Simon Rouse

Just another Old Giffer at the bar. Ambassador for U.K. Men’s Sheds Association/Shrewsbury Men’s Shed Trustee - Green Voter for ages.

[Chris Packham @ChrisGPackham]

Tip of an iceberg of beautiful life . . . going . . . going . . . gone . . . and it just doesn’t have to be this way @BirdLife_News @NationalAudubon @Natures_Voice

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@City_Chief Seychelles, bound for Doha. Dragging it out in the Lounge.

[Chris Packham @ChrisGPackham]

Hello , I’ve written another letter to @antanddec about the ongoing appalling abuse of animals on @ITV programme @imacelebrity . I’ve tried to be polite but my patience has run thin . If you agree with what it says please RT . #ImACeleb

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@PrestwichBlue Every other sport trusts the fans in the stadium to watch the same footage the ref is seeing on the big screens. If you’re a football fan, paying big money for a ticket, you don’t get to see what the armchair fan at home does. That can’t be right.

[charles watson @watsonchas]

Appalling scenes coming in today from River Wye catchment 😥
Topsoil from fields left bare to autumn/winter storms - laden with nutrients from dumped manure by valley’s massive intensive 🐓 industry - just freely running off into the river system.
How to destroy an ecosystem 😖

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@British_Airways Yes thanks. And hand luggage?

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@British_Airways Could you tell me what the baggage allowance is on your partner airline Qatar’s flights to/from Seychelles please? Travelling economy.

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@R0Poem I wonder if they do those trousers in my chest size?

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@mrkevkennedy You’re looking well on it Kevin. I last saw you playing the guitar and singing in a Moss Side Alehouse. You were good.

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@TheDoorRestorer @MenShrewsbury I do. Some lovely old signage in town that presents well, reassures and draws the customer in. Then there is one very good restaurant of long standing in the town, that has cheapened the business and undermined the work of its staff with an ugly, shiny, over-sized plastic sign.

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@Baron_Douro @mrianleslie I think they will remain concerned about matters which directly impact nature, rather than speculating on the future performance of stocks and shares.

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@robjc @BikeWorcester DM us and drop in anytime during the week.

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@SheikhMCI He”s a City fan, has had just bit parts and was nervous on each occasion. He is a class act which is why he is with us - give the lad a run out.

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@HelenMagi @ShropCouncil Oh and I live in the town centre, shop at Tesco, Pride Hill and experience this every day.

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@HelenMagi @ShropCouncil It is shockingly bad; and I say that after a lifetimes work with looked after adolescents and some current involvement with the homeless. Whatever the answer is to this problem allowing a violent/criminal sub-culture to take root at the cost of the town isn’t it.

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@mrrobwilson In the meantime the Rangers are pitching in and making a massive difference. Let’s have more!

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

@ManCityzenscom Sat 16th March 1968.
City 5 Fulham 1
Scorers City - Young 2, Bell, Lee, Summerbee
Fulham - Allan Clarke
City Manager - Joe Mercer.
Fulham Manager - Bobby Robson

[Simon Rouse @SimonRouse4]

There you have it - almost as appalling in his own sweet, special way as his mate Putin.

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

A British writer penned the best description of Donald Trump I’ve ever read:

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

-Nate White

[Shrewsbury Cup @shrewsburycup]

Best bit of river in the UK? We think so - keep it beautiful choose #zerowaste over #singleuse - #loveyourriver this #zerowasteweek & choose @shrewsburycup 🙏✅🌎💚