WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

I have often been heard to say that I saw the glory days of motoring and reports like that confirm me in my belief Kev! A break in a wire results in £700 worth of damage.... I'm glad I don't have to worry about these things.
Susan and I are hiring a car for a fortnight at the end of the month so we can both go visiting old friends. £700 will cover the hire and fuel for the fortnight and someone else can worry about the maintenance!

[Stanley]

THIS caught my attention....

3 Hours ago.
President Donald Trump has complimented Liberian President Joseph Boakai on his English-speaking, during a meeting with several African leaders at the White House. Trump told Boakai he speaks "such good English", asking where he went to school. The visitor politely laughed, but did not mention that English is the official language of Liberia. Africa's oldest republic, Liberia was founded in 1822 by freed American slaves with the goal of resettling free black people in Africa.
Remind me how this jerk got to be president!

[PanBiker]

I bet the Liberian President can string a perfectly coherent sentence together as well.

[Stanley]

See THIS latest piece of Trump's foreign policy......
A message from US President Donald Trump on Wednesday landed like a grenade in Brazil, bringing the relationship between the two countries to an all-time low. Trump pledged to impose tariffs on Brazil at a rate as high as 50%. He accused the country of "attacks" on US tech companies and of conducting a "witch hunt" against the far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, a longstanding ally who is facing prosecution over his alleged role in a plot to overturn the 2022 Brazilian election. The move follows a fresh round of political sparring between Trump and the current Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. It further strained a relationship that was already tense. Trump had earlier threatened members of the BRICS group - of which Brazil is a part - with tariffs, accusing those countries of anti-American positions. The bloc includes India, Russia and China and has grown to include Iran. It was designed to counterbalance US influence in the world.

[Stanley]

How cool my house stayed in the hot weather we are having despite the fact I roasted a chicken. There is much to be said for living in a terrace that has thick stone walls and one aspect facing North and not getting much direct sun.

[Stanley]

I just tripped over this in YouTube

[PanBiker]

Brilliant!

Advantage "Ball Girl"

[Stanley]

The temperature in the sun in the back yard yesterday was116F and in the shed it got to 84F.I think we can say it was our hottest day of the year so far....

Read THIS and weep.
No burial records. No headstones. No memorials. Nothing until 2014, when an amateur historian uncovered evidence of a mass grave, potentially in a former sewage tank, believed to contain hundreds of babies in Tuam, County Galway, in the west of Ireland. Now, investigators have moved their diggers onto the nondescript patch of grass next to a children's playground on a housing estate in the town. An excavation, expected to last two years, will begin on Monday. The area was once where St Mary's children's home stood, a church-run institution that housed thousands of women and children between 1925 and 1961. Many of the women had fallen pregnant outside of marriage and were shunned by their families - and separated from their children after giving birth. According to death records, Patrick Derrane was the first baby to die at St Mary's – in 1915, aged five months. Mary Carty, the same age, was the last in 1960. In the 35 years between their deaths, another 794 babies and young children are known to have died there - and it is believed they are buried in what former Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Enda Kenny dubbed a "chamber of horrors".

[Cathy]

That was a heavy read.
Hopefully we will be told of the outcome.
I imagine some newborns were just put aside to die, immediately after birth. Shocking .
I wonder how the Nuns explained it all to their Maker.

[Stanley]

"I wonder how the Nuns explained it all to their Maker."
That's the root of my questions also Cathy.To me it demonstrates how badly organised religion can distort the basic principles of their 'faith'. And remember this is only one site, there are many more where the same questions can be asked.
How can anyone respect a religion that supported behaviour like this?

[Stanley]

Have a look at THIS report from the Met Office.
3 hours ago
The UK is breaking heat and rainfall records increasingly frequently as its climate continues to warm, the Met Office has warned. The country's changing weather patterns mean the UK now experiences a "notably different" climate to what it was just a few decades ago, its State of the UK Climate report says. We now have many more very hot days and many fewer extremely cold nights, according to this latest assessment. It shows just how much global warming caused by the vast emissions of greenhouse gases our civilisation creates is reshaping the country's climate.
I think we all suspected this but now we have confirmation......
Question is, where will it end?

[Tizer]

Interesting and topical...
`Observatory marks 230 years of recording weather' LINK

[Stanley]

See THIS for more information about the Southend air crash....
A woman who was killed when a small plane crashed at London Southend Airport was on her first day as a "flight nurse", the BBC understands. Maria Fernanda Rojaz Ortiz, 31, was a German citizen born in Chile and had previously worked as a nurse in the public sector. A Dutch pilot and co-pilot were also among the four people killed when a Beech B200 Super King Air crashed and exploded on Sunday afternoon. The plane was operated by Zeusch Aviation, which specialises in medical evacuations and is based at Lelystad Airport in the Netherlands, and has confirmed it is "actively supporting the authorities with the investigation".

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC In Depth article about the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree....
James Canton spent two years sitting beneath an 800-year-old oak tree near his home in Essex, watching acorns fatten and butterflies land on the massive knurled grey trunk. Sometimes he sat in the branches too. Canton, a lecturer at the University of Essex, recalls how it helped him feel a "sense of connection". "We're happier sat in an oak tree ten foot from the ground, watching blue tits feeding on caterpillars – involved and immersed in that natural world." He went on to write a book called The Oak Papers about that time spent studying the Honywood Oak. For years, it was easy to forget that we used to be a woodland nation: around 6,000 years ago untouched swathes of oak, hazel, birch and pine blanketed an estimated 75% of the UK. But in recent months the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree next to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland has put our relationship with trees, and the natural world more widely, back under the spotlight.
There is much more and the article is worthy of our attention. Trees are such an important part of the landscape and our relationship with them is important also.....

[Stanley]

THIS BBC report in World News.....
7 hours ago
The Ministry of Defence offered to expedite the review of a rejected resettlement application of an Afghan national after he posted sensitive details from a data breach on Facebook, the BBC understands. The man published nine names from a dataset containing details of thousands of Afghans who applied to be relocated to the UK after the Taliban seized power, and indicated he could release the rest. He obtained the details after they were sent out from UK Special Forces headquarters in an accidental data breach in February 2022. British authorities tracked the man down and strongly requested he take the data down, offering an expedited review of his rejected resettlement application in return. The BBC understands the man is now in the UK, having had his rejected application overturned. He is not believed to be facing any criminal charges in relation to his conduct. Government sources close to the process told the BBC the individual had essentially blackmailed his way into the country using the leaked dataset. When asked about the actions of the individual and his subsequent relocation to the UK, the MoD declined to comment on the case. A spokesperson said "anyone who comes to the UK under any Afghan relocation schemes" must go through "robust security checks in order to gain entry". The BBC has also approached the Met Police for comment.
This report has confused me and I think this is indicative of what I feel is a state of chaos surrounding the subject of honouring our promises to the Afghans who helped us and were in danger from the returning Taliban.

[Tizer]

BBC Live reporting now...
`Personal details of UK special forces and spies were included in Afghan data breach' BBC
The personal details of serving and former members of UK special forces, and the security services, were included in the Afghan data breach, it can now be reported. In total, the details of more than 100 British officials were released in the February 2022 breach. It was already a huge scandal, writes Joel Gunter from the High Court, and now we can report the breach was much worse than we thought.

[Stanley]

HERE'S the latest BBC take on it Peter....
My question is how is it even possible to attach so much information to an email message.
I think back to when my daughter Janet was put in charge of setting up a secure computer system to hold all the sensitive data bases used by the Western Australian police. One aspect of her system was that nobody could export any of the data, it was physically impossible. I would have thought that a restriction like that was obviously necessary.
My second question is 'Will heads roll?' I think we all know the answer to that one.

[Stanley]

I don't understand THIS ongoing matter in the US but perhaps this report can help....
4 hours ago
When Jack Posobiec walked into the Department of Justice in Washington, DC last February, he thought he would finally get some answers about Jeffrey Epstein. But when he and other MAGA supporters were given essentially just rehashed, already-public material - and when the government put a damper on the release of any new information this July - they balked. "We were all told more was coming. That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn't have to be," Posobiec posted on social media on 7 July. Now, Donald Trump is finding it hard to shake loose the conspiracy theories that have animated his base since he first broke through into Republican politics a decade ago. Posobiec, who emerged from the fringes of the internet in 2016 when he spread false rumours about a child abuse ring based in a Washington DC restaurant - a conspiracy theory that became known as Pizzagate - is just one of many MAGA die-hards who believes officials are hiding key truths about Epstein's life and death.
I don't like the way politics is being pursued in the UK but My God, we are streets ahead of what passes for politics in the US.

[Stanley]

THIS caught my eye and I heard it reported on R4 yesterday....
Donald Trump has filed a $10bn (£7.5bn) lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal's parent company Dow Jones and its owner Rupert Murdoch over claims that he wrote a "bawdy" note to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The US president claims the publication slandered him and violated libel laws in an article alleging that a birthday greeting bearing Trump's name was sent to the late financier in 2003, before he was charged with sex crimes. Trump said the note, which the paper reported he had sent for Epstein's 50th birthday, is "fake". It came as the US Justice Department asked a judge to unseal material related to Epstein, following intense criticism of the Trump administration's handling of the case. Trump said on social media: "We have just filed a powerhouse Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, fake news 'article' in the useless 'rag' that is, The Wall Street Journal. "I hope Rupert and his 'friends' are looking forward to the many hours of depositions and testimonies they will have to provide in this case." He said the newspaper and Murdoch - with whom Trump has had an up-and-down relationship for decades - were warned they would be sued if they printed the article. A Dow Jones spokesperson said in a statement to the BBC: "We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit." Murdoch, who was seen on Sunday attending the Fifa Club World Cup with Trump, founded a media empire which is credited by some with helping propel the president to the White House.
Is there substance here or is this just another instance of Trump demanding attention?

[Tizer]

This is an important issue. Trump's MAGA supporters voted him in to `drain the swamp' and prosecute all those `elite' individuals they believe to be paedophiles. He promised them he would open up all the Epstein files which delighted them. Now they see him reneging on the promise and they are angry, seriously angry, and this bodes ill for him when it comes time to vote. Even senior Republicans are criticising him in the press and online.

As proof that he didn't create or write that birthday card Trump claims he never draws or doodles and his son has repeated that claim. However Trump often doodles and some of his creations have been sold at auction. There are other lies too and it's all unravelling now.
I'm looking forward to developments!

[Stanley]

Peter, Thanks for that and I agree with you, roll on the day! But it's a bit of a bugger when the possible future of Western Civilisation hangs on whether Trump was mates with a paedophile.....

I saw THIS heading the news from Gaza today....
The Israeli military has killed at least 67 people waiting for UN aid lorries in northern Gaza, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says. The UN World Food Programme said its 25-truck convoy "encountered massive crowds of hungry civilians which came under gunfire", soon after it crossed from Israel and cleared checkpoints. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that it had "fired warning shots" to remove "an immediate threat". It disputed the number of reported deaths. On Saturday the ministry warned that extreme hunger was increasing in Gaza and growing numbers of people were arriving at its facilities "in a state of extreme exhaustion and fatigue". "We warn that hundreds of people whose bodies have wasted away are at risk of imminent death due to hunger," it said. The UN has also said civilians in Gaza are starving and called for an urgent influx of essential goods. On Sunday the ministry said it had recorded 18 deaths "due to famine" over the past 24 hours. Many of the casualties from northern Gaza were taken to Shifa hospital in Gaza City. The medical director there, Dr Hassan al-Shaer, told BBC Arabic on Sunday the facility had been "overwhelmed". Outside the hospital one woman told BBC Arabic that "the whole population is dying".
Of course doubt is placed on reports from Hamas but the UN has said that as far as it can tell, reports from the Health Ministry are accurate and they accept their figures as the most reliable available. Over 60.000 deaths and rising. How long does the world allow this slaughter to go on?
Did you see the reports about the level of demolition Israel is financing in Northern Gaza? They have brought in civilian contractors to level the city. Preparing for the settlement by Israelis?

[PanBiker]

I have yet to see any dead terrorists, you would think they would make a point of featuring the successes in that regard. Cant help but notice the other 60,00 deaths of innocent men women and children, shot, blown up or starved to death.

[Cathy]

Stanley, can you see or did you see this happening from where you are?
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IMG_1327.jpeg

[Stanley]

No Cathy. Almost certainly our Tom (Steeplejerk) who is doing it....

This caught my attention.... LINK.
The UK and 27 other countries have called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, where they say the suffering of civilians has "reached new depths". A joint statement says Israel's aid delivery model is dangerous and condemns what it calls the "drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians" seeking food and water. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said more than 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire while waiting for food over the weekend and that 19 others died as a result of malnutrition. Israel's foreign ministry rejected the countries' statement, saying it was "disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas". The ministry accused the armed group of spreading lies and undermining aid distribution, rather than agreeing to a new ceasefire and hostage release deal.
But Israel will ignore this as long as many of the complainants are also supplying arms to them, such as the UK.

[Tizer]

Did you see the reports about the level of demolition Israel is financing in Northern Gaza? They have brought in civilian contractors to level the city. Preparing for the settlement by Israelis?

Remember what I said about Putin and Mariupol? In 2023 the Russians took over the Ukrainian city and started levelling the buildings and putting up luxury houses for wealthy Russians to have their second homes or seaside holidays. We know Trump has been in regular communication with Putin and with Netanyahu. He probably passed on the idea to the Israelis and in each case talked with the leaders about doing deals on building Trump hotels.