Early Risers.

[Dave Hunt]

8 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

,…, “Build a  Bear Workshop, Take home a new furry friend today” were specifically marked. I wonder if they pay for this or it is based on my cookies or similar. 

Take home a Bear? More likely based on your holdings of cake surely?

 

Dave

[Hroth]

Setting a Bear Trap, baited with LDC... 🤔

 

[Coombe Barton]

Last night I said that I'd completed my writing of the lecture - wrong.

Breakfats, relaxing with coffee, then suddenly realised I'd left out two important bits of information - luckily I could add them right at the end

[Hroth]

5 hours ago, Coombe Barton said:

Last night I said that I'd completed my writing of the lecture - wrong.

Breakfats, relaxing with coffee, then suddenly realised I'd left out two important bits of information - luckily I could add them right at the end

 

• Its all yours now.
• Good Luck!

 

Just thought I'd make it a bit more Powerpointy....

 

Edited April 29 by Hroth
updated

[BSW01]

Good morning everyone 

 

I just didn’t find the time to post yesterday, I was busy, busy, busy here. Sunny at the moment, so the plan is to finish the planting in the front garden and then possibly get an hour or so in the back garden. 
 

Best get a move on, back later. 
 

Brian 

[PhilJ W]

50 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Or rescue a Bear from a Charity Shop instead; I was most dismayed to see that a rather nice Vintage Bear came away from the coal Drops yesterday without being adopted - and only a tenner as well (reduced to a fiver as the event progressed and sales were slow).  He must be really sad....😢

Didn't you consider adopting it?

[PhilJ W]

Morning all from Estuary-Land. Not a bad night, only one call out by bladder control and with the warmer and at the moment dryer weather Arthur Itis is hibernating. I have been doing Wordl every morning now and I have found the word on 17 consecutive mornings so far. I put it down to my liking word search puzzles in the papers. I received a letter from the NHS re. covid jabs. On the website you can search for the nearest place where you can get your jab, there is one in Basildon and two in Benfleet one of which is in @Tony_S's local shops at Tarpots so he didn't have to go to Bluewater. 

[The White Rabbit]

14 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. I gave the fridge a really good clean out this afternoon. Behind one of the drawers I found a (vacuum packed) packet of cooked meat (beef). It looked and smelt OK but I decided not to chance it so binned it. It had a best before date of November last year. I was clearing it out because the drain was blocked by ice, the package was near to the drain hole and was also covered in ice.

 

Phil, with due respect, you're an amateur. Some years ago, we used to have a large chest freezer in the garage. One day I thought it would be a good idea to defrost, clean and tidy it. I found a vacuum pack of sausagemeat four and a bit years past its BB date. Memo to self, must do better at planning meals ... 

 

 

[PhilJ W]

With reference to American and other countries gun laws I do recall reading that the fifth amendment states, or did state that the right to carry arms was to protect the citizens from the British. After the American Revolution and the subsequent* French the British were fearful of a British revolution** so restrictions on firearms were introduced. This even extended to Robert Peel's Metropolitan*** police who had to make do with cutlasses.

*It is said that the American Revolution inspired the French Revolution a few years later.

**So fearful in fact that they spied on British citizens who made regular trips to France during the revolutionary period. One of those spied upon was William Wordsworth who had a French mistress. He was spied upon by a John Mogg, an ancestor of mine.

*** The first police officers were recruited from the middle classes, the same group that the revolutionary leaders came from.

[monkeysarefun]

7 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

That's one firearm for every 7 people in Australia.

 

In the US it is more than one per person (1.2) - though this is concentrated. 42% of households have a firearm.  (Three in 10 say they own a gun and 11% say they live with someone who does.)

 

A rough extrapolation suggests that gun owners have an average of 4 firearms per person, compared with zero for the other 70%.

 

Yeah no the point I was trying to make is that the perceived wisdom that the gun buyback scheme removed guns from the community which lead to the elimination of mass shootings is not borne out by the fact that there are now MORE guns than post-buyback so in theory we should have returned to a state of regular massacres.

 

It is the OTHER components of the 1997 gun law legislation  ( registration of all gun owners, strict background checks, a valid reason to own a gun - primary producer, working in the security industry or a member of a shooting club are basically the only allowances - and secure gun storage laws , plus a limit on gun types (an important one, removed AR15 style rifles and high capacity magazines from the community) -  have been the main drivers. 

Edited April 29 by monkeysarefun

[TheQ]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

 

 

I'd guess that thefts of farm machinery is a biggie.  Is that major?  Well yes, if it's an expensive Tractor etc.

 

 

But ..😱

Very few farms here have much in the way of machinery, one old battered little tractor is about it. They contract out 

Labour if farming the field themselves, you call in a ditching company or a spraying company, the harvestors tour the area going field to field. Or the contract out the entire field, birds eye will organize  planting a field of peas and a few months later organize harvesting it.

[polybear]

1 hour ago, DaveF said:

I had a good look at curtain fabrics online yesterday evening and now have a short list of three which I like, any of them should tone in with the colour of the walls and they are easily washable - there aren't many dry cleaners around here any more.  So as soon as the man comes he can measure up while I make a final choice from his fabric samples.

 

 

Did you notice that your favourite ones always seem to be the more expensive?  Ask Bear how he knows....

 

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

Its all yours now.

 

Good Luck!

 

Along with:

"I've forgotten something?  Do I look Bovvered?"

 

48 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Didn't you consider adopting it?

 

I must be strong.....

 

30 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

 

Phil, with due respect, you're an amateur. Some years ago, we used to have a large chest freezer in the garage. One day I thought it would be a good idea to defrost, clean and tidy it. I found a vacuum pack of sausagemeat four and a bit years past its BB date. Memo to self, must do better at planning meals ... 

 

 

 

Bear has scoffed things "somewhat past" their BB dates numerous times - including well over a year (never noticed any drop in quality either); it's the UB Dates that you need to be really careful of.

[polybear]

A few brum brums at the Coal Drops Yard yesterday:

 

 

 

 

 

[Gwiwer]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

3 hours ago, Barry O said:

My view is only the armed forces should be armed.. anyone with a gun or other form of "arms" should be gently volunteered to vebin the armed forces..

 

 

Plus Police/Law Enforcement - it's unfair to expect them to go up against the baddies with guns.

Having lived in nations where policing is by consent and where policing is by big stick (in reality if not in the letter of law) I prefer the British Way.  

 

Most police are not armed with offensive weapons in the UK; those who carry firearms do so only in response to specific and credible threats against person(s) or in very high security situations such as the close personal protection teams or international security at ports of entry / exit.  I suspect most police members (if that is how they currently prefer to be known) would not wish that to change.  The average PC does not seek to carry lethal force neither is it needed 99% of the time.  For the 1% they can call up the ARV who will tool up as the situation demands but otherwise might be on routine - unarmed - patrol.  ARVs carry gun safes; the officers are not themselves armed until they receive the authority from above.

 

Australian police all routinely carry loaded weapons.  The threat of force is always there.  Policing should be by consent but to a greater extent than exists in the UK it is policing by threat of lethal force.  I never felt comfortable seeing cops on traffic duties with one hand raised to direct motor traffic and the other on their weapon.  It never felt comfortable seeing "neighbourhood" police patrolling streets and shopping malls also with one hand glued to a weapon.  I prefer to feel comfortable that the police are there as defenders rather than feeling awkward and that they are potentially aggressors.  

 

To each their own.  It's probably "what you grew up with" but I was taught that the police are friends.  Friends do not carry loaded weapons in my book.  It speaks volumes that the UK remains extremely safe with very low rates of gun crime, substantially low rates of knife crime (acknowledging there are localised issues with certain sections of the community here and there carrying blades) and where one can feel safe on the streets day and night.  Force met with force can escalate into a spiral of attrition.  The last thing we need is police routinely armed in the UK; that will surely lead to the criminal element tooling up in response.  

 

[pH]

11 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Oh thanks, that was the one I was thinking of when I mentioned Kent State - I obviously got my US university shootings mixed up!

Yesterday, to end a discussion item about the current unrest on US university campuses, CBC played Neil Young’s “Ohio”:

 

https://youtu.be/YdVMGKOFIwY?si=GUvsNF_V8Y1cN5qe

 

[Gwiwer]

Welcome one and all to a wet, windy and cold Moan-day.  It began slowly as there has been no need to rush about today.  

 

Dr. SWMBO is in Paris on business.  She left here yesterday afternoon, a day earlier than usual, and was aboard the 8.01 Eurostar from St. Pancras having made a very ER start indeed from her digs SW of London by minicab.  She returns on the last train tonight which will make it a very long day for her.

 

Having dropped her off at the statin I took the opportunity of negotiating the Sainsbury's Grand Prix which, for a Sunday afternoon, wasn't at all bad.  Everything on the list was available except ghee.  I can probably get that another time; I don't need it every day nor even every week.  I then came home and came face to face with C0ckwomble Driver No.1.  Heading over the moors on that hilly and winding road the oncoming bus had stopped at a rural farm lane to set down a passenger.  Two cars were behind; the first came around with plenty of room to spare and the second waited.  As the driver would have been unable to see anything at all around the bus due to the curvature and hills I expected they would stay waited.  

 

But no.  

 

I was perhaps a bus-length away from coming past when out he came, into my lane, with me approaching at a cautious 45mph.  I hit brakes, horn and headlights all at the same time and stopped in short order only to see a green something cut sharply into the fast-closing gap with an erect middle finger poking from the driver's window in my general direction.  I really MUST get that idiot-cam fitted because if it had been recording I would have had his plate and referred him to the local constabulary.  Who are running a "send us your dash-cam footage of dodgy driving" campaign and publishing the results online.  

 

After safely stowing the shopping and quaffing a muggercoffy I hopped aboard the Coaster bus for a breezy trip around Lands End to Porthcurno and back.  A nice enough way to end the daylight hours even if it was a bit cool.  I was impressed at the numbers using the service; we picked up and set down quite a few ones and  twos in all sorts of places from the larger Sennen Cove to the remote farm laneways leading off to who knows where.  

 

Porthcurno itself produced a fascinating view of light and shade which I felt obliged to record for posterity.  

 

[monkeysarefun]

18 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wooooh, Radial T/A tyres! I hope they've got a better compound/tread pattern than they had out here back in the day, they were great in the dry but even the slightest dampness and you'd be aquaplaning all over the shop.  If they are unchanged then that  car would be a heap of fun in the UK's dodgy weather!

 

My first car had them - 

I discovered on rainy days that the steering wheel was pointless, turning it made no difference as you'd just glide gracefully towards the scenery. Even merely changing lanes became a hair-raising event in heavy downpours.

 

I have quite a long list of the unexpected places I ended up in until I changed them for some other tyre brand!

 

 

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Gwiwer said:

To each their own.  It's probably "what you grew up with" but I was taught that the police are friends.  Friends do not carry loaded weapons in my book.  

 

 

I'm perfectly comfortable  that the hero police woman who happened to be on the scene during the Bondi Junction Plaza  knife attack a couple of weeks ago was armed and therefore had the confidence to run towards danger and then was  able to  efficiently drop the bloke before he could stab anyone else. The British way would have required a long wait for some armed response team or whatever to organise themselves, get briefed  and then get to the place. What would the casualty tally have  been by then?

 

1,400 UK police applied to join   Australian police forces last year alone after a recruitment drive by various state police forces (mainly Sth and Western Australia) specifically  targeting British police.   Apart from the lure of much more  pay and sunshine, one of the reasons many gave  for the move was that they got to carry a gun and so could therefore defend themselves if required rather than be a target  for any idiot with a weapon and therefore were much more likely to make it safely back home to their family and friends.

 

(hmmmm, unless it was just the gun nuts who applied!)

 

Edited April 29 by monkeysarefun

[woodenhead]

@monkeysarefun Whilst Australia is no America, I would prefer the police not to be routinely armed, they have tasers which are effective at stopping most people in their tracks.

 

Arming them further might be counter productive, I've seen plenty of armed police where they feel it is necessary to deploy them.

 

Noted some images of the student unrest in America at the moment - why do they need police snipers present, exactly what do they think these students are going to do.

[jjb1970]

The unarmed British Police service is a myth these days. Go to major stations and airports and Police armed with machine pistols is an everyday sight. Walk around Westminster and Whitehall and they're all around, with H&K machine pistols. In other areas they're less visible, but Police of any kind aren't that visible.

 

I wonder if it's an example of 'boiling frog' syndrome, people haven't noticed just how armed the Police now are. In Asia it's normal for Police to be armed, and in the US it's normal but it is not normal to see Police in darth vader suits with machine pistols as a matter of course in Asia and the US. I know loads of people who feel uncomfortable when they visit the UK and some other European countries for that reason. Even American friends often remark on the heavily armed nature of many of our Police officers.

 

When I was growing up it was almost unheard of to see an armed Police officer.

Edited April 29 by jjb1970

[monkeysarefun]

14 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

  I would prefer the police not to be routinely armed,  they have tasers which are effective at stopping most people in their tracks.

Has anyone asked your police what they'd rather be armed with?

Edited April 29 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

25 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Having lived in nations where policing is by consent and where policing is by big stick (in reality if not in the letter of law) I prefer the British Way.  

 

Australian police all routinely carry loaded weapons.  The threat of force is always there.  Policing should be by consent but to a greater extent than exists in the UK it is policing by threat of lethal force.  I never felt comfortable seeing cops on traffic duties with one hand raised to direct motor traffic and the other on their weapon.  It never felt comfortable seeing "neighbourhood" police patrolling streets and shopping malls also with one hand glued to a weapon.  I prefer to feel comfortable that the police are there as defenders rather than feeling awkward and that they are potentially aggressors.  

 

Bear has visited numerous countries - most, if not all outside the UK featured Plod carrying guns.  Did it phase me?  Not one bit - it meant I respected them more (something that's sadly long-gone in the UK).  Did it worry me?  Nope - I wasn't doing anything wrong.

 

25 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

To each their own.  It's probably "what you grew up with" but I was taught that the police are friends.  Friends do not carry loaded weapons in my book.  It speaks volumes that the UK remains extremely safe with very low rates of gun crime, substantially low rates of knife crime (acknowledging there are localised issues with certain sections of the community here and there carrying blades) and where one can feel safe on the streets day and night.  Force met with force can escalate into a spiral of attrition.  The last thing we need is police routinely armed in the UK; that will surely lead to the criminal element tooling up in response.  

 

 

It's very difficult to engage with the Plod in the UK in any way now - they're always in Cars; you might get to see PCSO's on the beat in town though.

As for the criminal element tooling up - many already are, along with schoolkids (knives) in some areas.

 

About the only Country I would feel uneasy around armed Plod would be the USA - far too trigger happy; in fairness in many areas they probably have to be in order to stay alive.

 

9 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

I really MUST get that idiot-cam fitted because if it had been recording I would have had his plate and referred him to the local constabulary.  Who are running a "send us your dash-cam footage of dodgy driving" campaign and publishing the results online.  

 

 

I would send it in too - but after a fair few weeks (especially if it was on a regular route of mine) just in case they also have a Cam; they could look up my details/registration etc. and might just get 'umpy enough to try and get back at me.  By waiting a few weeks it's much more likely the data will be deleted/over-written.

[jjb1970]

11 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

 

Noted some images of the student unrest in America at the moment - why do they need police snipers present, exactly what do they think these students are going to do.

 

I am not sure that people in Europe and the US appreciate just how much of a hit the reputation of the collective west has taken in recent months. I get some very pointed comments from people of various nationalities on why do Europe and America feel they have a right to pontificate about rules based orders, democracy etc. 

[monkeysarefun]

25 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

The unarmed British Police service is a myth these days. Go to major stations and airports and Police armed with machine pistols is an everyday sight. Walk around Westminster and Whitehall and they're all around, with H&K machine pistols. In other areas they're less visible, but Police of any kind aren't that visible.

 

 

Exactly. Check out videos of the police in Londons tourist spots.  At least we don't have any police walking around routinely armed with machine guns.

 

 The old "England swings like a pendulum do, bobbies on bicycles two by two " needs a rewrite to mention machine pistols.

 

Edited April 29 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

20 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

@monkeysarefun Whilst Australia is no America, I would prefer the police not to be routinely armed, they have tasers which are effective at stopping most people in their tracks.

 

Google suggests the range of a Taser x2 is 25ft with a two shot capability (others are 21ft & single shot).  Not sure I'd want to be that close to someone holding a gun, or multiple scrotes.

 

20 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Noted some images of the student unrest in America at the moment - why do they need police snipers present, exactly what do they think these students are going to do.

 

A nutcase Student with a gun perhaps?