Seen in the News

[Stanley]

That is terrible Peter. It's rather like some of the medieval mercenaries who were the professional soldiers in the 100 Years War. What a terrible word we have created.....

[Tripps]

It's rather like some of the medieval mercenaries who were the professional soldiers

Or with some better PR and Joanna Lumley on your side - The Gurkhas

[Tizer]

In today's Telegraph...
British technology found in Russian weapons used in Ukraine. Oscillators and crystals produced by Golledge Electronics have been built into Russian radars and missile systems, says UK-based think tank.

Golledge Electronics is based in Ilminster, Somerset. I wish instead the Russians had built those magic bomb detectors that a Somerset man managed to trick many countries security people into buying!

[Stanley]

Good point David!
Peter. For Golledge Electronics read Krupps fuzes.....
Didn't this Tory government just allow a key chip maker to be sold to the Chinese? But of course that's foreign investment in the UK and a 'Good Thing'. The wonders of the global market.
Anybody any thoughts on 'Commanding Heights'?

[Tizer]

Didn't this Tory government just allow a key chip maker to be sold to the Chinese?

`Chinese-backed Nexperia ‘hobbled’ Newport Wafer Fab to buy on the cheap'
` Britain’s biggest semiconductor factory was intentionally pushed into financial difficulties by the Chinese-owned company that eventually bought it, according to sources close to the events leading up to the sale. They claim that Nexperia, the global chip maker, wanted to acquire Newport Wafer Fab cheaply to expand its manufacturing capability and prevented the factory from accepting an investment offer from a leading private equity firm that would have secured the business in UK hands. The sale of Newport Wafer Fab is under investigation by the government under national security legislation that came in at the start of this year, after the Commons’ foreign affairs select committee raised concerns about the takeover.'...
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One example of this scam is where all the houses in a street were targeted!...
`Bogus companies scam: 'We never knew our home was on the list'' LINK

[Stanley]

But what can they do about it once it has happened? Words like stable and door come to mind.

[Tripps]

Ongoing situation - Salman Rushdie has been attacked on stage whilst giving a lecture in New York State. No detail of the outcome but he can't be young so it may be serious. They are now saying 'stabbed in the neck' so must be bad.

Just a bit spookey since last night I channel surfed into the film Midnights Children. Too many hard to distinguish characters for my little brain so I didn't stay long with it. I'm OK with 'Jewel in the Crown. I once had a rather tatty copy of the book, (same thing happened there) and can't get it out of my head that there is a reference to Owd Betts pub near Rochdale in the early part of the book. Sounds crazy I know.

Have I lost it at last, or maybe it was a different book? Anyone got a copy?
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PS - Looks like a remarkable place. I think Uncle Bob would be quite at home here; however I think this may have to be amended Chautauqua safety procedures

[Stanley]

See THIS New York Post article for the latest news at 02:30. It doesn't look good.
On another level.... I opened the weather page and the Met Office has revised yesterday's forecast that Friday was the last hot day, we have at least two more days of 28C and I am not happy about it. (I have my chicken in the oven now to cook it before the day warms up......
Later at 05:00. Salman Rushdie is said by his agent to be fighting for his life.

[Tizer]

Have a look at the photo of the Russian submarine in this article. Look again at the size of the men on the hull! It's one of a class of 48,000 ton sized submarines. They're bigger than WW2 battleships! Our Vanguard class is about 16,000 tons. The biggest US subs are around 19,000 tons. The Russians have two other classes of at least 24,000 tons. Mind you, the Russian subs are probably in poor condition and reliant on western technology for maintenance.
`Ukraine war: Predicting Russia's next step in Ukraine' LINK

[Tripps]

"It's important to get the truth out before the lies come," he says. Indeed.

Putin seems to be over his cancer/ Parkinsons /insert another illness - though it could well be his body double which they use all the time. Those military guys will be his team of doctors who accompany him at all times. Don't let the uniforms fool you.

"Believe nothing you read, and only half of what you see" remains a useful rule of thumb.

[Stanley]

Salman Rushdie seems to be improving, he is reported to be off the ventilator.

[Big Kev]

JK Rowling has received threatening tweets from someone in Pakistan after showing support for Salman Rushdie.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-62540315

[Tripps]

More to the point - Not seen in the news. . .

This is said to have happened in Oxford Street on Friday evening at about 6 pm. The BBC seem to have missed it.


Shopping in Oxford Street London

Bit of a contrast with the idyllic scenes in Moscow seen recently.

[Stanley]

David. Perhaps it's the new normal in places where people are crowded together like ants. Deprive people of money and opportunity and pile what they see as desirable goods up in front of them and what can you expect?
Sickening to watch, especially the inane grins.....
Have a look at THIS, I hope they are right!

[Tripps]

Perhaps it's the new normal in places where people are crowded together like ants. Deprive people of money and opportunity and pile what they see as desirable goods up in front of them and what can you expect?

A staggering response - pivot to the weather - nothing to see here move on. . . .

[Tizer]

[Stanley]

"A staggering response "
Why David?
It happened before didn't it? I seem to remember a spot of bother in 2011.....

[Tizer]

The day that humour as you and I know it died...
`Crown Paints: Hannah & Dave ad prompts dozens of complaints' LINK
`The advertising watchdog has received dozens of complaints about a paint advert which a comedian called "massively offensive". The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) said it was considering investigating Crown Paints' "Hannah & Dave" advert. Comic Jenny Eclair said it must be taken off air over its implication that a woman "conned a man into fatherhood". Apologising for it, the Darwen-based paint firm said it appreciated "people have differing views on humour". The advert, part of a series called Life Stories, includes a song about the four-year relationship between the characters Hannah and Dave. The lyrics state that "now a baby's coming and they don't know what it is", before continuing: "Hannah's hoping for a girl, Dave's just hoping that it's his."...

Note the last sentence (where we usually find the truth)...
`An ASA spokeswoman said it had received 58 complaints about the advert and was "currently assessing [them] carefully to determine whether there are grounds for an investigation".'
I would say 58 is a vanishingly small minority of our 69 million population. Perhaps they should now do a survey asking how many people enjoyed the joke. Otherwise the tiny Twitter tail manages to wag the giant dog and we'll end up going to hell in a hand cart (excuse the mixed metaphors).

[Tripps]

I once about 1980 'ish went on a factory tour with a nice pub lunch to Crown Paints in Darwen. One of the TA officers was connected with the owners, and fixed it up for us. I enjoyed it a lot. I'm a bit (pleasantly) surprised to learn that it's still in business. Not all plain sailing though. Crown Paints Darwen

On the 'staggering response' I keep thinking of 'Tripps conjecture' which I occasionally employ.

"What would happen if everyone did it?"

Or as Uncle Karl might have said -
"From each according to his ability - to each according to his willingness to steal from shops in Oxford Street and run swiftly away with an inane grin on his face".

Coming to a town near you shortly maybe?

I'll stay staggered thank you - at the whole event, the lack of coverage in the media, and the total lack of response from the Met Police -

[Stanley]

I'll agree on that response, I thought you were referring to my comment David....
(In 2011 it spread like wildfire....)

[Tripps]

I thought you were referring to my comment

Having quoted the response verbatim, then describing it as staggering - it's hard to come to any other conclusion.

[Tizer]

The Oxford St looting of shops is reported in a number of local and less well-known web news sources but not in any of the major newspaper or news service web sites. Strange.
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`Liz Cheney: Trump arch-enemy ousted in Wyoming election' LINK
`Voters in the US state of Wyoming have ousted congresswoman Liz Cheney, a rare Republican critic of former President Donald Trump, in a primary election....She has been trounced by a relative political newcomer and Trump-backed candidate, Harriet Hageman....
`All 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Mr Trump after his supporters attacked the US Capitol building in January last year have been targeted in a scorched-earth campaign of revenge. So far, four have retired, and now four have been defeated by his chosen candidates in primary ballots in the states of Wyoming, Washington, Michigan and South Carolina. Only two have successfully maintained their places on the Republican ticket for re-election.'...

Republican Sarah Palin is returning to the fray, too.

[Stanley]

"The Oxford St looting of shops is reported in a number of local and less well-known web news sources but not in any of the major newspaper or news service web sites. Strange."
Could that be because of fear of copycat behaviour? That's what happened in 2011.
I too have noted the defeat of Ms Cheney in the Republican Party vote. Best not to think too much about the US at the moment because the news is so mixed, on one hand Biden gets his climate change bill through both houses and into law and on the other hand the arch shit-stirrer Trump is making waves in the GOP.
I find I have enough to worry about here in UK PLC!

[Tizer]

Well this news will cheer you up!
`Bristol's Shaun the Sheep to fly on mission to the moon' LINK

[Stanley]

That leaves me completely baffled. Is NASA trying to be cuddly?