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What I did miss was your full context when I came back to it after an interruption; the perils of ultra small screen computing. So my eventual reply took you slightly out of context, and I apologise. I'd accept that homosexual gay would likely have started to turn up in the 1950's, but it wasn't anything an average person would have related to until the early 1970's, which was my point. The Paddick-Williams use of Palari though was an eye-opener for many in the early 1960's, though it had been in use for literally hundreds of years amongst "theatricals". I think it's clear though that most people who went along with the RTH humour and easily got to "level two" never really appreciated the historical background, Homosexuality was referred to by the indirect "so" - which implied certitude. But, there was far more than simple double entendre at work in RTH. That wouldn't have got past the Mary Whitehouses of the day - especially at the time it went out on a Sunday. There was a degree of complicity of top BBC management in covering up - totally obvious to many in the know - which only added to the merriment. So, the really rollicking humour didn't actually come from Williams/Paddick/Horne; it came from the fact that ostensibly Reithian BBC management was indirectly taking the proverbial out of the huge crop of censorious listeners - those who couldn't even approach getting a handle on what was actually being broadcast. There was always the wonder of how far this extended up the then long chain of authority, and - from now-available evidence - the answer must surely be: pretty much all the way.

Can I suggest that this has its roots in EU law, which is entirely inappropriate to our own culture. This suggestion is derived from reading a piece by a prominent UK lawyer. He claims that the roots of the present absurdities can be firmly placed in European privacy laws, and that they simply wouldn't have occurred without EU meddling in our long established legal system.

That could depend on how old I am. Though I fear that this is one of those myths of popular culture that becomes true because of repetition and because there are lots of "progressive" people out there who simply wish it were true. In fact it's entirely untrue! I'm an avid consumer of 1950's and 1960's popular culture brought to me by the wonders of "podcasts". I'm particularly enamoured of Round The Horne and Beyond Our Ken, and have listened to (you could say even studied) countless episodes in recent years. Every bit of innuendo imaginable was employed by the brilliant Kenneth Williams, and on the very rare occasions gay was used in those series it was with entirely the traditional meaning. The first use I encountered of gay in connection with homosexuality was the phrase "what a gay day" used by Larry Grayson well after that date. That was surely what popularised the usage in the UK, and that would have been early 1970's.

Isn't it strange that when I just did a Google search on UK celebrity "Elton John" to find the title of his latest album Google says "Some results may have been removed under data protection law in Europe."? Now how could Google consider that something as mundane as an album title could be a sensitive legal matter, or maybe I've got this all wrong? Maybe there's something that Europeans aren't even allowed to speculate about; if so of course we mustn't go there, so I won't, and you shouldn't either. Ah for the "gay" old days, when everyone had a right to know what an record was called; when words meant what words had always meant; when marriage meant what it had meant for countless thousands of years; when a militant homosexual couldn't contrive to force you to write words you found offensive, and when there was never any need to talk around issues.

'The EU makes Britain LESS safe' Defence minister says Brussels rule is PROVOKING Russia

Yet another minister who most certainly doesn't subscribe to Dave's "the government view": She goes on to say pretty much what Nigel Farage was saying about unsustainable pressure on UK services over a year ago, and was extensively mocked over at the time. Courage isn't too much in evidence amongst our senior politicos.

Over 100,000 have already signed, which pretty much guarantees a parliamentary debate. Is this a record in so short a time? A few more signatures won't hurt though. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/116762 Apparently you can't stop the Post Office delivering the thing as the opt-out process takes about six weeks, and registering an opt-out could also block stuff you actually want. Interesting though that the printing was done by a UK subsidiary of the German Post Office, and is a company which itself regularly receives subsidies from the EU. This leaves a casual observer wondering exactly how the £9.2M order was actually placed. Also interesting that the pamphlet - which purports to be the balanced advice of an elected government - was produced entirely behind the backs of several senior cabinet ministers of that self-same elected government. I don't think Desperate Dave has heard the last of this; and maybe needs to fly back to the sunshine for more time to think?

Can this be the same story the BBC reported on on the Today program this morning? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3506079/Celebrity-barrister-35-admits-buying-party-drugs-killed-teenage-boyfriend-BBC-producer-night-chemsex-orgy-inside-legal-chambers.html#ixzz458PkOTWd Obviously not, as no BBC Producer was involved in the crime the BBC reported extensively on. How about a Panorama expose on the role of the BBC in UK recreational drug distribution? No? Thought not!

Well, we now know the result of Dave's thinking time alone in Lanzarote - his conclusion as to why he's losing all the arguments is that he's not applied enough spin. His solution: to spend another £9.5 million of desperately needed taxpayers money on a leaflet to all households. This is, of course, exactly the same tactic used by Harold Wilson in 1975. If you re-examine that leaflet all the lies and half truths are now very transparent, and we now know that the promoters knew that it was a deception - they've since admitted it was! His justification for this leaflet is that there's a huge demand from the public to know the facts as they are confused. Well Dave, if you genuinely believe this then subject your EU propaganda sheet to a panel of independent economists, constitutional experts, and business people for scrutiny, once it has been signed off by your spin HQ. Let them determine what is fact and what if pure elitist propaganda, and then edit it appropriately. If you are not prepared to do this then there's a very good home for the leaflet we are being forced to pay for - straight in the waste bin! Dave's other tactic is an appeal to younger people - "after all it is their future". Too true, as, like the older generation, they will be stripped of all democratic right to say this isn't working and we've been lied to for virtually the rest of their lives: It's there in black and white: "There will be no second referendum". That last statement is another half-truth of course; following a Leave vote there will be as many referenda as it takes to try to get them to say yes; that's until we get a government of the people this nation can once again trust. Though, once Pied-Piper Cameron leads them through the trapdoor into that mountain called EU Superstate it will be tragic end-of-story.

They'd be going the other way, and trying to avoid the stone-throwing queues blocking Brenner. Don't SEND any more: Germany issues ULTIMATUM to Italy as millions of migrants enter EU

Our brilliant buddies the Dutch have forced a referendum on the EU's ambitions in Ukraine - it's today! They know that Germany's ambitions in the East are a threat to peace, and that Russia won't be compromised any further by German expansionism. Putin is being constantly painted as an aggressor by the EU controlled media, and the clear understandings at the end of WW2 are being stretched to breaking point. So, it's pretty certain that our Dutch friends are going to give a massive thumbs-down to German ambitions. Theoretically the Dutch have right of veto; but hey, this is the post-democratic EU where we little people don't count. So, what do you think is going to happen? Yes, the overwhelming will of the Dutch nation will simply be ignored, and any attempt to canvas public opinion over a wider franchise will be vigorously suppressed by our EU overlords. Our own government will claim that we've had our say on this in our own referendum, blithely ignoring the fact that the issue was never actually raised by our own elites. If we are dumb enough to fall for Quisling Cameron's lies, and do vote "Remain", then it's the start of our own armed forces (and our nuclear capability) being sucked into Juncker's EU army. Once this process is set in motion all the "peace in our time" rhetoric about the EU will be exposed for the deception it has always been. There has been peace in Europe since WW2 because our forbears had the good sense to remove all serious armaments from German control, but not until after they too made the fatal mistake of allowing an always expansionist Germany to surreptitiously rearm in the 1930's. Think of Vote Leave as a vote to keep our nuclear weapons out of the hands of people who have much form on failing to respect other's rights. The Russian people are not our enemy, but it will be very difficult for any of us to argue this when we are absorbed into a super-state which is dead-set on trespassing on the Russian sphere of influence! It's desperately important for mature people to get this message over to younger people who've been blinded by spin, bogus economic arguments, and touchy-feely "let's all hold hands and make the world a better place" fools. We've been there ourselves (me in foolishly believing Edward Heath in 1975), and are duty bound to make the effort to explain the difference between fantasy and hard reality to the current generation.

We've all heard Cameron's laughable scare stories (from a guy who seriously asked us to believe he might recommend a Brexit), but here's some things that should really scare us!

Oh, forgot the important bit! The mozzies are now out in force, and right on cue I've just been bitten! Take plenty of good quality protective, and don't wait until you are bitten. Apply generously well before the sun goes down. Autan works well but can be ridiculously expensive. You are in the malaria zone on the South coast of Sicily, but it's not the anopheles mozzie that's the main danger at the moment. West Nile disease (tigre mozzie) is always a background risk, and Zika is a disaster waiting to happen (the climate is just right for aedes aegypti).

There's a faint Spanish influence in the mainland, but not i think as much as in Sicily; you'd do better with Greek here. They sort of like the Spanish and refer to them as our Spanish cousins, but Spaniards don't seem that keen on visiting. So, it would be reasonable to assume that your Spanish might do a bit better there, in some places at least. The French aren't desperately liked here - one wonders why! With Germans there's more ambivalence, but in parts of Northern Italy they really can't make their mind up if the are German/Austrian or Italian, so that's sort of understandable. I could do you a pamphlet about "The English", but in private it is generally confided that "The English: they drink too much!" - so, please don't reinforce the stereotype, unless you can pass for Scandinavian!

Been?!! We'll yes I have, but it has changed a tiny bit since. I'm still waiting for the Messina Bridge (local joke)! Just at the moment it's pretty warm (for Northern Europeans) in the Southern Med but the temperatures fall fairly rapidly after sunset when the skies are clear - which is mostly. Take something warmer for night time. The real ramp up in temperatures isn't really until late'ish June. The winter has been far far wetter than average so things look a lot greener to a local eye than usual, but the farmers like this a lot. First crop of the year of citrus is doing nicely (there are two growing seasons for a lot of things and even the cacti can struggle in August). I hope you like seafood! If not you'll get by nicely providing you make this very clear: "niente mare". The town you are staying in will warn you that theirs is the only one not run by the Mafia, you should smile and thank them because all towns actually believe this, and believe the worst about their neighbours. They do not speak Italian in the South so it's pretty pointless trying to learn anything but the basics from locals. English will do just fine unless you are addressing someone over 40 or not in trade or authority. Never ask "Parla Inglese" though as the answer will almost always be a frightened stare (it's standing up in class time all over again) or a non; just speak very slowly; they may respond in dialect but they will generally understand you or have enough English to say what they don't understand. Failing that it's generally phone a friend time (for them)! Don't forget to bring plenty of your visiting cards to hand out to (illegal) immigranti. It's now a lucrative industry because Merkelville is paying generous allowances - with UK money! Privately locals will tell you their deep worries, and that they've never seen anything like it in scale; publicly they've been bought-off, for now. And, whilst you are there you'll notice something else. It may not hit you in the face but it becomes evident to any travelled sentient person. I'm talking about the huge deficit of children and younger people generally. In large part the EU and the Euro has done this; unless you have really good "connections" it's impossible for anyone to get work. The only option is to leave for the North, and up there it's not too much better these days. So, let's all hold hands and make Europe a better place - for Germans! https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/sicily/sicilian-cuisine-cannoli-arancini

Yes, we know! It's due to today's software/security update having killed our indexes. They will rebuild automatically, so don't panic.

Boris on UK Steel: Pity the Port Talbot workers – their country is powerless to help them

It has been suggested that Tata doesn't actually want to sell Port Talbot, but wants it to fold. Why would this be? Well... sold, it would offer competition to its other plants, and quite amazingly it is in negotiations to actually buy German steel provider Thyssen. So much for Tata being a friend of the UK! One thing is very clear though, EU Dave is only offering platitudes, and is quite content to see a closure. To the posh-boys-playing-games it's just a temporary embarrassment, and nothing must get in the way of Dave's spell as Chairman of the EU Council of Ministers next year. Even if he loses the referendum he intends to hang on in there for his EU pension and perks. He's never held down a real job in his entire life; can't relate to industry, let alone working people, and has absolutely no sense of country. He thinks life entirely revolves around spin and presentation. There are dozens of competent people in the Tory party, yet they have to foist off this Etonian prat onto us! To top it all, there's now panic setting in that he's left the Falklands completely unprotected. Time to remove the two tinkering posh boys Tory Party - before the electorate does it for you.

Ah "Funny French": French plumbing, and lifts that you can only go up in - yes, I remember it well. I knew that Hong Kong used our 13A but I never realised how many other countries adopted them: To that you can add countries - like South Africa - that still use our old British Standard round pin plugs. That was in the days when we looked outward and led the world in innovation (and democracy). A tragedy our kids are never taught this, to apologise for the past, and are fed all this inward-looking EU bilge.

Yup, it's a smaller 5A one - I thought the prongs looked far too small to be the 15/13A size. And, with a fuse in it, then it's a Wylex 5A side-entry ring-main plug. You'd be hard pressed to find one of those here even 60 years ago. The thought strikes me that if anyone bought a non-ring main one and used it on a ring main they could be in big trouble - unless there was a design difference to prevent that. That's something H & S would make a song and dance about these days, but in those days most people had a thing called common sense, and the very very few who didn't helped improve the gene pool. The horrible fuse-pin ones BUDC fitted were I think branded DS - probably. I've no idea what DS stood for. There must be lots of those still lying around Bedlington in sheds and attics.

Hmm.. looks like there may also have been 5A and even 2A variants of the Wylex, to match the normal round-pin (British Standard?) range that everyone of an age will remember. And top and side entry versions of every one too - a true collectors cornucopia! Never knew that, though chances are I've come across at least one other at some time! On this subject: how about our 13A plug being the envy of the world? Something to remember when you are cursing that they don't fit into the bag, box or suitcase. Though, there's likely some overpaid Eurocrat in Brussels drafting a directive to standardise us on German Shuko's as I write this. http://www.fastcodesign.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best-wall-sockets-on-earth

It's known as a Wylex plug and they came in two types: ring main (13A) and non-ring main (15A). Looks like that's a "non" one (without a fuse). I think there were probably other manufacturers of the design, but that seems to be a genuine Wylex one. They're a collectors item, though not that rare - so don't throw it away. It would be interesting to know which local builder/electrician fitted them. The BUDC had a thing about those terrible fused pin ones which frequently fell to bits. Everybody was surely glad to see the back of those! They became ridiculously expensive, and the fused pins hard to get hold of, which brought on their rapid demise in the late 1960's. The Wylex design probably failed in the 1950's, or maybe just post-war.

Ah, yes, I think you've just identified your own problems: a logical space limit that only you with your larger uploads (and maybe an odd few others) were hitting. Well, good to see that this has been (inadvertently) fixed - the pain had a bit of gain.