Emperor
3m ago
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It Sounds like it has too many bends to skateboard down it but if you can find a Nuge....
Emperor
4m ago
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But it's carbon capture and storage as it will live on your shelf for your lifetime and then, hopefully, raise a pretty penny on eBay so it can sit on someone else's shelf.
Emperor
5m ago
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I read a while back about the efforts people go to in order to keep the vinyl pressing machines going. I imagine they are cannibalising old equipment to help the last few limp along.
www.somersetlive.co.uk
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18926872 > > A TikToker has sparked a debate after claiming to have driven up the UK's steepest hill, where he alleges 10 people fail every day. The user, known as DavetheDriver, shared a video of his journey through Oakamoor, a village in Staffordshire, en route to Alton Towers theme park. > > > > The footage shows Dave navigating a steep road after passing the Cricketer's Arms pub. As he continues, it becomes evident that the challenging stretch of road extends for quite a distance. > > > > Throughout his ascent, Dave encounters several tight bends and corners with limited visibility of oncoming traffic. "This is the steepest road in the UK," he claimed in the video's caption, adding, "At least 10 cars every day fail to make it to the top,". > > > > Since being posted on TikTok on Friday, September 27, the clip has garnered over 3.3 million views and approximately 143,800 likes. It's one of many videos Dave has shared on his account, with others accumulating over 1 million views in total. > > > > ... > > > > However, not everyone agreed with Dave's claim about the hill's steepness. Several commenters suggested that either Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire or Porlock Hill in Somerset holds the title for the steepest hill in the UK. > > > > ... > > > > In addition, Matthew chipped in with skepticism commenting, "When does it get steep? That's just a normal Scottish road." > > > >Porlock Hill has been noted as the UK's steepest A-road boasting gradients of 25 per cent in some parts. The hill ascends roughly 725 feet in less than a mile.
www.somersetlive.co.uk
> A TikToker has sparked a debate after claiming to have driven up the UK's steepest hill, where he alleges 10 people fail every day. The user, known as DavetheDriver, shared a video of his journey through Oakamoor, a village in Staffordshire, en route to Alton Towers theme park. > > The footage shows Dave navigating a steep road after passing the Cricketer's Arms pub. As he continues, it becomes evident that the challenging stretch of road extends for quite a distance. > > Throughout his ascent, Dave encounters several tight bends and corners with limited visibility of oncoming traffic. "This is the steepest road in the UK," he claimed in the video's caption, adding, "At least 10 cars every day fail to make it to the top,". > > Since being posted on TikTok on Friday, September 27, the clip has garnered over 3.3 million views and approximately 143,800 likes. It's one of many videos Dave has shared on his account, with others accumulating over 1 million views in total. > > ... > > However, not everyone agreed with Dave's claim about the hill's steepness. Several commenters suggested that either Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire or Porlock Hill in Somerset holds the title for the steepest hill in the UK. > > ... > > In addition, Matthew chipped in with skepticism commenting, "When does it get steep? That's just a normal Scottish road." > >Porlock Hill has been noted as the UK's steepest A-road boasting gradients of 25 per cent in some parts. The hill ascends roughly 725 feet in less than a mile.
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18926791 > > Liquid Slam's ad campaign for their "Big Game" line of snacks and sugary beverages was pulled almost immediately. > > [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5968836/)
> Liquid Slam's ad campaign for their "Big Game" line of snacks and sugary beverages was pulled almost immediately. [IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5968836/)
news.sky.com
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18925839 > Good news! Following up from this https://feddit.uk/post/18671151 > David Jakins, 82, known as "King Conker", won the tournament in Southwick, Northamptonshire, last Sunday for the first time after competing since 1977. > >But his long-awaited victory was marred when a cheating scandal erupted after a fake steel conker, painted brown, was later found in the veteran competitor's pocket. > >His opponent in the final Alastair Johnson-Ferguson told The Daily Telegraph he raised concerns after his conker "disintegrated in one hit, and that just doesn't happen". > >The chairman of the organising committee said the steel conker was indistinguishable from a real one, with its weight the only giveaway. > > ... > > "The investigation has found no evidence that the steel conker was used. King Conker has been cleared of suspicion, and his name is being engraved on the trophy." > > ... > > Mr Jakins won the men's competition but lost in the overall final to women's champion Kelci Banschbach, originally from the United States, who only took up the game last year when she moved to Suffolk. > >The championships have been held since 1965 and organisers say they have raised £420,000 for charity.
www.theguardian.com
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18925844 > > A children’s soft play centre has removed its hanging “body bag” Halloween decorations after concerns were raised by parents. > > > >Rugrats and Halfpints in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, has apologised over the objects resembling human corpses covered in black plastic. > > > >Some appeared to be wrapped with tape bearing the words “caution” and “danger” and were hanging upside down from poles adjoining one of the soft play structures, according to pictures posted online.
www.theguardian.com
> A children’s soft play centre has removed its hanging “body bag” Halloween decorations after concerns were raised by parents. > >Rugrats and Halfpints in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, has apologised over the objects resembling human corpses covered in black plastic. > >Some appeared to be wrapped with tape bearing the words “caution” and “danger” and were hanging upside down from poles adjoining one of the soft play structures, according to pictures posted online.
Emperor
4h ago
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gratoiuois rib elbowing nostalgia references
That's what killed it for me. Early on.I thought they'd be OK but they broke me and I, mentally, went "well you can fuck right off with this nonsense" and then they kept piling it on. It would have been bad in a cheap fan film and I have no idea what possessed them to do it.
www.theverge.com
> It’s time to dust off your VCR and clean the heads, because Alien: Romulus is coming to VHS as a limited edition on December 3rd alongside the other physical releases, director Fede Alvarez announced during “a special Beyond Fest-partnered screening” in Los Angeles yesterday. > >The “fully functioning VHS tape” is meant to celebrate 45 years since the Alien franchise first (chest) burst into theaters, 20th Century Studios wrote in a release emailed to The Verge. It’ll present the movie, appropriately, in a 4:3 aspect ratio (hopefully without pan-and-scan). It also comes in a slick, vintage-style sleeve.
Emperor
4h ago
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100%
I imagine it's because it is a larger piece of media than a Blu-ray so will look pretty on a shelf for completists.
www.bbc.co.uk
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18923980 > > Health Secretary Wes Streeting has dismissed suggestions that plans to provide weight loss jabs to unemployed people with obesity are "dystopian". > > > >The UK government is partnering with pharmaceutical giant Lilly who are running a five-year trial in Greater Manchester to test if the weight-loss drug Mounjaro can help get more people back to work and prevent obesity-related diseases to ease the strain on the NHS in England. > > > >The announcement prompted a backlash, with accusations that the government was stigmatising unemployed individuals and reducing people to their economic value. > > > >Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Streeting said the jabs were part of a broader healthcare plan, adding that he was "not interested in some dystopian future where I involuntarily jab unemployed people who are overweight".
www.bbc.co.uk
> Health Secretary Wes Streeting has dismissed suggestions that plans to provide weight loss jabs to unemployed people with obesity are "dystopian". > >The UK government is partnering with pharmaceutical giant Lilly who are running a five-year trial in Greater Manchester to test if the weight-loss drug Mounjaro can help get more people back to work and prevent obesity-related diseases to ease the strain on the NHS in England. > >The announcement prompted a backlash, with accusations that the government was stigmatising unemployed individuals and reducing people to their economic value. > >Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Streeting said the jabs were part of a broader healthcare plan, adding that he was "not interested in some dystopian future where I involuntarily jab unemployed people who are overweight".
Emperor
5h ago
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90%
Just looking for bones, which is Pharoah enough.
www.unilad.com
> Alex Lang was flying his motored paraglider around the Great Pyramid in Egypt when he saw something odd in the distance. > >Intrigued, the adventurer moved in for a closer look. > > When he was finally able to make out the mysterious figure, it was the last thing he was expecting- a dog that had somehow made its way to the apex of the 455ft structure to bark at 'birds’. > > Viewers were impressed by the dog but were all left with the same question after watching the video: how did it get up there? > > ... > > However, while some might like to follow in the footsteps of the dog, humans are banned from climbing to the top. Offenders could face up to three years in prison, and in 2016, a teenager was banned from visiting Egypt again after making the ascent.
Emperor
6h ago
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100%
I see it more as subverting a corporate logo. Not suitable for more serious discussion but for a meme community...
Emperor
7h ago
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Bloody Brenda. One too many Babychams after Sunday lunch more like.
Emperor
7h ago
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100%
It might just be the dolphin is a bit of dick, which is why others of its kind don't want to hang out with it, so putting it in a park might not help.
It might just get bored or find a new pod but it could also kill a small child, so...
Emperor
7h ago
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85%
Ahhh cool. I like it. We can probably give it a tweak (perhaps add the Fediverse rainbow of colours, or just say, red, blue, green, purple to the four elements. Maybe, as it's essentially now a smiley, we could change one "eye" to a dash so it is giving a cheeky wink?) but yes, we can definitely work with that and I love the idea of subverting a corporate logo.
www.theguardian.com
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18915016 > > In 1964, two young academics clambered into a red Mini and, armed with a mountain of printed slips, set out to conduct what would become the definitive survey of English folklore and traditions for the next 60 years. > > > >John Widdowson and Paul Smith went to town centres, community halls, Women’s Institute meetings. They handed the simple forms out to anyone who visited Sheffield University, where they were based. And they wanted to know the answer to one simple question: what do you know to be true? > > > > Now held in the university’s archives, the thousands of replies make for illuminating reading, creating a patchwork of observances, superstitions and local legends, passed down through families and communities. > > > >“Don’t bring hawthorn blossom into the house. It’s bad luck,” wrote David Smith of London, who had learned this from his mother, Molly, then living in Scarborough. > > > >The story related by Florence Swaby of Hertfordshire was perhaps a little more dramatic: “Just outside the village, part of the road is called the white highway, and at that point there are two large open fields and the devil haunts there. This is the story handed down from my great grandmother and really happened …” > > > > Exactly six decades on, the Survey of Language and Folklore is finally being updated, with a more scientific method than two men in a Mini handing out questionnaires almost at random. The Centre for Contemporary Legend, based at Sheffield Hallam University, is to conduct the National Folklore Survey, financed with £271,000 of government money from the UK Research and Innovation body. > > > >The project will be led by David Clarke along with Diane Rodgers, also of Sheffield Hallam, and Ceri Houlbrook and Owen Davies who founded the MA Folklore Studies course at Hertfordshire University. It will be conducted by Ipsos-UK, polling almost 3,000 people in the first phase to create a clearer picture of what folklore means today. > > > >The new survey aims to address “the lack of robust research evidence into the cultural value of folklore in post-Brexit, post-pandemic, multicultural England. It aims to create new data to answer two research questions: ‘How have folkloric beliefs and practices shaped England’s social, cultural and spiritual identity?’ and ‘To what extent are ideas of nationalism and colonial attitudes informed by contemporary notions of English folklore?’” > > > > ... > > > > “You might think that in an increasingly technological world we have no place for folklore, but it seems to be the opposite. Technology and mobile phones create a kind of disenchantment in people’s lives, and I think they’ve started to realise that. The revival of interest in folklore is a wonderful thing, and long may it continue.”
www.theguardian.com
> In 1964, two young academics clambered into a red Mini and, armed with a mountain of printed slips, set out to conduct what would become the definitive survey of English folklore and traditions for the next 60 years. > >John Widdowson and Paul Smith went to town centres, community halls, Women’s Institute meetings. They handed the simple forms out to anyone who visited Sheffield University, where they were based. And they wanted to know the answer to one simple question: what do you know to be true? > > Now held in the university’s archives, the thousands of replies make for illuminating reading, creating a patchwork of observances, superstitions and local legends, passed down through families and communities. > >“Don’t bring hawthorn blossom into the house. It’s bad luck,” wrote David Smith of London, who had learned this from his mother, Molly, then living in Scarborough. > >The story related by Florence Swaby of Hertfordshire was perhaps a little more dramatic: “Just outside the village, part of the road is called the white highway, and at that point there are two large open fields and the devil haunts there. This is the story handed down from my great grandmother and really happened …” > > Exactly six decades on, the Survey of Language and Folklore is finally being updated, with a more scientific method than two men in a Mini handing out questionnaires almost at random. The Centre for Contemporary Legend, based at Sheffield Hallam University, is to conduct the National Folklore Survey, financed with £271,000 of government money from the UK Research and Innovation body. > >The project will be led by David Clarke along with Diane Rodgers, also of Sheffield Hallam, and Ceri Houlbrook and Owen Davies who founded the MA Folklore Studies course at Hertfordshire University. It will be conducted by Ipsos-UK, polling almost 3,000 people in the first phase to create a clearer picture of what folklore means today. > >The new survey aims to address “the lack of robust research evidence into the cultural value of folklore in post-Brexit, post-pandemic, multicultural England. It aims to create new data to answer two research questions: ‘How have folkloric beliefs and practices shaped England’s social, cultural and spiritual identity?’ and ‘To what extent are ideas of nationalism and colonial attitudes informed by contemporary notions of English folklore?’” > > ... > > “You might think that in an increasingly technological world we have no place for folklore, but it seems to be the opposite. Technology and mobile phones create a kind of disenchantment in people’s lives, and I think they’ve started to realise that. The revival of interest in folklore is a wonderful thing, and long may it continue.”
Emperor
9h ago
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I'm so looking forward to this - I've read most of the comics this draws from and it looks like Gunn has had a tonne of fun with the concept.
Emperor
9h ago
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Stop teasing Bruce - I want this yesterday!
Emperor
9h ago
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100%
I got over wrestling in the early 90’s when I learned it was fake.
Realising the outcome was predetermined gave me a new level of appreciation for what they do in the ring.
Emperor
9h ago
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Animals get a taste for people
That's mainly big cats, the article suggests dolphins bite each other as part of their communication, it may just be that this one doesn't realise it can't do that with people.
Emperor
9h ago
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Good stuff - I may be missing the context, what is Meta's Fediverse logo?
comicbook.com
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18912860 > > There are many reasons that American comics readers should know Garth Ennis, from his long run on Marvel’s The Punisher to his iconic Vertigo Comics series Preacher, to his more recently adapted hit The Boys. However, those who know Ennis best know him also as a writer of war comics, such as War Stories his Battlefields series at Dynamite Entertainment, or his graphic novel Sara at TKO Studios. He’s even infused that influence into his work at Marvel on characters like Nick Fury, most recently in the Vietnam War-set Marvel MAX series Get Fury, co-starring a pre-Punisher-transformation Frank Castle. > > > > More recently, Ennis’ talents as a teller of war tales have served him well while writing stories appearing in British comics anthologies Battle Action and 2000 AD from Rebellion Publishing. In Battle Action, Ennis revived the character Johnny Red, a British fighter pilot leading a Russian Squadron during World War II, leading into the story of Johnny’s final flight. In 2000 AD, Ennis is penning stories featuring Rogue Trooper, the next 2000 AD character set to appear in a film, blending the genre line between war stories and sci-fi. > > > > ComicBook had the opportunity to ask Ennis questions about transitioning from American comics to these storied British magazines, including what he has in store for this year’s 2000 AD Christmas issue. Here’s what he had to say: > > > > *After many years working with US-based publishers, you’ve been doing work for Rebellion for a while now. How has your experience working with Rebellion and on anthologies rather than ~20-page American monthly serials been? Has there been an re-adjustment period at all?* > > > >Garth Ennis: Not really, stories are stories. So long as there are competent people at editorial I’m happy to work for anyone, and Oliver Pickles and Matt Smith are among the best I’ve worked with. > > > > I do enjoy the shorter episodes on Battle Action and 2000 AD– less space means more focus, and it’s nice to exercise that particular muscle again. That doesn’t mean I don’t write with the eventual collection in mind- that’s how stories like Rogue Trooper and Johnny Red are going to exist long-term, after all- but there’s still a particular pleasure to be found writing one-offs like Dredger, Hellman, or Strontium Dog/Robo Hunter. > > > > *You’ve been writing Rogue Trooper stories in 2000 AD and Johnny Red stories in Battle Action. Both fall into the “war comics” genre, of which you’re considered a master by many, but Rogue and Johnny are very different beasts, the former being sci-fi, and the latter rooted in real history. Have you found they offer unique storytelling opportunities or challenges compared to your other work in the genre? Is there any thematic commonality between them?* > > > > Not much beyond the fact that they’re both war stories. Johnny Red has its roots in actual history, as you say, whereas Rogue Trooper is out-and-out science fiction. The latter takes care of itself, with the broad parameters of the strip having been laid down a good forty years ago. > > > >With Johnny Red the hyperbole of ’70s comics means the story is one step removed from my usual war stories; things like Sara or The Stringbags don’t ask the reader to believe in anything that didn’t happen. But there was never an Englishman in command of a Russian fighter squadron, and even if there was, someone with Johnny Redburn’s attitude would have been shot dead by the Soviet authorities inside a couple of weeks. > > > > There’s also a larger-than-life quality to the original strip, with people and aircraft able to do things they simply couldn’t have. What I find interesting is that the old Johnny Red stories got so much right, in terms of setting and events, and finding ways of making the unreal a little more believable in that context is one of the things that keeps me engaged. > > > > ... > > > > *Your current Rogue Trooper story in 2000 AD, “When a GI Dies,” follows your previous story with Patrick Goddard, “Blighty Valley.” What can readers expect from this new Rogue story, and are there any thematic connections between this and last year’s story?* > > > >It’s much more specific to the original Rogue Trooper strip, rather than the notion of considering conflict in a wider sense that you saw in “Blighty Valley.” The new one looks at the origins of the Genetic Infantry regiment, their engineering- including the biochips and the implications thereof- and the people on Milli-Com who sent them into combat. It also considers the Dolls, and what they were left with once the dust had settled on the Quartz Zone massacre. > > > > ... > > > > *We’ve also just found out that you’re working with Henry Flint on a Strontium Dog story this Christmas. Can you offer any hints as to what that’s about?”* > > > > “Doghouse Roses” sees a pair of mutant civilians from Milton Keynes visiting the base of the Search/Destroy Agency, intent on making a fly-on-the-wall documentary about their Strontium Dog heroes. You’ll see all the old favourites- Johnny & Wulf, obviously, but also Middenface, the Torso from Newcastle, Evans the Fist, Spud Murphy, the Stixes and more- but from a point of view that may seem a little unfamiliar. > > > >There’ll also be some odd goings-on in the showers, a CUR prisoner we’d all like to see the back of, and a brief discussion on the future of the ancient English county of Durham. Oh my poor heartses, etc etc. > > > >And Henry is, of course, knocking it out of the park.
comicbook.com
> There are many reasons that American comics readers should know Garth Ennis, from his long run on Marvel’s The Punisher to his iconic Vertigo Comics series Preacher, to his more recently adapted hit The Boys. However, those who know Ennis best know him also as a writer of war comics, such as War Stories his Battlefields series at Dynamite Entertainment, or his graphic novel Sara at TKO Studios. He’s even infused that influence into his work at Marvel on characters like Nick Fury, most recently in the Vietnam War-set Marvel MAX series Get Fury, co-starring a pre-Punisher-transformation Frank Castle. > > More recently, Ennis’ talents as a teller of war tales have served him well while writing stories appearing in British comics anthologies Battle Action and 2000 AD from Rebellion Publishing. In Battle Action, Ennis revived the character Johnny Red, a British fighter pilot leading a Russian Squadron during World War II, leading into the story of Johnny’s final flight. In 2000 AD, Ennis is penning stories featuring Rogue Trooper, the next 2000 AD character set to appear in a film, blending the genre line between war stories and sci-fi. > > ComicBook had the opportunity to ask Ennis questions about transitioning from American comics to these storied British magazines, including what he has in store for this year’s 2000 AD Christmas issue. Here’s what he had to say: > > *After many years working with US-based publishers, you’ve been doing work for Rebellion for a while now. How has your experience working with Rebellion and on anthologies rather than ~20-page American monthly serials been? Has there been an re-adjustment period at all?* > >Garth Ennis: Not really, stories are stories. So long as there are competent people at editorial I’m happy to work for anyone, and Oliver Pickles and Matt Smith are among the best I’ve worked with. > > I do enjoy the shorter episodes on Battle Action and 2000 AD– less space means more focus, and it’s nice to exercise that particular muscle again. That doesn’t mean I don’t write with the eventual collection in mind- that’s how stories like Rogue Trooper and Johnny Red are going to exist long-term, after all- but there’s still a particular pleasure to be found writing one-offs like Dredger, Hellman, or Strontium Dog/Robo Hunter. > > *You’ve been writing Rogue Trooper stories in 2000 AD and Johnny Red stories in Battle Action. Both fall into the “war comics” genre, of which you’re considered a master by many, but Rogue and Johnny are very different beasts, the former being sci-fi, and the latter rooted in real history. Have you found they offer unique storytelling opportunities or challenges compared to your other work in the genre? Is there any thematic commonality between them?* > > Not much beyond the fact that they’re both war stories. Johnny Red has its roots in actual history, as you say, whereas Rogue Trooper is out-and-out science fiction. The latter takes care of itself, with the broad parameters of the strip having been laid down a good forty years ago. > >With Johnny Red the hyperbole of ’70s comics means the story is one step removed from my usual war stories; things like Sara or The Stringbags don’t ask the reader to believe in anything that didn’t happen. But there was never an Englishman in command of a Russian fighter squadron, and even if there was, someone with Johnny Redburn’s attitude would have been shot dead by the Soviet authorities inside a couple of weeks. > > There’s also a larger-than-life quality to the original strip, with people and aircraft able to do things they simply couldn’t have. What I find interesting is that the old Johnny Red stories got so much right, in terms of setting and events, and finding ways of making the unreal a little more believable in that context is one of the things that keeps me engaged. > > ... > > *Your current Rogue Trooper story in 2000 AD, “When a GI Dies,” follows your previous story with Patrick Goddard, “Blighty Valley.” What can readers expect from this new Rogue story, and are there any thematic connections between this and last year’s story?* > >It’s much more specific to the original Rogue Trooper strip, rather than the notion of considering conflict in a wider sense that you saw in “Blighty Valley.” The new one looks at the origins of the Genetic Infantry regiment, their engineering- including the biochips and the implications thereof- and the people on Milli-Com who sent them into combat. It also considers the Dolls, and what they were left with once the dust had settled on the Quartz Zone massacre. > > ... > > *We’ve also just found out that you’re working with Henry Flint on a Strontium Dog story this Christmas. Can you offer any hints as to what that’s about?”* > > “Doghouse Roses” sees a pair of mutant civilians from Milton Keynes visiting the base of the Search/Destroy Agency, intent on making a fly-on-the-wall documentary about their Strontium Dog heroes. You’ll see all the old favourites- Johnny & Wulf, obviously, but also Middenface, the Torso from Newcastle, Evans the Fist, Spud Murphy, the Stixes and more- but from a point of view that may seem a little unfamiliar. > >There’ll also be some odd goings-on in the showers, a CUR prisoner we’d all like to see the back of, and a brief discussion on the future of the ancient English county of Durham. Oh my poor heartses, etc etc. > >And Henry is, of course, knocking it out of the park.
Emperor
10h ago
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100%
Icon could just be the girl's face, although they didn't be a matching set.
Now Fediverse Memes is the top community on feddit.uk (it only took three weeks from its creation) it needs a bit of fancying up, so we are looking for suggestions for a banner and icon. Post your ideas below, upvote what you like and we'll use the best ones. And this won't be set in stone, we can revisit it later on. edit: added a few to "prime the pump" now have at it!
www.foxnews.com
> WWE legend known as The Undertaker cut his own election promo in a video posted to social media on Friday after pro wrestling star Dave Bautista, known as Bautista, took shots at former President Donald Trump earlier in the week. > >The Undertaker, whose real name is Mark Callaway, was seen on a video next to his former WWE colleague Kane, the current mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, whose real name is Glenn Jacobs, and Trump and addressed potential voters about their options come Election Day. > > "All right everyone. November 5th – ElectionMania. The choice is yours. You can go with President Trump, Kane and The Undertaker or you can take Kamala Harris, Dave Bautista and Tim Walz. Choose wisely – the nation depends on it," Callaway said in a TikTok vieo. > >"And that should be an easy choice," Trump added. > > ... > > The Republican presidential nominee’s appearance with the wrestling greats came after Bautista made a video firing shots left and right at Trump as he expressed his support for Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for president. > > "Fellas, we gotta talk," Bautista said in part. "A lot of men seem to think that Donald Trump is some kind of tough guy. He’s not. I mean, look at him, he wears more make-up than Dolly Parton. He whines like a baby. The guy is afraid of birds. Donald Trump had his daddy pay a doctor to say his little feet hurt, so he could dodge the draft. Look at that gut. It’s like a garbage bag full of buttermilk." > >His rant was accompanied by various related images and clips of Trump during his presidency and campaign. > >In a comment to Fox News Digital on Wednesday, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung pushed back, calling Bautista a "stone-cold loser" and mocked his WWE career.
www.bbc.com
> In an average working day, Claudia Bowring has to play the role of detective, estate agent, family mediator and, occasionally, grief counsellor. > >She’s an empty homes officer for a borough council in the suburbs of Nottingham. > >There are just short of 700,000 empty and unfurnished homes in England, according to the most recent government figures, external. Of those, 261,471 are classed as “long-term empty,” meaning no-one has lived there for six months or more. > >If all empty homes were brought back into use, the housing crisis would be solved at a stroke and, arguably, the government would not have to build 1.5m new homes. > >Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. Bringing derelict and abandoned properties back to life can be a long and complex process. > >Even finding out who owns properties that have been standing empty for years, or in some cases decades, can be a challenge. > > ... > > When persuasion fails, the gloves come off. > > Like many local authorities, Conservative-controlled Rushcliffe charges extra council tax on homes that have been unoccupied for more than a year, under the Empty Homes Premium brought in by the previous government. > >If that doesn’t do the trick, the council can take enforcement action. > >It treats abandoned properties as an environmental health issue - derelict properties can be a magnet for vandalism and vermin, harming the quality of life for people living next to them. > >In some cases, the council is able to carry out emergency repair work on abandoned homes, and then force a sale at auction to recover its costs. This sometimes results in a windfall for the owners who were so reluctant to sell up in the first place. > >Another tool at the council’s disposal are Empty Dwelling Management Orders, which give councils the right to take over and make repairs to run-down private properties that have been vacant for at least two years. They can rent the property out for up to seven years to recover costs. > > ... > > But it does not have to do this. There is no legal requirement for local authorities to bring empty homes back into use – and some councils choose not to.
www.theguardian.com
cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18872255 > > A book borrowed from a school library before the first world war has finally been returned – more than a century overdue. > > > >A copy of Poetry of Byron was found by a man in Carmarthenshire, south Wales, who felt it should be returned to St Bees School, near Whitehaven, Cumbria, where it had been lent out to a schoolboy. > > > >Inside the blue clothbound book the name Leonard Ewbank is written, along with the date 25 September 1911. Ewbank, who was born in 1893, was a pupil of St Bees between 1902 and 1911, before going on to study at Queen’s College, Oxford. > > > > Records show that, despite his poor eyesight, he was recruited to the 15th Border Regiment in 1915 to fight in the first world war. He was killed in battle on 23 February 1916 by a bullet to the head and is buried at the Railway Dugouts burial ground in Ypres, Belgium, a cemetery that contains the graves of 2,463 troops. > > > > ... > > > > Ewbank is commemorated on the school’s roll of honour as “an Englishman, brave, honest and loyal”. > > > >The school was “honoured” to have the book returned, said the headteacher, Andrew Keep. Keep told the BBC: “It’s incredible to think that a piece of St Bees’ history has found its way back to us after all these years.” > > > > ... > > > > The book, featuring the work of Lord Byron, a Romantic poet famously described as “mad, bad and dangerous to know”, is not the first to be returned to a library after spending a lifetime elsewhere, but it could be one of the most overdue library books of all time. > > > > In May, a book borrowed from a library in Helsinki was returned 84 years overdue. A Finnish translation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s historical novel The Refugees had been due on 26 December 1939, a month after the Soviet invasion of Finland, so it “might not have been the first thing on the borrower’s mind”, said Heini Strand, a librarian at Helsinki’s Oodi central library. > > > >In July, Canoe Building in Glass-Reinforced Plastic by Alan Byde was returned to Orkney Library more than 47 years late, after being found during a house clearance. The library’s John Peterson said: “Fortunately we don’t charge overdue fines.”
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> A book borrowed from a school library before the first world war has finally been returned – more than a century overdue. > >A copy of Poetry of Byron was found by a man in Carmarthenshire, south Wales, who felt it should be returned to St Bees School, near Whitehaven, Cumbria, where it had been lent out to a schoolboy. > >Inside the blue clothbound book the name Leonard Ewbank is written, along with the date 25 September 1911. Ewbank, who was born in 1893, was a pupil of St Bees between 1902 and 1911, before going on to study at Queen’s College, Oxford. > > Records show that, despite his poor eyesight, he was recruited to the 15th Border Regiment in 1915 to fight in the first world war. He was killed in battle on 23 February 1916 by a bullet to the head and is buried at the Railway Dugouts burial ground in Ypres, Belgium, a cemetery that contains the graves of 2,463 troops. > > ... > > Ewbank is commemorated on the school’s roll of honour as “an Englishman, brave, honest and loyal”. > >The school was “honoured” to have the book returned, said the headteacher, Andrew Keep. Keep told the BBC: “It’s incredible to think that a piece of St Bees’ history has found its way back to us after all these years.” > > ... > > The book, featuring the work of Lord Byron, a Romantic poet famously described as “mad, bad and dangerous to know”, is not the first to be returned to a library after spending a lifetime elsewhere, but it could be one of the most overdue library books of all time. > > In May, a book borrowed from a library in Helsinki was returned 84 years overdue. A Finnish translation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s historical novel The Refugees had been due on 26 December 1939, a month after the Soviet invasion of Finland, so it “might not have been the first thing on the borrower’s mind”, said Heini Strand, a librarian at Helsinki’s Oodi central library. > >In July, Canoe Building in Glass-Reinforced Plastic by Alan Byde was returned to Orkney Library more than 47 years late, after being found during a house clearance. The library’s John Peterson said: “Fortunately we don’t charge overdue fines.”