[blogpower] the sorry mess in summary

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There was considerable misunderstanding over Ian's and JMB's roles and only now are we getting it all together.

Both are excellent bloggers, neither has horns and good things prevail.

James

[to hell with it] bed or oblivion

There are times, after months of fighting alone that a man needs to just go to bed and have a sleep. That's what I'm going to do now on this minus 26 degree night.

It wasn't so much Matt's little debate with me here that drained the energy but Calum Carr's cheap insults earlier in lieu of reasoned argument certainly exacerbated the process.

There is so much arguing from false premises, people writing to you professing friendship but then acting against you, so much failure to stand up and uphold agreed principles, so much misrepresentation via a mailing list of the true state of affairs, so much falsehood.

And friends who remain silent.

I'm going to bed.

[exercise and a little drink] and don't forget diet and love

Yes

A European Heart Journal study suggests the combination can cut the risk of heart disease. A Danish team found people who led an active lifestyle were less prone to heart disease - but the risk was cut still further if they drank moderately.

The researchers followed nearly 12,000 men and women for nearly 20 years, during which 1,242 died from ischaemic heart disease (IHD). Overall, they found people who did not drink or take any exercise had the highest risk of heart disease - 49% higher than people who either drank, exercised or did both.

When comparing people who took similar levels of exercise, they found that those who drank moderately - one to 14 units of alcohol a week - were around 30% less likely to develop heart disease than non-drinkers.

That stands to reason but for well-being, surely you'd have to add:

1. spiritual welfare - being at ease in one's head, happy in he job and generally easy about things;

2. diet - eating properly is so vitally important it was a surprise this was not factored into the study;

3. good relationship with a loved one. I mean, how important is this?

Alternatively, it is also logical that people who are spiritually not at one, who over-eat fatty or excessively carbo foods, are sedentary, drink nothing perhaps due to wowserism and are alone are at the greatest risk.

There's a message there, methinks.

No

[martin scriblerus] was there ever one such as this

It is perverse that the leaders of a modern nation feel they must honour the memory of the great men to whom that nation owes what it possesses in high culture and civility, and yet, were those great men alive today, they would be reviled for holding opinions that those leaders profess to find uncultured and uncivilised and unfit for the standing of a modern nation.

Amen to that, Deogolwulf.

[new hampshire] america mourns

Oh my goodness. She cried the crocodile tears, tugged at the heartstrings and got in. I join the rest of America in mourning this tragic event. May this serve as a reminder of the danger the Lizard Queen still represents. I'm no wiser than the pundits and yet I did write, after Iowa:

Before anyone writes off the Lizard Queen, it's also worth noting that a caucus is not a primary - a primary is more direct. Plus she's east coast.

G-d help America [plus a few million relatively sane voters].

[sarkozy and bruni] why not, for goodness sake?

If I were the French President and my wife refused to support her husband and then we were divorced, I'd imagine I'd be pretty down about it. It would sort of hurt deep down, even though I never showed it publicly.

Then, if a woman came into my life and she had a bit of a history people latched onto but I loved her, then that would be unfortunate but what could I do? We'd have to marry if she also loved me and who's to say she doesn't?

Now, if I were France, above all nations except maybe Italy, I'd understand implicitly that lasting relationships can't be politically packaged into time frames favoured by the press, even though I'd be well aware of the time constraints.

I'd also be well aware that if I'd just forced a political issue - in his case the strikes and in mine - well, the least said the better - then there'd be fallout, wouldn't there? It's pretty lonely doing that and if a loving woman came into my life, I'd make pretty sure to treat her right because, in the things I must do next for France, I'd need her softness like never before.

So what the hell are the press saying?

Sarkozy denied that he was using the ups and downs of his love life to draw attention from France's problems. He said he was astonished by some news reports that suggested his October divorce was timed to overshadow coverage of a nationwide strike that paralyzed the country. "I told myself that people who wrote such articles must never have been divorced," Sarkozy said, adding that he wasn't angry at them. "I was simply ashamed for them, for being so far removed from life's realities."

I'd go on to impress upon them:

«Vous l'avez compris, c'est du sérieux». Dès la deuxième question, le chef de l'Etat était interrogé sur sa relation avec l'ex-mannequin Carla Bruni, lors de sa conférence de presse de rentrée mardi. «Mais, ce n'est pas le JDD qui fixera la date», s'est empressé d'ajouter le chef de l'Etat devant un auditoire souriant.

All the same, he needs to be just a bit careful because even Le Figaro was not 100% enamoured of this stage of Sarko's presidency. Yet its photo of the happy couple seems to indicate some sort of rearguard action.

Personally, unless the leopard's changed her spots, I think he could be heading for the same problems as before. The woman is a known "easy girl" so one hopes he's not looking for marital fidelity from her but maybe he needs her perverse outlook in his position.

The French are in an interesting position themselves - the prospect of a Hungarian descendant and an Italian as 1st and 2nd persons in their republic.