Styx

Bloody St Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T11:36:00.008+01:00

Yes, it's 14th February, the weather here in London has warmed up, the sun is out and for the past couple of weeks, shops have been full of pink and red hearts made from plastic or satiny stuff; there have been all sorts of "gift ideas."

Bloody bad timing St Val. old chap - as far as this ranting blogger is concerned at least.

I have just received the worst broken heart of my life. She will not speak to or communicate, with me so (and how sad is this?) I have to resort to a blog rant. Apologies dear friends for boring you with this but I am not myself having been unable to sleep properly since 21st January.

The woman concerned I shall call K. We have known each other since late spring 1981; at that time we went out for a few months - she told me that she loved me and indeed went so far as to say "I want your baby" and then, on returning from a short holiday with a girlfriend, she cut herself off from me, choosing immediately. one of my closest friends. She was 19; I was the closest ever to suicide that I have been.

After a year and a half, she and my friend started a business: I worked for them for a year or so and K and I became very good friends; we remained in contact on and off over the years always on good terms.

Finally last summer (20th June) she contacted me again and a long and involved email and "chat" correspondence followed, culminating on 12th August with her declaring her love for me. I was delighted, since first I was beginning to feel that way myself at the time, and it was obvious that we had, or so it seemed everything in common. She came over to France for a few days at the end of August and it was wonderful - we talked everything through - she apologised for her behaviour in 1981 offering the excuse that "I was only 19 then, I am not 19 now." Fair enough and so I believed her. Shortly afterwards circumstances required that I be in England and naturally enough I stayed with her - at her invitation of course. She proclaimed "infinite" love for me, said that the previous thirty years had been a terrible waste and she agreed to marry me. And all the time there was the wonderful warmth of her often-declared love. I should add that she is very beautiful, highly intelligent, widely read &c. And so my love f0r her, which had perhaps always been there, deepened as time passed.

She always made a big point that all feelings must be expressed and any problems must be addressed face-to-face and discussed. She said she thought that perhaps it was a little soon for us to be living together - she had been on her own for 15 years - and after a proper discussion it was agreed that I would live separately for a few months - she made it very clear that she did not want our relationship to be damaged. All this was agreed and all was lovely ("I love you, I love you so much" &c., &c.). I arranged accomodation for myself and told her that I had done this as promised.

Just a few days later I received the following text message (I was away staying with my mother who is very old and ill):

"Am horrified by your selfish attitude and behaviour. I really don't want to see you. You'll need to collect your stuff, so please suggest a time when you can do this."

She refused to answer the telephone, refused to see me. All I got were some unpleasant text messages and emails. She did say in one of them that she had been feeling "suffocated" She did not ever refer to this in our discussions - so much for honesty. She says that I do not love her, but "love an idea of her that I have created." This is nonsense; if we had known each other for a few months only perhaps there could be such a case made. Perhaps it was just an attempt to shift the responsibility for fickleness.

She is now enraged with me - I have been trying to communicate with her contrary to her wishes - and now she says I am harrassing her! So much for "I am not 19 any more". And I wonder what "infinite" means to her - as in "infinite love"? Amongst her many talents she is a mathematician; one would I think be entitled to presume that a mathematician might have a better understanding of the concept of infinity than do most of us...

I accept that I am naive - despite my advanced years. I operate on a very simply principle which is: If you say you love somebody, then you show some consideration - and I am happy to apologise here and now for any misdemeanours over the past months and in particular, for a few of my very recent choleric outbursts - usually made under the effects of excess alcohol. This is after all the second time she has done this to me; one could be forgiven for expecting greater consideration this time.

A friend of mine used to say "you learn nothing from the second kick of the mule" He was wrong - the second kick is much worse.

And of course I still love her - absolutely - and would forgive her immediately - and I dream of her forgiving me..

Here then is my St Valentine's Day message to all:

Don't say "I love you" if you don't mean it, and don't say "I'll love you forever" if you are not prepared to deliver. If you are not sure, DON'T SAY IT - think of the other's feelings.

And St Valentine: just get out of my face will you?

Until the next time - if there is one.

Balls

2011-07-20T22:07:00.005+02:00

Hello.

No not the clot with the faux custard pie.

I am referring in my title to Wendi Deng, Mrs Rupert Murdoch; see how she steamed straight in to give the miscreant a slap.

I dream of having a woman like that as my life companion - support, commitment and so on; are hundreds of millions necessary? Romantically, I still hope not.

Full marks Wendi, and my compliments.

Until the next time

Death of a Spacecraft

2011-06-19T16:31:00.003+02:00

The BBC has published a video of the burning-up of the spacecraft Jules Verne in 2008 as it re-entered the earth's atmosphere.

Fascinating.

Eye-Watering

2011-06-03T10:13:00.002+02:00

This news item caught my eye the other day.

It made me think of certain prominent individuals (some French) who might be breathing a sigh of relief - if their eyes like mine caught the news item!

Until the next time

Fucking Typical EU Bullshit

2011-05-25T23:23:00.003+02:00

I really do not like Marmite, let alone its Australian analogue "Vegemite"; I would much rather spread my toast with proper beefy Bovril.

However, all this is beside the point: the Danes who have hitherto in my opinion been quite robust in other politically-incorrect areas appear to be wanting to ban the sticky stuff.

This REALLY pisses me off: all the time, bloody governments assume the god-damned right to interfere in individuals' personal lives.

FUCK OFF - all of you (governments)!

Until the next time.

McEnroe Moment

2011-05-22T13:17:00.003+02:00

There is a fair bit of argy-bargy at the moment concerning Dominique Strauss-Kahn's replacement as head of the IMF. It seems that some nations believe that it is time that a non-European headed the organisation.

The BBC reports that amongst the possible candidates is one Gordon Brown...

My reaction? "You cannot be serious!"

Until the next time

How Does It Work?

2011-05-20T22:17:00.003+02:00

Some crackpot who rejoices in the name of Harold Camping has predicted that the world would end tomorrow, 21st May. The story may be found here.

As you are no doubt now aware, it hasn't.

Obviously the man is certifiable, but aside from his fatuous prediction, what mystifies me is how this clown could be the multi-millionaire that he is reported to be.

All my life I have wondered how large sums of money are acquired; this latest story only serves to increase my bafflement!

Until the next time.

Osama Bin Laden & DSK

2011-05-19T21:45:00.008+02:00

I suppose I'm a bit late writing about this (Bin Liner) affair.

Not much to say really; there are suggestions that his assassination was illegal.

Guess what? I don't give a rat's arse whether his assassination was illegal or not; good riddance to bad rubbish.

Tragic that there are so many other fanatics ready to take his place; I wonder how he's getting on with his 72 virgins?

Perhaps DSK will convert to Islam?

In Private Eye, Craig Brown writes the excellent "Diary" for each edition. One purported to report the words of the late Harold Macmillan, Earl of Stockton, formerly British prime minister, who had to endure the famous Christine Keeler scandal in 1963. Craig Brown has his Macmillan saying that (Secretary of State for War) John Profumo had had a little trouble in the "trouser department"; all I can say is that from what I have read, it seems that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has "form" in this regard, even if the current allegations are proven not to be true. One example is this story which appeared in the Telegraph today.

Until the next time.

Do I detect the hand of Saif-al-Islam?

2011-03-21T22:03:00.002+01:00

Or perhaps his father as well?

Here is a report from the Libya February 17th site:

17:00 Almanara Media An eyewitness has contacted Almanara Media to relay the following report he received from a doctor in Tripoli:

“One of the doctors who works in a Tripoli hospital has informed me today 21st March 2011 at 13:00 GMT that Gaddafi’s forces are bringing into the hospital old bodies (i.e. dead for a while) and they wish to bring the media so they can film and photograph them as being casualties from the coalition strikes. He also informed me that he was able to recognize a number of the bodies as being amongst the youth who were kidnapped from Souq Al Jummah’s protests in Tripoli.”

Oh yes: those oil-stealing crusaders again...

Until the next time

Guess Who's Stuck His Oar In!

2011-03-20T23:44:00.009+01:00

Yep! It's old Raspberry Beret again.

He says that the USA (note not the UN) is seeking to take Libya's oil. I have to say that Gaddafi and his crackpot South American analogue Chavez, make a perfect pair.

Meanwhile I see that Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League, has been trying to move the goal posts, saying that the military action was not what he expected for the construction of a no-fly zone. This is the man who was present at the Paris summit yesterday! Perhaps he believes that the coalition pilots should simply ignore anti-aircraft installations, merely trusting in (Mussa's) God?

And in another rant from Gaddafi he is now, in addition to the usual crap about pinching his oil, claiming that the coalition is "attacking Islam" He is obviously getting desperate.

Here's a report that has just appeared on the BBC's live Libyan Crisis report:

More from Venezuela's president on the air and missile strikes on Libya: Speaking on his weekly television and radio programme, Hugo Chavez condemned the "indiscriminate bombing " claimed the US was after Libya's oil. "Libya is under imperial fire. Nothing justifies this, he said. "Who gave those countries the right?* Neither the United States, nor France, nor England, nor any country has the right to be dropping bombs." Mr Chavez added: "Let's try to help, to intercede between the parties. A ceasefire, sitting down at a table. That's the path when facing conflicts of this sort."

*The answer President Hugo, is the United Nations... Last time I looked it up, Venezuela is a member.

Until the next time

An Unlikely Alliance!

2011-03-20T00:12:00.004+01:00

The dreary Libyan Government spokesman suggests that the aggression that his country is undergoing is due both to "Al Quaeda" and "Zionist" forces.

Blimey! It would be very unwise to activate the Israelis; they'd go through Gaddafi's mob like a dose of castor oil!

Meanwhile the bloody old congenital liar is still bleating about his cease-fire!

Until the next time.

Going In Large

2011-03-19T23:02:00.007+01:00

Well now, yesterday I posted two pieces, the first suggesting that the UN decision to implement a no-fly zone plus other measures was "too little, too late" whilst the second stated that the first casualty of war is the truth.

As for the first of the articles, I must admit that any military credentials I might have been thought to possess have been shattered. Yes, Gadaffi's men are in Benghazi, but soon they will find themselves it seems, without any means of supply. And stupidly, I had not imagined that the UN-sanctioned coalition would go in so hard and so quickly. It seems that the French began operations even whilst the Paris summit was in progress. And now I read that already 112 "Tomahawk" cruise missiles have been fired at Libyan air defence facilities. This is serious stuff. I imagine that the coalition allies are expecting the supporters of Gadaffi to start to distance themselves from the régime.

As for the second post, the Libyan statements given out today include the biggest lie I have ever come across viz: "We have not fired a single bullet at any of our people" And as for your cease-fire... Dear oh dear.

For Gawd's sake Muammar! We might be "infidels" but we are not bloody stupid.

And a message for your supporters: no, nobody harbours colonial ambitions towards Libya and neither does anyone intend to steal your oil!

Wake up!

Until the next time

Edit/Update: Just heard an interview with a Tripoli resident who spoke frankly - and very bravely. he lives about 500 metres from an air base which was the target of coalition-launched missiles. He put the lie to Libyan Government claims of civilian casualties: he was very impressed with what he called "good shooting", in particular citing the case of a Land-Rover AA vehicle being destroyed with a single shot. He added that the people were in the street watching these events! He went on to describe Gadaffi as a man who "has run out of ideas" Perhaps he was correct; now Gadaffit is threatening civilian targets in the Mediterranean. Nothing new there, bearing in mind Lockerbie of course and Gadaffi's support for the repulsive IRA.

And: "The first casualty in war is the truth"

2011-03-18T22:34:00.002+01:00

I have just been watching BBC news which included an extract from a press conference given by a Libyan Government spokesman, in which it was claimed that "no civilians have been killed as a result of the military operations."

I am struggling to decide whether I am more outraged by these barefaced lies themselves or by the staggering neck of their purveyors.

Connards de merde!

A la prochaine

Too Little, Too Late, Horses and Stable Doors

2011-03-18T22:05:00.006+01:00

The news last night, welcome here at least, that the UN Security Council had voted in favour of a "no-fly" zone and other unspecified military measures, certainly provided a cause for celebration in Benghazi.

However, less than 24 hours later, we see that Gadaffi's troops are at the gates of the city, unhindered today in their rapid advance from Ajdabiya. Meanwhile, there is to be a conference tomorrow in Paris where members of the newly-formed coalition will discuss (I suppose) the realities of instituting the "no-fly" zone.

Given that the coalition has assured us all that there is to be no occupying force on the ground in Libya (and UN Resolution 1973 does not authorise this) and the well-known saw that wars are never won from the air, one feels that when asked to retreat, withdraw etc., Gadaffi who appears to hold nearly all the cards at present, will simply say "No."

And then what?

A week too late I think.

Until the next time

A Damned Good Idea

2011-03-10T22:35:00.004+01:00

Let's face it: Gadaffi is an arsehole; similarly his bizarre and ranting son: "We are not a Mickey Mouse"...

After the balls-up in Iraq, the world in general seems rather cautious, understandable perhaps given that there is a war to win in Afghanistan.

So there is a petition to sign, asking the UN Security Council to implement a "no-fly zone" in Libya, the aim being to achieve 1,000,000 signatures. I have signed, though I have to say that place names like Tobruk and Benghazi suggest to me that a more robust response would be appropriate...

I doubt that Field-Marshal Rommel or The Auk would have done so much hand-wringing! Of course we live in different times and a different world. So for example, the British Government can waste time and money discussing plain cigarette packets whilst civilians in Libya are being murdered by their own government.

Thanks to Banned for the link to the petition.

Until the next time.

Oh Yeah?

2011-03-10T22:29:00.003+01:00

From the rolling news feed on the BBC's coverage of the revolution in Libya, comes this:

More from Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He said it was clearly stated in the UN charter and international accords that "each nation has the right to decide its own future". As such, he said, "intervention in internal affairs, especially military interference, is unacceptable".

Well, well, well. Try telling that to the Georgians Mr Lavrov - or indeed the Chechens, you hypocrite.

Until the next time.

Good News for Smokers

2011-03-04T22:20:00.002+01:00

Yes, there is good news, but sadly nowhere near Europe.

This excellent story comes from Frank Davis's blog:

Unfortunately, of course this comes from the country ruled by the remarkably fatheaded Hugo Chavez ("Raspberry Beret"), though it's nice to have somegood news from that part of the world for a change.

Not often smokers hear any good news. So this is one to enjoy.

March 3,2011 CARACAS -- Venezuela’s Ministry of Health has annulled by decree an anti-smoking law which would have prohibited smoking in public places and offices of work a day after it was published. By contrast to the US, Canada, Europe and Asia, Venezuela is one of the few countries that still allowed smoking in a wide variety of public places, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and stadiums.

A day after the anti-smoking law was printed in the Official Gazette, the annulment resolution was published in the Official Gazette. All laws must be published in the government's Official Gazette to be official. The text read: “to declare the absolute annulment of the resolution of environments free of smoke identified by number 014 and the date of February 24.” No motive or explanation was given for the sudden annulment.

Until the next time

Libya IV: Two Lunatics in Accord

2011-03-02T22:24:00.003+01:00

The two are of course the fatheaded Hugo Chavez of Venezuela ("Raspberry Beret" in these pages) and the clearly deranged Colonel Gadaffi.

Both say that all the fuss is connected with the fact that the wicked western powers intend to colonise Libya and seize its oil.

It is ironic that it has been Gadaffi who has been claiming that the protesters (who of course don't exist according to the colonel since everybody loves him) have been affected by the hallucinogenic drugs given to them by Al Quaeda.

No colonel, I think it's someone else who has been on the jazz Woodbines!

Until the next time.

Libya III

2011-02-26T23:33:00.004+01:00

Watching the BBC this evening I saw a recording of a statement given by Gadaffi's No 1 son, Saif al-Islam Gadaffi assuring the world that everything is fine except that the régime has to deal with "some terrorists" in a couple of towns west of Tripoli and implying that the reports of thousands of casualties are "a joke"

Well well. Talk about deja vu!

Reminded me of the following "information minister":

Until the next time

Libya II

2011-02-23T21:47:00.005+01:00

With Gadaffi seemingly increasingly cornered like the rat he is, various observers have suggested that the situation can get only worse.

Gadaffi has money and he has mercenaries and since it will be obvious to anyone who has seen his recent public appearances that the man is a raving lunatic, he is quite likely to wreak even more havoc on the long-suffering Libyan people.

I have been following when I can, the BBC coverage and things have reached the point when protesters are begging other countries even the USA (despite years of anti-American propaganda) to intervene - militarily.

I agree with the protesters on this: I feel that the time has come not for sanctions, which would be most unlikely to influence Gadaffi, but armed intervention. How this would work of course is another matter. The U.N. is the traditional route, but I suppose that the Chinese and perhaps the Russians, would probably veto any Security Council resolution. If anything of this type is to be done I suppose it will be once again the "dreadful" Americans who will have to come to the rescue.

The Daily Telegraph has an interesting piece though on this subject:

"There have also been calls for the Americans to enforce a no-fly zone to prevent warplanes being used to quash the revolt – but why should these matters be left to the Americans, or to Nato forces? Are other Arab leaders so intent on saving their own necks, or so wary of fomenting insurrection elsewhere, that they will do nothing beyond denouncing Gaddafi?"

Meanwhile, the British have sent a Frigate, HMS Cumberland to provide, possibly, assistance in evacuation. The Telegraph wryly points out that the Cumberland has just one helicopter - and is in fact due to be axed soon.

Not a good time for defence cuts, I feel; it's a dangerous world.

Until the next time.

Catalogue of Scum

2011-02-21T21:12:00.005+01:00

The Telegraph today provides a list of possible successors to arsehole-in-chief "Dr" Robert Mugabe.

As the title reads: A catalogue of scum, with the exception perhaps of Mrs Mujuru, who appears to be the wife of a major arsehole.

How sorry I am for the people of Zimbabwe.

Until the next time.

Libya

2011-02-21T20:13:00.002+01:00

I have to write a line or two on the subject of Libya.

I have long been content to brand Gaddafi as a madman, now only the compound noun "mass-murderer" will suffice; this noun of course is also applicable to his dubious son and to the rest of his nasty henchmen.

As I did with the people of Eygpt, I applaud the courage and bravery of the protesters and would also applaud the principles of the two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots, who defected to Malta rather than bomb their fellow citizens as they were ordered to do, and also those ministers and diplomats who have resigned in protest, together of course with elements of the Libyan military.

Until the next time

More Anti-Smoker/Smoking Balls

2011-02-20T18:50:00.007+01:00

First I begin with a site from Canada, called Citizens Against Government Encroachment.

I reproduce the latest article in full, since I consider it vitally important:

INSIDE THE TOBACCO CONTROL INDUSTRY AND THEIR DECEITFUL TACTICS

When it comes to the smoking issue (and to a lesser extent the obesity issue), many people have expressed to us how amazed, baffled and even disgusted they are at how some of our fellow citizens have turned into arrogant, obnoxious, hateful individuals almost overnight.

Indeed, as we read open letters to the various media, listen to open lines on the radio or television, follow newspaper and other forums on the internet, we can not help but notice how ugly some individuals become when they hide behind the veil of relative anonymity. When opponents of banning smoking scenes in movies attempted to have a civil debate in a CBC forum, one poster using the alias of Dennis Brady had this to say :

“Smoking is hated - as is any foul smelling addiction. We would have no less disgust for people whose habit was sh*ting on public beaches or on park benches. We would be as disgusted by people who refused to bath or use deodorant.

We DO want smokers segregated - removed from all contact with non-smokers.

Do you understand? Need I repeat it”

In a Globe & Mail forum about beach bans, one poster using the alias “doggiez” suggested this final solution to the “problem”:

“Put even MORE cancer-causing chemicals -- tar, formaldehyde and the other 700 -- into cigarettes to hasten their deaths.”

When challenged with logical arguments and unable to offer any reasonable responses, many such commentators accuse their opponents of being in the pay of what they refer to as “Big Tobacco”. Here is a response from the so-called “Dennis Brady” that is typical of many smoker de-normalization proponents with very little substance to defend their point of view:

''The people have learned to never trust anything coming from the tobacco industry or its shills and apologists.''

You may want to read or reread how C.A.G.E. was also a victim of the same tactic: ''THE RIGHT THING TO DO'' NSRA STYLE

We strongly suspected that this hostile attitude demonstrated toward individuals or associations with differing opinions were not the doings of ordinary citizens, however one must always give the benefit of doubt: perhaps public opinion had changed overnight when public smoking bans were adopted? Well, you can relax folks. All this time, it was not your next door neighbor, co-worker, friend or relative who was turning into an aggressive “Mr. Hyde” when protected by the cover of anonymity. We now have tangible proof that most of the people who are posting obnoxious and hateful material are simply following orders from the anti-tobacco industry:

We have obtained the manual on how to effectively implement outdoor bans published in September 2010 by Physicians For A Smoke-Free Canada (PSFC) : SMOKEFREE OUTDOOR PUBLIC SPACES: A COMMUNITY ADVOCACY TOOLKIT.

We share with you here below a few of the more disappointing passages that we have uncovered.

For proof that they have tobacco control advocates planted in the various internet forums look at the footnotes on the page that gives advice on how to refute arguments from the tobacco industry or their ‘’front groups’’ (page 22):

‘’ Comments from tobacco control advocates also appear refuting “Vince’s” comments. Accessed August 6, 2010 at http://openfile.ca/node/908/.’’

Note that we at C.A.G.E. know ‘’Vince’’ and we can assure you that he is an authentic grassroots poster from Manitoba who has absolutely nothing to do with the tobacco industry.

Also appalling and very hypocritical is the manner in which they recommend infiltrating their opponents whom they conveniently label as “the tobacco industry and their front groups” :

“Whether they are funded by the industry or not, to stay on top of any organized opposition sign up for their mailing lists, preferably using an alias. You can also search online for organizations that oppose your campaign and sign up to receive email alerts, preferably at a home email address or some other location that doesn't link you to your position in the coalition. Be sure to share these communications with your key coalition members so that everyone is in the loop and you can collectively decide how to counter the industry most effectively.”

The entire 101 page manual is a most interesting document that exposes the tactics of the anti-tobacco industry and we suspect that after they see us bringing this document to the attention of the public, it will quickly be altered or totally vanish. Not to worry we have made back- up copies in anticipation. The following are some of their other tactics and while they did not shock us as much because we had noticed them practicing these strategies since a long time, we are, nonetheless, surprised that they would be so arrogant and self-confident as to make their tactics public.

.....write (or sign ghost written) letters to the editor, etc. (pages 31 & 33)

.....submit at least two letters to the editor each month during the campaign, under the names of different authors”. (page 33)

.......Nothing can ruin a campaign faster than public disclosure of financial wrongdoing (intentional or unintentional) ? something your opponents would love to expose if given the opportunity. (page 34)

Interestingly, in the following paragraph they acknowledge that there are in fact authentic citizens (labeled as angry smokers) expressing themselves and that it is not the tobacco industry and their ‘’front groups’’ who are doing the complaining. Furthermore, they are acknowledging that most non-smokers don’t complain leaving us to conclude that indeed most of what we read in the various media must therefore be plants of the tobacco control industry.

....... A key aspect of any smoke-free campaign is to mobilize the silent majority. Most non-smokers do not speak out against smoking, but you have to tap into their power to win your case. Angry smokers who feel they are losing what they feel is their right to smoke will likely speak out in a variety of ways

--- letters to the editor, comments sections of online articles, radio call-in shows, etc. Their voices can seem very loud, even though they represent a significant minority of the population. (page 36)

........ For the next few months, strive to ensure there are positive media stories, letters to the editor, etc., that tout how well the bylaw changes are working. There will no doubt be a backlash from smokers in the beginning until they get used to the changes. In the meantime, you have to counter their negative comments in the media, in comment sections of online news pieces and blogs, on radio call-in shows, etc. Your job is to make politicians continue to believe that they did the right thing. It is not unheard of for councillors to backtrack on their decision and water down legislation. (page 48)

........ Plant stories in the media about non-smokers politely asking smokers to move to a designated smoking area or outside the smoke-free area and smokers complying. Create the impression that the bylaw is working and it will! (page 48)

There are many other examples, far too many to list here, but we invite you to peruse the whole document yourself and get an eye-opening education about how anti-tobacco operates. The late Gian Turci often said that this was a war. Sometimes we thought he exaggerated. To our dear freedom and justice-loving friends, we must now admit that Gian was right and that this is in fact a real war. But rest assured that we will continue to use the truth as our only weapon because when this war will be over, we do not only want to stand victorious but we also want to stand proud for not having stooped to such depths of deceit.

*************************

It's Kim Jong-Il's Birthday - Hurrah - Or Perhaps Not

2011-02-16T21:24:00.005+01:00

Yes, the absurd North Korean dictator celebrates today his 69th birthday, according to North Korean records, or his 70th if you prefer the Russian version...

Thanks to Wired.com's excellent "Danger Room" feature, I found the following amusing video which sets out to take the piss out of the ridiculous and incredibly anachronistic Stalinist régime that the ailing dictator heads.

I have written "amusing" and so it is, though not of course to the millions of starving, brainwashed North Koreans who are not part of the elite.

"Shapeless tragedies in taupe" was one fashion critic's comment on the dictator's clothing - this a response to a statement from North Korea claiming that it was becoming a world fashion leader...

Surreal.

Until the next time.

Egypt (Call me a cynic)

2011-02-11T22:34:00.003+01:00

I have just been listening to President Obama celebrating the astonishing achievement of the Egyptian people in ridding themselves of their president. As is typical of American politicians, he has praised "democracy", "freedom", etc., etc.

So, if my experience of the myth of "democracy" is anything to go by, there should soon be a smoking ban in Egypt; and if the Islamists take over, there will be nothing that could be called "life" at all.

Thinking of Sherlock Holmes, I have always had a secret longing to visit "Ionides of Alexandria" to purchase a thousand of those "excellent cigarettes"; I suppose that even were I to find the money my wish, like so many in my life, would be bound to remain unfulfilled.

Until the next time.

A Good Fit

2011-02-10T18:56:00.003+01:00

Today it has been announced that China, interested in Zimbabwe's platinum, is planning a substantial investment in the country (or perhaps into the pockets of Mugabe and his fellow thugs).

Meanwhile we have a report about how the Chinese handle criticism.

Overall, there appears to be plenty of common ground for the burgeoning relationship.

Sadly.

Until the next time

"There's Many a Slip"

2011-02-05T21:36:00.004+01:00

Probably like many people, I have been following the BBC's live feeds about the on-going protests in Cairo with great interest.

Now as is well-known, the BBC tends to side with the anti-tobacco lobby just as it does with the "warmists"

And today the BBC made a little slip:-

· 0922: Despite its gas reserves, Egypt is not a rich country - the protests have paralysed the economy. Tourists, a major source of income, have been frightened away, the financial system is shut and prices of basics like cigarettes and bread have been soaring. The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Cairo says many Egyptians are beginning to wonder aloud how quickly daily life will return to normal regardless of the outcome of the struggle for power.

Nice to see that the BBC has finally been able to admit that cigarettes are "basics" eh?

Until the next time.

Distressing

2011-02-05T02:08:00.003+01:00

Those who were pleased that the police had apparently vanished from Tahrir Square, the centre of the protests in Egypt, must think again.

In view of the distressing content of this article from the New York Times, I am fully convinced that the Egyptian State in its present form is rotten and deserves to fall; and no, I am not convinced by the lies I have been hearing from the leader of the ruling party and from the newly appointed vice-president General Suleiman.

I wish the protesters well in their brave efforts, but equally hope that they are not unwittingly building another Iran. The Iranians are no strangers to repression and cruelty; unlike the Egyptians, they practise these things though in the name of their "god" and their interpretation of their holy book...

Until the next time

Eygpt & The Middle East

2011-02-02T20:56:00.004+01:00

As we all know, the spark was struck in Tunisia.

Now after eight days it seems that the protests in Eygpt show no sign of abating, the protestors apparently unimpressed by President Mubarak's statement yesterday that he would not stand again for election; they want him to go now.

Meanwhile there has been a series of prophylactic actions in other middle-eastern states, with even the President of Yemen indicating after 33 years in power, that he will not stand again and neither will there be a "dynasty"...

Now whilst a number of Presidents appear to have been rattled rather by recent events, things have taken a rather more sinister turn today in Cairo, where out of the woodwork, has appeared a large number of pro-Mubarak supporters These people have not adopted the peaceful approach of the anti-government protestors: they have behaved like thugs and many have suggested that they have in fact the backing - if not the direct involvement - of the government which, it is suggested, hopes to benefit from the chaos these people are causing i.e. instability - the word "stability" being a central part of last night' presidential speech.

I am disappointed by the Eygptian Army's performance today, in contrast to its demeanour during the protests up to now. I expected it to keep order, which it has patently failed to do; this could be viewed as the Army's having decided to side with the régime.

No doubt we shall have to wait for further developments

In the meantime, I should add that I have always had a soft spot for President Mubarak - but only for one reason: many years ago he was quoted as describing Ayatollah Khomeini as "a pig" an observation I have always felt was fully justified.

Let us hope that Cairo does not become another Tehran.

Until the next time.

Coincidence

2011-01-24T22:41:00.004+01:00

Only yesterday I mentioned my second article (from February 2008) on this blog; it was the first part of a piece about the NKVD, the Stalinist instrument of repression, that I called "Stalin's SS."

The second part of the piece included a section about the NKVD's involvement in the Spanish Civil War, 1935 - 1939, and its brutal suppression (under command of Alexander Orlov) of POUM the Trotskyite organisation that fought the fascists, but did not subscribe to Stalin's idea of communism.

And tonight I watched a Ken Loach film, "Land and Freedom" which told the story of an idealistic British volunteer who fought with a POUM unit. The film shows quite clearly how the official republican side suppressed popular movements like POUM - obviously under Soviet direction.

The old joke runs "A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist." Stalin was indeed a realist - terrifyingly so.

Until the next time.

Non-Fiction

2011-01-24T13:42:00.005+01:00

Source

One of the worst tyrants in history was of course Josef Vissiaronovitch Stalin: torturer, murderer with a kind of perverse paranoia probably never equalled; certainly the scale of mass murder achieved under his authority was probably only ever exceeded by that other appalling tyrant, Mao Tse Tung.

The second-ever article (and in fact the third) I wrote for this blog concerned what I called Stalin's SS: the NKVD. It will be abundantly clear to any who read the articles, the extent of my disgust at a) the NKVD itself and b) the double standards still prevalent today whereby the Nazi SS is condemned root and branch (and quite rightly) whilst mention of the NKVD is rare indeed - and as I mentioned at the end of the second part of the piece, there is even a record label in California called NKVD! Imagine the fuss if one called a label "SS Records"!

Anyway the reason for my mentioning all this is that a play, called "Into the Whirlwind" featuring Russian actors and actresses, has been put on in London. It is based on the memoirs of Yevgenia Ginzburg who was imprisoned in 1937 and sent to the Gulag, ending up at the living hell that was Kolyma. She was eventually released after Stalin's death.

I was pleased to see in the BBC report that the audience was profoundly moved by the play which I hope proves to be a slap in the face for those in Russia today who wish to rehabilitate the monstrous "Father of the People," Stalin.

Until the next time.

More Study Needed?

2011-01-23T15:22:00.006+01:00

Source

Or perhaps not: I wrote the other day about an inquiry taking place in Israel concerning the Israeli military's assault on the Gaza Flotilla, which took place in international waters.

Today, the New York Times reports that the inquiry has found that the raid was legal; once again "quelle surprise". The NYT's article includes the following quote from one Alan Baker, formerly legal advisor to Israel's Foreign Ministry:

"Whether this will persuade Turkey is doubtful. Whether this will persuade the Arab countries is very doubtful. I think the serious countries will take it very seriously because of the people who were involved and because of the international observers."

Well, Mr Baker, I am certainly not persuaded, and if you read this blog you will have noticed that I predicted the outcome of the inquiry; how could I possibly be so prescient? And yes I did take the inquiry very seriously!

News: Turkey rejects Israeli inquiry conclusions. (BBC report)

As for the legality of international "adventures" one only has to reflect on the case of Tony Blair currently facing the Chilcott inquiry.

Until the next time

"Front"

2011-01-23T13:31:00.005+01:00

So many prominent people have "Front" - sometimes referred to as "Neck" more positively perhaps described as the ability to "tough it out".

"He's got more front than Brighton Beach" a friend of mine would say when confronted by this aspect of human behaviour.

So of whom am I thinking when raising this topic?

Well there's Tony Blair for a start: as another friend would remark, here's a bloke who could fall down a lavatory and come up smelling of roses; the bastard will probably get away with it. And then there's his old pal Peter (now Lord) Mandelson; he's fallen into the khasi on a few occasions and each time popped up again, richer and even more influential.

And what about Eric Cantona? The ex-footballer given to making bizarre statements, who recently tried to organise a run on the banks in France, of course without success. Now he has popped up as "Director of Football" (whatever that means) at an American club called "Cosmos".

Here's a video showing "Front" in action:

I am always in awe at the incredible self-belief of these people, and even more in awe at their lack of shame. I suppose one of the most outrageous examples at the present time (though it is not always easy to choose) must be Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi. The New York Times, in an entertaining piece describes recent events as a "soap opera" which I suppose it is, despite what could be unpleasant consequences for the Italian State, its population, political institutions and economy. Despite apparently incontrovertible evidence from wire-taps and witnesses, Berlusconi continues, loudly, to protest his innocence. It is important to bear in mind that he has a track record in a variety of scandals and so far has got away with everything. Indeed, some people think that he might even get away with the current scandal.

If he does, he will deserve an award for "Front of the Decade"!

Until the next time.

Dead and Alive

2011-01-22T22:14:00.003+01:00

Zimbabwe once again is in the news, this time concerning a report from an independent electoral commission.

According to this report, more than a quarter of those on the Zimbabwean electoral roll are dead... The Telegraph article includes the following:

"It also revealed nine people born between 1890 and 1900 aged between 111 and 120 years old. There were 93 children below one year old,"

I suppose that only the dead (and of course the children less than one year old) could possibly be so ill-informed as to vote for "Dr" Mugabe and his bunch of murderers and thugs.

Until the next time.

I'm Fed up (Update)

2011-01-20T22:49:00.004+01:00

I said the other day that I am fed up with the Israelis.

Today we have some more news from Israel: there has been an investigation into the events surrounding the Gaza Flotilla, which you may recall was intercepted by elements of the Israeli military, an interception that resulted in the deaths of nine Turks. Please note that the flotilla was attacked in International Waters, thus the attack was in a sense an act of piracy as I understand the meaning of the word.

The report states that the Israeli soldiers concerned are to be "absolved of blame."

Quelle surprise! (The Israelis are of course never to blame are they?)

So exactly WHO was responsible for the death of these nine innocent people?

The Telegraph report includes the following paragraph:

David Trimble, the former Northern Ireland first minister, one of the two non-voting foreign observers on the commision, said the panel members "were determined that the inquiry be rigorous."

Rigorous no doubt - to the extent that the "correct" conclusion will be reached.

Until the next time

Incomplete

2011-01-20T22:31:00.003+01:00

The title of this piece refers to today's report of the statement from Baroness Warsi, co-chair of the British Conservative party and a member of the Cabinet.

The baroness tells us that anti-Muslim prejudice in the United Kingdom has "passed the dinner-table test", in other words it has become acceptable to display this prejudice. She says that she intends to fight an "ongoing battle against bigotry."

All well and good and she adds: "Those who commit criminal acts of terrorism in our country need to be dealt with not just by the full force of the law... "They also should face social rejection and alienation across society and their acts must not be used as an opportunity to tar all Muslims."

Yes, well, I should bloody-well think so; no surprise there, or at least there shouldn't be.

What concerns me is what was not mentioned, i.e. the other reason for growing anti-Muslim feeling: the fact, I suggest, that the vast majority of the population in the UK do not want their country to become a sort of west European version of Iran.

I left England six years ago and shortly before I left I had reason to visit the town of Luton. A west Londoner, I could scarcely believe my eyes; the place looked like Kabul.

Baroness Warsi would do well to address this aspect I think when pursuing her "on-going battle against bigotry."

I'm glad I got out.

Until the next time.

I'm Fed Up...

2011-01-16T17:56:00.006+01:00

... with the Israelis.

Please read this extract from a Telegraph article concerning a peace settlement with the Palestinians:

"What is preventing the advent of peace, the advent of peace negotiations is that the Palestinians are doing everything in their power to avoid them," Mr Netanyahu told a meeting of foreign journalists in Jerusalem. "That is the simple truth."

Mr Netanyahu's comments came as the United States was attempting, so far unsuccessfully, to revive peace negotiations.

Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed after Washington admitted last month it was no longer pressing Israel for a new freeze on settlement building, the Palestinian condition for continuing to negotiate.

Direct talks began on September 2, but stalled three weeks later with the end of an Israeli moratorium on settlement building. The Palestinians refuse to talk while Israel continues building.

Of course the Palestinians are quite correct in refusing to discuss terms with the Israelis - especially with that warmonger Netanyahu.

The Palestinians have been losing their historic country ever since 1947; it now has a fraction of the area that it had even in 1967; the Israelis have consistently ignored numerous UN resolutions and have compounded the felony by continuing to build new settlements on Palestinian lands. I suspect that the Israelis would not have been able to get away with these outrages were it not for the importance of the Jewish vote in the US, plus of course the fact that the US sees Israel as a bulwark against the fanatical Islamists so prevalent in the Middle East; I admit that these matters are far from simple.

I should add that I utterly deplore the actions of the various Palestinian terrorists and hi-jackers. I am not an anti-Semite but equally, I deplore the terrorist actions of the Israeli government and military.

I have never forgotten a film I saw on English TV of an Israeli soldier bulldozing a Palestinian's orchard. That was many, many years ago and put the Israelis and their objectives entirely beyond the pale as far as I am concerned.

Until the next time.

"Train Station" - Ugh!!

2011-01-15T22:49:00.008+01:00

[Resisting the Americanisation of the English Language]

Why has the horrible expression "Train Station" become normal parlance - and is indeed now found in written usage - in England (and for all I know as a resident of France, the UK)?

I refuse absolutely to use this abortion of an expression; what's the matter with the term I learned: "Railway Station"?

A station is a stage - or if you like "stop" and is therefore an entirely apposite term for a railway; it is of course the root of the adjective "stationary."

Those who protest "Ah ,but you say 'bus station' don't you?' are throwing a red herring into the argument. Since buses use the roads, together with cars, vans, lorries (not 'trucks' - these run on railways) coaches, motor-cycles, bicycles and a few horses, one simply must say "Bus Station" since "road station" would be ambiguous at least and in fact, inaccurate.

Since only trains run on railways, "Railway Station" is absolutely the correct term.

So there.

By the way, I have no problem at all with the term "railroad" or perhaps better "rail-road" This term is entirely sensible - as sensible in fact as "railway" - or even "rail-way"!

Until the next time.

Tragic but True

2011-01-15T16:40:00.003+01:00

The flood catastrophe in Brisbane, Australia has claimed many lives and it seems sad that such an event should draw one's attention to the crackpot "global warming" fanatics, but the following article from the Daily Telegraph, which I copy here in full, demonstrates that these misguided, deluded, and frequently dishonest pressure groups must be stopped.

(Journalist: Christopher Booker)

Ever more alarming facts are emerging to show how Brisbane’s floods were made infinitely worse by cockeyed decisions inspired by the obsession of the Australian authorities with global warming. Inevitably, the country’s warmist lobby has been voluble in claiming that such a “freak weather event” (as the BBC called it) is a consequence of man-made climate change. But far from being an unprecedented “freak event”, the latest flood was nearly a foot below the level of one in 1974 and 10 feet below the record set in 1893.

For years, Australia’s warmists have been advising the authorities that the danger posed to the country by global warming is not floods but droughts: not too much rain but too little. One result, in Brisbane, was a relaxation of planning rules, to allow building on areas vulnerable to flooding in the past. As long ago as 1999, this was seen as potentially disastrous by an expert Brisbane River Flood Study (which was ignored and for years kept secret). Instead of investing in its flood defences, Australia spent $13 billion on desalination plants. (Queensland’s was recently mothballed because of the excess of rain.)

Last week’s most disturbing revelation, however, was the contribution to Brisbane’s flooding by the South East Queensland Water company’s massive release of water from its Wivenhoe dam upstream from the city (for details see “Brisbane’s Man-Made Flood Peak” on the Regionalstates blog). Instead of controlled releases through the previous week, the company allowed the level to rise to within a few inches of the top of the dam before releasing a vast volume of water, with devastating consequences for Brisbane 36 hours later.

Last spring, Queensland’s prime minister, the drought- and warming-obsessed Anna Bligh, ordered the water company not to allow any releases from the dam because water was such a “precious resource” that none must be wasted.

Unsurprisingly, on Friday, the city’s Lord Mayor asked for a full judicial review of what had happened. But it is time our Australian cousins carried out a very much more wide-ranging inquiry into all the other decisions made by their gullible politicians in recent years, under the spell of a pseudo-scientific ideology which now looks utterly discredited.

Until the next time.

A Very Stupid Man

2011-01-12T23:16:00.005+01:00

Source

This man is a fur-lined, ocean-going prat.

Why? Well read this quote from a BBC news item about anti-alcohol legislation in Turkey (surprise, surprise as the Islamisation of this once-proud secular state advances):

"Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has publicly voiced his disapproval of alcohol consumption. Last year he said he could not understand why people drank wine when they could just eat the grapes."

Last weekend I was treated to a good share of a 2004 château-bottled Pauillac - Château Lynch-Moussas, Premier Grand Crû Classé no less.

The ignorant fathead illustrated above has no business pontificating on subjects of which he knows, quite obviously, bugger-all!

Until the next time

Global Warming, Passive Smoking - or perhaps both?

2011-01-05T18:25:00.003+01:00

Dead birds falling from the skies in the USA and now Sweden are indeed strange events - and quite disturbing.

However, stranger still if no-one comes forward to blame "global warming" or "passive smoking" for these sad events!

And on the latter subject, three cheers for the Spanish rebels.

Until the next time.

Belgium

2011-01-04T22:36:00.005+01:00

Belgium has been run by a "caretaker" government for seven months. Politicians have been told that they have until tomorrow to consider a new plan to break the deadlock following last June's general election.

This BBC article includes the following intriguing quote:

"Seeing the country running without a government for so long without experiencing any major problem might play on the side of those who want the end of the country," says Jean Faniel, researcher in political sciences at Crisp, a Brussels-based politics studies centre.

"They could say: 'You see, we don't really need a federal government, we're doing well without one.'"

There you are: it's official. A modern European country can run without a government. I ask you: why do we put up with it?

Until the next time

The Backlash that shouldn't be...

2011-01-04T22:17:00.004+01:00

The Daily Telegraph reports today that there is a "growing backlash" concerning the perks enjoyed by senior staff in the EU administration.

Apparently, these senior officials, earning between €104,000 and €185,000 per annum are entitled to three months off work on full pay each year. "Nice work if you can get it" was the sentiment that first sprang to my mind. However the article goes on:

Stephen Booth, of the Open Europe pressure group, said: "If the top ranks of the EU's civil service can take this much time off it raises interesting questions about how much work they're actually doing."

This is the bit that rattled me. If the "backlash" results in these overpaid parasites actually doing more "work" then on top of the ludicrous expense of this near-farcical organisation (which is bad enough in itself) we shall have to face up to an additional 25% damage caused by these bureaucrats. The more "work" they do, the worse it gets.

I say give them nine months' holiday each year!

Until the next time.

Boring 2010

2011-01-02T22:58:00.004+01:00

The title above, is not intended to be a reference to last year, although in my case there is an element of truth. No, the title refers to a conference held for boredom enthusiasts on 11th December and reported in the Wall Street Journal.

I strongly recommend that you follow the link; a fine piece of American Journalism (no irony) - I find American journalism especially in regard to the quality and style of writing, at least in the better newspapers, greatly superior to that found in English ones.

A few quotes for you:

"Boring 2010 is the handiwork of James Ward, 29 years old, who works for a DVD distribution and production company. In his other life, as the envoy of ennui, Mr. Ward edits a blog called "I Like Boring Things." He is also co-founder of the Stationery Club, whose 45 members meet occasionally to discuss pens, paper clips and Post-it Notes."

"Proceedings at the sell-out event were kicked off by Mr. Ward himself, who discussed his tie collection at great length, accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation.

He noted that as of June 2010, he owned 55 ties, and 45.5% of them were of a single color. By December, his tie collection had jumped by 36%, although the share of single-color ties fell by 1.5%.

"Ties are getting slightly more colorful," he noted. Also, apparently, his taste was improving. By December, only 64% of his ties were polyester, down from 73% in June."

"One eagerly awaited talk was about writer Peter Fletcher's meticulous three-year—and still running—sneeze count. With the help of graphs and charts, Mr. Fletcher disclosed that he had sneezed 2,267 times in the past 1,249 days, thus gaining "a profound understanding of the passing of time.""

"I've even sneezed when recording a sneeze," he said."

Thanks to Dick Puddlecote for pointing me to this gem.

Until the next time.

End on a High

2010-12-31T17:15:00.005+01:00

Well we can't have too many depressive posts - er can we?

Anyway my bouquet goes to ANONYMOUS who have launched a DDOS attack on Zimbabwe government websites according to The Register

The organisation states:

"We are targeting Mugabe and his regime in the ZanuPF who have outlawed the free press and threaten to sue anyone publishing Wikileaks."

Good luck to them! Anything that interferes with the appalling Mugabe and his bunch of thugs gets a hearty cheer from me.

Until the next time

Happy New Year?

2010-12-31T13:57:00.004+01:00

Hello.

I genuinely wish you a Happy New Year, though given the financial gloom that seems continually to deepen with each passing week and the ever expanding government control that prevails, a "Happy New Year" does seem rather a forlorn hope.

Meanwhile Frank Davis in his latest posting says:

"But for myself I believe that it is one of the most terrible things that can be done to a human being, to deprive them of friendship and community, to isolate and exclude them from civil society. What can be more destructive to anyone's well-being?

And for what? Simply to make people stop smoking. To deprive them of one of life's simple pleasures. To force them to comply with medical orthodoxy. To make them live "healthy" lives, where "health" is mere longevity, devoid of any other considerations of social or psychological well-being."

Eloquent as ever, he is of course, talking about the absurd smoking ban introduced in England in 2007 (and in France January 2008) and shortly to begin in Spain, as if those poor people didn't already have enough problems.

I loved the quote from a World War II veteran who, cursing the smoking ban in the cold outside a pub, said "The fascists have won after all... they say it's for my health - I'm 85 for fuck's sake!"

Happy New Year!

Until the next time

A Chance, Albeit a Slim One

2010-12-28T13:20:00.003+01:00

The BBC reports today that the government has given the go-ahead to the debating of on-line petitions in the House of Commons, although only under the private member's bill procedure, which is easily blocked.

Well, all you frustrated smokers, 20-odd percent of the population, here's your opportunity. This wants very careful thought though - I think that a petition should be eminently moderate and I think that there should be only one grand petition.

Until the next time.

Spot the Similarity (If there is one)

2010-12-27T19:14:00.010+01:00

Source

I hope that you had a peaceful and plentiful Christmas, faced as you all you are with what is shaping up to be an austere 2011 (except of course for the bankers amongst you whose bonuses I understand, will be robust).

I see that in England, nine suspects have been remanded in custody charged with conspiring to cause explosions. All well and good; I hope that they are thrown out of the country if guilty.

However, the BBC report contains a paragraph which did shock me deeply:

Five of the defendants are also facing a third charge of possessing documents and records containing information likely to be of use to terrorists.

What were these "documents" I wonder? A life story of Guy Fawkes? A map of London? I find it incredible that anyone in a so-called free country (which of course it isn't) can be charged with the "possession of documents" unless of course the documents in question were stolen, in which case they would be charged with "stealing documents" wouldn't they?

So the English are now having to be careful what they read?

Meanwhile the New York Times reports:

"Allegations against them, the police said, included downloading and researching material from the Internet."

That of course changes everything: researching material from the Internet? Whatever next?

To me this is as disgraceful as the sham trial in Russia of Mikhail Khordokovsky on what are apparently trumped-up embezzlement charges. That one really stinks I think.

Here's an extract from a Daily Telegraph analysis:

"At times too during the trial it seemed like the defence would win. Several high profile figures, including a former Putin trade minister who is head of the Russia's largest state-owned bank, testified to Mr Khodorkovsky's and Mr Lebedev's innocence. They were also absolved by their auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In the end, the semblance of true process was, as an American diplomat wrote in a leaked embassy cable last November, like putting "lipstick on a pig". The political reality is that powerful people are determined to keep Mr Khodorkovsky behind bars. This is partly because they fear a challenge to the redistribution of assets that followed Mr Khodorkovsky's downfall. More generally though, Mr Khodorkovsky's incarceration has become harder to overturn as it has become a central part of the narrative of Mr Putin's political career."

Big Government...

Grrr!

Until the next time

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year

2010-12-24T18:15:00.004+01:00

No "happy holidays" nonsense for me, nor any stupid "Winter Festival." If this "offends" anyone, well, tough! It might not be the correct, true Christmas spirit, but I grew up with Christmas as with many other things, and I see no reason why I should yield to the revisionists.

So, from Western Europe, racked with "global warming" (two feet of snow on the roof of Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris today) I wish you all as politically incorrect a Christmas as is possible in these straitened times.

So here's a silly festive video for you.

Until the next time

Another Awful African Dictator

2010-12-19T19:05:00.007+01:00

It was only yesterday when I wrote here about Laurent Gbago, the man who has decided that he is still president of Côte d'Ivoire despite the outcome of a "run-off" election for the presidency.

Quite obviously, I mentioned that African "Presidents" (i.e. in many cases dictators) must be able to rely on their armies, and today we have news of the repellent "Dr" Robert Gabriel Mugabe; I have written numerous times on the subject of this extraordinary survivor, for example in my "Bandits" series a couple of years ago.

The Daily Telegraph reports that he is to impose an election on an unwilling populace and to ensure a proper democratic outcome, has sent forces out over the country to "persuade" the electorate that their best interests lie in supporting Zanu PF, "best interests" in this case meaning such as staying alive or retaining one's legs. He says he is ready to "bury the opposition." How reassuring; is he referring perhaps to the free graves that the Zimbabwean government offered to the thousands of cholera victims?

I do desperately hope that Mugabe's army proves to be unreliable, but I fear that my hopes are likely to be unfulfilled.

Meanwhile, today the New York Times has a piece showing some Zimbabwean reality - health-care for peanuts or other barter items:

Image source: New York Times

Never forget that under Ian Smith's government, the country, then called Rhodesia, was arguably one of the most prosperous on the continent.

Until the next time

Manifesto

2010-12-19T18:26:00.005+01:00

Those of you who have followed my suggestion to visit Dr John Ray's Greenie Watch, will probably know about this already, but for those who haven't...

"This [Greenie Watch] is one of TWO skeptical blogs that I update daily. During my research career as a social scientist, I was appalled at how much writing in my field was scientifically lacking -- and I often said so in detail in the many academic journal articles I had published in that field. I eventually gave up social science research, however, because no data ever seemed to change the views of its practitioners. I hoped that such obtuseness was confined to the social scientists but now that I have shifted my attention to health related science and climate related science, I find the same impermeability to facts and logic. Hence this blog and my FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC blog. I may add that I did not come to either health or environmental research entirely without credentials. I had several academic papers published in both fields during my social science research career"

The Food & Health Skeptic blog carries this nice quote from the late Bertrand Russell:

Bertrand Russell could have been talking about today's conventional dietary "wisdom" when he said: "The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.”

Finally I heartily recommend this piece from the same blog concerning the "five a day" fruit and vegetable advice that the British and French governments keep harping on about!

EDIT: I see that Dr Ray "has no time for smokers", an opinion to which of course he is perfectly entitled; nevertheless he is satisfyingly robust on other topics!

Until the next time

Yet Another African Bandit

2010-12-18T23:19:00.003+01:00

As if that beleaguered continent needed another!

This time it's a bloke called (unpronounceably) Gbagbo who thinks that he is president of the Ivory Coast or Côte d'Ivoire. It seems that he might not be following a presidential "run-off" that took place recently. It seems that Gbagbo (did I get that right?) follows Stalin's dictum that "it doesn't matter who voted for whom; what is important is who counts the votes." Or in this case who has an army that is for the time being, loyal - always a bit tricky where the Afs are concerned.

The Daily Telegraph article includes an intriguing paragraph:

Earlier on Saturday masked men in military uniforms opened fire on the UN base. No one was injured, but the incident underscores the perilous position of the 10,000-strong mission that includes personnel from Ireland, France and Poland. UNOCI deployed in 2004 to help keep the peace after civil war divided the country, once one of Africa's most stable.

10,000-strong says the article. These are modern western-trained troops, one hopes for their sakes, equipped with proper stuff. Why didn't they vaporise these scum? The problem with these "peace-keeping" missions is that their rules of engagement are probably crap - as we saw with the Dutch in Bosnia.

Give them proper rules: let them blow away these shitheads; I'm fed up with hearing about these bloody people; I suppose Gbagbo won't suffer too much: he's probably got billions salted away like the rest of them - even that appalling turd "Omar al-Basher" in Sudan (according to Wikileaks). Of course he's an "al"; he would be wouldn't he?

Grrrr!

Until the next time

Raspberry Beret Again!

2010-12-18T13:29:00.004+01:00

Occasionally one reads of Hitler's "illegal" régime". No it wasn't: Hitler was democratically elected. Similarly, Hugo Chavez, whom I like to call "Raspberry Beret". Once again, according to the New York Times, Chavez has decided to adopt dictatorial powers; this is how Hitler started.

If one is permitted to rule by decree, then nothing short of a revolt by the armed forces could stop Chavez theoretically proclaiming himself king.

I have written a number of times about this deranged maniac, so after a quietish period it is fun (as I do not live in Venezuela) to have him back again. For more, just search for "Chavez" on this blog.

Until the next time

It won't last!

2010-12-16T09:50:00.002+01:00

It won't last if the warmists are correct: they'll be making wine there next year I expect!

Until the next time

Filamentary Angst

2010-12-12T22:46:00.005+01:00

Yes, I'm going to miss them too, now that the alarmist-warmists have arranged for their banning. I hate those horrible energy-saving bulbs and the foul light they emit.

A German chap tried to bring an ingenious action but sadly has failed and his 40,000 light bulbs will be destroyed.

Meanwhile Greenie Watch has a nice story about a chap who has decided what HE wants. See below.

Until the next time.

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Rage against the dying of light (bulbs)

Somewhere in Wayne County there's an ACO hardware store without a single incandescent light bulb in stock. They're all on a shelf in my basement.

The idea of soon having no illumination choice other than those twisty light bulbs has left me a little bit nuts. So now part of my Saturday routine is making the rounds of various stores and loading my pickup with packages of incandescent bulbs. It's an obsession I bet I share with others who dread the day a year from now when the old-fashioned bulbs become extinct by federal fiat, and all that's left are the smug compact fluorescent lights.

Congress has decided that everyone should use the new bulbs because they are more energy efficient, though I doubt anyone factored the extra energy used to ship them from China, where they're being made instead of the Midwestern plants that produced the old bulbs to price them anywhere near affordable.

I hate everything about the new bulbs. So I've done my best to calculate how many of the old bulbs I'll need to light the rest of my days. I figure I burn out about 25 bulbs a year. If I'm lucky I've got 30 years left. If I'm really lucky and someone comes up with a major life-extending breakthrough, 40 years.

So I'll need 1,000 bulbs. If I've overestimated my expiration date, any remaining bulbs will make a nice next egg for my heirs. I've got to believe they'll be like glass gold once folks can't get them anymore. There may even be a trading exchange.

I've been buying them in every wattage and shape. Three-ways. Spotlights. Sconce bulbs. I'm even thinking about stashing away some colored Christmas twinklers.

Revulsion to the new bulbs is rooted in two of my many character flaws: impatience and stubbornness.

It's as simple as this: When I flip a light switch, I expect light. Immediately. The delay between switch and light with the new bulbs is unsettling. No matter how many times it happens, my reaction is always to keep flipping the switch on and off again.
I suppose I could get used to that, but not to what the new bulbs represent. I don't want to use them mostly because the federal government is telling me I have to.

We've been bullied and brainwashed into accepting the ever-growing intrusion of politicians, regulators and do-gooders into our personal decision making in the name of the greater societal good.
We're told that if we give up some of our individual freedom to buy what we want, drive what we want, smoke and eat what we want, the world will be a better place.

But we can't be trusted to make the right decisions on our own just because we understand the need to conserve and may hope to save a few bucks. We need laws to make sure nothing is left to chance.

Those mandates have already saddled us with toilets that won't flush, washers that won't wash, ethanol-laced gasoline that burns up our lawnmower engines and electric cars that aren't nearly as comfortable, powerful or practical as the models they're supposed to replace. And next, we get crazy-looking light bulbs shoved into our sockets that may or may not come on before we fall down the stairs in the dark.

Well not my sockets. If I can hoard enough bulbs to make sure I die by the glow of an incandescent light, I'll consider it a small blow for freedom. If you feel the same way, you'd better get to ACO before I do.

[Original Source]

Big Government in Spades

2010-12-12T13:50:00.004+01:00

I am, as you know, opposed to anything that resembles Big Government.

Thanks to BANNED I have found the ultimate in Big Government, resulting from the CANCUN conference. It is so depressing and alarming that I have decided to reproduce the piece, written by Lord Monckton, in its entirety:

The abdication of the West

From The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley

Cancun, Mexico

I usually add some gentle humor to these reports. Not today. Read this and weep. Notwithstanding the carefully-orchestrated propaganda to the effect that nothing much will be decided at the UN climate conference here in Cancun, the decisions to be made here this week signal nothing less than the abdication of the West. The governing class in what was once proudly known as the Free World is silently, casually letting go of liberty, prosperity, and even democracy itself. No one in the mainstream media will tell you this, not so much because they do not see as because they do not bl**dy care.

The 33-page Note (FCCC/AWGLCA/2010/CRP.2) by the Chairman of the “Ad-Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Co-operative Action under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”, entitled Possible elements of the outcome, reveals all. Or, rather, it reveals nothing, unless one understands what the complex, obscure jargon means. All UNFCCC documents at the Cancun conference, specifically including Possible elements of the outcome, are drafted with what is called “transparent impenetrability”. The intention is that the documents should not be understood, but that later we shall be told they were in the public domain all the time, so what are we complaining about?

Since the Chairman’s note is very long, I shall summarize the main points:

Finance: Western countries will jointly provide $100 billion a year by 2020 to an unnamed new UN Fund. To keep this sum up with GDP growth, the West may commit itself to pay 1.5% of GDP to the UN each year. That is more than twice the 0.7% of GDP that the UN has recommended the West to pay in foreign aid for the past half century. Several hundred of the provisions in the Chairman’s note will impose huge financial costs on the nations of the West.

The world-government Secretariat: In all but name, the UN Convention’s Secretariat will become a world government directly controlling hundreds of global, supranational, regional, national and sub-national bureaucracies. It will receive the vast sum of taxpayers’ money ostensibly paid by the West to the Third World for adaptation to the supposed adverse consequences of imagined (and imaginary) “global warming”.

Bureaucracy: Hundreds of new interlocking bureaucracies answerable to the world-government Secretariat will vastly extend its power and reach. In an explicit mirroring of the European Union’s method of enforcing the will of its unelected Kommissars on the groaning peoples of that benighted continent, the civil servants of nation states will come to see themselves as servants of the greater empire of the Secretariat, carrying out its ukases and diktats whatever the will of the nation states’ governments.

Many of the new bureaucracies are disguised as “capacity-building in developing countries”. This has nothing to do with growing the economies or industries of poorer nations. It turns out to mean the installation of hundreds of bureaucratic offices answerable to the Secretariat in numerous countries around the world. Who pays? You do, gentle taxpayer.

Babylon, Byzantium, the later Ottoman Empire, the formidable bureaucracy of Nazi Germany, the vast empire of 27,000 paper-shufflers at the European Union: add all of these together and multiply by 100 and you still do not reach the sheer size, cost, power and reach of these new subsidiaries of the Secretariat.

In addition to multiple new bureaucracies in every one of the 193 states parties to the Convention, there will be an Adaptation Framework Body, a Least Developed Countries’ Adaptation Planning Body, an Adaptation Committee, Regional Network Centers, an International Center to Enhance Adaptation Research, National Adaptation Institutions, a Body to Clarify Assumptins and Conditions in National Greenhouse-Gas Emission Reductions Pledges, a Negotiating Body for an Overall Level of Ambition for Aggregate Emission Reductions and Individual Targets, an Office to Revise Guidelines for National Communications, a Multilateral Communications Process Office, a Body for the Process to Develop Modalities and Guidelines for the Compliance Process, a Registry of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions by Developed Countries, a Body to Supervise the Process for Understanding Diversity of Mitigation Actions Submitted and Support Needed, a Body to Develop Modalities for the Registry of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions, an Office of International Consultation and Analysis; an Office to Conduct a Work Program for Development of Various Modalities and Guidelines; a network of Developing Countries’ National Forest Strategy Action Plan Offices; a network of National Forest Reference Emission Level And/Or Forest Reference Level Bodies; a network of National Forest Monitoring Systems; an Office of the Work Program on Agriculture to Enhance the Implementation of Article 4, Paragraph 1(c) of the Convention Taking Into Account Paragraph 31; one or more Mechanisms to Establish a Market-Based Approach to Enhance the Cost-Effectiveness Of And To Promote Mitigation Actions; a Forum on the Impact of the Implementation of Response Measures; a Work Program Office to Address the Impact of the Implementation of Response Measures; a Body to Review the Needs of Developing Countries for Financial Resources to Address Climate Change and Identify Options for Mobilization of Those Resources; a Fund in Addition to the Copenhagen Green Fund; an Interim Secretariat for the Design Phase of the New Fund; a New Body to Assist the Conference of the Parties in Exercising its Functions with respect to the Financial Mechanism; a Body to Launch a Process to Further Define the Roles and Functions of the New Body to Assist the Conference of the Parties in Exercising its Functions with respect to the Financial Mechanism; a Technology Executive Committee; a Climate Technology Center and Network; a Network of National, Regional, Sectoral and International Technology Centers, Networks, Organization and Initiatives; Twinning Centers for Promotion of North-South, South-South and Triangular Partnerships with a View to Encouraging Co-operative Research and Development; an Expert Workshop on the Operational Modalities of the Technology Mechanism; an International Insurance Facility; a Work Program Body for Policy Approaches and Positive Incentives on Issues Relating to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries; a Body to Implement a Work Program on the Impact of the Implementation of Response Measures; and a Body to Develop Modalities for the Operationalization of the Work Program on the Impact of the Implementation of Response Measures.

The world government’s powers: The Secretariat will have the power not merely to invite nation states to perform their obligations under the climate-change Convention, but to compel them to do so. Nation states are to be ordered to collect, compile and submit vast quantities of information, in a manner and form to be specified by the secretariat and its growing army of subsidiary bodies. Between them, they will be given new powers to verify the information, to review it and, on the basis of that review, to tell nation states what they can and cannot do.

Continuous expansion: The verb “enhance”, in its various forms, occurs at least 28 times in the Chairman’s note, Similar verbs, such as “strengthen” and “extend”, and adjectives such as “scaled-up”, “new” and “additional”, are also frequently deployed, particularly in relation to funding at the expense of Western taxpayers. If all of the “enhancements” proposed in the note were carried out, the cost would comfortably exceed the annual $100 billion (or, for that matter, the 1.5% of GDP) that the note mentions as the cost to the West over the coming decade.

Intellectual property in inventions: Holders of patents, particularly in fields related to “global warming” and its mitigation, will be obliged to transfer the benefits of their inventiveness to developing countries without payment of royalties. This is nowhere explicitly stated in the Chairman’s note, but the transfer of technology is mentioned about 20 times in the draft, suggesting that the intention is still to carry out the explicit provision in the defunct Copenhagen Treaty draft of 15 September 2009 to this effect.

Insurance: The Secretariat proposes, in effect, to interfere so greatly in the operation of the worldwide insurance market that it will cease to be a free market, with the usual severely adverse consequences to everyone in that market.

The free market: The failed Copenhagen Treaty draft stipulated that the “government” that would be established would have the power to set the rules of all formerly free markets. There would be no such thing as free markets any more. In Cancun, the Chairman’s note merely says that various “market mechanisms” may be exploited by the Secretariat and by the parties to the Convention: but references to these “market mechanisms” are frequent enough to suggest that the intention remains to stamp out free markets worldwide.

Knowledge is power: The Chairman’s note contains numerous references to a multitude of new as well as existing obligations on nation states to provide information to the Secretariat, in a form and manner which it will dictate. The hand of the EU is very visible here.

It grabbed power from the member-states in four stages: first, acting merely as a secretariat to ensure stable supplies of coal and steel to rebuild Europe after the Second World War; then as a registry requiring member states to supply it with ever more information; then as a review body determining on the basis of the information supplied by the member states whether they were complying with their obligations on the ever-lengthier and more complex body of European treaties; and finally as the ultimate law-making authority, to which all elected parliaments, explicitly including the European “Parliament”, were and are subject. Under the Cancun propsoals, the Secretariat is following the path that the plague of EU officials here have no doubt eagerly advised it to follow. It is now taking numerous powers not merely to require information from nation states but to hold them to account for their supposed international obligations under the climate-change Convention on the basis of the information the nations are now to be compelled to supply.

Propaganda: The Chairman’s note contains several mentions of the notion that the peoples of the world need to be told more about climate change. Here, too, there is a parallel with the EU, which administers a propaganda fund of some $250 million a year purely to advertise its own wonderfulness to an increasingly sceptical population. The IPCC already spends millions every year with PR agencies, asking them to find new ways of making its blood-curdling message more widely understood and feared among ordinary people. The Secretariat already has the advantage of an uncritical, acquiescent, scientifically illiterate, economically innumerate and just plain dumb news media: now it will have a propaganda fund to play with as well.

Damage caused by The Process: At the insistence of sensible nation states such as the United States, the Czech Republic, Japan, Canada, and Italy, the Cancun outcome acknowledges that The Process is causing, and will cause, considerable economic damage, delicately described in the Chairman’s note as “unintended side-effects of implementing climate-change response measures”. The solution? Consideration of the catastrophic economic consequences of the Secretariat’s heroically lunatic decisions will fall under the control of – yup – the Secretariat. Admire its sheer gall.

Damage to world trade: As the power, wealth and reach of the Secretariat grow, it finds itself rubbing uncomfortably up against other supranational organizations. In particular, the World Trade Organization has been getting antsy about the numerous aspects of the Secretariat’s proposals that constitute restrictions on international trade. At several points, the Chairman’s note expresses the “decision” – in fact, no more than an opinion and a questionable one at that – that the Secretariat’s policies are not restrictive of trade.

The Canute provision: The conference will reaffirm the decision of its predecessor in Copenhagen this time last year “to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels”, just like that. In fact, temperature in central England, and by implication globally, rose 2.2 Celsius in the 40 years 1695-1735, as the Sun began to recover from its 11,400-year activity minimum, and rose again by 0.74 C in the 20^th century. There has been no warming in the 21^st century, but we are already well over 2 Celsius degrees above pre-industrial levels. The Canute provision, as some delegates have dubbed it (after the Danish king of early England who famously taught his courtiers the limitations of his power and, a fortiori, theirs when he set up his throne on the beach and commanded sea level not to rise, whereupon the tide came in as usual and wet the royal feet), shows the disconnect between The Process and reality.

Omissions: There are several highly-significant omissions, which jointly and severally establish that the central intent of The Process no longer has anything to do with the climate, if it ever had. The objective is greatly to empower and still more greatly to enrich the international classe politique at the expense of the peoples of the West, using the climate as a pretext, so as to copy the European Union by installing in perpetuity what some delegates here are calling “transnational perma-Socialism” beyond the reach or recall of any electorate. Here are the key omissions:

The science: The question whether any of this vast expansion of supranational power is scientifically necessary is not addressed. Instead, there is merely a pietistic affirmation of superstitious faith in the IPCC, where the conference will “recognize that deep cuts in global [greenhouse-gas] emissions are required according to science, and as documented in the [IPCC’s] Fourth Assessment Report.”
The economics: There is no assessment of the extent to which any of the proposed actions to mitigate “global warming” by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide or to adapt the world to its consequences will be cost-effective. Nor, tellingly, is there any direct comparison between mitigation and adaptation in their cost-effectiveness: indeed, the IPCC was carefully structured so that mitigation and adaptation are considered by entirely separate bureaucracies producing separate reports, making any meaningful comparison difficult. Though every economic analysis of this central economic question, other than that of the now-discredited Lord Stern, shows that mitigation is a pointless fatuity and that focused adaptation to the consequences of any “global warming” that may occur would be orders of magnitude cheaper and more cost-effective, the Cancun conference outcome will continue to treat mitigation as being of equal economic utility with adaptation.
Termination: Contracts have termination clauses to say what happens when the agreement ends. Nothing better illustrates the intent to create a permanent world-government structure than the absence of any termination provisions whatsoever in the Cancun outcome. The Process, like diamonds, is forever.
Democracy: Forget government of the people, by the people, for the people. Forget the principle of “no taxation without representation” that led to the very foundation of the United States. The provisions for the democratic election of the new, all-powerful, legislating, tax-raising world-government Secretariat by the peoples of the world may be summarized in a single word: None.

How did this monstrous transfer of power from once-proud, once-sovereign, once-democratic nations to the corrupt, unelected Secretariat come about? The story begins with Sir Maurice Strong, an immensely wealthy UN bureaucrat from Canada who, a quarter of a century ago, established the IPCC as an intergovernmental, political body rather than as a scientific body precisely so that it could be maneuvered into assisting in the UN’s long-term aim, reiterated at a summit of senior UN officials this May by Ban Ki-Moon himself, of extinguishing national sovereignty and establishing a world government.

The Process began in earnest in 1988, when the IPCC was established. Shortly thereafter, on a June day in Washington DC deliberately chosen by Al Gore because it was unusually hot, his political ally and financial benefactor James Hansen appeared before a Congressional committee and put before it a wildly-exaggerated graph predicting global warming over the coming 20 or 30 years. Yet June 2008, the 20^th anniversary of his testimony, was cooler globally than June 1988, and worldwide warming has happened at less than half the rate he predicted.

The Rio Earth Summit in 1992 allowed environmental groups and world “leaders” to grandstand together. From that summit emerged the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which began holding annual conferences on “global warming”.

The Kyoto Protocol in 1997 committed its signatories to cut back their national CO2 emissions to 1990 levels by 2012. Most are not going to make it. The US Senate, with Al Gore as its president, voted 95-0 to reject any treaty such as Kyoto, which bound only the West while leaving developing nations such as China to emit carbon dioxide without constraint.

Very little progress had been made by the time of the Bali conference in 2007: but at that conference a “road-map” was constructed that was to lead to a binding international treaty in Copenhagen in 2009.

Just one problem with that. The US Constitution provides that, even if the President has signed a treaty, his signature is meaningless unless the treaty has been debated in the Senate, which must ratify it by the votes of at least 67 of the 100 Senators. It became clear to everyone, after the Obama administration failed to cajole or bully even 60 Senators into passing the Waxman/Markey cap-and-tax Bill, that no climate treaty would pass the Senate.

Worse, the Secretariat grossly overreached itself. Believing its own propaganda to the effect that none but a few vexatious, fossil-funded sceptics believed that “global warming” would be small enough to be harmless, it drafted and posted up on its website a 186-page draft Treaty of Copenhagen, proposing to turn itself into an unelected world government with unlimited powers to impose direct taxation on member nations without representation, recourse or recall, to interfere directly in the environmental policies of individual nations, and to sweep away all free markets worldwide, replacing them with itself as the sole rulemaker in every marketplace (treaty draft, annex 1, articles 36-38). Some quotations from the draft reveal the sheer ambition of the UN:

“The scheme for the new institutional arrangement under the Convention will be based on three basic pillars: government; facilitative mechanism; and financial mechanism. … The government will be ruled by the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change with the support of a new subsidiary body on adaptation, and of an Executive Board responsible for the management of the new funds and the related facilitative processes and bodies.” (Copenhagen Treaty draft of September 15, 2009, para. 38).

The three central powers that the UN had hoped to grant itself under the guise of Saving The Planet from alleged climate catastrophe were as follows:

“Government”: This use of the word “government” is the first use of the term to describe a world government in any international treaty draft.

“Financial mechanism”: The “financial mechanism” was a delicate phrase to describe a new power of the UN to levy unlimited taxation directly on the peoples of its member states: taxation without representation, and on a global scale.

“Facilitative mechanism”: This mechanism would, for the first time, have given the UN he power directly to coerce and compel compliance on the part of its member states, by force if necessary. The Treaty draft describes it as –

“… a facilitative mechanism drawn up to facilitate the design, adoption and carrying out of public policies, as the prevailing instrument, to which the market rules and related dynamics should be subordinate.”

In short, there was to be a New World Order, with a “government” having at its command a “financial mechanism” in the form of unlimited rights to tax the world’s citizen’s directly, and a “facilitative mechanism” that would bring the rules of all formerly free markets under the direct control of the new UN “government”, aided by an already-expanding series of bureaucracies.

At no point anywhere in the 186 pages of the Treaty draft do the words “democracy”, “election”, “ballot”, or “vote” appear. As the EU has already demonstrated, the transfer of powers from sovereign democracies to supranational entities brings those democracies to an end. At the supranational level, in the UN, in the EU and in the proposed world government, decisions are not made by anyone whom we, the voters, have elected to make such decisions.

The exposure of the draft treaty in major international news media panicked the UN into abandoning the draft before the Copenhagen conference even began. Instead, the UN is now legislating crabwise, as the European Union does, with a series of successive annual agreements, the last of which was the Copenhagen Accord, each transferring more power and wealth from individual nations to its supranational bureaucracy. The latest of these agreements is being finalized here in Cancun.

The European Union, which has stealthily stamped out democracy over the past half-century by a series of treaties each transferring a little more power and wealth from elected hands in the member states to unelected hands in Brussels, has been advising the Secretariat on how to do the same on a global scale.

After the spectacular bloody nose the Secretariat got in Copenhagen, it was most anxious not to endure a second failure in Cancun. To this end, it obtained the agreement of the German government to host a monthly series of conferences in Bonn in the early part of 2010, some of which were open to outside observers and some were behind closed doors in a comfortable suburban palace, where the new way of legislating for the world – in secret – first came into use.

The Chinese regime, anxious to get a piece of the action, agreed to host an additional session in Tientsin a few weeks ago. The purpose of this near-perpetual international junketing – which the national delegates have greatly enjoyed at our expense – was to make sure that nearly all of the elements in the Cancun agreement were firmly in draft and agreed well before Cancun, so as to avoid what too many journalists have tediously and obviously described as a “Mexican stand-off”.

It is precisely because of all this massive and expensive preparation that the note by the Chairman, whose main points are summarized above, may well reflect what is finally decided and announced here in a couple of days’ time. The Chairman is not simply guessing: this Note reflects what the Secretariat now confidently expects to get away with.

However, following the Copenhagen disaster, our grim future New Masters are taking no chances. They persuaded their friends in the mainstream news media, who cannot now easily back out of their original declarations of blind faith in the Church of “Global Warming” and are as anxious not to lose face as the Secretariat is, to put it about that at Cancun this year and even at Durban next year very little of substance will occur.

The intention is that, after not one but two international climate conferences, the second of them in Rio in 2012 on the 20^th anniversary of the Earth Summit that began it all, the Secretariat will have become so wealthy and will have accreted so much power to itself that no one – not even the US Senate – will dare to resist ratifying the Treaty of Rio that brings democracy to an end worldwide and fulfils Lord Mandelson’s recent statement that “we are now living in a post-democratic age.”

Over my dead body. The people know best what is best for the people. The governing class no doubt knows what is best for the governing class, but does not necessarily know what is best for the people, and must always be kept in check by the ballot-box.

If we are to have a world government at all (and, as the science of “global warming” alarm continues to collapse, the current pretext for world domination by a privileged few is wearing more than a little thin), then it is essential that the world government should be an elected government, and that, as Article 1, Section 1 of the US Constitution makes plain when it grants “All legislative power” to the elected Congress and to the now-elected Senate, none shall make laws for the world or impose taxes upon the world except those whom the people of the world have elected by universal secret ballot.

How can we, the people, defeat the Secretariat and keep the democracy we love? Simply by informing our elected representatives of the scope, ambition, and detail of what is in the Cancun agreement. The agreement will not be called a “Treaty”, because the Senate, particularly after the mid-term elections, will not pass it. But it can still be imposed upon us by the heavily Left-leaning Supreme Court, which no longer makes any pretense at judicial impartiality and may well decide, even if Congress does not, that the Cancun agreement shall stand part of US law on the ground that it is “customary international law”.

What to do? Send this blog posting to your legislators. It is their power, as well as yours, that is being taken away; their democracy, as well as yours, that will perish from the Earth unless this burgeoning nonsense is stopped.

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Until the next time.

Oh Yes! Let's break a butterfly on a wheel...

2010-12-10T00:02:00.004+01:00

Great: sentence a 16-year-old to four to six years in prison!

Disgusting.

Story here which includes the following:

Wim de Bruin, a spokesman for the prosecution service, said Dutch police were working with the FBI on an investigation into the hacking attack and expected to make several more arrests.

The FBI? really? surely not...

Until the next time.

Et tu VISA II

2010-12-08T19:18:00.008+01:00

Well, well.

The supporters of Wikileaks have been quick to respond to to the actions of - amongst others - Paypal, Mastercard, Amazon and VISA. As most of you know by now, substantial "denial of service" operations have been taking place, which today succeeded in bringing down Mastercard's site.

This New York Times article includes a splendid line:

"The initial decision to deny service to WikiLeaks," he said, was “Mastercard’s alone,” and was not made under government pressure.

Ah! shades of Mandy Rice-Davies: "He would say that wouldn't he?"

Taking the spokesman's words at face value, I suppose it depends upon what one calls pressure; it can after all, be internal as well as external can it not?

Until the next time.

Bright Future for the €?

2010-12-08T19:03:00.005+01:00

Like many, I have noticed gathering clouds around the European Single Currency, the Euro, with pressure building owing to the colossal debts of both banks and indeed, states.

Whilst living in England, which I did until five years ago, I was wholly opposed to the UK signing up to the Euro, and I believe that that was the correct view and now even more so.

So you might ask, why the title to this piece? The reason is pictured above; yes, Gordon Brown has suddenly appeared out of the woodwork after a few months' silence. This BBC article states:

'Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has told the BBC he fears the euro will face a "high noon" moment of reckoning early in the New Year.'

'"I sense that in the first few months of 2011 we [will] have a major crisis in the euro area," he told the BBC's business editor, Robert Peston.'

Yes, this IS the Gordon Brown who sold £15 billion worth of Britain's gold, which would probably now be worth £40 billion or perhaps even more...

So despite all the evidence to the contrary, I am now convinced that the Euro will soar in 2011!

Until the next time.

Et tu, Visa?

2010-12-07T21:58:00.002+01:00

I am becoming increasingly sympathetic towards the Wikileaks organisation, especially with the news that VISA is "pulling the plug" following the lead given by Amazon, Paypal and Mastercard.

I am just longing to hear some sort of moralising crap from those appalling pirates VISA and Mastercard with their usurious interest rates.

Amazon, Paypal, VISA and Mastercard; four American companies. How funny that is!

Until the next time

More Sweden

2010-12-07T21:06:00.005+01:00

In my last post, there is a link at the beginning of the article I took from Greenie Watch.

I was quite surprised, even shocked, at what I read there.

Here is an extract:

2007 update:

Some interesting comments from Gates of Vienna:

Marcos Cantera Carlomagno in 1995 published a PhD thesis at Lund University describing a series of letters sent by Per Albin Hansson, leader of the Social Democrats and Prime Minister between 1932 and 1946, who worked for the establishment of "Folkhemmet," the People's Home, as the Swedish welfare state model became known as. Hansson was a dear pen pal with Italy's Fascist leader Mussolini and praised the corporate, Fascist system where the entire economy and each individual were intimately tied to and subordinate to the state. Hansson was positively disposed to Fascism and saw his welfare state as a related concept. After mentioning his work in a local newspaper, Carlomagno was called by his supervisor who stated in anger that his scholarship would be cut off. Carlomagno's work was totally ignored by the entire media and political establishment in Sweden when it appeared in the 1990s.

Why did this information meet with such repression? Because the power of the political and cultural establishment is not based on reasoned discussion but on shaming opponents and branding them as evil with words loaded with emotions and taboo. Terms such as "racist", "Fascist", and "Nazi" automatically shut down any rational discussion of a subject. The irony is that a similar strategy was employed with great success by.....the Nazis.

Adolf Hitler described how to use "spiritual terror" to intimidate and silence opponents, a technique he learned from watching the Socialists and the Social Democrats. He understood "the infamous spiritual terror which this movement exerts, particularly on the bourgeoisie, which is neither morally nor mentally equal to such attacks; at a given sign it unleashes a veritable barrage of lies and slanders against whatever adversary seems most dangerous, until the nerves of the attacked persons break down and, just to have peace again, they sacrifice the hated individual. Conversely, they praise every weakling on the opposing side, sometimes cautiously, sometimes loudly, depending on the real or supposed quality of his intelligence."

In 2006, the newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that following recommendations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, priests in the Swedish Church applied German race laws from 1937 onwards. According to Lund University's Professor Anders Jarlert, who led the research, any Swede who wanted to marry an Aryan German was forced to sign an affirmation stating that none of the German's grandparents were Jewish. History Professor Stig Ekman told DN that Sweden's culture of silence and secrecy is one reason why this is appearing only now, generations later. In 1937, the Swedish government was controlled by the Social Democrats, yet despite this evidence that they applied Nazi race laws, party members still get away with denouncing critics of their immigration policies as neo-Nazis, racists or Fascists.

In the book The New Totalitarians, the British historian Roland Huntford in the early 1970s pointed out that Socialist professor Gunnar Myrdal and his wife Alva, both highly influential ideologists in developing the Swedish welfare state, had intimate connections with the German academic world during the Nazi age. Gunnar Myrdal served as both a member of parliament and later as a government minister for the Social Democrats during this period. According to Huntford: "The professor was then a Nazi sympathizer, publicly describing Nazism as the movement of youth and the movement of the future. In Myrdal's defence, it must be pointed out that, whatever his other propensities, Hitler did have advanced ideas on social welfare, and that the social ideology of the German Nazis and the Swedish Social Democrats had much in common. Until the mid 1930s, Nazism had considerable attractions for those who favoured a benevolent and authoritarian state."

Gunnar and Alva Myrdal promoted the idea of positive eugenics and forced sterilization programs against those with "weak genes." This started in Sweden even before Nazi Germany, and it continued longer.

The Nazis called themselves national Socialists, and they took the Socialist component of their ideology quite seriously. They never nationalized all assets of production as the Communists did. They left nominal ownership in private hands, but production was in reality controlled by the state. The Nazis were thus to the left, economically, compared to many of the labor parties in Western Europe today. As Adolf Hitler stated in 1927: "We are Socialists, enemies, mortal enemies of the present capitalist economic system with its exploitation of the economically weak, with its injustice in wages, with its immoral evaluation of individuals according to wealth and money instead of responsibility and achievement, and we are determined under all circumstances to abolish this system!"

2009 update

There is an assumption that the welfare states of Scandinavia were high-tax regimes which tried to redistribute wealth from rich businessmen to the average person. This is not the case at all. On the whole the Scandinavian systems are not meant to be redistributive states. Nor are businessmen the targets. Business is relatively lightly taxed compared to many developed nations. It is not the earnings of businesses that the bureaucrats want to control but people.

The Swedish welfare state, in particular, was designed so that the average individual was highly taxed. There was even the well-known case of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, of Pippi Longstocking fame, who discovered that her tax bill was 102% of her earnings. Consumers are highly taxed, while business itself is not so highly taxed.

The reason for this is simple. Taxation is a means of control. The object of control in the Swedish system is not business, they produce the golden eggs after all. The object of control is the individual. The Swedish system doesn't so much redistribute your wealth but confiscate it and return it to you provided you spend it in ways approved of by the political elite.

Consider how this system works. Say you are taxed $100 on earnings of $150. The state may now say that can have $20 back in education vouchers for your children, $30 in health "benefits" and so on. If you choose to spend in other ways you will not receive the money back. In essence the Swedish system was created to take control of the individual Swedish consumer, not redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor. While some redistribution is inevitable that is not the reason why the system was created.

Swedish business is more lightly taxed because the government wants business to provide jobs for workers. Once the workers are employed the state can tax them and control their spending. Approved spending is subsidized with the tax money that consumers pay in, unapproved spending is not subsidized or may be heavily taxed. This system of coercive incentives is meant to regulate how people act.

While many in the world think that the "third way" of Sweden was a "socialistic" policy of helping the needy, the reality is closer to a "fascistic" policy of manipulating the consumers into behaving in ways that politicians want.

Big Government indeed!

Until the next time

"There is something rotten in the Sate of Denmark - er Sweden?"

2010-12-07T20:50:00.003+01:00

Again thanks to Greenie Watch for the following article. I had to add this given the Swedish pursuit of Mr Assange!

Until the next time

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Swedish Fascism: University in Shock Ban on Academic Freedom and Debate

Sweden has been quietly Fascist for a long time and Warmism is just the latest excuse

by John O'Sullivan

Extremist pro-green Swedish university shackles academic freedom and bans all teaching that doesn’t conform to dogma of human-caused global warming: The latest victim targeted by global warming fascists is Swedish professor, Dr. Claes Johnson who is smacked down for speaking the truth by his employers, the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.

It’s no coincidence that Johnson, a world-leading mathematics professor has been silenced in the very week his co-authored climate skeptic book, ‘Slaying the Sky Dragon: Death of the Greenhouse Gas Theory’ stormed has stormed the science best seller listings after rave reviews.

Johnson is among 22 leading international experts who have dared to join forces and speak out in a blockbuster of a book that exposes the fraudulent science and calculations built into the theory of man-made global warming. The two-volume publication skillfully shreds the lies of government climatologists that faked the warming effect of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by falsely multiplying the numbers three times over.

Cynics are claiming the teaching ban is a knee-jerk panic reaction to these startling revelations that Johnson had dared to explain in depth to his inquisitive students. The math professor reports that this latest gagging is most extreme because it includes required material for his students and may be fatally damaging to their studies.

Dr. Johnson laments, “the course, has been "stopped" by the President of the Royal Technological Institute KTH, because the book contains a mathematical analysis of some models related to climate simulation.”

A Little More Wikileaks

2010-12-07T19:04:00.004+01:00

The news today of Julian Assange's arrest and the fact that he has been refused bail, despite prominent individuals offering sureties, makes it quite plain to this writer that the pressure is mounting. There are even rumblings about the US possibly seeking extradition though it is difficult to understand what possible legal charges could be laid against him.

This piece is prompted by news today of one of the leaks: that concerning contingency plans by NATO to defend eastern European countries in the event of Russian aggression.

I considered this to be hardly worth reporting; after all surely everybody - at least everybody who has ever read a book or two - understands that all nations have contingency plans for every conceivable, or even inconceivable, eventuality.

The "fourth estate" is precious indeed, but should not insult our intelligences with silly alarmism.

Until the next time.

More Warmist Bullshit

2010-12-06T21:58:00.005+01:00

Directly from Greenie Watch:

Aaaaah! Look at this lovely picture of a polar bear cub riding on its mother’s back. It appeared in a number of papers this week with stories – inspired by the lobbying group WWF – suggesting that this was a new development, caused by global warming.

This is propaganda garbage, just like the piffle talked about another famous picture of polar bears perched on a melting ice floe. That was taken in August, when ice in Alaska always melts. Land was close by. Polar bears can swim for hundreds of miles if they want to.

The piggyback picture is just as misleading. It isn’t remotely new. I have established that it was taken by the charming Mrs Angela Plumb on a holiday in Spitsbergen more than four years ago, on July 21, 2006.

It then formed the basis of a scientific paper written by the equally charming Jon Aars, a Norwegian polar bear expert. I have read this paper. It speculates that the cubs may ride on their mothers’ backs to avoid the cold water, as they don’t have the thick layer of blubber that allows adult bears to swim in icy temperatures for hours.

But there’s no proof of this, as polar bears can’t speak English or Norwegian so cannot tell us why they do what they do. The paper accepts that bear cubs may always have done this.

Jon Aars himself said to me that polar bear cubs have ridden on their mothers’ backs for ages. ‘What we do not know is whether or not it is happening more frequently than it used to,’ he says.

So we don’t know. Once again the almost invariable rule applies. If any picture is produced to support the warmist panic, it will turn out to be suspect. Oh, and by the way, how much use have all those stupid windmills been during the cold snap?

Until the next time

The GREAT French Lie

2010-12-06T20:15:00.003+01:00

And what you might demand, is the great French lie (Le grand mensonge français)?

I'll tell you; it takes just two words: "Ouverture Facile"

For the non-francophones amongst you, this means "easy to open" a statement found on all sorts of plastics packages such as those that contain sandwiches or sliced ham and so on.

It is never true. I saw people on the TGV amazed as I pulled out a large pocket-knife (perfectly legal in France) to attack one of SNCF's sandwich packets. N.B. Most Frenchmen - at least here in Haute Savoie, carry some sort of pocket-knife. I use mine to slice saucisson or cheese at informal gatherings, quite apart from tackling the "ouverture facile" syndrome.

Can anyone tell me why French manufacturers persist with this gross untruth?

Until the next time

Pass the Sick-Bag

2010-12-06T20:00:00.003+01:00

Originally I intended the title of this to be "nauseating" (which indeed it is) but I wanted to be a little more direct.

This gem of smug, nauseating anti-smoking crap I found on Tobacco News. Read on and keep a paper bag handy. I love the bits about "natural heritage" yawn...

Until the next time.

Tobacco Free Hernando, partnering with the Hernando County Community Anti-Drug Coalition, its youth group Chill Smart and Hernando County Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT), is asking the Hernando County School Board to revise its tobacco-free school campus policy and pass a comprehensive 100 percent tobacco-free policy designed to ensure a safe learning and work environment.

What is the definition of a 100 percent tobacco-free school district? A school district that prohibits tobacco use at all times, by anyone, on school grounds and at school events. This includes students, teachers, school staff, and visitors. This policy should create a culture at our schools that we are 100 percent tobacco-free and an expectation that other drugs are also not tolerated. Over 50 percent of a student’s day is spent at school, and their attitudes towards tobacco use are influenced by their peers and educators at school.

The Pro Children Act of 1994, reinforced by the Pro Children Act of 2001, states “No person shall permit smoking within any indoor facility owned or leased or contracted for and utilized by such person for provision of routine or regular kindergarten, elementary, or secondary education or library service to children.” The Tobacco Free Hernando Partnership believes that the current school district policy, which was adopted in February 2000 and consists of only two sentences, is not comprehensive enough and does not address all that this law directs.

Chill Smart and SWAT members have worked hard to collect hundreds of signatures, students and adults alike, on a petition that states “We the undersigned ask our local board of education to mandate a policy requiring all public school buildings, grounds, and events to be 100 percent tobacco free.”

They have also conducted a survey of Hernando County youth, and plan on presenting all of the facts they’ve obtained at a Hernando County School Board workshop in the near future.

They, along with the Health Department, had a table at Anderson Snow Park for the Great American Smoke-Out Nov. 18. They gave out bags with literature, information and items to help anyone that wanted to quit smoking. They also acquired signatures on the petitions, gave out other anti-tobacco items and picked up many cigarette butts from the park grounds.

Tobacco Free Hernando is a group of local individuals and community agencies who are committed to a Tobacco Free Hernando County. It is a community initiative targeting youth attitudes, behaviors and tobacco access, to mobilize and address tobacco policy and system changes in Hernando. The group consists of a wide array of adults from both the public and private sector, local youth leaders, and members of the general public. Tobacco Free Hernando is supported by a Community-Based Tobacco Prevention Grant through the Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Tobacco Prevention Programs.

Shari Noriega, Hernando County Community Anti-Drug Coalition

Celebrate state’s natural wonders

In this season of celebration and giving thanks, we should celebrate the natural wonders of our public lands. Florida’s rich natural heritage is woven through the wild places that all of us own together, and that are managed for us in trust by our local, state, and federal governments. These amazing natural places, places that define what it means to be a Floridian, are the birthright of every Floridian and belong to future generations as they belong to us.

My wife and I recently adopted two children and one of the most incredible and enjoyable things our new family has shared together is time spent exploring and enjoying our public lands. We have hiked through Cypress Lakes Preserve, paddled down the Withlacoochee River, snorkeled in the Gulf of Mexico at Pine Island, looked for wildlife at Chinsegut Nature Center, and swam in the cool clear waters of Juniper Springs. These places helped our new family bond, and helped introduce our children to their natural heritage.

My kids and I have explored the Withlacoochee River in the big old red canoe that my father bought when I was a kid. The first time we went paddling together on a cool fall day, my children got to see the same places and wildlife that I saw in the canoe on that river decades ago.

The legacy being passed to them was passed to me by my parents and grandparents. I want my children to see a Florida black bear in the wild as I have been so blessed to have seen. I want them to fish clean waters, hike through longleaf pines, hear birds and frogs calling, and pass those experiences on to their children.

We should all work to ensure that our public lands are valued and protected, and that our grandchildren know the Florida our grandparents knew. Each generation must protect the right of the next generation to know and love natural Florida.

Anyone who hunts, fishes, paddles, sails, snorkels, birds, rides horses, hikes, or otherwise recreates on our public lands understands what an incredible resource they are and how valuable they are. We must continue the work to acquire new public lands and manage our current public lands for their highest conservation value.

Our public lands provide tremendous public benefits at little cost to Floridians. They help filter our water, protect our communities from flooding, provide critical habitat for wildlife that we love, and create economic activity through recreation and ecotourism.

In the Nature Coast they provide some of the best and most sustainable economic development opportunities we have. People come here to explore and enjoy nature and the amazing mosaic of wetlands, uplands and sandhills, rivers, and coastlines we are blessed with. Our public lands nourish our spirits, and our economy.

As we begin to formulate our resolutions for 2011, let us resolve to spend more time outside under the sun or the moon and in and on the waters, trails, and back roads of our public lands. Let’s take our kids out into the woods and share with them all the wonders of nature. Our public lands are our children’s public lands, and they bind generations together in a shared love of nature. All of us have the responsibility to be good stewards of our public lands, and future generations will thank us for protecting their natural heritage.

Wikileaks

2010-12-06T19:12:00.008+01:00

Given that Julian Assange's latest Wikileaks releases have occupied the headlines for the past few days, I felt obliged to scribble a few lines on the subject. These may not be original, but they are after all, my lines!

I am in a bit of a quandary on this one; I recently wrote a piece saying that Politics can be confusing and I am little muddled over Wikileaks. On the face of it, the idea of nasty dealings by governments and politicians being released is most attractive; after all why should these bastards get away with it, I thought to myself.

Today's news (Daily Telegraph) about the list of locations which are vital to the interests of the USA, made me pause for further thought.

Given that Amazon and Paypal have allegedly given in to US Government pressure to cease assisting Wikileaks, I am concerned that provocations such as those provided by Wikileaks could perhaps lead to Internet restrictions, which of course none of us wants.

After all, would you bloggers out there like to operate under the Chinese Government's censorious régime? Remember Google's experience last year... Of course we like to console ourselves with the classic thought "It couldn't happen here," but a few minutes' reflection on the already terrifying extent of the curtailment of our personal freedoms in Western Europe should be enough to tell that indeed it could!

The Telegraph article linked to above includes the following paragraph:

WikiLeaks has already been forced to change its domain name and hop-scotch to servers around the globe after successive companies and countries have responded to American pressure attacking its disclosures over the past week as illegal.

It has also come under repeated cyber-attack, through a tactic known as distributed denial of service in which thousands of computers connect to its servers in a concerted attempt to knock them off-line.

“What we are seeing here are dangerous moves towards a digital McCarthyism,” wrote the group’s founder Julian Assange in a statement on its website.

UPDATE:

The pressure seems to be increasing.

P.S. Normally I would add updates in a different colour, but once again HTM 'Ell refuses to let me do so...

Until the next time.

Cool

2010-11-30T21:29:00.000+01:00

The excellent Fonz:

Until the next time

RIP Leslie Nielsen

2010-11-29T17:57:00.002+01:00

I really loved this man; why the original series of Police Squad was cut short, I shall never understand.

Here's a taster for you:

Until the next time

A Parable

2010-11-25T21:44:00.002+01:00

The following piece was written by John Stossel and appears on the site Liberty for All a fine idea indeed.

***********************************************

If you’re a scientist working for private industry, it helps to invent something useful. But if you’re a scientist trying to get funding from the government, you’re better off telling the world how horrible things are.

And once people are scared, they pay attention. They may even demand the government give you more money to solve the problem.

Usually the horrible disaster never happens. Chaos from Y2K. An epidemic of deaths from SARS or mad cow disease. Cancer from Three Mile Island. We quickly forget. We move on to the next warnings.

This is the story of a looming disaster that never became an actual disaster — because the science that led to the terror was never sound science at all.

In the late ’80s and early ’90s, the media used a few small studies of babies born of cocaine-addicted mothers to convince America that thousands of children were permanently damaged. Dr. Ira Chasnoff, of the National Association for Perinatal Addiction Research and Education, after studying only 23 babies, reported that mothers were delivering babies who “could not respond to them emotionally.” He told People magazine the infants “couldn’t respond to a human voice.” This led to a frenzy of stories on “crack babies.” Many people still believe “crack babies” are handicapped for life.

It isn’t true. It turns out there is no proof that crack babies do worse than anyone else. In fact, they do better, on average, than children born of alcoholic mothers.

Nevertheless, Rolling Stone told us these children were “like no others.” They were “automatons,” “oblivious to affection,” and “the damage doesn’t go away.” Education magazines warned that soon these children would reach the schools, which would be unable to control them.

It was terrifying news — thousands of children likely to grow up wild and dangerous.

It wasn’t until several years later that the myth started to unravel. Emory University psychologist Claire Coles had her graduate students spend hours observing “crack babies” and normal babies. Her students did not see what Chasnoff had seen. In fact, they couldn’t tell which children had been exposed to cocaine.

Coles told me, “They couldn’t really tell whether they were looking at the effects of cocaine or the effects of alcohol or the effects of poverty, and everybody ignored that. They just said, ‘This is cocaine.’”

How could that happen? “Well,” Coles said,” they wanted to get published.” It is easier to get your work published, and, more importantly, funded by the taxpayers, if you find something dramatic.

Coles said, “If you go to an agency and say, ‘I don’t think there’s a big problem here, I’d like you to give me $1 million,’ the probability for getting the money is very low.”

It’s also easier to get funded if what you conclude feeds someone’s political agenda. The idea of crack babies was perfect. It met the needs of liberals and conservatives. Conservatives wanted to demonize cocaine users. Liberals wanted more money for social programs.

When Dr. Coles dared suggest that crack babies were not permanently damaged, she was attacked by politicians, called incompetent, accused of making data up or advocating drug abuse. Dr. Chasnoff, who helped start the scare, did not receive similar criticism. After his scare was shown to have been exaggerated, he denied that he had pushed any agenda: “Neither I nor any of my colleagues were ever pushing junk science. Is everything we thought then — do we know that every bit of that is correct now? Well, obviously, the answer is no. But that’s the process of science.”

He said People and Rolling Stone exaggerated the implications of his research — took him “out of context.” Perhaps. Journalists hype risks constantly. But Chasnoff didn’t ask the magazines to correct or clarify their reports. So people continued expecting the crack babies — the real human beings who had to grow up with that label — to be walking disasters.

Next time you hear dire “scientific” warnings — and demands to surrender more control over your life to the government in order to avert disaster — remember the crack babies. The only disaster coming may be an activist-induced panic.

Think about that when you hear dire predictions about global warming or avian flu.

Source

Until the next time

More Climate Change Nonsense

2010-11-25T13:31:00.003+01:00

"Modest hopes for climate summit as gas levels rise" reports the BBC today.

What's the matter with everybody? They say that so-called greenhouse gases are increasing, but if this is the case, why is the planet not actually warming? I don't believe in the greenhouse gas effect, and when I read rubbish such as:-

Heightened methane emission from wetlands and permafrost has regularly been touted as a potential amplifying factor in climate change, with warmer weather stimulating their release and so producing further warming.

- I despair.

HELLO BBC! ARE YOU LISTENING? THE PLANET IS NOT WARMING.

Until the next time

Sarah Strikes Again

2010-11-25T12:57:00.007+01:00

Politics can be very confusing: on the one hand I would like to see far less government here in western Europe, and this is part of the platform of the American "Tea Party" for the USA, and on the other hand I find the Tea Party very disturbing indeed, as I recall sentiments similar to those of the Party being expressed some time ago (and recently!) by Sarah Palin, the deeply worrying ex-governor of the State of Alaska. I have mentioned her before...

Today however, she has hit the jackpot. Former president George W. Bush was mocked for his verbal gaffes, but Miss Palin is in an altogether different league:

The gaffe was reported in the Daily Telegraph today.

Meanwhile on the Tea Party site (link above) it says that "Lasse Hanson is sad about Sarah Palin's unfortunate slip of the tongue supporting North Korea."

Not as sad as I am I suspect!

I did not feel inclined to register with the Tea Party to find out what Miss Hanson had to say, but as I suggested at the beginning of this piece I really do not like Big Government (= Big Brother) so perhaps I should register and at least have a look around.

Until the next time

A Small Start?

2010-11-22T19:35:00.004+01:00

The disturbing news reported today by the BBC, following a Panorama investigation, that anti-Semitic and homophobic lessons are being given to schoolchildren in the United Kingdom, has provoked a response from the Education Secretary, Mr Michael Gove:

"To my mind it doesn't seem to me that this is the sort of material that should be used in English schools."

A bit tame don't you think? However, in the video, (on the BBC article) which includes pictures of the lesson-books concerned (which apparently originate in Saudi-Arabia) Mr Gove is a little more robust, but I think that he should have said:

"Her Britannic Majesty's Government requests and requires that these books be burned immediately, some distance outside UK territorial waters."

Happily, a) I have no children and b) live in France...

Until the next time

Brewing Up?

2010-11-22T10:15:00.008+01:00

The USA is known to be one of the most litigious societies in the world, perhaps the most litigious.

However, as with all things there is good to be found amongst the widely-publicised absurd claims that reach the American courts.

Greenie Watch mentions an article from the American Thinker concerning a case involving the University of Virginia and emails between Professor Phil Jones of the University of East Anglia, home of the "Climategate" scandal of a year ago and former Assistant Professor of environmental studies at the University of Virginia, Dr Michael Mann.

I especially enjoyed the following paragraph from the piece:

"I was wondering just how long it would take the Nature editorial to suggest a parallel between climate skepticism and the tobacco lobby. Well done! It's too bad that global warming cannot be shown to cause lung cancer -- not yet, at any rate. But more research money may yet uncover such a connection. There's still hope."

As the article suggests, there should be interesting times ahead for the "warmists"!

Until the next time

Please Read This

2010-11-19T22:55:00.003+01:00

Just as "Global Warming" has been shown to be a blatant lie, now the pigeons have come to roost concerning "Passive Smoking.

There's a good blog article on the subject of a recent Canadian study here.

Funny it received so little publicity; non-conformist news (cf. "Global Warming") is always unpopular, as is of course the truth.

Until the next time.

Congo News

2010-11-19T18:39:00.004+01:00

It is reported today that the "Paris Club" of creditor nations has decided to write off the $7,350,000,000 debt owed by the "Democratic" Republic of Congo.

Regular readers will know that I am no fan of this failed state. It is certain that the Paris Club knows a lot more than I about Congo, but as a previous article here shows, I feel that I know quite enough.

How nice to have one's debts written off! Perhaps I should try murder and rape...

Until the next time

The CBI* Joins the Fun

2010-11-18T23:08:00.005+01:00

Outgoing CBI* boss Richard Lambert pulls no punches in his assessment of developed economies' attitude to global warming.

This is how the BBC chose to introduce its report on the CBI's call for action on Climate Change.

As I have pointed out before, the climate has been changing since the beginning of time, so where's the rush?

Most depressing of all is the BBC's use of the entirely discredited expression "Global Warming."

BBC: ARE YOU LISTENING? THE GLOBE IS NOT WARMING!

Until the next time.

*Confederation of British Industry

A riposte to that disgusting campaign "10.10"

2010-11-17T22:33:00.007+01:00

Some of you may have seen that disgraceful and disgusting campaign where those who chose not to be "on message" as far as the greenies are concerned were 'exploded' on the push of a button by some right-on twat.

Please read this.

Here is the PR disaster:

It seems, I am happy to say, that the no doubt expensive campaign has proved - as it should be - a disaster for the warmists and their fellow-travellers.

Down with the warmist-fascist-communist eco-terrorists!

Until the next time

Bent as a nine-bob note?

2010-11-16T23:14:00.003+01:00

The news that Russia is outraged at the extradition from Thailand of one Victor Bout comes as no surprise hereabouts.

Mr Bout who as far as I can gather, is an arms dealer as dodgy as they come, started making a large pile of money as the unlamented Soviet Union disintegrated.

As the article to which I have linked this post suggests, Mr Bout must almost certainly have friends in very high places in Russia.

Incidentally is Russia still "The Commonwealth of Independent States"? That name is about as convincing as "The Democratic Republic of Congo"!

Meanwhile I imagine that that any surviving Russian journalists will be inclined to tread very carefully on this one. To be an independent journalist in Russia today requires courage of an extraordinary sort.

From Greenie Watch

2010-11-15T23:06:00.007+01:00

I make no comment on the following, which I have lifted direct from Greenie Watch, except to say read it and be scared.

Until the next time.

The 1930s all over again in Germany

Only the colour of the shirts has changed

What is it with these intolerant zealots who refuse to learn anything from history?

Right smack on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, German Parliamentarians, in a frontal assault, are now openly calling out and branding scientists for the crime of scientific dissent. These out-of-control parliamentarians are demanding that the German government take a position against dissenting views in climate science.

What follows makes McCarthyism look like a treasure hunt. What a number of zealous German parliamentarians are calling for borders on a call to launch a science pogrom.

The climate dogmatists are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the scepticism, free speech, and dissent now spreading in Germany and Europe, and therefore want to stamp it out using the might of the federal government – and now.

The upcoming 3rd International Climate and Energy Conference, REGISTER HERE, has got them spooked as well.

Journalist Dirk Maxeiner here brings our attention to the latest development on the exploding intolerance that has gripped certain factions in Germany. Maxeiner publishes the text of a query written by the Green parliamentarians sent to the German government, read below.

As the text shows, branding of climate science dissenters has begun. Fred Singer and EIKE (European Institute For Climate and Energy) are the first to feel the sting of the denier-branding-iron. German greenshirts have sent the bloodhounds afterFred Singer because of his speech in a German parliamentary forum discussion on the economic impacts of climate protection held by the FDP Free Democrats, the junior coalition partner of Angela Merkel’s CDU/FDP coalition government. Read background here.

Some may think that I’m being over-dramatic here. I am not. The situation that the few, yet very vocal, sceptics face here is precarious. Just read the following query written by a faction of Parliamentarians to the German Government, translated of the German text presented at Dirk Maxeiner’s site (emphasis added, and note the use of the term “denier” throughout the text)......

There it is folks. All this because some people are asking questions about the science. These Green radicals are scared crapless. Their media hacks did everything possible to slander and destroy Fred Singer, EIKE, and other dissenting German scientists – to no avail.

Now for the first time they’re going after the liberty-oriented Liberal Institute of the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation. They are de facto demanding a declaration of war on scientists and groups that have a different opinion. This level of intolerance has not been seen in Germany in over 65 years. This is their “Either-you’re-with-us-or-against us” declaration to Angela Merkel’s coalition government made up of the CDU Christian Democratic Union and FDP Free Democratic Party.

More HERE

The Money Pit

2010-11-15T22:13:00.006+01:00

There is currently a problem in the EU: that of approving next year's budget.

Officially, an increase of 6% has been requested, but MEPs are proposing 2.9% whilst according to this BBC article, a number of governments, in the throes of ruthlessly cutting their own budgets, are proposing leaving the EU budget at 2010 level.

I consider that to be more than enough given that the budget, according to this BBC graph, has increased nearly 40% over the last ten years:

As far as the UK is concerned, note the footnote about exchange rates. Using XE.com's useful historical chart, I find that in 2001 the pound stood at around 1.60 against the euro, very different from today's rate of 1.18. So in cost terms, the decline of the value of the pound has meant that the UK's contributions have become increasingly expensive, quite apart from the regular increases shown in the table above. Europhiles will blame this additional cost of course on the UK's refusal to sign up to the euro, but remaining with the pound has proved to be sensible, given the states of various European economies who have er, "benefitted" from membership of the Eurozone.

The BBC piece goes on to say that in the event of the budget not being approved (which seems likely) then the EU may not be able to afford to launch it's new diplomatic service ludicrously called the EEAS: The European External Action Service. The EEAS has been budgeted at €475.8 million. On top of the colossal corruption and fraud prevalent in the EU and widely reported for a number of years, who needs another 475.8 million wasted euros?

Please remember the case of Marta Andreason, former EU chief accountant sacked by the Welsh windbag, Kinnock - then an EU Commissioner, for drawing attention to financial "irregularities."

Kinnock and his wife did alright though: they weren't sacked, they're doing very nicely thank you very much. Gravy train 'socialists' the pair of them - like one of Kinnock's predecessors, Roy "Claret" Jenkins, Britain's worst ever Chancellor of the Exchequer and another EU Commissioner.

Will no one rid us of this parasitic nightmare?

Until the next time.

Lead by Example

2010-11-14T20:45:00.005+01:00

In this case I mean my suggestion that you peruse the links I have added to this page!

I have just been browsing Smokers Info, and found a good piece about another lying government, this time the State of Alberta in Canada.

This was all about the state trying to raise some money by hitting tobacco (again) - suing the tobacco companies. The position was that medical treatment of "smoking-related diseases" was costing the state some $3.5 billion per annum and the claim that the taxes raised from the sale of tobacco products did not cover these costs.

Embarrassingly for the government, an anti-smoking group, "Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada" (yuk) has stated that the revenue raised is actually $7 billion!

Whoops! Read all about it here.

Can anyone identify a single government that does not lie? And do the anti-smoking physicians claim a first for being, in this instance at least, honest?

Until the next time.

European Stuff

2010-11-14T18:57:00.011+01:00

On 9th November, European President Herman van Rompuy gave in Berlin, the annual "Europe Address."

In the opening part of his speech he said:

"What is more, today is 9 November, a day of such exceptional significance in 20th-century German history. With its times of darkness but also of course with the joy of the fall of the Berlin Wall, so close to where we stand. The "Wall of Shame", the very antithesis of the legacy of Greece: democracy. At school I learned of Pericles' famous formulation of democracy in which "the affairs of State are not the privilege of the few but the right of the many"."

This is really rather tragicomical isn't it? Or have I missed something? Of course no-one except a few eccentrics I suppose, would like to see the re-establishment of the DDR for example and its repellent leaders such as Walter Ulbricht, nevertheless it was of course (in English) The German Democratic Republic, so as with the "Democratic Republic of Congo" in the words of Private Eye: "that's alright then."

Near the end of the speech Mr van Rompuy said:

"We have together to fight the danger of a new Euro-scepticism. This is no longer the monopoly of a few countries. In every Member State, there are people who believe their country can survive alone in the globalised world. It is more than an illusion: it is a lie!"

Very good Mr President; whilst I accept that Norway is a special case, owing to its oil wealth, good management and a small population, as I write this I am looking at Lake Geneva; I see no oil rigs and the desperate state of the Swiss economy (thanks of course to the Swiss population's democratic obduracy with regard to joining the EU) would of course be immediately ameliorated were the Swiss to sign up (ho ho). In this part of France, many of the French would simply love to have a job across the border - as many do.

According to XE.com, the Euro stands at 1.34049 Swiss francs. A year ago the rate was 1.50. As Bliar once remarked it is essential to be "at the heart of Europe." I wonder did anyone ask him why?

So Mr President I don't agree: it isn't a lie - at least in many cases - excepting of course those who have crucified themselves with the Euro - Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and of course Ireland. Of course the Euro isn't directly to blame for the world economic crisis, caused by greed and over-confidence and in certain cases I believe criminal activity, but membership of the currency with its strict rules (now largely ignored) cannot be helpful.

As for Ireland, the BBC report on rumours, not denied by the Irish government, of the country seeking bail-out from Brussels, includes some comment by one Joe Lynam in which he says:

"Now that talks have begun with Eurogroup officials, Ireland has the embarrassment of pressing ahead with day-to-day management of a country still officially Europe's third richest [...]"

Where did he find that piece of information I wonder? The table in this Wikipedia piece gives far more realistic numbers; especially interesting are the figures for GDP per capita for those non-EU members, Norway and Switzerland.

They cannot survive alone in the globalised world, can they Mr President?

Until the next time

UPDATE

Here's the latest from the BBC on the Irish economy and Europe.

Thanks

2010-11-14T18:29:00.002+01:00

To the Man Widdicombe blog for the very direct notice which now appears on this page; after all for we smokers I feel that the time has come for the nailing of colours to masts.

There is also a new link on the right of this page for another good blog: "Tea and Cigarettes."

More soon.

Until the next time

Aung San Suu Kyi

2010-11-13T23:52:00.004+01:00

The release of Aung San Suu Kyi after 15 years of house arrest has been greeted with warm statements from many world leaders.

I do not propose to discuss the subject as I have no knowledge of it - apart from the fact that I know that the Burmese Government is composed largely of thugs and that Miss Suu Kyi's imprisonment was a disgrace. And in any case many people far better qualified than I, have been or will be writing on the matter.

No, it was reading this BBC article and in particular Mr David Cameron's reponse that prompted this brief scribble. The BBC article included the following:

UK Prime Minister David Cameron also said the release was "long overdue", describing her detention had been a "travesty"[sic.].

"Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration for all of us who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights," he added.

Yes, très touchant, Mr Cameron. Now please tell us what is the extent of "freedom of speech. "

For example, are we allowed to condemn the climate change mafia, the green fascists, and the horrible nannying and bullying anti-tobacco lobby? Are we allowed to criticise the Mohammedans and other fanatical religious fundamentalists? Or the EU? Are we allowed to object to multi-culturalism?

And so on.

Until the next time

Them & Us?

2010-11-11T21:43:00.007+01:00

The news reported today - in this case by the BBC - about French President Sarkozy's Presidential Aircraft had me spluttering over my coffee this morning.

With breathtaking arrogance, the aircraft's specification includes an "air-conditioned" smoking room. I should state here and now, that I am entirely in favour of air-conditioned smoking rooms being installed everywhere, but it seems unlikely to happen in France, where just as in the fascistically oppressive UK, smoking is banned in all public places (since January 2nd 2008) and in the workplace (since 2007).

Since the presidential aeroplane has cost the French taxpayer about €180 million, one is entitled to believe that the aircraft constitutes - at least part of the time (as does the Elysée Palace for that matter where the President is known to enjoy his cigars) a "workplace."

Personally I hope the President enjoys his cigars; it's just that I don't understand why he is the only citizen of France who is permitted to smoke at work, the rest of us having to put up with cold/rain/snow/ice/wind for our rather long winters here, for which, no doubt, that arrant bullshit "global warming" is to blame.

In "Tobacco News" meanwhile I have found a splendid article about the arrogance of our rulers here concerning a State Secretary (= Junior Minister) one M. Christian Blanc, who was caught having spent €12,000 of public money on fine Cuban cigars. Generously the article adds, he sent a cheque for €3500 "for the two boxes of 25 he smokes each month" whilst being unable to account for the remaining €8500-worth.

Even more intriguing, is the reference to the practice which ended in 2001:

In Scandinavia, Germany, or even in Britain these days, Blanc would now be looking for a new job. The opposition is spluttering, but he will no doubt just be rapped on the knuckles by François Fillon, the Prime Minister, and left in peace. Until recently, no-one bothered much about the huge sums that are spent on the comfort of the state nobility. Only in 2001, did President Chirac end the practice under which all ministers were given a monthly suitcase of cash, known as ‘special funds’, to spend on whatever they liked.

This merits further investigation I think.

Until the next time.

Do it Yourself

2010-11-09T23:01:00.002+01:00

The title this time means literally that: I have added a couple of new links and suggest that you have a look, rather than me succumbing to the temptation to copy others' words and thoughts.

Just for once eh?

Until the next time.

What does it all cost?

2010-11-08T19:27:00.008+01:00

Inspired by a piece on Frogsmoke, I have collected a small selection of videos of "motorcades". The French, always lovers of uniforms and pomp appear to have broken all records in the case of the visit of the President of China. As I have commented on the YouTube site, I would have cheerfully picked him up myself in my 1989 Renault 5, which is totally reliable. I doubt anyone would have noticed - Paris is full of Chinese anyway! And who the hell wants to ride in a Vel Satis?? Ugh.

Chinese President

Here's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid of I understand, the UAE, making a noise in Berlin:

The poster says "amazing '46-vehicle convoy"; I think it's scandalous. Some of these big shots make me ill.

And again from Paris, here's President Medvedev of Russia; I cannot see if the cars have diamond-studded door-handles, but I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Finally a little touch of restraint and class with H.M. The Queen's visit to Williamsburg: dignified and probably very secure:

ça suffit!

Until the next time

A Tie-In?

2010-11-07T23:17:00.009+01:00

The likes of Frank Davis are apt to link the attitude of the hysterical anti-smoking lobby with the "global warming" fanatics; I am inclined to agree with them.

Just like Frank and others, there are sites which work hard to burst the bubble of the cod science used to justify the so-called climate change arguments.

One of these, quite wittily is called "Greenie Watch" well worth a look.

For those who find "democratically-elected governments" bad enough, these huge alarmist lobbies (anti-smoking and "warmists") must be terrifying.

In the words of the Duke of Wellington: "I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me."

Incidentally, talking of the Duke of Wellington, whilst checking the above quote, I came across this amusing tale:

The Duke once met a little boy, crying by the road. "Come now, that's no way for a young gentleman to behave. What's the matter?" he asked. "I have to go away to school tomorrow," sobbed the child, "and I'm worried about my pet toad. There's no-one else to care for it and I shan't know how it is." Keen to ease the little chap's discomfort, the Duke promised to attend to the matter personally. After the boy had been at school for just over a week, he received a note: "Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Master ---- and has the pleasure to inform him that his toad is well."

The first Duke of Wellington
Source

Until the next time

Smoking Encore

2010-11-07T22:01:00.006+01:00

Lots of smoking news recently; I hope that I haven't upset any virulent anti-smoking types amongst my readers!

Inspired by Frank Davis (link on right-hand side of this page) I have re-activated myself in regard to my inherent objection to "nanny-states" and "big government."

In today's post he pointed me toward an excellent blog called "Banned"

I have of course added this as a link here since once again, I fully approve of this individual's position, as my regular readers will probably appreciate.

With regard to SMOKING, "Banned" has reported an excellent item concerning an article in the "New Statesman" (a left-wing politically weekly) suggesting that government minister "Vince" Cable presses on with the Labour Party's anti-smoking policy. I have taken the liberty of copying and pasting the piece as I consider it to be essential reading:

Smoking Hot
23 October 2010 at 00:22
Read this Mr Cable. l had the honour of taking D-Day veterans back to Normandy this July courtesy of Heroes Return. What follows is a conversation that l was party too. lt is verbatim and the only alterations l shall make is censoring the swearing. Don't judge them by the swearing either, they were in each others company and no ladies or children were present. lf they had been present they would've behaved like the gentlemen they are.

"Later on when l'd taken them to bar and we were sat out in the sun having a beer ... and a smoke, one of the vets said " Y'know, l used to enjoy a pint and a smoke at the pub but it's not worth going anymore. Hardly anyone goes. When l have been and l want a smoke l've got to shuffle out on these f'ing sticks. Doesn't matter if it's pouring with rain, blowing a gale, f'ing snowing ... out l f'ing go"
He went on "What really pi**es me off is all them f'ing anti-smoking c**ts. They say it's better for me, it's healthier, it's for my own good ... l'm 85 for ffs!"

His mate replied " Makes you wonder why we bothered, f'ing fascists won in the end"

BANNED, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me included the following video in the post, which shows a very romantic view of England, sadly all of it concerned with the past:

I am happy to take the stand and swear that that England has it appears, gone forever; big government is to blame. The country in which I grew up no longer exists, which is partly why I no longer live there.

Until the next time.

Frank Davis

2010-11-03T20:36:00.006+01:00

If I have any smoking sympathisers visiting here, do let me recommend you once again to Frank Davis's blog.

If you think that I'm upset about the absurd, nannying anti-smoking regulations now to be found in so many places in the world, wait until you read Frank Davis; he isn't upset - he's furious!

And then there's Frogsmoke, which I mentioned the other day; well worth a look, and finally, for the addict, Smokers Info, which provided the splendid photo below (which has appeared here before by the way.)

Until the next time

A Little More on The Late Paul

2010-10-27T21:52:00.004+02:00

After an interval of 13 months, someone wrote a message in my "chat box"; his name, Mr Lonely.

Mr Lonely lives in Malaysia and posts in English; whilst some readers might find his blog "A Growing Teenager Diary," self-indulgent - doesn't this apply to all or at least, nearly all, blogs?

In one of his posts he covers the subject of Paul the Octopus and includes a splendid illustration of a suggested memorial. It is true of course that since Paul was resident in Germany, one would expect his stone to carry a German epitaph rather than an English one!

"Miss Cleo"? Shurely shome mistake?

Until the next time

Still More Smoke

2010-10-26T22:34:00.004+02:00

This time it's a short one to introduce you to a blog called Frogsmoke, subtitled "Behind the Gallic Fumes."

Some funny things to be found there, including (shock!) pictures of people actually SMOKING.

This piece on "Frapanese" (Japanese French) made me smile - it does help if you know one or two French words though.

Here's a picture from the piece:

"Zizi" is French for "Willy"...

Until the next time.

Paul is Dead

2010-10-26T22:09:00.005+02:00

It was with sadness that I read today of the death of Paul the Octopus (Paul le Poulpe in French) who became famous this summer with his amazing football forecasts during the World Cup.

The BBC article includes two videos, although one has to put up with an appallingly irritating advertisement for an insurance company.

Rather better - for my French friends and readers is Le Monde's contribution, which, certainly in the case of the statement from the aquarium where Paul died peacefully on Monday night, I found really rather moving:

"Son corps est à présent au congélateur en attendant que la direction décide de la façon de marquer son décès", poursuit le communiqué de l'aquarium. "Nous déciderons peut-être de lui accorder une petite tombe dans l'enceinte de nos jardins, et lui dédierons peut-être un modeste monument permanent", selon la direction. "Ceci peut sembler une curieuse façon de faire pour un animal marin, mais Paul était devenu tellement célèbre pendant sa courte vie qu'il semble que ce soit la bonne solution", a-t-elle ajouté.

("His body is at present in the freezer whilst the management decides how to mark his death" [...] "We will perhaps decide to give him a little tomb in our gardens." [sorry cannot translate "enceinte" in this connexion - it means 'pregnant!]* and perhaps erect a little permanent monument to him." [...] "This may seem a curious thing to do for a sea-creature but Paul became such a celebrity during his short life that it seems to be a good solution.")

I can't help it, but I have a lump in my throat reading the last sentence.

Requiescat in pace, Paul

Until the next time.

*Edit: A friend, fluent in French has kindly solved the mystery for me: "dans l'enceinte de nos jardins" = "within our gardens" - as simple as that!

More Smoking (Not actually)

2010-10-25T20:09:00.003+02:00

I have never visited Spain, as indeed I have not visited many countries in Europe - and none at all in the rest of the world, unfortunately.

Since 2007 when so many countries enacted absurd anti-smoking (and anti-smoker) legistlation, Spain had become attractive since its government decided that bars could declare themselves either "smoking" or "non-smoking" a fair solution I thought in the face of hysterical anti-smoking lobbies.

Now Spain has dropped well down the list since, as the Daily Telegraph reported last week, it has decided that smoking in public places is to be banned, bringing the country into line with other oppressive regimes like the United Kingdom and France. It was pleasant, now that the weather has turned very cold to visit my favourite frontier bar yesterday morning, to be greeted with a warm and welcoming fug as I walked in!

Those who are critical of, or resent my stance on this subject, or those who believe all the propaganda, would do well to visit Frank Davis's Live Journal. His articles are very readable and appeal very much to me as an opponent of "Big Government." Mr Davis has performed some exhaustive research which makes fascinating reading and clearly shows how data have been manipulated to provide the "correct" results - exactly as have data concerning so-called global warming. Here

Until the next time.

The "smoking/non-smoking" stamp...

2010-10-17T09:10:00.007+02:00

The ultra-rare withdrawn Hepburn stamps

Source

The news reported today by the BBC that a rare sheet of stamps is to be sold for charity attracted my attention since it concerned an image of the late Audrey Hepburn with a cigarette holder in her teeth. The article states that the the stamps, produced in 2001, were quickly withdrawn by the German Post Office (which had commissioned them). I imagined that they were withdrawn for "non-smoking" reasons but in fact this was not the case - and of course in 2001 the stupid political correctness about such images had not reached the fever pitch of 2007.

Anyway, the piece reminded me of an article from 2007 on CM's blog Jour Après Jour (French) concerning the stupid business of Stalinist-revisionist air-brushing of old images of famous people with cigarettes, cigars or pipes. CM was not the only one by the way: another blog called Frogsmoke carried pieces on the same subject and in particular the commemorative stamp showing an image of André Malraux:

And the stamp?

Source

Even Winston Churchill has been "sanitised" as reported on an amusing blog called "The Chap"

Source

The irony of all this of course is that in the case of the Hepburn stamps is that the cigarette holder was a replacement for a pair of innocent sunglasses!

How the world changed in six years!

Until the next time

A bit more on the "Lemmings"

2010-10-15T23:11:00.006+02:00

A scene from today's France
Source

From today's DailyTelegraph website:

"The barricades are up, acrid tear gas is filling the streets, angry hordes of striking workers and students are preparing to do battle against a common enemy. Eh oui, the French are at it again. In the past, I have found the Gallic shrug the best response to the country’s trigger-happy strike culture – it’s just something you have to learn to live with. This time, though, I’m finding it difficult to shrug off – and I am not alone. "

The article finishes with the following paragraph:

"But it will be like facing an incoming tide. As Le Monde pointed out yesterday, France is a very conservative country “hell-bent on keeping the status quo and acquired (social) rights, with history used as a windshield against reality”. Even the Iron Lady might have resorted to a Gallic shrug at the thought of trying to break the Frenchman’s bond with his placard. "

Since his election in 2007, President Sarkozy has attempted, at least from time to time, to introduce a few reforms. There was the idea for example, to allow minicabs to operate; this resulted in total chaos in Paris as the taxi drivers mounted a very large protest. And there ere the 2006 student protests referred to in the Telegraph article.

It is important to understand how different certain things are in France. You cannot buy cigarettes or aspirin in a supermarket, why? Because the Tabacs and the Pharmacies are cartels; the taxi-drivers are obviously another example, even if their cartel is an unofficial one. Such privileges are jealously guarded by the (very conservative) French.

(Those of us who are fortunate enough to live close to the Swiss border are able to circumlocute some of these inconveniences - and often save money too. Near where I live, there is a bar right on the border. There one can buy half a litre of beer for four Swiss francs - about €3.10 whilst less than 100 metres away in France one pays €2.50 for a quarter of a litre. The best thing is that when drinking my near-pint of Feldschlossen on the border, I can sit in the bar and SMOKE - hurrah!)

Any suggestion that M. Sarkozy can follow in the steps of Mrs Thatcher would seem to be doomed to failure: in 1984, Mrs Thatcher had to deal with a very determined National Union of Mineworkers; Sarkozy has to face, it seems millions of angry - and misguided - people ranging from schoolchildren to pensioners.

Perhaps France itself is doomed?

Until the next time.

Lemmings

2010-10-14T20:52:00.007+02:00

At present enormous protests are taking place in France, with no immediate end in sight. Students are marching and nearly all of France's oil refineries are blockaded causing panic-buying of petrol and diesel fuel.

There is an intriguing blog called Paris Parfait which has featured some photographs of the protests in Paris - here.

The French like the English 35 years ago, love to strike and wave banners etc. For an expatriate like me it brings back memories of the death-throes of the British motor industry, with luminaries such as "Red Robbo" at British Leyland sleeping away the night-shift, and the morons at the Triumph works at Speke. (Mind you the latter might have had a case since they were as I recall, producing the disgusting Triumph TR7!)

The protesters/strikers are "en colère" (angry) because the government has had the effrontery to propose the raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62, and the age at which a full state pension may be claimed, from 65 to 67.

I have been told that in 1946 in france, there were eight people working for every retired person; in the 1970s the ratio was four to one. Now it is 1.8 to one.

France like the rest of Europe has an enormous public debt, partly due to the disastrous presidency of the late François Mitterand who must be held responsible for France's irresponsible "social model" and also for the staggering number of fonctionnaires (public sector employees - civil servants etc.) and thus the DEBT or at least a substantial part of it.

So how do the lemmings on their protest rallies and strikes imagine that these pensions are to be paid? They seem to imagine that by taxing the rich the gap may be closed and of course by increasing employment by massive government subsidy. All utter nonsense of course: they just cannot understand that governments do not have money!

There is a another side to the protests however, reported today in Le Nouvel Observateur showing how the deeply sinister CRS (Compagnie républicaine de sécurité) - the French riot police - have attacked legitimate journalists - of course the article is in French, but the videos included make very shocking viewing.

Un journaliste de Canal+ matraqué par les CRS à Paris
envoyé par TELEOBS. - L'actualité du moment en vidéo.

I think that the strikers are very stupid, but the CRS (and indeed many police forces) give me the creeps.

Like my late father, I often feel that I should have been born sooner - quite a lot sooner in fact.

Until the next time

A Favourite Film

2010-10-13T23:19:00.006+02:00

I see that since I started this blog that there have been just 197 visits to view my profile. I agree that my profile is perhaps not riveting stuff, but those 197 of you that have visited this dank corner might have noticed that one of my favourite films is the late Michelangelo Antonioni's BLOWUP.

As I am not a film buff of any sort (see my post here concerning film directors) it is perhaps surprising that I love this movie as it is considered to be "arty" which I suppose it is.

Set in "Swinging London" in 1966 it is wonderfully atmospheric - hardly any music apart from some Herbie Hancock jazz and the famous cameo of the Yardbirds with Jimmie Page and Jeff Beck performing "Train Kept a-rolling" - and I think that the film can be enjoyed as much for the clever use of incidental sounds as for its excellent photography and fine acting from David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave.

Here's the trailer:

I suppose I have watched this film at least thirty times and yes, like other members of the "cult" have been to Maryon Park (a central part of the film) and made a few photographs there too. Whilst at the park I spoke to one of the park-keepers - and of course he was full of fascinating information, since he has to deal with enquiries from the many eccentrics (like this writer) who just have to visit the scene.

The Internet Movie Data Base has plenty of information and many fine critiques submitted by members and of course lots of fascinating trivia plus a list of MISTAKES.

While researchinng for this piece I found that another fanatic has cleverly put together a short video illustrating the errors; shame about the soundtrack, but quite amusing nonetheless:

Finally enjoy this clip featuring Hemmings and the amazing super-model, Verushka. Listen to the sounds at the beginning of the scene - atmospheric!

Until the next time

"Snugfit" Seems to be the Word

2010-10-06T22:20:00.007+02:00

As a person who should perhaps "get out more" I had never heard of pervy spray-on latex (ugh).

Now though, as reported in Wired, some genius at London's Imperial College has come up with a genuine spray-on fabric product which apparently rejoices in the name "Fabrican":

Free safety goggles with every can?
Picture Source: Wired.com

As the article states, there should be a number of applications for this interesting development quite apart from making pretty T-shirts for gentlemen who take care of their hands and are good to their mothers! Medicine is one area mentioned and the idea occurs to me that the product could be sprayed onto the mouths of politicians, EU officials, football commentators and Z-list celebrities, thereby improving quality of life for the rest of us.

There is a video showing the process "as it happens:

No more "Fruit of the Loom" - "Fruit of the Spraycan"!

Until the next time