Seen in the News

[Stanley]

See THIS report that Musk has reinstated Trump's Twitter account after a vote.... Question is, does anyone care?

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the latest news about the failed Ftx crypto currency exchange.
"Cryptocurrency exchange FTX owes its 50 largest creditors almost $3.1bn (£2.6bn), according to a court filing.

The embattled firm, which filed for bankruptcy in the US last week, says it owes about $1.45bn to its top 10 creditors, but has not named any."

[Stanley]

Thanks to Private Eye for alerting me to this aspect of heat pumps which I was unaware of.

[plaques]

Heat pumps are similar to refrigerators and freezers where you don't want to be switching them back on when the coolant is under compression. I always wait 30 mins before switching. It looks like Heat pumps need longer for the compressor to get back to a safe mode.

[Tizer]

I'd not heard of that potential problem so I googled to find more about it. Result - zero relevant entries. So I google more widely and eventually found relevant answers but all from outside UK. Two links here: Carney, USA and Icicle Creek, USA

[Stanley]

Well done Peter. Both links are perfectly clear about the problem and the time needed to cure it.
Call me a cynical old bugger but was this problem known but deliberately suppressed because the government knew that this would immediately kill demand for the units and they are desperate to announce that there is an alternative to gas central heating.
The uncomfortable truth is that there is no alternative to gas CH until we get electricity from fusion 'too cheap to meter'.
Thanks to PE and Old Sparky for bringing this up.

[Tripps]

Google News has in its wisdom directed me to the BBC news in Pidgin

Strange to relate, but without any formal language training I find I can understand it completely. I may add that skill to my CV.

[Big Kev]

Google News has in its wisdom directed me to the BBC news in Pidgin

Strange to relate, but without any formal language training I find I can understand it completely. I may add that skill to my CV.

[Stanley]

I always suspected you were unique David. Now I am certain....

[Big Kev]

Kanye West to run for US president.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63754702

[Stanley]

And we thought our politics was broken! That report makes the 2024 Presidential race look like a zoo....
Now that the autumn statement (or whatever they are calling it now) is out of the way Sunak is doing all he can to present an image of 'business as usual'. Leaving on one side peripheral matters like the investigation of his deputy for serial bullying in different departments and the perennial problem of the migrants, Northern Ireland gets more serious as each day goes by, not simply because of the disputed protocol but the fact that they have no government. This has almost become the norm in NI politics but a resolution will have to be found soon and now the elephant in the room is reunification with the south.

[Tizer]

Kanye West to run for US president.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63754702

And Mickey Mouse is running for Vice-President!

[Stanley]

There is so little genuine political news that THIS report on the enquiry into Dominic Raab gets the leas spot in the BBC political news. Does anyone think for one minute that he's losing any sleep over this? In my opinion it's a pantomime that will produce a Johnsonian result.
In the home news THIS caught my attention, the surge in Diphtheria infections in migrants, a disease of my childhood that I thought I had seen the back of.
I remember there being a similar surge in cases of AB resistant Tuberculosis in migrants from African countries. It's evident that incoming migrants need far better treatment than they are getting now regardless of official policies of 'hostile environment'. These infections are just as big a threat to us as the migrants.

[Tripps]

I see from the Mail online (no link in deference to those who are allergic), that this video 'Three Salons at the Seaside' has become an unexpected hit. Nice to see the rest of the world catching up with me. I put a link to it on here ages ago. as I thought it was a valuable piece of Lancashire working class social history. Of course I can't find it now. I'll record it again.

[Tripps]

They're all in it. Norah Batty, Les Dawson, Roy Barraclough (Cissie and Ada), Victoria Wood, Norman Evans. . .

Wonderful and some great examples of the character of the women portrayed. My writing skills don't permit me to say what I really want to here. This stuff will be priceless in the future. I hope it's being archived somewhere safe and future proof.

[Stanley]

I agree with you David, it's wonderful stuff and reminds me in many ways of the LTP. If you can get trusted access to the grass roots and give them the opportunity they will always delight and surprise you.
My biggest surprise was when an old bloke called Billy Brooks started on about soldiers in red coats forming squares and blokes on horse back riding round the squares and firing into them. Then I realised that he was talking about the Boer War! This was in Barlick in the 1970s. Not what I expected!

[Tizer]

Remember this glitch which affected a lot of people in Somerset during the pandemic? Here's news about the report...
`Immensa lab errors may have led to 23 Covid-19 deaths' LINK
`Staff mistakes in a private laboratory may have caused 23 extra deaths from Covid-19. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) makes the claim in a report into errors at the Immensa lab in Wolverhampton. It says as many as 39,000 positive results were wrongly reported as negative in September and October 2021. The mistakes led to "increased numbers of [hospital] admissions and deaths", the report, published on Tuesday, concluded. Thousands of people, many in the South West, were wrongly told to stop testing after their results were processed by Immensa.'...

[Stanley]

I heard the report Peter but hadn't made the connection. Thanks....
Have we got an ongoing enquiry into the handling of Covid? I lose track of these things.....
Later.... See THIS Reuters report into the conviction of the founder and leader of the right wing 'Oathkeepers' organisation that was involved in the attempt to stop Joe Biden taking up the presidency.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report about a disgraceful example of racial discrimination at the heart of the royal family. This is not the first time such behaviour has been flagged up, (see the complaints by Meghan) but this case can't be defended, there were too many witnesses. I leave you to draw your own conclusions....

[Tripps]

I have for the last ten years or so - asked many people 'where are you from?' I do so in a respectful enquiring way, and am alert to the possibility of causing offence. I have not done so up to now. On the contrary I have found that most people like to be asked and are very open and forthcomomg in their replies. I have increased my knowledge of the world enormously.

I know now for example about Ramnicu Valcea also known as Hackerville' in Romania. I am aware of the armed insurrection by the Abu Sayyaf group in Mindanao, and followed the news of the intervention of the Filipino army a few years ago.I know a few words of Tagalog, including my favourite word Kuripot. I know what Pagpag is. I have some knowledge of studying medicine in Poland, and I know what a Pierogi is. I have learned that not all Bulgarians are fans of the EU. and at least one wishes they had not joined. I have shared the worries about the family tomato crop failing in Sicily (the olives did well though). I know a lot about the wines of Puglia. I know quite a bit now about Colombia and the story of the large amount of gold that was thrown into the lake near Bogota. I'm reliably informed it's still there. There is more to Medellin than drugs. I have broadened my (already quite wide )range of knowledge, and caused zero offence.


I think the incident in the Palace signals the beginning of the end of the monarchy as we know it. I doubt it would have happened if the Queen was still alive. Prince Philip said worse things and was tolerated. It has demonstrated that the fear of being accused of 'racism' trumps everything. We now know why the Queen always wisely asked "have you come far?" Though when dealing with professional race hustlers even that innocent question would probably be deemed racist.

If Baronness Hussey after 60 years of loyal unpaid service can be thrown under the proverbial bus in a few hours -then the minds of the others will be concentrated.

Think of the power that now resides with the Duke and (more especially) the Duchess of Suffolk.


PS It seems - (subject to fake news check) that the parents of lady in question - Ngozi Fulani - were Gladstone and Mildred Headley, from Jamaica, and she has a twin sister called Sandra Richards.

PPS It is reported that her birth name is Marlene Headley. Curious that she abandons the name which would more closely identify her with being British born, and adopts the name Ngozi (African name meaning Blessing) and has a fit of indignation when someone assumes she is African.

[Big Kev]

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[Stanley]

David, yes, I noted that last point myself. I think you're dead right about the influence of the queen and Philip being missed. The thing I think that has been overlooked is the question I immediately asked myself. What was the woman Hussey's agenda when she kept pursuing the point? To my mind she was wanting the black lady to admit she was not really British and therefore inferior. She is after all top drawer English aristocracy and a courtier as well and so is obviously superior to everyone. She is also stupid, look where her superiority got her.
Like You, I have never had problems. My son in law Muthomi wasn't aggressed when I asked about his lineage. He had no need to be because in the Kiragu Clan he is almost royalty himself!
Kev, spot on, a good cartoon can say so much.

[Tripps]

Some MP's go into the jungle to earn a few quid, some go to Strictly - this one is speaking at a conference in Singers.

International Symposium on Blockchain Advancementsch

I wonder if he's getting paid in Crypto Currency.

Don't rush back on my account Boris. . . .

[Stanley]

I clicked on that link David.... It's a very strange world out there. Include me out.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the resignation of the police watchdog. Slightly mysterious because nobody is saying what for.
"The head of the police watchdog has been forced to resign after becoming the subject of a police investigation, Home Secretary Suella Braverman says. Independent Office for Police Conduct director general Michael Lockwood said on Friday that he was resigning for "personal and domestic reasons". But on Saturday the home secretary said she had taken action after learning of the probe into a historical allegation. Mr Lockwood was asked to either resign or be suspended, Ms Braverman said."
What worries me about this is the case of the MP who was peremptorily sacked after reports he had been touching someone in a bar but has now been reinstated. It looks as though the allegations made against him were false.
This is another such dismissal. Will this one hold water? Is it fair to treat public servants like this and not give clear reasons why it has been done?