Our microwave clock is a decoration. It's more sensitive to brownouts and power dips than the oven, which often retains the right time through power fluctuations. So the microwave rests at 00:00. I noticed earlier that the waggy tail on the cat clock has stopped, so I will use the clock change as an excuse to change the batteries in that this week as well.
The sad part is that I find even amongst people I have always thought “savvy”, there is no knowledge of Gill’s treachery or even the debacle at Reform councils. I despair at the press and the BBC and Sky - similarity with US media is apparent although at least our Fox News doesn’t get massive viewing figures.
In other news where is the manual for the sodding microwave and why does it need to tell me the time?
Because nothing says “I’m a sophisticated piece of kitchen technology” like the ability to remind you you’re running late after you just nuked your morning victuals!
There's one subtle difference between the Caerphilly election and the ones that will inevitably come around in England—a credible alternative. Unless Labour can turn themselves around PDQ there's a genuinely terrifying reality starting to crystallise on the quantum horizon. I'm trying to come up with something pithy around Pandora's ballot box, but do you know what was left in that box after all the demons and evils escaped? Hope. That was the real message of that morality tale; when the devil rides out you've still got hope.
I would maintain that the difference isn't that subtle. The Caerphilly voters did have an alternative choice to Reform. The more wider electorate in the UK don't have that choice. If Labour don't come up with either a compelling narrative for progress and growth, or evidence that their policies are actually delivering results, then they will be punished in a GE, the way that the Tories were last time. It seems to me that there is an increasing tide of the sentiment, "Reform can't be any worse than this lot, let's give them a try". The prospect of Reform coming anywhere near the levers of national power scares the bejesus out of me.
What time is it Bear? Goodness knows! For me it was an extra hour of insomnia. Very jet lagged today, as I expect are a lot of us, especially those with cats and dogs who always want breakfast an hour earlier rather than later! Anyway, well done Wales for showing Reform the proverbial exit! I did laugh heartily. Serves them right for being such vicious, racist, fascist numpties x
'Common Sense' is a phrase used by the inept and generally stupid to justify their low level thinking and lack of rigour.
If we study the human race for a minute or two, particularly the UK and US over the last decade or so we can reasonably conclude that the 'Sense that is Common' is the sort that causes road accidents, political failures, corruption, becoming Russian assets, Brexit and other financial catastrophes plus all the other failures, pratfalls and fuck ups from the individual level to those of the state. And it created Trump.
Reform is the epitome of what happens when to quote your term 'The Peanut Gallery' arrives late, pissed up with their gobs wide open spraying everyone else with sound and spittle whilst throwing everything from peanuts to Molotov cocktails.
The writing has been on the wall for a while about the lack of competence and ability amongst their leaders and wider membership.
From a criminal justice policy that was a mash up of every failed initiative during my rather long life time to the absolutely bat shit crazy intent to reopen coal mines in South Wales, not that it did them much good at the ballot box.
As an aside I have this vision of Farage peering into the void of a long abandoned mineshaft and then forcing 30p Lee to abseil down equipped with a pick axe, a pack up and a Davy lamp to start digging coal.
For those of us who have run things well or still do so Reform are an anathema.
Sadly there is a rump of the population that is uninterested or just too thick to understand how lousy they are.
Bear I very much enjoy reading your posts which are aimed at folks with a good standard of literacy. Do you first do a framework then fill it in? I am just thinking of people who share our beliefs but might find your articles hard to digest. Is it worth considering writing a "Ladybird" version? Just a thought from a retired teacher of the deaf.
The most ludicrous side to the new Reform party supporters is that, faced with many years of right wing Tory disasters, they seem blissfully unaware that Reform is even further to the right and yet many have switched support from left wing Labour. Some complain that they want a Labour party applying socialism, whatever that means, and they accuse Starmer of being a Tory but still switch to Reform. Very confusing to me. It is as though left and right are meaningless and have been replaced by whatever headlines the Daily Mail publish or GB News. It is as if so many voters have not been taught how parliamentary democracy works and they expect instant change without details explained.
I just hope Reform go away, far far away, never to be heard of again! They’re the “party” of hateful rhetoric, shouting the loudest, not a policy to be had, just loud, racist, bigoted voices!
Our press have really let us all down over their wall to wall coverage of Reform and their failure to do their actual jobs as journalists, to report the facts and keep pressing them, question them. Why the Russian scandal has not been front page news is a scandal in itself! Can you imagine if that had been Labour!!
Reform have had their backsides spanked this week. More imbeciles found out, more people pointing out their racism and hopefully, more decent people are now coming to the conclusion that they're nothing but grifters, liars, incompetent and racists.
Caerphilly have led the way in how to treat Reform. Give Reform hope, let their backers spend lots of money and the right wing media spew out propaganda polls and then get the voters to come out in force in an area that knows what being taken for a ride by English nationalist millionaires. As management Guru Peter Drucker once wrote “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. More Caerphilly cheese with your tea and toast Nigel?
"The public is, with some hope, slowly shifting back to questions with answers and not feelings with hashtags."
This is such a perfect sentence and summary of what we've witnessed this week globally. Most people are decent at their core and only want solutions to their day-to-day problems, which some politicians have used to their advantage. In their minds, if only they can come up with the right slogan and shout it out the loudest, victory is a sure thing.
But when the time to take action and deliver what you've been preaching comes, that's when we can discern the politicians (with all their flaws and broken promises) from the charlatans.
As a side note, and if it's any consolation to you, I've lived all my life with this time change routine and I'm still confused about when we are supposed to set the clocks forward/back. In fact, I was convinced it'd be tonight but reading your post I realised it had already happened.
I confess that I had to get someone in to set my oven timer on the new cooker - and don't get me started on just how utterly crap instruction manuals (online as well as in hard copy) are....
Yes, I think people are finally waking up to what Reform is (it's certainly taken long enough). I'm Labour, but cheered at the Caerphilly result. I was yet more pleased to have both Labour andthe Lib Dems start to take the fight to Reform properly -- and for the government to call our (finally!) Brexit for the disaster that it was and is.
The very public open racism of Sarah Pochin adds to what I hope is a groundswell of anti-Reform realism. Will Farage suspend the whip, or will he support her and leave her in place with a minor slap on the wrist, tacitly confirming the party's support for her stance? My guess is the latter.
How dare the Welsh vote for the Welsh Nationalist Party instead of us says the English Nationalist party.
😆
Beautifully put. A mood with a logo describes them perfectly.
I think they'll eventually implode all by themselves given enough time...
We've stopped trying to change the time on the oven - neither of us can ever remember where the manual is, and it doesn't seem worth the effort.😁
Oven timers are for decoration only.
So true!
Our microwave clock is a decoration. It's more sensitive to brownouts and power dips than the oven, which often retains the right time through power fluctuations. So the microwave rests at 00:00. I noticed earlier that the waggy tail on the cat clock has stopped, so I will use the clock change as an excuse to change the batteries in that this week as well.
The sad part is that I find even amongst people I have always thought “savvy”, there is no knowledge of Gill’s treachery or even the debacle at Reform councils. I despair at the press and the BBC and Sky - similarity with US media is apparent although at least our Fox News doesn’t get massive viewing figures.
In other news where is the manual for the sodding microwave and why does it need to tell me the time?
Why do microwaves need to tell the time?
Because nothing says “I’m a sophisticated piece of kitchen technology” like the ability to remind you you’re running late after you just nuked your morning victuals!
There's one subtle difference between the Caerphilly election and the ones that will inevitably come around in England—a credible alternative. Unless Labour can turn themselves around PDQ there's a genuinely terrifying reality starting to crystallise on the quantum horizon. I'm trying to come up with something pithy around Pandora's ballot box, but do you know what was left in that box after all the demons and evils escaped? Hope. That was the real message of that morality tale; when the devil rides out you've still got hope.
I would maintain that the difference isn't that subtle. The Caerphilly voters did have an alternative choice to Reform. The more wider electorate in the UK don't have that choice. If Labour don't come up with either a compelling narrative for progress and growth, or evidence that their policies are actually delivering results, then they will be punished in a GE, the way that the Tories were last time. It seems to me that there is an increasing tide of the sentiment, "Reform can't be any worse than this lot, let's give them a try". The prospect of Reform coming anywhere near the levers of national power scares the bejesus out of me.
I am minded to think they'd make the Lettuce and her cronies look like seasoned and slick pros.
What time is it Bear? Goodness knows! For me it was an extra hour of insomnia. Very jet lagged today, as I expect are a lot of us, especially those with cats and dogs who always want breakfast an hour earlier rather than later! Anyway, well done Wales for showing Reform the proverbial exit! I did laugh heartily. Serves them right for being such vicious, racist, fascist numpties x
Morning Time Shift Bear.
'Common Sense' is a phrase used by the inept and generally stupid to justify their low level thinking and lack of rigour.
If we study the human race for a minute or two, particularly the UK and US over the last decade or so we can reasonably conclude that the 'Sense that is Common' is the sort that causes road accidents, political failures, corruption, becoming Russian assets, Brexit and other financial catastrophes plus all the other failures, pratfalls and fuck ups from the individual level to those of the state. And it created Trump.
Reform is the epitome of what happens when to quote your term 'The Peanut Gallery' arrives late, pissed up with their gobs wide open spraying everyone else with sound and spittle whilst throwing everything from peanuts to Molotov cocktails.
The writing has been on the wall for a while about the lack of competence and ability amongst their leaders and wider membership.
From a criminal justice policy that was a mash up of every failed initiative during my rather long life time to the absolutely bat shit crazy intent to reopen coal mines in South Wales, not that it did them much good at the ballot box.
As an aside I have this vision of Farage peering into the void of a long abandoned mineshaft and then forcing 30p Lee to abseil down equipped with a pick axe, a pack up and a Davy lamp to start digging coal.
For those of us who have run things well or still do so Reform are an anathema.
Sadly there is a rump of the population that is uninterested or just too thick to understand how lousy they are.
"'Common Sense' is a phrase used by the inept and generally stupid to justify their low level thinking and lack of rigour."
Sadly, common sense doesn't seem that common.
People find it easier to blame someone else for their own failings.
Bear I very much enjoy reading your posts which are aimed at folks with a good standard of literacy. Do you first do a framework then fill it in? I am just thinking of people who share our beliefs but might find your articles hard to digest. Is it worth considering writing a "Ladybird" version? Just a thought from a retired teacher of the deaf.
They are imploding on Cornwall Council too. Thank goodness the other parties formed a coalition to keep them out of power
Loved this!! 😍 xxxxx
The most ludicrous side to the new Reform party supporters is that, faced with many years of right wing Tory disasters, they seem blissfully unaware that Reform is even further to the right and yet many have switched support from left wing Labour. Some complain that they want a Labour party applying socialism, whatever that means, and they accuse Starmer of being a Tory but still switch to Reform. Very confusing to me. It is as though left and right are meaningless and have been replaced by whatever headlines the Daily Mail publish or GB News. It is as if so many voters have not been taught how parliamentary democracy works and they expect instant change without details explained.
I just hope Reform go away, far far away, never to be heard of again! They’re the “party” of hateful rhetoric, shouting the loudest, not a policy to be had, just loud, racist, bigoted voices!
Our press have really let us all down over their wall to wall coverage of Reform and their failure to do their actual jobs as journalists, to report the facts and keep pressing them, question them. Why the Russian scandal has not been front page news is a scandal in itself! Can you imagine if that had been Labour!!
Reform have had their backsides spanked this week. More imbeciles found out, more people pointing out their racism and hopefully, more decent people are now coming to the conclusion that they're nothing but grifters, liars, incompetent and racists.
Caerphilly have led the way in how to treat Reform. Give Reform hope, let their backers spend lots of money and the right wing media spew out propaganda polls and then get the voters to come out in force in an area that knows what being taken for a ride by English nationalist millionaires. As management Guru Peter Drucker once wrote “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. More Caerphilly cheese with your tea and toast Nigel?
"The public is, with some hope, slowly shifting back to questions with answers and not feelings with hashtags."
This is such a perfect sentence and summary of what we've witnessed this week globally. Most people are decent at their core and only want solutions to their day-to-day problems, which some politicians have used to their advantage. In their minds, if only they can come up with the right slogan and shout it out the loudest, victory is a sure thing.
But when the time to take action and deliver what you've been preaching comes, that's when we can discern the politicians (with all their flaws and broken promises) from the charlatans.
As a side note, and if it's any consolation to you, I've lived all my life with this time change routine and I'm still confused about when we are supposed to set the clocks forward/back. In fact, I was convinced it'd be tonight but reading your post I realised it had already happened.
Give Reform a chance, it’s just they haven’t had time to perfect their corruption concealment strategies like the Westminster pros ;-)
I confess that I had to get someone in to set my oven timer on the new cooker - and don't get me started on just how utterly crap instruction manuals (online as well as in hard copy) are....
Yes, I think people are finally waking up to what Reform is (it's certainly taken long enough). I'm Labour, but cheered at the Caerphilly result. I was yet more pleased to have both Labour andthe Lib Dems start to take the fight to Reform properly -- and for the government to call our (finally!) Brexit for the disaster that it was and is.
The very public open racism of Sarah Pochin adds to what I hope is a groundswell of anti-Reform realism. Will Farage suspend the whip, or will he support her and leave her in place with a minor slap on the wrist, tacitly confirming the party's support for her stance? My guess is the latter.