Saturday, April 05, 2008
[saturday quiz] odd one out
Hint - it was the reason I selected the rabbit, of all animals.
Answer is below here so don't look until you've tried - you need to highlight the next line as it's written in white :)
Ingrid Bergman - the only one from a non-large family.
[st george] stirring himself for april 23rd
When the Conservatives took control of Telford & Wrekin Council they replaced the flag of the EU with the English flag. I hope they take advantage of the new relaxed flag flying rules to remove the British flag and replace it with our own national flag, the Cross of St George.
April 23rd coming up, folks. Don't forget it. The dragon will be festooned with his coat of blue and 12 stars in a circle.
[phonetic dictionary] second offerings
So, take "antelope", definition "absconding insect". "Ant" - the little insect. "Elope" - to run away with one's lover.
Similarly, with "badinage" - the phonetic meaning comes out as "bad in age" - memory, sex, teeth.
If you get the idea, try these below:
The first offerings were here.
Here are the second:
3 Adenoid..................Irritated by advertsCan you state, in each case, why that particular phonetic meaning?
4 Alimony..................Arab coins
7 Aphrodisiac............Trapeze artists from Zaire
9 Barbecue................Awaiting haircut
12 Capsize................Seven and three-quarters
13 Carrion......................Continue
14 Castanet....................Go fishing
15 Chinchilla...................Aftershave
17 Counter-culture.........Retailing
19 Emulate.....................Dead bird
Friday, April 04, 2008
[making eyes] to look or not to look, that is ...
I countered by saying that that was rich and recounted an incident three evenings ago when I was in the cafe and a guy and his girl came in. She positioned herself where she could check out the cafe and while he was forking some spaghetti into his mouth, the first cross-room shot was fired.
I naturally returned it and it might have continued except that that chap could have been me, poor sod.
My fellow discussee pointed out that this made me as bad as all the others, at which point I said hmmm, well I don't look at them - they look at me.
She asked how I knew they were looking at me if I hadn't been looking to see if they were looking at me? And why would they be looking at me anyway? I replied that it might be my white scarf and balding pate.
At that point, fortuitously, the car arrived and I got away.
On reflection in the car, I was sure I didn't make eyes at girls but definitely know when they look at me, at which point I usually look back. How would I know? Well it's easy to see movement through 180 degrees or more - surely you can do that too? So a face turned towards you would be obvious, even if you weren't looking.
No matter.
I decided this evening to put it to some controlled tests, involving walking to the Pyramid and trying various moves along the way.
1. First was to see how it normally worked and I was going to scrutinize and analyse everything. The controlling premise was that it had to be a girl with a bf.
All right, along came the first and an interesting thing happened.
At about ten metres, he was oblivious but she had already seen what was coming. It might have been my white scarf, it might have been my balding pate. Either way, within two metres, all three making moves to step aside to pass, he, being closest to me and taller, never got to see what she was doing.
She initially dropped the chin and eyes but then, at one metre, the look was shot across, her face half hidden by the bf's arm. I suddenly looked and she looked away quickly but as we passed, the 2nd look came from the side.
He was still oblivious to the whole thing.
2. This time I showed absolutely no interest [but don't forget the 180 degree vision]. I stared straight ahead and let them pass and there was the dropped head half hidden behind the bf and one quick look but then she ceased looking.
3. The third was a slap in the face for me as she showed not the least interest and resolutely looked ahead, gripping the bf's arm.
4. The fourth was like the first except that, instead of returning her look, I let a slight grin play on my lips. She didn't give me a second look.
5. The fifth was more dangerous as I telegraphed the move early and glanced in full view of the bf. He began his predictable body language, she dropped her head and then shot the look but he looked at her and she covered it well. Phew. Then again, he'd clearly summed up that the opposition wasn't much and didn't bother with me as we passed.
6. The sixth was at the traffic lights - they were across the road. I didn't look once. She looked the whole time, even as we passed. It might have been my white pate or balding scarf.
7. I never tried where I'd make eyes at her [wanting to keep the high moral ground with my afrementioned discussee] but I surmise the gf would have looked straight ahead and ignored this sleazy jerk.
So what did it prove?
That everyone at least notices what goes on around, that the second or continued look is really the only one you could take issue with, that you get more looks if you don't seem to look and maybe that men should be more aware of their gf's relative position next time they go for a walk with her.
Also - never make eyes at a girl with a large bf.
[tales from the regions] more of the same
A regional "senate" of local council leaders could oversee Advantage West Midlands spending, under plans unveiled by the Government.
The region’s top local government figures, including the leaders of councils such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Dudley, Walsall and Sandwell, will meet together to oversee spending of more than £300 million.
Am I out of order seeing this scramble for the Eurodollar as obscene? And while we're loosely on the topic of local decisions - how about the new eco-towns on green areas, brought to our attention by Englisch Fyrd:
Mr Shapps said the Conservatives would "always back plans for sustainable eco-communities. But I'm afraid there are several on this list which will cause immediate concern to local people because they're being built on green fields," he added.
... along with the loss of part of Norfolk Broads?
Ron Whitehead of the Flood Protection Association, an industry body, said: "I know of developers who get approval and do as little as possible to comply. There needs to be a performance specification for flood defence - if you have the possibility of this type of flooding you have the following measures."Unless the Government closes the loophole, developers will continue to get away with it. If there were building standards, developers would have to take account of flood risk when properties were refurbished, too."
Great to see that planning for what was once England is in such good, selfless hands.
[phonetic dictionary] first offerings
The idea is that it is a phonetic dictionary and so the definitions do not accord with the meanng of the words but with the parts of the words, as sounded. Try these:
6 Antelope................Absconding insect
8 Badinage................Memory, sex, teeth
11 Canteloupe...........Chaperoned
13 Carrion......................Continue
16 Condescending..........Greek Paratrooper
18.Divest........................Princess's garment
23 Felonious..................Monk
36 Ideal..........................You shuffle
63 Scintillate..................Nocturnal orgy
68 Surcingle...................Unmarried baronet
One reader has just asked about this post and so I'd best take one of them and dissect it. Antelope - OK, it's an animal. But ant [the pictured insect] ... and he elopes with his girlfriend ... well, the image tickles the fancy. Same with "sin till late". [Chuckle - well I like them anyway.]
[crucible of character] when the ship goes down
“The ship must sail on... regardless of who the captain is, regardless of who the admiral is...”
One should never try to plumb the depths of the Pungeoning for meaning but take the theme for what it is and admire the accompanying graphic work.
This one today is more accessible for us lower ranks - the notion of the ship [state department, commercial organization, arts council or whatever] suffering a series of flawed heads and slowly sinking to oblivion.
It was changes in the Admiralty that led not to mutiny, but desertion by 90% of the crew. The Resbo’s remaining days were helmed by a procession of impotent captains, Queeg-like but without the experience. Needless to say, the lingering skeleton crew had clung to the gunwales, the seas growing fiercer with each successive voyage.
But the end is always inevitable:
EPILOGUE: All of the original crew, and finally Merbos, did eventually jump ship, as one must when fatal leaks and other Benny Suggs go unacknowledged by brass. The Resbo continued to limp along with clueless crews, captains in name only, and admirals who abandoned them to the wind. She was lost at sea about a year later.
This has happened three times with me and one has to wonder how far I contributed to the demise though in subordinate capacity. Certainly I jumped ship on all three occasions. The latest one was by accompanying the Admiral of the time to his new abode, from where we could gaze across and observe the foundering of the old ship under the incompetent newbie, Mr. Arrogance.
I'll say the exact number - 63 - 63 crew departed voluntarily [from 84] , investment then channelled itself through the new agency with its brass and glass penthouse welcome and the old ship, which can never officially sink, still limps along in name only.
Speaking to the Admiral, I asked if he felt vindicated or regretted what had happened. Oh regretted, to be sure. All those years building it up to the point where Europe was visiting - all now gone.
Yes, regret to be sure.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
[trends] damned lies and statistics
Now, the Wilkins ice shelf on the other side of the peninsula appears to be disintegrating. All these changes would seem to be signs of global warming, but are they just a recent phenomenon or part of a natural cycle?
There is controversial evidence from sediment cores drilled from where the Larsen B Ice Shelf used to be that suggest it may have broken up previously.
"Marine sediments tell us that an ice shelf break-up happened around 5,000 years ago as well. This core will tell us for certain if it got warmer then, too," Dr Mulvaney said. It should also tell him about how the great Antarctic ice sheets began to retreat at the end of the last ice age.
A little more digging and I see that the ONS are saying that the number of teenage conceptions are at the lowest rate for 20 years. You can download the data here.
On the other hand, this seems to tell a different story:
Britain's teenage pregnancy rate is the highest in Europe. In 2002 there were 39,286 teen pregnancies recorded. The government has spent more than £60 million to tackle the problem but so far failed to halt the rise.
Andrew would say that is old news [2004] and that the government campaign is working. This is why it might be working:
Encouraging schoolchildren to experiment with oral sex could prove the most effective way of curbing teenage pregnancy rates, a government study has found. Pupils under 16 who were taught to consider other forms of 'intimacy' such as oral sex were significantly less likely to engage in full intercourse, it was revealed.
Oh wonderful, wonderful. So children are going to be told they have to do oral sex. Are these people off their collective brains or are they just lost to evil?
Never crossed the government's mind that this is an activity between adults in a marriage? Never occurred to the government to re-establish the family as the unit and work on parents to take responsibility for their children?
Never occurred to the government to adhere to the country's tradition of sane societal values e.g. kids are kids and adults are adults and it's a gradual process from one to the other at ages 16-21 as it most certainly was earlier?
No, the approach of NuLab and it's accolytes in the teaching profession prefer to exacerbate the problem by pleading "well, kids are already doing it." And why are they? Because you people turned a blind eye instead of educating them.
And why did you turn a blind eye? Because you yourself were allowed to adopt stuffed values, in line with being a modern person.
Enough, I say. Quantum shift needed here in the paradigm. Total shift in values required. And from where will it come? The termited C of E? Will it heck as like.
So from where?
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
[good blogging] much better than the msm
[anti-american] or myopic intolerance
There’s a divisive conflict. There’s a conflict that has people all over the world lining up on one side or the other, declaring one side to be the “good” side, and the other side to be the “evil” side, arguing that the evil side subjects the good side to any number of atrocities, and that the good side deserves to prevail.
I have friends on campus who are rigidly pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli. They will list Israel’s crimes all day, but turn a blind eye to the equally egregious misdeeds of extremist Palestinian groups like Hamas.
She mentions an incident at her local Christian church:
One church member—a very intelligent, artistic, compassionate sort of man—spent two weeks explaining the central tenets of Islam so that we might better understand our Muslim neighbors. The presentation had a pleasant tone—he explained, for example, why zakat is important to Muslims. He talked about the different sects within Islam and how their beliefs differed. He talked quite a bit about history and the spread of Islam in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
When he was done speaking, another member of the congregation criticized him for looking at Islam through “rose-colored glasses.” He berated him for failing to focus on Islamic extremism, for failing to be alarmed at what he perceived as a dangerous religion. He characterized Muslims as wanting to appear virtuous, but not wanting to actually be virtuous.
Now many of my readers know I'm involved in a Muslim community of bloggers and with one in particular with whom many progressive discussions have taken place over this. I also live in a Muslim republic and deal with Muslims each and every day. Most just go about their day to day lives as most westerners do, with an added sense of personal and societal morality a possible distinction from many of my mates.
The real problem is that the concept of jihad is so misunderstood, even by nominal Muslims. It should be to "struggle in the way of G-d" or "to struggle to improve one's self and/or society." Jihad is directed against the devil's inducements, aspects of one's own self, or against a visible enemy of the word of G-d.
Now just look at this post and the way I rail against societal evils. One of my Jakarta friends would say to me: "That's jihad, James." Well, if it is, then I'm a mujahid 'cause I'm going to continue railing against those things.
Looking at the real evil in the west which this blog is basically all about [see the micro-control series of posts for an overview - don't google but type "micro control" into the blogsearch top left - 1, 3 and 7 are perhaps the best of them], this, by definition, transcends national boundaries and leads to the completely erroneous conclusion of most Muslims that "America" per se is evil - the Great Satan - and the equally erroneous conclusion of patriotic Americans that blind loyalty to their leaders, e.g. Bush and Co., whom even Alan Greenspan criticized, is the gung-ho way to truth and really good things.
Thus we have a blogger called Great Satan's Girlfriend and that's just craziness. The average American is no more satanic than bambi but he is patriotic and he is loyal to the constitution and the flag. Nor am I anti-American for saying these things and nor is Ruthie anti-American for her post. This is garbage. For myself, over 40% of my readers in the morning are American and you don't get that by being anti-American.
It's the intolerant debate, the non-debate, the polarized, entrenched positions which are the problem. It's the lack of real understanding, esp by the Beslan murderers, the 911 gang, the throat slitters and so on and also by our own side, entrenched in our narrow focus, which is the key issue.
You know that I am an English nationalist but many blogfriends are Scottish. I'm a Christian but hobnob with two Muslim communities. I'm western but live in Russia. This does not make me a relativist or multi-culturalist. I'm still a conservative in values and libertarian in outlook.
But I sure as hell am not going to turn up my nose at good friends in other communities.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
[curves] in the eye of the beholder
[britain] could be america, canada or australia
Coming back to Iain Dale's distressing report yet again:
* An epidemic of violent crime, teen pregnancy, heavy drinking and drug abuse fuels fears that British youth is in crisis.
* 27% of UK 15 year olds have been drunk 20 or more times compared to 12% in Germany, 6% in Holland and 3% in France
* 44% of UK teenagers are frequently involved in fights compared to 28% in Germany.
* 35% of UK 15 year olds have used Cannabis in the last 12 months, compared to 27% in France, 22% in Holland and 18% in Germany.
* 40% of English fifteen year old girls have had sexual intercourse, compared to 29% in Sweden, 24% in Canada, 20% in Holland, 18% in France and 14% on Spain.
* 15% of English girls fail to use contraception.
* A 2007 UNICEF child welfare study placed Britain bottom of a league table of 21 industrialised countries.
* Between 2003 and 2006 violent crime committed by UK under 18s rose 37%
* Marriage rates in Britain are at a 146 year low.
* Class sizes in Britain are among the highest of 20 Western countries.
* British children start school earlier and take more exams than other European countries.
... we can add Johnathan Pearce's piece at Samizdata [thanks Lord Somber]:
It has been blamed on many things, with varying levels of plausibility: the lack of authority figures that can inspire and instill respect in youngsters, mostly boys; the breakdown of the family and the rising levels of single-parenthood, which in turn is encouraged by perverse incentives, such as the Welfare State.
Throw in a culture that celebrates, or at least does not condemn, yobbery and violence plus the decline of manual labour and lack of outlets for youngsters who are not academically gifted, and you have quite a toxic mix.
... in which Time's piece is mentioned:
None of those indicators are good, but it's the increase in nasty teenage crime that really has Britain spooked. Violent offenses by British under-18s rose 37% in the three years to 2006.
... and the matter is brought home personally to fellow blogger Clive Davis, whose teenage son was assaulted by ASBOs:
My son was attacked - without provocation - on Saturday night. (He told the kids who punched and kicked him that he had a pacemaker, but it didn't make any difference. He was knocked cold in the end, and he's still suffering from concussion.) Yet the officer handling the case didn't plan to interview the main witness - one of my son's friends - until this weekend.
... the lily-livered response by the authorities followed - unbelievable!
We abandoned the moral code we paid lip service to in the 60s, parents went all out for the "self-fulfilling" lifestyle, children were allowed to grow up in a moral vacuum and look at the 22 year olds today - nightmare scenario.
What the F? 14 year old girls having group sex at overnight parties and doing drugs is somehow progressive? Hey, there used to be a thing called fathers protecting their daughters' reputations. Running a good chance of being bashed on the street is onwards and upwards? There used to be such a thing as police jumping on these things. Give me a break.
And some have the nerve to say society's improved.
Tom Paine has commented and it needs to be included in the body of the post here:
The established middle classes refuse to believe the sombre truths evident to those more recently emerged from the working class. No, Hermione, you would NOT get pregnant in order to get a council house. Nor would you keep getting pregnant to maximise your benefits. It would not make sense for you to do so. But if you were unskilled, poorly-educated and your alternative was a part time job at the chip shop, you just might.
If you offer farmers subsidies to grow certain crops, are you surprised if they grow them? We have now subsidised baby-farmers at the margins of our society for three generations - and those margins are widening in consequence. Some of the mothers may - when confronted with the reality of their offspring - actually raise them lovingly. I am sure many do. Nature programmes us to take care of our genes and there are few drives stronger than parental love. But many mothers who conceived with such attitudes do NOT care for their children. That is a terrible fate for the child. Are we really surprised to find feral youths roaming our streets? In their place, mightn't you be angry and vengeful, Hermione?
Our grandparents and parents' generations were naive fools. They visited many ills on us; not least the debts of their unfunded healthcare system, pensions (especially the generous and entirely unfunded pensions of their public employees) and their myriad state benefits. Their worst legacies of all though are the ills fostered by their crypto-marxist ideology and hippy social attitudes - especially to education. Those selfish boomers are now gearing up to check smugly out of their heavily-subsidised existences, leaving us all their messes to deal with.
[western gobi] khan's own country
Recently raiding the tent compound in Athek, my stronghold at an undisclosed location, he made away with 74 concubines and impending children. Not a lot by historical standards, I realize but they eased the aches and pains after a hard day's horse riding in that bloody sand.
So I call on all good people to rise up and help overhrow the usurper [and help me get my women back too, which is the main point of the exercise, truth be told].
Sigh - look at the beautiful landscape - isn't it worth dying for?
[fed power play] here we go, here we go
The Creature from Jeckyl Island is making it's latest power grab:
The plan would beef up the powers of the Federal Reserve, which earlier this month engineered the purchase of troubled investment bank Bear Stearns by JP Morgan. It would give it greater oversight of all kinds of financial institutions from hedge funds to insurance companies.
"Our current regulatory structure was not built to address the modern financial system,"
said US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. "Government has a responsibility to make sure our financial system is regulated effectively. And in this area, we can do a better job."
The government says the proposals are an effort help US firms become more competitive in the global economy. The 218-page report was commissioned before credit markets began to seize up in August last year.
The reactions to this tightening will clearly range from "right, so here we go" to "the Fed's a government body, isn't it?" Capitalist bloggers fall somewhere in between, knowing full well that the Fed is a privately run concern, not only influencing the regulation of markets but also playing in them and yet not willing to accept this thing for what it is.
The long and the short is that the Fed is Morgan and associates, who have a habit of bailing favoured firms out of crises and panics. They control the economy by ostensibly playing the government watchdog whilst at the same time creating the ability to openly play the markets through the FOMC and working closely with Europe.
The reason this is evil is because of all the human misery which has historically attended it, including housing crashes, depressions and war. Either Google the Federal Reserve or search this site and there is considerable material in support of this contention if you look.
They can be stopped if everyone is awake to what's going down but no one sector of society, e.g. the economists, can see the others sides, e.g. depopulation and Eisenhower's military-industrial complex.
There's no one authoritative ombudsman body which can draw all the threads together and see where this is going and why it is.
Monday, March 31, 2008
[iceland] and the non-graffiti solution
A “gang” of mystery painters who go by the name of Betri baer (“Better town”) painted over graffiti in central Reykjavík in the shadow of darkness on Wednesday night in protest of the lack of action taken by city authorities to fight graffiti.
And in classically quaint Icelandic reporting style:
The boys who were responsible for the latest wave of graffiti on Laugavegur were arrested and will probably have expensive fines.
Expensive fines! Wild times in Old Reykjavik these days. If you'd like to see the original post on this humble blog, here 'tis, still open for comments if you'd care to.
[mobiles] another nail in the coffin
[blogfocus] from ef to el
Gavin Ayling with what must be the classic quote of the day:
Poetry, as I said recently, has only just made sense to me and, of course, science always has been deeply important to me so I thought it appropriate that I share it with you.
Grendel is one year old - yo! And the Gypsy Haven also has a real birthday plus a shot at paradise [pic at the top]
Guthrum the Old reminds us of a very special day coming up and Ian Parker presents a poem on the topic:
The French and the Germans may call themselves such
As may the Norwegians, the Swedes, and the Dutch.
You can say you are Russian, or maybe a Dane,
But don’t dare say you’re English ever again.
... do read the rest of this.
Helena, in creating a likeness, presents her goddaughter [see pic below].
Iain Dale presents some quite frankly horrifying stats about our fair land:
* 27% of UK 15 year olds have been drunk 20 or more times compared to 12% in Germany, 6% in Holland and 3% in France
* 44% of UK teenagers are frequently involved in fights compared to 28% in Germany.
* 35% of UK 15 year olds have used Cannabis in the last 12 months, compared to 27% in France, 22% in Holland and 18% in Germany.
* 40% of English fifteen year old girls have had sexual intercourse, compared to 29% in Sweden, 24% in Canada, 20% in Holland, 18% in France and 14% on Spain.
Verlin's Lil Bit has scored her first goal in soccer so you'd best get over there and catch the video of said event! She's a great player!
Jams poses the quite important question - how many 5 year olds could you take on at one time? Do go and test your strength out against the wee mites.
John Trenchard presents a video illustrating the prowess of the Honey Badger ...
... whilst Juliet presents the cardiologists' nightmare and describes her attempt to make it in truly Juliesque terms:
Though I realise now that the lovely moist texture is due to the oil, I still can't get over that we ate a cup of oil in addition to the cake being covered in cream cheese, butter and icing sugar, and that we were willing to believe that the inclusion of a couple of grated carrots could somehow mean it was 'healthy' when in fact all it needed was a couple of spoonfuls of glaucoma-inducing MSG to make the horror complete.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
[history quiz] sunday memorizer
1. In which war did jet aircraft first fight each other?
2. Only one South American country had a Monarchy. Which was it?
3. Parker and Barrow were the surnames of which famous couple?
4. Rorke's Drift was a battle in which war?
5. Sitting Bull belonged to which tribe?
6. The Condor Legion was the name of the German air force flying for Franco's nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War. What was the name of the Irish volunteers on Franco's side?
7. The eruption of Mt Vesuvius that buried Pompeii also buried another town. Which one?
8. What was Operation Sea Lion in the Second World War?
9. Which American City is named after a British Prime Minister?
10. Which civilization built Machu Picchu?
No peeking, now:
The Korean War, Brazil, Bonnie and Clyde, The Zulu War, Sioux, The Blue Shirts, Herculaneum, The invasion of Britain, Pittsburgh, The Incas
[surveillance] doing well, thank you
* CCTVcore.co.uk reveals how the government plans to roll out a mugshot database. You can read the article here.
* The idea of a database containing naughty children's details has been touted for a while. Tony Blair was for the idea, but it seems said database is coming closer to fruition to help with "spotting future offenders". This is London reports on it here.
* The Telegraph reports that CCTV is slowly creeping into schools, their article here details the complaints from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers who fear school rooms are becoming Orwellian. The article reports that:
"Schools are believed to have first installed classroom CCTV four years ago, with an academy in Middlesbrough using cameras to monitor pupil behaviour and protect expensive equipment."
I could go on and on but you'll need to read for yourself. However, there's more from David Farrer:
But BAA says the fingerprinting at Terminal 5 has been installed under orders from the Government.Truly wonderful. And let's never forget this, from December 2006:It says a working group, which included the Home Office's Borders and Immigration Agency, decided it was the "most robust system" to protect Britain's borders.
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act
[home] tongue in cheek
It's all very well coming home unless:
1. you're not sure which one is your home;
2. it's not there when you get back [or not in the same form].
Sandy Denny sang, in Farewell, Farewell:
"No, I will never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be
But I'll swear a year to one who lies
Asleep along side of me"
Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travellers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call
The immortal Sandy Denny. This is home.