Sorry, didn’t express myself very well. That’s who I meant by “you”
Retired languages teacher living in France (85). Widower. Wildlife, especially birds. Pro-EU, anti-Tory, anti-billionaire. Word freak. Cats, coffee, wine
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Sorry, didn’t express myself very well. That’s who I meant by “you”
Well, no point in striking when you and half the population are on holiday
Maybe he’ll stay for the funeral, however far away that is
We have the vilest, most untruthful press in Europe
@samcoatessky.bsky.social hi Sam, this morning you stated “…the main opposition parties, the Cons and Reform UK…” Unless I missed 67 Parliamentary by-elections since July, the Lib Dems are very much the main opposition party with the Cons, not Reform. Do we have to keep doing this?
I’m only seeing American reactions here, about eg Haiti (a particularly sordid story) but you also need to look at Africa too: Morocco Algeria Tunisia Senegal etc. Algeria was notably nasty
bsky.app/profile/coff...
See post above from coffindodger
That seems fairly comprehensive. Than you
Labour are also REALLY shit at comms. Things like this are getting totally eclipsed by the flag nonsense and the phoney ECHR debate.
I’ve just ordered one from Blackwells. It’ll take ages to get here but the price includes shipping. Anyone but Amazon!
You’re right about Farage and Johnst, but Corbyn was always anti-EU
He only has himself to blame. No rational manufacturer deliberately alienates their markets. Anyway, the Cybertruck must be one of the ugliest vehicles ever designed. And of course doesn’t conform to European safety standards
Repatriate Musk to SA
Never mind modern Britain. They define our attitudes towards humanity in general. Does that include Nick Ferrari?
I wouldn’t have thought many Labour MPs came into politics to strip the rights of torture survivors to be reunited with the spouses & children. They need to take a long hard look in the mirror & ask whether Starmer, Cooper & Reeves are really the leadership their careers should be remembered with.
I thought the White Whale was Moby Dick
Random shout out to @zoejardiniere.bsky.social, @danielsohege.bsky.social and all the others who put their exceptional minds and energy into fighting for refugees, immigrants and a humane society every day in the face of overwhelming ignorance and bile. You are appreciated and valued.
You remember “de mortuis nil nisi bonum” (speak only good of the dead)? They’re going to have to look terribly hard to find any
88% of sex offenders in the UK are White, only 82% of the population is White. If you are blaming only non-White people for Sex Crimes then you are not only ignoring the majority of offenders but also the most likely group to commit them.
Oh, the open bridges. Yes
Back in the late 80s when they were still building and the tallest towers weren’t in place, I took a small school party up one of the spires. They’re the reverse of normal spiral stairs. You can look all the way down the central gap.
Medieval parents trying to make their kid get up and go to school on the first day back after the summer holiday.
YES
Bonjour! Similar autumnal thoughts here too - like can I manage without doing a wash till the weekend, which looks promising. The idea of having to dry clothes over a radiator when it’s 20° outside but showery, really isn’t appealing
Are they Salers?
I don’t. Difficult to judge size but females are bigger. The scientific name in Latin is feminine, and they’re feminine in French too
In theory here in France all bonfires are banned for private gardens. I was quoting past advice in general terms
She’s very handsome!
34mm was our rainfall for the whole of August
And practically invisible in France. If I can get to Spain I stock up on manzanilla and fino. And I have a grandson in England who drinks Pedro Ximenez with ice cream! It’s like raisin liqueur
That’s sad. Must have been quite a shock, too
They’ll have been avoiding the heat and drought, I expect. Aestivating (?sp)
Interesting how they’re all different. Over here we have green frogs which spend nearly all their time in the water, and hibernate at the bottom of the pond
I think the common frog will be away from water more now, possibly staking out places to hibernate. Another reason not to light bonfires from heaps of branches that have been left around, but to start from scratch and pile the branches on top a few at a time. Saves hedgehogs too of course
I have more toads than frogs. Our cats have learnt that they’re poisonous, so hopefully they’ll leave frogs alone
And if you're wondering whether someone getting killed is what it will take for the media and political class to come to their senses, I would just remind you that Jo Cox was murdered in a similar moment of demagoguery and hysteria 9 years ago, and if anything things have got far worse since then.
This is community this is patriotism. In a world full of Tice’s be Isaac ✊🏻 #LoveNotHate #UnityThroughDiversity
Daily Mail: pays most its tax in Jersey. Reform Ltd: owned by Nigel Fartrage who invests his wealth "offshore". GB News: mostly owned by a Dubai hedgefund. Why then do all three promote the narrative that immigrants are sponging off the UK taxpayer?
PS I also got myself a baby gateau basque
Well, I don’t do roasts for one person, but I managed a sherry (fino), then a cheat’s recipe from a frozen food catalogue which involves a turkey escalope, mushrooms, slivers of apple (all cooked in butter) and crème fraîche, all tipped over some tagliatelle. And a glass or two of Listel gris.
Then stop shopping in Waitrose and go chez Tesco
So long as they can reply “because my neurotic cat has clawed its way out of its basket”
Is there a secret committee that has decided that #Farage should be given massive air time on main British TV Channels? There is virtually NO Regulation, in contrast to France where plurality is guaranteed. If compulsory plurality had been enacted there would have been no Brexit.
Mine’s more or less ok now, I just looked up growth and size and replanted with a couple of sensible ones
A few years ago I had to drain mine and remove an over-exuberant water lily. The guy who planned the pond had installed the most vigorous one going and its roots had filled the whole thing
⚠️Reminder: Telegraph is owned by a tax avoiding billionaire who doesn’t live in the UK, and employs Dubai based hypocrites who attack the UK from there. #ukpolitics
But ffs at the moment it’s all exported. Is she going to revoke the licences and have the oil giants sue her?
…about setting up a conference post invasion. And while wining and dining Johnson and owning two papers in the UK, here is Lebedev at a conference with the former gangland boss (the ‘Goblin’) in his Crimean hotel complex in 2017. That we have Lord Lebedev supervising our laws is such a scandal
If I had any skill with altering digital images that would read TWAT
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/tory-w...
I certainly remember the painting (and the others like it) on Shell Guide calendars
Spot on!
Half of pharmacists say Brexit is the biggest issue for UK drugs supply Brexit is a disaster. It is costing the government around £40-50bn a year, driving up our taxes and worsening government services. It must be scrapped ASAP www.thepharmacist.co.uk/in-practice/...
I say that because I have, for quite a while
Can’t have educated people - they won’t vote RefUK
Doesn’t he normally spend the weekends playing golf at enormous public expense?
Thanks for info. I could say “that explains a lot” but that would be giving my prejudices an airing
I should certainly celebrate. But whereas I regard Trump as a sort of loose cannon, Vance seems concentrated. Very scary
Agree about Lays. Bought in a fit of enthusiasm by family when they were trying some of the Bret’s, which were stacked next to them. As I’m on my own I only buy crisps when I have company
So is the idea of Vance in power
It’s possible of course to donate by standing order. It only takes a moment
I’m posting this to over 35,000 brilliant people who care about the NHS. If everyone donated £1, we’d hit our goal in 5 mins. Can we do this? Please help us hold politicians to account! 💙🚨 www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/everydocto...
Yes. Jura was one flavour bought by The Young. It was quite enjoyable
Happy #Caturday. Kilroy has decided that summer is over so he’s snoozing indoors.
I see Lays (apparently French for Walkers) are trying to catch up, but they don’t have the buzz. Actually I’ve tried a few (family bought them while they were staying) and I was underwhelmed. Tapenade, pesto mozzarella… I’ll stick to plain
Globally, yes. The planet will probably re-evolve without having to go back to the primeval ooze stage
What’s the Halloween link with cider? If you come to Somerset they’ll soon put you right
Yes. In thundery weather mine tend to find an outdoor spot to lurk, which I don’t really understand. Or find a secluded place indoors to quiver in
Rascals. The change in weather has brought mine in a lot more, and a couple of them have hidey-holes I haven’t discovered yet
That’s a bit unfair to little girls
New interview with Greta Thunberg in Barcelona yesterday by Middle East Eye. The climate activist and arguably the leading humanitarian voice of our age is about to set sail along with dozens of ships from dozens of nations to bring urgent food and medical aid to millions of people in Gaza
This, by @jasonhickel.bsky.social, is the clearest explanation I have yet read of why the US and UK governments continue to support the Israeli government, regardless of its great crimes against humanity. jasonhickel.substack.com/p/why-does-t...
One reply would be “So do the Ku Klux Klan”
And these abuse screaming flag shaggers never mention it, never respond to these facts that majority of sexual abusers are white British men. It’s about hate and racism, not women’s safety. Farage hangs out with the orange rapist, Yaxley-Lennon has convictions for assaulting women.
Yorkshire moors burning releasing massive amounts of carbon. Yet BBC doesn't interview anyone from @greenparty.org.uk. Meanwhile Farage goes unchallenged on his denial of climate change. Routinely gets headline coverage. Greens & Reform both have 4 MPs. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion...
Mapping Israel's influence on the UK parliament. 🔍 "Two names stand out: Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) and Labour Friends of Israel (LFI)... CFI claims 80% of Tory MPs as members. It’s funded 118 current Conservative MPs on 160 trips, spending over £330,000."
Declassified files show Britain has long known of Israel’s criminality against Palestinians, just as Whitehall was deepening its military, trade and diplomatic support. "UK aware of Israel’s ‘terror’ for over 20 years" www.declassifieduk.org/uk-aware-of-...
“The individuals were gathering a list of Greenlandic citizens who support Trump’s plans to acquire Greenland”
The last person to pontificate about health
Why, you might ask, do the BBC and Sky News, casting their editorial guidelines to the wind, keep giving massive airtime to the far right, while shutting out leftwing voices? Don't their bosses understand the likely consequences? Only one explanation now remains. They do. And it is what they want.
Why do poor whites vote Republican?
PS thank goodness for the sensible conclusion to the article
Corbyn blamed NATO for Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and in August 2022, he appeared on pro-Iranian Al-Mayadeen TV, calling for an end to arms supplies to Ukraine, a measure which would have allowed Russia to accomplish the genocidal extermination of the Ukrainian people and nation.
FFS get a life and get real. Self-indulgent nonsense. You care for your pet, you give it a home, food, health care and affection. End of
"Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s supposedly independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, is presiding over the question of whether Palestine Action should be banned – while his own father-in-law, Lord Dyson, is a patron of UK Lawyers for Israel"
Farage owns four homes: Family home (£1M, retained after his divorce) Two beachside homes in Kent (via his comp. Thorn In The Side Ltd) One investment property in Surrey (rented out) Radio silence from media about this but uproar about Angela Rayner’s two homes & ministerial home #NigelFarage
Médecins Sans Frontières reported that nearly one-third of outpatients treated for wounds in its Gaza hospitals in 2024 were children under 15, with over 90,000 consultations; many injuries were caused by bombs, shelling, and shootings in Israel’s offensive that has killed more than 62,000 people,
You could argue that it’s factually correct in that it’s never held power except in local councils. We could be facing a “Liz Truss, hold my beer” moment
When you disagree with a court’s decisions, you look to see if law needs reforming (by democratic means, obviously). Once you start blaming the courts, you’re heading for authoritarianism
Two points: 1/ in France it’s standard practice to give everyone an annual blood test; for men this includes PSA. It can’t be that expensive. 2/ Current treatment of radiotherapy is effective but can have side effects; more research needed into eg ultrasound
I have a little private fantasy where Farage is kidnapped and dumped on a little island (no communications) where he has to work seriously hard with his hands to grow his own food in order to survive. But I doubt that the experience would change him enough
I’ve often wondered why Nigel Farage, who as godfather of the Brexit fiasco engineered the biggest British foreign policy disaster since Suez is continually offered so much space in some newspapers and broadcast media. Serious question. Thoughts welcome.
That’s odd. I thought the US won the war for us. Vance could come and count the crosses behind the Normandy Landing beaches and ask himself if that’s what negotiation looks like
A lot of the rights contained in the European Convention come from British common law. The right to a fair trial. Freedom from torture Freedom from religion. Nigel Farage wants to destroy what makes us British. He is a liar and an extremist who hates Britain.
I am sickened by the relentless demonisation of refugees. No refugee underfunded a school. No refugee closed a hospital. No refugee took away support from the sick and disabled. We need solutions not scapegoats. Stop blaming refugees and tax the rich instead!
