Another New Craze For Me

No, I am not planning any drastic terminal action - in this regard it is worth recalling Dorothy Parker's poem:

Razors pain you,

Rivers are damp.

Acids stain you,

Drugs give you cramp.

Guns are unlawful

Nooses give,

Gas smells awful,

You might as well live!

 

 

For the past eight weeks or so I have been shaving with what is popularly known as a "cut-throat" razor, more correctly called a straight razor.  When all goes well, there is nothing quite like a straight-razor shave.

 

Typically as a hopeless collector, I have accumulated quite a few already; they are lovely things - I love the look of polished steel and have enormous respect for the craftsmanship that went into making them.

 

It started when, following the death of my mother in February this year, I found in her effects my paternal grandfather's straight razor. I had this professionally honed and thus the rot set in!

 

I am now trying to learn how to hone the razors myself and I can assure you that it is no picnic. The cost of suitable stones is very high and there is an enormous amount of debate about the merits of various types.

 

There are of course forums for enthusiasts, for example Badger & Blade to which I am subscribed.

 

Straight razors are quite a big thing in the USA and once upon a time, when things were actually manufactured in England, many razors made in Sheffield were exported to the US.  Almost unbelievably (to me at least) at one time many of the razors manufactured in Germany's famous cutlery town, Solignen would carry the proud slogan "Finest Sheffield Steel" so steel was exported to Germany to make razors.  Hard to believe today isn't it?  Sheffield-made razors enjoy a very good reputation in the States. Makes me sad, frankly.

 

Today I doubt that there is a single firm in England making razors, yet they are made still in Solignen and in Japan.  The Chinese also make razors, but you wouldn't want to shave with one - that is not until a great deal of work has been done to it!

 

To close here's a snap of a couple of vintage German razors:

 

 

With so many (I have about thirty already) it is always a struggle to choose one - or two - with which to shave.  (Un)happily most of them are not yet properly honed or "shave ready" as they say so the choice is relatively limited!

 

Until the next time.

633: Unbuttered Parsnips - Ukraine V

Source

Well there have been plenty of fine words expressed on the subject of Putin's blatant aggressive stance and actions in a country other than his own: Ukraine.

I am ashamed of the behaviour of the United Kingdom government; yes there have been a few stern words, but the breathtaking incompetence - the carrying of a document in public view, showing apparently this country's lily-livered position, is profoundly embarrassing and indeed, pathetic.

So far - as is always the case - only the US has actually done anything and as usual, Europe sleepwalks, wringing its powerless hands.  Pathetic.  And I doubt if NATO would ever actually do anything; I wonder how much NATO costs us? What's the point of it? And the UN is a talking-shop every bit as impotent as was the League of Nations in the 1930s.

The Tsar declares that the Ukrainian government is one of "fascists and anti-semites (rubbish);" he describes the Ukrainians as having carried out an "armed coup."  He is a liar, a bully and a fascist/NKVD/Chekist thug.  It was his puppet then in Kiev who ordered snipers to shoot down unarmed protestors.  Now he is metaphorically goose-stepping around, allowing his invading soldiers, and more sinisterly, some half-uniformed thugs, to attempt to provoke the Ukrainian soldiers WHO ARE ON THEIR OWN TERRITORY, into defending that territory.

Last night, I saw on the television, an interview with American senator Mr John McCain; I was pleased to hear him refer to the events of the 1930s in  Central Europe just as I did on this blog a few days ago; perhaps he is one of my readers?  And US Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry was fairly robust today. 

I should add that I groaned in despair at the sight of Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens, gathered around a statue of that murdering tyrant Lenin, carrying Soviet flags; how stupid are these proles?  Have they never read a book? Have they never heard of the starving to death (by Stalin) of millions - yes millions - of their countrymen in the 1930s, all in the name of "progress" under that self-same flag?

Amongst the books I am currently reading is Sir Winston Churchill's first volume of his history of the Second World War, The Gathering Storm.  I now appreciate to the fullest extent that no-one ever seems to learn  the so-called "lessons of history." The book (written in 1947) is full of nicely-expressed (and apposite) sentiments, and I shall end this post with the following quote:

"Virtuous motives, trammelled by inertia and timidity, are no match for armed and resolute wickedness."*

Amen to that.

Until the next time.

*Sir Winston Churchill The Gathering Storm, Cassell 1949 p.171

629: SIGINT & COMINT

The terms in the title refer of course to the raison d'être of such allegedly sinister organisations as the NSA in the US and GCHQ here in the UK.

I imagine that with the crisis in Ukraine caused by the corruption and incompetence of Yanukovich, the enthusiasm of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians, and finally the absurd and megalomaniac empire-building efforts of Tsar Valdimir, the SIGINT and COMINT merchants must be very busy indeed - and actually I think that that is a very good and necessary thing.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it Mr Clever-Dick Snowdon and your sandal-wearing pals at the Guardian, after all every dog has his day doesn't he?

Until the next time

A Grim Prognosis

Regulars will have noticed my references to the excellent site Zerohedge.com.

Today there is an excellent article with rather a grim prognosis for the economy of the USA.  Here's an extract:

The following issues prevent a recovery:

• No economy can prosper without a strong middle class. They are the productive class in society. They are the small businesses and job creators. Without them, society does not produce. Without production, there is only poverty.
• Inflation, the cruellest tax of all, is driving up prices while wages and salaries do not keep pace. For those without wealth, there is no way to protect against this theft. For those with wealth, they can rearrange investments to take advantage of inflation, particularly if they are privy to what is coming next.
• The economy is dysfunctional. It no longer functions efficiently as a result of the burdens it is forced to labour under. The price system has been made less efficient as a result of inflation, manipulated interest rates, subsidies, penalties and other impediments. It no longer provides the information needed by economic actors to make proper decisions.
• Regime uncertainty discourages action. When economic actors are unable to judge the future, they pull back. Money goes to the sidelines or out of the country.
• US economic policy and the uncertainty of what comes next has been a great job creator for other countries.
• Economic growth cannot be forced by central diktats. It occurs only in a climate that is receptive and friendly to risk-taking. It is hard to imagine a worse environment than the current one. That is why there is no investment and no hiring.

Zerohedge's articles tend - arguably reasonably - to be very critical of the present policy of money-printing, which is seen to be the route to financial or fiscal damnation.  Perhaps they are correct?

Until the next time 

Could Do With A Good Belly-Laugh

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with my views on the last Stalinist state in the world: North Korea.  Mind you, North Korea is Stalinist only up to a point; they would have to work very hard to achieve Uncle Joe's levels of mass-murder, torture and cynicism.  They are however doing rather well in terms of paranoia and famine.

For the "laugh" referred to in the title of this piece, do visit this site.  The site, with a Japanese domain suffix, is the KCNA - the Korean Central News Agency of the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea."  Reading the drivel there, one is apt to miss the terms "fascist lackeys" and "imperialist running dogs" that we used to hear from the crackpots that once upon a time dominated China and Vietnam; we do however get "imperialists," "warmongers," and "traitors," so it's not all bad.

Here's an extract giving a fair example of the dramatic, powerful and convincing prose which may be found on the site.

"The Young Red Guards will turn out in the just struggle to annihilate the U.S. imperialists and south Korean puppet traitors with high spirit to defend the country and hostility as the youngsters in the 1950s who defended the country and villages devoting themselves did.

Discharged soldiers will rejoin the KPA as those during the last Fatherland Liberation War did and turn out in the war for national reunification to destroy the hotbeds of evils as they can never revive again.

The speakers stressed that if the U.S. imperialists and south Korean warmongers ignite a nuclear war, all the people of the DPRK would never miss the golden chance and annihilate all the enemies so that even an enemy might not survive to sign the surrender document.

The meeting was followed by a mass demonstration to achieve a victory in the all-people final decisive battle against the aggressors including the U.S. imperialists and the south Korean group of traitors."

And:

"Anyone who goes reckless, hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership and the social system of the DPRK, will never be pardoned but they will be destroyed as the first target as had already been declared.

The DPRK's army and people are compelled to take notice of the ever stepped-up anti-DPRK invectives by the puppet group instigated by the venomous swish of skirt of the owner of the inner room of Chongwadae.

The group of traitors pointing their fingers at the sky will never be able to evade punishment."

And finally:

Meanwhile, the U.S. deputy secretary of Defense flew to south Korea to finally examine the preparations for a nuclear war against the DPRK and openly said that the U.S. military attaches top priority to the second Korean war, giving green light to a nuclear war.
Accordingly, the commander of the U.S. forces in south Korea and the south Korean military chief drafted a "plan to jointly cope with local provocation". The main point of it is to start a total nuclear war involving the U.S. forces in the U.S. mainland and the Pacific region after the south Korean forces touch off a conflict.
The south Korean warmongers, elated with the backing of the U.S. master, are threatening punishment to "provocation" of the DPRK and even seeking to mount precision missile strikes on the statues of the great Generalissimos Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, symbol of the DPRK's dignity.

I love the bit about the precision missile strikes on the statues; I am certain that this mission has been on top of South Korea's list of strategic priorities for some time.

I should add that elsewhere, we are told that the DPRK's forces will wipe out all the US bases in the Pacific...  Very probable I must say!

One does wonder what these people have been smoking...

Until the next time.

The USA Responds

The New York Times today reported that substantially increased anti-missile defences are to be deployed on the Pacific Coast of the USA.

The deployments are in response to the rattling of what are arguably slightly rusty sabres in Pyonyang, by that unappealing and rather bulky young berk who is the current "Dear Leader" - the third in the dynasty.

I have read somewhere that the US has "stealthy" drone aircraft. Would it not be possible to arrange for one of these near undetectable aircraft to drop a large cow-pat on the fat head of that deranged idiot?

Hardly a war-crime I should say, but a salutary lesson with the possible benefit of adding to the Dear Leader's limited brains.

Should this idea present practical difficulties, I suppose that the US could send another dim basketball player over - to confuse the fellow.

Until the next time

Mali

As has been widely reported, the French have responded to the request for help from the Malian government in regard to the insurgency of Al Quaeda terrorists in Mali.

The situation is the subject of a United Nations resolution, and in consequence of this, the French are receiving assistance with logistics from the UK, the USA, Canada, Belgium, Denmark and Italy.  Additionally, troops from a number of Mali's neighbours, numbering in the region of 5000 are to help in repelling the terrorist insurgents.

I note that as usual, no help is apparently coming from those other permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russia and China.  I wonder why?  Surely they do not support these incursions?  Certainly the Russians and Chinese are fairly robust when Islamic extremism appears in their bailiwicks... Are they afraid of upsetting some of their African client states I wonder.

Until the next time.

Bullshit

She's at it again: Senora Kirchner, the increasingly desperate president of a near bankrupt Argentina, is following in the footsteps of her predecessor, General Galtieri in hoping to distract the Argentinian populace from domestic woes by making noises about the Falkland Islands, which she claims "belong to Argentina."

No they don't - in fact the islands were claimed by British Navy Captain Byron in 1765, though at the time they were a French possession, subsequently ceded to Spain but reclaimed by the British in 1833 since when the islands have been continually under British sovereign rule.

President Kirchner likes to refer to Argentinian territorial integrity, but for those who imagine that the islands are a short hop from Argentina (perhaps like the Isle of Wight apropos Britain) it's worth remembering that they are 310 miles from the Patagonian coast.  On that basis perhaps the USA will claim Cuba, which is 16 miles from Florida!

The 3000 inhabitants are resolute in their desire to remain under British protection; in fact the Argentinians rather blew it when they invaded in 1982, forcing the inhabitants to drive on the right and declaring Spanish to be the official language.  There were other heavy-handed diplomatic balls-ups at the time which served severely to piss-off the islanders.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that there is to be a referendum amongst the islanders concerning sovereignty, adding that Britain will "respect and defend the results of the plebiscite."  Also the islanders' leaders cite the UN charter regarding self-determination of peoples whilst President Kirchner bangs on about "colonial rule."

The Argentinian president would be better advised to focus her energies on the looming financial crisis in her country, and also bear in mind that apparently a substantial part of the Argentinian population actually don't give a damn!

Until the next time

Barbarians

By the title above I am referring (again) to the Taliban those oh-so-moral-and-holy campaigning BASTARDS (praise be the holy name).

It is announced today that these brave men have shot and wounded a 14-year-old girl, Malala Yousafzai for the grievous "offence" of campaigning for education for females - and of being "anti-Taliban"; how curious.  Courageous Malala has said that she "dreamed of a country where education would prevail."  Fat chance with those vermin around.

No doubt they can produce a page in their so-called holy book to justify their appalling action. 

If that's their god, I'll choose Hell.

No on second thoughts, please nice USA, send the barbarians a present - a Hellfire missile.

Yes I know this took place in Pakistan, supposedly an ally of the U.S., but it seems that parts of the country are outside government control.

Until the next time

Egypt (Call me a cynic)

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.

Global Warming, Passive Smoking - or perhaps both?

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.

Sarah Strikes Again

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

Bent as a nine-bob note?

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.

A "Brain" in charge in Cuba

President Raul Castro of Cuba

Image source: here

The indispensible International Herald Tribune has an interesting story today concerning Cuba.

Cuba has experienced great difficulties, right back to the disintegration of the USSR in 1991. Recently, three hurricanes which caused damage totalling $10 billion, together with the world economic crisis have hit the country very hard indeed.

In my view, the current President Castro appears to be a sensible man - far more so than the former "Lider Maximo."  He has told the people of Cuba that there must be economies, belt-tightening and austerity, grim, but it seems necessary, news.

Instead of continually spouting revolutionary slogans, President Castro talks sense.  For example consider the following quotes:

"The accounts don't square up.  You have to act with realism and adjust the dreams to the true possibilities."

"Two plus two always equals four, never five."

I think that the President's statements should be read by all the left-wing optimists and dreamers in the French trades unions, the CGT in particular - after all, President Castro could almost be quoting from Mrs Thatcher!

I hope that the incoming president of the USA will reach an accomodation with President Castro; the world is always better for sensible leaders.

And an article from the Daily Telegraph today suggests that things could soon improve, with President-elect Obama stating that he will lift travel restrictions and permit money transfers.  I think that this is a good thing, and hopeful for the future.

Until the next time

Now He's Really Lost It

Whilst it has been obvious for a long time - to me at least - that "Doctor" Mugabe is more than a sandwich short of a picnic, now he's really out of control.

His latest wheeze is that the cholera that he said yesterday has been " arrested" was introduced, together with anthrax by the naughty British colonialists, helped by the USA.  The link includes a video which is informative.

The end of this tragicomical farce is long overdue.

Until the next time

In the Shit? Another one from the USA

Image Source: ABC

Just found a nice little story in one of my favourite publications: The International Herald Tribune.

This time the location is Scranton, Pennsylvania. The city of Scranton has paid a Dawn Herb (and I was still recovering from Ron Dicus!) $19,000 plus costs, following her acquittal of a charge of disorderly conduct.

The "disorderly conduct" charge arose because whilst Miss Herb was - quite reasonably in my view - swearing at her overflowing toilet, she was overheard by her neighbour, unfortunately or perhaps fortunately for Miss Herb, an off-duty police officer (obviously not Officer Dicus - he is in Ohio). An arrest followed; very neighbourly I must say.

The judge in the case found Miss Herb not guilty on the grounds that her swearing was constitutionally protected free speech. Miss Herb was fortunate that the American Civil Liberties Union took up her case as she could have been liable to a substantial fine or even jail!

Funny thing, the idea of "free speech." In a BBC radio programme the other day about political correctness, someone pointed out that in England, one can say "Brit" for "Briton", "Aussie" for "Australian", but say "Paki" for "Pakistani" and the Race Relations Industry will have your guts for garters.


Until the next time.

The Great Satan

Is how the USA is viewed in many parts of the world.  Now that the USA has decided to take direct action to control the terrorists that are operating from Pakistan with impunity and, it is alleged, the covert co-operation of the Pakistani intelligence services, Pakistanis are now describing the USA as "Terrorists."

Well here's my view: no, I do not believe that the USA has "clean hands" - there is plenty of dirt to dig - with recent revelations about secret CIA jails in Poland for example.  But I think that the US, which cannot have taken this decision lightly is, I believe entitled to do all it can to defend its soldiers who are fighting a nasty UN-sanctioned war in Afganistan.

Nevertheless I also see that US helicopters are landing aid in Haiti, following the damage caused by hurricane Ike.  Haiti is a country ruined by the rule of utter bastards (like that disgusting piece of shit "Papa Doc Duvalier" - makes me hope that there is  a hell and that he is keeping Pol Pot, Joe Stalin, Odilo Globocnik et al, company in the very hottest part). And I see that US ships are landing aid in Georgia, perhaps for political reasons, but nevertheless, aid is aid.

I do not see Russian, Chinese, Arab or Pakistani ships unloading aid, so my message to the complainers is:

SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Until the next time