But hey, it’s free at the point of delivery.
      So it must be beyond criticism.

      Clap, clap, clap.

         4 likes

  2. Johnda says:

    Went to the cinema yesterday with the grandkids to see sleeping beauty. Two adverts for the BBC WTF. Why are they adverting in cinemas?

       21 likes

    • digg says:

      It’s a sign they are going into panic mode with impending collapse so I would view it as an excellent event Johnda!

         7 likes

  3. Fedup2 says:

    Do you ever read something about the intentions of the blue labour government that really does make you think – they are just rubbish .
    Today they are bringing a law to force criminals to be in thr box for sentencing ….if they still refuse the sentence will be ‘extended ‘…
    …. But you will instantly realise that the NHS mass murderer – letby – is. Getting a full lifer job anyway – so apart from giving her a Chinese burn or dead leg – she can just say ‘Eff off ‘ -ridiculous …

       17 likes

    • jazznick1 says:

      In her case, and others like her, ‘reasonable force’ can be used to drag her into court; where this was not permitted before.

      ‘Non co-operation’ is no longer an excuse to avoid appearing.

         8 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Jazz – do you think the union of prison staff will allow the comrades to use force in courts?

        My particular favourite of executing the likes of letby is out of fashion … much more humane than living of the taxpayer for another 30 or 40 years …

           8 likes

        • jazznick1 says:

          I expect some of them might just enjoy it a bit too much !?

             3 likes

          • G.W.F. says:

            You use force to drag a jihadist terrorist mass murderer to hear his sentence. He yells “Allah Ackibar kill the infidels” and his supporters around the country do it, just as instructed .

               9 likes

  4. Dickie says:

    Russia/Ukraine war – analysis:

    https://bigserge.substack.com/p/escaping-attrition-ukraine-rolls

       3 likes

  5. MarkyMark says:

    “I think what officers and police everywhere should be focussing on is on tackling crime. That’s what the public expect and what I expect from the police. And I’ve been talking to police officers here today, that’s what they’re keen to deliver. And that’s why one of the things we’ve done recently is agree with the police that they will follow up all reasonable lines of enquiry when thefts happen.”

    order-order.com

    Over-100-men-slipped-into-their-high-heels-put-their-best-foot-forward-and-set-off-to-Walk-a-mile.jpg

       10 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Using his hat as a drinks tray – maybe rubbish like him should find a more suitable job – litter collection

         27 likes

      • Mrs Kitty says:

        I still recall the tale of the probationer fresh out of university with a degree who quit after a week, they hadn’t realised they would have to work weekends and shifts.

           19 likes

      • digg says:

        He looks like he might be one of those pseudo community officer thingies, hired to show a presence because the real cops can’t be arsed to actually walk anywhere any more.

        Plus I’m convinced most of these pseudo community officers only join to get a swat uniform so they can role play like the characters in the computer games they probably binged on throughout their childhood.

           5 likes

  6. Terminal Moraine says:

    R5’s Nihal Arthanayake tweets “Notting Hill Carnival is such a good way of exposing old racists” because it turns out that if you’re very selective you can show a lower arrest rate than some other nicely hand-picked events.

    Whether that arrest rate is for violent crime or for other offences isn’t important. Nihal’s got hold of some FACTS, and that’s as far as a BBC employee is able to drill down into the data.

       12 likes

  7. Terminal Moraine says:

    I had to watch the first of a new BBC drama the other day; ‘The Woman in the Wall’, a murder mystery about the Magdalene laundries scandal in Ireland.

    First off, as a visual reminder of the justified rage Christianity deserves we see a portrait of the Sacred Heart of Jesus who’s been stabbed through the eye. Using graphic imagery like this in response to other religious atrocities seems unlikely ever to pass BBC compliance, but as it’s Christianity it’s fair game.

    The lead is a traumatised woman with a history of acting oddly. The local plod aren’t up to the job, being Irish country folk who relish their boring village life they don’t know their arse from their elbow. It takes a suave, young, black detective inspector from Dublin to step things up while they stand around an abandoned car in a field having trouble determining if the licence plate ends in a ‘B’ or an ‘8’. Because they’re Irish and live in the country you see, they haven’t a clue. If only one of them was suave, young, black and urban, begorrah.

    I’m not watching any more but I imagine the likely outcome is that Mr DI manages to bring down two millennia of systemic Catholic oppression — hauling a broken Pope in to face charges of historical crimes against women who then declares repentantly that he’s going to Build the Church Back Better. Without Jesus, whom everyone agrees is problematic. Mr DI then signs up the local plod to a Lenny Henry media training course so the thick Irish bumpkins can learn something useful for once in their pointless lives.

    It did bring home the great nonsense of diversity and inclusivity — swap the race/culture components and the screenwriter would be in a world of trouble for stereotypes as predictable and hackneyed as these. Thankfully I don’t have to watch any more (the Guardian TV reviewer loved it.)

    https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/mediapacks/the-woman-in-the-wall

       27 likes

    • harry142857 says:

      Starring some good old Oirish names of the 1950s, Chizzy Akudolu and Charles Abomeli. The co-lead character is Detective Coleman Akande who is in real life at least half native.

         13 likes

  8. Dickie says:

       3 likes

  9. JohnC says:

    Guardian arse-cheek headline:

    ‘Most people had a fantastic time at Notting Hill carnival, says Met police chief’
    https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/aug/30/notting-hill-carnival-violence-stabbings#:~:text=Most%20people%20attending%20the%20Notting,number%20of%20very%20dangerous%20people%E2%80%9D.

    Ah – so as long as more people enjoy it than stab each other, everything is fine.

    Sounds a lot like ‘mostly peaceful’ to me.

    Why do the far-Left protect black people so much ?. They can be quite sure they would be stabbed just as readily as anyone else.

       27 likes

    • harry142857 says:

      Disturbing videos of people being crushed like Hillsborough on YouTube. Little man Khan won’t stop the carnage.

         14 likes

  10. Northern Voter says:

    Don’t forget the Macmillan Nurses coffee morning next month. Having seen the adverts, they ought to change the name to Blackmillan.

       22 likes

  11. Thoughtful says:

    Some stunning news that’s definitely being kept from the public is the Bank of Englands announced bond losses of £175 Billion ! It’s not even in the FT, but it’s all over foreign news sources and the possibility of the now notorious “doom loop” happening here.

    This is serious stuff and there’s no good reason why the media should not be reporting it.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/30/bank-of-england-bond-losses-to-cost-government-20b-more-than-expected.html

    Of course the BBC hasn’t even covered the earlier report with the lower figures last month when the government had to make the largest ever payment to the BoE, but the Grauniad were carrying the story so they cannot feign ignorance.

       8 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Thoughful – thanks for this – I watched this and then went to the article the chap is using – in the final paragraph it says things are not too bad because HMRC receipts are higher than expected – at the moment ….

      … however – to me the sheer grimness of the UK economy is worstened by this . The governor of the Bank of England is a dead man walking . I suspect he ll find ‘other challenges ‘ pretty soon ….
      The next Uk interest rate decision is on 23 September – a 0.25% rise seems a ‘dead cert ‘ …..

         4 likes

    • G says:

      Thoughtful,

      “This is serious stuff and there’s no good reason why the media should not be reporting it.”

      BBC: Don’t make the public jittery. Just convey normality, cos we’ll have fun unlimited when the Chinese arrive to take control.

      Maybe we’ll extend the Chinese Belt and Road initiative in the UK in exchange for their money. Who knows? But I wouldn’t be surprised.

         2 likes

  12. Eddy Booth says:

    “American Air To Surface Rockets Hit Center Donetsk Russia Ukraine War (Special Operation)”

    Patrick Lancaster reporting from an empty residential block hit by an American HARM missile, and from a children’s ward in a hospital.
    Interesting in places.
    He’s touching the missile in the thumbnail and finds it’s still hot!😆. Better footage than BBC’S Kiev efforts.

       6 likes

    • tomo says:

      Russia Has (it’s claimed) Eliminated Another High-Ranking NATO General In Ukraine and some other “advisors”…

         7 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Tomo – why put up pro Russian propaganda here – very poor propaganda too – very poor … and I’m no Ukraine groupy – it’s war porn

           5 likes

        • tomo says:

          Fedup2

          That attack a few days ago (last week) on a theater in Ukraine generated 3 or 4 articles on the BBC web site – the first of which quoted the town mayor saying that there was a conclave of drone manufacturers – which speaks to effective Russian intelligence operations. If NATO neocons are putting “advisors” in country surreptitiously – why wouldn’t they be legitimate targets?

          The touted refurbishment of the Nuke storage at Mildenhall is concerning.

          Last year I saw hundreds of American military containers in Irish regional ports …

             3 likes

        • JohnC says:

          I’m afraid any video these days which claims something about the war then starts showing me unrelated or ‘stock’ footage or starts playing some aggressive music immediately gets the ‘close’ button as propaganda.

          I found this the other day which is certainly not propaganda and has never been mentioned as far as I know by the ‘independent and unbiased BBC’:

          ‘Washington D.C., December 12, 2017 – U.S. Secretary of State James Baker’s famous “not one inch eastward” assurance about NATO expansion in his meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on February 9, 1990, was part of a cascade of assurances about Soviet security given by Western leaders to Gorbachev and other Soviet officials throughout the process of German unification in 1990 and on into 1991, according to declassified U.S., Soviet, German, British and French documents posted today by the National Security Archive at George Washington University’

          https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early

          Like everything the Left don’t like, the idiot Left acedemics do everything they can to disprove it. In this case they say ‘it’s not valid because the Secretary of State said it, not hte President.’

          Still – gives them something else to do instead of claim Hitler was in fact Far-Right and definitely NOT a socalist.

             4 likes

    • JohnC says:

      It’s standard BBC procedure now to hide under a table for 12hrs after any big bang nearby. Then go out and try to find some injured children – preferably crying.

      And of course it’s only wrong when Russia do it.

         11 likes

  13. Emmanuel Goldstein says:

    Notting Hill.

    Talk of using a Park to keep them away from ordinary people.

    Maybe it’s too small but could they let them all go into Wembley Stadium and get on with what they do.
    No police need go in.
    Then, when they are finished doing what they do they can let them out.

       15 likes

    • Eddy Booth says:

      How about Glastonbury, the following weekend, they can stay in all the left behind tents.

         16 likes

    • JohnC says:

      I had something thrust in front of me by my technology of someone complaining about how all the posts on social media which pointed out the disproportionate murder rate by blacks were from ‘disgusting racists’.

      Which I found ironic because THAT one was the only post I have seen – and it was from a disgusting anti-white racist who is trying to cover it up.

         13 likes

  14. tomo says:

    oo -err…. that might explain Mrs Obama’s furious face all day …

       11 likes

  15. Guest Who says:

    https://x.com/bbcnews/status/1697117952410087755?s=61

    BBC News really like expertise that could.

       3 likes

  16. harry142857 says:

    Notting Hill in Hyde Park.

    Hire of venue – £2 million.
    Exterior fences, marshaling, security, public health insurance, toilet hire, stage and sound kit, knife arches, generator hire, policing, first aid.
    Toal £10m at least.
    Where’s the money coming from.
    Maybe £20 entrance fee.

       24 likes

  17. Guest Who says:

    Murica

    https://x.com/45lvnancy/status/1696977004783157474?s=61

    Here, however, our young dynamic political classes can’t stop saying stuff.

    https://x.com/fidelcuntstruck/status/1697118349929378120?s=61

    And our media? Well, they just keep copying and pasting.

    https://x.com/skynews/status/1696961032135078255?s=61

    Meanwhile the public are cottoning on.

       5 likes

  18. andyjsnape says:

    Mark Thompson: CNN appoints former BBC director general as chief executive
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66656093

    Anyone surprised that the joined at the hips and the bBCs special US partner has appointed him. More of the same at the CNN then

    He has been appointed due to falling viewing figures – not sure how an ex bbc employee will help the cause 🙂

       24 likes

  19. Guest Who says:

    The current engagement with this post by an msm broadcaster is telling.

    https://x.com/skynews/status/1697135127279833339?s=61

    Sky is beyond laughable.

       7 likes

  20. AsISeeIt says:

    Beer review edition

    That old adage comes to mind: A Lie Is Halfway Round the World Before the Truth Has Got Its Boots On…

    Or got its football boots off…?

    World Cup winner laughed about controversial kiss… Jenni Hermoso, the footballer at the cetre of controversy over a kiss… was caught on video sharing social media jokes about the incident… Rubiales is understood to have sent footage to Fifa to aid his case (Telegraph)

    He didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – ultra-feminist anti-male politicisation of women’s football is a feature of the game, not a bug.

    It was Beatle John Lennon who penned his book of nonsensical stories and absurd drawings titled A Spaniard in the Works [1965] and not even ace fictional defence lawyers the likes of Perry Mason, Horace Rumpole or the latterday Lincoln Lawyer are saving his job and getting Luis Rubiales off this charge… She Who Must Be Obeyed, eh?

    Hermoso later said the unwanted kiss had left her feeling “vulnerable and like the victim of an assault”. In a statement on social media, she described it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part” (Aljazeera)

    Research, just out today (by Mr AsI), says experts only receive funding for those certain types of research that tend to fit pre-existing narratives and agendas.

    Occasionally we get a rare glimpse behind the curtain; a chance to note the creepy crawlies busy beneath the stone that hides the nexus of experts and their funding: Ulez reviewer had funding links to Mayor… A scientist who “independently peer reviewed” a paper used to justify the Ulez expansion is a member of a group that has received funding from the Mayor of London’s office” (Telegraph) – Let me just step in for a quick correction there: a member of a group that has received funding from the Mayor of London’s office Council Tax payers

    Imagine Mr AsI donning a white coat, a neat row of pens in his top pocket and a startled look like Beaker from the Muppet Show and him setting off applying for funding for research into the notion that training male doctors might be more efficient for our cash-strapped NHS than spending scarce resources on training their female counterparts – given medically qualified women’s greater propensity to go part-time and to take extended periods of paid maternity leave.

    Hard to imagine, isn’t it?

    Well, you don’t have to imagine institutional research funding being awarded for almost the exact opposite proposition: Doctor knows best, especially if she is a women, study suggests… Research in Canada and Sweden appears to show benefit of being operated on by female surgeons rather than their male colleagues (Guardian) – Go Girl! Girl Power!

    Beer reviewed research papers

    Which brings us to the vexed issue of beer goggles: Drinking alcohol doesn’t give people ‘beer goggles’ after all (New Scientist)

    Beer Goggles or Liquid Courage? Alcohol’s Real Effect on Attraction… Summary: Contrary to popular belief, alcohol doesn’t make people look more attractive, says a new study. The findings indicate alcohol consumption increases the likelihood of approaching people you already find attractive but doesn’t change how attractive you find them. (Neuroscience News)

    The Guardian liked this one – fitting some sort of agenda of their’s, we assume: ‘Beer goggles’ study finds alcohol does not make people seem better looking… US research casts doubt on anecdotal evidence… If you thought beauty was in the eye of the beer holder, think again. Scientists have poured cold water – or rather, vodka – on the existence of “beer goggles”

    However, the jokey blokey Daily Star new peer review released today begs to differ; questioning the research methodology and – perhaps the killer blow in argumentation of this sort – the tabloid appeals to feminine authority: Boffiness blasts boffins who claim booze doesn’t make us better looking… Beer goggles: it’s war… Expert says mega-important alcohol research should’ve been carried out in Wetherspoons on a Friday night instead of in a laboratory… British behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings has blasted new US research which dismissed the idea folk become more attractive in drink.

       19 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      ASI – looks like we at the dregs of the ‘quiet season ‘ with stuff about booze and girls being kissed ….. any refusal to accept the the Spanish kiss was a sexual assault means misogyny .

      ….. however – I understand the incident is being investigated as a suspected crime – so if the ‘objective ‘ evidence points to a degree of consent things will get stirred up even more …. It’s inevitable that third rate girls games produce third rate ‘drama ‘…

         12 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        AISI, “Hermoso later said the unwanted kiss had left her feeling “vulnerable and like the victim of an assault”. In a statement on social media, she described it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part” (Aljazeera)”

        Hermoso becoming hormonal?

        Unfortunately the position of her hands rather undermines her claim to the All That Jazz newspaper.

        Remember to have your arms folded, Jenni, in front of you next time. If there is a next time ….

           2 likes

  21. Guest Who says:

    Questions to which the answer is ‘no’*

    https://x.com/crazycorner67/status/1696823562412151074?s=61

    *see what I did there?

       9 likes

  22. Messenger says:

    I lived in London 65 years ago and surprise, surprise pea -souper fogs were called that because they were literally yellowish-green and you couldn’t see across even the narrowest road. I still recall being present one evening when a passing car drove straight into the central island near St George’s in a fog, and the people inside were trapped. Your clothes would have dirty rim at the end of the every day, especially if you travelled on the underground or the buses. Further out of London my in-laws lived on a hill high above the local railway station and the steam trains would expel copious smuts which landed on the washing on the garden. so it had to be washed again. Things have improved enormously and Khan is talking rubbish about air pollution today.

       31 likes

    • Fedup2 says:

      Some lefty coroner said a kid died because of living in a city with cars ,ban the cars . Ban the city . I hope those taking on ULEZ cameras don’t let up …. Even though Kahn made me sell a perfectly good 2010 car …

         16 likes

    • G says:

      Messenger,

      “lived in London 65 years ago”. Wow ! and you’re still alive with all that pollution?

      For decades, I’ve had a very close relationship with diesel engines and their exhaust fumes at a time when there was virtually no “Air Quality” data. As you, I’m in my old age and last year had a camera down both lungs and biopsy taken for an unrelated problem. Medical comments following were: ‘a good set of lungs and no problems to be seen. Wow ! What happened?………….

      The “Porkies” are ubiquitous?

         15 likes

      • BRISSLES says:

        The offspring of migrants are great at dictating to us, and deciding how we live our lives, no matter what the cost. Funny how they’re hell bent on “improving”, it’s also funny how they still want to remain in this country too as its so awful. None of the migrant kids ever want to return to the place of their parents birth ie India, to reform living conditions there do they ?

           20 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Am old enough to remember London smogs and apparently they have their own Wiki (usual disclaimers, may not be accurate, etc): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog_of_London . This is just the 1952 smog but there were others in the 1950s and 1960s.

      The last London Smog in the 1960s led to the Clean Air Act and smokeless fuels. Mind you, steam trains were already on their way out, much to the disgust of my avid steam train-spotting father. We already burned anthracite on the Aga equivalent and I’m pleasantly surprised to see that Parkers are still going and still selling anthracite! https://www.awparkercoalmerchants.co.uk/page/anthracite-coal I wonder how many depots they have around the UK, used to have one locally by the railway near Wood Green.

         4 likes

  23. JohnC says:

    Is China’s economy a ‘ticking time bomb’?
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66636403

    These BBC ‘Question Headlines’ make me laugh because the answer is always the same:

    ‘No – but we wish it was Yes’

       13 likes

  24. Up2snuff says:

    BBC WEB-SITE Watch #1 – er, I think that is called a ‘harvest moon’ in August, BBC

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-66663534 I think we are being gaslighted in the 21st century, by the BBC and others, who tell us things such as ‘global warming’ & ‘climate change’ = bad weather, you get a blue moon in August. The colour of the moon varies depending on where in its arc it is photographed. Low on the horizon it will appear red; higher in the sky it will appear colder and more blue.

    The full moons in June, July and August used to be known as Harvest Moons. This goes back to the days before mechanised harvesting where workers with horse drawn machinery would go out into the fields even at night, especially if some bad weather threatened to come along the next day or day after, to harvest crops. I seem to recall a BBC favourite, Laurie Lee, writing about this, probably in his book ‘Cider with Rosie’.

       15 likes

  25. Scroblene says:

    So Mark Thompson has rocked up at CNN now!

    Wasn’t he around the Beebolic swamp when the Savile stuff was boiling up – soon to be swept under the carpet?

    https://www.channel4.com/news/mark-thompson-jimmy-savile-bbc-newsnight-video

    These people have no shame, and never deserve to be believed under any ciscumstances – the public need much better information than that peddled by the likes of him and all his sordid mates.

       11 likes

  26. MarkyMark says:

    Anaphylaxis after COVID-19 Vaccination
    Anaphylaxis after COVID-19 vaccination is rare. It has occurred at a rate of approximately 5 cases per one million vaccine doses administered. Anaphylaxis, a severe type of allergic reaction, can occur after any kind of vaccination. If it happens, healthcare providers can effectively and immediately treat the reaction. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis.

    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html

    People receiving COVID-19 vaccines are less likely to die from COVID-19 and its complications and are at no greater risk of death from non-COVID causes, than unvaccinated people.

    https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html

       3 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      MM, Covid-19 vaccinated people do appear to be at risk of catching Covid-19 or influenza or something, maybe the common cold, post-vaccination. I know of several cases.

         6 likes

  27. MarkyMark says:

    NOT POLICTICAL! HA HA HA HA!

    JCVI ‘largely opposed’ to Covid vaccination for children under 16
    This article is more than 2 years old
    Exclusive: Members of government’s expert committee disagree with politicians and Jonathan Van-Tam

    Coronavirus – latest updates
    See all our coronavirus coverage
    Rowena Mason and Jessica Elgot
    Sat 7 Aug 2021 07.00 BST

    https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/07/jcvi-largely-opposed-to-covid-vaccination-for-children-under-16#:~:text=Members%20of%20the%20government's%20expert,the%20Guardian%20has%20been%20told.

       2 likes

  28. SpinningReith says:

    Messenger AUGUST 31, 2023 AT 8:36 AM
    “I lived in London 65 years ago…”

    Me too. I fixed a bike frame to my mum’s washing line and painted it a lovely shade of red. The next day the surface finish was similar to very fine sandpaper.
    Lord knows what it did to our lungs, but we’re still here aren’t we?
    Do you remember those black handkerchiefs?

       18 likes

    • Messenger says:

      I do indeed remember black handkerchiefs. Black snot, if you’ll pardon the expression, and my mother had special saucepan to boil the handkerchiefs in. Kleenex was revelation (and for other parts too)

         11 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        SR & M, did you both commute on the Underground? I did and well remember the grime. Living on a bus route as well, washing net curtains from the front windows was a twice yearly task.

           6 likes

        • Deborah says:

          Not least it used to be that people were allowed to smoke on the Tube and the carriages were filthy. it was even more exciting if you were standing in a full carriage wearing a flammable jacket whilst squashed against the smokers. Then it was changed that each train had two smoking carriages. Without fail I would rush up an escalator at Kings Cross and onto the platform, just as a train was about to leave and have to jump into the nearest carriage. It was always the smokers carriage. I hated it.

          I have noticed that now smoking on the Tube has been replaced by takeaway food. People eat it with their fingers which they then wipe on the upholstery (especially those raised padded seats you can perch on near the door). These charming starving people then realise half way through eating that the food is disgusting, and leave the half eaten meal on the seat as they leave the train.

          Smell involves molecules of whatever you can smell reaching the inside of your nose. Some molecules from these halfeaten meals are reaching your lungs. Even as a non smoker, I might prefer the cigarette smoke.

             15 likes

  29. Loobyloo says:

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/30/belgium-stop-providing-shelter-single-male-asylum-seekers/

    This article didn’t stay on the telegraph main page for long…I wonder why. And of course can’t see it on Al Beeb. Just to rub the UKs nose in it? Or is it just demonstrating that there certainly is a determined effort to assist illegal migrants in their journey here?

    For those who can’t access it, Belgium have run out of spaces/money so are only going to provide accommodation and food to women and children asylum seekers so they aren’t ‘on the streets’.
    Meanwhile over here, we are cancelling tenancy agreements with students a week befor they start uni in Huddersfield, to use their ‘luxury’ accommodation for migrants.
    Personally I think moves like this are an intentional provocation.

       24 likes

  30. Loobyloo says:

    Also, lol!!!!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/30/france-racism-martin-luther-king-video-students/

    France make a video celebrating Martin Luther King with an all white cast….well it would never happen here. At least the Europeans seem to have grown some balls and/or a thick skin.

       14 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check.

      …………….

      https://www.npr.org/2010/01/18/122701268/i-have-a-dream-speech-in-its-entirety

      …………

      ‘Racist’ Gandhi statue removed from University of Ghana
      Published
      13 December 2018
      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46552614

         1 likes

  31. vlad says:

    Some mostly-peaceful machete attacks at the Notting Hill Stab-athon that the BBC doesn’t want you to see.

    Plenty more enrichment where that came from.

       17 likes

    • Mrs Kitty says:

      Perhaps unsustainable was not the right word, uncontainable might have been better. I’m sure that the combatants can sustain the violence quite well.

         4 likes

    • Mustapha Sheikup al-Beebi says:

      From MyLondon:

      Notting Hill resident who has seen 55 Carnivals says ‘it’s getting worse’ as ‘river of urine’ flows down streets

      Story by Tom Howlett

      “A Notting Hill resident who has seen 55 Carnivals has shared that a ‘river of urine’ and mounds of waste are a common problem in the aftermath of the celebrations. Toilets are in high demand at the Carnival and those who head to the celebrations can often be caught short.

      The lack of toilet access has become such a common issue that locals have been known to hire out their personal loos for a small fee during the Carnival.

      The Notting Hill Carnival is one of London’s greatest cultural events. Europe’s largest street party is marked with an outpouring of colour, music and food but, unfortunately it is also marred by an equally large outpouring of urine.

      … … …”

         17 likes

  32. Thatcherrevolutionary says:

    Anyone else noticing the subtle shift on Ukraine? Talk of possible Russian advances, Ukrainian casualties?

    They had some BBC wank in a APC driving at full speed being pursued by a Russian drone yesterday.

    It is all now ramping up to prepare us for Ukrainian defeat which will take the form of peace talks, probably moderated by non NATO counties.

    Funny how all the Greenham Common lefties etc love the death and killing in Ukraine.

       21 likes

    • Doublethinker says:

      Best Ukrainian war story of the day is in the DT about cardboard drones with a 2 m wingspan and a putt putt engine driving a propeller the size of an egg whisk.apparently the Ukrainians have a deal whereby an Australian company is supplying them 20 a month , or possibly more, and these drones are going to turn the tide in the air war. It is claimed that they have already destroyed four Russian jets on the ground worth a few tens of millions at a cost less than one hundredth of that.
      It’s beginning to get to the stage that the MSM have so strongly lied about Ukraine that they can’t let there be a Russian victory. At worst it must be a draw with a peace treaty that can be spun as Putin getting the worse of the deal. The MSM will fight to the last Ukrainian soldier drops dead. Do they have any credibility left?

         5 likes

  33. SpinningReith says:

    Up2snuff AUGUST 31, 2023 AT 10:29 AM
    “SR & M, did you both commute on the Underground? I did and well remember the grime. Living on a bus route as well, washing net curtains from the front windows was a twice yearly task.”

    Not until much later, but now we know that the pollution down there today is similar to the bad old days of our youth!
    (Khan doesn’t mention that!)
    With the added bonus of coming home in the rush hour in winter, surrounded by wet sniffley (sic) people – happy days!

       11 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Spinning, I used to catch a cold almost on a twice yearly basis [bit like washing the net curtains 🙁 ] for which I blame the London Underground. I also managed to avoid the Moorgate accident and Kings Cross fire. Did have London Underground to thank for a virus or two, as well, one of which might have seen me off. 🙂 When the Hertford Line was modified to run into Moorgate, I travelled in via that, and walked to the place of my employ.

         12 likes

  34. Fedup2 says:

    Not BBC – but new mOD minister – grant shaps – as scatty as nadine and as thick as the dep PM – but out least theyll be gone in 12 months or so

       13 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      ” gone in 12 months or so” – old boss has gone, meet the new boss who is as useless as the old boss.

      image1.png?width=1200&height=1200&fit=crop

         3 likes

    • Up2snuff says:

      Fed, ” but out least theyll be gone in 12 months or so ” not necessarily.

      I think people may be starting to see through Labour thanks to Foghorn and Mayor Kahane. The electorate are smarter than many/most/all politicians give them credit for.

         9 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Marky / up2 – they’ll be gone. The sentiment against them is stronger than the ‘now wash your hands ‘ feeling people will have electing starmer …

        .. but my hope is for a chaotic hung parliament – or none at all ….

           13 likes

        • Up2snuff says:

          Fed, I think that ‘Socks’ Sunak may well do better than Terrymay in 2017 or even “Call me Dave” in 2015.

             1 likes

          • Fedup2 says:

            Are you serious ? Look at the level of state borrowing ?its a s —-show – totally ineffective – huge majority and no courage to use it .
            Counting the days to using his green card ….

               5 likes

            • Up2snuff says:

              Fed, yes am serious. I reckon 12 seat win for the Tories will have an awful effect on Labour and they may self-destruct.

                 1 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        “The electorate are smarter than many/most/all politicians give them credit for.”

        the-sun-jabs-army-17943.jpg

           6 likes

      • MarkyMark says:

        Behavioural Insights Team is now independent of the UK government
        The Behavioural Insights Limited (BIT) is now fully owned by Nesta. For more information, visit the Behavioural Insights Team website.

        https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/behavioural-insights-team

        What is the Nudge Unit?
        The Nudge Unit was established in the Cabinet Office in 2010 by David Cameron’s government to apply behavioural science to public policy. Now owned partly by the Cabinet Office, by Nesta and by employees, it has operations across the world.

        Its chief executive is Dr David Halpern, former director of research at the Institute for Government, who is also the government’s What Works national adviser.

        Why ‘nudge’?
        It is called ‘nudge’ after the book by Richard Thaler (who went on to win the Nobel prize in economics) and Cass Sunstein which set out how people are not the rational economic actors beloved of conventional economic theory – but can be influenced by “choice architecture” into making better choices in their own interests.

        https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/explainer/nudge-unit

           5 likes

    • Deborah says:

      Ever since I saw the photo from about a year ago of Grant Schapps tweeting a photo of himself with a visitor, one William Gates, I have changed my opinion of him. I used to think he was just thick, now I think he is a useful idiot. I am deeply concerned he has become Minister for Defence. I am still not sure what the end game is though.

         25 likes

      • Fedup2 says:

        Deborah – he is a US approved nobody whose job is to further damage the military whilst being a caretaker before the fall of the regime.

        Anyone reading me and wondering why I am so strongly for regime change must understand that I voted for a Right Wing Conservative small spend small state low tax government – instead I got imposters .
        At least with Red Labour you know where you are – ethnics – 3rd world – welfare junkies come first – taxpayers get screwed even more …. However Starmer dresses it up ….

           18 likes

        • Fedup2 says:

          And remember – shapps was the c world who gave £100 million to council to close roads …… as dangerous to us as Khan …

             13 likes

          • tomo says:

            £100 million – was that the pothole scheme or something extra to trigger us peons who foot the bill?

            I wonder if Shapps (or whatever he calls himself) is bringing his mischievous joke speech drafting SPADs to MoD?

            cue some truly toe curling pronouncements….

               10 likes

            • Fedup2 says:

              No – it was to close roads to allow cyclists to do whatever they want – his successor recognised it was a crap policy by a crap minister who now is in charge of ‘defence ‘ – and no doubt looking for £ for defence companies before heading for the door …

                 6 likes

  35. Deborah says:

    Yesterday, before the hurricane landed, GBNews was very excited. I don’t know whether other news channels were the same, but bearing in mind their climate change agenda, I would be surprised if they weren’t. However after the hurricane went onshore, nothing. I can only presume it wasn’t what was anticipated although I found a few bits of film on YouTube of places I would have preferred not to be. But it highlights the problem of where to go for reliable news. I have seen the outtakes of weather reporters swaying in the wind, wrapped up in their anoraks only to see people in T-shirts and flip flops ambling in the background.

       19 likes

    • G says:

      Deborah,

      Try Tom Nelson.

      https://www.youtube.com/@tomnelson2080

         5 likes

    • tomo says:

         9 likes

      • Thoughtful says:

        The hurricane season is measured by ACE accumulated Cyclone Energy and the UKMO issued its forecast calling for an extremely active season, with 20 named storms, 11 hurricanes, 5 major hurricanes, and an ACE index of 222 units.

        To date ACE is just less than 50 and there’s only really a couple more months to go.
        There have been two major Hurricanes and one minor one. It has been a really quiet August and I thought we were going to have another odd year with no August hurricanes, but these two just managed to squeeze in in the last few days.

           5 likes

    • G.W.F. says:

      Deborah

      GB News has an appalling record for weather forecasting much more exaggerated fear mongering than the BBC, with predictions of danger from the ‘beast from the east’, the ‘African Plume’ and many other scares. It has become a joke.
      Here is their latest scare. The Iberian Plume no less.

      https://www.gbnews.com/weather/uk-hot-weather-forecast-28c-mini-heatwave

      Between September 2 and September 6, the UK can expect a mini heatwave that will make parts of the UK hotter than Barcelona.

      An Iberian plume will hit England and see temperatures rise to 28C, bringing a warm end to the final weeks of summer.
      Weather maps show red areas of heat in London, the South East and parts of the Midlands from the beginning of next month.

         10 likes

      • Up2snuff says:

        G.W.F., GB News obviously haven’t told Meteo about it. From 3rd September the wind is from the east, not the south. I have been promised heat waves this year by MicrosoftNews, Daily Express, BBC and Daily Star, to name but four. I think a few other newspapers also failed to forecast correctly. None have been correct.

           11 likes

      • Thoughtful says:

        The Spanish Plume is a known weather phenomenon which happens from time to time and delivers some pleasant weather to us sometimes we are lucky and it originates in North Africa, and then is known as the Africa plume.

        They aren’t scares they are genuine weather terminology and the first week of September leading up to the last night of the Proms which I regard as a celebration evening for the end of the Summer and begining of Autumn is normal.

           7 likes

  36. andyjsnape says:

    Wilko deal to buy firm and save jobs falls through
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66668569

    Getty images – Dubai, Saudi Arabia ?

       5 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      _130946631_wilkonew.png.webp

         7 likes

    • Flotsam says:

      It probably was a fund hoping to buy the stores at a knockdown price and asset strip it. Realistically Wilko was a dead man walking, expensive premises, stiff competition from Home Bargains and B&M Bargains with far better pricing. One stumbling block might have been the property leases. Landlords never want to lower the rents, the Government will never lower the business rates.

         5 likes

  37. Emmanuel Goldstein says:

    I see the Fire Brigade are the latest to go woke with their pronouns.

    Now, when a Firethem attends a blaze it is a case of “Them and Thems” first (or is it because we’re all supposed to be equal now so maybe “Them, Thems and Them first”

    In todays World I suppose you would say “All Thems first but white Thems last”

       19 likes

  38. vlad says:

    Good old Farage, daring to go where the BBC daren’t and suggesting the Notting Hill Stabathon should be stopped.

    Now wait for the lefties’ (that’s the BBC) shrieks of ‘Racism’ against Nigel.

       23 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      Click bait – or demanding blackmail money?

         2 likes

      • tomo says:

        I remember the claims at the time and it was obvious that any media breaking the fatwah would be excluded from the court of Obamassiah.

        – so they all played along.

        deffo one for Marijuanna – in fact I think she should be asked about it repeatedly!

           4 likes

  39. Thoughtful says:

    Pronouns – I have decided to identify as an Elizabethan (Tudor) my pronouns are thee and thou !

       21 likes

  40. andyjsnape says:

    Body found in search for missing poet Gboyega Odubanjo
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-66668998

    Surely you know Gboyega Odubanjo

    I’ve heard of Pam Ayres. But Gboyega Odubanjo?

       20 likes

    • Ian Rushlow says:

      The giveaway for this was the headline on the BBC News (sic) website: ‘Body found in search for missing poet’. That’s not a normal headline – the only possible exception might be, say, ‘Body found in search for missing Poet Laureate’, as that is the only poet of signficance in this country. What the BBC really meant was ‘Body found in search for missing black poet’, but it was not necessary to follow the clickbait to confirm that. You see, in the liberal mind, a black person can never be just a person – preferably he or she is an aspiring architect, an aspiring doctor, an aspiring musician etc. Or, failing that, a victim. And then there are the verbotten words: for instance, they can never be a criminal, a fraudster, a rapist, a stabber or a shooter.

         19 likes

  41. Lunchtime Loather says:

    Oh no, it is all getting worse, and it is YOUR fault (and mine too, apparently):
    Are hurricanes in the US getting worse? : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-66484030
    Are wildfires in the US getting worse? : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-66114848
    Are tornadoes in the US getting worse? : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-65700588
    Is the BBC getting worse? : Strangely, that is not a topic for discussion

    Now, what are YOU going to do about it? 😉

       25 likes

  42. Dickie says:

    A veteran South African official detailed meeting with an unprepared and “desperate” Acting Deputy Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, begging for local help rolling back the popular coup in Niger. The recent BRICS conference might give Nuland even more to fret about.

    When US Acting Deputy Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland, traveled to South Africa on July 29, her reputation as a blunt instrument of Washington’s hegemonic interests preceded her.

    According to a veteran South African official who attended meetings with the senior US diplomat in Pretoria, however, Nuland and her team were demonstrably unprepared to grapple with recent developments on the African continent — particularly the military coup that removed Niger’s pro-Western government hours before she launched her multi-stop tour of the region.

    https://thegrayzone.com/2023/08/29/niger-coup-victoria-nuland-africa-tour/

       5 likes

  43. Althepalerp says:

    Holiday Inn Bristol airport was taken over by Illegals a couple of years ago.
    Apparently they have a NHS mobile dentist van that visits every couple of weeks to carry out routine treatment.
    NHS Dentist – Nice if you can get it.

       20 likes

    • tomo says:

      Althepalerp

      I hadn’t heard about the dentists

      I wondered if the migrants had found luggage handler / cabin cleaner gigs at the airport though.

         7 likes

  44. Eddy Booth says:

    “More than 100 schools told to close buildings over safety fears”
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66461879

    They’re coming for the concrete now!

       11 likes

    • MarkyMark says:

      RAAC, the material at the centre of the school buildings’ closures is not just found in educational establishments. It’s also used in a lot of other public buildings, and it is causing concern across the UK.

      Numerous public buildings have been identified as being at risk, including schools, hospitals and police stations.

      In Scotland, more than 250 NHS buildings could have been built using Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) which can collapse without warning.

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66461879

      …………………..

      RAAC was known to be used in construction in the UK dating from the 1950s to the 1990s. Recent failures have shown little to no warning of failure. RAAC has shown low strengths following water ingress, the misplacement of reinforcement bars and/or insufficient end bearing.3 Mar 2023

         8 likes