I saw the following recently and although I am fairly certain this is a spoof, I thought I would share it just in case some of us older members of society may wish to group together and hide in the woods rather along the lines of the resistance during World War Two. Unfortunately, with this government anything could be true!
This is quite interesting, I had no previous knowledge of his abilities as a pilot.
I was reading an article on AOL which said that Bristol City Council could become the first local authority to collect black rubbish bins once every four weeks and was minded to think, what a stupid idea and left the following comment.
However often they come round doesn’t make any difference, there is still going to be the same amount to collect and if they don’t take it, I imagine people will just leave it in the street until they do come for it. So, we will either end up with the streets littered with rubbish or they will have to change their tune and do the job properly and collect the dam stuff!
As I went to post my comment, I was warned to reconsider what I had written with a red warning sign saying Post anyway and the following suggestion.
Let’s make sure your comment is understood as you intended. A quick revision can help it get through.
I was even more surprised when I found my comment had been rejected and had to wonder, on what possible grounds could it have been rejected so I tried again with comment number two as follows.
As my previous comment was rejected, I have tried again with the following which I am hoping will be deemed suitable for the AOL bots. This doesn’t seem a very sensible idea to me.
To say I was pleasantly surprised to see my second suggestion was accepted would be an exaggeration as I had thought both comments had the same message although framed in a slightly different manner.
I really don’t like the idea that we are being censored like this especially as it seems to be happening more and more often nowadays, for are we no longer permitted to voice our opinions that a council service may not be up to standard? It’s not as if I was inciting anarchy and the overthrow of the government and the abolishment of the monarchy, for these are two things that are very dear to my heart.
Do feel free to comment should you have an opinion on this matter but do be careful what you might say for BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!
I recently saw news of Chris Packham who clashed with Richard Madeley on Good Morning Britain as he had gone to the Court of Appeal to support the Just Stop Oil protesters who were there to challenge their prison sentences.
Obviously, in this day and age one has to be careful what one says but I’ve always thought that Chris Packham comes across as a bit of a knobhead and in an attempt to be politically correct and balanced, he is quite entitled to his opinion of me, should he have one.
On the subject of the protesters, one has to wonder, how do all these just stop oil people get around to these protests for surely, they can’t go by motorised transport of any kind for even the electric cars which they think will save the planet but will not, the batteries are filthy and pollute when being dug up from the earth.
On a sartorial note I have to say they all seem to be dressed very casually, probably from clothes made from polyester, or oil as it’s better known.
Do they imagine that stopping all those cars whose engines are running, can be good for the climate, for the drivers have no idea what is causing the blockage some distance away so keep the engine going in the hope the traffic will start to move soon.
The only way Just Stop Oil protesters can be true to their beliefs is to walk everywhere for even the materials and energy used to make a bicycle, whilst only small must still add to pollution and as for those celebrities who have flown from America and joined the protest, one has to laugh at the hypocrisy of their actions.
We have had so many so-called experts warning of global events like the forthcoming ice age predicted in the 70’s etcetera, none of which have come to fruition, however the weather has continually evolved and changed since the birth of the planet itself. I personally think our weather is completely governed by the gravitational pull of the sun and sun spot activity which is predicted to lower the temperature by 0.3 degrees centigrade although I’m not a fully fledged expert on climate change at least I didn’t predict the ice age.
I therefore say to these Just Stop Oil protesters, go home and leave the rest of us alone and let us get on with trying to live our lives, if you want something to do, go out and plant a tree, I’m led to believe they’re supposed to be quite good for the wellbeing of our planet, that might be a more constructive use of your time.
I became embroiled in a discussion on Facebook on the subject of supermarket checkouts and started to write a reply which went on rather longer than I intended which prompted me to use it for this, however I have to wonder if this is a wise decision as this is nearly as dangerous a subject to write about as Brexit.
I shall though risk putting my head above the parapet by stating, they are not for me, I don’t work for the supermarket and by doing self checkout I am putting someone out of a job who we then have to pay unemployment benefit to whilst complaining that they are too lazy to get a job, a job that no longer exists.
The supermarket is saving a fortune by not paying staff to do the job but I don’t notice they have put the prices down to benefit the customers but have put them up to increase their profit margins, although if the supermarket was going to pay me to do the job of checkout assistant by way of a decent discount on my goods, I would consider doing it myself.
During the discussion it was suggested that checkouts are obsolete and I need to catch up with the times, but if we apply this to all service industries, are we to book our car in for a service and then do the work ourselves, or book a plumber and do likewise, I think not.
Eventually, all businesses will try to follow this model as it increases their profit margins but since this scheme has been introduced the incidence of shop lifting has vastly increased, yet again causing prices to increase for the consumer, so inevitably we end up with an inferior service at considerably more cost.
I know some of the younger people say they like to do it themselves as it’s quicker but I frequently see people queueing to do so and they can only swipe the goods at the same speed as a checkout assistant when they finally get to check themselves out, this argument only works when there is no queue and you only have a few items to checkout not a full trolley with a weekly or monthly shop.
All of us who use the supermarkets are paying for a service, we are paying for all the staff who are in some way working to serve us the customer, including the checkout assistants it is priced into the cost of our goods and as long as that service remains I will make use of it for all of the reasons stated.
Obviously, this is quite an emotive subject so I am expecting to be inundated with comments, no doubt telling me I am an old fuddy-duddy but I’m hoping there may be a few out there who think like me on this subject, or if this doesn’t spark your interest you can wait for my next post on the topic, Amazon deliveries, saving the planet, or the curse of the green activists!
I do not wish to spend too long on this story as it will do nothing for my blood pressure if I dwell on the subject but suffice to say Royal Navy chiefs have come under fire for dropping plans to name a new attack submarine HMS Agincourt.
The seventh and final Astute-class submarine was to be called HMS Agincourt but it will now be named HMS Achilles, word has it this was done in an effort not to upset the French but one has to wonder when was the last time the French were in the slightest bit worried about upsetting us?
Apparently, this rather splendid Astute-class hunter-killer submarine cost £1.5 billion to build and I would have thought, for that sort of money we could have named the dam thing, Froggy McFrog’s legs if we’d have been so inclined.
Agincourt is recognised as one of England’s greatest military victories against vastly superior numbers of French troops and is well known in Shakespeare’s play Henry V for the ‘once more unto the breach’ speech.
Rear Admiral Chris Parry a retired Royal Naval officer summed up the matter rather succinctly when he said, ‘the decision was a case of craven political correctness and ideology gone mad.’
It may come as no surprise to learn that there is actually a committee, the Royal Navy Ships’ Names and Badging Committee who approves these names and then passes the names to the Navy Board which then presents its selection to the Defence Secretary for sign off, the names are then submitted to the monarch for royal approval and finally they get cold feet and change the name for fear of upsetting a few French people. Where would Government be without a committee or two to interfere with the smooth running of things?
The Royal Navy would not say why the name had been changed to HMS Achilles and Downing Street refused to be drawn on why the name Agincourt had been dropped.
I first saw news of this name change on an AOL news site and decided I would place the comment ‘pathetic’, which I thought summed up the rather woke attitude to the naming of this ship but lo and behold my suggestion was rejected as it might offend, although it wasn’t specified whether those offended would be French or some other nationality.
It seems that a massive iceberg which at 1500 square miles is over twice the size of Greater London and is at 1016 feet as tall as the Shard, has broken off the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in Antarctica and is heading for the British island of South Georgia.
Apparently, this enormous lump of ice named A23a broke off nearly forty years ago in 1986 and immediately became stuck on the floor of the Weddell Sea, however it freed itself in 2003 and has been roaming the ocean ever since and whilst it is presently in a meander and not heading directly for the island should it follow the current it is potentially on course to collide with South Georgia.
Experts fear A23a could break into segments which should they remain around South Georgia for years could seriously impede access to the feeding grounds for the seals and penguins that breed on the island.
Whilst climate change has been blamed for this and obviously, this would be tragic for the wildlife of the area but one has to think that some people are never happy, for surely there is good to come from this story if you look hard enough.
Looking on the bright side, since 2020 the ice shelves have lost some six trillion tons of ice and are now joined by this massive piece which is larger than Suffolk on the surface and if I’m correct there is another 90% below the water and all of this freezing ice can join the ocean and help to stop the rising sea temperatures. That should keep the climate change wallah’s happy for a while!
I came across a post today about defending the right to peaceful protest and thought, I should probably sign the petition although I only want the right to protest the causes that I am in agreement with, I don’t want the right to protests that stop traffic, or go on for weeks costing millions of pounds, or inconvenience me in any way shape or form.
Apparently, there are to be new laws to limit peaceful protest and I have no idea what these laws will say but it’s virtually impossible to come up with a law that fits every protest, it seems wrong for Just stop oil to cause so much chaos and I think there are now injunctions against them, also the pro Palestine marches which as far as I know have been going on in London week after week and costing millions to police.
How do you stop the extremists and still have laws that allow limited peaceful demonstrations, I’m dammed if I know for whatever the protest, if you don’t agree with the cause, you view the protesters as extremists and one mans extremist is another mans freedom fighter!
This may explain why I have never had the faintest desire to become an MP or have anything to do with government legislation, although there are plenty of ludicrous motoring laws I would protest about if I thought it would do any good. ULEZ, congestion charge, 20mph speed limit, to name but a few although I think going out and gluing my face to the road with superglue is a step too far so I limit my protests to the odd whinge on Facebook, although I have to admit, I have little hope of this changing government policy on these matters.
I’m reminded of the biblical quote when thinking of moderate protest which says, “one day the meek shall inherit the earth,” although I believe there was the caveat that the scheme would only go ahead, if it was alright with everyone else!
I wonder if there are any serving Police who can help verify this story I read in Essex Live concerning a policeman who has been sacked for exceeding the speed limit on 42 occasions, P C Harry Croot has been sacked as he was was caught multiple times speeding above the legal limit including on one occasion at 91 mph.
Apparently, he was subject to a five-year final written warning for an unrelated matter and was not permitted to exceed the speed limit as he only had a basic driving permit and was dismissed after a fast-tracked hearing chaired by the Chief Constable.
Telematics evidence recorded 42 instances of speeding from May to July 2024 and Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington said that without the correct training Croot’s driving posed a significant risk to the public.
P C Croot had on occasions exceeded the speed limit by twice the limit and had once done 86 mph in a 40 mph zone and a report said he poses a significant risk to the public without the proper training, the hearing found his actions amounted to gross misconduct and he was dismissed.
The report continued, the standards and quality of police driver training are high and every police driver undertakes extensive initial and regular refresher training to ensure they remain safe, officers who are not trained do not drive using the exemptions available to the police such as exceeding the speed limit.
It was quite hard to find information on police driving standards for Essex but I assume this may be the same as the Metropolitan police which seem to have three categories for drivers, basic driver, response driver and advanced driver all of which makes sense, including basic drivers not allowed to take part in any pursuits.
This is where I am a little concerned as I imagine the vast majority of police are only basic driver trained and although not allowed to take part in any pursuits, are we to assume they have to stick to the speed limit when responding to a mugging or something more serious like a stabbing for example?
There is always more to many stories one reads nowadays and I’m wondering if there is more to this story for if this officer has been dismissed for breaking the speed limit when responding to serious incidents, this would seem a little unfair, or was there more in the story of the subject of his five-year final written warning and this was the real reason for his dismissal. My curiosity has been triggered, should anyone out there know the answer I would love to hear from you.
One has to wonder, are we therefore to assume that all basic trained police drivers are not allowed to exceed the speed limit even when responding to a serious incident, for if I were being attacked I would rather like to think they would proceed with all possible haste. I now realise why so many knife attacks are never solved, especially in London for by the time the officers get to the incident whilst travelling at 20 mph the perpetrator will be miles away, perhaps we could issue them with bicycles with no telematics as in the old days in an effort to get to the scene of the crime quicker!
I have watched SAS Rogue Heroes from the very beginning and I have to say it’s compulsive viewing, although I would imagine not for the reason writer of Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight may have intended. Sadly, it is compulsive viewing because it is absolutely awful in every way shape and form and is addictive to the point where one has to watch the next episode to see if it really is as dreadful as the last.
I do not have the energy to give much time to this subject and have to qualify my opinion by stating, I am a man of some mature years and one bought up on such films as Ice Cold in Alex and the Cruel Sea and not the modern type of over the top action thriller which seems so prevalent in this current age.
It may well be an age thing, having seen a review in the Guardian newspaper by Jack Seale, who judging by his photo is somewhat younger than myself, stated; Steven Knight’s cool-as-hell second world war drama is back – and it’s still an utterly thrilling romp of a watch. Charge on!
A thrilling romp, it might have been, were it not based on truth and even with a trigger warning that the drama is not a history lesson, doesn’t cut the mustard for those of us who know differently.
Jack O’Connell’s portrayal of Paddy Mayne as a man who spends most of his time effing and blinding in some bizarre attempt at a northern Ireland accent, quite different from the real Paddy who was staunchly against swearing. Damien Lewis, who has written more than a dozen books on the history of the SAS also slammed the portrayal.
Sadly, Con O’Neill as Field Marshal Montgomery fared no better as he neither looked nor sounded like Montgomery and one has to admit there are some very professional forties reenactors who are far more capable of portraying the man and I’m sure would have been only too happy to have embraced the task, had they been asked.
As for Eve Mansour the spy/journalist played by Sofia Boutella, one has to wonder if the storyline of her fictional character wasn’t a tad far fetched, especially from the wardrobe department who most of the time made her look like a catwalk model than a serious journalist. That said, her costumes were excellent, although more suited to a drama based in a Bond Street shopping arcade.
At least in this series they attempted to use some period music occasionally, although the majority of the punk rock style did grate on my sensibilities, as did the director’s continual use of setting up the shot as if it were an opening scene from the Magnificent Seven or some other similar spaghetti western.
I would be most interested to hear other opinions on this drama, so please do feel free to comment.
The Diary of a Country Bumpkin 