And even more about the Telegraph and the UAE......from the woman who seems to have an opinion of just about everything at the moment. Suella Braverman has warned that any Emirati takeover of the Daily Telegraph will hinder freedom of expression. The former home secretary said the newspaper was "one of the bedrocks of our free press". But she added that if it was taken over by a firm with links to the United Arab Emirates, "the independence of the paper will undeniably be compromised". Last week Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, intervened to scrutinise the sale of The Telegraph to RedBird IMI, an investment consortium backed by the Abu Dhabi ruling family. Mrs Braverman made her comments in a speech to the Political Cartoon Awards, where she supported the right of cartoonists to depict politicians in ways they do not like. She said...Freedom of press is back in the forefront of our minds once more regarding...The Telegraph newspaper and...The Spectator magazine...and I want to be clear I oppose their takeover by RedBird. The Telegraph is one of the bedrocks of our free press and The Spectator is an irrepressible voice for challenging establishment orthodoxies. "To my mind, there is no doubt that this takeover will hinder the accurate presentation of news and the free expression of opinion, and the independence of the paper will undeniably be compromised if its control is ceded to the hands of a foreign state". "That freedom is essential now more than ever in a healthy democracy and I hope that the takeover does not go ahead". She said she had been portrayed by the cartoonists as a "Vampire bat, a cranky crayfish, a Hallowe'en ghoul, a zombie, a devil, Morticia Addams". "Spitting Image had me as the girl from The Exorcist", she said..." You also had me as an angry Statue of Liberty, a Superbraverman, and Barbie. You make politicians look much more interesting than we really are, to be honest, and you're a pillar of our free press and I hope that you continue unhindered by political interference." Daily Telegraph...Thursday...07/12/2023. She'll never get into the Nazi Party with views like that. The sad thing is that it shows ...Rikki Sunak up as a weak leader...and unable to lead his party forward.....others are having to say what many voters are thinking at this present time.
That’s unhealthy. In the States, right-wing Republicans have blocked further military aid to Ukraine (and Israel) unless migration across the US’s southern border is further restricted. It’s an unholy alliance between the isolationist right in the US and a dangerously expansionist dictator in Russia. It will all come to no good, especially if Trump wins the election.
It's the old bargaining ploy isn't it. You give us more on Mexican border restrictions.....before we allow your Ukraine commitments to be honoured. Surprised that Putin has visited the UAE and is visibly seen reviewing a guard of honour.....how many bullet proof jackets had he on.....or are Ukrainian special forces not using him for target practice....because the next President ot Russia might be worse.....better the devil you know than the one you don't syndrome I expect.
I know you have issues with the Post Office Plym. This wasn't you was it? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-67653335
I'm surprised they weren't charged extra postage costs......35 Australian Cents wouldn't get you far these days. Didn't we have morning and afternoon deliveries 40 yrs ago and Saturday and Sunday collections.....and smartly dressed Postmen in uniform....with long trousers....and checking on little old ladies who hadn't taken their milk bottles in for two days running.
And 40 years ago they had a monopoly which has been taken away with everyone expecting the same service that the opposition do not have to provide. What they wear has no bearing on how they perform either. As for checking on little old ladies, there used to be a collective on that which included neighbours so lets not single out the post office for that failure now. There used to be smartly dressed cops. Servicemen and women. Shop workers. Boiler fitters. Grott is the new smart.
I was going to make some comment about Victorian postmen knocking up old ladies but I decided that would have been in bad taste.
I was very touched by the scenes at and around Shane MacGowan's (lead singer, song writer and muse of the punk-folk band, the Pogues) funeral yesterday. Only the Irish could carry it off. Dark suits and black ties? Not a bit of it. Guinness in hand and belting out his best songs. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-67661846 He'd have liked it that way and that's the way to go.
A good send off....is a thing to die for. No black suits and ties for me either.....it should be a celebration of that persons life.
Just heard that my Building Society/Bank is closing it large branch in Orpington next March. They had already made it into a three and half day branch three years back.....probably why it is always busy when I pop in. One of the male staff I had got to know quite well...and after they had cut their opening hours I used to see him on a Thursday in the Sevenoaks branch....until they closed that two years back......he tells me that he manages to get his full working week in by travelling to whatever branch he is told to go to......but he's not sure what will happen come next March. I have had an account there since the day Mrs Plym and I took out a mortgage before we got married....nearly 60 years ago........they have told us that if we need to go to a branch....the nearest will be Bromley....a very hard place to park in ....if a branch is all you need to go for.....the next nearest branch they tell me is Eltham....which is miles away and a high street I've never used. Just a sign of the times....the shops etc that I have frequented over the years are all disappearing....it all started with Woolworths years back.....then Army & Navy...Debenhams, C & A's, Allders Dept Store, Singers, The Woolwich...now Wilkinsons.....and Robert Dyas & Rymans seem to have amalgamated and cut their ranges to obviously fit into one shop....and now not having some of the regular items that you used then for....a decent Irommongers is pure gold dust to find these days......lots of other shops have gone and it is sad to say I can't remember there names. If you not on the Internet these days your lifestyle is just disappearing and you just have to do without.
Further to the above....... Down the High Street awhile ago.....took some cash out whilst in Building Society/Bank....I was going to have a chat with them about closing the branch down....but gave up after awhile because the place was very busy and I only had 90 minutes parking.....I wonder how many of them where having a word about closing such a busy branch. I had already spent ages queuing in the Post Office which has been squeezed into the back of Smiths......the queue was stretching down the aisles of Smiths making it hard for people to get to any of the items on display that Smiths would like to sell....gave up after 15 minutes because the queue had hardly moved. So went to Sainsbury's in nearby Locksbottom and did my shopping.....went over to McCoy's to pay for the papers and maybe get some stamps there at their mini-Post-Office. The Till for the shop produce (including paying for the papers) wasn't too bad....but to buy stamps as well meant I would have to queue again in the Post Office queue...which was literally out the door.....and of course there was only one till available to serve customers that side....this person was by herself and serving people from each queue (other person on dinner break).....you couldn't buy stamps from the shop till side...because the money would go in the wrong till.....needless to say I still need stamps. PS.......I could re-write all this again and put it on the Grumpy site as well.....but I thought better of it .
The BBC has announced its six nomination's for the Sports Personality of the Year. Frankie Dettori, Rory McILory, Stuart Broad, Alfie Hewett, Mary Earps & Katarina Johnson-Thompson. The announcement was met by a roar of silence......Seb Coe, now World Athletics President was appalled that Josh Kerr 1500 metre gold medal world title winner isn't one of the six nominee's . Dettori, Broad & McILory have not done anything exceptional this season ....so why are they there ? Wheel Chair tennis player Alfie Hewett has won two major titles this year.......Mary Earps won the Golden Glove at the Women's World Cup of which England reached the final........Johnson-Thompson won her second heptathlon world title....so those three have legitimacy for being nominated. So no male footballer has got a better claim to being nominated than Dettori, Broad and McILory I find mystifying.
Well I know nothing about horse racing but Dettori deserves a career award although I don’t know about this season in particular. Similarly Stuart Broad, he did OK in the cricket I saw but it was hardly a season to remember for England as a team. Golf? No idea. KJT definitely - competes at world level.
It seems that the short list of six was decided by an ....Expert Independent Panel.... who convened in December 2023 to decide the short list.....no mention of who was on the panel. Maybe they where all ex-jockey's....ex Para-tennis players....ex Golfers and ex cricket players.....who knows.
Managed to get some stamps yesterday.....not at a PO counter.....no proper Christmas Stamps....actually not even proper stamps. But at a stamp printing machine....paid by card and selected how many....the machine printed non-stamp like things which said 2nd Class up to 100g and a picture of our deceased Queen (over a year gone by now)...in strips of six....which took up to one minute to produce....I wanted 50...so it took awhile. No Post Office staff where molested or required for this transaction.....yet another de-humanisation of life.....you could live your life totally soon without coming in to contact with another human being. Banks are trying to stop you using cash (or even branches).....cannot use cash on Buses anymore....and Newspapers are trying to get you to buy them online instead of in actual print. There will by no holes appearing in pockets because of coins soon.....we are turning into a world of everything being on your mobile phone....if it gets stolen or you lose it...your life will come to an end.....you will be a none person.....we're years past the worry of BIG BROTHER........AAAAGGGHHHH....HELP ME.
