Compare and contrast with the word salad from Mermaids condemning Cass. They don't like the research or that it will now be done properly. They don't like schools not being able to transition children without medical consent. etc etc https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/news/mermaids-response-to-the-cass-review-in-depth/
Viking book, what's that then? A fascinating culture; I'm bored of all things "Celtic" and fast getting tired of retconned Greek myth invading all the shelves.
Speaking of Vikings, the last time England was as naked as it is now The Great Raiding Army rocked up. I somehow doubt 2.5% will cut it. There has simply been too much damage done since Campbell-Bannerman's government. Yes, that really is how far you have to go back and unravel things to realistically resurrect Defence and the Defence Industry!
The Donald and others of an American persuasion make noises about NATO; hiding behind America; and paying our way. I should remind them of two centuries spent hiding behind the Royal Navy. The debt rather goes the other way.
I'm afraid the Scots have made their Great Kilt and will now have to lie dead on Culloden Moor in it. A country where all the political "choice" you have is several flavours of Socialism, all barking, is not long for this world. Move the border back to that of Maximum Northumbria and leave 'em to it.
They can have #NotMyKing and his wretched family too. A sad waste of a life that; he is evidently more than competent, given his druthers, from what he has achieved with the Duchy. There is no point in a king if you don't let them king; all we've had is fatuous nonsense since David took up with Wallis and Charles' succession has further seriously holed a constitution sinking by the bow.
MI5. Arguably, like J. Edgar's FBI, run from Moscow for most of the Cold War; and today, arguably, still in the grip of the zombie left-overs of that subversion . They may have a point about the unis; but are the last people to be trusted to sort that, or any other, mess!
Ireland? No friends of ours and not our problem.
I sympathise with your council problems. Jobsworth is their middle name. I think a lot of the problems we have with councils is down to them being unable to raise significant finance by local taxation, the Rates as once were, a phenomenon of Late Soviet Britain. The book of that title I recommend; amongst other things it probably explains why the powers-that-be were predisposed to the para-Marxian nonsense du jour.
All the Cass updates have been super, keep 'em coming.
My day job is writing historical romance for Mills & Boon. I pioneered the Roman time period for them and then revitalized the Viking and along the way wrote a few Regency/early Victorian. It is a good excuse to do research basically. The Vikings are fascinating and often overlooked. The Celts/ remnants of the Dal Riada or indeed the Picts and how the Scots (aka the Irish) took over is a very hazy part of history. It is really how good are you at moving jigsaw pieces about.
I shared your assessment about the increase to defence spending. Despite defence being the primary obligation of any government, it has been seen as a soft target for many years. At this point any increase is good. The return of Isolationism to the mainstream of the GOP (last really seen in the late 1930s before Willkie remade the party) is slightly worrisome.
We can disagree on MI5 -- I like Chris Andrew's history and viewpoint. I have also seen the Morgan Phillips 'lost sheep' list, and the other lists which identified the communist sympathizers in Labour 1945 -1964. Was the British Domestic Security policy better than say the US's in that period? I think it was. I also think the intelligence fed to Atlee's government did assist the British government in avoiding some of the worst excesses of the American reaction aka McCarthyism in the 1950s. It is notable that the 2nd Churchillian government continued on the path which Atlee set out in this regard. I also think the Communists were unable to get a strong hold on the trade unions because the ordinary people remembered how they had behaved from 1939 until June 1941.
As I grew up in the US and moved to the UK (permanently) in 1985, becoming a citizen in 2018 (partly because I was impressed by Markle's declaration that she was working towards etc etc -- should have remembered that she was an actress), I have a certain fondness for the royal family. They serve a purpose like a batty old aunt's pet pug, including a topic of conversation. The American system of head of government combined with head of state (basically an elected king) has other problems.
My daughter recently moved to Ireland, so I have now have an interest. The housing shortage is a massive problem. Similar if not worse than London.
My interest in Scotland is for similar reasons. All one can say about Scotland is sometimes the politicians have not come far from Panama and woollen blankets.
I am pleased you like the Cass updates as fighting against this ideology is important.
How Scotland emerged into the light is indeed a movable feast atm, the various notionally different royalties were surprisingly intertwined. If I remember right Nectansmere/Dun Nechtain was as much family squabble as a battle between kingdoms. I'm about to start in on 'Lady MacBethad' having read 'King Hereafter' longer ago than I care to remember. I'm not a fan of 'The Scottish Play'.
A socialist party has communist sympathisers in its' ranks? Gosh, that must have been very difficult to determine. There were labour disputes/strikes right through the War; we like to fight amongst ourselves while the house is on fire as much as the next family! Not a Winnie fan; probably the worst thing that happened to this country in modern history. Adjacent to, or directly responsible for, the best part of every, shall we say "daft", decision of government from 1906 on. I've family maimed because of that bufoon in two wars and still suffering sixty years after both; I neither forgive nor forget.
I think McCarthy has been proven right; if anything he didn't go, or wasn't allowed to go, far enough. The Nineteen Sixties happened; the Uncivil Wrongs got traction; and here we are wrestling monsters that wouldn't have been born but for their grandparents and great-grandparents not being gaoled or blacked in the early Fifties. They say you move to the Right as you get older; my childhood heroes were Ian Smith and John Enoch. ;-)
I'm from a family of English Catholics; there was a Provo ASU living next door but one to my favourite aunt; and if my brother-in-law had lingered but ten minutes in Warrington my sister wouldn't be married and I'd be short several nephews and nieces. If I took an interest in Ireland, it wouldn't be a benevolent one. Some of the same daft tars Scotland; and they seem to have memory-holed the colonial fiasco that propelled them into the Union. They are a tad ungrateful considering all the great Scots that got to stride the world that wouldn't otherwise but for that union; nor would the rest of them had their free lunch; dinner; and tea!
I don't know about Meghan; she walked into a dysfunctional, mentally unhealthy, family with a distorted, unrealistic, view of themselves and the world bordering on fantasy, and found the ire of an equally toxic yellow press. The Windsors are a Potemkin Family; if they lived on your street; you'd be warning your kids to stay clear of them. If you are not of them, just "ordinary", it doesn't bloody work. If you are from equally challenged Hollyweird stock? It is akin to two non-working alleles; your doctor would advise you not marry. Pet pug? I'm with David Starkey: Vis our constitutional settlement; their breed would come under the Dangerous Dogs Act! #NotMyKing doesn't appear to have a clue; his ministers less. I don't think it bodes well. I'd change them out; our usual solution. We needn't send him to Pontefract Castle though. :-)
Actresses are blank canvases and just as canvases are nothing until there are pictures on them, actresses are nothing without the part. Her part and her acting impressed and you are a citizen. That is her job jobbed if you remember she is an actress. Glad to have you on board.
We shall have to disagree on McCarthy. He wasn't wrong on some of it but he missed who had done things (for example Henry Street Settlement should have been investigated -- it is where Ursula Kuczynski met her handler in the 1930s and of course Bill Weisband was allowed to 'retire') and his methods caused lots of problems. I don't the US has come to terms with the damage he and Hoover did to the fabric of society. In his own way he helped to create the 1960s unrest.
One thing my daughter noticed is that in Ireland, the bins in the train stations are solid unlike the ones in the UK...
Have you seen the latest Stephen Knight -- This Town about Birmingham and Coventry in 1981. It is actually decent. The brutality of the IRA is one of his themes. The Beeb's Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland is also well done. There are some people who have never been made to pay for their crimes though...
Well my applying for citizenship was time well spent instead of watching the wedding. The Life in the UK test was terrifying in many ways and it was also interesting to see all those who were taking it. The citizenship ceremony was actually quite moving. It is like gaining another soul.
"The Beeb" :-) Have you picked up a Northumbrian accent yet? Welcome home!
You know? I'd forgotten the impact of bombs on the design of bins. Manchester Piccadilly is devoid of bins; Victoria might be likewise; and the local stations use large transparent bin bags and no bins as such. Speaking of stations, Stockport has a new Interchange. The sights you see when you haven't got your wrecking ball handy! We got the PoW's Carbunkle Award for our cinema complex eyesore a few years ago. I wonder if our now King will make it a twofer for us? Made up with shoddy architecture we are. :-)
My BBC is restricted to "The Antiques Roadshow" and "Countryfile" on a Sunday; when I see my elder sister. I sometimes have to suffer "Strictly" if I go on a Saturday too. I fell out with Auntie over their reporting of a "peaceful" protest in Tirane; Albania in 1991. Almost everyone was toting a Chinese Kalashnikov knock-off and it was as peaceful as the Falls Road in Marching Season at the height! They've mithered me for a licence for nearly thirty years. They never show up and never do ought. I might look for those dramas on Pirate Bay or wait for the Blu Ray. It's for the best; though Sis misses me shouting at the telly. Not. :-)
I remember the riots when God's Copper crushed the Moss. None of the fairying about a la Toxteth. Bish, bash, bosh: done. I thought of him when Antifa and BLM were burning down the 'hood over the Pond. Short, sharp, shock. They don't like it up 'em. Strange how we didn't need paramilitarised plod to settle their hash back in the day. The crimes of the paramilitaries....a lot of the getting away with it is the number of folk in the back pocket of the funnies they'd have to give up. But ‘Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war.’ and much as I dislike the Good Friday Agreement (It is neither fish nor flesh or good red herring) The Irish Stupid has to be put to rest and the Terrible Beauty die.
How many times have I heard the same of those taking US citizenship having similarly immigrated legally; jumped all the hoops; and crossed all the Ts; particularly in the last six years? It is more often in proportion us natives that don't appreciate our own country. It should be asked of us all.
Write for long enough and if you are any good you'll come by a turn of phrase by sheer hard work; which is the 90% of the brillianceberg below the water. You've probably got it yourself; else why do you have readers?
Hello Northumberland! Good to see You again. Another *excellent* roundup of articles for us.
I also wanted to say I finished "A Viking Heir to Bind Them" yesterday, and have now read all the books You've written. (Except one I couldn't find on Amazon.) I enjoyed all of them IMMENSELY. You have such a WONDERFUL imagination. I can't wait for "Tempted by Her Forbidden Viking," which is coming out in October, I believe. That's too long to wait.
And, of course, looking forward to the book You're writing now. Best o' luck with that.
And, of course, TY Michelle for Your Substack. Always appreciate it. TYTY.
thank you for the latest edition, i always look forward to hearing what's happening on your side of the pond from you!
Oh thank you. I do it because it helps to keep me sane. Thank you for indulging me in my love of current events. My family tend to roll their eyes.
i completely understand, all of it!
And because the Guardian just put this up on their website. It is a bit about Cass by the whistleblower David Bell. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/26/cass-review-gender-identity-services-report?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Compare and contrast with the word salad from Mermaids condemning Cass. They don't like the research or that it will now be done properly. They don't like schools not being able to transition children without medical consent. etc etc https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/news/mermaids-response-to-the-cass-review-in-depth/
Two nice catches, Michelle. TY, as always.
Viking book, what's that then? A fascinating culture; I'm bored of all things "Celtic" and fast getting tired of retconned Greek myth invading all the shelves.
Speaking of Vikings, the last time England was as naked as it is now The Great Raiding Army rocked up. I somehow doubt 2.5% will cut it. There has simply been too much damage done since Campbell-Bannerman's government. Yes, that really is how far you have to go back and unravel things to realistically resurrect Defence and the Defence Industry!
The Donald and others of an American persuasion make noises about NATO; hiding behind America; and paying our way. I should remind them of two centuries spent hiding behind the Royal Navy. The debt rather goes the other way.
I'm afraid the Scots have made their Great Kilt and will now have to lie dead on Culloden Moor in it. A country where all the political "choice" you have is several flavours of Socialism, all barking, is not long for this world. Move the border back to that of Maximum Northumbria and leave 'em to it.
They can have #NotMyKing and his wretched family too. A sad waste of a life that; he is evidently more than competent, given his druthers, from what he has achieved with the Duchy. There is no point in a king if you don't let them king; all we've had is fatuous nonsense since David took up with Wallis and Charles' succession has further seriously holed a constitution sinking by the bow.
MI5. Arguably, like J. Edgar's FBI, run from Moscow for most of the Cold War; and today, arguably, still in the grip of the zombie left-overs of that subversion . They may have a point about the unis; but are the last people to be trusted to sort that, or any other, mess!
Ireland? No friends of ours and not our problem.
I sympathise with your council problems. Jobsworth is their middle name. I think a lot of the problems we have with councils is down to them being unable to raise significant finance by local taxation, the Rates as once were, a phenomenon of Late Soviet Britain. The book of that title I recommend; amongst other things it probably explains why the powers-that-be were predisposed to the para-Marxian nonsense du jour.
All the Cass updates have been super, keep 'em coming.
My day job is writing historical romance for Mills & Boon. I pioneered the Roman time period for them and then revitalized the Viking and along the way wrote a few Regency/early Victorian. It is a good excuse to do research basically. The Vikings are fascinating and often overlooked. The Celts/ remnants of the Dal Riada or indeed the Picts and how the Scots (aka the Irish) took over is a very hazy part of history. It is really how good are you at moving jigsaw pieces about.
I shared your assessment about the increase to defence spending. Despite defence being the primary obligation of any government, it has been seen as a soft target for many years. At this point any increase is good. The return of Isolationism to the mainstream of the GOP (last really seen in the late 1930s before Willkie remade the party) is slightly worrisome.
We can disagree on MI5 -- I like Chris Andrew's history and viewpoint. I have also seen the Morgan Phillips 'lost sheep' list, and the other lists which identified the communist sympathizers in Labour 1945 -1964. Was the British Domestic Security policy better than say the US's in that period? I think it was. I also think the intelligence fed to Atlee's government did assist the British government in avoiding some of the worst excesses of the American reaction aka McCarthyism in the 1950s. It is notable that the 2nd Churchillian government continued on the path which Atlee set out in this regard. I also think the Communists were unable to get a strong hold on the trade unions because the ordinary people remembered how they had behaved from 1939 until June 1941.
As I grew up in the US and moved to the UK (permanently) in 1985, becoming a citizen in 2018 (partly because I was impressed by Markle's declaration that she was working towards etc etc -- should have remembered that she was an actress), I have a certain fondness for the royal family. They serve a purpose like a batty old aunt's pet pug, including a topic of conversation. The American system of head of government combined with head of state (basically an elected king) has other problems.
My daughter recently moved to Ireland, so I have now have an interest. The housing shortage is a massive problem. Similar if not worse than London.
My interest in Scotland is for similar reasons. All one can say about Scotland is sometimes the politicians have not come far from Panama and woollen blankets.
I am pleased you like the Cass updates as fighting against this ideology is important.
How Scotland emerged into the light is indeed a movable feast atm, the various notionally different royalties were surprisingly intertwined. If I remember right Nectansmere/Dun Nechtain was as much family squabble as a battle between kingdoms. I'm about to start in on 'Lady MacBethad' having read 'King Hereafter' longer ago than I care to remember. I'm not a fan of 'The Scottish Play'.
A socialist party has communist sympathisers in its' ranks? Gosh, that must have been very difficult to determine. There were labour disputes/strikes right through the War; we like to fight amongst ourselves while the house is on fire as much as the next family! Not a Winnie fan; probably the worst thing that happened to this country in modern history. Adjacent to, or directly responsible for, the best part of every, shall we say "daft", decision of government from 1906 on. I've family maimed because of that bufoon in two wars and still suffering sixty years after both; I neither forgive nor forget.
I think McCarthy has been proven right; if anything he didn't go, or wasn't allowed to go, far enough. The Nineteen Sixties happened; the Uncivil Wrongs got traction; and here we are wrestling monsters that wouldn't have been born but for their grandparents and great-grandparents not being gaoled or blacked in the early Fifties. They say you move to the Right as you get older; my childhood heroes were Ian Smith and John Enoch. ;-)
I'm from a family of English Catholics; there was a Provo ASU living next door but one to my favourite aunt; and if my brother-in-law had lingered but ten minutes in Warrington my sister wouldn't be married and I'd be short several nephews and nieces. If I took an interest in Ireland, it wouldn't be a benevolent one. Some of the same daft tars Scotland; and they seem to have memory-holed the colonial fiasco that propelled them into the Union. They are a tad ungrateful considering all the great Scots that got to stride the world that wouldn't otherwise but for that union; nor would the rest of them had their free lunch; dinner; and tea!
I don't know about Meghan; she walked into a dysfunctional, mentally unhealthy, family with a distorted, unrealistic, view of themselves and the world bordering on fantasy, and found the ire of an equally toxic yellow press. The Windsors are a Potemkin Family; if they lived on your street; you'd be warning your kids to stay clear of them. If you are not of them, just "ordinary", it doesn't bloody work. If you are from equally challenged Hollyweird stock? It is akin to two non-working alleles; your doctor would advise you not marry. Pet pug? I'm with David Starkey: Vis our constitutional settlement; their breed would come under the Dangerous Dogs Act! #NotMyKing doesn't appear to have a clue; his ministers less. I don't think it bodes well. I'd change them out; our usual solution. We needn't send him to Pontefract Castle though. :-)
Actresses are blank canvases and just as canvases are nothing until there are pictures on them, actresses are nothing without the part. Her part and her acting impressed and you are a citizen. That is her job jobbed if you remember she is an actress. Glad to have you on board.
We shall have to disagree on McCarthy. He wasn't wrong on some of it but he missed who had done things (for example Henry Street Settlement should have been investigated -- it is where Ursula Kuczynski met her handler in the 1930s and of course Bill Weisband was allowed to 'retire') and his methods caused lots of problems. I don't the US has come to terms with the damage he and Hoover did to the fabric of society. In his own way he helped to create the 1960s unrest.
One thing my daughter noticed is that in Ireland, the bins in the train stations are solid unlike the ones in the UK...
Have you seen the latest Stephen Knight -- This Town about Birmingham and Coventry in 1981. It is actually decent. The brutality of the IRA is one of his themes. The Beeb's Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland is also well done. There are some people who have never been made to pay for their crimes though...
Well my applying for citizenship was time well spent instead of watching the wedding. The Life in the UK test was terrifying in many ways and it was also interesting to see all those who were taking it. The citizenship ceremony was actually quite moving. It is like gaining another soul.
"The Beeb" :-) Have you picked up a Northumbrian accent yet? Welcome home!
You know? I'd forgotten the impact of bombs on the design of bins. Manchester Piccadilly is devoid of bins; Victoria might be likewise; and the local stations use large transparent bin bags and no bins as such. Speaking of stations, Stockport has a new Interchange. The sights you see when you haven't got your wrecking ball handy! We got the PoW's Carbunkle Award for our cinema complex eyesore a few years ago. I wonder if our now King will make it a twofer for us? Made up with shoddy architecture we are. :-)
My BBC is restricted to "The Antiques Roadshow" and "Countryfile" on a Sunday; when I see my elder sister. I sometimes have to suffer "Strictly" if I go on a Saturday too. I fell out with Auntie over their reporting of a "peaceful" protest in Tirane; Albania in 1991. Almost everyone was toting a Chinese Kalashnikov knock-off and it was as peaceful as the Falls Road in Marching Season at the height! They've mithered me for a licence for nearly thirty years. They never show up and never do ought. I might look for those dramas on Pirate Bay or wait for the Blu Ray. It's for the best; though Sis misses me shouting at the telly. Not. :-)
I remember the riots when God's Copper crushed the Moss. None of the fairying about a la Toxteth. Bish, bash, bosh: done. I thought of him when Antifa and BLM were burning down the 'hood over the Pond. Short, sharp, shock. They don't like it up 'em. Strange how we didn't need paramilitarised plod to settle their hash back in the day. The crimes of the paramilitaries....a lot of the getting away with it is the number of folk in the back pocket of the funnies they'd have to give up. But ‘Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war.’ and much as I dislike the Good Friday Agreement (It is neither fish nor flesh or good red herring) The Irish Stupid has to be put to rest and the Terrible Beauty die.
How many times have I heard the same of those taking US citizenship having similarly immigrated legally; jumped all the hoops; and crossed all the Ts; particularly in the last six years? It is more often in proportion us natives that don't appreciate our own country. It should be asked of us all.
"Some say karma is a bitch but I hear she is a TERF."
This made my week. Really did!
T shirts should be made. It is just brilliant, isn't it?
Write for long enough and if you are any good you'll come by a turn of phrase by sheer hard work; which is the 90% of the brillianceberg below the water. You've probably got it yourself; else why do you have readers?
Hello Northumberland! Good to see You again. Another *excellent* roundup of articles for us.
I also wanted to say I finished "A Viking Heir to Bind Them" yesterday, and have now read all the books You've written. (Except one I couldn't find on Amazon.) I enjoyed all of them IMMENSELY. You have such a WONDERFUL imagination. I can't wait for "Tempted by Her Forbidden Viking," which is coming out in October, I believe. That's too long to wait.
And, of course, looking forward to the book You're writing now. Best o' luck with that.
And, of course, TY Michelle for Your Substack. Always appreciate it. TYTY.
That is so kind of you to say. I have tears in my eyes reading this. It really has made my day.
I will have to see what I can do about getting readers of this substack the opportunity to get advance copies.
I write because it is far better to put my imagination into my writing than into my family's lives.
TY for Your reply. As I said, I really LOVE Your writing. I'm glad You do it, and looking forward to more.
And this is the latest from Cass, including FAQ. It makes for interesting reading to know what misinformation was concerning Cass.
https://cass.independent-review.uk/entry-10-post-publication-reflections/