basalte

Test this against every interview with an Israeli government spokesman : - their public relations machine follows this standard pattern 1. We havent heard reports of deaths but will check 2. OK people were killed - but by a faulty Palestinian rocket/bomb 3. OK we killed them but they were terrorists 4.OK they were civilians but were being used as human shields 5. OK we made a mistake. But we kill civilians by accident, they do it on purpose 6. OK We have killed civilians but look how terrible other countries are ! 7. Are you some kind of anti-semite ? The corrupt Netanyahu regime offers nothing but violence - and some Palestinians took the bait while all Palestinians pay the price..

I thought I`d give an Annual Report update as I still have and very much enjoy this car and the major problems have now all been solved (until the next time) . The red light was fair enough as it was one fan that was knackered. Had new fan bought and fitted. Found a dry lockup garage for it . New rear wiper motor off a Porsche 928. (Yes its the 928 one you need). Rear lock knob refitted with metal flange to operate lock lever (Thank you John from these Forums, for the pics !) Retractable aerial switch fitted - so very 1980s ! Lotus symbol refitted to one wheel centre courtesy of a 2" washer as the mount. Since my last post it`s needed a new alternator but the worst thing was the brakes. They wouldnt stop binding. Had a master cylinder reconditioned and...the binding was worse than ever ! Took it back and it turned out that the servo diaphragm had split. New servo. I left the radio on that drained the battery. Not the car`s fault , one new battery ... The engine is more or less run in after 1100 miles and the last journey 3 days ago was a sheer pleasure.

Writing as someone with obvious "skin in the game " (check my name), I have the utmost distrust of those currently governing Israel . Many Israeli citizens share that distrust .The extreme zionists` own record of violence and terror against the general population of Gaza is only too obvious over the decades and they are in effect the best recruiting sergeant for the terrorists of Hamas. In turn they control the narrative context where they (with their tanks missiles gunships and drones) are the perpetual "victims" of those without hevy weapons. As a more general point, the conflation of Judaism with the interests of an ethno-nationalist nation state is a sure route to disaster. We can all justify stuff by saying "God told me it was OK " and the temptation for unscrupulous politicians to say this on fertile ground to get power and influence is the slippery slope to the blind use of force that has led to the present tragedy. Incidentally there are about 30,000 jews who live about 4 miles down the road from me. They very obviously are jews by their mode of dress and therefore get targeted by moronic anti-semites. However they loathe and despise Israel and the ideology of Zionism. But they get no publicity as theyre the "wrong kind of jew" for our media narrative .

Hi all, you may remember me from my 2.2 restoration where the engine was rebuilt last year. Needless to say the car performs a lot better now and I get glimpses of its true potential although I am still running it in . The retractable radio aerial now works and the rear hatch lock catch "button" now operates to open the hatch instead of a chopstick down the hole, (not a euphemism) although there is no key or locking mechanism for it-I`ve given up on that one. However I have noticed that the engine when hot (though in perfectly normal temp range according to the gauge) will stall if in heavy / slow moving traffic for more than 5-10 minutes. It didn`t used to do this ! It seems to immediately restart so far without difficulty (unless you count yesterday when the battery wasnt charged up enough-not the cars fault) . I wondered if its fuel vaporisation but otherwise at a loss because it doesnt seem to depend on the weather. I wondered if there was any easy cure or whether the "new" engine just doesn`t like idling. Thanks Dan

Hi again, thank you for your replies, the fuse was fine on an 80 mile drive so that`s good. Bad news is a new problem - that the "fan fail" light of Doom came on and wouldnt go out. Fuses looked ok ...will now be checking connections to fans . Fans were working fine before the rebuild (sigh). As the car is now as restored as it will probably ever be, I will post elsewhere on the Forums with my problems from now on ! I attach photo of the car at the Croydon (thats the Cambridgeshire Croydon) classics rally (with alsatian beside it for size reference) .

Thanks, the car used to do this then stopped for a long time as mysteriously as it began, then it`s started again... will take it on a longer drive soon I hope, see if it clears up.

Well she`s back ! Finally ! Engine rebuilt ! -see pic. Brakes recon as well Now running in . But she`s still fighting me. Driveway parking not a success as clutch screamed and smoked when I reversed up it; I made some thick plywood ramps to counter the steep "lip" from the kerb and they at least worked, but then realised that if other cars are parked either side of and in front of the drive (as they usually are ) there`s not enough space to let her out ! Luckily the next day I found some off street parking to rent 400 metres away (hassle occurred as I lost the garage storage back in April) . Now looking for a new lockup that isnt ludicrously far off/expensive. And... the 35 amp fuse keeps blowing (dashboard instruments and indicators).Strange, as she was fine on the 50 mile drive back that took 3 hours due to jam . Trying thicker-wire fuse ...or is it that 35 amps isnt the correct fuse anyway ? Suggestions welcome. Good to have her back anyway !

Still Life ; Ginger Cat with Peter Noone Of Herman’s Hermits

You too , C8 . And thanks to Ms Patel we might one day be entitled to your real name as of right .

Yep . Trouble is I have discovered my new superpower ; to enrage people by not swearing and not calling them names and not suggesting they’re deluded or insane . The POWER of it ! 😂😂😂

“ I think you need to go and take your pills and sit in a dark corner “ . And I am the one making offensive remarks. Okaaayy…. I am wise to your belief system C8 ; a belief system based on years of acquiescence to news agendas that support a particular world view . That in no way makes you a bad person and you are the vast majority, not me . What it does seem to mean however is that you regard challenges to some aspects of that belief system as a “ hand grenade “ . I find that attitude bizarre particularly as I have pointed out that I was RESPONDING to a post , not initiating one . If I were really some hothead you would find me here OPENING threads all over the place about all sorts of nasty stuff that goes completely unreported and is completely unrelated to Lotus . As it is you find perfectly fact - based examples giving rise to concerns over Russian influence over the Conservatives to be inflammatory where the Russians are definitely the bad guys here .

Fair point , (the EU is not a totalitarian bloc ) , but given its self proclaimed size and status the UK is undoubtedly out on a limb diplomatically, particularly in the eyes of the USA .

I have apologised to March; he took something personally which was not (and I would say cannot) be taken as a criticism of character but if someone is offended I am content to believe they are offended. If that makes me some kind of snowflake, so be it.

OK I`ve given my opinion about someone`s opinion without abusing anyone. Maybe try the same ?

C8 please take note that the phrase "it wasnt me !" sounds a bit glib and curt but you`ll surely note that it was NOT myself who posted about Corbyn initially, it was someone else who has a right wing agenda dressed up as "common sense" as usual (that`s purely my opinion of course before someone else gets all riled up ) who posted on Wednesday at 9.07. I wasn`t intending to involve him but indeed I get fed up with all the Anti-corbyn propaganda from tax avoiding billionaire press barons. Dont want to prejudge others attitudes but AFAIK I`m the only one on this entire forum backing him up ! I`m not even backing Labour who are anything but a "blob" by the way-I`m sure Starmer loathes Corbyn more than you do-but that is all off topic . Perhaps one day you`ll at least acknowledge that the guy hasn`t buckled under from being called all the names under The Sun (pun intended) for 6 years-where Miliband nearly had a breakdown and Starmer whinges because a few people shouted at him in the street. I agree with you much more than you think about Blair who I find entirely unscrupulous - except that all those right of Corbyn are also (key word) there to preserve an economic structure that makes absurdly small numbers of people absurdly rich. The key expression "sticking to your guns" applies. (They all fear Corbyn`s tax proposals ( for example, he was to tax corporations to the same level as Thatcher did - hey, how very "extremist" of him !) In asserting that the above are "irrelevant" , of course they are no longer / never had power-but the invasion of Ukraine has a background, a history in which Blair in particular was a key player. Certain awkward facts are being left out here and it is impossible to understand the present war and our Government`s reaction without referring to them. If that means having a go at the Tories then so be it. As with all my posts I`m not trying to win people to my views (which are certainly largely unsupported by the mainstream media and are not typical of Lotus enthusiasts in my experience ); merely to point out some salient facts one of which is that the Conservative Party over the last ten years has been attracted to Russian money -and that kind of money usually comes with a nod and a wink. If you are following the news you`ll know that the Ukrainians themselves are frustrated by the UKs lack of action. There must be a lot of eye-rolling at this thread by now but it does seem to me that France and Germany are relatively united in their reaction (love or hate it ) and we are not . How is this a male testicular organ ? Your relentless mission to blame the EU (and once again I emphasise that I am not their biggest fan) , seems to ignore that insurmountable fact.

There is a lot of selectively in your approach C8 , which is unhelpful to a sober assessment of a complex situation. As for “ pro Corbyn propaganda “, we have been swamped daily with anti Corbyn propaganda for the past 6 years including from all the Blair supporters - so I won’t apologise for giving a counter view . A brief example ; 4 years ago in the House , Corbyn condemned Russian interference in British politics and their funding of UK political parties . The speech is absolutely available online . At the time he was shouted down ! Secondly the collapse of communism led to the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact . NATO carried on . Who was the new enemy for NATO ? It’s only too obvious that the freeing of Russian capitalism was sold to us as the end of the Cold War , even ( absurdly ) the “ end of history “. Yes , Putin wasn’t interested in better relations but on the other hand the former Soviet - sphere countries were certainly not keen on Russia either . NATO remains a red rag to the Russian bull ( or bear if you like ). It would be very interesting to see how Finland reacts given that it used to be part of Russia. I’m hearing no stories of panic in Helsinki . As for gas , that’s half the story . Rees Mogg selling his shares in a Russian Investment house 23 days before this invasion . Some might call that “ insider trading “. Face it , C8 , the Tories are in this up to their necks and don’t take my word for it , take statements from the US expressing disappointment at the UKs sluggishness in enforcing sanctions . Brexit by definition entails a divided European response to Putins aggression- that’s exactly what Leave wanted and they’re getting it .

Come on , is no one going to return to the root of this conflict ? The actual cause ? Not just that Putin’s a dick ( which he is ). it was that NATO promised Russia that it wouldn’t expand Eastwards . It has since then , expanded Eastwards . None of this justifies Russia invading Ukraine- but the above is their main reasoning for it .

No , sorry C8 , playing the “ they’re all the same !” card is a handy but wholly superficial way of defending what’s been happening . You’ll also find the Chinese equally pally with Cameron and May by the way . The key is this ; Russia is the City of London’s very own Gazprom pipeline and they don’t want that flow cut off . Far more effective analysis is to “follow the money “ ; Exports to Russia were worth £ 232 million - and that was in the year after the Salisbury poisonings !

Russian donations to the Conservative Party 2011-2020. £2,955,928.00 And hey presto it’s “ ooooh look over at that Corbyn!” from the Telegraph brigade … Lets see whether the wallets close now eh ?

There’ll be a lot of tough talk . But if you look at the links between Russian oligarch money and the governing elite here - (exposed week after week in the pages of Private Eye )- it’s hard not to think that they all have too much to lose to isolate Putin . Son of a KGB agent , Lord Yevgeny Lebedev of Siberia ( his genuine title !) sitting in the House of Lords , helping to set British government policy , is the tip of the iceberg .

Errr… Corbyn called yesterday for Russian troops to leave the occupied areas …but of course the Mail spins even that as anti -West . The least trusted newspaper in Britain .

Russia uses disinformation, no doubt . Reminds me of certain politicians here talking about weapons of mass destruction that can be launched in 45 minutes and any disbelievers called “ traitors “…

Sorry C8 , you appear to want your cake and eat it here . You quite rightly question the integrity of “ experts “ but the answer cannot logically be to replace them with … what ? Your own conclusions? Many fields of expertise require expertise just to say : “ I don’t know the answer “ ; such an honest response in an ideal world should attract respect but it seems that that this paradox plays no part in your response . I totally agree that religion involves inherent unquestioning faith - a bad thing . But experts are all we have to inject rationality into any assessment. “ “Drawing your own conclusion “ is much easier said than done . The most we can expect is indeed moral integrity and a degree of accountability from experts . Not ideal but better than priests or tax avoiding sociopathic phone hacking newspaper barons . Now China , albeit thats a whole other thread . I see 800 US military bases worldwide , many in nations surrounding China . And yet China is the aggressor . OKAAAY….

I apologise for gaining that impression C8 . There are plenty of your “political “ posts which I feel like responding to but do not . I became embroiled today because I wanted to give the reasons ( remember reasons ?) why the idea of stereotyping particular groups to get a cheap laugh , is not a universally - liked move . It is your idea that “ airbrushing history “ is the problem , that I have difficulty with . Curiously , you regard this as some malevolent coordinated project from the Left when I see it chiefly as a quest for academic equilibrium. Secondly because they couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery let alone history . History has always been airbrushed and indeed those attempts to airbrush it are part of history itself . This does not excuse deliberate falsifying of history of course , but uncovering new perspectives which challenge official versions cause controversy and backlashes from those peddling other versions . I reiterate for reasons above that “ slavery “ is a particularly bad example for anyone to use in support of their contention that academic freedom is imperilled . And I think it is here that you are setting up Straw Men to shoot at . Only idiots would blame “ all of us “ for slavery ; likewise very few who oppose slavery would declare : “ yes it was terrible then , I’m so angry - but I don’t care a “ t*ss “ about it happening now “ . I swear that I have never encountered that attitude from anyone who takes an interest in such matters . Many of the above students have precisely learnt from the past , if only because we are constantly and rightly always being exhorted to . I’m sorry that you feel that everything is getting much worse in your world due to attempts to “ change history “ - I certainly agree that things are getting worse - but mainly from the point of view of trying to pay the heating bills !