Scrap this, scrap that, do this, do that. A hard act for the Chancellor www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... – Steve doesn't mind EVs paying tax. Nor do I. But I hate to disabuse him of the notion of paying to "upkeep the roads". I'm sure both Veh. Excise and Fuel Duty just go to the General Exchequer.

Sick of reading about unfair, regressive policy ideas from politicians. Instead link it to real justice, suum cuique. Would break the economy, but are there ways to make this work: 1. Set UC and State Pension to minimum wage; 2. Link both, and pub. sector wages and inc. tax bands to inflation.

Trump says Ukraine ungrateful as officials meet to convince Kyiv to accept peace proposals www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3... -- funny, that... In my book it's Trump that is always the ungrateful cur.

If they stick to this map its clear what butchering a country look like.

Death of the Rt Rev Dr Gregor Duncan, former Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway www.glasgow.anglican.org/death-of-the... – sad news. I have fond memories of Bishop Gregor from my short time in Glasgow. May he Rest in Peace. And Rise in Glory. ✝️⚓

I Deliver Parcels in Beijing, by Hu Anyan www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o... – I had my eye on this book after the Guardian's review. I've just settled down to start it: it will be a tale of the precariat, something I'm sure China might claim doesn't exist. Let's see how it goes.

you can install all the nice voices you like in Windows, and set one you like (CereVoice Stuart - Scotland) as default. ...but Microsoft Edge only lets you use a bunch of other voices and ignores your default. ...even worse, MS Word only has two mysterious defaults: 'male' and 'female'. Urgh!

Okay, so there was a white paper about it. But they were very quiet about it.

Where is the public consultation about Shabana Mahmood's settled status immigration changes? This is the most authoritarian Labour government, ruling by fiat.

Trump's plan for Ukraine is just like carving up countries before World War II. Can't people see the parallels?

UK to limit refugees time www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Labour giving a more Tory policy than the Tories! 😱 Copying Denmark is wrong. They tried to return refugees to Syria during the civil war - Damascus was "safe". Shouldn't be what to do with them: rather check they are refugees to begin with.

Trump says he will take legal action against BBC over Panorama edit www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... -- face it folks, to use the Scots vernacular, Trump's a fud. He's a rude, pathetic bully.

Adobe Acrobat Reader 2025 is the biggest example of bloatware imaginable. With all its stupid sidebars and popups and features you don't want, and with it being unresponsive half of the time, it is virtually unusable. Are there any faithful alternatives?

I hate the new iOS 26. Don't upgrade your phone software; it looks and feels awful. Everything's curvy and see-through feeling... yuck. WHY DID APPLE DO THIS? I only did so because one of my apps is broken and the developer suggested latest OS...

any Sarum nuts on here? Got myself a copy of G.H. Palmer's 'The Diurnal After the Use of the Illustrious Church of Salisbury' (1930). It benefits from being very small (what has it got in its pocketses?), but also clearly isn't blemished with later reforms, as it ought to precede them by 411 yrs. ✝️

sorry, forgot the Feeds doohickies... people might be interested in this. Many vendors, but here is an example listing: www.thegoodbook.co.uk/expository-t... ✝️⚓

I used to read commentary on Sunday readings in 'Reflections for Sundays'. But I found it somewhat 'bitty': reading OT,NT, Psalm and Gospel then reading a page each of reflections left me a bit lost. Now I experiment with reading the Gospel alone with commentary from J.C. Ryle. Relaxed and sublime.

$1tn... It's disgusting. There are people literally starving to death on this planet. And countless other problems money could actually help alleviate. If it were up to me, I'd lock him up for greed.

I'm seeing so many excellent memes and screencaps today missing their alt text! Please include *everyone* in your joy! Go to Settings > Accessibility, and turning on "Require alt text before posting." This way a reminder will pop up if you try to post an inaccessible image

I wish Facebook hadn't deprecated their standalone Groups app (2017)? I don't post on Facebook anymore and rarely read people's updates. It doesn't give me all my notifications, even when a group is setup that way. And don't get me started on the Ads and unsolicited posts it inserts into your feed!

Hospital appointment. Eight vials of blood! I am a living pincushion...

please pray for me. Things are tough, mental health and such. I was off sick, but things don't seem to be getting any better. Maybe came back too early and psychiatrist not until early December. 🤷‍♂️

A film you've seen more than seven times, with a gif

reading list: The Return of the Prodigal Son, by Henri Nouwen A reflection on Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son, exploring forgiveness, homecoming, and divine love. He identifies with the younger and elder sons,& ultimately the father,calling us to compassion & mercy. Highly recommended. ✝️⚓

Baleful commentary by the BBC correspondents in Rome, and an idiotic article earlier. They inferred prayer was only a private act. I reminded them that the Catholic Church and Anglican Churches worldwide consider prayer corporate too. What, after all, happens on Sundays up and down the land? ✝️⚓

Twenty pages in and we're still in the realm of traddie polemic history. Let's hope more of the book is dedicated to the actual argument at hand (use of time-honoured liturgy, seemingly "banned").

I confess I bought both Ryle and Ash, and now I am very, very happy. _Eventually_ I might consider Matthew Henry (apparently quite suitable for Anglicans despite being a Presbyterian).

Lumen Christi: Defending the Use of the Pre-1955 Roman Rite amzn.eu/d/8NinOxu – arrived today. Despite having swum back across the Tiber I shall find it interesting. (e.g. easily defensible that any supposed "train wreck" of liturgy after Vatican II was somewhat eclipsed by 1955-1962 revisions.)

GAFCON says it is now the Anglican Communion, minus Canterbury, the CofE, and all related ‘Instruments’ www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202... Re Mbanda, to quote Star Trek's Dr McCoy, "I'd give real money if he'd shut up"!

Greer: stop "obsessing" on the process of securing a referendum, and instead focus on building public support for Scottish independence. Actually I agree with him. IndyRef 2.0 seems a doubtful goal given various setbacks.

Government loses bid to block appeal against Palestine Action ban www.bbc.com/news/article... –interesting. Not commenting on morals,the conflict etc,but as a student of the law I would like to see how the Judicial Review unfolds (esp. review of reasons for proscription,& reciting reasons against).

Landmark global shipping emissions deal in tatters after Saudi/US pressure www.bbc.com/news/article... – no doubt they won't be happy until all the Earth burns. Shame on all who voted against this. Shame!

The threat of failing to support the wider church, holding it hostage, is something that needs to be grappled with. How to do so, I know not how.

Peer faces ban for raising speeding fines with police chief www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... "Who can say if my speedometer or your radar is entirely accurate in recording 21 miles instead of 20?" Ermmm... it's called a) speedometer calibration, and b) type approval / calibration testing. Silly lady.

The hypocrisy of the European Union is breathtaking www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10... Isn't the Telegraph's hypocrisy breathtaking? We require biometric controls for visa applicants, asylum seekers, Residence Permits, and the now defunct EU Settlement Scheme. Don't get started on entering the US!

JD Vance slams Canterbury grafitti installation www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Sorry but Vance is unqualified to talk on matters of faith, religion, art or morals. He was once interesting (cf. 'Hillbilly Elegy') but has since fallen from grace. aka 'Go away, JD; you're just like yer pal the blimp'.

In the same vein I hear the modernised version of J.C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on the Gospels is very good. Likewise, thoughts appreciated. ✝️⚓

ECHR: a political hot potato www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... -- a long read and clearly trying to portray themselves as balanced/impartial, but are the BBC unwittingly stoking the flames of hatred and intolerance? Some of ECHR is broken,but should be reformed from within instead of constant carping.

reviews, criticisms or commendations of Christopher Ash's 4-vol. 'The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary' please? (particularly from an Anglican perspective) ✝️⚓

Badenoch would abolish Stamp Duty www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cl... – behold the party of filthy populists and demagogues at work! "Oh, something you don't like? Don't worry; we'll get rid of it." It's not principled politics at all.

Jenrick defends Handsworth comments www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... -- here we go again, "Honest Bob" Jenrick who wants to rip up the ECHR. The man is a demagogue and a black stain on the legal profession. (Would still love to see his postgrad law degree transcript: he is legally illiterate.)

text: Check your Blood Pressure (agreed thing with doctor) me: checks blood pressure, submits it text: Your BP is a little bit high. Follow the Management Plan. No it's bloody not! (I know 135/85 is technically a little elevated, but really I was moving about the house.)

Badenoch is an ignorant fool. We would become a pariah state, in a very small club, with Belarus and Russia. Why can't they understand that ECHR contains all the values we as Brits want and fought so hard to get into the Convention? Most erroneous ECHR interpretations are by BRITISH courts anyway!

Of course not. The rest of the Anglican Communion (a majority) know that GAFCON are a shrill irrelevance. They are homophobic, sexist dinosaurs who sadly allow faith and morals to be ensnared by old values still prevalent in their own countries. Sadly values the colonial powers gave them!

This is so true! Monolithic statements don't work at the best of times; we all know that. And go SA! 🇿🇦

1/ Indeed, GAFCON represents 11 out of the 42 provinces, which is only 26%. If you go by population that would be approximately 35-40 million out of 85-110 million Anglicans worldwide. Again, not a majority. ✝️⚓

Conservative church group condemns choice of female Archbp. of Canterbury www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... - oh poor little GAFCON, boo hoo hoo. Mbanda: "the majority of the Anglican Communion still believes that the Bible requires a male-only episcopacy". Really? Can you please show me the numbers?

And the next Archbishop of Canterbury will be a lady: Sarah Mullally. Stick that to the misogynists. ✝️⚓

@sloeginpudding.bsky.social any ideas?