The government plan to fill the 1.3 million vacancies with their latest scheme

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/spark/in-this-together/way-to-work-scheme/

This link goes on forever, but if you give up early, you will miss some real favourites.
I would be interested in the time taken by readers to get to the end of the list - I gave up at 8 minutes.

https://lifeindigo.com/trending/how-much-are-your-favorite-english-celebrities-really-worth-some-will-surprise-you-baidu-cillablack?utm_source=baidu&utm_medium=msn.com__21&utm_campaign=1253986&utm_content=hp&utm_term=The+Fortune+Cilla+Left+Behind+Stuns+Her+Family&tbv=0.046&ts=1648395628501591305&utm_source=baidu&utm_medium=msn.com__21&utm_campaign=1253986&utm_content=hp&utm_term=The+Fortune+Cilla+Left+Behind+Stuns+Her+Family&tbv=0.046&ts=1648395628501591305&a0v5la7bquf89=c95b72b0bcdcc006bf79b5c0aae06006&uy3ubftvh0u6o8=28a6b7ed9a7415597f656face755ae09&cusduxj27i=1253986&xnfrr0ncac=82&zsmoi87pih9=trace-eu.mediago.io&lzzgnpz8d=9220dd482c2a49631b4e66cca9f5f0ee

I have donated to them before and have done so again for the Ukraine crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/27/what-are-the-un-and-eu-for-if-not-to-care-for-refugees-asks-food-ngo-in-ukraine

In 1728, a mason left a ladder by accident in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It is still there today. This so-called "immovable ladder" can't be moved because any changes to a Christian site in the Holy Land require the approval of six different Christian communities under the so-called "status quo".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_Quo_(Jerusalem_and_Bethlehem)

Watched the final today on Iplayer even though I already knew Harpreet Kaur has won Lord Sugar's £250k investment.
She was about to be interviewed on BBC Breakfast but the fire alarm went off and the programme went off air 10 minutes early.
At the start of the final when the two finalists stand in front of Lord Sugar I said to my sister, "funny how Harpreet, who is Indian, is lighter skinned that Kathryn, who has two white parents". She said, "Kathryn is mixed race, you can tell by her hair. She was adopted".
I think she's been in a tanning salon. Anyone know the truth.
BTW it doesn't bother me either way

https://greekreporter.com/2022/03/23/nato-russia-casualties-ukraine-war-russian/

According to this report, seven Russian generals have now been killed.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60882156

Let there be light for Mothers Day.

When local standard time is about to reach
Sunday, 27 March 2022, 01:00:00 clocks are turned forward 1 hour to
Sunday, 27 March 2022, 02:00:00 local daylight time instead.

Sunrise and sunset will be about 1 hour later on 27 Mar 2022 than the day before. There will be more light in the evening.

https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/superbloom/?utm_medium=paid_social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=superbloom_tol&utm_content=animation&fbclid=IwAR2JVBRsid0jzymxrx-nQp_GN8OnSdYC6sGCWarioPoC4wtMVqZbujsO_Eo#gs.uoslgg

This is a friendly international match. Get your predictions in by 4.30pm
Good luck

There are many "minced oaths" in the English language (Minced oaths being words which have been created as politically-correct versions of swearing). For example:

• Zounds is short for "God's wounds".
• Blimey is short for "God blind me".
• Gadzooks is short for "God's hooks", the nails which bound Jesus to the cross.
• Drat is short for "God rot".

Anyone know of any more perhaps?

https://www.healthylifestylesliving.com/health/why-white-pasta-bread-and-rice-is-bad-for-your-health/?msclkid=4ac6a920ac5911ec8520eb3ed08259b3

And 5 -day old pasta or rice can kill you.
https://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-why-eating-old-pasta-and-rice-can-kill-you?msclkid=4ac76ff8ac5911ec867c937389af643c

I reckon I will stick to potatoes regardless of how they will destroy my health.

CEO Peter Hebblethwaite, on £325k a year basic, admitted to a Commons committee that he deliberately broke the employment law by not consulting with Unions before sacking all 800 employees. Then said he would do it again because he knew the unions wouldn't agree to the proposal.
The sacked workers have been replaced by foreign agency workers that Hebblethwaite admitted were being paid below minimum wage on £5.50 an hour.

This morning I had a phone call from 07949045400 and it said did I have a £300.00 Transaction on my Visa card from Amazon and I pressed No 2. A Guy called Chris Morris answered and asked me about the Transaction on my Visa Card. I instantly smelt a Rat, so I asked him what was the number of the Visa Card that I made the Purchase on and he made out that he did not hear what I said so I repeated it and he put the phone down. I phoned my Bank and checked with them and nothing has gone through.

... Think again!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10646207/amp/Stephen-Wilhite-creator-GIF-dies-74-battling-COVID-19.html

Another side to support.
https://weownit.org.uk

Received email re: NHS. The aim is to stop profit-making.

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/fuel-duty-cut-5p-6pm-6848895

We all know she won her national championship race beating two olympic medallists, and previously as a male competitor was only ranked 463 in the country.
Now her fellow swimmers have spoken out about how they feel competing against her. They are not happy to say the least as she is clearly still a male in a women's swimsuit. She has been taking female hormones for over a year, but still has all the male genitalia and is still attracted to women. Also in the changing room she walks about naked making the real women uncomfortable.
There seriously needs to be a seperate trans category in sports

It’s a wonderful time of year to escape to Conejo Valley. The weather is warm, the crowds are mellow, and there’s never a bad time to relax and catch your breath.

Visit us : https://conejo.com/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10639253/Anonymous-hackers-tell-companies-operating-Russia-pull-youre-next.html

Monaco is well-known for its Monte Carlo casino. At the same time, gambling is illegal for Monaco's citizens.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/21/renault-moscow-russia-nestle

I have had type 2 Diabetes for many years now. Apart from taking the medication, I do not know I have it.
A surf of the web says that Twiglets are a good snack for Diabetes sufferers, much better by far than crisps and other snacks, many of which should be avoided.
So I have recently included them in my weekly shop and find them highly delightful in flavour and to eat. Very yummy and addictive.

https://www.britbuyer.co.uk/twiglets-are-they-healthy-good-for-you-or-fattening/

Currently it's for over 75's but they said it's going to eventually be for over 12's.
What is the point when there's been hardly any deaths for weeks. I know there's been a rise in cases but none are serious.
I had two jabs and the booster, but I will probably turn down this 4th one as being a complete waste of time.

There are now posters on TFL services saying that if you look at other passengers you can be reported for harrassment.
It's part of TFL's banned behaviours list. So I guess we all have to put those face masks back on, this time to cover our eyes.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10639065/Man-United-DOMINATE-LEquipes-list-Premier-Leagues-highest-paid-players.html?ito=email_share_article-top

I never liked cameras and haven't had to use video on Zoom etc for the past two years but someone insisted that I did so yesterday and I balked; it really freaked me out.
The very notion of camera phobia seems barely to have been considered - and then, very poorly, judging by what little I could find on the subject. It's way beyond being camera shy...!
After all this time when we've had to meet one another online, I can't be the only person in the world who literally cannot face a camera lens without freezing - can I?

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLm2PEwH/

This detailed account of a young man's life and death is so touching. I'm glad the media are picking out some individual stories – I think it brings out the awfulness of war more than a report of a larger number of anonymous dead. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60801586 Not that any considerations of suffering humanity will be troubling Putin, obviously.

Pedro López is a serial killer known as the "Monster of the Andes". He killed at least 53 people and possibly as many as 300. Due to sentencing restrictions, he was released after only 14 years in an Ecuadorian prison. He was then committed to a Colombian insane asylum but was let go after 1 year. His current whereabouts are unknown.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/ukrainian-girl-amelia-anisovych-let-it-go-frozen-poland-b989425.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/20/david-beckham-hands-his-instagram-account-to-ukrainian-doctor-in-kharkiv Brilliant move - he has 71.5 million followers, probably some of them Russian.

Unmarked military convoy carrying ‘up to six’ nuclear warheads passes through UK city.
https://rtl247.uk/unmarked-military-convoy-carrying-up-to-six-nuclear-warheads-passes-through-uk-city/?fbclid=IwAR1uZtELSFowr0XLSR_8-5uaNe_IM6EhTPUSiUt_b_fBI_XkuhRM06it-po

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/putin-adds-10-500-jacket-to-designer-wardrobe-and-605-shoes/ar-AAVhWua?ocid=msedgntphdr

This is an appalling account. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/19/we-have-to-come-to-protect-you-russian-soldiers-told-ukrainian-man-theyd-shot

just heard my best friend is in hospital with a bleed on the brain, she has had an op. but not being a relative I can't find out any more.

Another FA Cup Quarter final where Championship hosts Premier League. Get your predictions in by 5.15pm.
Good Luck

For UK residents who are struggling in the current very difficult circumstances. During the next 36 hours (at the time of posting this), donations will be matched - in my case by Martyn Gerrards estate agents. https://www.charityextra.com/fba/60613

"No piece of art has ever emotionally affected me the way this robot arm piece has. It's programmed to try to contain the hydraulic fluid that’s constantly leaking out and required to keep itself running...if too much escapes, it will die so it's desperately trying to pull it back to continue to fight for another day. Saddest part is they gave the robot the ability to do these 'happy dances' to spectators. When the project was first launched it danced around spending most of its time interacting with the crowd since it could quickly pull back the small spillage. Many years later... (as you see it now in the video) it looks tired and hopeless as there isn't enough time to dance anymore.. It now only has enough time to try to keep itself alive as the amount of leaked hydraulic fluid became unmanageable as the spill grew over time. Living its last days in a never-ending cycle between sustaining life and simultaneously bleeding out... (Figuratively and literally as its hydraulic fluid was purposefully made to look like it's actual blood).

"The robot arm finally ran out of hydraulic fluid in 2019, slowly came to a halt and died - And I am now tearing up over a friggin robot arm 😭 It was programmed to live out this fate and no matter what it did or how hard it tried, there was no escaping it. Spectators watched as it slowly bled out until the day that it ceased to move forever. Saying that 'this resonates' doesn't even do it justice imo. Created by Sun Yuan & Peng Yu, they named the piece, 'Can't Help Myself'. What a masterpiece. What a message."

Extended interpretations: the hydraulic fluid in relation to how we kill ourselves both mentally and physically for money just in an attempt to sustain life, how the system is set up for us to fail on purpose to essentially enslave us and to steal the best years of our lives to play the game that the richest people of the world have designed. How this robs us of our happiness, passion and our inner peace. How we are slowly drowning with more responsibilities, with more expected of us, less rewarding pay-offs and less free time to enjoy ourselves with as the years go by. How there's really no escaping the system and that we were destined at birth to follow a pretty specific path that was already laid out before us. How we can give and give and give and how easily we can be forgotten after we've gone.. How we are loved and respected when we are valuable, then one day we aren't any longer and we become a burden...and how our young, free-caring spirit gets stolen from us as we get churned out of the broken system that we are trapped inside of. Can also be seen to represent the human life cycle and the fact that none of us make it out of this world alive. But also can act as a reminder to allow yourself to heal, rest and love with all of your heart. That the endless chase for 'more' isn't necessary in finding your own inner happiness.”

- James Kricked Parr

The Russian’s war crimes continue as thousands are forcibly taken into
Russia

https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/02/18/russia-ukraine-latest-news/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/19/russian-cosmonauts-arrive-space-wearing-colours-ukrainian-flag/

We talked about this subject a couple of weeks ago but this petition seems to be relatively new and already very well supported. (There's a much less successful one on Change.org too, but why split the vote by using that?)
I normally avoid Avaaz' petitions like the plague but not supporting this one would feel wrong. So do let's lend it our support: https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/prosecute_putin_loc/?aPppbdb&post_action=1&cid=45673&lang=en

This is the FA Cup quarter final. Championship v Premier League. Get your predictions in by 5pm.
Good luck

This is over 9 minutes long but please try to listen to the end
https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/1504426844199669762?s=20&t=VW21gsiMuB9-KTxU58d9lQ

Last night, Lord Forsyth’s assisted dying amendment was narrowly defeated (45% in favour, 55% opposed) after the Government instructed Conservative Peers to vote against it. The Government has done a disservice not only to dying Britons who suffer under a law that is dangerous and cruel, but also to our democracy by curtailing the debate of an issue that 84% of the general public support.

However the closeness of the vote, especially given the Government’s action, makes clear that assisted dying remains unfinished business in Parliament. The amendment didn’t ask Peers to support assisted dying in principle, but to commit Parliament to a full examination of the current law and a more compassionate alternative. The Government's refusal to facilitate the debate ignores the will of the people. If you haven’t already please sign our government petition to demonstrate the need for parliamentary time on assisted dying.

Yes, I'll sign the petition →

I want to thank everyone who wrote to Peers ahead of the vote - this contributed enormously to the significant number of new Peers who voted in favour and will have been a motivating factor for Tory Peers who broke the whip.

Having experienced the cruelty of the current law first hand during his father’s death, Lord Forsyth simply wanted the Government to give the issue the time it deserves. When a proper process for debate can happen, as it does in many other jurisdictions including in Scotland, parliamentarians are convinced by the enormous benefits of law change.

New polling published this week shows that 8 in 10 Brits want the Government to guarantee a debate before the next election. Choice in dying isn’t an idealistic or radical proposition. It is a modest reform on which the public expect and demand change.

Please, show your support today by signing our petition. If you’ve already signed, please send this link to friends and family: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/604383

Yes, I'll sign the petition →

The Government needs to know the mistake it has made in blocking this amendment. Please SIGN and SHARE our petition today, keep the pressure up, and I’ll be in touch soon to let you know what’s next.

Thank you for all your support.

Together we can change the law.

Friday night football. Get your predictions in by 7pm.
Good luck