Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
50 - 32 you say??
Whatever you do, don't do the reverse calculation.
It's remarkable that this story isn't much higher profile. But it happens so regularly. We just shrug our collective shoulders and move on. Middle Eastern nutter does Middle Eastern nutter thing, what you gonna do?
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
And I am not suggesting they actually want a relationship. Sexual attraction for me is pretty visual. But most men get beyond that to look for partners.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
16th birthday, I think.
But like I said, what was considered acceptable in the Eighties is not now and rightly so. Page 3 has been consigned to the dustbin of history years ago.
It has, and that’s a good thing. But of course the internet is 90% far worse porn than Page 3 ever was.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
Dating is different from finding sexually attractive. No one believes Andrew was dating Virginia Giuffre.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
50 - 32 you say??
Whatever you do, don't do the reverse calculation.
I tell you what freaks you out the first time.
When your girlfriend's age is closer to the age of your kids than your age.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
50 - 32 you say??
Whatever you do, don't do the reverse calculation.
I tell you what freaks you out the first time.
When your girlfriend's age is closer to the age of your kids than your age.
There seems to be some interest on here for some PBers to take a punt on a younger lady. Here's a book I found which they might find helpful.
Millions of Women are Waiting to Meet You: A Story of Life, Love and Internet Dating https://amzn.eu/d/8oQbZcp
The response of the King seems quite mild, given the fact that Andrew has clearly misled the court as well as the media concerning his relationship with the Epstein circle. If I were the King I would be incandescent that his brother has clearly lied to his face. More to the point, there is the open question of what else Andrew has been doing that is, shall we say, unlikely to be popular in the country at large.
If, as I think we may suspect, it includes highly problematic financial arrangements, I think that Andrew will be exiled to the outer darkness for the rest of his life. Certainly the Prince of Wales seems to be of this opinion. This is notwithstanding the attempts of Beatrice and Eugenie to stay in good standing with the court, which I think are completely doomed.
Ironically it is not the size of the Royal family that is the problem- the Duke of Kent and the Gloucesters have been doing sterling work, as have the Edinburghs and the Princess Royal and Sir Tim... even Zara and Mike. The Yorks on the other hand...
It’s rare for someone not to possess a single redeeming feature, but I think Andrew achieves that distinction.
A friend of mine wrote a wonderful adult Harry Potter fanfic, where even Bellatrix is horrified by what she sees inside Andrew’s mind. She hands him over to Fenrir Greyback, to punish as he sees fit.
“Like you, Fenrir’s an animal, but even so, he has some standards, and he thinks you’ve fallen short of them.”
The only thing I can think of is that he's raised two fairly nice daughters.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
50 - 32 you say??
Whatever you do, don't do the reverse calculation.
I tell you what freaks you out the first time.
When your girlfriend's age is closer to the age of your kids than your age.
There seems to be some interest on here for some PBers to take a punt on a younger lady. Here's a book I found which they might find helpful.
Millions of Women are Waiting to Meet You: A Story of Life, Love and Internet Dating https://amzn.eu/d/8oQbZcp
Nah, not that loser, he was so successful with women he used to hire hookers, which he boasted about on here.
The response of the King seems quite mild, given the fact that Andrew has clearly misled the court as well as the media concerning his relationship with the Epstein circle. If I were the King I would be incandescent that his brother has clearly lied to his face. More to the point, there is the open question of what else Andrew has been doing that is, shall we say, unlikely to be popular in the country at large.
If, as I think we may suspect, it includes highly problematic financial arrangements, I think that Andrew will be exiled to the outer darkness for the rest of his life. Certainly the Prince of Wales seems to be of this opinion. This is notwithstanding the attempts of Beatrice and Eugenie to stay in good standing with the court, which I think are completely doomed.
Ironically it is not the size of the Royal family that is the problem- the Duke of Kent and the Gloucesters have been doing sterling work, as have the Edinburghs and the Princess Royal and Sir Tim... even Zara and Mike. The Yorks on the other hand...
It’s rare for someone not to possess a single redeeming feature, but I think Andrew achieves that distinction.
A friend of mine wrote a wonderful adult Harry Potter fanfic, where even Bellatrix is horrified by what she sees inside Andrew’s mind. She hands him over to Fenrir Greyback, to punish as he sees fit.
“Like you, Fenrir’s an animal, but even so, he has some standards, and he thinks you’ve fallen short of them.”
The only thing I can think of is that he's raised two fairly nice daughters.
Kept them grounded by going to birthday parties at Pizza Express in Woking.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
A quite extraordinary statement here from PCS union: "To add insult to injury, the government’s recent cuts to the overseas aid budget will not only lead to job losses and a loss of valuable expertise, but could cost hundreds of thousands of lives overseas."
Equating a few thousand job losses with the deaths of 100x more people abroad.
As an aside, I know quite a few people at FCDO desperately hoping for redundancy. Department is a shitshow and they'd be delighted to get paid to leave. Ironic in a way their union is desperately fighting to prevent his.
That's not fair. The logic is clearly to discuss in sequence
(a) definite/certain to happen (b) might well happen
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
The response of the King seems quite mild, given the fact that Andrew has clearly misled the court as well as the media concerning his relationship with the Epstein circle. If I were the King I would be incandescent that his brother has clearly lied to his face. More to the point, there is the open question of what else Andrew has been doing that is, shall we say, unlikely to be popular in the country at large.
If, as I think we may suspect, it includes highly problematic financial arrangements, I think that Andrew will be exiled to the outer darkness for the rest of his life. Certainly the Prince of Wales seems to be of this opinion. This is notwithstanding the attempts of Beatrice and Eugenie to stay in good standing with the court, which I think are completely doomed.
Ironically it is not the size of the Royal family that is the problem- the Duke of Kent and the Gloucesters have been doing sterling work, as have the Edinburghs and the Princess Royal and Sir Tim... even Zara and Mike. The Yorks on the other hand...
It’s rare for someone not to possess a single redeeming feature, but I think Andrew achieves that distinction.
A friend of mine wrote a wonderful adult Harry Potter fanfic, where even Bellatrix is horrified by what she sees inside Andrew’s mind. She hands him over to Fenrir Greyback, to punish as he sees fit.
“Like you, Fenrir’s an animal, but even so, he has some standards, and he thinks you’ve fallen short of them.”
The only thing I can think of is that he's raised two fairly nice daughters.
Still surprised nobody is talking about his RN and Falklands service. I tried to point it out earlier, if only in fairness.
A quite extraordinary statement here from PCS union: "To add insult to injury, the government’s recent cuts to the overseas aid budget will not only lead to job losses and a loss of valuable expertise, but could cost hundreds of thousands of lives overseas."
Equating a few thousand job losses with the deaths of 100x more people abroad.
As an aside, I know quite a few people at FCDO desperately hoping for redundancy. Department is a shitshow and they'd be delighted to get paid to leave. Ironic in a way their union is desperately fighting to prevent his.
That's not fair. The logic is clearly to discuss in sequence
(a) definite/certain to happen (b) might well happen
2000 jobs at risk isnt a definite. In any case, I think "insult to injury" means... bad thing happened, and then you were rude about it/something more minor that is bad happened.
The deaths of hundreds of thousands are rather more important than a much smaller number losing their job.
The response of the King seems quite mild, given the fact that Andrew has clearly misled the court as well as the media concerning his relationship with the Epstein circle. If I were the King I would be incandescent that his brother has clearly lied to his face. More to the point, there is the open question of what else Andrew has been doing that is, shall we say, unlikely to be popular in the country at large.
If, as I think we may suspect, it includes highly problematic financial arrangements, I think that Andrew will be exiled to the outer darkness for the rest of his life. Certainly the Prince of Wales seems to be of this opinion. This is notwithstanding the attempts of Beatrice and Eugenie to stay in good standing with the court, which I think are completely doomed.
Ironically it is not the size of the Royal family that is the problem- the Duke of Kent and the Gloucesters have been doing sterling work, as have the Edinburghs and the Princess Royal and Sir Tim... even Zara and Mike. The Yorks on the other hand...
It’s rare for someone not to possess a single redeeming feature, but I think Andrew achieves that distinction.
A friend of mine wrote a wonderful adult Harry Potter fanfic, where even Bellatrix is horrified by what she sees inside Andrew’s mind. She hands him over to Fenrir Greyback, to punish as he sees fit.
“Like you, Fenrir’s an animal, but even so, he has some standards, and he thinks you’ve fallen short of them.”
The only thing I can think of is that he's raised two fairly nice daughters.
Still surprised nobody is talking about his RN and Falklands service. I tried to point it out earlier, if only in fairness.
Even if he drops his title I suspect he still remains a ****.
"Birmingham’s Jews fear to be seen in city that has become hotbed of sectarianism Rabbi admits he avoids centre of town while others claim some areas are like ‘1933 Germany’ rather than 2025 Britain" (£)
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
16th birthday, I think.
But like I said, what was considered acceptable in the Eighties is not now and rightly so. Page 3 has been consigned to the dustbin of history years ago.
Really?
I'm glad we've moved on a bit.
(Although I did see a very funny Jimmy Carr video which equated the age of consent and the age of voting, which I'm not going to share.)
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
My grandfather was there several months before being transferred with his battalion to Mesopotamia. He rarely spoke about the Somme, but often told stories of the Mesopotamia campaign. He much preferred fighting the Turks even though the casualties were similar and very hard to dig cover because of the rock hard ground. He thought the Turks brave and honorable troops who respected truces to collect wounded and dead.
The campaign effectively ended in autumn 1917 and occupation duties there kept him from the epic battles on the Western front in 1918 which had casualty rates matching the Somme. That is probably why I exist. He was troubled by malaria for years afterwards but otherwise intact.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
50 - 32 you say??
I've just texted my wife to let her know that I'm allowed to date 32 year olds! She'll be thrilled, I'm sure.
A quite extraordinary statement here from PCS union: "To add insult to injury, the government’s recent cuts to the overseas aid budget will not only lead to job losses and a loss of valuable expertise, but could cost hundreds of thousands of lives overseas."
Equating a few thousand job losses with the deaths of 100x more people abroad.
As an aside, I know quite a few people at FCDO desperately hoping for redundancy. Department is a shitshow and they'd be delighted to get paid to leave. Ironic in a way their union is desperately fighting to prevent his.
The USAID cuts are forecast to cause several million deaths:
Our programmes are smaller so the number of deaths will be smaller numbers, but behind every statistic is a tragic story. Here's Myanmar, where Rohingya are literally dying of starvation.
Those estimates imo will be inflated because other budgets (especially national ones) will flex a bit to reduce damage in many cases. That said lots and lots of people will die as a result. No doubt about it.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
Errr... Sun Page 3 was not looked at solely by men in their 20s. (And didn't Samantha Fox appear on her 18th birthday?)
Fortunately, most men realize what an appropriate relationship is.
16th birthday, I think.
But like I said, what was considered acceptable in the Eighties is not now and rightly so. Page 3 has been consigned to the dustbin of history years ago.
It has, and that’s a good thing. But of course the internet is 90% far worse porn than Page 3 ever was.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
Mine was on the Ark Royal when it sunk in 1941
That sounds a bit "Four Yorkshireman", I am sorry!
"Birmingham’s Jews fear to be seen in city that has become hotbed of sectarianism Rabbi admits he avoids centre of town while others claim some areas are like ‘1933 Germany’ rather than 2025 Britain" (£)
I suspect that is undoubtedly true. It is also true that young Muslim women going about their lawful business in Britain's cities are also fearful for their safety. Neither are a good look for Britain.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
50 - 32 you say??
I've just texted my wife to let her know that I'm allowed to date 32 year olds! She'll be thrilled, I'm sure.
Haha! I would text mine the same, but we haven't agreed the financial settlement yet
If anyone needs cheering up about the state of the country - ie all of us - I’ve just landed at LHR from Seattle and as I disembarked three cute American girls were excitedly discussing how glad they were to be in london (first time, I surmised) and their chances of falling in love with a British guy (they seemed really keen on this idea)
So, someone still fancies us, for all our problems
I'm tired of all the whining.
Britain is a f-king awesome place, and we're a great people.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
Mine was on the Ark Royal when it sunk in 1941
That sounds a bit "Four Yorkshireman", I am sorry!
I suppose getting drunk in / near Sheffield is a bit Four Yorkshiremen. When I were a lad I could only afford to get drunk in Sheffield.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
I've known for years that my great grandfather was in the British Indian Army (it was he who encouraged my grandfather to more to the UK) but recently I found out his brother-in-law died at Monte Cassino.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
50 - 32 you say??
Whatever you do, don't do the reverse calculation.
I tell you what freaks you out the first time.
When your girlfriend's age is closer to the age of your kids than your age.
There seems to be some interest on here for some PBers to take a punt on a younger lady. Here's a book I found which they might find helpful.
Millions of Women are Waiting to Meet You: A Story of Life, Love and Internet Dating https://amzn.eu/d/8oQbZcp
Nah, not that loser, he was so successful with women he used to hire hookers, which he boasted about on here.
I wonder if the mandatory PB age difference calculation applies to hookers too?
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
Surely the law says you are allowed to fuck 16 year olds. As long as you don't pay them and you're not their teacher. That's it, really.
Yes, not helped by Trump changing his mind whenever the wind shifts.
I note he was wearing a suit today, and speaking to US arms manufacturers and power companies. Best to speak in cash when trying to talk the Donald around.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
I've known for years that my great grandfather was in the British Indian Army (it was he who encouraged my grandfather to more to the UK) but recently I found out his brother-in-law died at Monte Cassino.
Sorry to hear that. My father survived Monte Cassino, fortunately.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
The mission creep beyond immigration is turning into a gallop. A $170bn private army/surveillance apparatus is being turned against citizens who are not supporters of the administration.
https://x.com/evadou/status/1979159798764458023 Recent official remarks & federal contracts reflect ICE intends to use some of its growing, powerful surveillance tools to probe what the administration defines as ‘Antifa’. Civil-rights watchdogs say ICE may now have broad authority to surveil dissenting Americans
A crime with insufficient consequences? Illegal medical procedures and supply of drugs-with-consequences by non qualified people?
(I'm in several minds about different angles on this, including having quite a downer on people who buy such.)
Alice Webb thought she'd be home in time for the school run.
In September last year, she had booked a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift (BBL) with Jordan Parke, a self-styled practitioner known as the "Lip King". The procedure typically sees dermal filler injected to make the buttocks bigger.
Hours later she was dead.
The BBC has discovered that while Mr Parke - who was arrested but not charged - is not currently offering Brazilian butt lifts, he is still operating in the cosmetics industry, illegally selling prescription-only weight-loss jabs on social media. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gk0w95jyjo
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
My grandfather was there several months before being transferred with his battalion to Mesopotamia. He rarely spoke about the Somme, but often told stories of the Mesopotamia campaign. He much preferred fighting the Turks even though the casualties were similar and very hard to dig cover because of the rock hard ground. He thought the Turks brave and honorable troops who respected truces to collect wounded and dead.
The campaign effectively ended in autumn 1917 and occupation duties there kept him from the epic battles on the Western front in 1918 which had casualty rates matching the Somme. That is probably why I exist. He was troubled by malaria for years afterwards but otherwise intact.
It wasn’t much fun for my grandfather, who was a prisoner of war. When he eventually got home, weighing 5 stone, he received a handwritten letter from KGV.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
My grandfather was there several months before being transferred with his battalion to Mesopotamia. He rarely spoke about the Somme, but often told stories of the Mesopotamia campaign. He much preferred fighting the Turks even though the casualties were similar and very hard to dig cover because of the rock hard ground. He thought the Turks brave and honorable troops who respected truces to collect wounded and dead.
The campaign effectively ended in autumn 1917 and occupation duties there kept him from the epic battles on the Western front in 1918 which had casualty rates matching the Somme. That is probably why I exist. He was troubled by malaria for years afterwards but otherwise intact.
It wasn’t much fun for my grandfather, who was a prisoner of war. When he eventually got home, weighing 5 stone, he received a handwritten letter from KGV.
Reading my last two posts, I’m extremely thankful that, like most of us, I haven’t needed to fight in a war.
There's an interesting conversation about the historical importance of Trump with Neil Ferguson, Victor Davis Hanson and Stephen Kotkin from the Hoover Institution.
Exploring topics including Donald Trump’s second term and the transformation of the Republican Party, relations between China and Taiwan, America’s fiscal crisis, the current state of universities, and the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this wide-ranging and often passionate conversation dives deep into history, politics, and the fate of Western civilization.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
My grandfather was there several months before being transferred with his battalion to Mesopotamia. He rarely spoke about the Somme, but often told stories of the Mesopotamia campaign. He much preferred fighting the Turks even though the casualties were similar and very hard to dig cover because of the rock hard ground. He thought the Turks brave and honorable troops who respected truces to collect wounded and dead.
The campaign effectively ended in autumn 1917 and occupation duties there kept him from the epic battles on the Western front in 1918 which had casualty rates matching the Somme. That is probably why I exist. He was troubled by malaria for years afterwards but otherwise intact.
It wasn’t much fun for my grandfather, who was a prisoner of war. When he eventually got home, weighing 5 stone, he received a handwritten letter from KGV.
PoW of the Turks?
Those captured at the first battle of Kut were notoriously badly treated. My grandfather was in the later campaign, including the second battle of Kut and onwards to Baghdad.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
The response of the King seems quite mild, given the fact that Andrew has clearly misled the court as well as the media concerning his relationship with the Epstein circle. If I were the King I would be incandescent that his brother has clearly lied to his face. More to the point, there is the open question of what else Andrew has been doing that is, shall we say, unlikely to be popular in the country at large.
If, as I think we may suspect, it includes highly problematic financial arrangements, I think that Andrew will be exiled to the outer darkness for the rest of his life. Certainly the Prince of Wales seems to be of this opinion. This is notwithstanding the attempts of Beatrice and Eugenie to stay in good standing with the court, which I think are completely doomed.
Ironically it is not the size of the Royal family that is the problem- the Duke of Kent and the Gloucesters have been doing sterling work, as have the Edinburghs and the Princess Royal and Sir Tim... even Zara and Mike. The Yorks on the other hand...
It’s rare for someone not to possess a single redeeming feature, but I think Andrew achieves that distinction.
A friend of mine wrote a wonderful adult Harry Potter fanfic, where even Bellatrix is horrified by what she sees inside Andrew’s mind. She hands him over to Fenrir Greyback, to punish as he sees fit.
“Like you, Fenrir’s an animal, but even so, he has some standards, and he thinks you’ve fallen short of them.”
The only thing I can think of is that he's raised two fairly nice daughters.
Still surprised nobody is talking about his RN and Falklands service. I tried to point it out earlier, if only in fairness.
He also remains on good terms with his ex-wife. Potentially would have remarried her had the Queen not objected. That shows at the very least that he isn't a brute.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
Try sane washing that little narrative.
Delusional Don seems to think this is just some personal argument between Putin and Zelensky.
He seems never to have got to grips with the concept of unprovoked invasion.
Former West Ham manager Graham Potter is in talks to become Sweden's next head coach.
What have the poor Swedes done to deserve this.
He's very well regarded in Sweden, he managed there for seven years, he led Östersunds when they beat the Woolwich Arsenal in the Europa League at the Emirates.
A crime with insufficient consequences? Illegal medical procedures and supply of drugs-with-consequences by non qualified people?
(I'm in several minds about different angles on this, including having quite a downer on people who buy such.)
Alice Webb thought she'd be home in time for the school run.
In September last year, she had booked a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift (BBL) with Jordan Parke, a self-styled practitioner known as the "Lip King". The procedure typically sees dermal filler injected to make the buttocks bigger.
Hours later she was dead.
The BBC has discovered that while Mr Parke - who was arrested but not charged - is not currently offering Brazilian butt lifts, he is still operating in the cosmetics industry, illegally selling prescription-only weight-loss jabs on social media. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gk0w95jyjo
I remember when women were mostly concerned that their bum didn't look big in whatever they were wearing.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
Try sane washing that little narrative.
I don't really see anything insane there.
Are you unaware of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and Putin's plan for a Greater Russia? The plan until the phonecall to Putin yesterday was rearm Ukraine to push back an aggressive Russia.
The response of the King seems quite mild, given the fact that Andrew has clearly misled the court as well as the media concerning his relationship with the Epstein circle. If I were the King I would be incandescent that his brother has clearly lied to his face. More to the point, there is the open question of what else Andrew has been doing that is, shall we say, unlikely to be popular in the country at large.
If, as I think we may suspect, it includes highly problematic financial arrangements, I think that Andrew will be exiled to the outer darkness for the rest of his life. Certainly the Prince of Wales seems to be of this opinion. This is notwithstanding the attempts of Beatrice and Eugenie to stay in good standing with the court, which I think are completely doomed.
Ironically it is not the size of the Royal family that is the problem- the Duke of Kent and the Gloucesters have been doing sterling work, as have the Edinburghs and the Princess Royal and Sir Tim... even Zara and Mike. The Yorks on the other hand...
It’s rare for someone not to possess a single redeeming feature, but I think Andrew achieves that distinction.
A friend of mine wrote a wonderful adult Harry Potter fanfic, where even Bellatrix is horrified by what she sees inside Andrew’s mind. She hands him over to Fenrir Greyback, to punish as he sees fit.
“Like you, Fenrir’s an animal, but even so, he has some standards, and he thinks you’ve fallen short of them.”
The only thing I can think of is that he's raised two fairly nice daughters.
Still surprised nobody is talking about his RN and Falklands service. I tried to point it out earlier, if only in fairness.
He also remains on good terms with his ex-wife. Potentially would have remarried her had the Queen not objected. That shows at the very least that he isn't a brute.
So that's three things.
Sarah Ferguson is the only royal that I have met one to one. She was visiting some friends on my ward after the Clapham train disaster.
She was stunning in real life and a real charmer. She just could not take a decent photo, always looking hideous in those.
Last week, after some consideration, I took two books to the charity shop (Band of Brothers, and a book by Robert Harris). Now I find out that Marie LeConte eliminated 36 in the same fashion, leaving only 130. This concerns me. The solution to TooManyBooks is MoreShelves, not LessBooks. You can buy them from Argos.
A crime with insufficient consequences? Illegal medical procedures and supply of drugs-with-consequences by non qualified people?
(I'm in several minds about different angles on this, including having quite a downer on people who buy such.)
Alice Webb thought she'd be home in time for the school run.
In September last year, she had booked a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift (BBL) with Jordan Parke, a self-styled practitioner known as the "Lip King". The procedure typically sees dermal filler injected to make the buttocks bigger.
Hours later she was dead.
The BBC has discovered that while Mr Parke - who was arrested but not charged - is not currently offering Brazilian butt lifts, he is still operating in the cosmetics industry, illegally selling prescription-only weight-loss jabs on social media. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gk0w95jyjo
I remember when women were mostly concerned that their bum didn't look big in whatever they were wearing.
Former West Ham manager Graham Potter is in talks to become Sweden's next head coach.
What have the poor Swedes done to deserve this.
He's very well regarded in Sweden, he managed there for seven years, he led Östersunds when they beat the Woolwich Arsenal in the Europa League at the Emirates.
Do they only get coverage of the Premier League on a three season delay in Sweden?
Former West Ham manager Graham Potter is in talks to become Sweden's next head coach.
What have the poor Swedes done to deserve this.
He's very well regarded in Sweden, he managed there for seven years, he led Östersunds when they beat the Woolwich Arsenal in the Europa League at the Emirates.
The Ostersunds story is an interesting one. Potter's reputation was perhaps overstated because of his success there.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
A little known fact is that Lloyd George sent the Welsh Guards to countries with plenty of sheep.
Rourke's Drift was not known for its sheep. Impalas perhaps. But not enough wet grass for Mr&Mrs Sheep.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
Surely the law says you are allowed to fuck 16 year olds. As long as you don't pay them and you're not their teacher. That's it, really.
Last week, after some consideration, I took two books to the charity shop (Band of Brothers, and a book by Robert Harris) Now I find out that Marie LeConte eliminated 36 in the same fashion, leaving only 130. This concerns me. The solution to TooManyBooks is MoreShelves, not LessBooks. You can buy them from Argos.
Trouble isn't having too many books, it's carrying on buying more after all the shelves are full. Eventually you need to build an extension to house all the new shelves.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
Mine was on the Ark Royal when it sunk in 1941
That sounds a bit "Four Yorkshireman", I am sorry!
I thought this was in answer to "Where/how was the most drunken night ever of your life?" and got very confused.
Last week, after some consideration, I took two books to the charity shop (Band of Brothers, and a book by Robert Harris) Now I find out that Marie LeConte eliminated 36 in the same fashion, leaving only 130. This concerns me. The solution to TooManyBooks is MoreShelves, not LessBooks. You can buy them from Argos.
She does say "no there is no amount of yelling at me that will change my mind"
I have spent several long days this summer putting up new shelving in order to get all of the books in our house that have been in crates for years onto a bookshelf so I bear the scars...
Former West Ham manager Graham Potter is in talks to become Sweden's next head coach.
What have the poor Swedes done to deserve this.
He's very well regarded in Sweden, he managed there for seven years, he led Östersunds when they beat the Woolwich Arsenal in the Europa League at the Emirates.
The Ostersunds story is an interesting one. Potter's reputation was perhaps overstated because of his success there.
Potter also did well at Brighton, but different coaches "top out" at different levels or have different abilities. Look at a somebody like a Warnock, Pulis or Big Sam, undeniable they can craft team that are well organised, better than the sum of their parts, but they are never elite level managers in a month of Sundays.
Yes I know Big Sam got the England job, but ridicilious appointment.
Former West Ham manager Graham Potter is in talks to become Sweden's next head coach.
What have the poor Swedes done to deserve this.
He's very well regarded in Sweden, he managed there for seven years, he led Östersunds when they beat the Woolwich Arsenal in the Europa League at the Emirates.
The Ostersunds story is an interesting one. Potter's reputation was perhaps overstated because of his success there.
He was pretty well regarded at Swansea and Brighton, it was that move to Chelsea that ruined everything.
I know the well connected Liverpool journalists said back in 2022 before Klopp signed his contract extension Potter was on the shortlist to replace Klopp.
"Birmingham’s Jews fear to be seen in city that has become hotbed of sectarianism Rabbi admits he avoids centre of town while others claim some areas are like ‘1933 Germany’ rather than 2025 Britain" (£)
I suspect that is undoubtedly true. It is also true that young Muslim women going about their lawful business in Britain's cities are also fearful for their safety. Neither are a good look for Britain.
Dachau was opened as a concentration camp in 1933. I don't think Birmingham has any concentration camps...
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
He's a bit too ready for anything, without much concern about the impact, but I'm impressed by his readiness to think outside the traditional Green agenda.
Former West Ham manager Graham Potter is in talks to become Sweden's next head coach.
What have the poor Swedes done to deserve this.
He's very well regarded in Sweden, he managed there for seven years, he led Östersunds when they beat the Woolwich Arsenal in the Europa League at the Emirates.
The Ostersunds story is an interesting one. Potter's reputation was perhaps overstated because of his success there.
He did ok at Swansea and Brighton. It all went t*** up at Chelsea and beyond.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
Mine was on the Ark Royal when it sunk in 1941
That sounds a bit "Four Yorkshireman", I am sorry!
One of my schoolmates: her father was a member of the crew of the Glorious when it was sunk in 1940 in one of the least edifying episodes of RN history. Very fortunately for him, he was ashore at the time (I forget why, probably doing something Supply Branch related).
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
Try sane washing that little narrative.
I don't really see anything insane there.
Are you unaware of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and Putin's plan for a Greater Russia? The plan until the phonecall to Putin yesterday was rearm Ukraine to push back an aggressive Russia.
Of course. However, wanting the war to stop, wanting it to freeze largely along its current lines, for Putin to have made territorial gains but not to have conquered Ukraine, isn't an insane position. You may find it an immoral, unjust, treacherous and cowardly position, but it's not an insane one. On the list of mad things Trump has said, that doesn't even get on the menu.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
They should just stop! The man is a genius!!
The problem is Trump is an absolute c*nt, but also a ridiculous berk.
Last week, after some consideration, I took two books to the charity shop (Band of Brothers, and a book by Robert Harris) Now I find out that Marie LeConte eliminated 36 in the same fashion, leaving only 130. This concerns me. The solution to TooManyBooks is MoreShelves, not LessBooks. You can buy them from Argos.
Trouble isn't having too many books, it's carrying on buying more after all the shelves are full. Eventually you need to build an extension to house all the new shelves.
There's no point owning a book that you are never going to read again.
Prince Andrew has been forced to relinquish all his titles including the Duke of York and Knight of the Garter after his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened to overshadow the reign of his brother, King Charles.
He will remain known as Prince Andrew, in accordance with a law first set down by George V in 1917 which stipulates that a son of a monarch can be called a prince.
His title should be Pervert Slug.
I think the twitter trolls have already decided he should be known from hereonout as 'Nonce Andrew'
Serious question. Did Prince Andrew shag anyone who was underange/a child? Whilst it’s messed up an old man with a very young woman as far as I understood she was with him in London when she was 17 so above the age of consent. Have never seen anything showing he had sex with underage women. Prob not best that people call him a pedo if that’s the case. A dirty fucking pig maybe but surely a bit dodgy to label him a nonce.
My thoughts exactly. And how old was he back then? How many men in there early thirties have lusted after the new girl in the office, say?
.... Very few, I'd hope? That seems weird.
You think it’s weird that men fancy 17-18 year old girls? Really?
... Men above above their teens or early 20s - yeah. It's just weird.
The old rule was “half your age +7”
So a 20 year old can date a 17 year old; 30 - 22; 40 - 27; 50 - 32 etc
Surely the law says you are allowed to fuck 16 year olds. As long as you don't pay them and you're not their teacher. That's it, really.
I think there's also the tiny matter of consent.
Well yes of course, if not it's called rape.
But everyone's getting their knickers in a twist about going out with someone a few years younger.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
A little known fact is that Lloyd George sent the Welsh Guards to countries with plenty of sheep.
Rourke's Drift was not known for its sheep. Impalas perhaps. But not enough wet grass for Mr&Mrs Sheep.
Lloyd George was responsible for the Isandhlwana campaign? Huge if true.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
Evidence that Lloyd George decided on which divisions attacked where?
He had input into the strategic plan & there were arguments that he intervened to rotate the UVF to the Somme. There were letters, I believe, but it’s been 30+ years since I wrote a dissertation on it
I certainly don’t believe he set them up to be killed.
I dont think anyone was deliberately trying to kill British troops.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
My grandfather was on the Somme too - but not sure when.
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
Mine was on the Ark Royal when it sunk in 1941
That sounds a bit "Four Yorkshireman", I am sorry!
I thought this was in answer to "Where/how was the most drunken night ever of your life?" and got very confused.
I remain interested but non-committal until after the conference. It's taken the opposite approach from Reform, which had Farage cheerily sketching policies off the cuff and modifying them as he went along - this one is determinedly member-led and consequently slow to lay down detailed policies. There are a host of regional conferences before the national one building up. We'll see...
Not tempted by Polanski's Green Party? He smashed it out of the park on #BBCQT last week, and this sort of Social Media presence is just what the country needs:
He's a bit too ready for anything, without much concern about the impact, but I'm impressed by his readiness to think outside the traditional Green agenda.
The traditional Green agenda being trans and Gaza.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
A little known fact is that Lloyd George sent the Welsh Guards to countries with plenty of sheep.
Rourke's Drift was not known for its sheep. Impalas perhaps. But not enough wet grass for Mr&Mrs Sheep.
Lloyd George was only 16 at the time, so I doubt he had much say in the deployment.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
A little known fact is that Lloyd George sent the Welsh Guards to countries with plenty of sheep.
Rourke's Drift was not known for its sheep. Impalas perhaps. But not enough wet grass for Mr&Mrs Sheep.
Lloyd George was only 16 at the time, so I doubt he had much say in the deployment.
I think the 24th Foot was mostly recruited in Warwickshire, and only moved to Brecon a few years before Rorkes Drift, so not very Welsh at the time.
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
A little known fact is that Lloyd George sent the Welsh Guards to countries with plenty of sheep.
Rourke's Drift was not known for its sheep. Impalas perhaps. But not enough wet grass for Mr&Mrs Sheep.
Lloyd George was only 16 at the time, so I doubt he had much say in the deployment.
Was he dating someone older than 18 at the time? (18/2 + 7 = 16)
Perhaps this has already been noticed, so forgive the repetition if it is, but yesterday in Surrey there were six by-elections. The Lib Dems won all six (which is perhaps to be expected) but the surprise for me is that, on average, the Conservatives polled 15%. That's got to be a cause for concern in Conservative Party HQ. They really ought to be getting a lot more than 15% in Surrey.
I’ve made my peace that for the next four years elections for the Tories including the general election will be like the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Bad on the left flank but highly successful in the south (as long as the French are there)?
First day of the Somme is both a terrible tragedy and a missed opportunity. The inability to communicate easily to the front and the lack of ability to get follow up troops lost the chance of cracking the front wide open. In the South the cavalry were set to go in, and the line was broken.
As a student I couldn't process the fact my teacher said British casualties on the first day numbered 57,000.
To some extent I still cannot.
Yep. Basically a full Anfield. A third dead, the rest injured. In one day, and actually for the most part fairly early on in the day.
The signs had been there in the American Civil War, but truly the lesson of how to assault heavily fortified trenches covered by machine guns and artilliary took a lot of learning.
The conspiracy theory is to look at how many of those casualties were loyal to Carson personally rather than the British state. And then to remember what a complete and utter bastard Lloyd George was.
I don’t buy that. Lloyd George had no control over which troops fought over which bit of the line. And before the day a lot of the brass thought that the bombardment would have wiped out the Germans, as it pretty much had in the south, adjacent to the French. For the French 1st July, 1916 was one of their best days of the war.
In the words of the song:
So, come gather round my comrades all, this First of July morn,
When Ulstermen are proud and glad of the land where they were born,
And we’ll never more be led away for to fight in a foreign land,
Or to die for someone else’s cause, at an Englishman’s command.
Lloyd George was influential in where the UVF were posted and where the attack was made.
A little known fact is that Lloyd George sent the Welsh Guards to countries with plenty of sheep.
Rourke's Drift was not known for its sheep. Impalas perhaps. But not enough wet grass for Mr&Mrs Sheep.
Lloyd George was responsible for the Isandhlwana campaign? Huge if true.
Nothing was beyond him. Hence the "Welsh Wizard" nickname. Presumably time travel was one of his minor gifts.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
He's not going to let them have Tomahawks is he?
Ukraine really only needs them to hit the Shaheed drone factory. The rest they can pretty much trash themselves with homemade drones.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
They should just stop! The man is a genius!!
He's operating on a plane that others can't even conceive of let alone dream of reaching.
Trump, after meeting with @ZelenskyyUa , says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
He's not going to let them have Tomahawks is he?
He made his mind up to give them. Then Putin called him and he unmade his mind up
Although the Andrew story is important, I think the China story is far more important. So guess which one the media seems to be devoting more attention to.
Comments
When your girlfriend's age is closer to the age of your kids than your age.
Millions of Women are Waiting to Meet You: A Story of Life, Love and Internet Dating https://amzn.eu/d/8oQbZcp
Yorkshire for the win.
The disaster of the first day of the Somme (at least on the left flank) was largely down to a belief that the preparation artillery barrage would cut the wire and slaughter the German troops in the trenches. Both were incorrect.
My grandfather was an infantry private there with the Manchester regiment. I think not on the first day, but the renewed offensive on the 15th.
(a) definite/certain to happen
(b) might well happen
There are times I'm surprised I am here - and you too obviously.
In any case, I think "insult to injury" means... bad thing happened, and then you were rude about it/something more minor that is bad happened.
The deaths of hundreds of thousands are rather more important than a much smaller number losing their job.
Rabbi admits he avoids centre of town while others claim some areas are like ‘1933 Germany’ rather than 2025 Britain" (£)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/17/birminghams-jews-fear-city-become-hotbed-sectarianism/
I'm glad we've moved on a bit.
(Although I did see a very funny Jimmy Carr video which equated the age of consent and the age of voting, which I'm not going to share.)
The campaign effectively ended in autumn 1917 and occupation duties there kept him from the epic battles on the Western front in 1918 which had casualty rates matching the Somme. That is probably why I exist. He was troubled by malaria for years afterwards but otherwise intact.
https://www.mosboroughhall.co.uk/
Belgrade for me. Aged 23.
Booted out of the ? restaurant and then we seriously started.
That sounds a bit "Four Yorkshireman", I am sorry!
I note he was wearing a suit today, and speaking to US arms manufacturers and power companies. Best to speak in cash when trying to talk the Donald around.
Trump, after meeting with
@ZelenskyyUa
, says both Ukraine and Russia should just stop fighting. "They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent."
A $170bn private army/surveillance apparatus is being turned against citizens who are not supporters of the administration.
https://x.com/evadou/status/1979159798764458023
Recent official remarks & federal contracts reflect ICE intends to use some of its growing, powerful surveillance tools to probe what the administration defines as ‘Antifa’. Civil-rights watchdogs say ICE may now have broad authority to surveil dissenting Americans
(I'm in several minds about different angles on this, including having quite a downer on people who buy such.)
Alice Webb thought she'd be home in time for the school run.
In September last year, she had booked a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift (BBL) with Jordan Parke, a self-styled practitioner known as the "Lip King". The procedure typically sees dermal filler injected to make the buttocks bigger.
Hours later she was dead.
The BBC has discovered that while Mr Parke - who was arrested but not charged - is not currently offering Brazilian butt lifts, he is still operating in the cosmetics industry, illegally selling prescription-only weight-loss jabs on social media.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gk0w95jyjo
Exploring topics including Donald Trump’s second term and the transformation of the Republican Party, relations between China and Taiwan, America’s fiscal crisis, the current state of universities, and the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this wide-ranging and often passionate conversation dives deep into history, politics, and the fate of Western civilization.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Gm1OR2SPg
Those captured at the first battle of Kut were notoriously badly treated. My grandfather was in the later campaign, including the second battle of Kut and onwards to Baghdad.
So that's three things.
What have the poor Swedes done to deserve this.
Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, cast doubt on claims that women were raped during the Hamas-led massacre in 2023.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/17/pro-gaza-mp-shutout-israeli-football-fans-khan-hamas-villa/
He seems never to have got to grips with the concept of unprovoked invasion.
I reckon PB needs a box of "things that could bring Starmer down".
There might even be a Venn diagram to be drawn.
She was stunning in real life and a real charmer. She just could not take a decent photo, always looking hideous in those.
https://bsky.app/profile/youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com/post/3m3g6uyrejk26
I have spent several long days this summer putting up new shelving in order to get all of the books in our house that have been in crates for years onto a bookshelf so I bear the scars...
Yes I know Big Sam got the England job, but ridicilious appointment.
I know the well connected Liverpool journalists said back in 2022 before Klopp signed his contract extension Potter was on the shortlist to replace Klopp.
Pass it on so that someone else can read it.
But everyone's getting their knickers in a twist about going out with someone a few years younger.
Ewwwwww