Gently Back Into the Water 823


I had excellent news from my cardiologist yesterday.  Ready to think about other things now.  I am horrified by the continuing stream of ” royal” baby hype on television.  Truly pathetic – is this 1313 or 2013?  Who buys into this nonsense?

I thought the Lib Dem take on Trident missiles was hilarious.  This small group of islands does apparently need to retain the ability to wipe out one third of the urban population of humankind, as a defence against something undefined – possibly people we invade getting too annoyed about it – and  in order to increase our “influence” in the World.  As we plainly have less influence than the Germans, who don’t feel this need for the power of obliteration, I do not quite see how this works.  Nor do I see Pakistan, which does have nuclear weapons, as very influential.  Nor do I quite understand how our influence can be increased by possessing something  under effective American control.  But there you are.

Anyway, the Lib Dems have come to the intellectually scintillating conclusion that we do need this world shattering power, but we don’t need it on Wednesday or Thursday afternoons or on Saturday mornings, which will be cheaper.  Brilliant, and plainly does not dodge any big ethical or practical questions at all.

 

 

 

 


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823 thoughts on “Gently Back Into the Water

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  • Komodo

    Yes. I’d be more inclined to disguise myself as an old person, and go on a world cruise. Several go to Curacao.

  • Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version)

    Doug; Preppers stockpile not only food and water, but warehouses full of TP. It IS essential to life as we know it.

  • A Node

    “and had a nail that held squares of newspaper for the use of.”

    Eeeh lad, you were lucky. We had to use thistles ….

    …. etc

  • doug scorgie

    Something I always knew:

    “The Conservative party has changed so much its members are now universally “mad”, a Cabinet Office minister has reportedly said.”

    “Michael Fabricant, the outspoken deputy chair of the Tory party, revealed in a magazine interview that Francis Maude, a former party chairman, had made the claim to him.”

    “Francis Maude said a great thing to me last year: ‘You know what Michael? With your long hair, and your strange views, we all thought you were mad, and do you know what? The Conservative party has changed, and now we are all mad just like you’,”

    http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/07/23/tory-minister-we-re-all-mad-now

  • Fred

    “Eeeh lad, you were lucky. We had to use thistles ….”

    We only had an outside toilet…no house…just an outside toilet.

  • Fred

    “The single toilet was outside and had a nail that held squares of newspaper for the use of.”

    But didn’t it just make your day when one of them had a picture of Margaret Thatcher on it.

  • Passerby

    We had to get up for work ten minutes before we went to bed…

    Bucking luxury!

    We had to get up three hours before we went to bed to swim for our paper round across the channel because them days there were no papers to be deliverer here you know!

  • Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version)

    I had to walk uphill in the snow to and from our one-room K-12 schoolhouse. Yes, uphill both ways.

  • Komodo

    Herbie:
    The second non-negotiable demand was that the White House appoint as Kerry’s Chief Negotiator at any Israel-Palestinian peace negotiation the Israeli born arch- Zionist Martin Indyk. Kerrey, not happy and under Israeli lobby pressure, agreed and will name Indyk shortly Congressional sources reveal.

    Mr. Indyk began his Washington career as an AIPAC staffer, served as executive director of an AIPAC think tank offshoot, the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, and then served two terms as the first foreign-born U.S. Ambassador to Israel where, according to Jeffrey Feltman, his longtime aid, “Martin taught me all I need to know about the Middle East, and that is about preserving Israel.”

    Says it all, really. Let’s have talks, as long as they’re guaranteed to fail.

  • Passerby

    Heard about the trouble at the mill, Guido Fawkes is planning to sue Perry for her outburst about he site being hacked by GF.

    Don’t follow the link there is no porn.

    Do these luminaries in the gubermint know that if they block porn, over night the internet traffic would be halved? Where would Eric Schmidt get his revenue for advertising then?

  • Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version)

    What about all this discussion about UK regulation of the Media? WTF are they talking about?

    What kind of regulation. Do they consider porn mainstream media?

  • Komodo

    And what of the fragrant Claire’s views on alcohol pricing, I ask myself?

    From her unspeakably trite website, not currently hacked:

    Claire Perry MP went along to Strangers’ [Bar] and pulled a few pints for MPs and their guests, who are expected to enjoy around 300 pints over the next few days.

    Claire said:

    “I am delighted that X Red, White & Brew is a guest beer in Strangers’ Bar, the second time in just a few months that an X beer has been selected for Strangers’. I am always very pleased to support our local pubs and breweries, and getting our Parliamentarians to develop a taste for X, as well as persuading the Chancellor to cut beer duty for the first time since 1959, will all help this important local industry.”

    X* is her local beer. Should an MP be advertising a commercial product on the Internet? So many questions.

    *Weaker than Foster’s.

  • Passerby

    Ben Franklin said:

    Do they consider porn mainstream media

    Could well be No policies, the depression getting worse, sick people with brain tumours declared fit to go to work and die a week later scandals. Best to start policing peoples privates, it has the moral angle, appeals to the old farts and swivelled eyed loons, and shows resolve and determination. There you have it, porn no more!

  • Jemand - Censorship Improves History

    Fred, re Wiki link to water and sanitation in Palestinian territories.

    Yes, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. And the link includes discussion of what I referred to as unfair obstructions to improving access to and use of water resources.

    The situation is not getting any easier for a lot of us as AGCC causes disruptions to rainfall patterns, populations increase and energy resources decline. Water prices have skyrocketted where I live. Then there’s water politics to contend with, as the Palestinians are well aware of. Something has to break.

  • Passerby

    Ambassador Gould endorses hasbara training-

    Judging by the inspiring talk of their man in London, Mat. Gould; it is hasara on steroids; said that he hoped the madrichim would be proud to represent Britain accurately whilst they are in Israel, and be similarly proud to represent Israel accurately and fairly whilst on campus in the UK

    There, we thought Madrassa was only a Taliban thing.

  • Passerby

    Keystone Cops Automatic Number Plate Recognition “ring of steel” breaks the law

    A system of police cameras that slurped the comings and goings of Brits living and working in the small Hertfordshire town of Royston has been found to be “unlawful” for collecting “excessive” information, the UK’s data watchdog ruled today.

    The local cops’ Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) scheme had been dubbed “the ring of steel”, after the cameras “made it impossible for anyone to drive their car in and out of Royston without a record being kept of the journey,” the Information Commissioner’s Office said.

    Just dunchyou luv the smell of democracy in the afternoon?

  • doug scorgie

    “Knesset forms Jewish world lobby”

    “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich are joining forces for the first time to launch the Knesset Lobby for Strengthening the Jewish People.”

    “The lobby, which enjoys support across the political spectrum, will operate in cooperation with the Jewish Agency for Israel. So far, 40 Knesset members have asked to join. It will be chaired by MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Likud) and Nachman Shai (Labor).”

    “Ahead of the lobby’s first discussion on Monday, Netanyahu and Yachimovich sent the MKs a letter explaining that they had decided to cooperate in light of “the importance of the lobby’s goal – strengthening the Jewish people and the connection between Israel and the Diaspora, forming a Jewish identity among the young generation and deepening Jewish tradition.”

    http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-4408413,00.html

    What arrogance the Zionists have to think that they can speak for all Jews word-wide.

    This has to be seen in the context of: any Jew in the world has a right of return to Israel even though they, or their ancestors, have never lived there. But Palestinian’s who have been pushed out of that land, have no right of return.

    I would hazard a guess that the majority of the world’s Jews have no intention of moving (“returning”) to Israel.

    Zionism, in my view, exacerbates racism against Jews and perhaps that is the objective.

    Read Alan Hart: The Real Enemy of the Jews.

  • Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version)

    ” luv the smell of democracy in the afternoon?’

    American cities spent hundreds of millions on intersection cameras, then discovered their complex legal dilemma and disconnected. I feel certain it had more to do with torts. It became fiscally unsound.

  • mark golding

    Agreed ‘Whew’ atavistic is spot on. Ben- Hi – thanks for the link–crucially in Craig’s image a good number of ‘paladins’ or chess board ‘knights’ opine here.

    “It’s an attack piece, the most versatile on the board. It can move eight different ways, over barriers, and [is] always unexpected.”

  • John Goss

    Back to the topic. The Royal Family, members of which obliterate real news stories by their very presence, were responsible for the death of Princess Diana, whose newly-born grandson is made the centre of attention for the time being. This film was funded by al Fayad but is nonetheless an important documentary. Thanks God for the Jury system.

    http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f93_1368303020

  • A Node

    “Do these luminaries in the gubermint know that if they block porn, over night the internet traffic would be halved? Where would Eric Schmidt get his revenue for advertising then?”

    They won’t block porn.
    They don’t want to block porn.
    They want to establish a procedure to block porn.
    Then when porn sidesteps the procedure, they will look the other way.
    And they will use the mechanism to block ‘conspiracy theories’.

  • A Node

    “Do these luminaries in the gubermint know that if they block porn, over night the internet traffic would be halved? Where would Eric Schmidt get his revenue for advertising then?”

    They won’t block porn.
    They don’t want to block porn.
    They want to establish a procedure to block porn.
    Then when porn sidesteps the procedure, they will look the other way.
    And they will use the procedure to block ‘conspiracy theories’.

  • Jon

    glenn_uk, I appreciate your second (gentler) assessment of my input here.

    [G] We’re all adults, we can decide if something is out of order and form our own views. Personally, I don’t feel the need to have someone shield me from what might be an objectionable view.

    I agree that some people are robust. Here’s me on that very topic, 27th June, recalling some of our history here:

    [J] I understand that these threads can get heated, but equally everyone needs to be able to step away when this happens. I should make it clear that I have seen threats of physical violence, signs of severe stress, threats of suicide, tears, depression and the rest on this very site – the words we say have, sometimes, a real effect in the real world. Please bear that in mind when you post.

    What to do in those cases – just let it happen? If a group bully a member off the board, do we share responsibility for it if we could have done something? These are rhetorical questions mainly, since I don’t know the answer, but they are worthy of reflection.

    Another point I should respond to:

    [G] I note that while having misgivings about the entire exercise, you have not expressed the least doubt in your own ability to censor with perfect judgement. No error even could have occurred in that regard.

    Not true. Here’s me on that, on 29th June:

    [J] Since moderation requires judgement, unfortunately not all mod decisions will be popular (or correct even, since it is done by humans). I cannot overstress how much deletions are not personal, even though they feel like it.

    Last point:

    [G] You’ve already seen off more than enough decent contributors here, [Cryptonym] being just one

    I think that’s rather a different matter. Cryptonym said the following:

    [C] [Ex-KGB officers who have moved from the USSR] who now reside either in Israel (where thieving is a national institution of the seedy sick cult there, but where state policies of genocide make mere theft simply other charges confirmatory of incorrigible deviance)

    One of our recent guests made a complaint, and since I agreed with their assessment, I struck out a very small part of Cryptonym’s contribution. I think it crosses the line very plainly from “Ziofuckwits” (which attacks a political philosophy) to “a seedy sick cult” (Judaism) and all Israelis/Jewish people as “deviant” (discriminatory). Cryptonym was given a right of reply in case he had been misunderstood but he chose not to add any clarification, so my assumption remains that the post was out of line. However, if you believe his comment should have been left uncut, I am happy to hear why.

    ***

    In summary, I’ll not participate in an unpopular dictatorship, but I think what we have is broadly working. Trimming excessive focus on individuals and unpleasantness that spirals arguments out of control, in my humble view, removes the pointless stream that gets in the way of having a good discussion. As I have said before, we have no posting policy and Craig seems disinclined to approve what I’ve suggested, so I think we’re on our own.

    I do take the broad point that post trimming can creep, but I don’t sense that it has. I accept that I could be completely wrong, and that solid discussions like the one with Arsalan would have happened despite an unmoderated punch-up on the other page. Similarly, if my trying to keep order (and stimulate civil and thoughtful discussion) annoys more people than it pleases, I’ll quit moderating entirely and we’ll see where the chips fall.

  • Parky

    Is Uri Geller essentially a piss-poor entertainer who performed second-rate conjuring tricks but claims to have some kind of super-natural skills and powers?

    Does Derren Brown really have these types of super-natural skills and powers but claims only to be a professional entertainer who claims that all of his act (which is much more interesting and mysterious than Geller’s ever was) is just a show and an illusion. Is Mr Brown really the one secretly working for the spooks and Geller is just a con-artist who has managed to scan some important and powerful organisations who have obviously gone along with it for whatever reasons.

    Geller was first promoted in the 1970’s and his spoon bending act was never really scrutinised properly and everyone on TV seemed to give him an easy ride in the same way that politicians and religious preachers are never really properly cross-examined. He then seemed to go out of the public-eye for many years and instead concentrated on deceiving the gullible selling them magic crystals and other hocus-pocus clap-trap.

    Odd that he’s been given media spotlight again at this time. He has always been a charlatan and will always remain so.

  • John Goss

    Thanks Dave Lawton for sharing the royals’ involvement in investment in Africa and uranium. Nobody should leave the prime minister out of this equation either. David Cameron, like three prime ministers before him, was happy to see Abdelbaset al Megrahi take the rap for Lockerbie because the evidence points towards our involvement, and his personal interest, in the assassination of Bernt Carlsson on Pan Am flight 103, most likely funded by De Beers and URENCO. If you read nothing else read the last two paragraphs of this Wikispooks article.

    https://wikispooks.com/wiki/R%C3%B6ssing_Uranium_Mine

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