[cassandra] wildfires of pyro-terrorism

Cassandra writes, of that terrible situation in California:

With reference to the massive, cataclysmic wildfire situation presently unfolding in California, the Politeia Article Database has been updated with information on Pyro Terrorism. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people who have been hit.

Amen to that. I've been close to a number of these in Australia and they're no fun.

[blogfocus thursday] gentlemen’s evening

1. Jeremy Jacobs is deeply concerned about quinces:

Make marmalade or jam from it. Now you may wonder what I'm doing writing about an obscure fruit such as the quince. Well my travels today included a visit to the wilds of Suffolk, whereupon I came across the owner of this quince tree. (You can just make out the hanging fruit) For 50p I bought four and continued with my trip.

2. Shades is, however, reminded of something else:

Through a process of random connected thought and erratic surfing after reading his book I have now found out that the well known Dexy's Midnight Runners song Jackie Wilson said (I'm in heaven when you smile) was written by Van the Man. (I also now know who Jackie Wilson is as well). That reminded me of the first time I saw this episode of Top of the Pops (aired in 1982 but I was abroad at the time) and laughed like a drain when I got the in-joke.

Jeremy replies to this post:

Professional Yorkshireman. Contradiction in terms isn't it?

To which I reply:

Ooh, Jeremy, you are naughty about us tykes.

To which Shades replies:

Jeremy- Laugh out loud! Maybe I'll get the Tee Shirt. Or I'll set Ian McMillan on you. What number bus goes past your street? James, I didn't know you were a Tyke*. It partially blows away the old saying:

You can always tell a Yorkshiteman...but you can't tell him much!

Anyone can make errors and Shades corrects his:

Oops- a rather inadvertently funny typo in that last comment!

But enough of this gay Yorkshire banter. Moving on:

3. Ross Fountain is in a forgiving mood:

I'm always keen to resolve any questions Guardian writers may have so I'll have a go at solving this one from the Guardian sport blog: Is it really that ridiculous to argue that the disastrous invasions of Vietnam and Iraq were at least partly the fault of the games that America plays? Yes it is, in the sense that it is an absurd idea. However it is a good career move for a Grauniad writer to be able to use any subject as a stick to beat Amerikkka with.

4. The Jailhouse Lawyer has a nice twist on the EU Constitution by Any Other Name:

Jailors claim right to strike under EU treaty

Gordon Brown faces his first legal challenge under the new EU Charter of Fundamental Rights days after claiming to have won a watertight opt-out from the document for Britain. Prison officers are preparing to use the charter to win back their right to strike in what will become a key test of its force in this country.

* Bingley

[indoor pollution] time to think about it

Coincidences happen. There we were thousands of kilometres from Wales, speaking of indoor pollution and airflow and Liz was posting about just this on her blog - naturally, her slant was slightly different.

Three aspects immediately spring to mind – airflow, dust and surfaces.

Airflow – I’m notorious for seating people in parts of the room where the draught won’t affect them and then, by a combination of which door is left open and how far, the source and strength of the flow can be controlled. In extreme situations, the heaters or conditioners come into it.

With the Russian penchant for not just closing up windows in winter but sealing them with sealing tape, all those lovely coughed germs stay right where they hover and then lightly settle to the preparation surfaces to fester.

Welcome to the world of constantly recycled sickness – if a family member hasn’t got it this time round, just wait a few rounds and he’s guaranteed.

As most of my time is spent with females, the question of men’s and women’s sensitivity to cold also comes up under this heading.

Don’t wish to be categorical about it but in winter most men I know first don the jacket, then a cap but only when forced to [under minus 12 or so, with wind] will we don gloves.

Girls will go for boots and gloves early, then a heavier jacket and only in extremes, a hood.

Here are some theories about this.

Naturally, this causes conflict. If I leave the room, a girl will go over in my absence and close the window and lock it! I come back in, open it again and so it goes on. I can’t stand stuffy rooms.

If you’re a girl reading this, I have an idea what you’d be thinking.

Dust – my new printer went in and though it’s covered, the plastic feed tray sticks out and in two days it was covered with a thin layer of dust. From where? It’s metres from the balcony door and the balcony windows are closed. From the ceiling? I’d like to know.

Vacuum it up, change bed linen, my two girls regularly wash the area – things definitely changed for the better, even overnight.

Surfaces – some time ago a friend made me lunch at his place. He had a cold so the hankie came out and went away, the food was prepared, the benchtops were as they were, I came down with the flu within two days.

The AMA says:

Ninety four percent of all respiratory ailments are caused by polluted air and one-third of our national health bill is for causes directly attributable to indoor air pollution such as toxic mold damage and black mold problem.

It stands to reason, isn’t it?

A friend said today he hasn’t got time for this stuff and couldn’t be bothered with finicky cleaning of surfaces and so on. I said the girls he pays could do it, should do it, as part of their brief.

This same friend went on to speculate that when we use the word “dust”, what little nasties actually constitute this stuff?

No one wants to become like Felix Ungar and yet - with winter coming on – maybe it’s a topic to consider.

[world’s unsexiest] why is it so?

As you know, this blog is not into “celebrity” in any worshipful sense of the word; in fact higham feels the deepest sympathy and pity for those empty shells and hopes earnestly that they can find that for which they seek.

Example:

Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue has revealed she would like to have a baby.

This is not new. Months ago she was looking for a good man and at the time:

Word on the street is that Kylie Minogue has hired a team of assistants to help find her a man.

I commented that she was fishing in the wrong pond.

The answer is there, if people would only look. They insist on trying everything except the efficacious and then walk around, sadly resigned to the inevitable that they’ll never find what they long for.

They can find it tomorrow if they fished in the right pool. And so to celebrity beauty - typically shallow journo article:

Charlize Theron, Jessica Alba and Halle Berry are regularly named the world's sexiest women. But who are the unsexiest women alive? A men's magazine decided to find out. The list, published in the latest edition of Maxim Magazine, named Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker as the No. 1 Unsexiest Woman Alive. The magazine said Parker was the "least sexy woman in a group of very unsexy women" that ironically starred in a show with the word "sex" in the title.

The article then goes on to list poor physical attributes like hair and skin but predictably misses the core reason people are attractive – the harmonious combination of spirit, balance within themselves and all of this exuding itself in their physical presence.

Even 20 year old Russian girls understand this principle – why can’t the Anglo-Saxon?

My lowest five celebrity unsexy women? In no particular order, Miss Dirty [Angelina Jolie], Miss Airhead [Paris Hilton], Miss Anorexi-avarice [Posh Spice], Miss Boobs [Pamela Anderson], Miss Lost Her Way [Anna Kournikova but at least she looks OK facially] and Miss All at Sea [Britney Spears].

I have my own issues onside me but these lost ladies have issues beyond. Hope to goodness that someone they accidentally meet up with points them in the right direction.

[comments policy] is yours the same

I really dislike Thursday mornings because of the lack of time. However, it seems the comments policy has to be touched on again due to one or two incidents over the past two days.

This blog allows anonymous comments on certain conditions. Whilst this often produces a better comment due to the lack of constraint the writer now feels and that can be useful, especially with the world issues recently, the moment he personally calls another writer an idiot or whatever, I delete.

The other type most of us delete is when the person comes in either off topic or with scant regard for the subject line, accompanied by a link to click. We all know these and they're pests. Unfortunately, I fear Anon was caught up in this too in his haste.

You might say that Anonymous has been doing a lot off o/t commenting of late but there is a clear difference - it was feeding information vaguely attached to a former and far-from-dead-even-now topic and quite often pertinent. Besides, there is more than one Anonymous and their grammatical and stylistic singularities identify them anyway [don't forget I'm a former headmaster].

This whole blurb comes down to respect for the blog, the subject being discussed and the other commenters, even though we might violently disagree. I have no problems saying that what you wrote just now was the greatest load of garbage I've ever read but that's not, in my book, ad hominem. Attack the message, not the messenger.

Others might disagree.

[midweek travel] add piquancy to your stay

From Parker Pyne to West World, there has always been a market for the adventurous kind who like a touch of piquancy to their stay.

Below are ten randomly selected destinations which are fairly certain to supply you with the “adventure holiday” you crave. Each entry has its own Scimitar Piquancy Rating [SPR] for your guidance, from 1 to 5 scimitars - the more scimitars, the more lethal the holiday.

1. Somalia

SPR: Trouble is - so many groups, each wanting to terminate you.

The X Factor: A Fourth Generation entity, the Islamic Courts, which had taken control of most of Somalia, was brushed aside with ease by Ethiopian tanks and jets. A makeshift state, the Transitional Federal Government, which had been created years ago by other states but was almost invisible within Somalia, was installed in Mogadishu. The Somali state was restored – or so it seems. Added factors: warlords

2. Darfur

SPR: They're more interested in massacring each other but if you get in the way ...

The X Factor: The government and Janjaweed attacks upon the non-Baggara civilian populace have resulted in a major humanitarian crisis. Added factors: UN “Peacekeeping” atrocities and China, who are supporting the government.

3. Algeria

SPR: If they catch you, it will be gruesome.

The X Factor: Sustained small-scale terrorist attacks including bombings, false roadblocks, kidnappings, ambushes, and assassinations occur regularly. Added factors: government condoned militsias like “the AIS, connected to the FIS, the Islamic party that would've won the elections.

But AIS looked like squeamish moderates compared to the GIA, another Islamic militia that does its killing south of Algiers. The GIA get my vote for the sickest, craziest, bloodiest guerrilla group since the Khmer Rouge went out of business. They're the ones who do the massacres that make Algeria the place you'd least like to spend your honeymoon.”

4. Palestine

SPR: They catch you, off goes the head.

The X Factor: "The leaders of both the PA [Palestinian Authority] and Hamas must take immediate steps to break the cycle of impunity that continues to fuel abuses, including arbitrary detentions, abductions, torture and ill-treatment by their forces," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's Middle East programme director. Added factors: Condi’s stirring.

5. Namibia

SPR: Disease is the one to be careful about. And drinking the water.

The X Factor: The expropriation of white-owned farms began in 2005 and the government says it aims to resettle many thousands of landless citizens. Like its neighbours, Namibia's wellbeing is being threatened by the HIV/Aids epidemic. Added factor: secessionist war in the east which the government now says is safe.

6. Burma

SPR: Almost no risk because the country is sealed off to you.

The X Factor: Than Shwe and the SPDC are the biggies, doing a Darfur by providing government troop protection whilst 200 “security” men killed monks in Ngwe Kyar Yan. Added factor: isolation.

7. Afghanistan

SPR: They catch you, they kill you.

The X Factor: Even though they have been removed from power, they are still present in small pockets, particularly in the eastern and southern regions of Afghanistan. News reports are claiming that these scattered Taliban have now supposedly teamed up with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, head of Hezbi Islami. Pakistan, who supported the Taliban regime militarily and financially, made a drastic policy change and yet can it be trusted? Added factor: NATO.

8. Colombia

SPR: Virtual guarantee to be kidnapped but usually only for ransom.


The X Factor: In August 2001, Colombian police arrested four members of the Irish Republican Army, one who was reportedly teaching English to terrorists at an FARC camp, while the others had apparently been showing the Colombians how to manufacture gasoline bombs. FARC finances its operations partly through ransoms paid to kidnappers. There were 3,000 kidnappings reported in Colombia in 2000. Added factors: civil war, drug barons.

9. The Philippines

SPR: Stay out of the south and you might be all right.

The X Factor: Several religious groups have been fighting for a homeland in the south of the Philippines since the 1970s. Thousands of people have died in the conflict. Rebels occasionally take foreign tourists and Filipinos hostage. Added factors: Libya and possibly Bin Laden.

10. The Yemen

SPR: Virtual guarantee to be kidnapped but less to be murdered.

The X Factor: Its tribal tradition of kidnapping foreigners for ransom and its government's inability to control remote areas, have made Yemen a haven for Middle Eastern terrorists. Foreign tourists have been kidnapped in recent years. Added factors: Bin Laden, Iraq, Iran.

If you’ve noticed a certain correlation between many of these destinations, for goodness sake don’t go drawing any cartoons about it.

[blogfocus wednesday] travel and identity

1. Aranka felt deflated by the strong winds on the weekend:

We spent the weekend in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, attending the Shenandoah Valley Hot Air Balloon & Wine Festival and a Civil War Reenactment/Living History event. Sadly, the weather did not cooperate (too much wind) and this is all we saw of the balloons at the attempted sunset launch on Saturday.

Which was fun, but we will now have to come back again next year to see the full spectacle (well, at least this is the reasoning I’m giving Ron). Theoretically, we could have gotten up the next day to see the 7:30 AM launch... Yeah, right. (Don’t get me wrong; we love hot air balloons. Well, I LOVE them. I’ve even decorated The Cakes’ nursery with hot air balloons.

2. Ordo has sound advice about your carbon footprint – here are four suggestions:

1. Wear sandals…No one will ever want to look at your carbon footprint again. 4. Holiday closer to home…Rent a caravan in Amlwch. 5. Don't buy…shoplift. Most of our footprint is down to the things we buy. Our houses are often cluttered with items we only use or wear once. Shoplifting reduces the amount you can consume, unless you have very, very big pockets. 7. Eat a local, organic, seasonal, low meat diet…Yes, seagulls and grey squirrels.

3. The Broadsheet Rag has an identity crisis … or does he?

I was reading the Last Ditch earlier today and found that he was quite upset. It turns out that the leader he is most like is Gandhi. So I thought, ‘I’m at a loose end why don’t I try the test’. I answered the questions honestly. And the result? Well, TBR is most like Saddam Husein. I was overjoyed. Of course my mother will be a little upset. But who doesn’t like to think of themselves as an evil dictator? Patrons of fair trade and woolly liberals of course. But to me it was great news. Affirmation of my soon to be found greatness. It’s like doing a cartoon character test and finding out that you are most like Eric Cartman or Bender.

4. The Pub Philosopher considers a holiday in a part of the world which appears to be open again:

Things must be getting better in Somalia. It seems you can go on holiday there now. Yasin Abdirahman would have been safer if he'd accompanied his mother instead of staying in Southall.