uk

The Queen Died

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What a strange day it’s been. One day before my wedding anniversary actually. I saw “Balmoral” trending on Twitter and it turned out to be a news story about how the Queen was in ill health. Lots of wisecracks scrolling down. (My favourite was “She meets Liz Truss and starts dying the very next day, I respect that.”)

Later on today I marvelled at how much better I was feeling post-breakdown, I’m on some fantastic new meds. I decided to fix the TV box since it had been messing up since pre-breakdown and making the image flicker on and off all the time. I got it working properly and immediately, a black screen and an announcement saying “Stand by for a message from the BBC” like I’ve heard in World War II-set movies.

“Holy crap, she’s actually dead!” I told my husband.

She was indeed Actually Dead. But I suppose the Queen isn’t really what I want to talk about. There’s not a huge amount to say, I’ve never met her (a few members of my family have gone to special Palace events where she was there, but that’s all) and she lived a long, charmed life.

Actually I want to talk about my grandmother. She was born two weeks before the Queen was in April 1926. She went through World War II at the same age the Queen did, but in considerably more danger than the Queen was, because she was working class and from a working class area that was very heavily bombed. She ended up joining the Wrens, I think, though I don’t know what she did there. Here’s a pic of her, clumsily colourized by an app:

I just take a weird sort of pleasure in knowing that a working class woman outlived the Queen, I guess. She’s in a care home now on the other side of the country, I plan to visit her soon.

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shutup-rachel:

For my non uk followers wondering wtf is going on:

– prime minister is a cunt. Had like a bajillion scandals

– latest one was apparently one two many. Two extremely important cabinet members resigned within minutes of each other

– within the next 24 hours about a third of the government resigned

– one resigned live on tv. Five resigned with the same letter to save time

– previous record for government resignations within 24 hours was 6 and it it was in the 1930s. We are, as I’m writing this, on 45 resignations

– Michael Gove, another cunt who is hated by all, was going to resign but was sacked instead in what appears to be the prime minister going “you can’t quit you’re fired!”

– government meetings are being cancelled because there is literally nobody in those departments anymore

– despite literally everyone begging him at this point to leave, including his most loyal little evil henchman, prime minister is refusing to resign in disgrace as is traditional for British prime ministers

– prime minister genuinely seems to be in complete denial anything serious is happening

– people are calling for Larry the Cat, no. 10’s chief mouser to be the next prime minister. When asked for comment, he licked his arse on live television

Partygate — Meerkat Musings

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I’m mad. I’m fuming. This is going to be an epic rant but a necessary one. It concerns the shambolic, deceitful hypocrites at the heart of this Tory government, and it concerns the opportunity the British public has at the upcoming local elections. Both PM Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have received fines for […]

Partygate — Meerkat Musings

Don’t ever let your country become like Britain, kids. :(

Death on Daytime

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This expose of The Jeremy Kyle Show aired on Channel 4 yesterday. It made for difficult watching and invoked that all-too-common feeling of “Wait, this was happening in plain sight for ages and everyone just accepted it?” I never sought out the Jeremy Kyle Show but I always assumed from what I saw of it that everything was staged, not that people were being abused and belittled on a regular basis.

It sort of makes you wonder, which things that are currently commonplace are going to be seen as horrifying in a decade or so? I have a list. I hope I’m not doing any of them.

The Shame Of Britain — beetleypete

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Originally posted on REDFLAGFLYING:

News today of an incident at Calais that rightfully shames the current despicable government running this country. 150 Ukrainian refugees escaped from their war-torn country. They spent days heading West, crossing through Poland and Germany into France. Their aim was to seek refuge with members of their families who were already…

The Shame Of Britain — beetleypete

As usual, I have no words, just the same old crushing disappointment and shame.

big jet tv

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Storm Eunice is so bad it’s taken the roof off the Millennium Dome (see?) so now it seems like the whole of Britain is hiding inside and watching this fantastic madman livestream planes landing at Heathrow.


There are tiny horses in the field trying to eat his camera, random interruptions from people informing him just how world-famous he’s suddenly become, and professional news crews keep showing up to try and steal his thunder. (Pun not intended.) It’s amazing.

Backing up the BBC

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Well, if you’re British you heard about the BBC privatization news yesterday. It is of course a distraction from Boris’s various outrages, but well, there you go. I know it’s been a right-wing mouthpiece for years now, but plenty of My Stuff is there (Doctor Who, Call the Midwife, Noughts & Crosses etc) and I want it back.

So I guess I figure, in the spirit of this blog… That if you have the ability to back up anything on the BBC that is/was helpful or useful, now might be a good time to do it. Download shows and websites and get them on a hard drive, because, you know, the BBC itself is famously bad at that.

Honestly… I’m also furious on behalf of the disabled children who watch CBeebies, which is incredibly diverse and inclusive. I don’t expect it will be spared from any chopping block that’s coming because we know how the Tories treat disabled children already.

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