YoungWillz

Shelley Duvall has Olive Oyled the wheels of success, giving ladyfiona and diego their second hits already. Joining the leaderboard are Torva Messor with a hit, and Captain Hemlock having her so far down his subs' list his star was not really Shining! Hemlock draws K Clubs for 13 Points. Leaderboard updated.

Rod Argent (Zombies; Argent) retiring hurt after suffering a stroke: https://bestclassicbands.com/rod-argent-zombies-retires-following-stroke-7-11-24/

Personal thank you from me to @Death Impends for posting up on the DDP to let us know what was going on. Thought I had been banned or summat!

As we are back and running (for how long?) well done England. Deserved to win with their first decent performance. (Despite the "penalty"). Final prediction: Spain 6 - England 2.

I'm a casual watcher of the game these days. A lot more falling over, a lot more tippety tappety and a lot more cheating. That said, England are playing well. But I disagree it was a soft penalty. It wasn't a penalty. Gary Neville was right as was everybody else except Ian Wright, who apparently is a prick these days. The game is being rigged before your very eyes.

It's all go, isn't it? Commentator 1 - Not a penalty. Commentator 2 - Not a pen for me. Referee Expert ; Kicks him on the follow through, not a penalty. Commentator 3 - Yes definitely not a penalty. Referee - Penalty. Kane scores. Hilarious.

It's precisely anti-division. Divisiveness comes from only two sources. One is the rabid intent of some to break up the Union and decare independence from the UK. The other is a Westminster Government who decides how much pocket money Scotland gets and have the power to overrule any Act of the Scottish Parliament and introduce legislation which could revoke any settlement it likes at any time. Federalism is a move to keep the unity of nations while recognising particular parts of the UK have their own issues they are better able to deal with. Why should the London Mayor or the Mayor of Manchester have more power than a sovereign nation? It is more likely to lead to a stronger Union imo, not diminish it. Also, it would allow the PM of England to hang as many fucking flags as he likes on Downing Street, without getting me all het up!

Once again, I'll explain it. I would prefer a system of federalism, with as far as Scotland is concerned, home rule. That means that the Westminster Parliament would be in charge of defence of the realm and other things affecting the whole. That Parliament would meet only every so often, leaving an English Parliament with the English MPs meeting to deal with English matters and Scotland having control of its own matters. That would certainly clarify in the eyes of the people and the world that this is a union of nations, and not government by consent of Westminster. That would free up resources and create jobs in the constituent parts. So no, I''m not in favour of independence for its own sake.

And I would have been equally outraged. No place for division in the UK, I say. If you still want it to exist.

*partially redacted* I think they should stop fighting the culture wars and picking meaningless fights and concentrate on providing some sort of opposition to policies. Otherwise all these former ministers are farting in a field as far as the public are concerned. Perhaps if we ignored these kind of brain fails from essentially failed politicians, they would stop issuing them? It's the attention they want, but it makes them look foolish. So no change there.

Yeah, I'm uncomfortable with the Pride or Unity flag or whatever was flown at the Home Office allegedly. Doesn't mean I'm a fan of Security Risk Suella. Not by a long Alex Chalk.

If I may just piss on your chips here. I found it offensive when Johnson hung the St George Flag bunting on 10 Downing Street, so I still find it offensive that the supposed change candidate Starmer also hung the same bunting out. But he spread it all along the street. My view hasn't changed. Either you accept that Downing Street is a symbol of the United Kingdom or you don't, and accept it's England's rose. Of course, I burst out laughing yesterday when all the new Scottish Labour MPs turned up for a meeting with the PM, along with sad Sarwar and bilious Baillie. They were forced to walk by all the bunting and stop for photos in front of it! "I have MPs in Scotland, Wales and England" proudly pronounced Starmer. It is true. So act like it. Plenty of other places you can hang your nationalist flags. There you go. Consistency. And good luck to the boys against the Netherlands. (I'm in a quandary, cos the Dutch keeper and Foden are mighty fine!).

Brian Kilby, who competed for Team GB in the marathon at the 1960 and 1964 Olympiads, reportedly dead: https://athleticsweekly.com/athletics-news/brian-kilby-european-and-commonwealth-marathon-champion-dies-aged-86-1039989361/ He finished fourth, agonisingly short of the podium at the 1964 Games. However, he was a gold medallist at the European Championships and the British Empire and Commonwealth Games both held in 1962.

Danish artist and theatre director Kirsten Dehlholm reportedly dead aged 79: https://www-kristeligt--dagblad-dk.translate.goog/kultur/billedkunstner-og-teaterinstruktoer-kirsten-dehlholm-er-doed?_x_tr_sl=da&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1202441/

Ada F Kay aka AJ Stewart dead aged 95, author and playwright who believed herself to be the reincarnation of King James IV of Scotland, Scotsman Obituary: https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/scotsman-obituaries-aj-stewart-playwright-author-and-she-believed-reincarnation-of-king-james-iv-4695204 IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3963506/

Danish painter and former model Birgit (Gitte) Lee (nee Kroncke), Lee's widow, death notice: https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/marketplace/advert/lee-notices_57969

Perhaps scores with a Sub Jim Inhofe and draws 2 Diamonds for a whole 2 points. Hey, it's 2 points more than most! Leaderboard updated.

James Inhofe QO: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-13616335/James-Inhofe-former-senator-leading-US-conservative-dies-89.html

Suppose we had better mention Joe Egan's death here: https://news.stv.tv/entertainment/tributes-to-scots-singer-joe-egan-of-stealers-wheel-after-death-aged-77

Jerzy Stuhr reportedly dead: https://wydarzenia-interia-pl.translate.goog/kraj/news-jerzy-stuhr-nie-zyje-aktor-mial-77-lat,nId,7633543?_x_tr_sl=pl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc#google_vignette

Off to another friend's wedding reception this afternoon. I'll be back eventide, however may not be in any fit state to deal with much here. Or there might be an early finish. Anyway, hopefully a quiet afternoon on the death/obit front.

Chris Hutchins, journalist famed for setting up the meeting between the Beatles and Elvis Presley, death notice: https://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/marketplace/advert/hutchins-notices_57930 Nice of them to include a dob and dod. Was PR agent for Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck and Gilbert O'Sullivan. Broke the story about Sarah Ferguson's affair with Oscar Wyatt's son Steve.

Dudley Roberts, striker with Coventry City, Mansfield Town and Scunthorpe United, reportedly dead aged 78: https://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/2024/july/05/dudley-roberts--1945---2024/

Has opened up to the Times about his loneliness. Fortunately, the Mail steals the story so we can read about it: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13610157/Brian-Blessed-87-lonely-wife-death-michael-palin.html

Audrey Flack QO: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/07/07/audrey-flack-artist-kitsch-photorealist-bronze-sculpture/