[presidents' letters] sheer coincidence

RMN with Checkers

Richard Millhouse Nixon was the first US president whose name contains all the letters from the word "criminal." The second was William Jefferson Clinton. Of course this means diddly squat and I'm not intimating anything - not any way. Both fine leaders. Yessir.

[global] the widening wealth gap

Interesting report in the NYT on wealth distribution:

The widening gap between the global haves and the have-nots in large measure reflects the failure of less- developed countries to develop, while rich countries — particularly the United States — have experienced fast economic growth and a spectacular buildup of assets.

“Developed countries have pulled ahead of the rest of the world,” said Edward N. Wolff, a professor of economics at New York University who is a co-author of a new study. “With the notable exception of China and India, the third world has drifted behind.”

It’s certainly a worry but understandable at the same time. In the countries high on the chart, there are so many more dedicated to mammon who’ve accumulated accordingly. If you’re obsessed with wealth, to the exclusion of humanity, you’re a very rich beast. The converse is equally understandable.

Another factor in this is that it’s hardly likely to alter through revolution or whatever, as socialists are wont to dream of. And at the risk of alienating humanistic readers yet again, some believe there is one, lurking in the shadows, all too happy too protect this pentagonal state of affairs and altruism is not his middle name.

Still, nice to have some stats on the issue.

[vingt-et-un] the french way to blackjack

Blackjack or Pontoon. For differences between French and English court cards, click here.

If you’re at a loose end this day or you have an extended lunch or you make one, try French vingt-et-un, the expanded version, played by any number of persons. The first deal is played as in the ordinary game.

In the second, [Imaginary Tens], each player is supposed to hold a ten-card and receives one card from the dealer, face downwards; he is then considered to hold a ten-card plus the one dealt, and stands or draws, receives or pays, as in the ordinary game. If he receives an ace he holds a natural.

In the third deal, [Blind Vingt-et-un], each player receives two cards, and draws or stands without looking at either.

The fourth deal is Sympathy and Antipathy, each player staking, and declaring which of the two he backs: two cards are then dealt to him: if they are of the same color, it is sympathy; if of different colors, antipathy.

At the fifth deal, [Rouge-et-noir], each player, having received three cards, bets that the majority will be either black or red, as he chooses.

In the sixth, [Self and Company], every one stakes but the dealer, who then sets out two cards, face upwards, one for himself and one for the players. If the two cards are pairs, the dealer wins; if not, he deals till one of the cards exposed is paired, paying or receiving according as that card belongs to himself or the company.

The seventh deal is Paying the Difference. Each player receives two cards, face upwards. The dealer pays or receives a stake for the difference in number between the pips on his own cards and those of each player. The ace counts as one.

The eighth deal is Clack. The stakes are pooled. The dealer deals the cards out, face upwards, calling one for the first, two for the second, and so on, the knave being II, queen 12, and king 13. If any of the cards dealt correspond to the number called, the dealer takes the pool; if none correspond, he forfeits that amount. At the end of this (the eighth) deal, the next player deals.

[blair’s apology] ten things about british slavery

This blog’s comment on Blair’s apology is drawn from the BBC: The story of British slavery is one of the greatest untold stories in UK history. It's a subject people don't talk about, with most Brits knowing more about slavery in the Deep South of the US. Here are 10 things for those of us who might still be a little hazy on the business:

1. The British were the first big slave-trading nation to abandon the trade. They did this in 1807 when there were still huge profits to be made, and they did it for mainly moral reasons. It took a revolution of the slaves to destroy France's system and a terrible civil war in the US decided the fate of the slaves of the Southern States. In Britain alone slavery was ended by millions of people, black and white, free and enslaved, who decided it could no longer be tolerated.

2. From the ending of the slave trade to the beginning of the 20th Century, the Royal Navy patrolled off the coast of Africa searching for slave trading ships, boarding them and freeing the slaves. The fleet was known as the West Africa Squadrons.

3. Slaves in the British Caribbean didn't produce cotton as they did in the US. Sugar was the crop of islands like Jamaica and Barbados and the slaves who produced it were the world's first industrial workers.

7 more things about British slavery here …

[switzerland] schengen and snow cannon dilemma

Justice and Interior ministers from the European Union have decided to include the EU’s 10 new members into the bloc's borderless Schengen system which includes 13 former EU member states [UK and Ireland remained outside the agreement] and the non-EU states of Iceland and Norway.

Unlike Malta, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and five other eastern European nations that have applied for full entry into the Schengen zone, Switzerland, which is not an EU member, will not sign up yet. Swiss voters endorsed their country's participation in Schengen in 2005, despite opposition from the rightwing People's Party.

Meanwhile, on another front, it is no secret that winters are becoming warmer everywhere and in the Alps, the temperature has risen considerably faster than the world average, with less snowfall and a vicious circle has set in: when the snow cover disappears, it leaves the rock face exposed. Dark rock absorbs heat, raising the temperature further.

Snow cannons are the solution for the pistes but they use huge amounts of water: about four litres per square metre per centimetre of snow cover, taking water from reservoirs and streams, when the water is in any case running low, effectively dumping it elsewhere, harming both soil and plants. The cannons also consume huge amounts of energy and to make matters worse, artificial snow quickly forms a hard surface and needs frequent fresh snow to keep the pistes usable.

The cannon issue is hardly likely to upset the Swiss but the open borders is more interesting. It was never very stringently applied and I crossed back and forth to France at Thonon-les-Bains without a word from anyone. That the people voted for open borders though surprises me - they always seemed more insular than that. Do you think it could be a purely economic decision?

[blogfocus tuesday] dealing in death

In the vanguard and beating the drum

If ever there was a good time to deal with death dealers, this is it. The known world is at the crossroads as we write and these fearless bloggers are tackling the issue before the focus swings away to more altruistic matters.

1

Getting us off to a nice apocalyptic start and setting the tone for kaboom kaboom, the Tin Drummer asks the biggie: Have we, indeed, actually finished the twentieth century at all? I tend to think some things, such as our anxiety over climate change and the shrill language surrounding it, may instead be ways in which we're trying to grasp its legacy. Maybe we're only just getting started on facing up to what we went through, the vast, mechanised murder, the leaders who slaughtered by the million while smiling and promising great worlds, even the tower blocks which were supposed to be new communities in the sky - and what our civilisation caused and nearly caused.

2

My dear friend Alex, from my home turf, is also on home turf with his fields of death commentaries and here’s his comment on Rumsfeld’s plan: Not doing reconstruction in places where there is violence is, well, interesting. It is probably the truth - where there is violence, the contractors won't go. And anyway, one doesn't try to persuade one's allies. Finally, showering cash on Iraq has been tried continuously since the 9th of April, 2003, and seems to have resulted in the biggest theft in history. Donald Rumsfeld was actually stupider than I thought.

Another 11 bloggers plus the mystery blogger here …

[silk road] china, kashmir and jihad

Only today some of us were discussing the Silk Road and now Kashmir is once again in the limelight:

Confirming that Pakistan was prepared to relinquish formal claims to Kashmir, a long-festering sore between New Delhi and Islamabad, General Musharraf said: "Yes, we are against independence. One is giving (that) up clearly and I say, yes, (I) am giving up." General Musharraf's statement represents a significant olive branch and the first sign of movement in some time on the thorny issue of Kashmir, which provides the raison d'etre for Islamic militancy in the Subcontinent and has caused three major wars since independence.

Indeed significant, yes? While they’re all concentrating on the reduction in ‘jihadism’, what it also does is smooth the way for China, which already has redoubled its efforts to get its western Karakoram Highway and economic centres along the route set up. If you glance at a map of the old Silk Road above, it’s hard to see but this highway heads inexorably for Kashmir and beyond.

Of special significance is the town at the western end of the road pictured above – Babylon. And Babylon is south of Baghdad. Another interesting thing is that a functioning superhighway with logistic support along the route and peaceful passage through Kashmir and the rest of the sub-continent would also be highly desirable from a military point of view.

[canada] election possibilities

I ran a post earlier on the new Canadian Liberal leadership and that Mr. Dion faces the possibility that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will try to engineer a quick election before he, Dion, can properly unite his party and organize for a vote. Blognor Regis adds: They only had one last January. And the one before that was barely 18 months before hand. It's like 1950 & 1951 or 1974 in Britain. Fatigue must be setting in by now.

Now, Halls of Macadamia [Neo Conservative] has offered “a Canadian perspective” which makes it clearer in my mind:

I'd say real, or engineered, voter fatigue is probably the biggest concern about engineering a snap election. Harper could easily make "same-sex marriage" or the "farmer bob rifle registry" a confidence vote and the opposition would have to vote them down. It's probably less about voters actually being upset, than the feeding frenzy that the opposition and the largely lefty media would make of it.

The vote is typically split lib/ urban, cons/ rural... the west conservative, with the exception of largely left British Columbia... Quebec is half sovereignist and half fed up with political machinations of any sort. The Maritimes are traditionally huge pork barrel provinces due to their lousy economies.

Right now Harper is governing as if he has a majority... which has stunned the liberals. Libs are in debt, and despite electing Dion as leader, in disarray. My guess is he [Harper] will continue what he's doing ... acting large according to his conscience and if he's brought down, he'll be happy to go to the ballot box.

Harper says what he means and despite a few concessions to political reality ... does what he says. My prediction is a conservative majority ... I'll let you know if that changes.

[worst movie ever] 5th nomination - st. elmo’s fire

Croydonian has now added his nomination ...

Hmm. There was a series of 'Golden Turkeys' hosted by Michael Medved on C4 many, many moons ago, featuring such triumphs of the film maker's art as 'Plan 9 from Outer Space', 'The Creeping Terror' etc etc.

However, bad though those films were, they did end up being entertaining, so I think it might be an idea to also look at commercially successful films that are truly terrible. The worst films I have paid money to see are the staggeringly self-indulgent and utterly lousy 'Golden Child' and the toe-curlingly awful 'St Elmo's Fire'. Re the latter, as a rule any film involving Joel Schumacher will be exploitative, badly made dreck. Conversely, the widely slated 'Heaven's Gate' has pacing problems but is actually not bad.

Right, so let’s concentrate on St. Elmo's Fire.

Wiki: This coming-of-age film revolves around a group of friends that have just graduated from Georgetown University and their adjustment to their post-university lives, the quarter-life crisis, and the responsibilities of encroaching adulthood.

Imdb: Cast: Emilio Estevez as Kirby Keger; Rob Lowe as Billy Hicks; Andrew McCarthy as Kevin Dolenz and Demi Moore as Jules. Written by Joel Schumacher and Carl Kurlander Directed by Joel Schumacher. Tagline: The passion burns deep.

Plot Outline: A Group of friends, just out of college, struggle with adulthood. Their main problem is that they're all self-centered and obnoxious.

Notes: Demi Moore. Not the same faded never-a-star of whom Wiki says: “She became well-known after a string of 1980s teen-oriented movies”? 1980s!! Not the same Demi Moore whose concept of acting is insisting on revealing an increasingly aging body to the camera in almost any film she manages to scrape into? Is this the same Demi Moore? The one who posed naked and pregnant in Vanity Fair? And she’s a coming of age teenager here, named Jules Jacoby?

St. Elmo’s Fire is most definitely nominated – Erasmus of Formiae would surely turn in his watery grave. Other nominations so far include:

1] Manos 2] Tom & Vera 3] Arthur's Dyke 4] Starship Troopers .

[australia] one reason never to live there

This one came from Norm and I caught it on the Tin Drummer’s site. It provides one simple, definitive reason not to settle in Australia. This is now not permissible at a cricket match, because of the threat of terrorism:

[Anyone who] ... offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages, vilifies, abuses, belittles, scorns, denigrates, traduces, ridicules, dehumanizes, dishonours, defames, victimizes, contemns, disrespects, slanders, frightens, taunts, torments, wounds, derides, terrifies, terrorizes, petrifies, demeans, maligns, badmouths, and [to go with 'offends'] upsets, dismays, demoralizes, depresses, distresses or anguishes... [and anyone who does such thing will be taken outside and laden down with the waste paperwork from every unnecessary government department until he or she be dead. And may the Force of PC have mercy on them.]

Australia is a sunburnt land with cute, cuddly wildlife, wide open spaces, golden beaches, huge vistas of multi-coloured sky and a vibrant, go-ahead society, hell-bent on nobbling itself, of strangling itself into submission. Clearly admirers of Soviet Russia and missing it badly, this drivel above is what they’ve now lumbered themselves with.

Can you see the demented bureaucrats in their airconditioned offices, Thesaurus and dictionary on the desk before them, pausing and asking one another: ‘Do you think we’ve covered everything here? Anything else anyone wants to ban? Darleen? Paula?’

Lord, help them because all I can do is traduce them.