Westminstenders: How many Dead Cats Do You Get In A Thunderstorm?

[RedToothBrush]

It never rains. It only pours.

What I wouldn't give for a bit of old fashioned drizzle right now.

4 years on and we are facing a torment of calamities. Brexit, serious political instability in the USA ahead of an election that Trump will refuse to lose even if he does, trade deals with the rest of the world put on 6 week deadlines, anger within the commonwealth, a sick weak dependent PM on the back foot and ill briefed, rampant growing corruption in the Tory party, woke nut jobs out of touch with reality, councils on the brink of bankruptcy and the whole covid-19 crisis.

Needed a good laugh today, Listenings burger theiving Red Kite has done it for me thank you

My boy cat is wreaking havoc on our local juvenile squirrel population. We think he must eat pretty much the whole thing because we never find any remains apart from the tails. He brings those home as a trophy

Louise
It was impressive but not funny till at least a day later .... their talons are not much shorter than my fingers....

When I was at Uni kites were so rare that the Prof stopped the Landrover during a field trip so we could see one in deepest West Wales

Now the Shite Hawks as they were always known are on the M3 crash barrier sunning themselves

@QueenOfThorns

My boy cat is wreaking havoc on our local juvenile squirrel population. We think he must eat pretty much the whole thing because we never find any remains apart from the tails. He brings those home as a trophy

Or corvids are cleaning up ? Plus foxes ( are they becoming self-domesticated ?) and other assorted scavengers ?

pretty
I think the squirrel is an algorithm .... the phraseology is very odd

"So many UK corporations making a nice comfortable earner worldwide and forgetting their roots!"

No, they go where they can trade and profit
Those hindered by Brexit No Deal will up sticks to follow

When I was at Uni kites were so rare that the Prof stopped the Landrover during a field trip so we could see one in deepest West Wales

A true success story of repopulation ...

When I used to go out to work, DW sometimes saw a massive bird land on our shed. Because her eyesight isn't brilliant, it was a vague description, but a trawl through various pictures on the RSPB site and some GISS guessing narrowed it down to a Kite or Buzzard by size and a Kite by colouring. This was 10 years ago. Haven't seen it since, but it did make me wonder how far they roam ? We're also only a few hundred metres from a massive reservoir which might draw in birds ?

Still prefer our friendly magpies though.

So many UK corporations making a nice comfortable earner worldwide and forgetting their roots!

Once again, the curse of knowing little history strikes again.

The roots of British commerce is to fuck off abroad and make millions. It has been since at least the East India company. No serious CEO has any sentimental attachment to geography - certainly not over profit. Look at James "Call me Winston" Dyson, for example.

The squirrel is almost incomprehensible to me, to be honest. Maybe the algorithm needs work?

We have both foxes and corvids (big noisy crows) in the garden DGR, but I’m sure we’d notice them tidying up squirrel parts if that was what they were doing.

DGR
The initial release site 25 years ago was in the Chilterns
Back then the most reliable place to see Kites was the rubbish dump outside Aber
There was a second small release on Salisbury Plain
and from there they have spread everywhere

Buzzards were a rarity outside the South West 25 years ago.

If the grouse and pheasant estates would stop murdering Goshawks and Harriers
all of us would have less of a problem with wood pigeons
veg gardener .... care more about my brassicas than pigeons

Understanding History is useful

The history of empire and hunting are inextricably linked to the exceptionalism that is causing so much problem for those who voted for Johnson

I agree Listening

Squirrels tend to appear when they're worried about something - so I suppose it's a compliment

Yeah, I read all about them at the time. We're on the SW extreme of Brum (quicker to drive to Bromsgrove* than Birmingham). At the time kites had been seen in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire ... so Warwick/Worcester-shire weren't put of the question.

*One of the saddest victims of Covid has been the absolutely perfect Artrix Theatre in Bromsgrove Perfect accessibility, plus a good spread of acts.

A clear writing style aids communication. Certain posters don't have this. ( Pot kettle black?)

I have seen comments before on here about different writing styles by the same names. In my case the difference is whether using the computer (lack of capital letters, longer posts) or phone, capitals but shorter and a bit terse as I find it difficult to use/ see.

It’s beginning to look a lot like...(not Christmas) but exodus re Brexshit.

Our lovely Scots (some possibly) want out and back to Germanic Franco rule. Jesting people but you get my drift.

And some bright and able British talent are thinking enough of the constant political bs and corruption (has it ever stopped?) deck chair diplomacy. How about we go jump ship and bugger off to greener lands!

May be an impossible question but is there actually any more bearable time re young family to more permanently see the world as it where? I only previously did the corporate travel and placement thing long before parenthood and marriage and before tech with virtual reality killed off reality. Possibly easier to resettle with just one still in primary before planning further ahead if emigrating? I and many I know have long been doing some due diligence in case of need to achieve some sort of better work life balance guarantee in case it really is curtains on Brextania when it eventually kicks in and the Union is under further fiction?

Thanks and apologies for intermittent interference with the wildlife spotting sub thread!

How long did we speculate Long-Bailey lasting ?
even I did not think he'd be this quick
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53183085

Our boys have brought in a fully grown squirrel (fortunately didn't get as far as bringing it up onto our bed with its white duvet cover ) as a "gift" , as well as a number of young kits

At least they're grey squirrels and not the endangered red squirrels.

I think the next round of EU trade deals negs should sort it out. A 2hr slot can solve almost all problems. Or it's long enough to reach an agreement to disagree.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachmentdata/file/895488/AgendaaforUK-EUUFutureRelationshippNegotiations-299Junetoo3Julyy2020.pdf

On RLB, failure brings its own rewards.

I have seen comments before on here about different writing styles by the same names.

If you have a few moments, it would be illuminating to run selected quotes through a learning engine. Many moons ago I played around with www.gnu.org/software/gneuralnetwork/ which could probably make a decent fist of it.

Is that full fat anti semitism, or I don't like some things Israel does "anti semitism" ?

Just popping in to report the sacking of Long-Bailey, but I can see Listening has beat me to it.

I can't say as I'm sorry to see her go.

I think labour are making up for the lack of discipline across the benches by showing how to do it. Puts pressure on Johnson/Jenrick, not that it will make any difference.

Singasonga
I admit I was reading another news story on the BBC and it flashed up so I was about as quick as its possible to be

Jason
Indeed. Front bench discipline is an example to set.

Apparently she got involved in a tweet stating that US police learnt the tactic which killed George Floyd from the Israeli army.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/rebecca-long-bailey-sacked-as-shadow-education-secretary_uk_5ef49dc6c5b66c312682de39

The thought did cross my mind that it was useful and timely for Starmer to show the contrast with BJ's morality letting his Front Bench get away with murder (and I agree with whoever it was that said that they could envisage that being literally the case although it's not come to that )