PLEASE APPRECIATE THAT I GET SENT MORE INFORMATION AND LEADS THAN I CAN USE. I TRY TO RESPOND TO EVERYONE WHO CONTACTS ME BUT I CANNOT POSSIBLY USE EVERY BIT OF INFORMATION I’M SENT. DIOLCH YN FAWR
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Here’s something to keep you occupied in these long days of lockdown after you’ve finished mowing the lawn, walking the dog, and counting your bottles of Malbec.
This is another bumper issue, some 4,500 words, but it’s made up of a number of unrelated reports, so there’s no need to gorge; take your time and enjoy!
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A PEOPLE THAT ISN’T TAUGHT ITS HISTORY . . .
I watched a documentary the other week about Arthur, Duke of Brittany, who may have had a stronger claim to the English throne than his Uncle, John, and his claim was even supported by John’s brother, Richard I, ‘Coeur de lion’. Having raised an army to challenge his uncle, young Arthur blew his opportunity, was captured and – if contemporary rumours are to be believed – came to a particularly gruesome end.
The killing was even covered in the Margam Abbey chronicles.
The programme established that John was a very nasty piece of work, possibly a psychopath. He also drank heavily and often flew into uncontrollable rages. It was best not to be around him when he’d ‘taken a drink’ (as great-aunt Fastidia might have phrased it).
My ears pricked up when one of the contributors to the programme, seeking to establish John’s credentials as an all-round murderous bastard, mentioned his killing of young Welsh hostages at Nottingham castle. This was something I’d never heard about, so obviously I checked. It was true.
At a low point in his glorious career Llywelyn Fawr was held in check by his father-in-law John by the surrender of some 28 young hostages, sons of Gwynedd’s leading families. When Llywelyn next flexed his muscles the boys were hung from the castle walls. Reported here in ‘Nottinghamshire History’.
“In order to keep the Welsh Prince Llewellyn in subjection, John, had taken as hostages 28 boys, ranging from 12 to 14 years of age, and kept them in his Castle at Nottingham. It is said the news came to the King while staying at his hunting palace at Clipstone that the Welsh Prince had again broken out in revolt. Hastily summoning his followers, he held a Council beneath the spreading branches of an oak tree (now known as Parliament Oak), when the execution of the hostages was decided upon. Then he swore ‘by the teeth of God’ that he would not eat again until he had wreaked his vengeance, and mounting his steed, he rode in all haste to Nottingham Castle, where he gave instructions for the execution of the hostages, as a preliminary to quelling the rising; and the shameful order was immediately carried out before his eyes, the boys being taken from their play—some screaming, others pleading in vain for mercy—and hanged on the Castle walls.”
Both the murder of Arthur of Brittany and the killing of the hostages are in some accounts attributed to William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, who often served as John’s very willing torturer and executioner.
The title Bramber comes from the family’s castle in Sussex, but De Braose was more active in the March, as Sheriff of Hereford and Lord Abergavenny. And while John was reviled in the north west William made his enemies at the opposite corner of the country, due to the Massacre at Abergavenny Castle in 1175.
The facts are that Seisyll ap Dyfnwal, ‘Lord of Upper Gwent’, was invited to a Christmas feast at the castle, along with his eldest son, his followers and their attendants. Being invited guests, they followed custom and left their weapons outside. Once inside, the doors were locked and de Braose’s men attacked and killed their Welsh guests.
It is then rumoured that after the massacre de Braose rode to Seisyll’s home and killed his younger son Cadwaladr after snatching him from his mother’s arms.
De Braose’s behaviour is ‘excused’ by arguing that Seisyll ap Dyfnwal had killed de Braose’s uncle, Henry FitzMiles, so it was tit for tat. But attempting to wipe out the male lines of the leading Welsh families in the locality suggests de Braose was trying to expand his own land holdings.
In 1182 Hywel ap Iorwerth of Caerleon had Dingestow castle, near Chepstow, destroyed and Abergavenny castle burnt by Seisyll’s relatives. De Braose was not there but his men were taken captive.
After it was burnt again, this time by Glyndŵr’s forces in 1404, Abergavenny castle ceased to be used as a fortification and gradually fell into disrepair.
‘These were brutal times, they all behaved like that’, is what you’ll hear from defenders of the Union. But I don’t recall any incident in which our ancestors behaved with such barbarity, depravity and duplicity.
If they had, we’d have been taught it in school. You can be sure of that.
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ONE PLANET DEVELOPMENTS REVISITED, AGAIN
Back in December – in an update – I mentioned that a Neil Moyse, who lives on a OPD at Tir y Gafel in Pembrokeshire, is applying to build another OPD at Llyn Adain Gwydd, near the village of Meidrim in west Carmarthenshire. The village to which I trace my direct paternal line.
To get the planning application details type W/39846 here.
In a nutshell, Moyse wants planners to believe that a family of four will be able to support themselves as gardeners on 1.63ha of land, even though a great part of the holding will remain uncultivated. Much of it, in fact, is water, accounting for the ‘Llyn’ element in the name.
But any property built in such an attractive location will be valuable, especially if it is imaginatively ‘extended’, perhaps in the manner of Bryn Llys, at Nebo. Which, I’m sure you’ll recall, transmogrified from a traditional Welsh farmhouse into a mansion betraying the aesthetic sensibilities we associate with Lottery winners, or in this case, a gang of fraudsters.
I’m not for one minute suggesting that Moyse is a crook like those at Bryn Llys, but neither am I persuaded that this is a simple One Planet Development. And if the Moyse family moves to Llyn Adain Gwydd what happens to their property in Pembrokeshire?
My understanding was that OPDs offer a chance for people to exchange the crass materialism of the modern world for lives attuned to the rhythms of nature, not for building property empires.
All of which would be reason to reject this application, but a little bird in the tree tells me that Moyse and his kin are pretty irresponsible to boot.
For I hear that during this period of lockdown the Moyse family travels almost every day from their Pembrokeshire property to their new lakeside estate near Meidrim. Is this ‘essential travel’? And now they’ve even pitched a tent!
My little bird also says . . .
“Black sheeting . . . ‘shines’ across valley and due to cutting down of many trees is much more open to view. . . . people turned up today in massive camper van looking . . . to camp out . . . The wood behind Mr Moyse’s plot belongs to Woodlands.co.uk. This wood has camper vans sited in it that are there illegally. People are coming and going and fire smoke can often be seen. They have blocked the public footpath and even after representations from local council have not reopened. These are friends of Mr Moyse . . .”
As I’ve explained many times before, OPD is just another tactic in the wider strategy of dispossessing us Welsh and replacing us with a new population. Because in 20+ years of devolution those cringing bastards down Corruption Bay have done nothing to benefit those who belong in this country.
And if you want an example of the ecological credentials claimed by these OPD land-grabbers, then I’ll let my little dicky bird finish its song with, “otters and geese that have been nesting and breeding for decades have not been near this year.”
Visualise an unspoilt area of Welsh land, a sylvan gem. Would you rather see otters gambolling there or gangs of arrogant English hippies in camper vans and silly houses, incessantly burning wood while pontificating about saving the planet?
The greatest contribution these people can make to the Welsh countryside is to leave it.
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GARY HAGGATY
Gary is a senior civil servant, but more importantly, the lover of Lesley Griffiths, the Minister for Environment Energy and Rural affairs in the ‘Welsh Government’.
In the piece in which he debuted a few weeks back I mis-spelt his name as Haggarty. Sorry about that, Gary, but we all make mistakes.
Anyway, I asked if anyone had information on Gary, so I could ‘pad out’ his biography, as it were. And I had a few responses, so here’s some more information that I put out recently. Here in pdf format.
I’m told he’s originally from Portsmouth, or thereabouts. He is said to have been a leading light in the Young Socialists, or its replacement, Young Labour.
How Gary came to Wales is unclear – did he attend university here? – but until some 10 or 12 years ago he was employed in in the ‘Welsh Government’s regional office in Llandrindod Wells, and he is believed to have lived in Abbey Cwm Hir.
‘Game Show Gary’ left his wife and child/children for another woman, a younger woman who was also a work colleague. Gary is said to be a great one for ‘helping’ young female colleagues. Very much a hands-on approach.
Once in Cardiff, as Head of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Strategy, and administering the Glastir and Farming Connect programmes, he stated, more than once, that “Farmers in Wales are over supported and under taxed”. His hostility towards farmers was made clear in other ways.
And yet, despite his openly expressed hostility towards Welsh farmers he progressed within the ‘Welsh Government’s departments dealing with farming! In May 2016, Lesley Griffiths was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs. This would have brought her into direct connect with Gary Haggaty . . . and their contact soon became very direct.
When the affair between Griffiths and Haggaty became public knowledge last year he was assigned the post of Deputy Director, Community Safety Division within Welsh Government. And if you’re wondering what the Community Safety Division is, it’s an excuse for Wales not having power over policing. In the early days of devolution it was known as the Crime Reduction Unit.
Up until his transfer Haggaty was advising Lesley Griffiths on ways to make life difficult for Welsh farmers, done in order to make land available for hippies and rewilders, eco-zealots and zip wires. In other words, anybody but the Welsh. Seeing as they’re still an ‘item’ he’s probably still advising her.
But forget the affair. The real cause for concern should be that a man like Gary Haggaty, with his blatant and regularly expressed hostility to Welsh farming, should ever have been in a position of influence within the ‘Welsh Government’.
But he was. And there are many other civil servants like him in Wales, who answer to London, dictate to the ‘Welsh Government’, and do serious damage to our country and our nation.
I’m sure there are people out there with more information on ‘Game Show Gary’ Haggaty, so just leave it in the usual tree-trunk.
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AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE
We have 48 bodies in Wales ‘combating homelessness’. (Or did have in 2017, now it’s probably more.) You might think that with so many battalions in the field Wales is on its way to victory over homelessness, but that would be to misunderstand the strategy at work and the objective.
There are CEOs pulling down £80,000+ a year and many other Labour Party cronies doing very nicely out of maintaining high levels of homelessness . . . so this is a ‘war’ that must not be won.
Among the major players in the homelessness racket is Llamau, which has appeared on this blog many times. Like so many third sector bodies in Wales Llamau seems to be run by female English disciples of Common Purpose, the liberal freemasonry, who specialise in screwing public money from thick-as-shit Labour politicians with no better ideas on how to use money.
Here’s a little tale about Llamau’s CEO which gives an idea of how things link up in Cardiff Bay, and the incestuous political culture that prevails in that cess-pit.
In the ongoing – unending? – leftist-third sector witch-hunt against Neil McEvoy, Frances Beecher was one of the complainants. (And was almost certainly encouraged to make her fatuous contribution by Deryn Consulting.)
So did Neil McEvoy turn up at the Llamau offices with a can of petrol in one hand, a lighter in the other, a wild look on his face as he sang the Arthur Brown classic, Fire? Er, no, but he had raised his voice at a public meeting! Oh, the bwute! The bwute!
But enough history. For I bring tidings of Llamau expanding.
There was an organisation called the Swansea Young Single Homeless Project (SYSHP) which did good work in the ugly lovely town for almost thirty years, but on 1 October 2019 it merged with Llamau. Or rather, Llamau took it over 3 October 2018, when the SYSHP trustees/company directors were given the heave-ho and replaced with Llamau appointees.
Among the replacements was lawyer Thomas Graham Breed who – on 23 January this year – became a director of Capital Law in Cardiff. (Belated congratulations, Graham.) This is one of the self-styled ‘Welsh Government’s favoured legal firms. A great deal of Welsh public money goes to Capital Law.
It was obviously a hostile takeover and you have to wonder why SYSHP succumbed to it so meekly. Were they told it was a fait accompli, and given the choice between takeover and collapse?
It being a done deal might explain why the Supporting People Grants (the mainstay of SYSHP funding), administered by the ‘Welsh Government’, fell from £832,938 in y/e 31.03.2018 to £644,215 in y/e 31.03.2019.
While other funders, including the Lottery, thought SYSHP was a good enough bet to increase their funding.
It’s very odd, because with such well-connected and influential new hands on deck you would expect ‘Welsh Government’ funding to have increased . . . unless, as I suggest, it was an engineered failure to facilitate complete takeover.
According to the latest available accounts for SYSHP as a condition of the takeover “. . . the charity (SYSHP) will meet all of its liabilities and then transfer over the remaining assets to Llamau at their fair value . . .”. but Llamau now owns the Swansea Young Single Homeless Project, and its assets.
I can only assume that all outstanding debts and charges are to be paid out of the remaining SYSHP funds and whatever is left transfers to Llamau. Including the prime assets of 51 & 52 Walter Road in central Swansea.
What we see here is another example of an organisation using its influence in Cardiff Bay to promote itself in other parts of Wales at the expense of rivals who do not have the ear of our wise and incorruptible tribunes, and do not socialise with the civil servants who manipulate said tribunes.
This phenomenon – the norm in third world countries – explains so many things. For example, it tells us how Wales & West Housing has become our only truly all-Wales housing association.
Another manifestation of this phenomenon, one I note as I travel around, is that Cardiff estate agents get business all over Wales. It’s so sad that there are no estate agents in other parts of the country.
Yes, devolution’s been good for some in Cardiff. As long as you’ve got the connections.
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DAWNUS 3B
Around this time last year I did a few pieces on the collapse of Dawnus, a Swansea-based construction and civil engineering company. These were Dawnus, Dawnus 2, Dawnus 3 and (scroll down to) Dawnus 3A.
Dawnus did a great deal of work in West Africa, and it was suggested that Ebola in that region went some way to deciding Dawnus’s fate. For the company’s decline was said to have begun with the Ebola outbreak in January 2014.
Not long after Ebola hit we saw the arrival on the scene of Nicholas Charles Down, whose Linkedin profile suggested he’d worked mainly outside the UK. Though it’s difficult to figure out if he’d been brought in to try to save Dawnus or to administer the last rites.
Whichever it was, once he took over the Dawnus group it was downhill from there on. Here’s a list of the Dawnus companies with which Down was involved. You’ll see that they’re all in administration or liquidation except Medrus Plant Hire (Swansea) LLP. Though Companies House makes clear that Medrus went the way of the others.
And now it appears that Down is neither the director of any company nor is he involved with a Limited Liability Partnership. So where did he go?
The reason I got interested in the Dawnus story was that I received a number of reports saying that the most valuable machinery was shipped to West Africa towards the end of 2018, when the shit was visibly heading – if in slow motion – towards the fan.
The photographs below that were sent to me purport to show the heavy stuff en route to the docks for shipment to West Africa.
But even before then, much of the good stuff was already in Liberia and Sierra Leone. As this charge of 27 March 2018 against Dawnus Construction Holdings Ltd makes clear. Just scroll down and see how much plant and machinery was in Africa.
Two companies emerged from the catastrophe. The first was Dawnus International Group Ltd, formed 22 March 2019, which shook off the ‘Dawnus’ tag by becoming DIG International Group Ltd less than a week later. The second was DIG Civil Engineering Ltd, formed 9 April 2019, but still a non-trading company according to Companies House.
The two companies shared an address in Clydach before moving last month to Stradey Business Centre in Llangennech, Llanelli. Which is interesting, because this gives me the opportunity to introduce another player in the form of Hydro Industries, also based at Stradey Business Centre.
You’ll have to go back to last year’s articles to get the full import, but to cut a long story short, there has always been military and defence industry involvement in the margins of this saga. French defence giant Thales being one of the players. For a time Thales had a presence on the same Llanelli estate where we find the DIG companies, and Hydro Industries.
The thing about Hydro that I found remarkable was who got involved with this rather obscure little company in Sosban last year. Though it might be relevant that among the original Hydro directors is arch BritNat and former chairman of the Welsh Rugby Union, David Pickering.
In June 2018 Guto Harri joined the board of Hydro. That’s Guto Harri who regularly appears on Newsnight, the former BBC journalist and communications director for Boris Johnson when BoJo was mayor of London.
Harri was soon joined by Diane Marguerite Marie Briere de’Lisle, who is course French, and the wife of Admiral Insurance founder Henry Englehardt. Then came Henrietta Baldock of Bank of America and Legal and General Assurance. With Robert Brooks as secretary. ‘Who him?’ I’m not sure, but I guarantee he don’t live round by ‘ere.
There’s no doubt in my mind of UK government involvement in the demise of Dawnus. Our masters in London might not have caused the Dawnus collapse but they took advantage because Dawnus was involved in a strategically important region.
Hydro Industries’ reward for whatever part it played in the Dawnus saga was a major contract in Saudi Arabia, that murderous theocracy that helps to keep the British arms industry afloat. A few days later a £150m contract in Egypt was unveiled.
I suggest that the involvement of the UK government explains why the ‘Welsh Government’ offered Dawnus no real help – the pretend politicos down Cardiff docks were warned off.
Around the same time Hydro ‘won’ the Saudi and Egyptian contracts its business address moved from Llangennech to Berkeley Square in West London. (That’s Berkeley Square of nightingale fame.) Quite a move for a company started by a bunch of Turks.
So who now owns Hydro Industries?
Come to that, who now owns the machinery in West Africa? Was it shipped home to pay off creditors? I doubt it very much. Those shipments of machinery from Wales to West Africa in late 2018 were made to keep assets away from liquidators and creditors. That machinery and equipment is there now winning hearts and minds, and combating the spread of Chinese influence.
The irony is that Hydro Industries, and to a lesser extent Dawnus, provide clean drinking water to those who realise the importance and value of this essential commodity. While here in Wales, the whining invertebrates calling themselves the ‘Welsh Government’ are quite happy to give away our water!
UPDATE: I’ve been sent something that links with both Dawnus and the point I made in the earlier section about Cardiff estate agents getting the work all over Wales. This is the old Dawnus depot in Clydach, up for sale on Prime Location, with details available from Alder King of Cardiff, which has its HQ in Bristol.
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OH GOODY! ANOTHER WIND FARM
A few years back there was an attempt to plant yet more wind turbines near the A44 as it snakes its way up from Aberystwyth to meet the A470 at Llangurig. The project was imaginatively named Mynydd y Gwynt.
Those behind it seem to be a family of local landowners who’d already diversified in a number of ways. To promote its scheme the clan had linked with Isle of Man-based company Renewable Energy Holdings Plc.
The scheme was knocked back and finally rejected by the Court of Appeal in London in March 2018. And while the IoM outfit went bust in March 2016 the local element of the doomed consortium, Mynydd y Gwynt Ltd, is still in business. Though in April 2016 it moved its correspondence address from Ffynnon Wen, Capel Bangor to c/o Haines Watts, 7 Neptune Court, Vanguard Way, Cardiff.
Now there’s another wind farm scheme, this one called Lluest y Gwynt. The company Lluest y Gwynt Wind Farm Ltd was formed in June 2018 . . . just months after the Court of Appeal hammered the final nail in the Mynydd y Gwynt coffin.
So is Lluest y Gwynt just Mynydd y Gwynt under a slightly changed name, and at a site very close by?
Behind Lluest y Gwynt we find Statkraft, “Europe’s largest developer of renewable energy”, a company wholly owned by the Norwegian government. In partnership with Statkraft is Eco2 of Cardiff. Eco2 chairman is Peter Darwell, said to be worth a bob or two.
There have been a few dozen Eco2 companies over the past twenty years but the most recent additions to the stable have been, Eco2 LYG Limited, Incorporated 24 May 2018. And Eco2 Dulais Limited (27 November 2019). Darwell is the major shareholder in both, with a line-up of shared directors.
The documents received by the Planning Inspectorate for Lluest y Gwynt can be viewed from this link.
Statkraft, like all investors hoping to exploit poorer countries, seeks out those with access to the local ‘chiefs’. So it has linked with Cardiff-based Eco2 to gain access to local politicians and decision makers.
I’m sure that Statkraft is hoping Eco2 CEO Dr David Williams will be able to help. For having served as chairman of the ‘Welsh Government’s Energy and Environmental Sector Panel from January 2011 to August 2018 he must know a few movers and shakers down Corruption Bay.
There’s nothing new in this. When I wrote Corruption in the wind? in November 2018 I recounted the amusing tale of a mystery woman frantically lobbying in April 2017 on behalf of those behind some Powys wind farms. (Scroll down to section headed ‘Mystery woman’)
That woman was Anna McMorrin, live-in lover of Alun Davies AM, who became the MP for Cardiff North in the June 2018 election. McMorrin wasn’t employed by the investors behind Hendy and Bryn Blaen wind farms because she knew owt about wind turbines, she was employed solely because she knew people down Cardiff docks who could make the decisions the investors wanted.
And it’s the same with Statkraft and Eco2.
Lobbying down Corruption Bay isn’t restricted to Deryn Consulting and other lobbying firms, for Labour insiders also feather their nests from knowing who to schmooze. And Labour Party insiders doing so well from this system explains why there is no register of lobbyists down the Bay.
Will Lluest y Gwynt succeed where Mynydd y Gwynt failed? Perhaps. But why should we cover more of Wales with ugly and inefficient wind turbines to kill red kites and other birds while increasing the risk of flooding, and all done to enrich a company owned by the government of one of the richest countries on Earth?
Finally, it’s worth remembering that Lesley Griffiths, the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, will have a big say in whether or not to allow Lluest y Gwynt wind farm, So who do you think Statkraft and Eco2 should have a quiet word with; you know, someone who might be able to influence her?
Watch this space.
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‘SEASONAL PROPERTIES’, AN UPDATE
In the previous post I reported on a minor act of vandalism in Pwllheli and the bizarre response of North Wales Police.
Someone painted ‘Go home’ on a number of holiday flats near the marina and GogPlod responded by waxing lyrical about key workers staying in these properties, even pleading, ‘How would you like it . . . ?’ – even though no one was staying in them! I described this contribution from the local gendarmerie as ‘bollocks’, even questioning whether it had originated with the police.
Though I was certainly enchanted by the new term, ‘seasonal properties’.
But the police were right, key workers have been staying in these flats . . . key workers from Birmingham, on holiday. What’s more, they’ve threatened to beat up the local councillor who reported them!
I couldn’t make this up!
I’m beginning to suspect that when it comes to holiday homes or ‘seasonal properties’ the police would rather not be bothered. Yes, they’ll do some patrolling on main roads for the benefit of the cameras but confronting some selfish bastards sitting it out in their or someone else’s holiday home is just too much trouble.
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AND, FINALLY . . .
There are those who say, “Oh there’s nothing wrong with devolution, it’s the fault of the Labour Party. Get rid of them and everything will be fine”. Having given this view the consideration it deserves (about 0.3 seconds) my response is – bollocks!
Wales is now so hopelessly corrupted, its political class, public officials and burdensome third sector motivated either by serving themselves or else serving England – often both – that nothing short of very radical change can improve things for the great majority of our people.
Consequently, any intellectual under-achiever who suggests that things would be better with a Plaid Cymru management team in Cardiff Bay, or a Labour-Plaid Cymru coalition, should receive either a pitying pat on the head or a kick up the arse. (Perhaps depending on whether you’ve ‘taken a drink’.)
If next year’s Assembly elections go ahead we must ensure there are not enough AMs from Labour and Plaid Cymru to form a coalition. That must be the starting point for the change Wales needs.
North Wales will be affected by this especially if numbers have crept into the area despite vigilance of local communities. No comfort that many will have gone home to be seriously ill, they will have left their transmissions in Gwynedd and rest of N Wales.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/03/north-west-overtakes-london-for-number-of-covid-19-hospital-cases-coronavirus
I’ve just put that out as a tweet.
Our Seig Heil moment approaches. Word on the street is that everybody is expected to join in on Friday for a bit of socially distanced whoopee to register our pleasure at recalling 1945 when UK/GB aided by a few minor allies defeated by TKO an Axis led by Germany made up of all sorts of defective nations with a liking for strutting around in elaborate uniforms ( bit like our Royal Family, House of Lords, Freemasons etc). Members of my family fought in that war yet rarely spoke about the conflict only about the more normal aspects of the time like rations, visiting new places and meeting new people. Rarely did they speak of killing or getting hurt or losing pals in a nasty skirmish. Yet our leaders, most of whom have never served in any meaningful capacity insist that the whole episode is regularly re-visited.
Even in this virus crisis we get occasional mentions of “sacrifice” as though we are at war. Instead of sacrifice they should have the courage to say “waste” as many of the lives lost are due to piss poor planning, lack of organisational ability, and an overriding need to look good regardless of the reality.
I suggest you do what I did for last weeks ‘clap for carers’. Having heard a couple with Bristol accents occupying an AirB&B nearby I decided to take some daily exercise down the back lane and chatted to them over the fence. I suggested that what they were doing is wrong and they should return home. They took my advice.
Unfortunately it was last Thursday and the whole street was out clapping as they drove back to England.
You should seek out one yourself and suggest they vacate this Friday, the misappropriation of VE day. You can sing ‘We’ll keep the Home Fires Burning’, being patriotic like mun, as they jump in the car and disappear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCyESeXq3Q4%5Bremovetoplay%5D
Few years back a friend of mine who lives in Finsbury Park area of London discovered some Muslims trying to burn the Union Jack. He immediately put a stop to such nonsense. Snatched away the flag, and burnt it himself.
It’s rather odd Brychan but around here we don’t seem to get any “travellers” from beyond the Clawdd, they seem to go further west to Bro Gwyr or on to Dyfed. We did have a spot of excessive enthusiasm for our coast a few weeks ago right at the start of the crisis when the Valleys emptied out for a weekend, rushed to the coast like an annual death dive and the chippies bars and other dives of Barry and Porthcawl did a decent spot of business. Since then lock down has been enforced by Michael’s Plod militia who can’t be bothered to go after robbers but do a damn good job of checking anyone with a dog on a lead.
I will be turning out for Friday’s VE Day just to spoil neighbours’ enjoyment by going on at length about governments killing off their younger people just to make their point. Oddly enough WW2 was fought with an above average measure of justification but I still find it rather peculiar that we need to go on about it in a highly jingoistic fashion. My dad and his contemporaries who went “on tour” to Germany in 1944-45 generally spoke little about it and most are now gone from this world anyway.
I like the new emojis Jac. Do you have one wearing face mask or other item of PPE !!
I’ve have a few problems with the site, and when I was fiddling about I decided to change the gravatar.
I know I’m not a pretty face but never realised that I’m that bad !
Below is an online commentary from OPD seekers gallivanting around Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire during the Coronvirus lockdown.
I’m sure speculative property development is not deemed ‘essential travel’.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/oneplanetcouncil/permalink/2618027531768227/
One the subject of ‘self sufficiency’, there’s another recent online commentary from OPDers about how to continue to claim out of work benefits and also child benefit for large families. Not so off-grid as they make out then.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/oneplanetcouncil/permalink/2611482769089370/
Obviously, OPD settlers are above the law and care little about the health and well being of the communities they infest.
That first link is dead. Maybe someone realised the implications.
The only reason why Lluest y Gwynt wind farm is even possible is because the Cambrian Mountains was not designated a national park in the 1970s by the then viceroy and MP for Hereford. There was one political party, Englands little helpers, that also registered their opposition to national park status at the time. It was Plaid Cymru.
Which brings me to an important question.
Mari Arthur tells Carmarthenshire County Council that her primary residence and nomination as the imposed Llanelli Plaid Cymru candidate as being in Trimsaran. Yet she recently recited in BBC Radio 4 on a Womans Hour interview of her lockdown experience at her home in Cardiff. I have checked, and I have found no reference to “Renewable Energy Consultant’ in the list of ‘key workers’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld6fAO4idaI%5Bremovetoplay%5D
Any explanations?
PS. Just in case she deletes it, I’ve got a screen-grab of it if you want it.
It is encouraging to note that the comments are about 100:1 against the wretch,
O/T: have you seen this Tweet from Carolyn Harris MP?
https://twitter.com/carolynharris24/status/1256582414153003009
As Nigel Jenkins once put it: “Fuck me to heaven in a bath of champagne!”
Mr Flag is a company in her constituency.
Care Home Testing. Fortunately for the Welsh Government but unfortunately for residents of care homes in Wales, it’s been decided not to routinely test care home residents and staff for Covid-19. There are some countries that do. Whilst it’s true that older people, particularly pensioners experience worse clinical outcomes, it’s also true that most people are not symptomatic or only experience a mild infection. Just because you have dementia, does not mean that you are more susceptible to a virus. However, you will be spreader in a critical environment.
https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=7464930
This has been identified in Sweden, where
“Many municipalities have problems separating coronavirus infected people with dementia from the healthy being accommodated across the country. Now, the City of Stockholm has opened three corona accommodation units for the elderly with 62 places, where people with dementia can be moved. If you now make the assessment that it is not appropriate for the person to stay in the elderly home where they live, because he risks passing the infection on to the ward, then you can move the person to a ‘coronaboende’ during the time you are infected, says Erik Slottner, senior citizen council in Stockholm city.”
“coronaboende” = Direct translation is Corona-accommodation.
It’s actually a type of ‘bubble’. In other words, if you fall sick at home you are required to self isolate in your home for 14 days and only seek medical attention if your symptoms become severe. Your home becomes the dedicated ‘coronaboende’. If you are resident of an elderly care home then you are moved to a specialist ‘coronaboende’ as detailed above.
Failure to test and provide means that if there’s an outbreak in a care home a whole fleet of ambulances are sent to a care home to evacuate everyone!! Last minute testing will take three days, a period where vulnerable people will die, or conversely ties up the hospital with old people with dementia who really only need help eating and pooing. Bed blocking on a grand scale.
It’s also the case that some elderly people have ‘home care’ and only really need temporary or respite accommodation for the infected period. Rather than sending these unnecessarily to hospital, they can be admitted to the coronaboende. These are located near a main hospital in case of deterioration.
Has the Welsh Government considered this?
The ‘Welsh Government’ is only interested in what England is doing. No other country matters.
Formal Freedom of Information Questions I’ve sent to WAG 1-5-20:-
Can recent BBC Reports be confirmed that WAG is to appoint Mr Gordon Brown to lead a Team in Wales after the the worst of the awful virus issue is mostly over?
If such a Team is being assembled, who will be its members?
If so, how were they selected?
What brief will the Team be given from WAG?
What will this project cost in total i.e. Member Fees and Support Staff and Facilities and consequent overnight stays (e.g. for Mr Brown to come and stay here from Scotland) and Travel costs?
Are there no appropriate Economic Experts in the Wales Government WAG, or even Wales itself as a “nation”, who could handle such a brief?
Out of which Wales Budget area will these costs be met?
What Fees will be paid to the individual Team Members?
What Fee will be paid to Mr Gordon Brown for his services?
Good questions, but likely to be lengthy delay in receiving response. If WG claim exemption under the Act internal review is an option. If that fails, external assessment by Information Commissioner is the next option. All their offices are closed with staff working from home.
Got to sympathise with the folk in care homes right now as well as the staff that work in them.
About a week ago in the House of Lords, that hypocritical, perma-tanned, pain in the butt Peter Hain was trying to suggest that somehow Wales was largely spared the Covid-19 death wave running through these places, because in Wales the WAG had protected the elderly by spending more on the poor sods. Hain said,
“public spending on social services for older people in Wales is 48% higher per head of the population than in England. Surely if the UK Government had followed the Welsh model of prioritising elderly care investment despite major austerity cuts, the truly terrible Covid-19 crisis in care homes could have been alleviated.”
Correct me someone if I’m wrong, but surely Covid-19 has severely impacted upon care homes not just in England, but in Scotland, Northern Ireland and yes, the progressive, socialist nirvana of Wales as well? Or did I just dream up figures released by Public Health Wales recently that suggested otherwise? It’s swept like a tsunami through old folks’ homes in loads of other countries too, just like you’d expect any severely infectious disease would do. As soon as something like that gets into a captive environment full of people who have probably seen their better days healthwise, then it’s like locking a fox in a henhouse.
Still, I expect the orange bastard will continue to claim his £300 plus a day expenses for regurgitating twaddle such as this.
I’d like to know where he’s living right now. Is he in his luxury barn conversion in Aberdulais, which he’s been trying to flog for £600k since January? Or in his equally luxurious and splendid luxury flat overlooking the Thames in Wandsworth? I think it’s a fair question since I’ve seen both places quoted in directorship addresses for his Mrs. But WTF, if Carlo can flit freely between his homes, why can’t our Lords of the land?
This lockdown must be getting to me. I thought I’d seen the last of Hain. Now I’m having nightmares he’ll be teamed up with Gordon Brown to lead us into the Promised Land.
The tendency to dig up old deadbeats, let them spout their tired old crap for a few months, write up a meandering aimless report and then send them back into their havens is a long established feature of UK governance. The colonial branch operation in Cardiff think it still offers a neat option. Yet another reason for shifting them out in 2021.
Why was the biggest spike in Covid outside of London in the Anuerin Bevan Health Trust?
4th February
“One of Wales’ busiest hospitals has set up six new beds in the ambulance bays outside its A&E department to cope with demand.
The new structure, named the Patient Offload Department (or the POD for short), has been installed outside the Royal Gwent Hospital’s emergency department in Newport.
It’s intended to speed up the care of patients who arrive at the Newport hospital by ambulance, though bosses admit that alone it “will not solve the problem of handover delays”.
The POD contains six hospital beds, which will accommodate ambulance patients when the emergency department is full.
The new facility will help ambulance patients to be transferred safely at the hospital, enabling ambulance crews to be released more quickly to answer emergency calls from across Gwent.”
25th March
“A woman died from coronavirus at a Welsh hospital after she had gone in for a routine operation.
Retired cleaner and keen golfer Marita Edward went to Newport’s Royal Gwent hospital for a routine gallbladder operation on 28 February.
Her son Stuart Loud says the otherwise fit 80-year-old caught the infection in hospital.
Last Thursday, almost three weeks after arriving at the hospital, she tested positive for Covid-19 and died the following day.”
(The first reported case of hospital aquired Covid 19 in the UK)
31st March
“Why have Newport and the Gwent valleys become a “hotspot” for coronavirus?
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, which is responsible for running hospital and NHS services in the area, is fast becoming the frontline in Wales’ fight against the pandemic.
Questions are being asked about why one part of the country is dealing with high numbers of patients.
Here we try to set out what we know so far.
What is the issue?
Almost half the confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Wales have been at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, even though it only has around a fifth of the total population.
Public health officials in the Gwent valleys said they were seeing increasing numbers of people being admitted to hospitals, as well as the number of people needing intensive care and “sadly an increasing number of people dying”.
7th April
‘Some Welsh NHS staff with Covid-19 have been given wrong test results and were told they did not have coronavirus, BBC Wales has learned.
They are among a group of ten who have been given incorrect results – including eight from Aneurin Bevan Health Board and two from elsewhere.
It is not clear how many of the ten had Covid-19 and were told they did not, or vice versa.”
(Did they return to work, and where?)
12th April
“A consultant at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport says “around 50%” of his colleagues in A&E have tested positive for coronavirus.
Consultant Dr Tim Rogerson, 40, said a “similar percent” has been affected in the hospital’s nursing team.”
(This figure does not include those members of staff who may have aquired the virus, been asymtomatic and recovered)
24th April
“Staff at a Welsh nursing home have been left devastated after the deaths of 15 residents in the space of just a month.
Tests weren’t carried out but 14 of the elderly residents at Tregwilym Lodge in Rogerstone, Newport, reportedly had coronavirus symptoms.
It is normal for one or two residents to die in a month but to lose so many has been described as “catastrophic” by the general manager.
Mrs Healey said 23 staff members at Tregwilym have had symptoms of the virus and five have tested positive.”
26th April
” Thursday, Chief Medical Officer Dr Frank Atherton gave a reason for the surge in cases in this particular part of Wales.
He said: “Aneurin Bevan has seen a higher number of cases than elsewhere in Wales, and there’s a few reasons for that.
“First of all, it is closer to England. We know that the ‘hotspot’ in the UK is around London, and so being on the border with England is an issue.
“The second reason is that there has been a lot more testing in that particular health board, so as a natural consequence there has been more cases identified.”
(Is it me? How can proximity to London or England be a factor. If true then Reading would be lower figures than London, Swindon would have lower figures than Reading, and Newport lower than Swindon)
28th April
“Coronavirus: Two Newport brothers died on same day
Two brothers with coronavirus have died within hours of one another.
Ghulam Abbass, 59, and Razza Ghulam, 53, were treated in adjoining intensive care beds at Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital.
They died three weeks after their father, Ghulam Mohammed, who had an unrelated condition.
(The brothers ran a newsagent at Pill Newport near the Royal Gwent Hospital)
29th April
The First Minister of Wales has defended the decision not to follow England and provide to all care home residents and workers.
The Welsh NHS is testing residents and staff who have symptoms, and First Minister Mark Drakeford said there was “no value” in offering tests to everyone.
Powys also borders England, and it has the lowest figure in Wales
If you choose to watch some of the videos from medical experts on Big Gee’s new blog at link below you may get a different perspective on the testing process.
https://biggeesblog.cymru/index.php/2020/04/30/the-red-hot-dr-andrew-kaufman-interview-with-london-real-tv/
Not everyone can afford to spend 2 hours watching a video containing detailed medical evidence. I personally think that it is worth the effort. I accept not everyone will agree with this but I would welcome an argument from anyone setting out why the videos should be censored / banned in a free society.
The whole basis of that video is false. The reason why MSM and the medical profession does not say a person has died of Covid-19 but has died having Covid-19 is because that is a correct definition. It’s not a conspiracy.
The cause of death is almost always hypoxemia by chronic obstructive pulmonary inflammation. Low oxygen level in the blood because of collapse of lung capacity function. It’s an immune system response to fighting the virus. You die of the symptoms. The infection is called Covid-19, the virus is called SARS-CoV-2. A person with SARS-CoV-2 virus in the body, often develops Covid-19, and if the symptoms are severe, death results.
Death certificates will usually say , Primary Cause – Hypoxemia by chronic obstructive pulmonary inflammation. Secondary Cause – SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the same way as the secondary cause of death being recorded as A-H7N9 virus. This is the latest strain of flu. You don’t die of Flu, but of the severe symptoms that result of having it, in those who’s immune system is vulnerable.
Censorship rests on the effect of a false message. You can shout FIRE if you like. Shout it is a crowded theatre, however, to cause a stampede resulting in the deaths of others is a crime. The weird thing is that in some countries they think that spouting such bollocks, as contained in the video, is harmful. I don’t think it is, just idiotic.
Thank you for the promotion Wynne.
Brychan, I suggest you watch it again and read the other information I have collected on Big Gee’s Blog. The point being made about the reporting is that the MSM never say someone has died OF COVID-19, but it goes this way “Joe Blogs has died in (whatever hospital) he/ she had tested positive for Corona virus”.
The best example was the death of Eddie Large recently. He had been admitted to one of the Bristol hospitals – he was suffering from heart failure, he’d been suffering heart problems for a number of years. When reported, the above MSM line was used, and apparently his death certificate noted that the cause of death was Corona virus. His family were up in arms about this because he died of what he was admitted for – heart failure.
Now there are a number of things to be taken into consideration:
Now you can nit-pick using semantics all you like Brychan, but the truth remains constant. An intelligent person like you, I would have expected to have cast your net a bit wider before coming to the ‘Sheeple’ conclusion – propagated by the likes of the BBC, who incidently receives funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – were you aware of that?
I further suggest that you look through ALL of the information I have diligently provided on my Blog, before you have a mental premature ejaculation, based on propaganda from the MSM.
It surprises me that someone of your calibre can be so easily duped, from a source that consistently tells lies from way back – provable lies, based on the establishment’s propaganda, that permeates the minds of the one dimensional thinkers in our midst.
Like all conspiracy theories, it latches onto a small historical anomaly.
It’s true that the process of Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction as a test is not specific to SARS-CoV-2 virus. You just tune the process to isolate the unique proteins that manifest when looking for a particular virus. The test was only 61% accurate ten years ago when it first became available; this is because it works by a process of amplification. However, laboratory refinement now has resulted in a 90% to 93% efficacy. This in fine for field-testing in a pandemic. False positives is no problem, it just means one in ten people you quarantine need not have been. False negatives (because the error is in not finding the proteins of the virus or quantities so small not replicated by amplification) indicates a poor swab or low viral load and therefore not contagious at the point of test.
TEST TEST TEST.
If you do three blind tests of the same suspect, which does not need to be concurrent, you get 90% accuracy on the first, 99% on the second, and 99.9% on the third. This is not MSM, it’s basic mathematics. This is the basis of field testing. Also, for patient diagnostic in hospital you don’t just test of them having the virus (throat swab, mucus as trace from the lung), but also from another angle. A different search. A different test to find the anti-body (blood sample) in circulation. A person with the anti-body has or has had the virus, so a false negative just means that the viral load is not detectable at point of sample.
Please do not measure me by calibre. I do not subscribe the English class system, or use phrases in the English language used by the aristocracy to delineate status onto the lower orders. It is not the value of me that is to be measured, but the logic of the argument I present.
As far as the existence of the virus itself…
https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.0wEf_NGco0MZH1ea6SiAQgHaFy&pid=Api&P=0&w=232&h=182
Here is photo of it using a scanning electron microscope. This is, indeed, a test for Covid-19. Not practical yet for field deployment outside the laboratory.
Brychan. It is a matter for Big Gee to decide whether he wishes to comment further following your observations. While we await any possible further comment from Big Gee I would be grateful if you could provide additional information regarding the photograph you have provided. Is it your understanding that this is a photograph of Covid-19 virus.
Might be worth a look at these, Wynne, in case you’ve not seen.
https://www.rferl.org/a/microscope-photos-capture-coronavirus-in-stunning-detail/30518135.html
Thanks Stan. Good quality photographs. What I would personally like to see is the photographs linked to a medical or scientific paper / report that explains which lab in the world has managed to isolate Covid-19 virus particles to enable them to be photographed using electron microscope, to give us the full picture [no pun intended].
The natural anti-body the human generates to combat SARS-CoV-2 latches onto the virus and then it’s disposed of into the gut and excreted in poo.
https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(20)30282-1/fulltext
This is an example of you ask for Wynne.
Brychan, I would take issue with you over your comment “Like all conspiracy theories, it latches onto a small historical anomaly”. That is a disparaging remark, and is totally false. Those who research conspiracies do not focus on anomalies, but do serious up to date research, and base their conclusions on that research. To blanket that work by implying that it is based on an anomaly or the favourite word – ‘coincidence’ – is a classic response by those who believe that anything which is at variance with what they perceive to be real, truthful and accurate, but is in fact propaganda, is the manifestation of a symptom of the illness suffered by the bulk of the masses; due to indoctrination, and grooming to accept ‘official’ lines as truth from infancy. When that information is challenged, then the default fallback is to suggest something similar to what you have said, or to ridicule those coming up with alternative conclusions. They’ve got you exactly where they want you my friend. The whole nation of Germany got mesmerised into the same trap during the Nazi period. It was the propaganda minister of that regime who said “Tell a lie big enough, repeat it often enough and the people will believe it”. The same psychology holds true to this day. Not to question everything is dangerous territory.
I’ve been spending copious amounts of my time collecting information and publishing the findings of others when it comes to this pandemic hoax. I’m not about to spend more time repeating myself, when what I have already recorded is easily available on my blog. If you can’t be bothered to read it, that’s your prerogative. However if you want to analyse information from all sources with an open mind, then visit:
https://biggeesblog.cymru
At the foot of the front page you’ll see a video by Dr. Andrew Kaufman. If that is too much effort, then here is the video for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8Dy5mnYx8&feature=youtu.be
The other one I suggest you view is in a post titled ‘The RED HOT Dr. Andrew Kaufman Interview With London Real TV’ on my blog. Again, if you can’t be bothered to look for it here is the direct link to that the video for you:
https://www.brighteon.com/c930c5fb-62c0-40c5-a3bf-ccc12ba29984
When making statements that are the echo chamber of the ones who want to perpetuate this hoax, house arrest ‘pandemic’ then please provide report papers of the supposed research that is being referred to.
“I’ve been spending copious amounts of my time collecting information and publishing the findings of others when it comes to this pandemic hoax”.
Thanks for that, Big Gee, but I’ve just wasted over 38 minutes of my life watching that fucking lunatic, Andrew Kaufman. This pandemic is no hoax. Class me disparagingly as one of your “sheeple” if you like but I’m far happier believing the scientific opinions and advice of countless scientists and doctors around the world rather than those who would seemingly question there’s such a thing as Covid-19 and Sars-Cov-2 at all. I’ll take my chances following them rather than Kaufman. Reckon I’ve a better chance of living longer notwithstanding the shitstorm the UK have made of fighting the virus.
Oh! Here we go again ‘the consensus’! Now where have I heard that somewhere before?
Trouble is how many scientists make up this consensus Stan? You’ll never know will you? Because the other side of the ‘consensus’ is never given a platform by the mainstream (propaganda) media.
As for your remark about Dr. Andrew Kaufman – the qualified doctor that you call a ‘fucking lunatic’. Well qualified to say that are you? I mean, being HIGHLY QUALIFIED in the same field as Dr. Kaufman, and no doubt having spent a considerable amount of time researching the subject. Try this to top up your knowledge:
https://biggeesblog.cymru/index.php/2020/05/05/some-truthful-facts-about-the-supposed-covid-19-pandemic-note-well/
It never ceases to amaze me how gullible some people are – and you believe what the telly tells you, not that they’ve ever lied to you before, on a huge scale.
I heard today that the ‘expert’ professor Neil Ferguson from Imperial College London (funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – who also provide funding for the BBC) resigned today – you know the guy, the one with that magic ‘computer model’ (garbage in garbage out) that advised the government on the anticipated deaths from this hoax virus, that both the UK and US governments listened to and which brought about the house arrest of every citizen in both countries. Good that – these experts are faultless aren’t they? He was also the guy who advised the government of the UK about Foot & Mouth disease years ago, that prompted them to kill and burn tens of thousands of animals that were perfectly healthy, sending a swathe of farmers bankrupt. Ferguson later admitted he got it wrong. And these are the people you trust Stan?
He resigned after getting arrested yesterday for breaking the curfew that he single handedly got put in place. He’d been sneaking out to visit his married girlfriend. Hmm – so he thought he was exempt, although he’d told the clueless politicians that everyone else ran the risk of death if they went outside their doors.
Yes, gullible is the word for those who are so keen to listen to the likes of Ferguson & Bill Gates, who wants the whole of mankind vaccinated. Still as you’re HAPPY then fine. There’s none as blind as those that don’t want to see Stan. But do you know what really pisses me off? People getting annoyed because others question the very people you hold sacred. PATHETIC.
If you want to find real ‘fucking lunatics’ as you call them, then go no further than the Cabal’s main henchman – Gates, who hasn’t even qualified as an auxiliary nurse, but owns the global health organisation His Foundation is the biggest contributor to WHO, he has millions invested in the Big Pharma industry, and you no doubt trust him and all the other paid ‘experts’ that you would trust with your life. No doubt you will be in the queue to be a guinea pig for his vaccines – but you can trust him, although he has hundreds of registered patents on Corona viruses that goes back many years.
Wake up Sheeple! You need a pair of eyes and ears mate, then you need to wake up and smell the coffee.
Dr Andrew Kaufman is an ‘MD’ in forensic psychiatry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_psychiatry
His historical background in molecular biology as a teaching assistant, and has an ordinary degree of that field.
There are claims that there are hundreds of registered patents on Corona viruses that goes back many years. Yes, there are many varieties of Corona virus. The must common one is the ‘cold’. These patents relate to mild versions of these viruses developed as vaccines.
https://fullfact.org/online/Rothschild-coronavirus/
There are no patents for SARS-CoV-2, dubbed Covid-19.
You make of it what you will Brychan – but using Wikipedia as your gold standard for accurate information is a pretty shaky foundation for any debate, as it is an open editing platform that anyone can contribute to.
The Gates Foundation holds over 2,000 patents on Corona viruses which, as you know, is a very wide net for all strains that are labelled ‘Corona virus’. SARS-CoV-2, dubbed Covid-19 being in that group of viruses. There are no specific patents for the variety labelled SARS-CoV-2, as that strain has NOT been separated or identified, so technically don’t exist, but are presumed to be in existence. Without proof of identification by separation, patents cannot be registered. They come under the umbrella of Corona viruses.
Hi, Big Gee. I’m pretty sure we aren’t going to agree about the good Doctor (Kaufman). I too had picked up what Brychan confirmed, that his doctorate is in Forensic Psychiatry. That doesn’t prevent him having an opinion on coronaviruses, of course, but I think I’ll still follow the the advice of specialists in virology and related fields on whether there’s such a thing as SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19. I repeat, I’m prepared to believe they exist, and indeed can result in extreme harm to my well-being, or even death, based on the overwhelming weight of scientific and medical evidence, and opinions to date.
I’m just not persuaded by a psychiatrist (or “fucking lunatic”) who tells us via his YouTube channel that this virus and pandemic is a hoax; that it’s OK to break lockdown and go outside whenever we want; that one way to look after ourselves at present is to drink lots of clean water and get plenty of sunshine (oh, I forgot the Vitamin C too). I’m just not convinced I want to risk my life and the lives of others on the strength of that. You must do what you think is right for you and yours. I can respect that, even though I am absolutely convinced you are backing the wrong horse here.
Keep taking the vitamins.
I think you’ll find Dr. Kaufman is not just a forensic psychiatrist, he’s also highly qualified in other medical fields. But obviously you’re intent on shooting the messenger instead of listening to the message.
If you want to go down that road try Dr. Judy Mikovits, who has in the past been described as the leading research scientist of her era:
https://biggeesblog.cymru/index.php/2020/05/07/the-hidden-agenda-documentary-with-judy-mikovits-phd/
But if you prefer to hide behind a sofa during your house arrest, then carry on. You’re far more trusting of the telly and other mainstream media outlets than I am. Perhaps you’ve got a short memory, or maybe it’s a case of “none as blind as those who do not want to see” – that is very much the case with the programmed ‘Sheeple’ who have been conditioned from birth to believe everything they see and hear from the establishment. It’s a question of a perceived perception that’s been brainwashed into them from birth.
A critical, open mind is the solution to heal that problem. Taking vitamin C and getting plenty of vitamin D from the sun is good advice to bolster up the immune system, but you won’t get much of that if you keep on listening to the propaganda. But don’t worry uncle Bill Gates the eugenicist will soon be providing you with a mandatory vaccine. See how that works for you!
Monmouth is closer to England, yet lower infection rate
” A man so wooden he should be kept away from naked flames” – That is quote of the week, although the funniest quote was the straight faced announcement by the boy Miles that Wales Gov’t was fetching in Gordon Brown to help us out of the hole we are in. That man is only good for digging us into deeper holes but I had to laff at the time as the irony was enormous, heavy.
There is currently debate as to why England and Scotland have a different policy on the “Covid-19 in bloodstream test” of residents and staff of care homes, to that of Wales. The error in Wales is best explained by the FMs statement that he has taken ‘best medical advise’. This will be the opinion of the chief medical officer for Wales.
The advice is wrong.
A medics role is to treat an individual patient. Expertise in the spread of a virus lies in another field of science, that of an epidemiologist. In the same way as when you want to fix your car, the best option is a mechanic. However, mechanics don’t design motorways.
Whilst it’s true that the “Covid-19 in bloodstream test” only tells you that a person does not have the virus and it does not tell you tell you that they aren’t going to catch it the following day. It does identify those staff and residents who are carriers of the virus who are not currently symptomatic. Periodic testing of care home residents and staff also tells you if someone, at some point, does becomes infected, giving you the opportunity to remove a vector of transmission from a critical bubble.
It’s also important to remember that lockdown is not a cure for Covid-19.
It’s a tactic to flatten the infection curve in order to prevent the NHS being inundated. What volume exists under a short steep curve as opposed to a long shallow curve determines the net mortality. Once the lockdown tactic has borne fruit it becomes necessary to concentrate on reducing net mortality. This is preventing spread in specific communities.
FM Drakewell is making the same mistake as the director of the New York sanatoriums. Not symptomatic, no need for a test. This was how Typhoid Mary got a jobs as ward matron.
And now for something really fuckin’ stupid Wise guy Drakeford says there’s no point testing non-symptomatic folks in care homes. Yet care staff, young and old, can be asymptomatic carriers. Residents especially recent arrivals can be carriers. It’s a virus Mark not a bloody big visible baton. People pass in invisible ways. You can stop it by application of testing methodologies and issue of reliable PPE, both of which don’t appear on Welsh government’s must have list. That list ? well mostly feeble excuses and fibs which are used repeatedly even when proven not to work.
I suggest sending the FM the letter that was sent to patients in the Llynfi.
Along with the to “do not resuscitate” form.
Why were/were these empty field hospitals not used to accommodate the elderly rather than being returned to care homes to infect others?
Much rejoicing on the north bank of the Firth of Forth around Kirkaldy. Gordon Broon selected to help rebuild the Welsh economy. I don’t know if his skills extend far enough to meet that challenge but he did a pretty good job of destroying the UK economy ‘tween 2007-10. Managed to totally misjudge the toxicity of the financial services sector, a favoured “growth” sector in his and Darling’s view.
Here in Wales he will probably rely on another favoured growth sector, the third, which is driving flat out to corner the UK market in homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, wife beating, kiddie molesting and other assorted deviations and incurable criminality.
Come to think of it, Gordon may just fuck it up completely in which case it will be the first good bit of work on his long and unimpressive c.v.
Just had a quick visit to you Twitter column and had to leave as I nearly pissed myself laughing. In amongst a few odd tweets we have the hilarious Leanne slagging others off for indulging in groupthink ! This is the dame who has figured large,- big, bigger biggest – in the groupthink assault on McEvoy, in the monstrous overkill of the transgender ishoo, promoting gay rights while schmoozing with an Islamist extremist whose chums gleefully engage in a bit of queer chucking off tall buildings …. need I go on !
I will now go for another piss.
I recall reading somewhere that during the Irish Confederate Wars that the Parliamentarians tried to claim at the time that 200,000 planters were killed in Ulster… or something along those lines. I think contemporary estimates vary between 4-10 thousand. If I recall the Orange Order retain the images on their banners. The Parliamentarians clearly had no problem retaliating at Drogheda and the Sack of Wexford.
In contrast not sixty years previously there was the Massacre of Mullaghmast where the Gaelic Lords of Laois and Offaly were all summoned to discuss an alliance and a few hundred clansmen were murdered in order to facilitate plantations in those counties.
Hywel Dda and Betsi Cadwalader are 2 Health Boards that serve Wales’ favoured second home regions – North Wales coast, Cardigan Bay and Pembroke round to the Tywi estuary.
Does the inability, or disinclination, of these 2 boards to present timely and accurate information regarding Covid linked fatalities represent deceit or plain incompetence ?
Did Vaughan “fudge” Gething issue an edict, or a mere hint, that letting the numbers fall off the table for a few days might be handy only to find that in the case of Betsi it makes him look an even bigger wally ?
Will all this nonsense lead to a significant firing, or just a token sacrifice with handsome pay-off ( all subject to a confidentiality agreement drafted by one of those much favoured Cardiff solicitors).?
I was thinking the very same thing, and I’ve put it out on Twitter.
Just noticed I’ve gone out as anon yet again. Looks like I’ve got to fill in those little boxes everytime now, used to just fill it and forget it. Is that progress ? or has some bureaucrat slipped into Jac Towers ?
Probably me. I’ve having trouble behind the scenes. I have to log in every time myself now. Will try to sort it out tomorrow.
The Covid-19 deaths in hospital for these health board areas include ‘native’ patients, which were correctly recorded on the Welsh system as well as ‘foreign’ patients who would need to be recorded on the English system.
The physician who confirms the cause of death, which would include the primary or secondary reason as Covid-19 pathogen needs to inform the dead persons registered GP. Those from England would be registered on the ‘Clinical Commissioning Group’ record, which usually commissions treatment at a hospital in England under an NHS Trust. This is a concept that does not exist in Wales as all GP practices are registered with a Health Board.
The 84 ‘missing’ deaths in north Wales may well have been grannies sent away to the holiday home in Wales once they got infected, and were subsequently hospitalised, so Hywel Dda had entered such an event as a record on the Welsh system but Betsi Cadwaladr had just input the details onto the English system. FM Drakewell said ‘different system’. He did not say what was the different system and why.
I could not make sense of ‘different systems’ either. Why would one health board be operating differently?
There is the date at which publishing the statistic does not identify individual deaths as an instruction not to publish, in late March, and the date in late April when the value generated by the error becomes apparent. A deaths by Covid-19 is identified by a physician. It is attributed on the death certificate.
Epidemiological systems is to try to identify the vector of transmission (place) and what stage of growth (curve). It is for this reason Public Health England collect the number of deaths by (a) Home, address at found dead, (b) Hospital, mortuary flow, (c) Care Home died, place registered with local authority, (d) Hospice death licensed, (e) Other communal establishment, and (f) Elsewhere, no identifiable geographical vector to apply, like at sea. This ensures you get full attributable data.
A clue is here. All other counties or metropolitan centres in England have similar.
This is the system used by Public Health England.
It’s appropriate to assume as in the example shown, that asylum seekers arrive in Kent by inflatable dingy are defined as “elsewhere” and that the ‘other communal establishment’ is prisons.
This suggests that in an attempt to accommodate Berwyn in the English dataset, as instructed by the Home Office, BCHB also, incorrectly, entered the patients admitted to Welsh hospitals with an address in England also into the English system rather than the Welsh one. This was the likely cause of the “missing” 84 fatalities. There is no Berwyn in Hywel Dda.
As far as I’m aware there are no boatloads of asylum seekers arriving in Abersoch freeing Ireland, but there are loads of holiday homes. If you get admitted to Ysbyty Gwynedd, the registrar asks for your primary home address and next of kin.
There is, of course another anomaly. A person in Powys may well be admitted to a hospital in England, usually Shrewsbury, and should a death there be recorded there it would go into the English system.
For this reason administrators in Hywel Dda Health Board also have access to the English system. Hywel Dda has opportunity for the same recording error. That of Covid-19 positive people in Wales as being resident in a holiday home but with a primary address in England being absent from the Hywel Dda report to Public Health Wales. This explains the ‘missing 31’.
Such opportunity for ‘wrong system entry’ does not present in Scotland, who have a devolved prison estate and negligible cross border hospital provision. If you die while resident in a holiday home in Scotland you are recorded as a Scottish death. Scots reporting has no need for access to the English system.
Hereford hospital also counts.
Yes. There is no general hospital in Powys, so any Covid-19 patient requiring access to a hospital with HDU and ventilator facility some will be admitted to the east at Shrewsbury (or Hereford), or to the west at Ysbyty Bronglais (Hywel Dda Health Board). It is they who get to record the deaths in hospital. If the primary home address is in Wolverhampton they may have been entering it to the system of Public Health England, the reason for being at Bronglais (or Withybush or Glangwili) as the Welsh ambulance shout to goes to a holiday home in Wales. Conversely, a Welsh person from Powys who dies in an English hospital is also input to the English system.
We now have concrete proof that ‘deaths in second homes’ that occur in Wales are actually reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as a death at the primary address, even though the risk of spreading the virus, the cost of hospitalisation and treatment, and the social/economic impact is in Wales, but that death is attributed to England, or wherever that person is medically registered.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc811/msoamap/
ONS is an Englandandwales organisation.
Click on ONS census area to give the deaths locally.
This is also important at the economic kickstart’ and apportionment of ‘rebuilding the NHS infrastructure’ after lockdown will concentrate on where deaths have been recorded, and not a true record of the epidemiological of coronavirus in Wales. Since April 17th, the distribution of PPE, ventilators and other resources have been directed at ‘hardest hit areas’, which would be the cities in England, even though the death and the cross-infection event is in rural Wales.
Scotland has it’s own reporting and statistical service.
If it applies to holiday homes then presumably it also applies to deaths in Welsh hospitals?
The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 defines the Civil Service Code, and is part of the contractual relationship between the employee (Gary Haggaty) and the employer, (Welsh Government ministers).
Details.
https://gov.wales/civil-service-code-html
When the intimate domestic relationship between Haggaty and Griffiths came to light as an obvious conflict of interest, usually called ‘shagging the boss’, he was shifted sideways and provided with the post of Deputy Director, Community Safety Division.
This is a post led by the Auditor General for Wales and although the new boss is appointed by the queen, there is still overlap as being the ‘data conduit’ between such non-devolved responsibilities and Welsh ministers.
I suspect that when the Police and Crime Commissioners meet they ask themselves who that cock is at the end of the table.
If they asked out loud Ms Griffiths could furnish very detailed even forensic answer. Ychafi !
I received more information late last night. Gary has been in Wales longer than I’d suspected. Married in South Glamorgan in September 1993.
I do have to wonder if these cunts would be so cocky as guests of a more confident nation, say one that has given their ilk and their royals the boot a long time ago. Somewhere like Ireland, or the States. Be interesting to observe the strength of feeling were the scenario transplanted (read: how much of a beating would be delivered).
Holiday homes are just another manifestation of the unequal relationship between Wales and England. To dress the issue up as anything else can only be attributed to ignorance or prejudice.
I think the unequal relationship is best illustrated by comparing and contrasting rural communities and their respective affluence. How many rural Welsh communities can anyone name with a comparable affluence and general niceness to any you could name in rural England, that aren’t aligned to cater to English holidaymakers?
Forget the Assembly, local authorities seem to be truly pissed off with thrse people as well. Why do they not band together with English, Scottish LAs who are just as pissed off with tge townies to seriously start kicking gvts arse and putting pressure on local constabularies. God knows they are kicking their heels these days with zero crime happening
Have you seen the comment section on the WoL story about the First Minster, removing second home owners? It’s as if they have got together and are trying to justify what they are doing.
I know that Assembly members read Jac, so don’t leave it to Niel McEvoy, pull your fingers out and get the job done!
Sorry Niel, everyone is going to have a go at you, but at least, you will do something.
I can’t put up a comment so I’ve put out a tweet.
I read elsewhere that there is great concern about the long term damage likely to be inflicted on Tourism by the current crisis and its aftermath( whenever that comes). Surely that should be the cue for our great political leaders and those thrusting dynamic capitalists among us to develop new alternative economic activities that lead us away from seasonal, low margin dependency. Something a bit post-colonial in its style ? Asking too much ?
Asking those clowns in Cardiff to develop a real economy – rather than just letting tourism ‘happen’ – would be a waste of time. They have neither the ability nor the political incentive. What’s more, their civil servants wouldn’t let them even if they wanted to give it a go.
I’m told that Game Show was PA to Rachel Lomax when she was Perm Sec at the WO in the 90s. Then was head of IT security. Moved to Llandod c2000 as head of the Divisional Office there.
Rachel Lomax, the woman who reputedly engineered the squabble with Cardiff council over City Hall in order to get the new Assembly down to the Bay for the benefit of Nick Edwards and his mates in Associated British Ports. All explained here.
As a matter of interest, and to revert to the argot of the Swansea streets – was he giving her one?
giving her one ? Surely it was all paid for and above board !
I fear you misunderstand.
I note brief reference to Wales and West Housing [WWH] in your post Jac. As you are aware I am involved in ongoing correspondence with regard to the possible purchase of the former Cardigan Hospital site by WWH, with the site to be redeveloped for affordable housing and office accommodation subject to a future application for planning permission for change of land use.
A few days ago, on 23 April, I received a note [copied below] from the Development Manager WWH in reply to my request for information on how the flood risk to the site was to be managed should planning permission be granted at a future date. Correspondence is continuing as it remains unclear who will fund a flood alleviation scheme [the Health Board selling the site or WWH purchasing the site]. The cost of defending the site from flooding is likely to be substantial. Will update you on developments.
“Your emails to our contactus website have eventually found their way to me. It would appear that a fault had developed which our ICT Team has now fixed. The system had logged them as having been sent, but they hadn’t actually been sent. Please accept my apologies for that and the subsequent delay in responding.
We are fully aware of the flood risk position on the Hospital Site. The flood map that you refer to was included in the display at our Consultation Event at the Guildhall. It had been identified at a very early stage in our consideration of the site and will be a very large consideration on our proposals for the site itself. We have commissioned specialist Engineers and Environmental Consultants to advise us on the flood risk situation and any proposals on the site will have to be approved by NRW through the thorough Planning Process. NRW are a statutory consultee in the Planning process and no development will be allowed to occur on that site until they have formally approved to the Planning Authority that those proposals meet the flood risk assessments required to safeguard the future uses on that site. That will require a great deal of consultation on our part with NRW.
Pob hwyl
Development Manager
Wales & West Housing “
You’re doing great work here, Wynne, because nobody else – not media, not council, not MPs and AMs – would be asking these questions. Has a figure ever been mentioned for the necessary flood prevention measures, or will it be calculated by the “specialist Engineers and Environmental Consultants” mentioned in the response?
It is a matter for WWH “specialist engineers and environmental consultants” to advise them on the cost of defending the site. As part of any future planning application for change of land use the applicant [WWH] will have to submit a “Flood Consequence Assessment [FCA]” to the local planning authority to inform the planning decision. This will be prepared by their consultants. Cost of flood alleviation scheme [and associated project costs, consultant fees etc] not known at this stage but likely to be substantial. There is an indication in the note to me that a final decision on site purchase may be deferred until cost implication becomes clear, and who provides the funding [Health Board selling the site or developer WWH purchasing the site]. All this may take time to resolve. At some stage WWH will need to decide whether to proceed or abort the project. I shall aim to comment during the public consultation stage of the planning process when a copy of the FCA will be available for scrutiny.
Which could mean that Wales & West has been acting for some time as if the sale is a done deal, when in reality it might never buy the site. My guess would be that whatever the cost of flood protection WHH’s friends in the Bay will provide a handout.
Jac. To update yourself, and those reading your blog, on the current position I responded to WWH note dated 23 April with the note copied below.
To: Wales and West Housing – Development Manager – Gareth Thomas
Thank you for your helpful response to my enquiry. I have noted the content and will comment further if, and when, an application for detailed planning permission for change of land use is submitted for consideration by the Local Planning Authority. I am aware that Natural Resources Wales [N R W] are a statutory consultee in the development management [planning] process and that a business case [including feasibility study] for protecting the town of Cardigan from fluvial and tidal flood events is under development by N R W for submission to Welsh Government for approval. It remains unclear, at this stage, whether the University Health Board and / or Wales and West Housing will be required to contribute to the cost of defending the former hospital site from fluvial / tidal flooding as part of a comprehensive scheme to defend the town of Cardigan. I shall comment further when the business case has been presented to Welsh Government for consideration and approval, expected to be later this year. Thank you again for responding to my enquiry.
Regards