WHAT ATTRACTED YOUR ATTENTION TODAY?

[Stanley]

No need to tell you what an old cynic like me is thinking......

[PanBiker]

It looked like the woman was in a panic and trying to get out of the way. The ICE officer was injured but taken to hospital and released. These ICE officers were not wearing body cameras - how convenient. If they'd been police officers there would have been body camera footage to show what really happened. It would be interesting to know what the local police think about the incident.

There was a video on the lunchtime news which shows that she was shot through the side window. The officer didn't look to be hurt to me.

[Tizer]

Correct on both counts. This BBC Verify video is the most useful one I've seen so far: LINK
There's going to be big trouble from this. And it happened only a short distance from the George Floyd shooting on 25 May 2020. I wouldn't bet on Trump surviving this. Either he goes or it's civil war in the US.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report about Goretti,
Storm Goretti has brought 99mph (159km/h) winds and heavy snow to the UK, with tens of thousands of people left without power. A rare red weather warning issued by the Met Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has come to an end, but an amber warning for snow remains for much of the West Midlands, Wales, Gloucestershire and parts of Yorkshire. Officials in the Midlands are preparing for the "worst snow in a decade" as 30cm (11in) is expected to fall and disruption to travel is expected into the morning. More than 65,000 properties in south-west England are without power, according to the National Grid's website, with a 11,000 in the West Midlands and 2,600 in Wales also without power.
We would appear to getting the better end of the stick for once!

HERE'S the latest on the Twin City shooting.
2 hours ago
Minnesota officials say the FBI has blocked their access to an investigation into the fatal shooting of a woman by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent. People have taken to the streets of Minneapolis to protest the killing of 37-year-old Renee Good, who died on Wednesday after being shot in her car. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has accused the Trump administration of blocking state officials from involvement in the case, but the US vice-president said the investigation is a federal issue. Officials have offered differing accounts of the incident, with the Trump administration claiming the ICE agent was acting in self defence, while local officials say the woman posed no danger. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has claimed the ICE agent shot Good multiple times because she was trying to run over the officer in her car. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation said it would investigate the incident. Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said the FBI had initially agreed to a joint investigation with state officials but then reversed course and denied the state access to materials and evidence. Without the ability to access all the necessary case materials and evidence, the BCA has "reluctantly withdrawn" from the investigation, the BCA's superintendent Drew Evans said in a statement.
This is very serious and is only just beginning.

[Big Kev]

The new rail bridge, over the M6 at Shap, has been 'rolled' into place today.

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[Stanley]

Amazing Kev! There will be video footage, I shall seek it out!
Meanwhile, THIS piece of sports news got my attention....
Elated and scarcely believing Macclesfield fans are celebrating their team achieving the biggest shock in the long and rich history of the FA Cup. The Silkmen, who play in the sixth tier of English football, beat the cup holders and Premier League stalwarts Crystal Palace 2-1 at the Leasing.Com Stadium to reach the fourth round. Messages of congratulations immediately flooded in on social media, including one from Macclesfield Town Council, which said: "Amazing work fellas!". Following the win, Macclesfield FC - ranked 117 places below Palace in the football pyramid - posted on social media: "It's David who beat Goliath against all odds!" The town council added: "Picked yourself up off the floor yet?! To all the team and every single member of the staff - well done!!!" Former England captain Wayne Rooney, whose younger sibling John Rooney manages the team, said: "Couldn't be any prouder of my brother John. "Well done to everyone at Macclesfield. Unbelievable achievement and more than deserved." The town's Labour MP Tim Roca posted on social media to say the result was "football history", alongside a photo of the scoreboard at the ground. Fan Sue Smith said: "Never be afraid to dream and believe. What a result, what a team. Beyond proud and in a bit of an emotional state." Fellow Macc fan Dean Howard agreed, saying "Get in!! Against all odds!", while Sarah Evans-Iles said: "Absolutely amazing Macclesfield FC have knocked out the FA Cup holders."
We all love a giant killer and the FA cup is brilliant at producing shocks like this that attract the attention of people like me who normally have no interest in football.

[Gloria]

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I got this email yesterday which I thought suspicious and haven’t responded to. Has anyone else got one, or have you, Ian, sent it?

[Stanley]

Nothing to do with me Gloria and I haven't received one. I think you need to hear from Ian.....

[Gloria]

I shall wait and see what he says. I’ve not been having any problems getting on the site for a while now.

[Wendyf]

It looks OK doesn't it? I wonder if Ian was responding to an old conversation on the Facebook group?

[Gloria]

Possibly Wendy, but I’m highly suspicious of unusual stuff nowadays. I get strange phone calls, which I don’t answer, odd emails and texts.

[Tizer]

I've not had anything like that, Gloria.

[PanBiker]

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I got this email yesterday which I thought suspicious and haven’t responded to. Has anyone else got one, or have you, Ian, sent it?

Yes it was me Gloria. Your post on Facebook just came up on my phone so I thought it was current. I emailed direct as it was a sure way of contact if you couldn't get on to the site. All good anyway.

[Gloria]

Thanks Ian

[Big Kev]

Initially I thought this was a joke but no, it's real. Letsby Avenue was named in the 1990s and is the address for the South Yorkshire Police Operations Centre.

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[Stanley]

It took me a minute or two but I persisted.... "Let's be having you." Nice one Kev.

THIS headline caught my eye....
Updated 32 minutes ago
Three teenagers and a man in his 50s have been killed in a head-on collision between a car and a taxi, police say. The drivers of both cars are among those who died, while five passengers were also injured in the crash, which happened at about 00:45 on Sunday on Wigan Road, Bolton. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the taxi driver was in a dark Citroen, while the three teenagers - aged between 18 and 19 - were in a red Seat. The three teenagers have been named in local funeral notices as Muhammad Danyaal Asghar Ali, Farhan Patel and Mohammed Jibrael Mukhtar, all from Bolton. The taxi driver was named as Masrob Ali, from Blackburn. Police have yet to formally identify the victims but are continuing to investigate what happened. The force is asking for eyewitnesses or anyone who may have dashcam footage of the moments before and afterwards to come forward.
This must have been a serious collision, modern cars are usually quite good at protecting passengers.....

[Stanley]

Replacement of Clifton Rail bridge....

[Big Kev]

Replacement of Clifton Rail bridge....

[Stanley]

I've been aware for a while that there was a flaw in the way I retrieve my Stanley's View topics as I am limited by the way the site is structured,
I scratched my head and realised that there was a way to go back to the very beginning, the physical files I keep myself as author here at home. Better still they have all been digitised for my Lulu publications.
So I am changing the way I select the texts. The first one tomorrow morning will be from February 2000.

[Tizer]

It's sensible to keep our most important text documents not only as copies on different disks and/or the Web but also in different formats. This is especially so for people like you and I who are using Linux because we want to be sure that when we're gone others will be able to access them. Over 15 years I've researched and created detailed descriptions of my 1000-plus mineral specimens. These are saved in several large LibreOffice documents which are saved to external disk at all my regular back-ups. But I also have MS Office and RTF versions of them to save at the same time. Belt and braces!

[Stanley]

Good thinking Peter.... I'm looking forward to starting the new regime tomorrow. It's the only way you can get to see these very early files. Anything before 2012 was lost of course.

[Stanley]

I think THIS is the most significant news at the moment.
Updated 1 hour ago
More than 2,000 people have been killed during the violent crackdown by security forces on protests in Iran, a human rights group has said, as President Trump promised Iranians that help was "on its way". The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that it had so far confirmed the killing of 1,850 protesters, 135 people affiliated with the government and nine uninvolved civilians as well as nine children over the last 17 days despite an internet blackout. An Iranian official also told Reuters that 2,000 people had been killed but that "terrorists" were to blame. Trump will attend a meeting about Iran on Tuesday evening, and has pledged to get "accurate " death toll figures. "The killing looks like it's significant, but we don't know yet for certain," Trump told reporters while returning to the White House. Once he has the numbers, he said, "we'll act accordingly." Earlier on Tuesday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that Iranian authorities would "pay a big price" for the killings, and urged people to "keep protesting". "I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!," he added, using the acronym for a US-based Iranian opposition slogan, "Make Iran Great Again". Trump has been weighing military and other options in response to the crackdown, having already announced 25% tariffs on any country trading with Iran. The protests, which have reportedly spread to 180 cities and towns in all 31 provinces, were sparked by anger over the collapse of the Iranian currency and soaring cost of living. They quickly widened into demands for political change and became one of the most serious challenges to the clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

[Stanley]

THIS caught my attention....
Denmark's foreign minister has said there is a "fundamental disagreement" with the US over Greenland after talks at the White House. Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the meeting with Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday had been "frank but constructive". But he added that US President Trump was insisting on "conquering" Greenland which was "totally unacceptable". "We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of [Denmark]," he said. Trump afterwards reiterated his interest in acquiring the resource-rich island, a position that has rattled allies across Europe and stoked tensions with Nato. The hour-long meeting between the US, Denmark and Greenland failed to bring a major breakthrough, although all sides agreed to set-up a high-level working group to discuss the future of the autonomous Danish territory. Rasmussen said there were "red lines" the US could not cross, and the working group would meet in the coming weeks in an effort to find a compromise. He added that Denmark and Greenland were open to the possibility of the US opening more military bases on the island. "It's productive to start discussions at a high level," he said. Rasmussen also said there was an "element of truth" in Trump's view that security should be bolstered to counter Russian and Chinese interests in the Arctic. But he said the president's comments about the presence of Russian and Chinese warships around Greenland were "not true".
What I am not seeing is anybody using the word 'hostile'. It seems to me that what Trump and the US are doing is clearly hostile behaviour towards Denmark. Doe this not matter in Trump's world order?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of another defection from Tory to Reform....
Former Conservative shadow minister Robert Jenrick has announced he is joining Reform UK, hours after he was sacked by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch for plotting to defect to Nigel Farage's party. Jenrick was unveiled at a press conference by Farage, who thanked Badenoch for expelling her former Tory leadership rival and helping "realign the centre-right of British politics". In a tirade against his old party and former colleagues, Jenrick said the Conservatives "broke" the country, were "rotten" and had "betrayed its voters". Speaking minutes before he took to the stage, Badenoch said it was a "good day" for the Conservatives and Jenrick was "now Nigel Farage's problem".
I have never made any secret of the fact I have no time for this man of straw. From the time he was caught colluding with developers while Housing Minister to his shameless hanging on the coat tails of Priti Patel it has been obvious that his political project was Robert Jenrick. Kemi Badenoch has made it clear what she thinks and she is right, he is Farage's problem now. He might come to regret this tergiversation.

[Stanley]

See THIS for Met Office speculation about snow and ice to come....
If you think we've said goodbye to bitter winter weather then think again. There's a battleground of air masses beginning to build across the UK and it's far from clear which will win out. At the start of January a spell of notably harsh winter weather brought Arctic winds southwards along with heavy snow, widespread ice and biting temperatures. A recent shift in the jet stream has allowed milder Atlantic air to be ushered in lifting temperatures to around the seasonal average. This sudden change introduced a different set of hazards, with frequent rainfall, strong winds and the rapid thaw of lying snow bringing about localised flooding in some areas. However, now we're entering a new phase with two competing weather influences and it's a waiting games to see which will dominate - more wind and rain, or more snow and ice.