[blogfocus monday] three issues in one

1 Jobsworths


MJW brings us the harrowing tale of station attendants who had officiously closed all doors then let the train stand idle. Then:

Suddenly a woman and her young son, who had obviously been trying to board at one of the doors locked out made a desperate dash for the remaining open door, the platform staff shouted at her to stand away and attempted to block her path, whilst the guard attempted to close the doors before she could board, but he was too late and the doors closed on her before automatically springing back open.

With doors open, the woman stepped into the entrance way, and then it happened, a reprehensible act from the guard, instead of letting her board, he blocked her path and started to bundle her back through the open doors on to the platform. He was unable to prevent her son from boarding (the young boy actually stood next to me), but he managed to manhandle the woman back on to the platform and refused to let her enter, so she called her son off the train.

As he closed the doors on the poor woman and her son, I said to him “you didn’t need to do that, did you?” prompting him, in the tradition of a million petty minded jobsworths before him to snap back “don’t you tell me how to do my job”!

2 Flaming and the quality of debate


Doctor Vee berates moronic commenters which is interesting because that is what Anon and Simon recently did here before storming off in a huff. Here's part of what the good doc said:

The first time I truly realised that comments on MSM sites were almost universally awful was when Scotsman.com introduced them. I wrote about it at the time. The comment box obviously just attracts loudmouths and morons. Anyone looking for good debate would be sorely disappointed.

This isn’t just a problem with the media. Anyone who has read the comments on huge websites like Digg or YouTube will have probably found their inner misanthrope jumping out and despairing about the state of humankind. It seems as though the bigger the website is, the worse the comments are.

To support this contention, I offer, from a Sydney national news website, the question "How to make someone love you". Here's a cross-section of the responses:

Lol that cynical tumor is seriously malignant ;) Posted by: M on February 11, 2008 9:15 AM

I think it is also contagious. Posted by: Dragonforce on February 11, 2008 9:21 AM

It is called early- to mid-30's can't be botheredness. Posted by: M on February 11, 2008 9:27 AM

how does a chick make you fall in love with her ##### she gets knocked up/ and within no time at all you got yourself a fullhouse with a couple a deuces i tell all you dudes on here playing with a shortstack sometimes its easier playing the slot machines than playing pokher with a slot Posted by: Pokher on February 11, 2008 10:17 AM

Ruthie offered her thoughts on the quality of debate here.


3 Sex and the appreciative woman


This is exactly the sort of thing I'm putting in the 2nd book right now and Lady M is the type of woman I'd gladly bed but her standards are so high that I doubt I could meet them. Sending a plane seems a bit of a tall order at this point in time:

I like men. I like the way they smell. I like the way they think - solution over debate, facts over speculation. I like the hair on their bodies in places that can keep a skinny woman warm. I like the way they like women. I like the way they can talk with their eyes even if they can’t dance. I like the way they laugh. I like the way they continue to make me feel sexy and desirable, even though I am now a woman of a certain age – I appreciate that chaps - I thought it would be all over by now.

I love flirting and I appreciate a man who does it well. I like a man of few words and I like a man who can engage in conversation as a blood sport. I like men who send flowers, and I like men who send planes. I like men who are warriors, and I like men who are poets and philosophers. I love a man who loves his wife/girlfriend/fiancée’ and talks about it – nothing sexier. I love men who love children and animals. I appreciate a man who can sing or dance or both, but I love a man who loves opera. I really like sex, I do. I like the entire package ...

[incest] third cousins breed most

Update for this post.

Hot from Iceland, even if seriously flawed:

Couples with the same great-great-grandparents have more children than those who aren't as closely related, according to an Icelandic study.

They'd know up there in those winter months, wouldn't they? So the message is clear - get out there and get breeding.

By the way - do you actually know your third cousin? Also, maybe you should read this first. Also, how did they gather the data for this study? 'Excuse me- have you bonked a close relative lately?' And is the study really necessary for our further understanding?

This was also interesting:

Incest in the United Kingdom is governed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003. In France, incest laws were abolished by Napoleon some 200 years ago. Incestuous relations between a parent and minor child are prohibited and punished by law in France, but not between adults.

How could the same thing be wrong in one country but not in the other [despite the law]?

[quickies] good news monday

1 Excellent!

2 Also excellent:

Senator Barack Obama tallied his fourth decisive victory this weekend in a state nominating contest on Sunday, winning the Maine caucus, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton replaced her campaign manager and longtime aide in the biggest shakeup of her campaign to date.

3 Also, also excellent:

The unanimous approval of the deal by the governing bodies of the Writers Guild of America came a day after the union and studios finalized details of a settlement hinging on how much writers should be paid for work distributed over the Internet.

4 Also, also, also excellent:

They appear to be back.

5 Also, also, also, also excellent:

This might just see the Church getting the kick up the backside it's needed for many years now, especially in the U.S., over it's relativistic and equivocal positions on fundamental issues.

6 Also, also, also, also, also excellent:

Flip flop. The Hottie and the Nottie? Please!

Not a bad start to a Monday. Now watch someone come along and b-gg-r it up.

[divorce] the nastiness of it all

What a gold digger:

The musician, meanwhile, has vowed to stay cool - hoping to clear his name and keeping most of his fortune, estimated at £825 million.

Mills, who is defending herself after furiously sacking her lawyers, has reportedly demanded a settlement of £50 million in what could be the most costly divorce in British legal history.

I shan't be following this sordid affair. What is it about divorces? What makes them so petty and unjust? Such hatred comes out, often from one side. Accepting that he drank and was abusive ... why? Why not kind and loving? Could she have had anything to do with that by some chance?

The alien life form who finds a solution to the war between men and women and patents it will become rich beyond imagining. On the other hand, look at the McCartney history, from the Apple Studios days onwards. All the sycophantic hangers-on trying to fleece them for all they had.

Don't know, some of us just seem poor judges of character when it comes to ourselves. personally.

[blogger classic] last freedom in the sphere

Rob has just been having problems with control-freak providers:

I was trying to make some code appear on my site. Now this code has taken me ages to get right. Not because it’s complicated. Just because WordPress was playing havoc.

I typed out the code using some entities and normal quote marks. It appeared ok but it wouldn’t copy properly — rendering the banner useless. OK I thought, I’ll just use entities. And this is where things got annoying.

The problem with WP is that it likes to change things for you.

That's right, Rob - it does. Typepad and Wordpress are useless service providers because they insist you do it their way. Wordpress doesn't even let you justify text and prevents you doing a myriad other things you'd like.

Then Blogger got in on it with their ridiculous "Layout" widget rubbish until someone clearly told them where to put it and they allowed "Classic" again. Here's how easy Classic is:

1. Go to twenty pages of Classic templates [google Blogger Templates] available on the web;

2. Choose one;

3. Copy the html to Word and play about with it, throwing this out, writing this in, designing your header for yourself;

4. Paste in to the template and save.

Voila - nourishing insanity in its new version - I've just finished the initial site before tweaking. Now, if I'd like to tweak it, I go to Mandarin Design Color Chart and make some slight adjustments to taste. I'm not saying my design skills are anything to write home about but I do have the freedom to do as I wish.

Easy-peasy. All other providers - you can keep them.

[britain] time the traitors were charged

Right on. Carey!

There is no news in this post - you've all seen it in the Telegraph and elsewhere. I'm just adding my signature to it.

Enough's enough!

Writing in this newspaper, Lord Carey condemns multiculturalism as "disastrous", blames it for creating Islamic ghettos and says that Dr Williams's support for sharia law will "inevitably lead to further demands from the Muslim community".

He suggests that such a move could embolden some Muslims to try to turn Britain into a country ruled by Islamic law which, he says, contradicts principles of human rights and allows the persecution of Christians.

I live in a Muslim republic over here and good luck to them. It's their land and I'm living here as their guest. Therefore I observe their laws. What's the problem?

One can't even blame the British Muslims for acting as they have - after all, if the Musselmen here said to me, 'Let's be all multicultural and tell us how we can become Anglican,' it's sort of an open invitation, isn't it? But the Deobandi? On the plane, chums.

It's Blair and Brown who should be charged with High Treason and either incarcerated in the Tower or executed [we'll argue this one later]. But traitors they are, by any definition of the word. This is not rhetoric - they have clearly betrayed our land.

And if I might be permitted to be the one to waterboard Brown until he says the word "England", I'd deem it an honour. To quote Holmes, in His Last Bow:

The Englishman is a patient creature but at present his temper is a little inflamed and it would be as well not to try him too far.

And who does Brown think he's doing it for - some vague notion of the '45? Even his own countrymen detest him. Old news but the idea remains:

This weekend Brown has managed to destroy one of the most formidable reputations in British politics - his own; he has handed a political triumph to his only rival for the Premiership; and he has made Alex Salmond's day. Nice work, Gordon.

As for the Catholic/CofE thing - what a storm in a teacup. They're all Christian. As for the Scots, Irish and Welsh - they're my friends so there's nothing to be read into this.

[joy division] curtis documentary

New documentary about Joy Division:

The streets of Manchester look as bleak in colour as they did in black and white ("I didn't see a tree till I was nine", one band member claims). Shots of Curtis performing show how closely the actor Sam Riley imitated his thrashing, uncoordinated dance moves.

Many other talking heads are willing to expound on the genius of Curtis and the legacy of a band who changed the face of pop music forever.

In the face of all these grand, romantic statements, someone brings things down to earth with the simple observation that the total output of Joy Division consisted of two albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer. "Everything else is merchandising."

Very true, and this film is no exception.

Did they need any more to make the legend? These albums stand alone.

[anniversaries] one and one hundred

As you'll see from the previous post, Aquarian men are terrible at dates and anniversaries but this post celebrates two:

JMB has come of age in the blogworld and says:

Blogging takes a lot of time and effort and many things in my life have suffered this past year. Reading has been one of them and it seems that I only read a book a week or every ten days now whereas I read a book every couple of days before, sometimes one in a day.

The Broadsheet Rag has reached 100 posts and should automatically be included in Blogpower. :)

Please get over to both and wish them the warmest wishes.

[aquarian man] ignore at your peril

Click on pic for more info.

As a few of our birthdays are around this time, it's appropriate to present to any female [or male] contemplating a tryst with one of these some of the truths of this sign. There's a lot of guff written but some things do repeatedly come through:

Firstly, this was voted the most accurate by readers of one site:

[He is] friendly, unpredictable, clean, erratic, innovative, freedom-loving. Marriage is not important for the Aquarian male. He usually marries or gets into long-term bonded relationships “like marriage,” but he usually takes a long time making the commitment.

He is a romantic, but not in the usual sense. He remembers his love, whenever it suddenly strikes him, not necessarily on birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries. He likes to surprise and prides himself in “being different, non-conventional. He may achieve some position of prestige with his inventiveness.

He needs a woman who will support his “ahead of the times” ideas. He is attracted to the unusual and independent woman, yea, even eccentric who is willing to be experimental. She should value her freedom, but be firmly loyal to him. He will reject any relationship in which he is not trusted.

Here are a few other things cobbled together from various sources:


The only sure thing about Aquarius is his independence and unpredictability. He is drawn to novelty like a magnet, and loves reaching out to touch every person or thing that fascinates with its newness. He is famous for his spontaneity.

It can also be disturbing when he starts asking you direct questions, as he probes deep into the heart of your private feelings, not in the least interested in pointless small talk
His boyish enthusiasm doesn’t hide his vast databank of life experiences, which make him coldly practical and fiercely protective.

The Aquarian doesn't have the best memory in the world and is very poor on women’s names, but he does have some sort of invisible antenna and a high degree of psychic precognition – he’s known for this. [My comment - I can often tell who's phoning by the dial tone and don't care if you believe it or not]

Trusting people doesn't come naturally - he wants to know what's behind the carefully constructed face you’re presenting to him. [My comment - hence his stress on loyalty]

He delights in defending prophets whose opinions are vilified, then are found to be correct years later. [My comment - as in Jesus Christ who will be seen to have been correct]

He has a knack for calming hysterical people and soothing frightened children and he’ll always be popular with the young. [My comment - this can be a rod for the back]

Aquarians despise liars and cheats, especially a cheating woman. He may remain polite and even loving to her but inside – he’s lost all respect for her.

If he thinks he's being exploited, that charm can vanish so quickly - an upset Aquarian is perfectly capable of truly shocking actions. [My comment - e.g. me at Blogpower]

He’ll support your own career and projects with all his soul but he’ll only fight for you if you’re in real danger; then he’ll fight to the death. His approach is not to let you get into danger in the first place.

If you play off another man against him, he’ll say, "Well, I guess the better man won," pick up his hat and go.

Aquarians suffer from the humidity in the summer and often prefer the winter months. Mental activity keeps them from getting enough sleep, and sleep is often troubled by strange, silent dreams. [My comment - heat and humidity are awful, yes]

He’ll always appear if he says he will, unless he's been kidnapped along the way, which is more than possible - anything can happen to him at any time.

He's into Truth, which transcends any loyalties to anyone.

[blogfocus saturday] special gonad edition

Today's roundup of those I've been able to access:

1. Sally brings us the search for a generic name:

The FDA has been looking for a generic name for Viagra. After careful consideration by a team of government experts, it recently announced that it has settled on the generic name of Mycoxafloppin. Also considered were Mycoxafailin, Mydixadrupin, Mydixarizin, Dixafix, and of course, Ibepokin.

Now this worries me. Maybe it's the women I chase but in my case, it's either smallish or Voom! - there's no "drupin" involved. Maybe I'm from another planet.

2. Speaking of another planet, this one's set in Edinburgh - how to convince a cabby to do what you see in the pic above. 1st Lady explains:

Now, for those of you interested in furniture shopping this way please note that L.Muck and I have become experts and we do not recommend you starting with such large pieces. A few days earlier we had a successful trial run which involved moving a large chair from shop to home (dont ask the taxi driver for seating credit unless he seems in a good mood). Learn the doorway dimensions, learn where the drivers blind spot is, investigate how much oxygen you require in the cab to safely make it home (we dont recommend mattress moving).

3. Ellee brings us why men rape:

Men rape for many reasons, including a desire to exert power in response to a feeling of entitlement, or perhaps to fulfil a need to humiliate and oppress their victims to compensate for their own perceived inadequacy.

Perhaps another reason is they're not getting enough which raises the interesting question of whether men can be raped by women. We once experimented with this and came to the conclusion - no, it's not possible. I'd like to meet a female rapist. Men call them nymphos, I think.

4. Speaking of another type of pestilential female, Jams brings us the Harlequin Ladybird:

Because it eats so many aphids, its staple diet, as well as other ladybirds, it has threatened the number of native ladybirds and species, such as lacewings, which also eat aphids. It also threatens aphid numbers. The two-spot and seven-spot ladybirds are particularly threatened.

5. An oldie but a goodie [the post, not the luscious Swearing Brummie Mummy herself, who's merely delectable] on the delight of pungent food. A Frenchified lady brought me a Camembert form Normandy the other day and the apartment stank, so I understand this:

We've still got half a baby Stilton, an appallingly odoriferous Brie, two tons of chocolate and a tree with no needles left on it. Oh, and half a sherry log. And a ham. With Nigella Bloody Lawson's spiced peaches, which were very nice actually once I'd got some jars, but right now even the smell of cinnamon is enough to make me gag.

6. With this appalling Blogrollingdotcom situation, we need to start manually blogrolling, which I'm about to do, from my MyBlogLog and Referrals. Now, I was thinking that if we each blogrolled each other, imagine how we'd zoom in Technorati - so the BRDC disaster was not a disaster after all but a Resounding Success!

Only one thing left to say:

"Blogroll me! Blogroll me!" he pathetically grovels and whimpers at your ankles, clutching at your thighs in his fawning grip. What a Man!