Although my late mother used to take it I don't very often read the Torygraph so am unfamiliar with Allison Pearson or her journalism.  I know the headline(s) about Nicola Sturgeon are probably tongue in cheek but it looks like she's been (Ms P not Ms S) studying how to irritate Scots people.

nordmann wrote:

That much was commendable, in much the same way as one might admire a small child's audacity in sticking a similarly sharp object in the eye of a sleeping rottweiler.

Well, most of us (if we are honest, which few of us are) can understand that "child" ego-state: the satisfaction in attacking the rottweiler is enormous, if fleeting - and foolish.

Not just the Telegraph, LiR. Here's how the Mail covered Saturday's announcement by Sturgeon at the SNP conference that a new referendum regarding Scottish independence was unavoidable.



The in-depth article, after "summing up" the referendum speech in a sentence which also served to inform us that she was "debuting" a "new look", then used the remainder of its reportage to discuss tweeted comments about her make-up and hair. The same paper today described SNP anger at May failing to inform them beforehand that she was about to submit the "Article 50" request as "Sturgeon moans".

Mind you, Sturgeon can just be thankful she's not Martin McGuinness, or at least dead and being reported as such by the BBC. Mail readers pollyannapink and Sandra were so disgusted at the BBC this morning when it failed to call McGuinness an evil murderous wanker that they were forced to take the ultimate step ...

Not sure where to put this, as it is about Martin McGuinness, but I have not put it on the RIP thread as I do not wish to disrupt the "flow" of posts there, and my halfpennyworth does follow on from the comment offered by nordmann quoted below. This is not a rant about the man, simply a mull: McGuinness and his times actually deserve a thread of their own, if an interesting discussion could be had without us all falling out. This site was remarkably quiet on the subject yesterday, I thought, but then I too chose to say nothing.

nordmann wrote:

...when it failed to call McGuinness an evil murderous wanker...

Yes, a lot of hysterical reporting, tweeting and commenting yesterday. McGuinness is being called many things which is what one would expect after the death of such a complex character. I am very ignorant about the politics of Ireland, but it seems to me that McGuinness was a remarkably clever man, a born leader of men, with all the potential for good and/or evil that that label necessarily implies. Ironically, his qualities and potential and even his political ambitions were apparently recognised and acknowledged very early on by the powers in London: after his meeting (with others from the IRA leadership) with Whitelaw in 1972 - negotiations that were a failure - he was described very oddly by the British as "officer material". Some, of course, have actually suggested, in the conspiracy theory to end all conspiracy theories, that McGuinness was actually recruited as a British agent, and that he knew all about the infiltration of the IRA by British Intelligence*. The death of Frank Hegarty was, it has been mooted, necessary to protect McGuinness. This is all surely complete and utter nonsense?

I doubt we shall ever learn the truth about the man: I should very much like to be around in 2028 - is it still in thirty years when stuff gets released? - when full information is published about the Good Friday Agreement. But, according to the Guardian, some details about some things are so sensitive they have never, and will never, see the light of day:


https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/07/30-year-rule-documents-government-nuclear-tests-gchq-falklands


But many files remain closed indefinitely, subject to an extraordinary, sweeping escape clause. Under section 3(4) of the 1958 Public Records Act, files can be withheld “if, in the opinion of the person who is responsible for them, they are required for administrative purposes or ought to be retained for any other special reason”.

The only condition is that a minister or Whitehall official who wants to suppress a file must tell the Lord Chancellor (currently the Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling). The individual who wants to retain the file does not have to explain what “administrative purposes” they may be required for, or the nature of any “special reason” for their continued retention.



PS I'm reading this at the moment - all very interesting.

https://thebrokenelbow.com/2014/01/21/british-cabinet-account-of-1972-ira-ceasefire-talks/


* Given the frequency and success of the IRA bombing campaigns, the activities of British Intelligence within that organisation do not seem to have been particularly efficient.

Temperance wrote:

Yes, a lot of hysterical reporting, tweeting and commenting yesterday.

I see the DM, true to form, whipped itself into an masochistic frenzy of apoplexy, especially when the equally reviled Donald Tusk tweeted a brief tribute, and in Irish too! "Sad to learn of sudden passing of Martin McGuinness. His contribution to peace in Northern Ireland will endure. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam."

Well, if some, like Donald Tusk, want McGuinness's soul given a place of honour "at God's right hand", others, like Lord Tebbit, want it put in a "particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity".

Both suggested destinations seem a little over the top: no doubt a compromise will be found.

I excuse any angry ranting at the man's passing by individuals who, for whatever reason, experience his death as a permanently lost opportunity for final closure regarding some personal tragedy which in life he could have done much more to help bring about, but didn't. I even include Norman Tebbit in that category, a man for whom I have otherwise scant regard. Anyone else who rants and raves - and especially if they also buy into the St Mandela trope - need to review either their mental state, their intelligence, or their knowledge of history (or all three).

Among those from Northern Ireland, who know well what they're talking about - a knowledge with no small amount of pain involved in acquiring in many cases - there has been an almost universal appreciation of his contribution to what even today seems to have been an impossible task. In Northern Ireland the transition from brutalised murderer to "normal" citizen is a process all too well understood by all too many people, and regardless of which side one is on it is impossible not to identify that as McGuinness's greatest achievement in life. That he then persuaded so many others to do the same, and enabled that process for them too, is difficult to explain to outsiders in terms of just how bloody courageous and important a figure he was.

The Daily Mail, and some other organs of the media - both social and standard - yesterday demonstrated through their coverage of this man's death a dangerous ignorance of and disregard for the effect of their vicious hyperbole. I genuinely fear for any society that accommodates such widespread and blind hatred ("blind" being the most important word in that sentiment) - and in fact Martin McGuinness from his own personal experience would have been the first to agree with me, I feel.

I suppose that people who lost family members in circumstances which they feel rightly or wrongly (I don't know) could be laid at Mr McGuinness's door will feel bitter. My mother took the Daily Mail for a time until she considered it too silly - the things I used to like were the cartoons "Flook" and "Fred Basset" - not sure if they're still going.

I remember when the 1969 and onwards version of "The Troubles" erupted it Northern Ireland* I was a bit sceptical about sending in the troops because I thought (rightly) that it set up the possibility of us (as in mainland UK) being viewed as "the baddies" by some parts of the northern Irish community. It's true some parts of the media have ranted and raged to excess at his (Mr McGuinness's) passing.



*(as in the political entity - I suppose geographically Donegal is in the north of the island of Ireland despite being part of Eire politically)

The Scottish Question finally gets addressed to Little Britain's satisfaction:

I tried to do a screenshot but it wouldn't "take" so here is the link to the Beeb news site's take on the legs. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39416554 You have to scroll about half way down the page to see some photos of male politicians showing their pegs (admittedly they are holiday photos). The BJ one is hilarious though.

Never trust a woman in shiny Wolford tights.

The best bit is that everyone has been having a field day on the Wail's newest stupidity.





http://newsthump.com/2017/03/28/brex-tits-screams-daily-mail/

Those shiney tights are indeed terrible Temp. Poor Tessa can always be trusted to make a balls up of something.

Well, both ladies have got it dreadfully wrong in my not-at-all-humble opinion.

Better Wolford (German brand) than cheapo Primarni... (Nicola's are shiny too, but only a bit shiny.)


http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=primarni

Have no idea about the differences Temp, I just prefer the matt look to the shiney which makes legs look fatter imo.  But I never wear any of them anyway, dresses and skirts are not the best choice of clothing on a windy island, unless one wants their skirt over their head when walking along.... 

I live on a windy - and occasionally sceptic septic (that's the word for us around here, isn't it?) - little isle too, ID. I know what you mean.

Lord, how depressing all this is. Never, ever read the Daily Mail.

The estimates for the cost of the "society wedding of the year" vary from £300,000 to £700,000. No care home fees worries for the members of these families, of course. But then the poor - and the rich - are always with us. Nothing changes.

That photo of a little future Bullingdon Club member says it all, I think.

Your picture isn't showing but I assume it's this one.





Wee brat but sending him out in those gold breeks was asking for trouble.



Balloon seller's daughter weds, doesn't have a ring to it really.

Temperance wrote:

a little future Bullingdon Club member

ferval wrote:

Balloon seller's daughter weds

An alternative caption could be:

irritating Daily Wail reporter repeatedly shouts at page boy asking him how many Middleton weddings he's attended

Vizzer wrote:

Temperance wrote:

a little future Bullingdon Club member

ferval wrote:

Balloon seller's daughter weds

An alternative caption could be:

irritating Daily Wail reporter repeatedly shouts at page boy asking him how many Middleton weddings he's attended

Always a possibility that it was an innocent gesture, of course. Apparently an appallled Kate Middleton made him put up a third finger to show he was simply indicating a number...

If the reporting is to be believed, the children - for all their nannies and expensive nursery/pre-prep schools - were very naughty indeed.

However, they are very young and the tension their "Royal Cutenesses" (do we have a vomit emoticon?) and the other posh kids must have sensed in the grown-ups was no doubt very unsettling.

The balloon-seller's daughter did look very beautiful, as did the flowers around the church door. But honestly - £300,000 for a "country church wedding"? And that's the lower figure. £40,000 worth of caviar (donated by some Russian ) and £40,000 for her frock. Crikey. That huge glass marquee (£100,000) - bit like the one at the Crystal Palace Exhibition -  was really a bit vulgar. What's wrong with a big stripey tent?

I still think Kate Winslet had it at right at her marriage to Jim Threapleton: they laid on bangers and mash for their guests at the local pub.

The Reception: The reception was an intimate affair held at the bride's favorite pub, The Crooked Billet, where guests, which included Kate's Sense and Sensibility costars Emma Thompson and Greg Wise (who would later become husband and wife), dined on bangers and mash.



Middletons' new greenhouse.




Crystal Palace Exhibition entrance.

Crystal marquee my @rse, it's a redundant tomato greenhouse, there's lots available up the Clyde Valley.

To be fair, it was a bonny dress but £40,000? The lace must have been hand made from pampered, pedigree silk worms by aristocratic dowagers living in the Ritz for the duration of their task.

I doubt it was an innocent gesture Temp, not by the look on Mum's face in the background. But who can blame the kid with the life (and relatives) he has been dealt? A lot of money will not make up for what he gets and will continue to get in return. And having to wear those silk shit catchers for the world to see on top of it?

I was in dispair at the amount of coverage in the press of the silly wedding on the weekend, what is the fascination with vacus rich people? And how many families could the wasted cost of it have fed?

Islanddawn wrote:

I was in dispair at the amount of coverage in the press of the silly wedding on the weekend, what is the fascination with vacus rich people? And how many families could the wasted cost of it have fed?

What struck me was the thought that, had they gone for a slightly cheaper "do" - say spent only £100,000 on the nuptials - the other £200,000 (assuming the cost was only £300,000) would have paid the wages of an NHS nurse for the best part of the next ten years...

And yes, the little lad's gesture said what we all thought it said. Nothing new there, of course. The publicity surrounding this "society" wedding has come at a bad time for the Tories, as in his "innocence" that boy in the golden breeches has been perceived as speaking for an entire political class.

This isn't the politics of envy - simply, as you say, ID, of despair.

We do live in the time of the cult of celebrity. Something popped up on my computer at the weekend about being able to watch the wedding in live stream. I suppose interest in weddings such as this - for people who are not in the wealthier section of the population - is like watching a film; to take one out of oneself. Though I would have to add the caveat that it's not like watching a gritty realistic film.

Is anybody watching Bake Off Creme de la Creme? Now I enjoy a bit of fine dining with all the performance and theatre that that can entail but live plating? What in heaven's name is that all about?

If you haven't encountered this it means that when your pud is served, the pastry section come to your table and squirt, dab, drizzle and chuck the elements of the dish straight onto your table before smashing it up and setting fire to it. Jackson Pollock meets Michael Roux.  Then you scrape it off (somehow) and eat it. I presume licking the table top is frowned upon.

This is the only example I can find on line and it's a lot tamer than the TV examples. And lacking the loud background music.



MM, I await your interpretation of this technique.

And while I'm ranting - the winning show garden at Chelsea is Abandoned Maltese Quarry which looks like an abandoned Maltese quarry and must have cost an absolute fortune to create with genuine, specially quarried and imported Maltese stone laid by genuine, imported Maltese stone masons.

How utterly ridiculous ... and as they said in the clip "what out for your cuffs!". And it seems to be direct onto a linen tablecloth too, the same cloth that everyone's been resting their elbows putting the phones and glasses down on etc. The nearest I've got to that is when I was serving a big platter of chocolate and cream profiteroles, tripped and dropped them all on the table.

As to the Maltese Garden ... it looks a bit like the over-grown patch round the back of the house: full of old rubble, spare breeze-blocks and weeds, lots of weeds. But I guess that was the intention.

My rant that is maybe partly a rave - Pebbles, my cat caught a mouse - the rant bit - that there was a mouse to catch.  Well I keep postponing my spring (suppose it's summer now) cleaning i.e. going through the house one room at a time and not just cleaning the bits that show).  The mouse was pretty small and I think it had more or less had its chips but I couldn't bring myself to give it the coup de grace so I took it up to the very end of the garden and put it in some long grass).  Unfortunately although one hears of lone wolves one doesn't hear of lone mice so I'll have to put some bait down [I know technically there isn't a difference between bopping them and waiting for them to eat bait and then take themselves off] but will have to do so in a way that the cat can't get at the bait.  I think I may have some of the contained bait traps still.  Last time I called in the Council but I think they had become more established on that occasion.  Living nextdoor to an empty house [and one that has been empty a few years -well it's furnished but the person who lived there died]* doesn't help.

* The Council have some lien over the property because it (the Council) is owed some money from when the chap was living in care so it can't be sold.  I don't know all the ins and outs.

LadyinRetirement wrote:

Living nextdoor to an empty house [and one that has been empty a few years -well it's furnished but the person who lived there died]* doesn't help.

* The Council have some lien over the property because it (the Council) is owed some money from when the chap was living in care so it can't be sold.  I don't know all the ins and outs.

Lady in retirement,


that's not pleasant to live next to an empty house, empty for some years. Yes empty houses...some of the family bought one and I started to renovate it. First during days all the windows open...but what we found...it was a former foodshop...somewhere in a chest with some wire gauze (metaalgaas) on it...half a big cheese (some 12 inches? (30 centimeter) diameter), but already years in that chest...green with hair on it...and not a nice smell...but that was nothing in comparison with the big salted gammon...also some years...a unbearable smell...as from a wrotten cadaver...had to put it on my shovel as far as possible from me, and carry it in the open air as quick as possible...and there were other surprises too, although not that smell anymore, but when I broke off a chimney in the sleeping room, a chimney with only a hole in the chimney while the heating was removed...at the bottom of that chimney...sigarets, women sexual attributes as used sanitary towels, used "capotes anglaises" and so on...but as it was dry...

Kind regards from your friend Paul.

LiR and Paul .... you have my sympathy.

But just a petite question, since you've brought it up  ... but why I wonder is it in French une capote anglaise, when in English it's a French letter? I suspect it's  a bit like syphilis which in the 16th century was always the known in France as the English disease, in England as the French pox, in Germany as the Italian disease, in Italy as the Spanish plague, and in Spain as either the Portuguese or French disease. Then again the Venetians called it the Ottoman pox, while the Turks themselves thought it came from either Egypt or Persia ... while the Persians were of the opinion that it came from India.

And so forth ... but basically it was always someone else who was to blame.
..

PaulRyckier wrote:

...sigarets, women sexual attributes as used sanitary towels, used "capotes anglaises" and so on...

Ah, all the beauty and majesty of human life there, plus stinky green cheese and rotting pig flesh. Not quite Genesis - or La La Land - is it? You could get a nicely dark story out of those details.

But you have rather put me off my toast and Oxford marmalade this morning, Paul!!

Meles meles wrote:

LiR and Paul .... you have my sympathy.

But just a petite question, since you've brought it up  ... but why I wonder is it in French une capote anglaise, when in English it's a French letter? I suspect it's  a bit like syphilis which in the 16th century was always the known in France as the English disease, in England as the French pox, in Germany as the Italian disease, in Italy as the Spanish plague, and in Spain as either the Portuguese or French disease. Then again the Venetians called it the Ottoman pox, while the Turks themselves thought it came from either Egypt or Persia ... while the Persians were of the opinion that it came from India.

And so forth ... but basically it was always someone else who was to blame.
..

Meles meles,

yes, my dear friend, you always analyses it "up to the bone"...
And what an analysis...

Kind regards from Paul.

Temperance wrote:

But you have rather put me off my toast and Oxford marmalade this morning, Paul!!

Temperance, my dear, you know that I have a "little bean" for you.

OOPS...they translate it on the internet by: "have a huge crush for you"
And in my Collins paperback English dictionary they say for "crush": informal for "infatuation". And "infatuation" means in that same dictionary: infatuate: to inspire or fill with an intense and unreasoning passion...
Yes "feelings" are difficult to translate in a foreign language...
How...how...that's not the meaning of "little bean"...it is more some "wellwilling feeling"...and that feeling comes mostly from your messages pointing in my humble opinion to an "aimable" (amiable,kind) person.

"But you have rather put me off my toast and Oxford marmalade this morning, Paul!!"

Kind regards from your friend Paul.

Addendum to the previous message.

Temp,

and now the correct expression for my "little bean" springs suddenly to my mind:
"having a soft spot for someone"...

Kind regards, Paul.

Well, I was a Magic Bean in our village pantomime a few years ago, Paul (Jack and the Beanstalk)!

I think "little bean" is rather a nice expression - rather like petit choux (little cabbage?) in French! I once called MM mon petit haricot instead of choux, but I don't think he noticed. Odd how calling people vegetables can be a term of endearment on the Continent!

Right, election night now - will we all stay awake until 2.00am? I think we will!

Temperance,

"Right, election night now - will we all stay awake until 2.00am? I think we will!"

Not me, on control tomorrow to the hospital. Up a quarter to seven.
It seems that we will have a hint on BBC I on 10 o'clock (our 11 o'clock)?

Kind regards, Paul.

Well, exit poll HUNG PARLIAMENT, looks like being a late night.

Gove's back. In charge of Environment. Buy a shotgun and start practising shouting GET OFF MY LAND!

Why has the Gracious Speech been put off? Is it really because it takes ages for the ink to dry on the goatskin vellum, or is it just that the Irish are playing hard to get?

Or has the Maltravers Herald Extraordinary got a horse running at Ascot? More to the point, has Her Majesty?

Sorry Trike, your pic can't have the indispensable 's', it's not showing up.

Interesting article here:  Working for Theresa May and her advisors was the worst job I ever had.

Temperance wrote:

Why has the Gracious Speech been put off? Is it really because it takes ages for the ink to dry on the goatskin vellum, or is it just that the Irish are playing hard to get?

Or has the Maltravers Herald Extraordinary got a horse running at Ascot? More to the point, has Her Majesty?

There must be something, it surely can't take long to write "My government will think of something"

I keep forgetting that they need to be https pictures now.

Not the same picture as above, but the word is the same;

Temperance wrote:

Why has the Gracious Speech been put off? Is it really because it takes ages for the ink to dry on the goatskin vellum, or is it just that the Irish are playing hard to get?

Or has the Maltravers Herald Extraordinary got a horse running at Ascot? More to the point, has Her Majesty?

Her Maj won't like this. Queen's Speech is now set for next Wednesday 21st, bang in the middle of Royal Ascot.

Timing all wrong again. This time with a Mexican Wave:

Yesterday was the Official Day of Rage in the UK. It all went off quite good-naturedly apparently, with no one becoming too bad-tempered, despite it being the hottest day in London for forty years. The organisers had hoped for a rather more enthusiastic show of national wrath, but in the event it didn't happen. Only about 500 protesters turned up to storm the capital - i.e. march about for a bit - observed by the bemused and wilting pigeons.

Darn it I saw a mouse today - it had gone before I could do anything about it. Pebbles did catch a small one not too long ago. I had a problem a couple of years ago and called a man in from the Council. I'll see if I can get rid of 'em myself first - Pebbles (my cat) is 14 and can be lively sometimes but she also likes a snooze. I wonder if she would take to a younger feline companion. In the past I've had problems with cats bringing mice in from the garden (or shrews) - one cat had a knack for catching something just when I was set to go out to work (obviously that was when I was working full-time). I think I've said before I live in a 1930s "semi" and the house next-door (attached) is empty so they may come in from there. I'm still catching up on the "spring" cleaning even though it's now summer. I got terribly behind when I got fatigued through the effects of the coeliac disease (though I didn't realise it was coeliac disease at the time). I have some wire wool and a can of foam but I really need to go round the house and check any holes. Somebody said if I put down bait and the mice take it and then a cat gets an affected mouse it could harm the cat. I might wish Pebbles was more on the ball in the catching department but I don't want her to be harmed.

Some friends here in France, who like me rather live out in the wilds, have three cats including a rather elderly cat who is deaf and has suffered a stroke so is slightly paralysed down one side, but she still gamely totters around meaowing very loudly. Despite her disabilities she is still a good little hunter, but unfortunately this usually entails catching the wee beasts, bringing them into the house and then releasing them alive. Thankfully the other two then finish the job by catching the mice or whatever in the house. But on several occasions the elderly cat has brought live snakes into the house, and these are mostly vipers! No one is really sure how she manages it but she must drag the complaining snakes in through the cat flap to then leave them hissing angrily in the middle of the living room floor for my friends to gingerly deal with, as the other cats quite sensibly feel that venemous snakes isn't in their job description. My cats have occasionally caught snakes but I think they then eat the whole thing as all I've ever found is the head. So in some respects you're lucky its only a wee mouse.

We've got one of these living in our little neighbourhood, they are called zourithes here but I think the English might be Marten? I can't think what would attract it to live in the village other than mice. Normally they live way out of the towns but this one seems to like us as it is often seen scooting around after dark and for a couple of years now. It doesn't bother the cats and the cats don't bother it so it has worked out quite well. Although people say that they kill the chickens but as there are no chickens in this part of town I don't suppose it matters. They are cute little things.

What size is the beastie, ID, and does it have a black tip to its tail? It looks more like a stoat to me.
We have pine martens, mostly up north, but they tend to be darker and a bit more robust. After being persecuted for years they are making a come back and are now encouraged, partly because, counter intuitively, where they are present red squirrels do better because the martens selectively kill the slower and less agile greys.



stoat





pine marten

Or is it a stone marten, also known as a beech marten? ... very similar to pine martens (I think they lack the creamy throat patch*) but tend to live more in Southern Europe than the North. We get them here though I have never seen one (perhaps once fleetingly). They do come into urban areas and in Austria, Germany, Switzerland a few years ago they were a bit of a pest because they took a liking to the plastic pipes and cable-coatings in parked cars, and used to chew through break-pipes etc. (it's thought they were attracted by the fish-oils used as elastomers in the plastics and so the formulation has now been changed). But either way they certainly are not averse to coming into urban areas especially at night.

EDIT

*  I was wrong ... they both have a creamy throat/chest patch, the principal difference between the species seems to be that stone martens like a more open environment than the thick forest preferred by pine martens. Stone martens are also apparently known as house martens (not house martins - the birds) as they do sometimes build their nests in buildings where, if they are anything like squirrels or dormice, I imagine they can probably do a lot of damage.

It could be a stone marten MM, I definitely know that they are on Crete. But honestly I'd never seen these creatures before in my life before coming to Greece and whilst I know the Greek name for them I've never been able to find the accurate English term other than Marten. But which Marten?

Ferval the one I see at night is longer than a cat and about half a cat's height. But it is always at night and it darts quickly away again so never had the opportunity for a really good look to see if it has a black tail tip. It is a browny ginger colour but not sure if it has a white tummy either. It was the only pic I could find that looked remotely similar in colouring.

Here on the island they rarely hang around the towns, we always see them in remote areas so I guess there is enough food for them to catch in the countryside and not normally a need for them to hang around humans.

Definitely not a stoat then, they're only little, but that's about the size of our martens. The Mammal Society  say ours are partial to a mixture of cheese, bread and raspberry jam in the evening (honestly, however they are Scottish!) but perhaps Greek ones have a different palate and a healthier diet.