Bethan Hutton

Beth is my coffee shop alias; for anyone else I am Bethan. Also not Bethany, but that's a different complaint.

The men who raised the flags Nigel Farage says this summer’s movement was led by ‘ordinary people’ expressing their patriotism. That’s not what we found

Wherever we looked for the prominent flaggers and leaders of this movement, we found people smugglers and sex doll salesmen, people with dubious criminal pasts and people willing to put in a good word for Adolf Hitler.

manchestermill.co.uk/the-men-who-...

We actually have our own Michelin-level private vegan chef (child 2's boyfriend) in the kitchen on Christmas day this year, so I am probably just on veg-chopping duties. Plus shopping, since they are both working until dinner service on Christmas eve.

I still have no idea how many I am catering for at Christmas - could be 5, could be 15. Luckily, Deptford Market exists. And high-class spare stuff from daughter's job.

I think the Economist was the worst one I have ever dealt with, though cancelling my mother's Times subscription after she died wasn't great either. The Economist ended up pretty much offering to pay me to receive copies and I still said no because I didn't want to have to talk to them ever again...

And did it include any countries other than the US? Eg, high autism rates in Japan, where circumcision is very rare; I am not sure about their comparative level of acetaminophen use. But what's the point in picking holes in their claims - we all know that this is unscientific nonsense.

That really takes me back 20 years or so, to when I was the gaijin mum hanging out at stations with a small blond boy who knew everything about Japanese trains. He works for a UK train company now, but can still do all the platform announcements.

But maybe I should print out a few copies of your bingo card for us, our architects, contractors etc. We can already tick a few off...

A propos of nothing, have any of the episodes ever featured bat-related delays?

As someone about to embark on a major project with my partner (knock-down, rebuild as eco-home), I am determinedly not watching Grand Designs. But I can assure you that I am definitely not going to be getting pregnant in the course of the project.

Ukip's Nigel Farage injured in aeroplane crash Nigel Farage suffers minor injuries after two-seater aircraft towing Ukip banner crash-lands in Northamptonshire

I sometimes wonder how the parallel universe is getting on, where this plane crash had a different outcome. Would the word Brexit even have been invented?

www.theguardian.com/politics/201...

First step on the road to make membership compulsory, along the lines of the Hitlerjugend or Young Pioneers?

I've seen a few women go down the 'new age goddess/Wiccan' route after a bad divorce or mid-life crisis, which is generally less threatening to the social order, though there can be overlap with anti-vax/sovereign citizen groups.

Always check before you hit reply all!

"We emailed Infidels MC for comment. In response, Mr Mulford instructed fellow leaders of the biker gang not to reply but included the BBC when he clicked "reply all" - inadvertently disclosing email addresses and names of fellow Infidels MC members, some of whom were working in Gaza."

Anti-Islamic US biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites BBC identifies members of Infidels MC gang hired as armed security at US and Israel-backed aid sites.

Brilliant detail in BBC story about the bikers involved in US aid in Gaza: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Slightly diminish a book:

War and Temporary Ceasefire

A Facebook ad in Japanese but with UK prices, featuring a picture of deliciously slimy, stinky fermented soybeans (natto)

...but then, just now, as if they had read my mind and wanted to prove me wrong, Facebook showed me an ad for a UK-based supplier of discount natto, and I am wondering if they actually know me very well indeed.

What if "big data" just…isn't worth very much? I'm not saying the emperor has no clothes. I am saying his clothes are cheap, tacky, don't work and are seriously overrated.

Earlier today, I read this by @jamesrball.com and I was nodding along thinking yes, yes, all I get on Facebook/instagram is ads for pure crap unrelated to my interests, no matter how much data they hold on me. But... www.jamesrball.com/p/what-if-bi...

Well, that really does make it a doddle, doesn't it?

No subs on duty at the BBC website on Sundays?

I guess she was born in 1964-ish before the Carry On films really took off, so it is understandable that it did not occur to her parents. But still very unfortunate in the early 80s when the films were on TV all the time.

Belatedly watching this for the first time. Seems somehow relevant for our times.

I think that might disenfranchise quite a few people who have already been voting for years (if by 'homework' you can also mean life admin, tax returns etc)

The Makanai was quite fun too, though a bit too heart-warming in parts for my cynical British tastes...

I enjoyed Quartet too, particularly as I know Karuizawa a bit (my daughter was at school there) and it's always fun spotting familiar locations. Weirdly, some of the Tokyo scene locations were just round the corner from where I lived as well.

Thanks for the tip! I am about to start watching Asura (the Hirokazu Koreeda series on Netflix) - have you seen that one too? I am still missing Midnight Diner, and annoyed that The Solitary Gourmet (recommended by Japanese friend) is not available in UK.

On-brand...

As of this week I have a TV actually hooked up for live viewing for the first time in six years, so I have seen about 30 mins more Live Aid than I did 40 years ago.