peterms

Nice idea, but it's a buffet for about a hundred, so anything that slows down the process would be a problem. I'll do something else instead, keep things a bit simpler.

It's supposed to be fundamental to journalism that the journo checks what they have besn told, and doesn't simply amplify stuff without some independent basis for believing it - especially when it comes from someone with a vested interest in getting a particular line taken.

Can I put you down as "Possible", then?

It's also a dog-whistle, an attempt to echo those comments some people make about not being able to hear your own language in the high street, and no-go areas, and so on. Covert racism, to flesh out his more overtly racist comments, going all out for the racist vote. What a vile little man.

Correct. The scandal is failing to tackle his duplicity. We had the short clip of Neil criticising him, but they should have aired a longer programme, critically scrutinising his claims, and leaving them unanswered because he wouldn't turn up. It's not just any old interview at any old time. They have promoted it as a key set piece in their election coverage, and they should have acted accordingly. Instead, they allowed him to take what is perceived as the softer option of an interview with Marr. They used the pathetic excuse that the recent terror incident made it necessary to hear from him. It is plain to everyone that this flimsy excuse doesn't wash - it is a deceitful way to try to cover their own weakness in colluding with him. Just to take one example from a couple of days ago, when the leaked documents about the NHS appeared, the BBC led, several times, with some nonsense about the leak having come from someone with connections or sympathies with Russia. It was utterly laughable. They even featured that arse Ben Nimmo, of the Atlasntic Council/Integrity Initiative mob, a professional propagandist with a very clear agenda. I bet the tory spin doctors couldn't even believe how tamely the BBC went along with this shameless piece of misdirection. This is the behaviour we might expect of the Mail or the Sun. It is not what we have a right to expect of the state broadcaster.

Mr Falange launches his final push, aiming at colour blind people with no dress sense. His aides later rescued him from a local recycling point.

That makes sense if It's the only way to fit them in. Otherwise...(backs towards the door...)

Yes, this is so.

Bye bye Jo Swansong. You'll not be missed.

This is utterly deranged. Truly insane.

Your health and wellbeing is provided for by the NHS. This is how you came into the world safely, how you were protected against childhood illnesses, how your employer can maintain a workforce without paying daft sums to rentiers. If you prefer a system that leaves many people uninsured and dying on the street, or committing suicide because they can't afford the drugs and can't stand the pain, or don't want to impoverish their surviving relatives through the cost of caring for them (as happened before the NHS), that's pretty sick. The irony is of course, that your preferred solution is still insurance. Only, except it being national insurance, that looks after all of us, it's insurance for those that can afford it, and everyone else can go sit and spin. You clearly have a bigger income than most people. Instead of being grateful for the life chances that brought that happenstance upon you, you would argue that poorer people should die in pain to satisfy your ideology, or perhaps your wish to revel in your advantages. The good news is that the NHS, if properly funded, can deal with all kinds of sickness, perhaps even yours. If they can fit you in, you won't have to pay.

It is generally one of the issues, since it is so important to so many millions of people, and one of the things we should be proudest of as a nation. This is why even the tories, who voted against setting it up, pretend to defend it. As for the part it played in elections, it wasn't a big theme in 1979 or 1983. In 1984-5, between elections, it became a big campaigning theme, when the tories were cutting it. In 87 and 92 I don't recall it being a singular theme, though the general topic of privatisation was a big concern. But they were concentrating privatisation initially on council services and utilities, and within the NHS it was more limited, starting with things like cleaning and moving on to estates management, and bringing in some dick from M&S who for some unfathomable reason was supposed to know more about running public services than, er, public sevants. Blind ideology. In subsequent elections it has been an issue, but it has moved more centre stage since it has become more and more clear that the current bunch of numpties wish to break it into bits and sell it to the people who fund them.

Frustrating to be listening to the Brighton game and hear the commentators' praise for Maupay. I really thought we were going to get him, a few months ago.

Interesting new policy initiative being planned by Trump.

Is it possible this clip is faked? Or is the plan to replace fruit pickers, social care staff, academics, NHS workers, catering staff with first violinists and ballerinas?

Make Apartheid Great Again.

Am definitely not a chef. Just a normal guy, and you and others can do what I do. It sounds harder than it is, really. There are also loads of videos on youtube about all this. I worked in catering for a year, decades ago, but that was humping equipment not cooking. It maybe gave me an appreciation of the skill of preparing food, but didn't leave me better equipped to cook. I learned that later, by myself. Unlike most European countries, it wasn't part of the heritage. Cooking is one of those base skills you really want your kids to know, like lighting fires and midwifery and making gunpowder. A post-apocalyptic skill.

Bicks is busy redirecting taxis from Liverpool to random addresses in Loughborough or Loughton or Leicester, on account of his hearing problems.

Bought a chicken. What can we do with it? Loads! One chicken. First, strip it down. Legs off, wings in the freezer for another day, ends of legs and wings for stock, breasts off, fat and skin join the carcass for stock. Wings, legs, soup (Vietnamese Pho), risotto, fajitas. Starting with stock. For the wings, when you have enough (2 per person as part of a mezze, 4 each for a main meal), defrost properly, maybe marinate in crushed garlic, tahini, lemon zest and juice, tahini. Or crushed garlic, chili, paprika, a little tomato paste, a bit of vinegar. Or other variations. Roast for 30-40 mins or so at 180, but watch they don't burn. Baste occasionally. Eat with fingers. Stock, cover bones with water, bring to boil, turn down to a gentle simmer, skim off the scum (not an election reference), add halved onion, celery stick, carrot, simmer for another hour or so. Add things like bay leaves and parsley stalks if you have them, but not salt (you add salt to the finished sauce or soup). Use half the stock for risotto, half for pho. Or freeze it for another use. Risotto: strip off all the tiny little bits of chicken from the cooked carcass. Knife and fork works, fingers also work. Save the bits. Make a soffrito, gently frying chopped onion, garlic, celery and carrot in oil. Extra virgin olive oil is best if you can afford it. Use lots. Ignore the nonsense about not cooking with it. Start the onion before the rest of the veg. When the veg are soft, add rice (Arborio or Carneroli for preference, round-grained pudding rice if that's all you can get). Stir so the rice is fully coated with oil. Add a glass of wine if you have it, otherwise stock, but stock anyway. Add salt and pepper. Stir, keeping the mixture just simmering and adding a little more stock or water as it becomes absorbed. You can at this point add in things like sliced mushrooms and peppers if you want, give them a few minutes to cook through. Finish by whipping in butter, maybe some grated lemon zest, serve with grated Parmesan (preferably) or other cheese. You want the texture sloppy, not dry, not liquid. Legs: marinade in crushed garlic, lemon, oil, chili, paprika, or whatever you like. Grill under a medium hot grill, far away from the grill - you don't want the skin burnt and the inside raw, and cooking on the bone slows down cooking times. It may take a bit of practice, and be prepared to have a plan B if it seems undercooked - either grill it some more, or of really undercooked, cut it off the bone and recook. Generally people tend to cook chicken legs too quick, too close to the grill, and that's a risk. Serve with chips and salad, or whatever. Fajitas (one breast for 2 people): I prefer to do this in a wok. Soften some chopped onions and garlic (as always, start the onion before the garlic). Have some sliced raw chicken breast ready, add it to the pan when the onions are soft, turn up the heat to cook the chicken through. Add some chopped tomatoes, chipotle chillis (in jars are good but chop them up), sliced red peppers, maybe some paprika and oregano, a little water to stop it sticking. Serve in wraps, with yogurt or sour cream, salad on the side, and chips if you like. Pho 1 breast for 2 people, (see pic): dry fry some cinnamon, star anise, black cardamom, coriander seeds for a minute or so. Wrap in muslin like a bouquet garni, tie tightly. Soak some dried mushrooms, if you have them. Dry fry a halved onion and some garlic slices in the pan you used for the spices, you want them a little blackened. Add the veg and spices to the chicken stock, bring to boil, simmer for 15 mins, remove veg and spices. Bring the stock to a simmer, add the chicken and soaked mushrooms and liquid, simmer until chicken is cooked, maybe 25 mins. Boil a kettle, cook some noodles (eg udon for 10 mins), drain and leave to soak in a bowl of cold water. Warm some bowls. Have some additions ready, eg sliced spring onions, bean sprouts, kimchee, chopped coriander, pickled tea eggs. When ready to assemble, drain the noodles and put them in hot water for a minute or so to warm through, then drain again and place in bowl, add the soup, add the kimchee and other garnishes...this was with all that, though I have to report the missus pronounced the pickled tea eggs a fail, and refused to eat them. I am undone. Sigh.