Saturday, November 18, 2006

[casino royale] reviewed by praguetory

Nice review of the James Bond film from a 'locations' point of view: Firstly, I found myself glancing at my watch for the last third of the film. I think I could have left after 90 minutes quite happily. Secondly, I'd like to say that the world's newest state of Montenegro came out of the film smelling of roses. Read the rest here.

[mind games] the psychology community and the old boy net

The purpose of publishing this is not just to get this one issue into the open by posting it in blog form. It's also to open up the whole field of nastiness in many areas e.g. HAARP and countless other topics. Much of this material was freely available before being closed down but this is a chance to now see it in the blogosphere, which is much harder to control - there are just too many blogs around. What appears below is related to the 'root of the trouble series' posted earlier.

This lecture, by Dr. Colin Ross, psychologist, given at 9th Annual Western Clinical Conference on Trauma and Dissociation, April 18, 1996, Orange County, California, has been abbreviated, including leaving out the entire section on Jonestown. [Broadcast on CKLN-FM 88.1 Toronto - International Connection Mar 16, 23, 30, 1997]

Somewhere in the course of my residency … I went to the Eastern Regional Conference, to Chicago, found out a little bit [about DID and] my personal reaction was - this sure sounds real, could be real, it's pretty scary [but] it is clear that we’ve got into some sort of hysteria wave … and a lot of people went a bridge or two too far on their journey and we have to reign ourselves back in.

Except [that] didn't work because when I systematically started looking into CIA military mind control, the more I looked, the more solid reality there was. As you will see, it's a completely different deal to SRA. If there is SRA, that information is not generally publicly available to us. It is a fact that we have not nailed down - human ritual sacrifice cults in North America if they exist. So it's all conjecture.

[However], intelligence agencies have been creating Manchurian candidates and MPD for operational use since the Second World War. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is documented. I am going to talk about not just creating Manchurian candidates, but the whole network of mind control doctors that is involved in this and supports this - this kind of old boys' network that maintains all of this.

So there is something real peculiar about the whole story. It's a very strange story. It tells us that there is something going on in our culture and in the mental health field that is hidden and secret. This is another kind of incest secret in the field of psychiatry that all of these people who have been running psychiatry in the latter half of the 20th century are either directly or loosely connected to.

Continued here

[root of the trouble] part 3 – drawing the threads together

This passage touches on the essence of what is behind the troubles which are currently afflicting the globe and which are about to envelop it.

Glasgow and Oxford educated first Baron Tweedsmuir, Governor-General of Canada, otherwise known as John Buchan MP wrote a novel in 1915, specifically about Germany and Russia but the contention that it is equally applicable to the modern day is one supported by the chronology of part 2 and he was a man who was in a position to know. Here is an excerpt in which a little man accosts our hero in the apartments at Portland Place, seeking sanctuary from a perceived enemy:

"Is the door locked?" he asked feverishly, and he fastened the chain with his own hand. "I'm very sorry," he said humbly. "It's a mighty liberty, but you looked the kind of man who would understand. I've had you in my mind all this week when things got troublesome. Say, will you do me a good turn?"

"I'll listen to you," I said. "That's all I'll promise." I was getting worried by the antics of this nervous little chap.

There was a tray of drinks on a table beside him, from which he filled himself a stiff whisky-and-soda. He drank it off in three gulps, and cracked the glass as he set it down.

"Pardon," he said, "I'm a bit rattled to-night. You see, I happen at this moment to be dead."

I sat down in an arm-chair and lit my pipe. "What does it feel like?" I asked. I was pretty certain that I had to deal with a madman.

Buchan concludes here

[root of the trouble] part 2 – timetable for change

Much of what was spoken of in part 1 is traceable to a chronology of researchable data, [except for Nov 13, 1963, which is an allegation of substance.] This chronology suggests that many of the social ills now besetting us are no accident.

May 1, 1776 - Adam Weishaupt, Professor of Canon Law at the University of Ingolstadt in Bavaria wrote these as the objectives of a new organization he nominally headed:

1) Abolition of all ordered governments
2) Abolition of private property
3) Abolition of inheritance
4) Abolition of patriotism
5) Abolition of the family
6) Abolition of religion
7) Creation of a world government

July 1782 - The Order of the Illuminati joins forces with Freemasonry at the Congress of Wilhelmsbad. The Comte de Virieu, an attendee at the conference, when questioned about the "tragic secrets" he brought back with him, replies: "I will not confide them to you. I can only tell you that all this is very much more serious than you think."

1785 - An Illuminati courier named Lanze is struck by lightning and killed while traveling by horseback through the town of Ratisbon. When Bavarian officials examine the contents of his saddle bags, they discover the existence of the Order of the Illuminati and find plans detailing the coming French Revolution. The Bavarian government attempts to alert the government of France of impending disaster, but the French government fails to heed this warning.

1789 - Violence erupts in France. The French Revolution not only overthrows the existing government but also attempts to eliminate Christianity from the nation. A half-naked prostitute is placed on the altar of the Cathedral of Notre Dame and extolled as the "Goddess of Reason."

1796 - Freemasonry becomes a major issue in the Presidential election in the United States. John Adams wins the election by opposing Masonry, and his son John Quincy Adams warns of the dire threat to the nation posed by the Masonic Lodges: "I do conscientiously and sincerely believe that the Order of Freemasonry is, if not the greatest, then one of the greatest moral and political evils."

Chronology continues here

[root of the trouble] part 1 – changes since the 60s

On 31 July, 2006 13:30, ScotsToryB said… Well, I found you via Tim. So far so good! Reading this between the lines stuff has never been my forte. So, a request: I do see where you are going but have only looked at one other site dealing with the proposition, will you please write a fuller article explaining the reasoning?

So this is dedicated to both ScotsToryB and to Tom Paine who finally provoked me into it.

The jazz age perfectly reflected the moneyed 20s and the Drifters and Temptations reflected the late 50s. But so did Bill Haley and Elvis. The naivety of those days has long gone and since the 60s, there has been:

# The progressive demise of church going and the whole ecumenical language we once employed, talk of parishes and the local vicar and so on. The replacement of traditional ideas in education and the replacement of old textbooks with the new, the promotion of humanistic, man-centred values and deification of the scientific method is almost complete.

# The rise of feminism, somehow at the same time as homosexuality going public. “On the other hand, the rise of feminism and gay rights began in the 1960s and continued into the next few decades.” These were daggers in the heart of the traditional family and have played their part in the explosion in the divorce rate and reduction in the marriage rate.

# The latchkey children, as mothers worked, at first by choice and then by necessity, as the rise of credit turned the parents of partial leisure into two working machines, as aspirations increased, the glittering array of goods and services expanding, the increase in global travel, the increasing sophistication of cars and sound systems, all increasingly paid for by credit.

More here ...

[burqas] the dutch revive the issue

Five days before a national election here, the center-right government announced Friday that it planned to introduce legislation to ban burqas and similar garments in public places, saying the full-body garb worn by a small number of Muslim women in the Netherlands posed a grave security threat.

I’m in two minds about it. It is a security risk, no doubt, in terms of terrorists on a mission but I hardly see how it is in daily life. It is unpleasant to deal with someone with two beady eyes watching you behind a black barrier but equally, the move to ‘ban’ gets into the whole issue of first banning this and then that. What do you think?

Friday, November 17, 2006

[mike tyson] on religion and rape

Just been reading about Iron Mike

1 May 2002: "Everybody says they believe in God but they don't do God's work. Everybody counteracts what God is really about. If Jesus was here, do you think Jesus would show me any love? Do you think Jesus would love me? I'm a Muslim, but do you think Jesus would love me ... I think Jesus would have a drink with me and discuss ... why you acting like that? Now, he would be cool. He would talk to me. No Christian ever did that and said in the name of Jesus even ... They'd throw me in jail and write bad articles about me and then go to church on Sunday and say Jesus is a wonderful man and he's coming back to save us. But they don't understand that when he comes back, that these crazy greedy capitalistic men are gonna kill him again."

18 Jul 1991: Mike Tyson had relations with an 18 year old beauty pageant contestant who came to his room. He was later accused of rape and sent to prison for three years. Here are the opposing arguments.

[russia] more and more live alone

Oksana Okinshina

The 2002 census final results are out. 50% of Moscow residents are living their lives in solitude; many still dream of finding a significant other; Russia has 1,147 women for every 1,000 men. While in the early 1990s people married at 21 or 22, these days it’s 23 for her and 25 for him.

Natalia Markova of the Institute for Socio-Economic Problems of Population said today 78% of Moscow residents back the idea of living in an unmarried partnership, 10% shun any commitments and favour free love and only 12% are for building a traditional family.

Men are fewer and fear they will not be able to support their families. Emancipation is flourishing and the woman thinks first and foremost of her career — again out of fear of being left penniless. The higher is her income the tougher are her requirements.

Many people have affairs at work and psychologist Yelena Golunova says that some 70% of Muscovites do not object to getting acquainted on the street or in public transport. Finding a wife or a husband through a marriage agency in Moscow costs $500 to $1,500.

An informal poll of about 50 girls aged 19 and 20 by yours truly reveals the story to be a little different. Most would marry tomorrow if the circumstances were right but it’s the main chance that the eyes are on and if that means waiting, then so be it. Most find the Russian boys the most attractive but that they don’t offer much else and don’t treat the girls with respect.

It would be interesting to compare that with the west.

[new book] how o.j. might have bumped off the lovers

O.J. Simpson's upcoming book amounts to a confession to the 1994 killing of his ex-wife and her friend, his publisher says. The book, "If I Did It," scheduled for release Nov. 30, is a hypothetical account of how the former football star could have killed Nichole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman. Juice admits nothing.

But publisher Judith Regan told The New York Times that, in her opinion, the book is an admission of guilt and she would have had little interest in it otherwise. She said further that a lengthy interview on the Fox Television
Network slated for Nov. 27 and 29, convinced her of his guilt, the Times reported.

I find many things strange here. 1] Why write the book in the first place? 2] Why did the publisher say it was tantamount to a confession? Because she’s white? Because she’s a woman? She’s supposed to be for him. 3] What is he trying to prove? That he’d do it another way, so it wasn’t him? 4] How can he be so calm, cool and collected? Seems a bit strange, the whole biz.

[advertising] what is junk food anyway

Not sure about the British government’s move to ban ads for junk food during children's television programming. Ofcom put forward rules today that would ban the airing of adverts for food and drinks high in salt, sugar or fat in connection with programmes that appeal to children under 16 at any time of day or night on any channel. Advertising around children's TV programmes is completely banned in Sweden, and there are a range of restrictions within other European countries, but Britain's new proposals are among the toughest.

We’re agreed, aren’t we, that junk food is bad – obesity and so on, yes? We’re also agreed that once kids are allowed it, it takes over and it’s impossible to get them onto good food, even should we want to, yes? So what about banning the advertising of junk food and what about the grey areas? What about pizzas, for example? Hamburgers with salad? Dark chocolate? Peanuts? should the state compensate for parents' deficiencies?

[nuclear deal] worrying implications for china

The Indo-US nuclear deal cleared a major hurdle when the US Senate approved the pact, with no crippling amendments, with an overwhelming 85-12 vote. It had already passed the House of Representatives. Assuming any differences are reconciled in a House-Senate conference, the deal will be much closer to fruition. In such a situation, New Delhi is keen to seal the deal as one of its significant achievements without standing out as the signature feature of its tenure. It would thus ideally want the pact to be out of the limelight as soon as possible, so as to highlight other policy initiatives, including steps toward social equity. Competitive and populist electoral politics will begin to hold sway perhaps less than a year from now.

This deal is vital as India, which had been a little left behind or at least unevenly progressing in the shadow of a ‘full steam ahead’ China, now has a power alliance with Washington and this can only put a major dent in China’s own plans for their strategic alliance with India and their plans for the world. Little wonder New Delhi does not want to trumpet the deal too loudly and why it was so keen to get it cut and out of the way before next year’s elections. For the US, this is why the 85-12 vote. There are no illusions in Washington as to what it means. Text here.

[baron bodissey] putting Christ in the closet

Baron Bodissey has raised a key issue: When I was at William and Mary in the early 1970s rumor had it that certain fraternities required aspiring members, as part of the initiation process, to negotiate the steam tunnels all the way to the crypt under the chapel in the Wren Building and prove that they had been there by bringing back a bone from one of the tombs. Up the stairs and through a locked door from the crypt lies the Wren Chapel, a venerable institution of the Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. The chapel was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, completed in 1699, and has burned three times — at least once to a shell — and been reconstructed.

Now the Wren Chapel has become an opportunity for the College to abase itself … before the altar of political correctness. It seems that the gold cross on the altar is not inclusive enough to please the gods of Diversity, so it has to go. It’s not as if any Wiccans or Buddhists complained about the offensive symbol — the College just wants to demonstrate its multicultural sensitivity by pre-emptively removing the cross. Gene R. Nichol, Felowship President gave this explanation: The Chapel, as you know, is used for religious ceremonies by members of all faiths. I believe a recognition of the full dignity of each member of our diverse community is vital.

Note the PC keywords: “welcoming”, “dignity” and “diverse”. Those little markers trump other words like “tradition”, “history”, and “public opinion”, and lead you into the mind of a full-fledged multicultural college administrator. Will Coggin [is] the young man who tipped us to a
website that he and his associates have set up to protest this outrage. There is also a video of the Wren Cross being removed from the altar and locked away in a closet. In a closet!

Ultimately, for the members of the Anointed who run the academy, the important thing is to install Orthodox Atheism as the institutional religion. Give me a break. This PC-multicultural nonsense which aims to eliminate all references to Judaism and Christianity — has passed the point of ludicrousness and reached the realm of demonic insanity. It’s time to put a stop to it.

The Baron is correct but let me go further – the unconscious demonic insanity of the humanistic left is certainly what’s at issue here – essentially nice men and women, swept up by insanityand the humanistic trap. And the amusing irony is that JC Himself was inclusive and tolerant in his dealings with all walks of life - and this is what the PC apostles are trying to stamp out.

But there’s also a demonstrable, documented attack, from the Temple Dome through this chapel to Christmas itself, to wipe any reference to Jesus Christ from the face of the earth. Why? And it’s a virulent, petulant and petty crusade as well. Mean-spirited. Now why go out of your way to stamp something out that you claim is dying anyway? I mean – what is it exactly that bothers you so much about Jesus? There – I’ve uttered the word now. Oh dear. And do please read the Baron’s piece if you haven’t already done so.

[norm’s razor] the lack of logic in high street retailing

One of the many culprits

From Norman Geras: [This is] the story of my Gillette GII razor and me. I've had it for so long that I don't know how long I've had it. And it works - as well as anything can work for the purpose for which it's designed. But suddenly you can't get the replacement blade for it, and so I had to buy a newfangled thing, supposedly more efficient and groovy. But you just know at once that it's inferior. It's like the difference between … wearing shoes that really fit and wearing shoes that nearly fit but don't. The thing is, the head of my Gillette GII is fixed and easy to manoeuvre; the head of the new razor I had to buy instead isn't and isn't.

This raises the whole question of service and replacement parts, which is a major issue in the former USSR. They have a new product in promotional form, they sell it and that’s that. Need refills, some months later? You’re met with a polite shrug. Another problem, more so in Britain and the US, is that big clothing stores buy one bulk set of, shirts say; the usable sizes of the nice shirts disappear off the shelves quickly and if you try to buy a fortnight later, there are only sizes for either midgets or sumo wrestlers or else the right size in some hideous design. Why don’t major chains realize this? Or do they realize it and not care? Or is it all part of their Chinese job lots?

Thursday, November 16, 2006

[influenza] transcontinental delight

Prodicus writes: I've got flu... so no blogging pro tem. [There's a lot of it about, I'm told.] Back to bed with Dame Celia Molestrangler and Dr Chu En Ginsberg. [Fever does strange things to one.]

Now isn’t that interesting? I went out a happy chappy today but three hours in the house of girls and I was a mess – throat, nose, head, ears, the lot. Not enough to stop the blogging but just enough to think how widespread this thing might be. Do you have it just now?

[poets corner] homespun verse of ewen mcteagle fondly remembered

It was in the more simple, homespun verses that McTeagle's unique style first flowered:

If you could see your way to lending me sixpence,
I could at least buy a newspaper.
That's not much to ask anyone.

For Lassie O'Shea the memory of McTeagle is still alive. He wrote her two poems between January and April 1969:

To Ma Own beloved Lassie, A poem on her 17th Birthday.
Lend us a couple of bob till Thursday, I'm absolutely skint.
But I'm expecting a postal order and I can pay you back as soon as it comes.
Love Ewan

After this critical triumph, McTeagle developed and widened his literary scope. Where once he'd concerned himself with still quite small sums - quick bits of ready cash: sixpences, shillings, in later years he turned his extraordinary literary perception to much larger sums - fifteen shillings, £4.12.6d ... even nine guineas ... but there is still nothing to match the huge sweep ... the majestic power of what is surely his greatest work: 'Can I have fifty pounds to mend the shed?':

Can I have £50 to mend the shed?
I'm right on my uppers. I can pay you back
When this postal order comes from Australia.
Honestly.
Hope the bladder trouble's getting better.
Love, Ewan.

Sigh. He was a wonderful poet, sadly no more.

[pyramids] build your own and see for yourself

One theory says that if a pyramid fulfils these 3 requirements: 1] The same aspect ratio between the peripheral and the height of Khofo's pyramid in Giza, 2] two sides of the pyramids are placed parallel to the geographical North and South and 3] It is made of non conducting material, then it will acquire the same properties as those of The Great Pyramid. But what are these properties?

Inside the pyramid:1) Oxidized coins and jewels shine after some time; 2) Used steel shaving razors become sharp again; 3) Milk doesn't spoil, just separates into layers and finally becomes yogurt; 4) Meat and eggs just dry out; 5) Flowers live longer and finally dry out and keep the same shape and color; 6) Plants grow faster than the ones outside and are also healthier; 7) Turbid water becomes clear and pure after putting it in the pyramid for days; 8) Tooth pain, migraine and even rheumatic pain are all relieved after a few sessions; 9) Sitting inside the pyramid makes the person comfortable and increases the sensitivity of abnormal psychic abilities like telepathy.

You can make such a pyramid but it should be constructed in the same ratio as for the original dimensions of The Great Pyramid: Test your new pyramid's efficacy. Put a small rectangle containing honey at the active focus point of the pyramid (1/3 of the height from the base + at the centre of the base square ) & observe: 1) If the honey completely hardens but if you alter the pyramid's direction, the honey re-liquefies after 24 hours, it's working; 2) If nothing changes, it clearly is not working yet. Alter the direction of alignment or look at your dimensions again or even your construction material. But be careful. Some people warn that after a while, the beneficial effects wear off and turn to malevolent. I can vouch for both effects so I don’t know what that says.

[teen drivers] incomplete myelination of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Trying to find a reason not to let your kids have the car but can't think of a good one? Here's one:

John Reid, a cognitive neuroscientist and research fellow with Swinburne University of Technology's Brain Sciences Institute, Victoria, said some teenagers' brains have not matured sufficiently to enable them to drive responsibly. The immature brain development is technically called the "incomplete myelination of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex" - basically, the wiring of the brain's control centre has not yet fully developed, making immature drivers less able to foresee the consequences of impulsive actions.

Such immature behaviour included speeding, machismo displays in front of peers, aggression and impatience, he said. "The thrill of the moment overrides any contemplation of the possible adverse consequences of the behaviour." A combination of adolescent hormonal changes that affected emotions and moods and an immature brain was "probably the real explanation of many young drivers' speed-related crashes", and was evident in other areas of adolescent life, he said.

Monash University Accident Research Centre director Ian Johnston said the theory was interesting but unproven and yet there was a trend that those who engaged in risky road behaviours tended to exhibit risky behaviour in other areas of their lives. "It's increasingly obvious that it's the same kinds of people who are involved in a whole range of high-risk situations: the same kinds of people who get into trouble on the road get into . . . drug taking, high-risk sports," he said.

November 25th, 2002, by Andrew Heasley, Transport Reporter, The Age

[fed reserve report] selected issues october 25th

# The President recently signed the Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006, which gave the Federal Reserve discretion, beginning October 2011, both to pay interest on reserve balances and to reduce further or eliminate reserve requirements.

# Real consumer spending appeared to regain some steam in September after a lackluster August. Although nominal retail sales fell noticeably in September, the steep drop in gasoline prices more than accounted for the decline.

# The U.S. international trade deficit widened to another record in August, reflecting a surge in imports that more than offset a sizable jump in exports.

# Mixed indicators in Canada and the United Kingdom suggested that output growth in those countries remained around recent rates.

# The staff forecast prepared for this meeting indicated that growth of real GDP had slowed further in the third quarter, reflecting both a significant drag from the continuing contraction in residential construction and a steep decline in motor vehicle assemblies.

# Participants continued to expect the economy to expand at a rate close to or a little below the economy's long-run sustainable pace over coming quarters.

# Uncomfortably high levels of inventories within the auto sector had prompted a sharp reduction in light vehicle production in the third quarter.

# Both data and reports from businesses indicated that the labor market remained tight.

# All meeting participants expressed concern about the outlook for inflation.

# Nearly all members favored keeping the target federal funds rate at 5-1/4 percent at this meeting.

Layman’s summary is that it’s steady as she goes, except for the worry about eliminating reserve requirements in 2011, as part of their strategic plan.

[we're doomed] you might be surprised

Here's a good party trick: type in who said we're doomed, doomed I tell ye in Google and see who comes up at the top.

[israel] palestinian militia a novel move

Israel’s new 1500 armed Jordanian Palestinian soldiers moving into the West Bank and Gaza Strip is to counterbalance the growing power of Hamas and should worsen the internecine violence between rival Palestinian factions. Clearly this is a U.S. ploy and though it would stir up the desired rivalry between the Palestinians, the resultant bloodshed would surely outweigh the benefits in terms of peace for Israel. Still, 1500 is not so many and no doubt they’d be monitored. No doubt also that the counterbalancing of Hezbollah would also be on the drawing board but which Sunni group could do the job?

[hitler] and did those feet, in ancient times, walk upon iceland's mossy rock

Monster in the making

The issue itself is interesting but the writing style of Icelanders in English is also pleasantly quaint, especially when they always quote RUV. I’ve written to them to throw light on who the person is who writes the news [from the style, I suspect it’s a sweet young lady]:

A new history book provides an account that an American soldier along with an Icelandic interpreter searched for Adolf Hitler in Iceland shortly before the end of WWII. Hitler was believed to be in hiding in the home of Gunnar Gunnarsson, a well known and highly respected Icelandic author, as reported by RÚV. Gunnarsson was known for his connections to the Nazis during WWII and, on 20 March 1940, was reportedly the only Icelander to ever meet Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

The book Skáldalíf (“Life of Poets”) by Halldór Gudmundsson features the life of Gunnar Gunnarsson and compares him to another Icelandic author, Thórbergur Thórdarson. Gudmundsson’s book says Gunnarsson’s house was searched twice by allied forces during the war. On the second occasion, 6 May 1945, an American soldier and an Icelandic interpreter knocked on his door in Skriduklaustur, east Iceland.

Gunnarsson evidently did not know why his house was being searched, but later learned from a farmer who lived close by that the American soldier had been looking for Adolf Hitler. A week earlier a German plane had been spotted flying over the area, dropping something off near Gunnarsson’s house. The book’s author told RÚV that the theory about Hitler being dropped off in east Iceland was “absurd,” but that it says a lot about how people saw Gunnarsson as a person.

This account in Skáldalíf is based on a written testimony given by a man who lived on the farm closest to Skriduklausur. To read another story about Gunnar Gunnarsson,
click here.

[ we’re doomed] but who said it first

Raging debate over the exclamation, ‘We’re doomed, doomed I tell ye.’ My money’s on this one:

Mainwaring's 'Stupid boy', aimed … at Pike; Wilson's … 'Would you mind awfully falling into three lovely lines?'; Frazer's … 'We're doomed'; Hodges' … 'Ruddy hooligans!'; Godfrey's 'Would you mind if I was excused?'; and Jones's 'They don't like it up them', 'Handy-hock!'), 'Permission to speak, sir!', and 'Don't panic!'.

'Private James Frazer opened his undertakers business next door to Jones's butcher's shop in the High street, soon after he returned from the sea. Born on the Isle of Barra, he joined his first ship at the age of fourteen and spent the next thirty-five years roaming the world. Pearl fishing in the south seas, trading off the coast of Africa, a life packed full of adventure.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

[spam attack] what took them so long

I’m so proud – I just had my first spam attack and that’s supposed to mean the start of big things. Now I just need some grossly offensive twaddle such as I had on my very first day online and perhaps I’ll then have arrived. Then I can go to comment moderation and be one of the bigwigs, d’you think?

I can see it now: Message from the Euro-Commission, threatening closure. Zap! One message bites the dust. Oh James, James, I adore you and can you send me 300 quid by return mail, Your Ex. Zap! Er, Laddy, I’m a bit skint until next Thursday – can you see your way clear to slipping me a bob or eight, Yours, Ewan. Zap! The feeling of power, the sophistication, the camaraderie. And I can look back on it all and thank Spam it never affected my sincerity.

[tony’s petition] don’t fall for it unless you enjoy electrodes

Chicken Yoghurt has been looking at Tony’s new e-petitioning and we should have woken up to it, should have known:

Secondly, it builds, over time, a nice big database of said moaners, the complainers, the whingers, the dissidents, sceptics, cynics, and single issue yahoos. You have to give your details to sign up. Give false details? Well, that’s their excuse to dismiss your petition as the work of deceptive cranks.

Yes, yes – of course – all nicely categorized and ready for the Black Moriah to zip round and collect them for a bit of electro-pincushioning further down the track. Call me a wild, fanciful madman who sees reds under the bed but we’ll see, won’t we, about the year 2012, who was right?

Actually, they don’t need Tony’s petition – they only need to do a blogtrawl. Yikes! Tony, I love you. You’re a great man and I’ll never ever call you an illumined skull and bones avenging wind ever again – promise! Don’t send them – please? And you had nothing to do with 7/7 at all.

Absolutely nothing. [I think I got away with it.]

[bond] seems to be thumbs up all round

Papers report: On Tuesday night, it was a premium Bond who stepped out into a damp Leicester Square for the world premiere of Casino Royale in front of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Hailed as a worthy successor to Sean Connery, Craig, the publican's son from near Liverpool, seemed resigned to his fate: years of reckless driving, ruthless womanising and brutal killing for Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service — not to mention the odd few million in box office takings.

Craig, 38, who was accompanied by his American girlfriend, Satsaki Mitchell, 29, wasn't smiling much as he entered the Odeon cinema and didn't linger too long. He offered: "This is pretty good, I can't explain how this feels."

Just what is it with Bond? The Queen's a devotee, you probably are too, I certainly am. Why? The bulk of those Bond films were duds anyway and even the good ones had their weak points - so why do we keep coming back for more? I'm waiting for it to open to shell out the hard-earned to watch some guy get his goolies minced. Strange.

[thanksgiving] run, turkey, run

Got yer turkey? Got yer fixins? Got yer new Flatron TV? MSN report that on Tuesday, Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, announced its fourth price-slashing move since mid-October and said that it would have its most aggressive discounting ever this holiday season. Its rival, Target, vowed price cuts, too. That’s good for consumers, but probably bad for retail profits in the fourth quarter.

By February, when retailers report fourth-quarter and full-year earning, Wal-Mart and Target may not be able to match the double-digit percent profit increases that they announced Tuesday for the third-quarter. And what’s bad for Wal-Mart and Target may be worse for smaller retailers. So, cards at the ready? Let’s charge into debt and kill small business!

[winter tyres] the new aphrodisiac for feline females

Falling snow and a situation here they call ‘lyot pod snyegom’ or black ice beneath a light cover of snow is developing this evening. Whoosh – your feet go from under you, crack goes the head on the ice and then the ludicrous spectacle of slipping, sliding and trying to get up, not unlike a baby giraffe’s first steps. Not saying it’s happened to me yet this winter but it’s just a question of time.

Anyway, what I really wanted to address was this Yokohama billboard business. Could someone explain to me what a tanned, half-naked, nubile young lady with slivers of leopard skin strategically draped over her sensitive regions has to do with the Yokohama tyre she’s sprawled across and lovingly caressing with her French manicured talons? Are winter tyres a total turn on for women? I only ask for information, like.

[prodicus] hard-hitting, without the swearing

I have to admit to a sneaking admiration for Prodicus’ style.

Example: Blog-Cons of the Week - Danny Finkelstein's 'blog' is nothing but a cheap attempt to advertise other Times commentators' columns. He hardly ever posts a comment and almost never posts a link to a non-Times blog. It's a con by their marketing people. I am deleting it from my newsreader. Speaking of cons, Guido's not up to much these days, is he? A lot of trumpeting but very few plots and rumours and no conspiracy. Get a grip, Fawkes, or I'll delete you, too.

Try this one:
Since so many Muslims living in Britain declare that they do not feel themselves to be British, I shall not, henceforth, refer to 'British Muslims' but to 'Muslims living in Britain'.

Now, is that good blogging or is that good blogging? Not one unnecessary swearword and by the way - I agree with him on all the aforementioned.

[ecology] maybe forests are on their way back

Many of the world's forests appear to be making a comeback, with some areas more thickly wooded than they have been for many years. A new study shows a 15-year increase in forests, which give off oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide which scientists believe causes global climate change. Carbon dioxide released from cars and power plants collects in the upper atmosphere and prevents heat from escaping Earth.

"The forests of Earth's two most populated nations no longer increase atmospheric carbon concentration: China's forests are expanding; India's have reached equilibrium - these changes are due in large part to urban migration, agricultural yield increases and reforestation policies," the report said.

Interesting article. Maybe you’d like to read it in full here.

[rhetoric] hints on effective speaking

This document was prepared for the people I work with. As it stole the posting time this morning, I thought you might like to see it anyway:

Hints on giving good speeches

A speech is not a delivered report from notes nor data learned and regurgitated. It is a varied composition, a ‘song of substance’. What elements combine to make a good speech?

Preparation: This is one of the keys to a successful speech and it is not common practice. No one has the time for it but you must try to prepare thoroughly or else your speech will fail. Preparing cue cards will at least lay the ground work for an effective speech.

Knowledge and experience: A real working knowledge of the material by someone who’s been there and done that, someone with a rich life experience goes a long way. When I was in New York, I saw …

Genuineness: Nothing turns an audience off more than someone who is ‘doing the speech’ rather than ‘feeling it’ and it’s impossible to fool an audience. If you’re just filling in a few minutes with a cynical mist of words, you are wasting the audience’s time and time is valuable.

This last point comes down to your character. Like a shopkeeper who always shortchanges the customer, who always gives less quality, so a speaker who isn’t interested in his topic is cheating the audience and that’s not what they came for.

Great speakers have sincere convictions. You can't convince others about something in which you yourself don't believe.

Read further

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

[queen elizabeth] at the james bond premiere

We speak and write of Tony Blair a lot but what about the leader herself? Where is she this evening? Playing with the corgis? She’s at the world premiere of Casino Royale at Leicester Square, accompanied by Prince Philip, despite her chronic sciatica. She’s been forced to cancel a number of official engagements because of her suffering but the queen is an avid 007 fan and was determined to attend the much-anticipated premiere. Oh and tomorrow she’ll open parliament, incidentally, if she wakes up in time.

Just in case you need that in German: Bond- Weltpremiere: Selbst die Queen wollte 007 sehen. Wenn James Bond ruft, lassen sich die Stars nicht lange bitten. Zur Weltpremiere des neuen Films "Casino Royale" in London pilgerten am Abend nicht nur Schauspieler und Fans, auch die Königin wagte sich auf den Roten Teppich - dabei hatte Prinz Charles doch Geburtstag. So there.

[blogfocus tuesday] leaner, meaner and brutally honest

Why is this blogger on the beach of Dunkirk and who are the people in the background?

Let’s face it - the old blogfocus had become strained. A couple of cut and pasted lines from each of 50+ bloggers does not an interesting article make and clearly it was time to either revamp or die. Here’s the revamped 10 point plan:

1] pour a glenfiddich
2] put on jj cale
3] put a printed list of the blogroll on the coffee table
4] flick tiddlywinks at the list until 17 names are hit
5] pour another glenfiddich
6] raid those 17 sites for some of their best posts
7] write brutally honest opinions about the 17 for an hour and a half
8] pour another glenfiddich
9] load and publish with minimal links
10] dream of the lady I was with three hours ago

So here we go, ladies and gentlemen and if you escaped this time, you’ll be got at next Saturday:

1] An A-blogger if ever there was one, The Tin Drummer has this cursed no-comments policy which I feel detracts from the universal blog-purpose and yet he may be right. Perhaps experience dictates that comments are a mere distraction. Who knows? The best bloggers have their fingers on the pulse, if we might put it that way and TTD does this to perfection, the measure of his standing in the blogosphere being the types of people who link to him in their posts [for example Tim Worstall]. Here he addresses the question of swearing [hope DK and Mr E have read this one] in his typical self-effacing way:

Laban Tall has a post up introducing this blog, and is right about the swearing and need to reduce Devil-post intake. The thing is this: swearing is actually very difficult to do properly, and is usually best left to the experts. I learned everything I know about swearing from Viz, but I haven't really absorbed the lessons well. Good swearing is borne of anger but executed coldly with precision, rhythm and vivid imagery. Poor swearing is a bunch of rude words thrown together. So I ought to leave it alone.


Blogfocus continues here …

[u2] bono and the church of england

US Anglican churches have started a trend - using U2 songs in services. Around 150 Episcopal churches have held or plan "U2charists". Money from the collections is donated to charities linked to singer Bono's campaign against poverty and AIDS. Don’t know if this is good, not good – it’s kinda weird.

[australia] snow in summer

I’m quite unclear about this climate change. Tim Worstall did his demolition job on the Stern Report but still I don’t think this actually put paid to the phenomenon. Trouble is, something unusual occurs and someone steps in and says, ‘Nah, everything is next to normal.’ Case in point:

Snow is forecast for parts of Victoria tomorrow, just about two weeks out from the official start of summer. Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Peter Blake said the situation was fairly unusual for this time of year. "It does happen at this time of year, but it's not an everyday occurrence," he said. "It's certainly not the norm."

Fairly unusual? I’d say it’s most unusual coming in to summer. Rain, yes. Sleet, yes. Snow? Since when?

[richard hammond] back behind the wheel

Taking his Morgan sports car for a spin with wife Mindy, Richard Hammond told Britain's Daily Mirror, "I will remember this day for the rest of my life ... As I got into the driving seat it felt like I was back where I belonged." After being dependent on his wife since the accident, he was thrilled to turn the tables. "Mindy was a bit damp-eyed," he said. "She has been my driver for the last few weeks and I have been dependent on her."

Hammond, who kept to less dangerous speeds for his comeback spin, had to pass a series of complicated mental reasoning, memory and problem-solving tests to win back his driving licence. But he said the crash didn't affect his confidence on the road. "I didn't have any fears or nagging doubts about driving again," he said. "I have been a passenger in a car many times since the accident and I haven't suffered any flashbacks or anything traumatic. "I was never worried that I wouldn't get back my driving licence. It was just a case of when ... I am aware of how staggeringly lucky I have been. I could have died."

[intel] quad core released in haifa, of all places

Intel unveiled its latest Haifa innovation on Tuesday as the world's largest chip maker, with the launch of its first quad-core microprocessor … Whereas the dual-core technology launched last year uses two microprocessors to perform tasks at the same time, quad-core doubles the equation, thus further increasing computer processing speeds and energy savings. In the company's words, the technology delivers four "computing brains" inside a single microprocessor enabling it to multi-task more effectively. I shan't ask, "Is it all necessary?" Details here

[terrorism] next it’s the food chain and water

Of course the food chain was going to be the next target, along with the water supply. Don’t know why they didn’t think of it before. The new APEC Report has warned: One concern raised by the United States is the risk of militants poisoning or contaminating the food supply chain. It urges APEC leaders to agree to take concerted action "to mitigate the threat of deliberate contamination of our food supply." Where you and I will hotly disagree is who the Terrorists really are, who is funding them in other words. If you separate the sabre-rattling of North Korea and Iran from the actual devastation and genocide and research whose envoys were seen in and around every one of those conflicts, then it doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to come to a conclusion.

[austin healey] remember the sprite

Later Sprite

I’m going to set out my stall straight away. I was a Sprite 2A man. Not a Frogeye [Bugeye], not a Midget [esp. Mark III] but a 2A if you please. This is an article I cobbled together from the fragments of various articles in the pre-blogging days.

“A sports car is typically a two-seater, two-door automobile with a highly tuned engine, designed for performance – either speed, maneuverability, or acceleration.

In fact, many of the early British sports cars lacked a powerful engine and did not accelerate very quickly, but were known for having handling characteristics. They were relatively low to the ground and quite spartan in their comfort level and yet they were lively and exciting to drive.” More here ...

[revenge] how do we break the cycle

Anakin off to avenge his mother with a pogrom

How do we break the cycle of atrocity and the escalation of violence - Ireland, Israel, Kosovo, Ossetia, Sudan? There is a passage in scripture which seems apt: Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord; I shall repay. In other words, don’t take matters into your own hands; leave them to me.

Don’t guffaw but there was a theme in the Return of the Jedi when the Emperor invited Luke to let the anger course through his veins and by so doing, lose his will to resist the urge to kill, thereby finally succumbing to the dark side.

Allegorical, yes. Christie had Poirot say to a girl who was planning murder, in Death on the Nile: “Mademoiselle, I beseech you, do not do what you are doing.”

“Leave [the revenge] alone, you mean?”

“It’s deeper than that. Do not open your heart to evil.” Her lips fell apart and a look of bewilderment came into her eyes. Poirot went on gravely: “Because if you do, evil will come. Very surely, evil will come. It will enter and make its home within you and after a while, it will be no longer possible to drive it out.”

“I – I – you can’t stop me!”

“No,” said Hercule Poirot, “I cannot stop you.”

His voice was sad.

Monday, November 13, 2006

[libertarians] 2nd rate, incestuous sycophants who enjoy a whisky

Councillor Terry Kelly writes about Freedom and Whisky: I was told that some guy had written about me on his blog in a very uncomplimentary way, this complete eejit [David Ferrens from memory] writes very well which makes him even more sinister because he's a barking far right nutter. He uses Burns's phrase "whiskey & freedom gang the gither" as his title which I'm sure would have the second rate old Ayrshire plagiarist spinning in his grave, his views however and the views of the incestuous sycophants who write to him are capable of making your skin crawl. [It gets better.]

David Farrer replies:
One of the useful things that this "complete eejit" learned at school in the county of Robert Burns (a "second rate old Ayrshire plagiarist") was that our national drink is whisky, not whiskey. [Further on] … Councillor Kelly describes folk like me as "libertarians of the right". I really don't know what he means. The traditional left/right political spectrum was intellectually demolished years ago. The issue is: are you a libertarian or an authoritarian? I'm a libertarian. [Entertaining.]

[nuclear energy] it’s fine, says greenpeace co-founder

Now here’s an interesting one – in an interview with Iceland Review, Greenpeace co-founder Partick Moore explains why he is in favor of nuclear energy. Patrick Moore left the prominent environmental organization in 1986 because he felt the organization began “abandoning science and logic.” Now the director of Greenspirit, Moore speaks out for the nuclear industry, the forest industry and supports genetically engineered crops. Is he still an environmentalist?

Here’s an example: You were quoted as saying that global warming and the melting of glaciers is positive because it “creates more arable land.” I can understand how more arable land could be a good thing, but aren’t those positives offset by the loss of fresh water and rising sea levels? To readhis answer and the rest of the interview,
click here.

[canada ] big brother’s watching you

Almost half of Canadians find anti-terrorism laws in the post-9/11 world intrusive, according to a new international Queen's University survey. When compared to other countries, Americans were even more concerned than Canadians about these new national security laws, with 57 per cent saying they were invading their privacy. Despite their concerns, according to London-based Privacy International study report released earlier this month, Canada is considered to be one of the best defenders of its citizens' privacy. Read the report here. In short:

NO ID CARDS!

[mystery island] land lost in the mists of time

Are you a sharp- eyed lassie or chappie who recognizes the shape of this island? Do you know anything of the strange wildlife which breeds here? Can you unravel the fiendishly difficult: ye follies, to discover the three word name of this mythical place? [First letter of the first word is in bold.] And while you’re at it, can you shed some light on the character of Geoffrey de Mandeville? I'll add the name to the post later in the evening.

[late autumn] and the big snowflakes fall

Don’t you just detest the sleet, the drizzle, the damp cold and the icy roads? On the other hand, don’t you just love big flakes of snow softly settling over the land, in the trees, on jackets and hoods and on rooftops? This evening we have this and I’ll have to check with Tom whether he has it as well. It’s a winter wonderland and the harsh cacophony of the city has been dampened as people silently pass each other on their way home after work, home to warm apartments and piping hot food waiting at the table. Have a lovely evening.

[monday] the best of days

Monday - a day when all good things are going to come to you, when you'll buy a little something for that someone special and passionate romance will be rekindled [if it's not already]. A day to ignore cloudy skies and the troubles of the world and have a satisfying ... er ... cup of coffee. A great opportunity to do that little act of kindness you've been planning for some time. Nothing's going to dampen this Monday for you, no matter what. So let's get out there and get going, people!

[hezbollah] locally esteemed, re-armed and ready for action again

A Hezbollah rocket launched into Israel – 19, 999 to go

Norma Geras reports: Four months after Israel launched its onslaught against Hezbollah, the Lebanese guerrillas are back in south Lebanon stronger than ever and armed with more rockets than they had before the conflict, according to Israeli intelligence.

"Since the ceasefire, additional rockets, weapons and military equipment have reached Hezbollah," said an Israeli intelligence officer. "We assume they now have about 20,000 rockets of all ranges - a bit more than they had before July 12."

As a political party, a militia and social welfare organization, Hezbollah has used the devastation of the war with Israel to help strengthen the allegiance of Shiites, giving out money and services that the government has so far failed to deliver. Though no one knows for sure the size of each group in Lebanon — there has not been a census since the 1930s — Shiites are believed to make up more than 30 percent of the population, and by some estimates have reached a plurality.

But it would require a major leap for the Shiites to realize their political goal of dominance — and their efforts to reach it could threaten long-term instability, and perhaps bring armed conflict.

[referendum] south ossetia votes to secede

South Ossetia has overwhelmingly voted for independence in a referendum. “I can only say there has been a victory for South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity and more than 90 per cent of the people have voted in favour of independence for our republic,” Bella Pliyeva, head of the election commission, said. The vote yesterday is seen as illegal in the West and there were no Western monitors present at the poll, but Russia says it should be respected.

Wiki says the
Ossetians are originally descendants of Iranian-speaking tribes from Central Asia. They became Christians during the early Middle Ages, under Georgian influence. Trouble is, there is no racial homogeneity in the region and there was a lot of intergenerational intermarriage with Muslims which created peace of sorts for a long time. This is similar to the situation I am now in, in another republic.

In
1991 the Georgian government declared Georgian to be the only administrative language but Ossetian leaders demanded that Ossetian be the language of their state. There have been simmering conflict and sanctions by Georgia itself, e.g. withholding power supplies and with Russia at odds with Georgia as an entity, it’s logical that they’d support South Ossetia, which then puts the whole question on the world agenda.

To try to create a separate state would require population transfer and dislocation, which is in the interests of certain parties in the background and creates a new, highly unstable region of probable bloodletting of the Kosovo type. Keep your eye on this one.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

[norway] home of the paperclip and the mobile phone

A Norwegian Viking, Leif Ericson discovered America in about A.D. 1 000 (almost 500 years before Columbus A.D. 1492), Roald Amundsen was the first man on the South Pole (year 1911), it has the fourth largest shipping fleet in the world (after Greece, Japan and the USA) and one of the largest fishing industries (after Japan), it generates the most per capita hydroelectric power in the world, it has the second richest people in the world (only Swiss people are richer), the second highest number of mobile telephones in the world, 45% (only Finland lies higher with 48%), they invented the famous paperclip and skis. They're also very good at the Eurovision Song Contest. Norway.

[quiz] how english are you

Rubbish quiz in my opinion but take it anyway. L’Ombre came out at 92% and I managed only 82% - think I had two wrong, saying the milk went in first and that the Beatles were a band.

[colour schemes] the culture of yellow

Yellow is hope, happiness, sunshine, cowardice, deceit, high visibility, cheerfulness, support, remembrance, danger, being laid back, relaxation and irresponsible reporting.

For years, yellow ribbons were for women who waited for their men to come home from war. Yellow is for mourning in Egypt and actors of the Middle Ages wore yellow to signify the dead. Yet yellow has also represented courage (Japan), merchants (India), and peace.

Near the end of the 18th century, yellow was mental illness, insanity and depravity. In China, yellow is associated with prosperity and pornography. In ancient China, yellow was the Centre and Earth. In many countries, yellow symbolizes liberalism.

Other words associated with it: Lemon, yellow ocher, golden, saffron, cream, topaz. Read also about
red, blue, green and brown.

[suicides] a few too many in japan


# A Japanese primary school principal, Kenji Nagata, 56, was found hanged in a forest in an apparent suicide, the second to take his own life in as many weeks

# Japan's education ministry last week received seven letters apparently written by students threatening suicide in response to harassment by bullying classmates.

# There has been a series of suicides by students in recent weeks caused by apparent bullying.

# A 12-year-old girl from Tondabayashi, near Osaka, leaped from the eighth floor of a public housing building and some classmates said she had been teased about her body shape.

# In late October a high school principal in Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, hanged himself in woods near his home after his school was found to be one of hundreds that skipped required courses so students could focus on competitive university entrance exams.