Behold, my Christmas faggot:

One stitch to go: successful thread chicken!

Looking for fabric that my mum would like. Massively side-tracked. https://www.cottonpatch.co.uk/tochio-yarn-dyed-10-patchwork-palette

I feel really sorry for my financial planner’s secretary. (I eventually deciphered it as “with very best wishes”. I think!)

Help: what am I going to get my mum for Christmas? Things I have bought her in recent years: a rose plant; a big fluffy fleece dressing gown; a raised planter with seeds for growing salad; a fancy smoked salmon hamper. Things there is no point buying for her: clothes; homewares; any kind of non-gardening hobby stuff; books. I had a blinder of an idea the other day (I’m going to make her a blanket with old cashmere jumpers that she’s given me because they have tiny bits of damage; while this breaks the “no homewares” rule, as it will be colours she chose I think it will be acceptable), but it won’t be done in time so will be for her birthday next year.

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Nearly 10,000 Pakistanis entered the country with temporary visitor, work or student visas before then switching last year to claim asylum in an attempt to secure permanent residency in the UK, according to government data. Pakistan now accounts for one in 10 of all asylum claims, more than any of the 175 other nations from which migrants seek refugee status in the UK. It topped the table with over 11,000 asylum applications, ahead of Afghanistan, Iran and Eritrea in a five-fold rise since 2022 when its claims numbered just 2,154. […] “The rise of Pakistan in the asylum league tables exposes a truth politicians often avoid: Britain’s migration system isn’t just failing at the borders - it’s failing within them. Yes, small boats matter. But ‘legal entry, then asylum claim’ shows how the system is being gamed from inside. https://archive.ph/uP7Pd

Errors, omissions and illogicalities galore at the Covid inquiry

The investigation tells us much about what we already know but little about what we need to know — whether lockdowns work and, if so, are worth t...

The Covid inquiry is an extremely slow and expensive way of reaching some highly questionable conclusions. It is based on a remarkably limited range of material, much of it lacking in objectivity. Some of its arguments are logically incoherent. And it is riddled with solemn warnings against methodological errors and omissions which the author then proceeds to commit herself. This is the second “module” of the inquiry. At £200 million and with another eight modules to go, one is bound to question whether the public is getting value for money. https://archive.ph/h7tRm

How Net Zero will deepen the UK’s housing crisis

Ed Miliband’s green diktats could make it ruinously expensive to rent a home.

Landlords will soon face a stark choice. A retired teacher who rents a two-bedroom flat to supplement her pension might soon discover that her property is rated Band D. The cost of upgrading to Band C is from £5,000 to £8,000 – a cost she may not be able to bear. If she continues to let the property after 2028, she will be liable for a £30,000 penalty. The likely result is a forced exit from the rental market, reducing the supply of affordable housing at a time of chronic shortages. The policy’s reach extends beyond those who let properties. Any homeowner who sells his home must provide a valid EPC. If the rating is below Band C and no exemptions apply, the sale cannot proceed until the necessary works are completed. For those inheriting a property, the burden falls on the estate. In each case, the £30,000 fine looms.

For those days when your shoulders are having a hot flush.

Some force required to get him out of the house. Went far enough to have a poo then turned and route-marched home. Actually difficult to walk in the stronger gusts, but not that much rain: the low patches on the road aren’t flooded all the way across. Yet. View quoted note →

Dear Diary, Today, I almost saw the sun!

I have an email address along the lines of FelicityJSmith@gmail.com. It’s not the most common name in the world, but there are evidently others: I’ve had a job interview offer from the FBI, a message from the RSPCA about the dog I want to adopt, and various similar things in the past. If it looks important, I reply and explain. There’s also an elderly lady who emails me whenever she won’t be in for her regular weekly phone call and will not be told that she has the wrong email address. In what might be the oddest yet, today I’ve had an email from a German chap that was sent to an hotel in Czechia asking for a room price. Checking the headers, it’s been redirected from the address he sent it to to felicity.j.smith@gmail.com (a punctuation format I never use but often see in these types of messages) so presumably my namesake works there now…. Can I be bothered trying to find an alternate contact email for the hotel to let them know? Probably not. I guess I’ll reply to the German chap and let him know his message probably hasn’t gone through.

I think today may be worse than yesterday. First use of my winter coat….

If you have clear skies, it’s worth looking north as soon as it gets dark.

Progressives are dehumanising Charlie Kirk even in death

The gloating, gleeful response to the murder of the conservative activist has been shameful.

His death does not come out of the blue. It happened after years of violent and hyperbolic rhetoric from the mainstream media and Democratic elites attacking conservatives as evil, Nazi-adjacent threats to the status quo. Indeed, the day before Kirk’s assassination, Connecticut Democratic senator Chris Murphy announced, ‘We’re in a war right now to save this country… so you have to be willing to do whatever is necessary in order to save the country’. Nothing is beneath these people. After Kirk’s death, ‘progressive’ pundits and assorted online leftists have claimed that Kirk brought this on himself. That he deserves it for espousing ‘controversial’ views. MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd said that ‘[Kirk has] been one of the most divisive younger figures, who is constantly sort of pushing this hate speech aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which lead to hateful actions.’ By hateful thoughts and words, of course, Dowd means any views that challenge his liberal-left worldview.

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Trade unions have vowed to oppose the Supreme Court ruling on transgender issues and have called official guidance on single-sex spaces “flawed”. Delegates at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) voted unanimously in favour of a motion which said the April ruling went against the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). One representative of the Unison union accused Bridget Phillipson, the equalities minister, of overseeing a “segregation” of trans people in society. https://archive.ph/CHxNI

BBC News

Koala chlamydia: Australia approves vaccine to curb killer epidemic

Thousands of koalas have died from the disease, with some estimates suggesting only 50,000 remain in the wild.

A vaccine which could save Australia's endangered koala population from a rampant chlamydia epidemic has been approved for rollout for the first time. University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) scientists have spent more than a decade developing a jab to curb the spread of the disease, which has devastated wild koala populations across most of eastern Australia.

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Nato jets shot down Russian drones that “repeatedly violated” Poland’s airspace in an overnight bombardment of Ukraine. Polish, Dutch and Italian fighter aircraft were scrambled to intercept at least 19 drones as citizens were told to stay at home. It marks the most serious clash between Russia and the alliance since the start of war in Ukraine, dragging the conflict into uncharted territory. Politicians and analysts believe it was a deliberate attempt by the Kremlin to test Nato’s response.

Revealed: Global warming exaggerated, say soaring number of Britons

Research for The Times has uncovered a huge rise in scepticism over climate change as voters turn against net zero policies

The number of Britons who think the dangers of global warming have been exaggerated has jumped by more than 50 per cent in the past four years, new research for The Times reveals today. One in four voters now believe that concerns over climate change are not as real as scientists have said, amid growing public concern at the cost of the government’s net zero policies. Less than a third of the public (30 per cent) are in favour of banning new petrol and diesel cars — down from 51 per cent in 2021. https://archive.ph/TUrLj

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The pattern is always the same. When the police want to behave like social-justice activists they demand “operational independence”. When they get found out suddenly they want “guidance”. None of this is by accident. The stretching or misinterpreting of legislation that was intended for genuinely threatening scenarios to intimidate or criminalise people for expressing legitimate opinions is deliberate policy. It is presided over by one of the worst, most un-British bodies in Britain: the College of Policing. This quango states its purpose is “to support everyone in policing to reduce crime and keep people safe, including by sharing knowledge and good practice”. Its true aim is more worrying, I think, and lacks democratic accountability. According to one senior officer, the College sees its role as promoting and supporting equality and diversity, and “supporting difference”. Entirely captured by transgender activists, the College brainwashes police officers to spout slogans like Maoist cultural revolutionaries – “Hateful and offensive! Hateful and offensive!” Anyone who hopes to climb the career ladder must be able to demonstrate their fidelity to progressive, Left-wing ideas, no matter how bonkers they may be. https://archive.ph/O4oV9