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Lionel's bio
A farm worker, postman and truck driver, besides other things. I love a reasoned debate but fools and internet trolls I can't bear. -
Lionel's latest comments
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31st Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Will you set a New Year's Resolution this year?Thank you for your kind wishes Wilf; my wife and I most certainly hope for a better New Year for you and your family. Let's compare notes as the year progresses. Yes, we are old friends in internet terms - I have an internet bride, so to speak, and now an internet old friend. I guess the net is coming of age! But I have enjoyed your company a very great deal, enjoyed the banter and perhaps most of all disagreeing like gentlemen, no rancour, nor hard feelings. At the risk of igniting something with you, I'm breaking my rule of four years and lifting a glass of wine to Brexit. From one man of convictions to another, here's to our next five years! Cheers mate.ViewDate:
30th Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Will you set a New Year's Resolution this year?In my present situation as husband and carer for an MS patient, there's little point in setting goals. Something changes almost every morning, afternoon, or evening. Frankly, I don't think I want the added disappointment of missing a personal goal. Better to take each day as it comes.ViewDate:
22nd Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Will you give someone a bell this Christmas?No, not grumpy at all. You've stated a verifiable truth. The very many lonely folks in this country won't be made any better by anything other than setting eyes on a sympathetic, perhaps even empathetic, person. So many people are too proud or too shy to ask for help. Others wouldn't know where or who to contact. It's up to us better placed people to make the contact, break the ice. I'm not in that situation. This is a very small hamlet in the backwoods. Everybody is at least familiar with everyone else. A few minutes talking or laughing, sometimes at oneself, is good medicine. And it costs nothing. Maybe it's me who's grumpy tonight. I get so annoyed. What we villagers do as a matter of course is so easy and yet it seems the bulk of city-folk find it so difficult to do.ViewDate:
22nd Dec 2020ViewDate:
22nd Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Will you give someone a bell this Christmas?I wouldn't want to be understood as a pious do-gooder. But having spent sixty out of my seventy years in hamlets or on farms where it's entirely natural to take care of those around you my wife and I just do so. I've been humbled recently during a spell of unwellness that our neighbours helped us out. Our State care services are good for most people needing personal care but they can't provide personal friendliness born out of years of living in the same village.ViewDate:
21st Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Will you give someone a bell this Christmas?We don't need Covid restrictions to jog us into keeping an eye on and having a chat with our elderly neighbours. It happens every day. Nothing unusual.ViewDate:
16th Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Will you be sending Christmas cards this year?Oh, you do sadden me, Ariadne. The many flavours and textures of English speak make this the best language to communicate in. As far as sense of humour is concerned, yes you're quite right. Sadly my earthy farming humour doesn't appeal to many.ViewDate:
14th Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Should glitter be banned on Christmas cards?No, JE, no grumpy head. Just overwhelmingly frustrated with the trivia people are immersing themselves in rather than face the reality that we have a virulent virus running rampant throughout this island of ours, killing people mercilessly. And now a new strain, just as I forecast. I'm aware it's a sign of our times that people don't face up to a reality. But this reality is killing us. Trivia will not help us stay alive. Trivia won't give us a long lasting relief, no, it's a Bandaid on a gaping wound. On second thoughts, yes,perhaps I have my grumpy head on right now. Forgive me pease, and put it down to sheer frustration.ViewDate:
13th Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Will you be sending Christmas cards this year?Viking, I thank you for your kindness of mind toward me. my comment was so much tongue in cheek. I can't speak of major sorting offices but across the country Royal Mail uses plain and simple hand sorting of mail in smaller regional sorting offices. None of which takes anything away from your concerns.ViewDate:
13th Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Will you be sending Christmas cards this year?Will we be sending Christmas cards? Goodness me, with all that glitter on. How could we ever face the environmental lobby again?ViewDate:
13th Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Should glitter be banned on Christmas cards?Has the newsroom got this a little out of proportion? This nation, along with most Western nations, has been almost embalmed in Covid-19 for the past year. 60,000 UK people have died, the nation is now officially bankrupt, education (or what passes for education) has been ruptured, medical services are dislocated to the point where people are dying of non-covid related sickness ... and it goes on ad infinitum. And we're now worried sick about a little glitter on a Christmas card? Has nobody thought to question this minor distraction? What's next? Shall we have a resurgence of sugar related health issues? Or perhaps a governemnt drive for everyone to be vegan. Who knows? Or should that be who cares?ViewDate:
5th Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Is foreign aid better spent at home?Angie, you are better placed than any of us to speak out. Thank you for doing so.ViewDate:
3rd Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
What’s the naughtiest thing your pet has done at Christmas?Well, this one's got me stumped and I've been a Collie man for fifty years.ViewDate:
2nd Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Is foreign aid better spent at home?I've sent a personal message to you, PurpleHat.ViewDate:
1st Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Does the thought of families being allowed to mix over Christmas make you feel anxious or relieved?Thanks for the smile here 1940 Bri, it's well needed.ViewDate:
1st Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Would you like it to snow at Christmas?Oh yes please! After all the gloom and doom this year, the dire predictions for next year what could be better? I'd just love to see my eighteen month old Collie bitch see snow for the first time and making sense of it; having a fine time with the old boy who'll remember it well. A walk hand in hand with my dear lady and a hot dinner afterwards. A fine and beautiful ending to a miserable year.ViewDate:
1st Dec 2020Lionel commented on:
Is foreign aid better spent at home?I don't think anyone has said it better PurpleHat. Thaank you.ViewDate:
28th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Is foreign aid better spent at home?Wilf, I'm not talking about heavy industry. We did that now other countries o it better and cheaper. No, I'm talking about high-tec, space, aero-space, quantum, deep sea mining. I'm talking about our agriculture once again leading the world. I'm talking about showing other countries what they need in the future and then developing it, selling it on a world scale. In January we'll be free of the dead hand of EU regulations. We may again subsidise promising start-ups, fund development in appropriate fields, develop new markets where no one knew they existed. Utilising near space for mankind's eventual good will be the result of massive advances in technology. We need to be at the forefront of that. John Kennedy made his now famous speech about going to the moon in 1961. That gave NASA nine years to do the job. Against all odds NASA mobilised every necessary industry, tech firm, university and put them on the payroll. We developed fuel cell technology in Cambridge. A chap called Bacon perfected it and we sold it world wide. We designed and built much of the intricate telemetry for the space programme. Our computer engineers worked with IBM to develop the necessary computing power. I could go on. NASA did it! But not without the Brits. Wilf, we're an unusual people. We've harnessed three quarters of the globe for our own needs; Against all odds we've won two world wars by our courage and ingenuity, our inventiveness and resourcefulness. 6 million Jewish people, mainly refugees and immigrants lead the world in quantum, nano-tech, computing technology and much more. And that with 100 million hostile Islamic nations around them.How much more could we Brits, an island people, take the lead in anything we chose and supply the world. Even the mighty Apple company is set for a fall. We should be there to fill the void. Forget the global village, the one world power brokers, their time is passed. In this brave new world it's going to be every nation for itself. We need to get a head start. Come on Wilf, where's your lion's heart? Where's your faith in us Brits? Just leave the obstacles behind and tell our politicians - Just Do It! Tell our industrialists, come on, wake up, this is a whole new world now, it's ours to sell to. Get on with it, man.ViewDate:
28th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Is foreign aid better spent at home?Viking, the situation in the North 30-40 years ago was far worse than ever made public. One instance: so very many coal, steel and shipbuilding jobs came with tied housing. Lose your job and vacate your home. In the normal course of events Councils are mandated to find alternative accommodation but with such a massive surge in demand they couldn't cope. Over several months, we offered lodgings to heavy industry workers heading south for work in our two up and two down. It was a North Yorkshire hamlet and almost everyone helped us out with food or money so these men had a bed and a good meal to travel on. I'm not boasting. Just stating a fact. In those days the State couldn't help those wretches but they could give huge amounts in foreign aid and voted themselves a pay rise. I could go on about inequalities but best not to. As far as foreign aid is concerned I'm all in favour, providing it is affordable, doesn't become an industry. There must be very tight regulation and scrutiny through the process. Nothing else is acceptable.ViewDate:
28th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Does the thought of families being allowed to mix over Christmas make you feel anxious or relieved?Viking, I believe we must now admit that all government since Adam was a lad is a cobbled mish-mash of expensive nothings. At the end of their term politicians struggle to list their achievements and never mention the cost of those minor changes to the country. Profound policy changes are made to placate the few (LBGT, racial matters and feminism to name but a few). There hasn't been a coherent policy direction in the fifty odd years I've kept an eye on politics. It's just been a mess. To quote Nicholas Parsons on Just a Minute, without deviation, repetition or something else I can't now remember. Relaxation of restrictions for five days this Christmas is to placate those celebrating that festival. In the New Year we'll be hearing other faiths whingeing because they didn't get the same privilege for their religious festivals. How does this help integration? It doesn't. Even America, the first modern-day multi-racial society, cannot make it work. I believe our governments have given up on integration and just left everything in free fall. Thanks chaps!ViewDate:
27th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Is foreign aid better spent at home?I agree Wilf. It would be good for the British people if a re-alignment in national priorities was forced upon the country. Post Covid I can't see the nation being able to rely on finance and the service sector to provide sufficient export income. We have a national debt of post war proportions but without the reserves or GDP to even service it without widespread hardship. We have an enormously rich pool of expertise in so many fields (aerospace, for example) that absolutely must be developed and the products exported. We must become a manufacturing nation once again, a maritime nation as Churchill called us. Import only those people who will significantly contribute something the Brits can't do for themselves. A headline the other day ...'Trade not Aid.' During three Post War decades we traded with the Commonwealth rather than sent aid. That condition is of greater benefit to all parties, surely. The good times are gone. Like it or not, and most won't like it, the nation is being forced back on its wits by circumstance. That will turn out to be a good thing in the long run. Our dependence on ever updated imported consumer goods must diminish; dependence on welfare payments etc., will sooner or later be cut. The Brits are going to have to stand on their own feet, it's the only way. As I write it's just been announced unions at Heathrow plan a series of pre-Christmas strikes. How helpful is that?ViewDate:
26th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Does the thought of families being allowed to mix over Christmas make you feel anxious or relieved?I'm so pleased God has given you the free will to ignore Him.ViewDate:
26th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Is foreign aid better spent at home?Foreign Aid, in principal, is an absolute must for wealthy nations such as Great Britain. But ... I have grave reservations about the way this business is carried on. Foreign Aid has become an industry, worse a government department complete with its own cabinet minister, civil servants, legal experts etc., at a cost of billions. It's also become an entire industry much as 'Charity' has. Big Business, big salaries and big profits for the few. But questionable level of benefit for recipients. Why do we support a five member girl band in Aden? How is that feeding or watering people? Supporting an Indian space programme, allowing African dictators to extort money from our so called Aid Programme? I'm sure there's so much more corruption in the Aid industry but it's just now published. Perhaps a publish detailed annual account, a cost benefit analysis, of aid contributions and the costs involved in distributing those contributions would be very revealing, not to mention disappointing. Why can't we demand an accounting from every charity soliciting and spending donations and tax-payers money. That at least would give us a break from the wall to wall coverage of Covid in the press and on TV. As far as the present cut in the Foreign Aid budget is concerned I believe Sunak is quite right. Based on what little we know about how Aid money is spent I suggest few end-user recipients would be affected! Therefore our consciences shouldn't be disturbed.ViewDate:
26th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Is foreign aid better spent at home?I don't now where you are, Munsterlander but I worked in the Vale of York on farms for a good few years. So well do I remember the shipyards being closed (Swan Hunter) steel works closing and then of course the mines. So many fit, healthy men calling on farms looking for work, any work. One farm was close by the A1. It was then a dual carriageway and the scores of men hitching south for work to feed their families. I'd give them a lift if I was going down the road - you'd me surprised just how many people you can cram into a tractor cab on a wet day - all illegal of course! Even farms were buying even heavier machinery (tax dodge) and laying off men. The whole of the north was a dreadful place to be then, I never want to see or hear of that again, but I fear it's knocking on the door even as I write.ViewDate:
26th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Is foreign aid better spent at home?'Imagine if we were really poor and living under a government that didn't care one jot for our lives but another country was providing medicine and food. We would be so thankful.' If our financial position gets any worse, Munsterlander, you would be describing Britain.ViewDate:
25th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Does the thought of families being allowed to mix over Christmas make you feel anxious or relieved?God also tells us, through Paul, to obey those who have authority over us because they have our best interests in mind. You might like to dispute this at present but bear in mind you'll be arguing with the Living God, in whom I too have a profound faith. Not many of us, if any, have ever won an argument to the Father. My mother had both sorts of arthritis for forty years and now I have some too. My heart is with you my dear.ViewDate:
24th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Learning to read with Janet and JohnJanet and John, Barney Blue Eyes ... the gateway to a lifetime of reading. Wonderful.ViewDate:
24th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Things you only know if you secretly quite enjoy lockdown lifeFor us, lockdown has been an unexpected blessing. Even n retirement life can be pretty busy; the demands placed upon us because we are retired sometimes become quite unreasonable. These past many months we've lived a more quiet life, more time for each other, more time to read or just snooze in the sun, much more time to be with our Collies, and, well, just be retired. After all, we worked fifty years to get a short spell to ourselves. I do think almost everything can be seen as a blessing if viewed from the right angle.ViewDate:
23rd Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
For A Better FutureI had understood only paid adverts were allowed here. What do you think?ViewDate:
22nd Nov 2020ViewDate:
21st Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?Again, well said Jeanmark. A lack of group thinking or shall we say a responsibility to others and be most unpopular, is needed. It's no longer about the individual - the nation has pandered to special interest groups long enough - its about this people as a nation. Either we see this as a war against an unseen enemy and stand together or we die in our tens of thousands. The problem here is my household is very careful not to court disaster for ourselves or others. But those we may come into contact with, few though they are, may not be so careful. My wife already has MS. A single careless act by someone quite removed from her could ... I'll leave it there, but you see my concern.ViewDate:
20th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?I believe we're facing the greatest test of two or maybe three generations. Not since the Second War has the population of Great Britain been under such a threat of death. It's my conviction we as a nation must grow up and man up, or probably die, but horribly. The death toll stands at around fifty thousand today; that's the first wave. Isn't that enough for us all to cop on to the idea this is not a game where, win or lose, we walk away. There's no re-set button; we can't go back to the start and try again. This death dealing virus is not going on holiday over our Christmas, just to return on January 1st, at our convenience. No, we've got a war on our hands here. Best advice to Boris is forget Carrie's green agenda. Lock down the entire nation completely and utterly. A hard lock down. Nothing in and nothing out. Shut down everything, confine us all to our homes for perhaps three months. Get tough. Really tough. This is war with an unseen enemy. We soothe ourselves with Second World War nostalgia yet forget just how terrible an experience that was for so very many. Nostalgia is cheap because we know how it ended! We don't yet know who will be left standing after this war. It's this simple: I may read your post tonight and you be gone before I sit at this computer again. Until we take this seriously and react appropriately to this death threat we all stand in the way of the graveyard but before our time. Christmas can wait. My friend in New Zealand celebrates Christmas on a beach in June! Just for once let's be inconvenienced and live.ViewDate:
20th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?Wilf, there's a typo in there. Any variation of the genetic makeup or structure of the Covid virus as we know it will render the virus almost ineffective.' That should read, 'render the vaccine almost ineffective.'ViewDate:
20th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?Wilf, I do so hope and pray deeply I'm wrong. But the historical record would disagree with that sentiment. Science is way behind this outbreak. They're currently playing catchup. Yes, science has provided vaccines but as I've said so often they're not the magic bullet we all want to believe. They're an Elastoplast on a gaping, bleeding wound. Any variation of the genetic makeup or structure of the Covid virus as we know it will render the virus almost ineffective. We'll be protecting ourselves against a strain of Covid that's been superceded. I'm not denigrating science, Wilf, no, just pointing out that this virus is way ahead of our game so far. You might recall way back in the mid-sixties a lone sailor circumnavigating the world. Francis Chichester. I have his 1964 autobiography. Read it many times as he inspires me. In that book he records his time at Marlborough College in Wiltshire, the alma mater of Duchess Kate. In Chichester's day, during the Spanish Flu outbreak, they slept about twenty to a dorm on pallyasses in freezing conditions. Spanish Flu hit the area and took the College as well. He records these words about that time. 'Not many of us died.' At first reading it seems he's playing down the deaths. A second reading I understand forty years after the event he still could not address the loss of close friends. There were more than he cared to write.ViewDate:
20th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?It grieves me to say you're right. January could be a very bleak month, but hey ho! didn't we all have a good Christmas, even if it's our last!ViewDate:
20th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?There's a lot of common sense in what you say Arthur and that's a very rare commodity these days. I agree with you about riding it out, but my researches into the Spanish flu outbreak 0f 1918 lead me to believe there will be a second wave; far more contagious and devastating than anything we've seen in a hundred years. But as I've just written to Wilf below, I'm a farmer not a scientist so I may be wrong.ViewDate:
20th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?But be aware Lorraine, it is not the magic bullet we're all hoping for.ViewDate:
20th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?Very well said. I completely agree with you Ann.ViewDate:
20th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?Wilf, I apologize for not replying earlier. We've been consumed with heavyweight domestic stuff today. It is only my opinion I may offer in reply. I'm a farmer not a scientist. However, such records as were kept of the 1880's Russian Flu epidemic and Spanish Flu forty years later would indicate a second, mutated and more contagious and lethal outbreak is imminent. This doesn't mean it will happen, just that the pattern of the two most lethal flu epidemics to hit the UK in well over a hundred years mutated. Seemingly, all these recorded strains of flu are cousins, so to speak. Records are scarce; even the British Museum Library has little of worth in this matter. I've spent some months piecing together pieces in a fragmented jigsaw. Erring on the side of caution I must still say a much worse outbreak is very likely. What we are experiencing today is not a true second wave but a resurgence of the first wave; at least as far as we're informed. Again, Wilf, I say I'm not a scientist.ViewDate:
20th Nov 2020Lionel commented on:
Should there be a relaxation of restrictions for the Christmas period?Rishi in Hindu and other far East religions means fount of all wisdom. Perhaps we'll see although not a lot of evidence so far. He's splashed shed loads of unaccounted for cash which our great grandchildren will be paying back. We have a great-grandson, three months old. To think he, if there's still employment around, will be paying for Covid appalls me. As to who comes after Boris, well, surveying the possible candidates I think it could be a good time to migrate. We're a little old for that now, but none the less my roots are Eastern European and there's always been a tug in my heart. I just don't see a strong man, a charismatic and decisive man with an appropriate background. Whatever you may think of Trump he bestrode the world stage; unafraid to face down China and Russia. If you think Sunak might be our next leader just think. Hindus are a pacifist people - they'll sacrifice anything for peace. That might include you and I! And once again I come to the point of the Covid second wave. What we see now is not the second wave, it is an extension of the first wave. When that second wave comes, and it will by spring time, then we won't be worrying about a new prime minister, we'll all be hiding away fearful of all human contact. That's how it was in 1919 with Spanish 'flu. -
Lionel's latest showcase activity
Approved 52 Comments10/02/2020 15:25:37Gallery SubmissionCiara damage close by our home. 16th century stables next to house of same vintage. No one hurt.Approved 70 Comments17/08/2019 09:36:51Gallery SubmissionDon\'t be fooled by her puppy charm. This one is a fully paid up Vietcong! 16 weeks and lovely.Approved 41 Comments28/06/2019 17:32:23Gallery SubmissionIn just 10 days I lost my Blue Merle Collie and the bitch, both through old age. This is a...Approved 50 Comments02/09/2018 15:53:59Gallery SubmissionThe end of this rainbow was right on our home!Approved 30 Comments02/09/2018 15:46:57Gallery SubmissionHarvest time. There\'s a combine somewhere in all that dust.Approved 50 Comments02/09/2018 15:46:04Gallery SubmissionA seldom visited spot on the Norfolk Broads. It has a very long history being a trade centre for...Approved 60 Comments02/09/2018 15:44:48Gallery SubmissionThis noble beast lives on a farm down a very narrow lane, well off the beaten track. He waits by...Approved 110 Comments02/09/2018 15:35:48Gallery SubmissionRose: Pilgrim. A climbing rose flowering all summer. A true delight.Approved 60 Comments19/02/2018 23:12:45Gallery SubmissionStorms a\'coming ... and it did, a big one. Took down power lines and telephone cables.Approved 54 Comments19/02/2018 23:11:24Gallery SubmissionI\'ve got five times this much land to dig every year - and my doctor says take more exercise! I\'d...Approved 50 Comments19/02/2018 23:08:56Gallery SubmissionKeep your head down son, they won\'t know we\'re on the settee.Approved 42 Comments19/02/2018 23:07:44Gallery SubmissionThe remains of a 1950\'s Massey Ferguson combine. I\'m old enough to say I learned to control a...Approved 30 Comments19/02/2018 23:05:40Gallery SubmissionIt\'s where we live. Who needs a holiday from this?Approved 40 Comments19/02/2018 23:02:25Gallery SubmissionThis is the pup from the previous image, totally laid back or what? He\'s never left home, still...Approved 30 Comments19/02/2018 22:55:25Gallery SubmissionBuster at 4 weeks making off with Dad\'s bone. Oh, trouble a foot here!Approved 30 Comments19/02/2018 22:53:36Gallery SubmissionThe same sunset from the other direction.Approved 30 Comments19/02/2018 22:53:01Gallery SubmissionSunset on a small, very private lake close by our home.Approved 30 Comments19/02/2018 22:51:36Gallery SubmissionThat tiny new born pup in my wife\'s hands is this doc. Like his grand father he\'s a massive...Approved 30 Comments19/02/2018 22:49:32Gallery SubmissionMin, the hermaphrodite pup at six months. It is said Alsatians are a first descendant from Collies...Approved 60 Comments19/02/2018 22:47:19Gallery SubmissionAfter half a working lifetime with sheep dogs this was the most perfect Collie I\'d ever... -
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View subject Posts: 8Lionel, 26/03/2020 13:03:20 started a new subject:
Food Rationing – should it be introduced?View subject Posts: 20Lionel, 08/02/2018 16:18:44 started a new subject:
What Is Happening To Our National Health Service?View subject Posts: 13Lionel, 04/09/2017 17:00:53 started a new subject:
What Will Be The Main Features of Charles’ Kingship?View subject Posts: 4Lionel, 06/11/2016 09:13:04 started a new subject:
A Snap Election – It’s On The CardsView subject Posts: 29Lionel, 12/07/2016 15:36:30 started a new subject:
Weather 2016 – a Gardener’s Nightmare!View subject Posts: 13Lionel, 10/07/2016 17:45:44 started a new subject:
Is Theresa May’s ‘Brexit-lite’ an acceptable compromise? -
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