I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
Much more importantly, I saw a weasel today! Murdering a mouse. Then it darted away when it saw me, leaving the mouse to twitch its last. I stayed there, and the little bugger kept poking its head out to see if the coast was clear. Delightful!
I’ve got a couple of questions. You’re of Indian descent, and British, how do the Union Jack and Cross of St George make you feel, if I may rudely inquire?
You’re under no obligation to answer but my interest is sincere
Do you feel patriotic? Neutral? Sad? Angry about the empire?
And does it matter where you see them? Is it intimidating if you see them outside a pub or a shop or simply meaningless?
And, finally, do you have different emotional reactions to the two flags? There are suggestions on X that the England flag is now seen as the more “provocative”
Good evening, @Leon. Good thanks, hope you are too.
Apologies for the late reply. Was out with my Mum on a photo-walk (er, she's a member of not one but two of the local east London/Essex borders camera clubs), starting on Oxford St, Regent St, Carnaby St, Chinatown and Trafalgar. Let's just say the West End was rather busy, to put it mildly!
Anyway, in answer to your questions, and I feel I must apologise for writing an essay, but anyway: Nope, don't think your rude at all for asking about the flags! As for the Union Jack and St George's Cross, I do feel patriotic for both really. Certainly don't have a problem with with either of them. As you in this morning's thread, I saw a row of five flags (one row of many, in fact) hung across Oxford Street, and was eager to show all of you a picture on PB. And it's always nice to see pubs with the flags too (yes, we still have half a dozen or so in da North Ilford Ghetto!).
I think I have stated a couple of times on here that the most egregious, cruellest, pernicious aspect of the Empire was that the Powers That Be taught Indians how to play boring Cricket instead of Football. Imagine - India could now be the sporting Brazil of Asia! And I suppose Pakistan could be Argentina!
For me, England is my home, I've lived here ever since I was 4 months old. I do go back to India every couple of years, but I don't have any real attachment to the place. My language is English, and I have oft stated on here that I regard English as the best language in the world. One of the most disappointing things I find about India is the lack of civic sense in most parts of the country. Most obviously, the huge piles of litter beside train tracks and roads. No real neatness, as if tidiness isn't part of the culture. I could go on, but I digress!
Anyway, to conclude, perhaps very controversially, and this will probably upset a few PBers, I think that being English is a question of attitude, and not just a question of birth. Hope you find the above scrawlings interesting!
I quite agree on the attitude thing. "Understated" is an important part of it.
Christ, the deification of Lucy Connolly is really really wearisome. It’s even worse than the demonisation of her as the next Tommy Robinson.
She’s not our Mandela. It’s bloody ridiculous.
She pleaded guilty and was sentenced accordingly.
Blasphemer!!!!
As someone said online she’s rapidly becoming a right wing George Floyd,
But of course. In fact that's a brilliant comparison
*files it away carefully for Gazette editor*
All causes need a martyr. On examination, these martyrs are nearly always deeply flawed, but by then it doesn't matter, the narrative is put in place
Geo Floyd was a hideous career criminal, guilty of terrible things, yet the surge of emotion around his ugly death was sufficient to get him sanctified. For a while. In retrospect, I am not even sure he was murdered. I suspect he died because of his drug use more than the clearly unthinking and brutal copper
But no one cares now. The story is established, even as the emotions ebb
Lucy C is not as extremely bad as Floyd nor as extremely beatified as him, but there are definite parellels, and she will suffice as a martyr for the alt.right cause
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
We must continue this flag shagging effort, for years, to instil the necessary emotions in the varous peoples of Great Britain
It’s making me want to fly a saltire in the front garden, just to piss of the local unionists.
I think more flags should be flown.
I remember seeing a Somalian flag one time when driving through the Scottish Borders. Most diverting!
I'd consider flying a Hapsburg flag, but owner would assume I had a Kilkenny flag rotated 90 degrees.
A local chap (now deceased) had a locker fulkl of flags and would fly each on the appropriate national day, Independence Day, etc. Was quite a challenge to try and ID them during the weekly shop.
The flag fad is, I must say, significantly more aesthetically pleasing than the depredations of the Gilets Jaunes a few years ago.
Not least because the GJs, essentially a Faragiste movement across the channel, seemed particularly drawn to camping out on the middle of roundabouts, and French roundabout islands, as we know, are things of beauty.
There is no country that comes close to France in the landscaping of its roundabouts.
Much more importantly, I saw a weasel today! Murdering a mouse. Then it darted away when it saw me, leaving the mouse to twitch its last. I stayed there, and the little bugger kept poking its head out to see if the coast was clear. Delightful!
Oooh, I think I know this one, even without googling
That's got to be Cornwall
Cornwall has the most exquisite riverside churches in the world. Literally
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
We must continue this flag shagging effort, for years, to instil the necessary emotions in the varous peoples of Great Britain
It’s making me want to fly a saltire in the front garden, just to piss of the local unionists.
I think more flags should be flown.
I remember seeing a Somalian flag one time when driving through the Scottish Borders. Most diverting!
I'd consider flying a Hapsburg flag, but everyone would assume I had a Kilkenny flag rotated 90 degrees.
Much more importantly, I saw a weasel today! Murdering a mouse. Then it darted away when it saw me, leaving the mouse to twitch its last. I stayed there, and the little bugger kept poking its head out to see if the coast was clear. Delightful!
Oooh, I think I know this one, even without googling
That's got to be Cornwall
Cornwall has the most exquisite riverside churches in the world. Literally
Christ, the deification of Lucy Connolly is really really wearisome. It’s even worse than the demonisation of her as the next Tommy Robinson.
She’s not our Mandela. It’s bloody ridiculous.
She pleaded guilty and was sentenced accordingly.
Blasphemer!!!!
As someone said online she’s rapidly becoming a right wing George Floyd,
But of course. In fact that's a brilliant comparison
*files it away carefully for Gazette editor*
All causes need a martyr. On examination, these martyrs are nearly always deeply flawed, but by then it doesn't matter, the narrative is put in place
Geo Floyd was a hideous career criminal, guilty of terrible things, yet the surge of emotion around his ugly death was sufficient to get him sanctified. For a while. In retrospect, I am not even sure he was murdered. I suspect he died because of his drug use more than the clearly unthinking and brutal copper
But no one cares now. The story is established, even as the emotions ebb
Lucy C is not as extremely bad as Floyd nor as extremely beatified as him, but there are definite parellels, and she will suffice as a martyr for the alt.right cause
There are no parallels, unless you're delusional.
So I guess she will serve for the alt right.
I've often wondered how you manage to make every single comment relentlessly beige and boring. It's like you have a tiny "make-this-more-boring" machine in your head, like one of those 19th century hand-cranked sugar cane mills, extracting all the juice of interest from your product, so that you finally excrete this tiny dessicated little dropping of a comment, like a 16th century turd done by a stoat, and it is left here, on the rich embroidered carpet of PB. And then you expect us to admire it
* Nigel Farage unveils his blueprint for the 'mass deportation' of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers who come to the UK in small boats
* All those who come to the UK in small boats would be arrested and detained on disused military bases.. They would be barred from leaving until deportation
* Reform will seek to sign return deals with countries including Afghanistan and Eritrea, despite their human rights records
* Farage says Reform will charter five flights a day with an RAF Voyager on standby
* British Overseas Territories such as Ascension Island would be used as a "fallback" to accommodate migrants
* Reform will also seek to sign deals with third countries like Rwanda and Albania
* Reform would introduce new criminal offences for those attempting to return to the UK
* Farage's plan has three parts - leave ECHR and derogate from other international agreements, including UN convention against torture; bring in a British bill of rights; introduce the illegal migration (mass deportation) bill
* Reform says plans will cost £10bn over five years. It claims it will ultimately save taxpayers money
* Plans would face significant legal, political and practical obstacles
* Farage argues it is necessary to deal with the 'massive crisis' posed by illegal migration
* Pressed on what he would do if someone sent to Afghanistan was tortured or killed, Farage said: 'I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world. Who is our priority?
'Is it the safety and security of this country and its people? Or are we worrying about everybody else and foreign courts? That’s what it comes down to. Whose side are you on?'
Of course we should all feel safe in the knowledge that a Reform government will be deciding what rights we should have ! Has Farage explained what happens to the GFA , the EU UK trade agreeement and security co-operation ? No just a load of headline grabbing nonsense designed to dupe the public .
Yes, it's not like this poor benighted country of lumpen heathens had any liberties before we were granted the Promethean enlightenment of the ECHR is it?
The flag fad is, I must say, significantly more aesthetically pleasing than the depredations of the Gilets Jaunes a few years ago.
Not least because the GJs, essentially a Faragiste movement across the channel, seemed particularly drawn to camping out on the middle of roundabouts, and French roundabout islands, as we know, are things of beauty.
There is no country that comes close to France in the landscaping of its roundabouts.
"From here it’s a shortish hop to my next stop, Quiberon. And what I mainly note is: the roundabouts. After all, this is a road trip. Just as French towns are relentlessly and mystifyingly pretty (is there a factory in China that churns out pretty French towns?) so French roundabouts are ridiculously dainty and well-tended. No, really, they are. I like to imagine there is some 15th-century guild of roundabout designers established by Louis XI, toiling away in a forest near Amboise, feeling threatened by roadside verge designers in South Korea."
Main takeaway from today is that you're not going hungry in a British prison
I saw a report that said the Southport killer has got all his privileges back. Clearly even trying to kill prison guards isn't enough to get you put in the hole on minimum rations for very long.
Christ, the deification of Lucy Connolly is really really wearisome. It’s even worse than the demonisation of her as the next Tommy Robinson.
She’s not our Mandela. It’s bloody ridiculous.
She pleaded guilty and was sentenced accordingly.
Blasphemer!!!!
As someone said online she’s rapidly becoming a right wing George Floyd,
But of course. In fact that's a brilliant comparison
*files it away carefully for Gazette editor*
All causes need a martyr. On examination, these martyrs are nearly always deeply flawed, but by then it doesn't matter, the narrative is put in place
Geo Floyd was a hideous career criminal, guilty of terrible things, yet the surge of emotion around his ugly death was sufficient to get him sanctified. For a while. In retrospect, I am not even sure he was murdered. I suspect he died because of his drug use more than the clearly unthinking and brutal copper
But no one cares now. The story is established, even as the emotions ebb
Lucy C is not as extremely bad as Floyd nor as extremely beatified as him, but there are definite parellels, and she will suffice as a martyr for the alt.right cause
There are no parallels, unless you're delusional.
So I guess she will serve for the alt right.
I've often wondered how you manage to make every single comment relentlessly beige and boring. It's like you have a tiny "make-this-more-boring" machine in your head, like one of those 19th century hand-cranked sugar cane mills, extracting all the juice of interest from your product, so that you finally excrete this tiny dessicated little dropping of a comment, like a 16th century turd done by a stoat, and it is left here, on the rich embroidered carpet of PB. And yet you expect us to admire it
Sorry Leon, but your rococo insults are just risible these days.
Christ, the deification of Lucy Connolly is really really wearisome. It’s even worse than the demonisation of her as the next Tommy Robinson.
She’s not our Mandela. It’s bloody ridiculous.
She pleaded guilty and was sentenced accordingly.
Blasphemer!!!!
As someone said online she’s rapidly becoming a right wing George Floyd,
But of course. In fact that's a brilliant comparison
*files it away carefully for Gazette editor*
All causes need a martyr. On examination, these martyrs are nearly always deeply flawed, but by then it doesn't matter, the narrative is put in place
Geo Floyd was a hideous career criminal, guilty of terrible things, yet the surge of emotion around his ugly death was sufficient to get him sanctified. For a while. In retrospect, I am not even sure he was murdered. I suspect he died because of his drug use more than the clearly unthinking and brutal copper
But no one cares now. The story is established, even as the emotions ebb
Lucy C is not as extremely bad as Floyd nor as extremely beatified as him, but there are definite parellels, and she will suffice as a martyr for the alt.right cause
There are no parallels, unless you're delusional.
So I guess she will serve for the alt right.
I've often wondered how you manage to make every single comment relentlessly beige and boring. It's like you have a tiny "make-this-more-boring" machine in your head, like one of those 19th century hand-cranked sugar cane mills, extracting all the juice of interest from your product, so that you finally excrete this tiny dessicated little dropping of a comment, like a 16th century turd done by a stoat, and it is left here, on the rich embroidered carpet of PB. And yet you expect us to admire it
Sorry Leon, but your rococo insults are just risible these days.
You've forgotten how to argue.
Which makes you genuinely boring.
Yes dear, of course. Hence your instant and electrified reaction
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime confidante of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, told a top administration official she never saw President Trump engage in improper or illegal acts during his long friendship with Mr. Epstein, according to interview transcripts released late Friday.
The transcripts and audio, covering two days of discussions between Ms. Maxwell and Todd Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer tapped to the No. 2 post at the Justice Department, are likely to raise as many questions as they answer.
* Nigel Farage unveils his blueprint for the 'mass deportation' of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers who come to the UK in small boats
* All those who come to the UK in small boats would be arrested and detained on disused military bases.. They would be barred from leaving until deportation
* Reform will seek to sign return deals with countries including Afghanistan and Eritrea, despite their human rights records
* Farage says Reform will charter five flights a day with an RAF Voyager on standby
* British Overseas Territories such as Ascension Island would be used as a "fallback" to accommodate migrants
* Reform will also seek to sign deals with third countries like Rwanda and Albania
* Reform would introduce new criminal offences for those attempting to return to the UK
* Farage's plan has three parts - leave ECHR and derogate from other international agreements, including UN convention against torture; bring in a British bill of rights; introduce the illegal migration (mass deportation) bill
* Reform says plans will cost £10bn over five years. It claims it will ultimately save taxpayers money
* Plans would face significant legal, political and practical obstacles
* Farage argues it is necessary to deal with the 'massive crisis' posed by illegal migration
* Pressed on what he would do if someone sent to Afghanistan was tortured or killed, Farage said: 'I’m really sorry, but we can’t be responsible for everything that happens in the whole of the world. Who is our priority?
'Is it the safety and security of this country and its people? Or are we worrying about everybody else and foreign courts? That’s what it comes down to. Whose side are you on?'
Of course we should all feel safe in the knowledge that a Reform government will be deciding what rights we should have ! Has Farage explained what happens to the GFA , the EU UK trade agreeement and security co-operation ? No just a load of headline grabbing nonsense designed to dupe the public .
Yes, it's not like this poor benighted country of lumpen heathens had any liberties before we were granted the Promethean enlightenment of the ECHR is it?
So we’re going to have a bunch of Trump arse lickers making rights for us ! If you want rid of the ECHR there are consequences.
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime confidante of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, told a top administration official she never saw President Trump engage in improper or illegal acts during his long friendship with Mr. Epstein, according to interview transcripts released late Friday.
The transcripts and audio, covering two days of discussions between Ms. Maxwell and Todd Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer tapped to the No. 2 post at the Justice Department, are likely to raise as many questions as they answer.
NY Times blog
What an extraordinary coincidence that her testimony exonerates the only man who can pardon and release her!
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime confidante of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, told a top administration official she never saw President Trump engage in improper or illegal acts during his long friendship with Mr. Epstein, according to interview transcripts released late Friday.
The transcripts and audio, covering two days of discussions between Ms. Maxwell and Todd Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer tapped to the No. 2 post at the Justice Department, are likely to raise as many questions as they answer.
NY Times blog
What an extraordinary coincidence that her testimony exonerates the only man who can pardon and release her!
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime confidante of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, told a top administration official she never saw President Trump engage in improper or illegal acts during his long friendship with Mr. Epstein, according to interview transcripts released late Friday.
The transcripts and audio, covering two days of discussions between Ms. Maxwell and Todd Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer tapped to the No. 2 post at the Justice Department, are likely to raise as many questions as they answer.
NY Times blog
What an extraordinary coincidence that her testimony exonerates the only man who can pardon and release her!
Not at all sketchy.
Trump's DOJ has transferred a woman out of the facility with Ghislaine Maxwell after she criticized her being there as a sex offender in an interview. The woman has been sent to another facility with violent offenders. You can't criticize Trump's sex offender friends now. https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1958945753793274332
Julie Howell was removed after blasting Maxwell as 'disgusting' in an interview. According to Howell's lawyer, the warden called her into her office and informed her she was being moved immediately. The warden told Howell, 'you've ruined my weekend. https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1958948108542648677
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
Nah. It is now the last week of summer.
On Monday week we begin autumn and thus the xmas season begins.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
Here’s a roundabout near Vinzelles, in the Maconnais. A fully fledged mini vineyard, tended and sprayed I should add, by the local cooperate whose HQ you can see in the background, the harvest taken annually, with some giant steel wine glasses.
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
Certainly I remember as a child of the 70s that if Dad drove us for a bit in the summer in the countryside the windscreen would be plastered with dead insects.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
It makes me very happy.
Indeed. My favourite time of year is early autumn but that's next week.
I’ve got a couple of questions. You’re of Indian descent, and British, how do the Union Jack and Cross of St George make you feel, if I may rudely inquire?
You’re under no obligation to answer but my interest is sincere
Do you feel patriotic? Neutral? Sad? Angry about the empire?
And does it matter where you see them? Is it intimidating if you see them outside a pub or a shop or simply meaningless?
And, finally, do you have different emotional reactions to the two flags? There are suggestions on X that the England flag is now seen as the more “provocative”
Good evening, @Leon. Good thanks, hope you are too.
Apologies for the late reply. Was out with my Mum on a photo-walk (er, she's a member of not one but two of the local east London/Essex borders camera clubs), starting on Oxford St, Regent St, Carnaby St, Chinatown and Trafalgar. Let's just say the West End was rather busy, to put it mildly!
Anyway, in answer to your questions, and I feel I must apologise for writing an essay, but anyway: Nope, don't think your rude at all for asking about the flags! As for the Union Jack and St George's Cross, I do feel patriotic for both really. Certainly don't have a problem with with either of them. As you in this morning's thread, I saw a row of five flags (one row of many, in fact) hung across Oxford Street, and was eager to show all of you a picture on PB. And it's always nice to see pubs with the flags too (yes, we still have half a dozen or so in da North Ilford Ghetto!).
I think I have stated a couple of times on here that the most egregious, cruellest, pernicious aspect of the Empire was that the Powers That Be taught Indians how to play boring Cricket instead of Football. Imagine - India could now be the sporting Brazil of Asia! And I suppose Pakistan could be Argentina!
For me, England is my home, I've lived here ever since I was 4 months old. I do go back to India every couple of years, but I don't have any real attachment to the place. My language is English, and I have oft stated on here that I regard English as the best language in the world. One of the most disappointing things I find about India is the lack of civic sense in most parts of the country. Most obviously, the huge piles of litter beside train tracks and roads. No real neatness, as if tidiness isn't part of the culture. I could go on, but I digress!
Anyway, to conclude, perhaps very controversially, and this will probably upset a few PBers, I think that being English is a question of attitude, and not just a question of birth. Hope you find the above scrawlings interesting!
As I have said before. Some of the most English people I ever met were not born here but came here at a young age. Nor were they white. Englishness is a matter of culture and, as you so rightly say, attitude. In my view birthplace and ethnicity have nothing to do with it.
I used to think Englishness was an ethnic identity, Britishness a cultural one.
Now, I realise you are correct. Identity is a curious thing, but if you do feel affection for this country, (accepting, it has its flaws), then you are a part of it.
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
Coming back a little in central France these last 2 years. Insect populations have partially rebounded.
I have a big wasp nest in my Kent vineyard, if that counts. Getting the man with the gas over soon.
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
I highly doubt what happens on the roundabouts has more than a very marginal impact on that. They are tiny areas of land. Where as I would have thought making some small changes around usage on vast amounts of farm land would.
And of course we built more houses with less / smaller gardens, trends for concreting the front garden for parking, more astroturf and decking for low maintenance.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
It makes me very happy.
Indeed. My favourite time of year is early autumn but that's next week.
I like every month from February to October. November to January should be banned - if Jenrick announces we’re withdrawing from the European convention on the existence of November to January then I’m all in.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
We must continue this flag shagging effort, for years, to instil the necessary emotions in the varous peoples of Great Britain
It’s making me want to fly a saltire in the front garden, just to piss of the local unionists.
I'd fly the flag of the Sretensky district of Russia. Not because of any support for the locale, but it's just a great flag.
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
I highly doubt what happens on the roundabouts has more than a very marginal impact on that. They are tiny areas of land. Where as I would have thought making some small changes around usage on vast amounts of farm land would.
And of course we built more houses with less / smaller gardens, trends for concreting the front garden for parking, more astroturf and decking for low maintenance.
It's a spot of unusable space. The lowest possible costs; lots of benefits. Across all publicly owned land, from councils and railways to the military, you could provide a very large amount of habitat if you let such spaces run wild. My garden is like a buffet for insects, and it's tiny.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
It makes me very happy.
Weather wise - looks like Monday is this summer's last hurrah
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
It makes me very happy.
Indeed. My favourite time of year is early autumn but that's next week.
I like every month from February to October. November to January should be banned - if Jenrick announces we’re withdrawing from the European convention on the existence of November to January then I’m all in.
Personally I think January is good. The year has turned by that point. It tends to be drier than earlier in winter. It's a new beginning.
December is also fine. We sensibly have a massive celebration and feast to help us through the darkness.
November is the problem month. Dark, wet and cold. Go back a few centuries and the month would have its share of feasting - Martinmas, to mark the start of winter - but even with bonfire night there just isn't enough to sustain the month. And people have chosen it for NaNoWriMo, so that you can feel miserable for not writing a book, and Movember, so you have to be jolly about people growing daft moustaches. November is a problem looking for a solution.
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime confidante of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, told a top administration official she never saw President Trump engage in improper or illegal acts during his long friendship with Mr. Epstein, according to interview transcripts released late Friday.
The transcripts and audio, covering two days of discussions between Ms. Maxwell and Todd Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer tapped to the No. 2 post at the Justice Department, are likely to raise as many questions as they answer.
NY Times blog
What an extraordinary coincidence that her testimony exonerates the only man who can pardon and release her!
Alberto Fujimori, while on trial, like all ex-Presidents in Peru, opened a drawer in his desk.
It contained a brand new passport in his name, with his photo. A Japanese passport. A country which he claimed he wasn’t a citizen of. Nor had he ever applied for such as passport. Dear me, no.
So he did what anyone would do, on discovering a passport in their name, that they hadn’t applied for, for a country that they weren’t a citizen of.
Bolton’s home raided, Gen. Kruse fired, Epstein coverup proceeds, seizure of 10% of Intel another step to state capitalism. One day in the somewhat chaotic but purposeful march towards…despotism.
And does anyone think they’re doing all this so they can hand over power in 2028?
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime confidante of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, told a top administration official she never saw President Trump engage in improper or illegal acts during his long friendship with Mr. Epstein, according to interview transcripts released late Friday.
The transcripts and audio, covering two days of discussions between Ms. Maxwell and Todd Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer tapped to the No. 2 post at the Justice Department, are likely to raise as many questions as they answer.
NY Times blog
What an extraordinary coincidence that her testimony exonerates the only man who can pardon and release her!
Alberto Fujimori, while on trial, like all ex-Presidents in Peru, opened a drawer in his desk.
It contained a brand new passport in his name, with his photo. A Japanese passport. A country which he claimed he wasn’t a citizen of. Nor had he ever applied for such as passport. Dear me, no.
So he did what anyone would do, on discovering a passport in their name, that they hadn’t applied for, for a country that they weren’t a citizen of.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
It makes me very happy.
Indeed. My favourite time of year is early autumn but that's next week.
I like every month from February to October. November to January should be banned - if Jenrick announces we’re withdrawing from the European convention on the existence of November to January then I’m all in.
Personally I think January is good. The year has turned by that point. It tends to be drier than earlier in winter. It's a new beginning.
December is also fine. We sensibly have a massive celebration and feast to help us through the darkness.
November is the problem month. Dark, wet and cold. Go back a few centuries and the month would have its share of feasting - Martinmas, to mark the start of winter - but even with bonfire night there just isn't enough to sustain the month. And people have chosen it for NaNoWriMo, so that you can feel miserable for not writing a book, and Movember, so you have to be jolly about people growing daft moustaches. November is a problem looking for a solution.
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
I highly doubt what happens on the roundabouts has more than a very marginal impact on that. They are tiny areas of land. Where as I would have thought making some small changes around usage on vast amounts of farm land would.
And of course we built more houses with less / smaller gardens, trends for concreting the front garden for parking, more astroturf and decking for low maintenance.
One of the worst things about modern house building is seeing streets of new houses going up with the entire garden covered in paving slabs and astroturf.
Not too fussed about roundabouts, as long as vision at junctions is not obscured. Trees and branches are a bigger issue for visibility than unkept grass
If the government are serious about helping wildlife, properly fund the SFI and new greening schemes. Help farmers who don't want to produce food at all or give up their marginal land to revert it to more nature friendly practices. It'll take a whack of money to do it properly, so don't hold your breath
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
I highly doubt what happens on the roundabouts has more than a very marginal impact on that. They are tiny areas of land. Where as I would have thought making some small changes around usage on vast amounts of farm land would.
And of course we built more houses with less / smaller gardens, trends for concreting the front garden for parking, more astroturf and decking for low maintenance.
One of the worst things about modern house building is seeing streets of new houses going up with the entire garden covered in paving slabs and astroturf.
Not too fussed about roundabouts, as long as vision at junctions is not obscured. Trees and branches are a bigger issue for visibility than unkept grass
If the government are serious about helping wildlife, properly fund the SFI and new greening schemes. Help farmers who don't want to produce food at all or give up their marginal land to revert it to more nature friendly practices. It'll take a whack of money to do it properly, so don't hold your breath
This is a particular problem with a number of roundabouts near me.
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
I highly doubt what happens on the roundabouts has more than a very marginal impact on that. They are tiny areas of land. Where as I would have thought making some small changes around usage on vast amounts of farm land would.
And of course we built more houses with less / smaller gardens, trends for concreting the front garden for parking, more astroturf and decking for low maintenance.
One of the worst things about modern house building is seeing streets of new houses going up with the entire garden covered in paving slabs and astroturf.
Not too fussed about roundabouts, as long as vision at junctions is not obscured. Trees and branches are a bigger issue for visibility than unkept grass
If the government are serious about helping wildlife, properly fund the SFI and new greening schemes. Help farmers who don't want to produce food at all or give up their marginal land to revert it to more nature friendly practices. It'll take a whack of money to do it properly, so don't hold your breath
This is a particular problem with a number of roundabouts near me.
Lol, yes similar issues near me. It's almost as if councils and planners undertake all their reviews and decision making behind desks without actually visiting sites to address problems. Centralisation at its worst
"President Donald Trump said on Friday the U.S. would take a 10% stake in Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab under a deal with the struggling chipmaker and is planning more such moves, the latest extraordinary intervention by the White House in corporate America."
The Pentagon is also slated to become the largest shareholder in a small mining company to boost output of rare earth magnets and the U.S. government negotiated for itself a "golden share" with certain veto rights as part of a deal to allow Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
It makes me very happy.
Indeed. My favourite time of year is early autumn but that's next week.
I like every month from February to October. November to January should be banned - if Jenrick announces we’re withdrawing from the European convention on the existence of November to January then I’m all in.
Personally I think January is good. The year has turned by that point. It tends to be drier than earlier in winter. It's a new beginning.
December is also fine. We sensibly have a massive celebration and feast to help us through the darkness.
November is the problem month. Dark, wet and cold. Go back a few centuries and the month would have its share of feasting - Martinmas, to mark the start of winter - but even with bonfire night there just isn't enough to sustain the month. And people have chosen it for NaNoWriMo, so that you can feel miserable for not writing a book, and Movember, so you have to be jolly about people growing daft moustaches. November is a problem looking for a solution.
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
I recall driving at night in the late seventies and eighties where the moths would be abundant. Mainly holiday memories, so North Devon, but no reason to think it wasn’t the case everywhere. Like everything there is balance to be found. I’m all for wilding areas and lots of wild flowers etc. However at one of our local roundabouts the long wild grass is a danger to motorists visibility. But in general let the wild back in!
The "wilding" of roundabout aka council money saving in the name of eco causes just make it look like the UK doesn't care.
We're seeing falls in insect life of over 70% over the last 20 years. It's catastrophic, and we depend on them for our food. I don't have much time for people whining about our wild roundabouts in that context.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
Coming back a little in central France these last 2 years. Insect populations have partially rebounded.
I have a big wasp nest in my Kent vineyard, if that counts. Getting the man with the gas over soon.
Can you not leave them? I thought wasps only use a nest once and move on?
"President Donald Trump said on Friday the U.S. would take a 10% stake in Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab under a deal with the struggling chipmaker and is planning more such moves, the latest extraordinary intervention by the White House in corporate America."
The Pentagon is also slated to become the largest shareholder in a small mining company to boost output of rare earth magnets and the U.S. government negotiated for itself a "golden share" with certain veto rights as part of a deal to allow Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
It makes me very happy.
Indeed. My favourite time of year is early autumn but that's next week.
I like every month from February to October. November to January should be banned - if Jenrick announces we’re withdrawing from the European convention on the existence of November to January then I’m all in.
I rather like the bleakness of winter, with the occasional startling clear sunny and crisp day. I also like nesting in a warm cost home on the long dark cold nights.
Bolton’s home raided, Gen. Kruse fired, Epstein coverup proceeds, seizure of 10% of Intel another step to state capitalism. One day in the somewhat chaotic but purposeful march towards…despotism.
And does anyone think they’re doing all this so they can hand over power in 2028?
Well on the way to becoming much like Putin's Russia. America is fucked.
Trump: “It's a Democrat hoax. It's just a hoax. The whole Epstein thing is a Democrat hoax.”
His whole base think it was the biggest cover up of all time and that everyone who they think of as elite was in on it.
How will they react now?
A hoax where the Epstein estate has paid compensation to over 150 victims, many of whom have alledged that other prominent people were involved in the abuse.
Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime confidante of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, told a top administration official she never saw President Trump engage in improper or illegal acts during his long friendship with Mr. Epstein, according to interview transcripts released late Friday.
The transcripts and audio, covering two days of discussions between Ms. Maxwell and Todd Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer tapped to the No. 2 post at the Justice Department, are likely to raise as many questions as they answer.
NY Times blog
What an extraordinary coincidence that her testimony exonerates the only man who can pardon and release her!
Alberto Fujimori, while on trial, like all ex-Presidents in Peru, opened a drawer in his desk.
It contained a brand new passport in his name, with his photo. A Japanese passport. A country which he claimed he wasn’t a citizen of. Nor had he ever applied for such as passport. Dear me, no.
So he did what anyone would do, on discovering a passport in their name, that they hadn’t applied for, for a country that they weren’t a citizen of.
He booked a one way ticket.
Unkind people said rude things about this.
TBF, Fujimori isn't a very Peruvian name.
OTOH, he was a very unpleasant guy indeed.
About half Peruvians still worship the guy. His daughter, who is less useful than Liz Truss got within a handful of votes of winning the Presidency. Just on the name.
Trump: “It's a Democrat hoax. It's just a hoax. The whole Epstein thing is a Democrat hoax.”
His whole base think it was the biggest cover up of all time and that everyone who they think of as elite was in on it.
How will they react now?
By getting further up the Fuhrer's arse. Meanwhile. The party of Ronald Reagan is taking a share in the commanding heights of the modern economy. And idiot "right wingers" in this country are angrily cheering on every US talking point imported. It's a peculiar pickle indeed.
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
I don't know. Was it the Tory government of the time?
Seemingly the Telegraph wakes up every morning to suddenly notice the kind of crap folk have been moaning about for years that got their Party reamed at the election. Maybe if their columnists didn't all have private health care they'd have been enlightened pre July 4 2024.
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
Bafflingly every surgery in the country appears to offer a different approach. Ours uses eco suits and they are generally really helpful. Usually contacted within a few hours.
Personally I crave the old days of turning up, taking a numbered ticket and waiting, but GPs don’t seem to like that. Minor injuries clinics and out of hours GP walk in centres do this though.
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
I don't know. Was it the Tory government of the time?
Wasn’t it Blair who was presented with the unintended consequences of mandating appointments within 48h? It’s been going on for ever.
This does not sound anything like probable cause to me.
JD Vance: "We're in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation into John Bolton ... if we think Ambassador Bolton committed a crime, of course eventually prosecutions will come ... there's a broad concern about Ambassador Bolton." https://x.com/atrupar/status/1958936726505709919
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
Bafflingly every surgery in the country appears to offer a different approach. Ours uses eco suits and they are generally really helpful. Usually contacted within a few hours.
Personally I crave the old days of turning up, taking a numbered ticket and waiting, but GPs don’t seem to like that. Minor injuries clinics and out of hours GP walk in centres do this though.
At the same time, I feel like a lot of these Telegraph stories are the outrage of the middle/chattering classes at being treated like the working class has been for the past few decades.
For the full Christmas lights effect you could put one of those constantly changing LED light boxes under the bowl.
I have a hankering for the classic Orrefors series myself.
If I may be allowed one extra photo
What you can’t see in this image is that, deep in that geode bowl, is something quite special
The Murano glass bowl, vintage 1960s, cost £65 on eBay. Vintage Murano glass is insanely cheap. The two-bulb glass lamp cost £22 (end of the line at John Lewis). I put in the lowest possible watt bulb at the bottom, and swapped in a red bulb in the top to get the most out of the colours of the geode bowl
And then in the depths of the bowl, buried like an exquisite wasp in Jurassic amber from the shores of the Baltic, I placed a perfect flint arrowhead - 12,000 years old - that I found in Gobekli Tepe in 2006 when I was one of the first journalists to go out and interview German archeologist Klaus Schmidt, in situ, and we drank tulip tea in the sun and the dust
That meeting led to the money that enabled me to buy this same flat
Bolton’s home raided, Gen. Kruse fired, Epstein coverup proceeds, seizure of 10% of Intel another step to state capitalism. One day in the somewhat chaotic but purposeful march towards…despotism.
And does anyone think they’re doing all this so they can hand over power in 2028?
It's blatantly obvious Trump isn't going to hand over power. He can't. He has immunity from crimes committed during his terms, but not ones before that. His family don't have immunity. His friends and associates don't. Trump and his camp are completely fucked as soon as a democrat walks in to the White House.
He has to ensure that doesn't happen. So he'll run again in 2028, with a completely rigged election. People who insist he can't run in 2028 are blind to the shape of the monster they're fighting.
I suspect Gavin Newsom is one dem who understands this. His attacks on Trump are not a build up to a 2028 presidential run, but a way of positioning California as the centre of an anti-MAGA bloc if the US starts to break up in the aftermath of a sham election.
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
I don't know. Was it the Tory government of the time?
Seemingly the Telegraph wakes up every morning to suddenly notice the kind of crap folk have been moaning about for years that got their Party reamed at the election. Maybe if their columnists didn't all have private health care they'd have been enlightened pre July 4 2024.
Their fairly recent immense and heartfelt concern for the white working class is quite something. I had more time for them when they just said "F*ck you - paupers"
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
I don't know. Was it the Tory government of the time?
Wasn’t it Blair who was presented with the unintended consequences of mandating appointments within 48h? It’s been going on for ever.
My last GP simply refused to see me. They wouldn't see anyone. Not in 48 hours. Not ever. I gave up and phoned 111 or went to the walk in. Pretty sure that was 15 years after Blair left office.
GP appointments problem has been in existence for 20+ years. However, in the meantime every other industry now has online booking, online chat, DMs, including getting medication from online drug providers. Its crazy we are still having the same discussion about GPs.
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
I don't know. Was it the Tory government of the time?
Seemingly the Telegraph wakes up every morning to suddenly notice the kind of crap folk have been moaning about for years that got their Party reamed at the election. Maybe if their columnists didn't all have private health care they'd have been enlightened pre July 4 2024.
Their fairly recent immense and heartfelt concern for the white working class is quite something. I had more time for them when they just said "F*ck you - paupers"
They still do. When they're asking for a pay rise. Or better conditions. Or if someone more fortunate might put their hands in their pockets
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
I don't know. Was it the Tory government of the time?
Wasn’t it Blair who was presented with the unintended consequences of mandating appointments within 48h? It’s been going on for ever.
My last GP simply refused to see me. They wouldn't see anyone. Not in 48 hours. Not ever. I gave up and phoned 111 or went to the walk in. Pretty sure that was 15 years after Blair left office.
In the interests of balance:
I phoned my GP at 8am this morning because of an issue with the health of a close relative which could not wait until the end of the long bank holiday weekend.
I spoke to reception at the 8am phone moshpit having been on hold for 4 mins.
They understood straight away and said the on call GP would phone that day.
The on call GP phoned an hour later and arranged for a sample to be taken and, whilst we awaiting results, a prescription for some med or other that might well help over the weekend. She was quick thinking, alert to the time issues and very professional.
Superb service.
At no point did it feel like I was getting in the way of them having a nice, easy day with no clients to deal with.
Based on what I read online and conversations with friends and relatives across the country I seem to live near the last decent GP practice in Britain.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
It makes me very happy.
Indeed. My favourite time of year is early autumn but that's next week.
I like every month from February to October. November to January should be banned - if Jenrick announces we’re withdrawing from the European convention on the existence of November to January then I’m all in.
Personally I think January is good. The year has turned by that point. It tends to be drier than earlier in winter. It's a new beginning.
December is also fine. We sensibly have a massive celebration and feast to help us through the darkness.
November is the problem month. Dark, wet and cold. Go back a few centuries and the month would have its share of feasting - Martinmas, to mark the start of winter - but even with bonfire night there just isn't enough to sustain the month. And people have chosen it for NaNoWriMo, so that you can feel miserable for not writing a book, and Movember, so you have to be jolly about people growing daft moustaches. November is a problem looking for a solution.
Thanksgiving?
We've done this before (which isn't to say that we shouldn'y do it again...) I love November. It's one of my favourite months. Autumnal trees, bonfire night, making the Christmas Cake. The first bite of winter, when it is an enjoyable change to the aeason and you're not yet sick of it. Every November we pick a promising weekend day and go to Arnside to watch the sunset at just before 4 from Arnside Knott. Christmas on the horizon bit none of the worrying details yet in place.
Whereas all there is to say about January is that relentess bleakness can in its own way be impressive. Slowly, day by day, tbe dawn creeps earlier and finally by the end of the month the sun is up before 8. And by the end of the montb we have the first of the snowdrops. But honestly, it's a truly terrible month with almost nothing to redeem it.
Personally I would shift Christmas three weeks later. The first half of December is quite pleasant anyway - still the last of the Autumn colours - and isn't a bleakness that needs relieving. Failing that, some sort of festival of mud and the outdoors and cold and damp and physical activity followed by warmth and food and beer around Jan 16th might do the trick.
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
I don't know. Was it the Tory government of the time?
Wasn’t it Blair who was presented with the unintended consequences of mandating appointments within 48h? It’s been going on for ever.
My last GP simply refused to see me. They wouldn't see anyone. Not in 48 hours. Not ever. I gave up and phoned 111 or went to the walk in. Pretty sure that was 15 years after Blair left office.
We had a GP go missing in COVID - not my practise, but a neighbouring one.
Not even telephone consultations. Never started up again.
Was quite active in chasing people who complained about this online. Sent the police after someone for a message posted in a local forum, which was just the facts. Including a picture of the mail pile inside the glass front door of the practise.
GP appointments problem has been in existence for 20+ years. However, in the meantime every other industry now has online booking, online chat, DMs, including getting medication from online drug providers. Its crazy we are still having the same discussion about GPs.
My response to that is why wasn't there a problem 25 or 30 years ago? You could ring up your surgery or turn up in person to make an appointment, and most of the time there weren't any significant problems. You'd get an appointment within a reasonable time.
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
I don't know. Was it the Tory government of the time?
Wasn’t it Blair who was presented with the unintended consequences of mandating appointments within 48h? It’s been going on for ever.
My last GP simply refused to see me. They wouldn't see anyone. Not in 48 hours. Not ever. I gave up and phoned 111 or went to the walk in. Pretty sure that was 15 years after Blair left office.
In the interests of balance:
I phoned my GP at 8am this morning because of an issue with the health of a close relative which could not wait until the end of the long bank holiday weekend.
I spoke to reception at the 8am phone moshpit having been on hold for 4 mins.
They understood straight away and said the on call GP would phone that day.
The on call GP phoned an hour later and arranged for a sample to be taken and, whilst we awaiting results, a prescription for some med or other that might well help over the weekend. She was quick thinking, alert to the time issues and very professional.
Superb service.
At no point did it feel like I was getting in the way of them having a nice, easy day with no clients to deal with.
Based on what I read online and conversations with friends and relatives across the country I seem to live near the last decent GP practice in Britain.
In fairness, my new one is so much better. Probably not coincidence that I've moved from the most deprived "WWC" areas of the country to somewhere a bit more average.
GP appointments problem has been in existence for 20+ years. However, in the meantime every other industry now has online booking, online chat, DMs, including getting medication from online drug providers. Its crazy we are still having the same discussion about GPs.
My response to that is why wasn't there a problem 25 or 30 years ago? You could ring up your surgery or turn up in person to make an appointment, and most of the time there weren't any significant problems. You'd get an appointment within a reasonable time.
GP appointments problem has been in existence for 20+ years. However, in the meantime every other industry now has online booking, online chat, DMs, including getting medication from online drug providers. Its crazy we are still having the same discussion about GPs.
My response to that is why wasn't there a problem 25 or 30 years ago? You could ring up your surgery or turn up in person to make an appointment, and most of the time there weren't any significant problems. You'd get an appointment within a reasonable time.
Well a lot more people in the UK, and a lot more old people. But there is a lesser talked about issue, GP as a job now skews a lot more heavily female (hold on......hold on.....), and with this has come more of those who wish to work part-time around family commitments. So although we have more trained GPs than ever, less of them are doing the job full time.
So much more demand while capacity hasn't kept up both in terms of numbers and average hours worked.
I wouldn't be surprised if there is also more paperwork, rules and regs as well.
I bring heartening news for our resident patriots. The A2 and M2 all the way from South East London to Faversham is festooned with British and English flags.
The Union flags were looking quite pretty, backlit and glowing in the lowering early autumn sun, as I returned from the vineyard this evening.
Autumn?
Fraid so
It was getting dark just after 8 this evening. There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
It makes me very happy.
Indeed. My favourite time of year is early autumn but that's next week.
I like every month from February to October. November to January should be banned - if Jenrick announces we’re withdrawing from the European convention on the existence of November to January then I’m all in.
I rather like the bleakness of winter, with the occasional startling clear sunny and crisp day. I also like nesting in a warm cost home on the long dark cold nights.
But each to their own, and all that.
Actually, despite my diatribe of five minutes ago, two and a half of my best days this year were in January: the second - impossibly cold and clear and uttwrly beautiful - some of my daughters and I climbed Pen-y-Ghent - and about a week later, when it snowed and my home town was at its most beautiful and I spent almost the whole day walking: my humdrum suburb transformed into a wonderland alive with possibility and magic - and then the next morning when I climbed Winter Hill before dawn to watch the sun rise over the snowy West Pennines.
So climactically January isn't all bad. But it would be nice to have something communal to look forward to.
Bolton’s home raided, Gen. Kruse fired, Epstein coverup proceeds, seizure of 10% of Intel another step to state capitalism. One day in the somewhat chaotic but purposeful march towards…despotism.
And does anyone think they’re doing all this so they can hand over power in 2028?
It's blatantly obvious Trump isn't going to hand over power. He can't. He has immunity from crimes committed during his terms, but not ones before that. His family don't have immunity. His friends and associates don't. Trump and his camp are completely fucked as soon as a democrat walks in to the White House.
He has to ensure that doesn't happen. So he'll run again in 2028, with a completely rigged election. People who insist he can't run in 2028 are blind to the shape of the monster they're fighting.
I suspect Gavin Newsom is one dem who understands this. His attacks on Trump are not a build up to a 2028 presidential run, but a way of positioning California as the centre of an anti-MAGA bloc if the US starts to break up in the aftermath of a sham election.
Yes. It is all a bit Netanyahu basically.
Trump cannot leave the WH in 2028 without massive personal consequences.
GP appointments problem has been in existence for 20+ years. However, in the meantime every other industry now has online booking, online chat, DMs, including getting medication from online drug providers. Its crazy we are still having the same discussion about GPs.
My response to that is why wasn't there a problem 25 or 30 years ago? You could ring up your surgery or turn up in person to make an appointment, and most of the time there weren't any significant problems. You'd get an appointment within a reasonable time.
Partly it is fewer WTE GPs per capita, partly an ageing population (demand goes up sharply with age) and partly that hospital staff dump more work on GPs via discharging patients much earlier. So demand exceeds supply. It really isn't difficult to figure out.
Streetings plan is to divert funding away from hospitals and into primary care. He realises that is where 90% of NHS contact is.
GP appointments problem has been in existence for 20+ years. However, in the meantime every other industry now has online booking, online chat, DMs, including getting medication from online drug providers. Its crazy we are still having the same discussion about GPs.
My response to that is why wasn't there a problem 25 or 30 years ago? You could ring up your surgery or turn up in person to make an appointment, and most of the time there weren't any significant problems. You'd get an appointment within a reasonable time.
Partly it is fewer WTE GPs per capita, partly an ageing population (demand goes up sharply with age) and partly that hospital staff dump more work on GPs via discharging patients much earlier. So demand exceeds supply. It really isn't difficult to figure out.
Streetings plan is to divert funding away from hospitals and into primary care. He realises that is where 90% of NHS contact is.
A bit more data here.
Over 1000 fewer WTE GPs over the last decade, and average list size increase of 319 per GP over that decade and 44% of appointments the same day.
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
I don't know. Was it the Tory government of the time?
Wasn’t it Blair who was presented with the unintended consequences of mandating appointments within 48h? It’s been going on for ever.
My last GP simply refused to see me. They wouldn't see anyone. Not in 48 hours. Not ever. I gave up and phoned 111 or went to the walk in. Pretty sure that was 15 years after Blair left office.
In the interests of balance:
I phoned my GP at 8am this morning because of an issue with the health of a close relative which could not wait until the end of the long bank holiday weekend.
I spoke to reception at the 8am phone moshpit having been on hold for 4 mins.
They understood straight away and said the on call GP would phone that day.
The on call GP phoned an hour later and arranged for a sample to be taken and, whilst we awaiting results, a prescription for some med or other that might well help over the weekend. She was quick thinking, alert to the time issues and very professional.
Superb service.
At no point did it feel like I was getting in the way of them having a nice, easy day with no clients to deal with.
Based on what I read online and conversations with friends and relatives across the country I seem to live near the last decent GP practice in Britain.
Mine is pretty good -- yes, they have the "phone at 8:30 and wait in queue for the receptionist" setup, but the wait isn't that long, and then the GP calls back fairly quickly. A screwup on my end meant their callbacks went straight to voicemail, but they tried multiple times including to landline and mobile and sending a text, and then when (having taken my mobile off DND) I called reception back to ask them if they could try one more time they did, and then managed to squeeze in a face to face session before lunch so they could look in my ear. So they did more than they were obliged to to compensate for my error, and I was able to get a diagnosis and prescription that fixed the problem. I've had good results from the on site front-line physio too.
"President Donald Trump said on Friday the U.S. would take a 10% stake in Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab under a deal with the struggling chipmaker and is planning more such moves, the latest extraordinary intervention by the White House in corporate America."
The Pentagon is also slated to become the largest shareholder in a small mining company to boost output of rare earth magnets and the U.S. government negotiated for itself a "golden share" with certain veto rights as part of a deal to allow Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel.
"The U.S. agreed to purchase a 9.9% stake in Intel for $8.9 billion at a price of $20.47 a share, which is a discount of about $4 per share from Intel's closing share price of $24.80 on Friday.
Basically, Intel sold the US government $9.4bn of shares for $8.9bn - so the government has saved itself $450m.
Or, to put it another way, Intel has found someone willing to write a $9bn cheque at a time when it's not doing so good.
"President Donald Trump said on Friday the U.S. would take a 10% stake in Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab under a deal with the struggling chipmaker and is planning more such moves, the latest extraordinary intervention by the White House in corporate America."
The Pentagon is also slated to become the largest shareholder in a small mining company to boost output of rare earth magnets and the U.S. government negotiated for itself a "golden share" with certain veto rights as part of a deal to allow Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel.
"The U.S. agreed to purchase a 9.9% stake in Intel for $8.9 billion at a price of $20.47 a share, which is a discount of about $4 per share from Intel's closing share price of $24.80 on Friday.
Basically, Intel sold the US government $9.4bn of shares for $8.9bn - so the government has saved itself $450m.
Or, to put it another way, Intel has found someone willing to write a $9bn cheque at a time when it's not doing so good.
On the other hand about 5 billion of that was apparently grant money Intel had apparently already been awarded under the CHIPS act but not yet paid -- so to some extent this is the government retrospectively changing the terms of the deal from "we'll write you a cheque" to "we'll write you a cheque but you need to give us shares for it"...
Comments
There’s a chill in the late afternoon air. Lengthening shadows, grapes slowly ripening on the vines. Spider webs everywhere. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, said Mr Kipling. He does make exceedingly good cakes.
It’s autumn. Not Guy Fawkes autumn, Keats’ autumn.
Much more importantly, I saw a weasel today! Murdering a mouse. Then it darted away when it saw me, leaving the mouse to twitch its last. I stayed there, and the little bugger kept poking its head out to see if the coast was clear. Delightful!
So I guess she will serve for the alt right.
Not least because the GJs, essentially a Faragiste movement across the channel, seemed particularly drawn to camping out on the middle of roundabouts, and French roundabout islands, as we know, are things of beauty.
There is no country that comes close to France in the landscaping of its roundabouts.
@RupertLowe10
Lucy Connolly is one very brave woman."
https://x.com/RupertLowe10/status/1958925176713674854
That's got to be Cornwall
Cornwall has the most exquisite riverside churches in the world. Literally
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/brittany/the-glorious-island-hopping-holiday-britons-have-overlooked/
"From here it’s a shortish hop to my next stop, Quiberon. And what I mainly note is: the roundabouts. After all, this is a road trip. Just as French towns are relentlessly and mystifyingly pretty (is there a factory in China that churns out pretty French towns?) so French roundabouts are ridiculously dainty and well-tended. No, really, they are. I like to imagine there is some 15th-century guild of roundabout designers established by Louis XI, toiling away in a forest near Amboise, feeling threatened by roadside verge designers in South Korea."
You've forgotten how to argue.
Which makes you genuinely boring.
The transcripts and audio, covering two days of discussions between Ms. Maxwell and Todd Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer tapped to the No. 2 post at the Justice Department, are likely to raise as many questions as they answer.
NY Times blog
Trump's DOJ has transferred a woman out of the facility with Ghislaine Maxwell after she criticized her being there as a sex offender in an interview. The woman has been sent to another facility with violent offenders. You can't criticize Trump's sex offender friends now.
https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1958945753793274332
Julie Howell was removed after blasting Maxwell as 'disgusting' in an interview. According to Howell's lawyer, the warden called her into her office and informed her she was being moved immediately. The warden told Howell, 'you've ruined my weekend.
https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1958948108542648677
On Monday week we begin autumn and thus the xmas season begins.
https://sites.research.google/contrails/
As well as crazy, of course.
(Apparently we used to have "moth snowstorms" in the 70s - you'd have to stop driving).
In America that would be banned...
We could learn a thing or two here.
Now, I realise you are correct. Identity is a curious thing, but if you do feel affection for this country, (accepting, it has its flaws), then you are a part of it.
I have a big wasp nest in my Kent vineyard, if that counts. Getting the man with the gas over soon.
And of course we built more houses with less / smaller gardens, trends for concreting the front garden for parking, more astroturf and decking for low maintenance.
But yes, farming is the big one.
December is also fine. We sensibly have a massive celebration and feast to help us through the darkness.
November is the problem month. Dark, wet and cold. Go back a few centuries and the month would have its share of feasting - Martinmas, to mark the start of winter - but even with bonfire night there just isn't enough to sustain the month. And people have chosen it for NaNoWriMo, so that you can feel miserable for not writing a book, and Movember, so you have to be jolly about people growing daft moustaches. November is a problem looking for a solution.
It contained a brand new passport in his name, with his photo. A Japanese passport. A country which he claimed he wasn’t a citizen of. Nor had he ever applied for such as passport. Dear me, no.
So he did what anyone would do, on discovering a passport in their name, that they hadn’t applied for, for a country that they weren’t a citizen of.
He booked a one way ticket.
Unkind people said rude things about this.
Bill Kristol
@BillKristol
·
13m
Bolton’s home raided, Gen. Kruse fired, Epstein coverup proceeds, seizure of 10% of Intel another step to state capitalism. One day in the somewhat chaotic but purposeful march towards…despotism.
And does anyone think they’re doing all this so they can hand over power in 2028?
OTOH, he was a very unpleasant guy indeed.
https://x.com/markgurman/status/1958941084249465104
I am surprised how piss poor Apple have been at developing their own LLMs.
Not too fussed about roundabouts, as long as vision at junctions is not obscured. Trees and branches are a bigger issue for visibility than unkept grass
If the government are serious about helping wildlife, properly fund the SFI and new greening schemes. Help farmers who don't want to produce food at all or give up their marginal land to revert it to more nature friendly practices. It'll take a whack of money to do it properly, so don't hold your breath
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg3zpdl3xdo
"President Donald Trump said on Friday the U.S. would take a 10% stake in Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab under a deal with the struggling chipmaker and is planning more such moves, the latest extraordinary intervention by the White House in corporate America."
The Pentagon is also slated to become the largest shareholder in a small mining company to boost output of rare earth magnets and the U.S. government negotiated for itself a "golden share" with certain veto rights as part of a deal to allow Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel.
https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-says-intel-has-agreed-deal-us-take-10-equity-stake-2025-08-22/
Like everything there is balance to be found. I’m all for wilding areas and lots of wild flowers etc. However at one of our local roundabouts the long wild grass is a danger to motorists visibility.
But in general let the wild back in!
Did Intel really "give" 10% to Trump?
But each to their own, and all that.
Sitting room
The Reform UK leader believes he will have one shot at No 10 — and next week will make his biggest move yet" (£)
https://www.thetimes.com/article/e3a45ba3-cec9-4ae5-b687-a1cabe2dabee
His whole base think it was the biggest cover up of all time and that everyone who they think of as elite was in on it.
How will they react now?
Meanwhile. The party of Ronald Reagan is taking a share in the commanding heights of the modern economy.
And idiot "right wingers" in this country are angrily cheering on every US talking point imported.
It's a peculiar pickle indeed.
Something that used to be done very simply using a phone and an appointment book is now like something out of a surreal novel. Camilla Tominey in the Telegraph.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/22/britain-is-now-ruled-by-the-unelected-and-the-unaccountable
"I had a brief insight into how powerless we have become at the hands of the unelected elite when I tried to book a GP appointment this week. I called my surgery at 8am and after sitting through a lengthy recorded message, was told I was “third person in the queue”.
When I finally got through to a (human) receptionist, I was told to fill out an online form in a bid to be “triaged” for a telephone consultation at some point in the following 48 hours. I missed the first call, there wasn’t a second and then I received a text message requesting photographic evidence to process my “eConsult”.
How did it come to this? Who suddenly decided that patients should be treated as an inconvenience, to be kept at arm’s length from any medical professional unless in a dire state of emergency? I know I didn’t vote for it – and I’m sure you didn’t either."
Was it the Tory government of the time?
Seemingly the Telegraph wakes up every morning to suddenly notice the kind of crap folk have been moaning about for years that got their Party reamed at the election.
Maybe if their columnists didn't all have private health care they'd have been enlightened pre July 4 2024.
Personally I crave the old days of turning up, taking a numbered ticket and waiting, but GPs don’t seem to like that. Minor injuries clinics and out of hours GP walk in centres do this though.
I have a hankering for the classic Orrefors series myself.
JD Vance: "We're in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation into John Bolton ... if we think Ambassador Bolton committed a crime, of course eventually prosecutions will come ... there's a broad concern about Ambassador Bolton."
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1958936726505709919
https://conservativehome.com/2025/08/18/griffith-takes-chainsaw-to-labours-job-killing-bill/
What you can’t see in this image is that, deep in that geode bowl, is something quite special
The Murano glass bowl, vintage 1960s, cost £65 on eBay. Vintage Murano glass is insanely cheap. The two-bulb glass lamp cost £22 (end of the line at John Lewis). I put in the lowest possible watt bulb at the bottom, and swapped in a red bulb in the top to get the most out of the colours of the geode bowl
And then in the depths of the bowl, buried like an exquisite wasp in Jurassic amber from the shores of the Baltic, I placed a perfect flint arrowhead - 12,000 years old - that I found in Gobekli Tepe in 2006 when I was one of the first journalists to go out and interview German archeologist Klaus Schmidt, in situ, and we drank tulip tea in the sun and the dust
That meeting led to the money that enabled me to buy this same flat
The arrowhead
FFS America. Wake up!!!!
Next year you celebrate 250 years of being free of kings.
He has to ensure that doesn't happen. So he'll run again in 2028, with a completely rigged election. People who insist he can't run in 2028 are blind to the shape of the monster they're fighting.
I suspect Gavin Newsom is one dem who understands this. His attacks on Trump are not a build up to a 2028 presidential run, but a way of positioning California as the centre of an anti-MAGA bloc if the US starts to break up in the aftermath of a sham election.
They wouldn't see anyone. Not in 48 hours. Not ever.
I gave up and phoned 111 or went to the walk in.
Pretty sure that was 15 years after Blair left office.
When they're asking for a pay rise. Or better conditions. Or if someone more fortunate might put their hands in their pockets
I phoned my GP at 8am this morning because of an issue with the health of a close relative which could not wait until the end of the long bank holiday weekend.
I spoke to reception at the 8am phone moshpit having been on hold for 4 mins.
They understood straight away and said the on call GP would phone that day.
The on call GP phoned an hour later and arranged for a sample to be taken and, whilst we awaiting results, a prescription for some med or other that might well help over the weekend. She was quick thinking, alert to the time issues and very professional.
Superb service.
At no point did it feel like I was getting in the way of them having a nice, easy day with no clients to deal with.
Based on what I read online and conversations with friends and relatives across the country I seem to live near the last decent GP practice in Britain.
I love November. It's one of my favourite months. Autumnal trees, bonfire night, making the Christmas Cake. The first bite of winter, when it is an enjoyable change to the aeason and you're not yet sick of it. Every November we pick a promising weekend day and go to Arnside to watch the sunset at just before 4 from Arnside Knott. Christmas on the horizon bit none of the worrying details yet in place.
Whereas all there is to say about January is that relentess bleakness can in its own way be impressive. Slowly, day by day, tbe dawn creeps earlier and finally by the end of the month the sun is up before 8. And by the end of the montb we have the first of the snowdrops. But honestly, it's a truly terrible month with almost nothing to redeem it.
Personally I would shift Christmas three weeks later. The first half of December is quite pleasant anyway - still the last of the Autumn colours - and isn't a bleakness that needs relieving. Failing that, some sort of festival of mud and the outdoors and cold and damp and physical activity followed by warmth and food and beer around Jan 16th might do the trick.
Not even telephone consultations. Never started up again.
Was quite active in chasing people who complained about this online. Sent the police after someone for a message posted in a local forum, which was just the facts. Including a picture of the mail pile inside the glass front door of the practise.
Eventually merged with couple of other practises.
Probably not coincidence that I've moved from the most deprived "WWC" areas of the country to somewhere a bit more average.
So much more demand while capacity hasn't kept up both in terms of numbers and average hours worked.
I wouldn't be surprised if there is also more paperwork, rules and regs as well.
So climactically January isn't all bad. But it would be nice to have something communal to look forward to.
And the "WWC" are far too feckless and thick to do it off their own initiative.
Trump cannot leave the WH in 2028 without massive personal consequences.
So he wont.
Wake up America!!
Streetings plan is to divert funding away from hospitals and into primary care. He realises that is where 90% of NHS contact is.
Over 1000 fewer WTE GPs over the last decade, and average list size increase of 319 per GP over that decade and 44% of appointments the same day.
https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/pressures/pressures-in-general-practice-data-analysis
General Practice is really struggling, which in turn puts massive pressure on hospital emergency departments, and on Social Care.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-14814683/Seb-Coe-race-Sadiq-Khan-London-mayor-ANDREW-PIERCE.html
Basically, Intel sold the US government $9.4bn of shares for $8.9bn - so the government has saved itself $450m.
Or, to put it another way, Intel has found someone willing to write a $9bn cheque at a time when it's not doing so good.