In todays news...

[irie]

Tell Sunak, not me.

You said "The dead don't vote".

I replied to what you said.

Then I suggest you missed the point of my post.

Anyway, Sunak has apologised so it's all right now I guess.

What was the point of your post?

[Horse]

What was the point of your post?

Jeez - start introducing rules like 'posts must have a point', that'll be the death of my post count

[Yambo]

You said "The dead don't vote".

I replied to what you said.

Then I suggest you missed the point of my post.

Anyway, Sunak has apologised so it's all right now I guess.

What was the point of your post?

Lol!

It appeared to me that Sunak placed more importance (in the run-up to the election he had called) in doing an interview and putting over some points to voters than commemorating the death of thousands of men that had given their lives so that some cunt like him could hold high office in our democratic society. The dead don't vote so are only worthy of a bit of his time - the people who may vote are more important.

That was the fucking point, not whether you are alive or dead. Get over yourself.

Sunak has his diary written for him so there's a few things that could be inferred from this event but one thing is certain - his failure to see this disrespectful gaffe coming is evidence of his unsuitability for the office he holds. Of course, he may not want to win the election so pissing off the people who do vote . . .

But, as I said before, he's apologised so it's all done and dusted now.

[irie]

Blah blah blah ...

What sunak did was grossly disrespectful of the dead. I made the same point as you but in a different but less direct way. Either way, Sunak is finished.

[ogri]

Probably too busy booking his flight to america?

[Mussels]

Imagine trying this with EVs.

Thousands of bikers celebrate life of Dave Myers

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c722j5gp65jo

[Mussels]

Where there's blame there's a claim. Someone pushed her shoulder and it wasn't even hard enough to knock her over. ffs.

Danish PM suffered whiplash in street attack

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv22k0rkl99o

[DefTrap]

Sunak has his diary written for him so there's a few things that could be inferred from this event but one thing is certain - his failure to see this disrespectful gaffe coming is evidence of his unsuitability for the office he holds. Of course, he may not want to win the election so pissing off the people who do vote . . .

But, as I said before, he's apologised so it's all done and dusted now.

Im no fan of his party, and my personal opinion of Sunak is that if you've milked the banking system youve got a nerve trying to my nugatory spending power - however - even I think more column inches and airtime has been generated out of this one than necessary.

[Noggin]

I'm a bit suspicious about what 'met by customs' really means, I've been put into many countries by the military and even though most probably had some sort of customs process I rarely ever noticed or engaged with it.

I'm a bit suspicious about what 'met by customs' really means, I've been put into many countries by the military and even though most probably had some sort of customs process I rarely ever noticed or engaged with it.

From a video on the DM site it look like they had arranged to meet some customs guys who checked their passports with laptops.

The guys that parachuted in requested a stamp in their passports to show that they had made that jump for the memorial - the French created a commemorative stamp for them to have and obliged by stamping their passports in a field. But that of course doesn't make into the media because it won't get the anti-French/anti-EU people all het up will it


I'm currently in an area that suffered hugely at the hands of the occupying Nazis (the Savoie did too , but not in the volumes. The resistance was apparently born in this area). These people lived in tiny villages. They weren't lily livered cheese eating surrender monkeys - they were farmers in small villages trying to fight an army of organised troops. These organised troops regularly devastated communities. You guys have mentioned the village were everyone was killed and the village has been left as it was. That is relatively near here.
There is another village nearer where the Germans divided the 16+ year old men into three groups - the men that worked in the munitions factory, the ones that could be vouched for and the ones that were to be hung. The plan was to hang 120 men - they stopped at 99 and left their bodies in the local dump.

The uk wasn't occupied, no one in the uk has any concept of that. The Channel Islands do, and the marks of the occupation are still remembered and grudges held to this day.

And no, we didn't fight in the war to free the french, we fought in the war to beat the Germans and protect the UK!!

France does have HUGE respect for the allies. Sad that some of those allies have so little respect for the French. The uk doesn't hold regular smaller memorials in the same was as the French, or have a bank holiday and ceremonies in memory of the end of the war. I always feel a bit sad when I read all the shitty comments about the French especially on this subject - you read what you are supposed to read in the media

[Horse]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2260z4ny6o

As anti-lockdown protests flared across China’s cities in November 2022, hundreds of thousands around the world were glued to an unlikely source: a mysterious X account, fronted by a cartoon cat.

The 'news' bit is that, nearly 11 months on, I think that's the first time I've not seen "(formerly known as Twitter)"!

[DefTrap]

France does have HUGE respect for the allies. Sad that some of those allies have so little respect for the French. The uk doesn't hold regular smaller memorials in the same was as the French, or have a bank holiday and ceremonies in memory of the end of the war. I always feel a bit sad when I read all the shitty comments about the French especially on this subject - you read what you are supposed to read in the media

Yeah the mayor of our really tiny SW France village held a service outside the Marie recently for a group of allied airmen who had recently been identified at a nearby crash site. A fair few old soldiers pitched up. They still remember. This was occupied France where I am, the allies literally devastated the coastline in the final months of liberation. https://www.royanatlantique.fr/en/explo ... -of-royan/

[Yambo]

From today (in the UK), owners who do not microchip their cats face a £500 fine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7221y677nqo

So you have to microchip your cat so your details can go on a database and you can be identified as the cat's owner. But if the cat isn't microchipped the owner can't necessarily be identified so who is going to be fined? If your cat is a 'house cat' are they going to have an enforcement team to knock on your door, produce a search warrant to determine if you have a cat or not (like the TV licensing people)?

Are cats going to be added to the list of animals where traffic accidents involving them need to be reported? Has the list already been changed?

Vet Rory Cowlam, RSPCA ambassador and CBBC presenter, said: “The thought of a pet going missing and never being able to find them is a pet owner's nightmare, which is why microchipping is so important.

That's a load of bollox and is not the reason for the requirement to microchip your cat.

The animal charity said the new rules would improve cat welfare, help track down missing pets and could stop owners abandoning their animals.

There might be some truth in the last bit but many cats abandon their owners . . .

I have to wonder what is the real reason that cats must be microchipped. It's all a bit dictatorial I think. What will they come up with next, dog licences?

[irie]

What will they come up with next, dog licences?

After that enforced sterilisation of cats with ears clipped as in Greece.

Followed by the same for UK citizens who haven't paid their "fair share" of taxes. YKIMS.

[Horse]

From today (in the UK), owners who do not microchip their cats face a £500 fine.

So you have to microchip your cat so your details can go on a database and you can be identified as the cat's owner.

From the start, to be absolutely clear: I do not advocate microchipping children


Taking a step sideways from pets.

When Foal was about 3 (?) we started the process of applying for entry to the local school. Until then (not that I'd thought about it in any detail), I'd presumed the local authority would contact us "Oi, school, now!" kinda thing. After all, births are registered, etc.

But, of course, there's no 'official' logging of where subsequently the kid moves to (except anything like Drs).

They could end up anywhere, never going to school at all.

Many kids are home educated. IIRC there's legislation saying that they have to receive education, whether at a school or not.

But there's no log or register of home educated kids. No-one knows how many there are or where they are.

Despite promises, no register has been introduced.

Big Brother if a register is mandatory, or potential neglect on a national scale if not?

[Mussels]

What will they come up with next, dog licences?

After that enforced sterilisation of cats with ears clipped as in Greece.

Followed by the same for UK citizens who haven't paid their "fair share" of taxes. YKIMS.

Sterilisation seems the likely reason, vets sell sterilisation, chipping and vaccinations as a package so someone getting the chip done is more likely to get them all done.
And it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if there's also a financial benefit in it for the RSPCA.

[Yambo]

What will they come up with next, dog licences?

After that enforced sterilisation of cats with ears clipped as in Greece.

We have a charity organisation in this village (run by an British expat woman) thats spends a fortune feeding and neutering 'street' cats (and still they come!). They constantly beg for money, run tabletop sales etc so that they can deprive the cats of a sex life. As in Greece, ears are clipped when done (same for dogs).

"We love our kitties!" they cry "We love them so much we're going to take away their ability to breed!" which is about the only positive thing that cats do. They don't like me asking if, when they've 'done' all the cats, are they going to start on the porcupines or maybe the wild boar that run around the village at night? She flatly refused to neuter her children.

A cat got hit by a car last night, right in front of Catwoman "OMG, poor kittie, a hit and run attempted murder!". She was distraught and ran around to get a T shirt to put it on while she checked to see if it had been neutered. Then wrote a 300 word piece for their facebook charity page about it. I'd put a link to it but it'd be wrong to encourage her.

[Mussels]

If sterilisation prevents culling then it probably is the better choice.

[Yambo]

If sterilisation prevents culling then it probably is the better choice.

It's more expensive and with the number of kittens being produced each year fails in its main aim.

Culling not only prevents breeding but also reduces the number of animals overall. Catch, neuter release is only effective in keeping the vets in the manner to which they have beome used to. It certainly hasn't had much effect of our local population.

[Mussels]

There's an argument that culling just leaves more food for breeding but a sterilised animal uses up some of that food and breeding slows down.
If there's loads of food available then that might be a better thing to work on.

[Cousin Jack]

From today (in the UK), owners who do not microchip their cats face a £500 fine.

So you have to microchip your cat so your details can go on a database and you can be identified as the cat's owner.

From the start, to be absolutely clear: I do not advocate microchipping children


Taking a step sideways from pets.

When Foal was about 3 (?) we started the process of applying for entry to the local school. Until then (not that I'd thought about it in any detail), I'd presumed the local authority would contact us "Oi, school, now!" kinda thing. After all, births are registered, etc.

But, of course, there's no 'official' logging of where subsequently the kid moves to (except anything like Drs).

They could end up anywhere, never going to school at all.

Many kids are home educated. IIRC there's legislation saying that they have to receive education, whether at a school or not.

But there's no log or register of home educated kids. No-one knows how many there are or where they are.

Despite promises, no register has been introduced.

Big Brother if a register is mandatory, or potential neglect on a national scale if not?

Some, mainly educated, people home educate their kids as a deliberate choice. Those kids are probably educated fine, although I suspect they miss out on mucking about with their mates.

A lot more kids get taken out of school by poorly educated parents, often ones who work full time. Mainly as a result of their little feral brat being constantly in deep shit at school because of their antisocial habbits. Their home education is probably not fine at all, they will grow up to produce feral brats and the cycle will repeat.