@justin_ng Larry, you beautiful boy 😻. You remind me so much of my old boy Eddie.
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Samantha
2.6K posts
Samantha retweetet
@Se_Railway @Doug_Paulley @SteveWhiteRail @railandroad Managers always give the answers that suits corporate policy. The workers on the platforms and tracks know differently.
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@smanthc @Doug_Paulley @SteveWhiteRail @railandroad in time. The Help Points are checked on a regular basis by the local teams. We are also working to change the tone that's used when a call is ringing, to avoid any confusion in future. 2/2 ^JT
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This is exactly what you would want to happen when you arrive in your wheelchair in the dark at a station you've never travelled from before, the ticket office is shut and so you press the assistance button.
@Se_Railway @SteveWhiteRail @railandroad
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@benn_elisbenn @DesignedByBlind @Doug_Paulley @Se_Railway @SteveWhiteRail @railandroad Yes, the specific change from general maintenance can only end in a disaster of some kind.
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@smanthc @DesignedByBlind @Doug_Paulley @Se_Railway @SteveWhiteRail @railandroad That is likely to lead to “ vulnerable” passengers left stranded at deserted stations. May be when there is a coroner’s inquest for one dying of hypothermia Network Rail & TOCs whether publicly owned or not will wake up. Removing staff & not maintaining equipment disaster zone.
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Samantha retweetet
Samantha retweetet
🏆🏆Brilliant take down … from the real Miss Piggy
Dearest Donald,
It is moi, Miss Piggy, and I am writing because you have committed a sin so grotesque, so tasteless, so fundamentally idiotic that even the Muppet chickens gasped. You called a reporter—an intelligent, courageous, unflinching professional—“piggy.”
Let’s pause, darling.
Let’s breathe.
Let’s let the stupidity of that choice settle into the air like the unmistakable scent of a bargain-bin cologne worn by a man who thinks intimidation is a personality.
You were asked about the Epstein files. A serious question. A necessary question. A question every decent human with a pulse should want answered. And instead of behaving like anything resembling an adult, you snapped. You barked. You lashed out like a startled sewer rat cornered under a bridge with too much hairspray and not enough self-control.
You didn’t insult her.
You exposed yourself.
She stood there in the truth.
You stood there in panic.
She held the line.
You lost your mind.
And then—mon dieu—you invoked moi.
You said “piggy.”
At a woman who was doing her job with more professionalism in one sentence than you have shown in your entire, overcooked, chaotic lifetime.
There is ONE Piggy.
ONE.
And she does not answer to you.
I built that name with talent, beauty, star power, and a legendary karate chop feared by icons and monsters alike. You? You hurl it as an insult because a woman dared to speak to you without bowing first. How fragile you must be to crumble under the weight of a question delivered by someone infinitely stronger than you have ever been.
That reporter showed courage. She showed integrity. She showed the world what a real professional looks like. Meanwhile, you flailed like a collapsing parade float struggling to stay inflated. You weren’t “fighting back.” You weren’t “being tough.” You were simply terrified. Terrified of a woman, a microphone, and the truth you keep trying to stuff into a closet full of your old scandals.
Calling her “piggy” didn’t diminish her. It diminished you.
It made you look cheap.
It made you look weak.
It made you look like a coward thrashing in quicksand of your own making.
And let’s be clear: A man who calls a woman “piggy” because he cannot withstand a factual question is not strong. He is not clever. He is not bold.
He is a big, loud, pathetic problem. A problem the size of a collapsing casino.
A problem wrapped in insecurity, hairspray, and whatever the hell those suits are made of—polyester? denial? both?
So here is your final lesson from moi:
The reporter you tried to belittle stands taller today than you ever have.
She asked for truth.
You served up fear.
She did her job.
You embarrassed yourself.
She kept her dignity.
You lost yours somewhere between the plane door and your next tantrum.
My name is not your shield.
My title is not your insult.
You are not worthy to utter the word “Piggy” unless you are referring to your own reflection.
Consider this your warning, your education, and your verbal karate chop to the soul:
Do not use my name to attack a woman who is braver than you.
Do not weaponize my legacy to mask your cowardice.
And do not mistake your insecurity for strength.
You wanted to shame her.
Instead, you shamed yourself.
Furiously, fabulously, and forever out of your league,
Miss. Piggy
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Samantha retweetet
If you call yourself a “trans woman,” here’s what I know about you:
You’re a man.
I don’t know what your motivations are, I don’t know if you’re harmless, I don’t know if you “sincerely feel like a woman.”
I just know you are a man.
And I know that, as a man, you possess things like larger arm length, grip strength, muscle mass, lung capacity and airway size than I do.
I know all of those things mean that you are faster, stronger, and physiologically more powerful than me.
I know those things mean that if we competed in just about any sport, you’d win.
I also know those things mean 95% of men (even on cross sex hormones) are physiologically capable of killing 90% of women USING ONLY THEIR BARE HANDS.
I don’t know if you are the type of man who would do something like that.
But I do know that AS A MAN, you have a statistically higher risk of harming me or my daughter than a woman does.
And that we have a lower chance of being able to defend ourselves, if you decide to.
I know that trans identifying men have the same—or higher—statistical crime rates and patterns as other men.
I know that there is NO EMPIRICAL DIAGNOSTIC TEST beyond “trust me bro” that can clinically demonstrate that you’re different or safer than any other man.
You might be a lovely person. You might never hurt a fly. You might be a totally awesome human being. Lots of men are.
But I can’t know those things any more than I can know if you’re a predator, unless we know each other for a while.
And, as A WOMAN, I have had to grow up mentally gauging the threat level of EVERY MAN in my vicinity.
Being aware.
Being careful.
Being tuned into my instincts.
Not because I’m paranoid. Not because I’m a “bigot” or “sexist.”
But because there’s a 1 in 4 chance that I’ve been raped.
There’s a 1 in 3 chance I’ve been physically assaulted by an intimate partner.
There’s a 1 in 2 chance that I’ve been physically assaulted by ANY MAN over my lifetime.
You know what those statistics (and the fact that you, as a “trans woman,” hold exactly the same statistical criminality patterns as other men) mean?
I don’t have the LUXURY of assuming you’re different.
And you haven’t done ANYTHING to prove that you are.
You want to live in a world where women don’t treat you as a possible threat?
Where you don’t feel that wariness from us?
Then maybe you should care about all that, respect the boundaries set up for our physical safety and fairness, and take action to make this world safer for women and girls—instead of dismantling every safeguard that's keeping those statistics from being even higher.
In other words, you should try to PROTECT women.
Because you want to know the easiest way to tell good men from bad ones?
Good men do EXACTLY that.
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Samantha retweetet
Samantha retweetet
Let’s play a hypothetical game.
Let’s imagine there’s a zoo somewhere, in another land.
In this zoo are mainly lemurs, gorillas, baboons, tapirs, quokkas, iguanas, antelopes & other assorted species. Their only connection is that they are all animals.
Grouped together they are collectively known as LGBTQIA+ to make it easier for the zoo’s PR department, & to bring in some extra cash, even though they are all different animals, with very different behaviours & wants.
But, only the lemurs, gorillas & baboons have a clear connection to each other. A commonality. That being…they are all primates. And they have undergone horrors for centuries. Persecuted, loathed, feared & slaughtered.
The tapirs have totally separate issues. Not better, not worse, simply different. Not comfortable in their own skin, they yearn to be something different. There is also an extremely vocally abusive & physically threatening contingent, who do not speak for all tapirs, but they think they do & make their unwelcome presence felt.
The quokkas just make up different rules for themselves each day & are rather aggressive & obnoxious about everything.
The iguanas are thinking why the f**k are we included in all this anyway.
The antelopes are running around in a big field, making something out of nothing, but delighted & smug to have insisted on their inclusion anyway.
And the ‘+’ lot have decided they must be included because they made up different titles for regular animal feelings, wear kitten ears & rather enjoy the fact they can hide behind the others to make themselves appear more interesting.
Now let’s imagine that in this particular zoo, only the primates are regularly singled out for punishments simply because they are primates. Some are starved. Some are locked away. Some are even euthanised.
Naturally, you are outraged & want to express your horror at this abhorrent treatment.
So, when you take to the streets with your placards, would you specify exactly WHO was being targeted with this treatment or would you include ALL the animals & use the full acronym? Even for the mysterious ‘+’ animals, who frankly, could do what they bleedin’ well like, without anyone batting an eyelid?
Or would you recognise that it is, in fact, the primates who’re being singled out for terrible treatment, & have been historically for an extremely long time & make sure you made that differentiation clear?
The serious bit…👇
Please note: Afghanistan, Brunei, *Iran, Mauritania, North Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, & Yemen, still have the death penalty for homosexuality.
*Iran is notorious for forcing gay men to surgically transition to look like women, as a ‘cure’, if they aren’t executed first.
The following countries/regions allow punishing same-sex attracted people, either by flogging, fining &/or jailing:
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, DC Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga & Tuvalu.
T&Cs. Please note that this was probably more fun to write than to read, shouldn’t be taken too seriously, until the last paragraphs, of course, & that some analogies may be rather tenuous & furry-related, which was far from my intention. But I hope you get the general gist…
Not pretty, is it…?
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Samantha retweetet
Samantha retweetet
Help us get the Cannon & Ball doc going with our Kickstarter! For the first time, Tommy reminisces on his life, career and the tragic loss of Bobby, his comedy partner and best mate. It’s an amazing story and needs to get told! Please help if you can!
kck.st/4oaeNXq
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be honest, how many books are currently on your TBR pile?
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Samantha retweetet
As another man who once worked with me declares himself saddened by my beliefs on gender and sex, I thought it might be useful to compile a list for handy reference. Which of the following do you imagine makes actors and directors who aren’t involved with the HBO reboot of Harry Potter so miserable?
Is it my belief that women and girls should have their own public changing rooms and bathrooms?
That women should retain female-only rape crisis centres?
That men don’t belong in women’s sport?
That female prisoners shouldn’t be incarcerated with violent men and male sex offenders?
That women should remain a protected class in law, because they have sex-specific needs and issues?
That language should reflect reality rather than ideological jargon, especially in a medical context?
That women shouldn’t be harassed, persecuted or fired for refusing to pretend humans can change sex?
That women should not be threatened with violence and rape when they assert their rights?
That freedom of speech and belief are essential to a pluralistic democratic society?
That troubled minors, especially those who are gay, autistic and trauma-experienced, should be given mental health support instead of irreversible surgeries and drug treatments on non-existent evidence of benefit?
That gay people shouldn’t be pressured to include the opposite sex in their dating pools, nor should they be smeared as ‘genital fetishists’ when they don’t?
That cross-dressing heterosexual male fetishists aren’t actually oppressed, but having the time of their lives piggybacking off gender identity ideology?
That said ideology, and the privileged, blinkered fools pushing it because they suffer zero consequences themselves, have done more damage to the political left’s credibility than Trump and Farage could have achieved in a century?
Let me have your thoughts.
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Has anyone else noticed that there's more butterflies 🦋 around this summer?
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Leave green space alone. Stop building family homes. Homes needed for all generations
Angela Rayner@AngelaRayner
We’ve listened and we’re backing the builders. But we also need to see the homes local people need built. That’s why we’re looking at new measures to get more homes built - and faster. #GetBritainBuilding
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@richardosman I listened to We Solve Murders on audio book. Loved it, but would have loved it more if I'd read the physical book to myself. Can't wait for the next one.
Richard Osman@richardosman
So happy that so many 'Thursday Murder Club' fans have come on board with the 'We Solve Murders' adventures of Amy, Steve and the irrepressible Rosie D'Antonio. It really means a great deal to me, thank you all. And if you haven't dipped in yet, I promise you'll love it. A brand-new 'Thursday Murder Club' book arriving this year, and the second 'We Solve Murders' to follow in 2026!
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@TheBillaton It's difficult to pin down one. I enjoyed the early series' episodes and his interaction with D/I Galloway. But his retirement speech where he absolutely tore a strip off Chandler was epic. He spoke for a lot of real police officers at that time.
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Good morning all, today we are celebrating #thebill's Sgt Bob Cryer played by Eric Richard. Bob was well respected by fellow officers and the public alike. He was central to so many memorable storylines over the years.. Please share with us your favourite storylines starring Bob.
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