OneGuyFromBarlick

Whyperion wrote: ↑23 Mar 2025, 10:38 Is it me or is Trump trying to take absolute power - Judge Issues Judgement against him , Trump Pardons himself - can they do that ?

In their rather bizarre idea of democracy, yes, what's more they allow convicted felons to become President and even if they were in prison they can still get the gig if enough stupid people vote for them. Trump had 34 convictions related to his previous incitement of riot to attack the capitol building and overturn the election won by Biden.

Our adversarial system of two sword lengths apart politics, (in the house) isn't the best and could be bettered with PR and a new parliament building "in the round". Having said that you cant be elected if you are a convicted criminal, and you cannot be totally self serving.

See BBC Friday Night Comedy 1830 slot most recent for the latest dig at the House of Lords and a PE view of influence / lobbying and who is paid by what PR and other companies. Influence is one thing, fraud another but (is anarchy the right word?) The end of the Roman Empire ?

See THIS BBC report for what looks like a smart move by Mark Carney.
Canada's newly appointed Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a snap election, sending the country to the polls on 28 April. The election comes as Canada faces a trade war with the US and calls from President Donald Trump for it to become the 51st American state, issues which are expected to be top of mind for voters. It also comes nine days after Carney, a Liberal, was sworn in as Canada's prime minister following Justin Trudeau's resignation. Carney must now face Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party had been leading in national polls since mid-2023, though recent polls suggest the race is now neck-and-neck. Speaking in Ottawa on Sunday, Carney said he needed a clear, positive mandate to deal with Trump.

Later I had a shock! R4 have changed their schedule and at first I was afraid I had lost my beloved Shipping Forecast and the reports from coastal stations but all was well. It is still there and we have gained an edition of Yesterday in Parliament in place of World News. I suspect this may be something to do with the cuts to BBC World Service.....

This photo popped up in my Facebook news feed this morning. I knew teasels were used to fluff the surface of fabric but I've never seen how it was done. This is a teasel gig, I think at the National Museum in Wales.

I refurbished one at Helmshore Wendy. I think we got the teasels from Spain....



The teasel raising gig at Helmshore.

I haven't visited Helmshore yet Stanley, it's a must for this year!

I remembered something about the teasel gig as I was drifting off into second sleep Wendy. We used reclaimed timber for the refurbishments and the wood we got for the Teasel gig was reclaimed from a very large vinegar vat at the brewery in Barrowford. Every time you cut it you got a lovely aroma of malt vinegar.....

Stanley wrote: ↑24 Mar 2025, 03:05 Later I had a shock! R4 have changed their schedule

Paul lewis of BBC Moneybox his not pleased either.

"Gone! A horrible shock today as the wonderful gentle way to wake up at 0530 - News Briefing @BBCRadio4
- is axed to save a few quid. It was on every day. The shipping forecast moved to 0534 is not a good way to wake up! Nor is the pointless Prayer for the Day which stays at 0543".

It could be much worse. Yesterday in Parliament at 05:00 is OK for me as is the new time for the shipping forecast.
Biggest change is that I think the shipping bulletin is being read by the BBC continuity announcer on duty instead of Met Office forecasters.

Two incidents involving lights last night. One was heavily reported on Facebook and was quite remarkable, the newly launched Space X rocket venting fuel causing a swirling light show across the clear sky . There was also a lot of lights at the end of our track which turned out to be a large pig transporter jammed into the entrance. The driver had turned off the road onto the wrong track and got stuck trying to reverse back out. My neighbour, who was waiting for him at the farm, had to spend an hour trying to pull him free with a tractor. We haven't been to see the damage yet but one ancient stone gatepost has been broken and he was jammed against the other....

Wendyf wrote: ↑25 Mar 2025, 09:38 Two incidents involving lights last night. One was heavily reported on Facebook and was quite remarkable, the newly launched Space X rocket venting fuel causing a swirling light show across the clear sky . There was also a lot of lights at the end of our track which turned out to be a large pig transporter jammed into the entrance. The driver had turned off the road onto the wrong track and got stuck trying to reverse back out. My neighbour, who was waiting for him at the farm, had to spend an hour trying to pull him free with a tractor. We haven't been to see the damage yet but one ancient stone gatepost has been broken and he was jammed against the other....

I saw the Facebook pics, and the corresponding theories. Everything from alien invasion to the Russians.

Hopefully the pig wagon's insurance will cover any damage.

Col has just been up to inspect the damage and its not as bad as we thought. The stone posts are OK, it was a concrete gatepost and all the fencing around the cattle grid that suffered damage. We just have access over our neighbour's land up to the road Kev so luckily not our problem, though it would have been awkward if they hadn't managed to extract it with the tractor last night, we could have been trapped here for a while!

It was one of these......

I drove a Scania like that (with a curtain sided trailer) in the 1990s, I can imagine it was a bit of a squeeze through those gateposts coming off of the road.

Council Tax Bill in, the increase might just be covered by the increase in minimum wage. I could write a book on inflation, more difficult to think how/if its should be controlled

Mothers annual life insurance statements in today. Some have been sent in a zero value the rest are half the surrender / final est value that they were last year. Life ins co still down as a "best buy" provider.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyjpyxnlx9o
From Tizers Mystery Roof Question this happened a few days back in Notting Hill area of London
This style (in a way all show and no go) with the front parapet rooves are prone to problems. It looks like the end house has been rebuilt , possibly with a basement excavation. Surprisingly avoiding damage from WW2 similar , larger , houses continue much further north without the bay windows , but ran onto north kensington / ladbroke grove becoming demolished when declared "slums" in the late 1960s as the estate that has Grenfell Tower on it was constructed, The council ran out of money leaving other houses opposite that a mix of empty or cheap tenure with one family per floor , some early 1970s were sold , not exactly cheap and not exactly weatherthigh but have become very expensive now. The "invert valley gutter" style can sometimes be seen better from the rear on the pictured house style from passing trains when there are rail lines running behind, So far as I remember there are no downpipes to the fronts of the buildings , with a mid gutter to each house running to the rear and it is a pain to keep the gutter clear of leaves - any window in the roof slope could be opened to do a bit of maintenance if needed, so the hip of the roof met at each house adjoining the next one , or a half hip and high wall for end terrace ones. The parapet appears not to tie in to the roof structure - one would have thought there would be two bearing beams running aft to fore cemented into the brickwork as a tie - modern method would be some kind of bat u nail and screws resin bonded into the essentially decorative finish of a one brick? thick running course built all the way along the terrace frontage - if the end house lost the keying into the adjoining that too could weaken the run - as could taking out internal walls of one or more of the houses but its more likely vibration from increasingly heavy motor vehicles along roads that were designed in the days of the horse carriage and horse tram

It might be an ill wind but placing mansard rooves as replacements would add an extra storey - assuming foundations can support them

Susan and Mick fly back home tomorrow on the Quantas direct flight from Perth to Heathrow. Flight time 18 Hours..... Rather them than me. I shall be as pleased as they will be when they land at LHR at 05:00 on Thursday.....

I worked out their take off time from Perth, near enough 11:00 our time. I shall be tracking their flight as usual..... It will be nice to see them, they flew out to Oz at the end of December..... I commiserated with Susan thinking she would be sad leaving her daughter and grand children out there but she said she was looking to forward to some cool rain. She's had enough sunshine!

Radio 4 Wednesday's Midweek programme has long gone from 9am slot
Replaced this day with More or Less looking at some interesting statistics and David Dimbleby at 0930 looking at how the free economy thinking , Keith Joesph and Thatcher's changes "invisible hands" , which argueably led to the shrunk economies of western nations at these times,

Susan and Mick are climbing out over the Indian Ocean, 420 knots and 14,000ft. Now all they have to do is be patient for 17 hours..... Rather them than me!

Trump is at it again! See THIS BBC report.....
Updated 1 hour ago
US President Donald Trump has announced new import taxes of 25% on cars and car parts coming into the US in a move that threatens to widen the global trade war. Trump said the latest tariffs would come into effect on 2 April, with charges on businesses importing vehicles starting the next day. Charges on parts are set to start in May or later. The president claimed the measure would lead to "tremendous growth" for the car industry, promising it would spur jobs and investment in the US. But analysts have said the move is likely to lead to the temporary shutdown of significant car production in the US, increase prices, and strain relations with allies.
The tariffs may be his biggest mistake eventually.....

Susan and Mick are back in UK. Susan says she is loving the crisp air and wearing a coat again! It's 38C in Perth......;

I saw THIS Headline....
Six people have died after a tourist submarine sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, a local governor has said. Among 39 others who were rescued, nine were said to have been injured, with four of them in critical condition, after the incident early on Thursday morning near the city of Hurghada. In total, 45 passengers were thought to have been on-board the submarine, called Sindbad, when it sank close to the harbour.
My question is, would you volunteer for a trip on a submarine? I am sorry for the fact that there are dead and injured but there is no way I would regard a trip like this as part of my holiday.
There's nowt so queer as folk.....

I'm going to be a great grandad again

That's good news Kev. Have you asked them if they've found out what's causing it?