Nothing random about his lunacy....stops armanant to Ukraine and is surprise when Putin decides to fight on. I think he took a first class degree in advanced lunacy.....plus a course on "look at me everyone" written by himself of course. PS.....Aren't we lucky that Elon Musk was born in South Africa and can never be President.
There is one: an ex President can stand as Vice President to another candidate. If elected, and if the new President resigns or is otherwise unable to continue, the VP can step up. It’s not meant to be a back door to a 3rd term and it would create a constitutional crisis but the rules provide for it in case of sudden death etc. Lyndon Johnson stepping after JFK was shot and Gerald Ford after Trickie Dickie resigned are examples.
I've noticed that recently two local independent Funeral Directors have shut down.....at 86 should I take encouragement that not so many people are dying anymore....or is there some other reason ? I couldn't help but notice the different TV adverts at present on how to reduce the cost of funerals....doing away with a religious service......straight cremations followed maybe with a celebratiion of that persons life (a booze up)...also cheaper coffin variations ........no need for hired cars following a hearse etc.....all must be taking a toll of the independent Funeral Directors.
Some updating regarding my Citroen C3 airbags. 1.....Citroens' parent company....Stellantis have told all C3 owners between 2009/19 must not drive their cars until the airbags have been replaced. 2.....You could be liable to a fine of up to £2,500 if you do. 3.....My insurance would be invalid. 4.....No MOT's can be done on a car that has not been repaired......mine's next month ? 5.....There are comments from drivers that they have been told because of the sheer volume of vehicles involved that you might have to wait until January 2026 before a repair might happen. 6.....I have registered with the nearest Citroen garage for the work to be done... like many other people have.....and because of the volume involved the garage have not got back to me....to give me an estimated date for the free repair. 7.....No courtesy cars are being offered because of the sheer numbers involved. 8.....There are many comments online about the hardship it will cause some people. Now that is a disaster that I never dreamed possible......not having a car for maybe 6 months......I will wait until Wednesday ....and if I haven't heard from the garage with a possible date...I shall try ringing them.....which I did try at the time and just got referred to the Tel No that I spent 1hr 42mins 37seconds listening to classical music on a 10 second loop.
The airbag saga....made by Takata....isn't only affecting Citroen......there are situations where it involves......Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Ford and Nissan. There are quotes that between 80,000 and 120,000 Citroens are affected.
Former Russian transport minister, Roman Starovoit, has been found dead having apparently shot himself shortly after being dismissed from his post by Vladimir Putin. He was governor of the Russian region of Kursk until May 2024 before it was invaded by Ukraine in August of that year. His successor is currently on trial for, over a period of less than 3 months, and without the Russian military noticing, misappropriating sufficient funds to make Kursk vulnerable to invasion. It’s thought Starovoit was about to be brought into the case as a second defendant, who must have misappropriated funds in a way that was so well hidden as to allow him to step up to a national government post on leaving Kursk. The Russians’ search for the person who actually started the war in Ukraine, having woefully underestimated its ability and determination to defend itself, let alone stage a counter-invasion of Russian territory, has not so far made any progress. Or indeed started.
I do wonder if this is the case of exaggerated ass-covering by a big corporation. Have there been other cases where airbags failed to deploy properly? How many? In how many cases were people injured more seriously than they would if the airbag had worked as designed? Obviously this is the manufacturer’s responsibility to fix as soon as possible. Is it though strictly necessary to cause all this grief? Given the results of such an analysis, is it possible to focus first on specific cars and dates of manufacture that seem to be most badly affected and then do the others on a priority system?
Reports of one fatality in France....and reports that there have been 27 "other incidents "....but none noted in the UK. Ammonium nitrate inflator inside the airbag exploded firing shards of metal into the cabin.....(during an accident) Takata airbags becoming notorious for growing unstable as they age especially in regions with humidity and heat cycles.
It seems yet more money is required to buy votes in the North. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qxe8359dno
You just couldn't make it up could you. I heard this on the local news this evening. When you look at the Billions promised for the North to take 30 minutes off a journey that at least isn't in jeopardy of not being able to be made yet they kick into touch a project a fraction of that cost to protect a mainline (the only one) to a whole County and a bit that has a history of not being made. I think we should all stop paying our taxes down here. We get feck all back for it so we should keep it and spend it locally.
So more money going north.....but haven't they got Airports and Motorways in abundance.....things that Plymouth obviously don't need....just a few rail tracks on the very edge of the sea....plus the vunerable crumbling cliffs that'll do.
It’s not just Plymouth I’ll have you know. The whole of Cornwall relies on that railway line. The reliance of the holiday “industry” on it to bring visitors is much diminished, although I believe additional full size trains still run to Newquay in the summer months. I fact I was gobsmacked when I queued up at St Blazey level crossing last year and a mainline HS125 came through. The ClayLiner trains still carry bulk china clay up to the potteries too, supporting thousands of jobs at either end. It’s white collar traffic too. It’s the best way to get to a meeting in London. It’s not just the railways: the Stonehenge By-Pass and A303 - M5 link is gathering dust. The A38 beyond Plymouth now has its speed cameras on and the whole route to the Trerulefoot Roundabout will be limited by the village bottlenecks to 30mph at best. This all started when Johnson won those Red Wall seats on a deluded Brexit ticket. That and those damn metro-mayoralties, almost exclusively in the Midlands and North, which both parties are obsessed with getting and keeping hold of.
It’s both Russia and the USA now in the hands of dangerous regimes. It’s emerged that Pete Hesgeth, the US Secretary of Defence, ordered. the recent suspension of arms to Ukraine without telling the President or the Secretary of State or the Special Envoy to Ukraine. WTF?
Worrying words.......from the Government "We need to take a sensible look at the triple lock" That sounds like us pensioners are going to be bashed again.
I have to say that the triple lock is a very generous mechanism. I’d have thought a double lock (wages and inflation) would be quite sufficient. Most current pensioners have occupational pensions on top of their state entitlement and more of a worry are the generations coming on behind them with little or no occupational entitlement. Continuing freezes on income tax bands are more of a worry. The basic state pension alone will be taxable soon. Added to that are potential attacks on ISA savings, which some pensioners use. Having been blocked from trying to reverse to already bloated working age benefits bill, which is essential if the economy is to prosper, they haven’t got much else to goa at though……. There was a piece in this morning news pressing for free school dinners for all. Why on earth should ordinary taxpayers pay for lunches for the kids of pair of Golden Circle lawyers living in a posh part of London?
On the subject of the ballooning benefits bill, I’ve just turned on Radio 4 to hear about people who have the affliction of speaking in a foreign accent. Yes, Brits who speak English as though they were Italian or Croatian. Once again WTF?
I made this argument with the Winter Fuel Allowance being cancelled. I get sick and tired of pensioners generally moaning for England how they are being robbed blind by not being given more. I repeat I do not need an allowance to heat my home. The vast majority of Pensioners I know do not need an allowance either. I also do not need a high percentage increase in my pension to live. If I got, for example, £5 per week less in my rise it would make no difference to my standard of living despite the increase in my bills. There are many many more pressing things to channel money at than giving pensioners another day out somewhere. It's about time all of these entitled people got real and thought of their grandchildren rather than how hard done by they are. I am not rich by any means and my pensions are not huge. They are though enough given I have no mortgage or debt the same as most pensioners I know.
Too be fair, there’s a lot more whinging from Millennials about “useless rich and selfish pensioners tying up nice homes that I want to live in” than there is from pensioners. My considered response to that is: “Don’t tell me where to live. That’s what working for 45+ years gets you so **** off and get your own, you lazy entitled little ****.” Fair comment I think.
