(0403) Redacted has asked me a question, so I’m going to answer it below but it also applies, that answer, in general. (0552)

 

3. In answer to a fair question

Redacted asks Toodles and I do we consider him a troll? I do vaguely recall recently using the word “troll” but it was not in connection with him, nor with any of our chaps and chapesses. However, it’s certainly a bit mongrel, us (plural) … someone once asked me to call off the “rottweilers”, which was a very left liberal mindset … I have zero influence over our lot, inc. Redacted. Unherdable Cats we are.

Every single reader who sticks it out here, unblocked, is a bit of a dangerous character in him/herself, is resourceful … in short, is a curmudgeon to a point, so niceties are what I do here in a Teddy R manner. “Keeping the peace” does not describe it, as I have very little influence … more it’s trying to keep this show on the road afap, dealing with this or that. That’s about it.

I’m loathe to enter disputes but again … no you’re not a troll … sometimes you can flood the comments thread (my problem mainly) but so can any here … observe Steve, DAD, IYE now and then. Talk about disparate tavern of patrons though … I hesitate to say “dirty dozen”, so let’s just say there are very few beg pardons.

The link in the sidebar called “Your Longer Pieces” is still useful though, in case you have some highly sensitive links … it gives a measure of protection, not being strictly front page … my job then is to signpost. Also, in a while, I’m going to shift that link to just below the “Succinct Words of Wisdom”.

Lastly, I have to come back to that Reagan comment, over and over:

2. Intriguing Xer I’ve seen around on X

Goes by the moniker Rus Garbage Human@RusGarbageHuman and his blurb goes: “Culturally English, Ethnically Russian. You cannot coexist with people who want you dead and your children sent to re-education camps. NEVER give up your guns.”

Given my own years spent in Russia, plus the way the ptb vilify anything and anyone Russian here, in the EU and in the US, plus being metaphysically Christian myself, I’m used to being vilified because I (sort of) do go looking for danger but not foolhardiness.

The vilified Baden-Powell (only of late have I been told why) nevertheless said some wise things and one was that “a good bushman never tries to rough it”. That is, he sees his situation at that moment, e.g. on bivouac on the side of a hill near, but not quite on the ridge, as what it is, he adapts to it and makes it as comfortable as humanly possible.

As a soldier, I was strategically bad in that my fellow squaddie and I used to spend half an hour of our allotted sleep gathering bracken to put under our ponchos, to act as palliases. Which got us into trouble with the sarge next morn, rested, as the whole idea of bivouac was to leave the surrounds as undisturbed as possible.

As I pointed out … we were on exercise, not for real, so we’d prefer to be in trouble and do the fatigues later back in camp, but gain valuable sleep for now … a habit not broken to this very day. Robert Baden-Powell’s point had been just that … create order out of chaos wherever you find yourself, create comfort out of hardship, be eternally aware, protect your fellow soldier or traveller, plus the Khalil Gibran maxim of “if possible, be at peace with the other person” … but I’d add the Teddy Roosevelt “speak softly but carry a big stick”. Also learn to blend into the background when required.

This Russian guy on X is quite adept … I’m still observing for now … what I like is his uncompromising way of telling it as it is … a bit like Redacted’s manner in his question … but Russkies are survivors in harsh conditions, so as far as I’m concerned, he’s welcome … I’ll drop something on him later in Russian. This is one of his tweets:

“Why was a white girl in the car with three blacks?” That was his comment on the news headline: “Drunk driver was speeding at 94mph before crash that killed four Essex university students – inquest”.

I’m going to reply to him: “Привет! Почему она вообще была с ними в машине? Почему в парке в пять утра нашли ещё одну мёртвую девочку? Интересная демографическая группа. Девочки никогда, никогда не учатся, особенно девушки из Эссекса и леволибералы, так почему же мы вообще о них заботимся? Древний вопрос, нет, уходящий корнями в глубокую древность?”

1. DAD

a) Arrested in 2017 for large-scale cannabis trafficking and finally sentenced two years later on appeal in Versailles (Yvelines) to eight and five years’ imprisonment, the B. brothers clearly didn’t take long to return to action.

b) Marine Le Pen announces her intention to bring down the government and stands ready in case of snap elections.

c) There is a massive misconception that All Epstein Victims were Teens. This is Far from the Truth.

d) In the chic 6th arrondissement of Paris, residents of the Vavin and Bréa streets neighborhood—backed by several celebrities—are opposing the opening of a Carrefour City – a cheap mini-supermarket.

(1306)

 

27. Last one for now

… promise:

26. Just wondering, you know

… what with the invasion … er … influx … in London, whether there are any Cockney’s left:

25. Let’s try Scotland then, in a clear, calm voice

24. Steve at 1111

• DNI Dir. Gabbard Drops Bombshell: Russia Hoax Was Manufactured By Obama Officials To Take Down President Trump
• “We Learned More From Tulsi Gabbard In One Day Than Durham Gave Us In Four Years” Caroline Wren Reacts To Russia Hoax Revelations
• Laura Loomer: “Murdoch Is A Slime Ball Liar Who Tried To Weaponize His News Corporation To Assassinate The Character Of President Trump”
• “Is Obama Going To Face The Firing Squad?” Tej Gill Reacts To Russia Hoax Bombshell

23. Queensberry Tunnel

22. It’s all a hoax

… absolutely nothing exists. Yeah? And you buy that at face value? Blind faith?

Then we have those who call themselves “true MAGA” … what’s true MAGA? Is it not wanting America great again, which involves “draining the swamp”? And does that not involve charging perps, removing them? If removing the rot is not MAGA, then what is Tom Homan about? Tulsi?

Are they not “true MAGA” in your eyes? Oh, I see … “true MAGA” is doing the same as the cognitively dissonant left? That is … seeing something very wrong but then happy to have all investigations stopped, suppressed, all because this lot calling themselves “true MAGA” have decided that for us to continue to call for something obviously in existence is not “true MAGA”? That it’s treasonous to find out? Where do these people get off?

Ok, here’s something treasonous … I too called out the ridiculous WSJ birthday card BS … any BS I call out, so do these people:

Are Harmeet and JD and I traitors to America for calling it BS? A clear beat up? Now look at the linked YT … is that BS? If it certainly existed, then why not call for names? Since when is calling for that not “true MAGA”? By whose definition?

It’s insane not to drain the swamp when that was one key reason DJT was relected. Who exactly are the real traitors here?

Differences

… but not on all things. She said herself that she did not roam far and wide, which is fine … those across the pond are descendants of those who did … and the societies are more similar than the stay at homes often admit. Similar foundations at least.

Even within France, the difference between Gay Paree and the provinces and towns is quite marked, even for an English speaker to pick up on. Even between Brummieland here and the Black Country, there were marked differences … also between Lancs and Yorks. I’m in “enemy” territory over here right now.

Then comes the politics … Wokery and antiWokery … I can’t see how the two can reconcile. Once the conflagration with the fighting invaders starts though … what then? Sometimes it’s just attitude … fighter versus treehuggers.

Check out these accents … I adore both:

West Country:

Southern US:

Was just thinking though … the female holding it that way has less o shoot off than the male.

(0926) Not cold but gloomy sky. (1045) One of these busy ones again. (1058)

 

20. True

19. Obama and the other crooks

18. Laura the Vetting Czar, ha ha

17. The evidence accrues

16. Over at OoL

https://orphansofliberty.blogspot.com/2025/07/opening-cafe.html

 

(0615)(0652)

 

15. Just a sshot, not a clip

14. Dearieme

(i) Usually allegations about Rishi’s extreme wealth have proved to be false – they have treated his wife’s money as his own. Could this be an exception?

(ii) The “Blind Trust”: aha! Joe Bloggs might assume that the phrase implies a trust fund where the trustees decide on the investments and the settler of the money is kept in ignorance. Wonderful if true. But we learned from Toni Blair’s blind trust adventure that Cherie Blair was instructing the trustees what to invest in. So I now assume that all purported Blind Trusts are fake. 

Maybe, just to be sure that Joe Bloggs understands the corruption involved we should refer to them as “Blair Trusts”.

13. Redacted come home, all is forgiven ☺️

Seriously though … look at that song in Sat 10 again … whatever your view of the song, the genre … every one of those guys and one gal were musos, adept at what they did, the result was not a cacophony but a blend of elements.

We need the angles, the links, even the remonstrances of each of us to jog along, to get there in the end. Toodles and I were talking about Long Tall Texans with six guns or whatever … we even have a France based contingent here … if we’re westwide, we’re getting a mix of approaches … there’s a connection with Mandy Gall with info from Eire … whowoodathunk it even a decade ago … she detests Sinn Fein … now tell me that all these angles are bad … dot dot dot.

At the same time, my job, “editingly”, is to watch flooding when the levy breaks … maybe we need an overflow channel for that … dead easy for me to create an “overflow page” for “longs” or long rants. Idea would be that if you feel a long rant coming on, drop it there, I see it, signpost here in big letters, just as I’d do for NOWP, OoL, for any of our drops. That Overflow link would be in HQ sidebar near the top, rather than in the navbar, which serves all sites.

You might ask why not just use the underused UHCWP? Cough, how can I put this … HQ is unique in that it has this extra freedom and self-control, you see, to the other sites, with bags of disk space … best to keep long rants within HQ itself. Were I to have some sort of index, table of contents at the top of that page, you could find the particular piece easily enough.

Let’s try that anyway … give me an hour or so to set it up.

12. IMHO, the purtiest gal in Congress, on digital currency

11. IYE

E Files: The Midas Touch

CO is over the target, imo. 47 is comped.

(0526) Grey bleah rises out there, low Gates cloud. (0606)

 

10. Was she pushed into it?

Plus Donny and Pammy? Or was it all part of the cunning plan?

Living on Tulsi time … with apologies to Eric, Sheryl, Don and Tulsi G

9. Uh huh … Fraser Nelson?

Anything to say, former Spectator editor?

8. DAD at 1110

a) Nice. The statue of Joan of Arc in Nice will not be removed. The Marseille Administrative Court of Appeal ruled Thursday in favor of the Nice municipality…

b) A far-left LGBTQ+ activist in France is alleged to have been at the heart of an underground pedophile network that drugged and raped children as young as three years old…

c) As the government seeks to save on healthcare spending, the French National Authority for Health (HAS) has unveiled recommendations aimed at “guaranteeing safe and high-quality care” for adult gender transition requests.…

d) ‘The situation has become intolerable!’ Nice is restricting access to city center streets due to spiraling drug crisis…

7. I just turned 60 today, yay! Razmatazz!

Translated, it just means that for 60 days straight, I’ve posted “Reader drops” … which in turn means our boys/lads/chaps have been doin’ their thang at NOWP … which in turn means that it’s running nicely, touch wood and/or thank the Lord.

6. Andy at 1110

Ski News Oz is always a good source of amusing stories. If only we had something similar over here. |  https://youtu.be/1FLzcSqHgnM?si=m0en2InLHMISVoP2

……

JH: Ski? Uh huh, it’s ski season just now downunder, I was forgetting.

(0429) Morning all, too dark to see outside. You have a wonderful day and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. (0520)

 

5. Careful which you pick

4. Colbert

3. Steve at 1110

• Newly Declassified Docs Reveal Barack Obama Helped “Manufacture and Politicize Intelligence” to Create Trump-Russia Collusion Hoax
• Russians Conquer a Dozen Settlements in a Week – In Eastern Donetsk, Northern Kharkov and Southern Zaporozhie
• AG Bondi Announces She Will Release Pertinent Jeffrey Epstein Grand Jury Testimony – After Trump Calls For Epstein Documents Release 🍿🍿🍿
• WSJ ‘Reporter’ Who Wrote Epstein Hit Piece on President Trump Has a Connection to Founder of Fusion GPS, Which Was Funded by Hillary and the DNC to Produce the Russia Hoax
• Kallas celebrates 18 Russia sanctions. (sigh)
• Midazolam murder: “If you want to kill somebody, get a doctor or a nurse to do it”
• Chicken soup proven to cut cold duration by 2.5 days
• EPA confirms existence of Geoengineering programs
• Much more.

2. Yesterday

The sanitised version:

1. Epping … Adam Brooks reminds us

“What then happened, was the Police escorted 50 “ ANTIFA “ down towards the hotel, with masks on and covered faces. The riot Police then had to kettle those extremists into a side street, due to loads of local teenagers & youths coming out to challenge them. What we’ve seen is not good, but questions have to be asked, why are ANTIFA allowed to turn up for trouble with masks on? That sparked the violence seen in Epping tonight, nothing else. This is not a far right protest, it’s a town of worried parents,uncles and grandparents.”

It was followed by police vans being used to actually drive antifa out of the mayhem safely. Why? Who authorised this? There was a shot of masked males, all features covered up, escorted by plod … at least this lot are unmasked:

(1651) Finally back, evening all.

 

19. Steve and war room at 1110

• Laura Loomer: Man Behind Mar-A-Lago Raid Is Still Employed As White House Dir. Of Records Management
• Rachel Bovard: The Biden Staff Coup Was The Biggest Conspiracy Against Americans In History
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene On GENIUS Act: “They’re Laying The Groundwork For A Fully Controlled, Cashless Society.”
• Naomi Wolf: ‘The Network’ In The World OF The Elites – Intellectuals Herded Into Proximity To Epstein

18. True colours

17. One of the nastiest incidents was one of the riot police in Epping

… verballed by a protester. Usual response is two police take him down, handcuffs etc. etc. … the policeman stepped fwd and broke the man’s teeth with the riot shield.

16. The Unholy Alliance

15. First Nations I think mean the First Fleet, 1788

14. Ssssh, don’t say the word “Christian”

13. Steve and Hearts of Oak at 1110

Hearts of Oak: Ben Habib – Advance UK: Fighting for Britain’s Cultural and Political Revival

 

Review:

Johnny Mansell is forced to flee London after running up large gambling debts and returns to his native town, the industrial town of Rawborough, where he moves into a flat with his brother Dave and Dave’s girlfriend Calico. (It’s a nickname!). The two brothers are, at least on the surface, very different. Johnny is a suave, fashionably dressed playboy, whose sources of income are rather mysterious, whereas the dowdy, bespectacled Dave is a wages clerk in a local steel mill.

The outwardly respectable Dave, however, is hiding a guilty secret. He has embezzled £300 from his employers in order to buy expensive gifts for the glamorous but mercenary Calico and desperately needs to repay the money before the auditors make their annual visit to the firm. Johnny believes that he can win enough money in a betting coup, but Calico comes up with a plan for Dave to rob his workplace and to steal enough money to cover his fraud. Dave is desperate enough to go ahead with this plan, and the rest of the film deals with the disastrous consequences of his action. 

British films noirs, unlike their American counterparts, often included elements of the “kitchen sink realism” which was very much in vogue in the Britain of the late fifties and early sixties, not only in the cinema but also in literature and the visual arts. “Tread Softly Stranger” with its factories and its shabby flats and nightclubs, permeated by an atmosphere of seediness and moral corruption, fits well into this tradition. George Baker’s Johnny, a handsome, charming drifter living on the edge of the law but with a certain sense of honour and loyalty, is a classic noir figure. 

This was the second film which Diana Dors made after returning to Britain following her brief and unsuccessful attempt to conquer Hollywood; the first, “The Long Haul”, was also a crime drama. Dors is often thought of as Britain’s answer to America’s blonde bombshells like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, but on the evidence of this film she could also be seen as the British equivalent of femmes fatales like Lizabeth Scott and Gloria Grahame.

American films noirs often featured a beautiful and seductive but dangerous young woman as one of the main characters, and British directors working in the same style sometimes copied this feature. Although there were occasional brunette examples, such as the character played by Ava Gardner in “The Killers”, the majority of these women were blonde, possibly because blondes had a greater visual impact in films shot in black-and-white. (This was said to have been the reason why Hitchcock used blondes in so many of his films, although he continued doing so even after he switched to colour). 

Diana’s pneumatic figure and platinum blonde looks meant that she was often cast in comedies, generally with a sexual edge to them, but her real strength was in serious drama. (Although many people thought of her as little more than a sexy bimbo, she was actually a classically trained actress). “Yield to the Night” from two years earlier is often quoted as her greatest achievement in the cinema, but in my view she is equally good here.

The two roles are in a sense complementary. Mary, her character in “Yield to the Night”, is a murderess, yet is portrayed as a woman more sinned against than sinning. Calico, by contrast, is selfish and amoral, yet it is Dave and Johnny, both of whom have fallen for her charms, who have to pay the price for her selfishness and amorality. 

The one jarring note in Diana’s performance is her accent. In her private life she spoke with a strong West Country accent- she was a native of Swindon- but in her films she generally used the upper-class Received Pronunciation she had learned at drama school, and that sounds wrong here, as Calico is supposed to be a working-class girl who has clawed her way up from the gutter.

British film-makers of this period, however, could be curiously careless when it came to regional accents, even when they were aiming for realism in other respects. Rawborough is supposed to be in Yorkshire- Rotherham was used for location filming– but there are hardly any Yorkshire accents to be heard. (“Brief Encounter” is another example of a film ostensibly set in the North where everyone sounds as though they are from the Home Counties). 

The film did well at the box-office on its original release in 1958 but was generally ignored by the critics; there was a common assumption, on both sides of the Atlantic, that crime dramas, including some which are today regarded as cinema classics, were no more than potboilers. Interest in them, however, has grown over the decades. “Tread Softly Stranger” is not, perhaps, in the same class as the greatest British noirs such as Carol Reed’s “The Third Man” or Robert Hamer’s “The Long Memory”, but with its gripping action, some good acting and its starkly expressionist photography of the industrial scenes it certainly remains worth watching. 7/10