Can anyone explain why so many Union flags have been put up upside down? There’s a road near me where every single one seems to be upside down - it’s not that hard to get them the right way up, surely? Sadly, most of them are now all tangled in the nearest trees or have slipped down to about head height… 🙄

Go ahead who run the buses and trains over here

CW - there was also Spurs, clinging on to 0-0 via a brilliant goalkeeping display.

Yes RK, another example of council provision of a 'service' that's supposed to be in the public interest now being used to profiteer from the population it's supposed to serve. It's become endemic and the fuckers need to be held to account.

I just paid a £50 parking fine, my first for at least ten years. When I went onto the website, I saw that I had placed my ticket face down, schoolboy error. Point that I would make is that these cowboys only had to look at the machine records to check whether I had purchased a ticket. Accept that adds extra burden/overhead to them but they are ruthlessly punishing an innocent mistake

I would see it's probably the firecrest Derby in Devon Shane

After the 5 Premier League teams won their games this week with an aggregate score of 19-2,normal service resumed with Aston Villa losing 2-1 to Go ahead Eagles in a ground seemingly worse than the original Plough Lane

When Plymouth played Pompey it was described as the dockyard derby, they hype any game up

I’m no expert DMG but I think I calculated about 22/1 for the treble.

Devon derby coming up live on sky described as “one of the fiercest rivalries in English football.” Is it?

Intrigued to see the odds at the bookies for a Dons win, a Stevenage/Bradford draw, and a Bolton/Cardiff draw, which if it all fell deliciously into place puts the lads top of the tree in less than 48 hours time.

RIP David Ball, the less famous half of Soft Cell

Certainly RK it feels criminal for companies that are mandated for us to use and can set their prices more or less however they want can be allowed to take all the money as profit and bonuses while their infrastructure falls into decline.

NBA stars have been arrested in a gambling sting by the FBI - not the start to the season the NBA wanted

What’s an anti catholic chant? My mum used to say that she wanted a tee shirt that said “F*** the pope”, but she never got one, and I don’t really know why she wanted it, apart from the fact that she was sensible enough to know that god doesn’t exist… 🤪😉

If the District Line is out Saturday, as Posty says, I will go via Richmond, which means, being who I am, I will be forced to purchase a takeaway coffee and spill the dregs into a storm drain. I'll go by the station and first check that some officials are about

I would just stop any managers getting bonuses plus dividends. Of water fines just take investment away from much need fixes to the sewage system so more fines = less investment = more leaks into rivers = more fines, and we go on. Someone has to pay; households or taxpayers, more or less the same people anyway

[Link] Speaking of Catholicism... Lincoln fined £8.5k for anti-catholic chants. I make no judgement either way but here's a related story [Link]

Henry VIII when he abandoned Catholicism, something about wanting to denounce the religion in person. iirc

Well done Coffee Pour Lady [Link]

Both Mary and James II are within 500 years so would invalidate the general news item. Of course in those days travelling to Rome was a major undertaking and not many monarchs would have fancied the risks both of the journey and who might be plotting at home.

My bet would be Mary 1.

I'm wondering if the answer is nobody as no media outlet says anything other than more than 500 years. Reddit suggests Richard I who certainly passed through Rome on the way to/from the Crusades. Edward I and Alfred the Great also went to Rome but prior to being King. Weirdly Macbeth actually took a trip to Rome whilst King, Shakespeare left that bit out!

Alfred (the Great) went to Rome as a young man, year 853, was *quote - confirmed by Pope Leo 4thand 'annointed as king'. He did get to be called King of Wessex later in life. Far more than 500yrs ago though.

Wonder what he prayed for?