Worthy cause.Please visit here to read of this and then visit here to help.
[He looks not dissimilar to me at that age.]
Monday, April 21, 2008
[daniel morecambe] another sad case
Worthy cause.Please visit here to read of this and then visit here to help.
[He looks not dissimilar to me at that age.]
Sunday, April 20, 2008
[thought for the day] sunday evening
Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's awfully hard to get it back in.
[H.R. Haldeman - philanthropist]
Thought for the day is a bit earlier today as the Higham has a little meeting later.
[politics 101] a glance at egypt
Egypt and Saudi are key players in the Middle-East, of that there is no doubt. Mubarak in Egypt is now 80 and can't go on forever, let alone the troubles he is facing.
Egypt is one of few reasonably secular regimes, i.e. ones the west can deal with, in the ME, American trade stands at $US8bn and the regime, as with Anwar Sadat in latter years, has not been violently anti-west. The Egyptians see the U.S. aid, not as aid but as payback for what they themselves have suffered:
So American insistence on "human rights" and democracy as tied to an earmarked aid package receives a cool reception in Cairo. Truth is that Egypt has real problems at grass roots level with the huge under 25 male population. Not to put too fine a point on it, radical Islam appeals to youth:
So it's a juggling act all round and with Mubarak not so far from departure. A fundamentalist regime in Cairo would be a major turning point in the delicate balance which has so far averted all out conflagration in the region.
This blogger believes there are cogent reasons why the power behind the western regimes, far from being averse to conflagration, is either courting it through its policies or is sadly inept. A closer look at Blackwater's operations certainly raises eyebrows, although perhaps Adriana Huffington is not the most reliable source.
Egypt is one of few reasonably secular regimes, i.e. ones the west can deal with, in the ME, American trade stands at $US8bn and the regime, as with Anwar Sadat in latter years, has not been violently anti-west. The Egyptians see the U.S. aid, not as aid but as payback for what they themselves have suffered:
Mubarak complains that this aid is not benevolence on behalf of the Americans; it is living up to commitments made to his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, during the era of president Jimmy Carter. When Egypt signed the Camp David Peace Accords in 1978, it got expelled from the Arab League (which it had co-founded during World War II) and was completely isolated within the Arab world.
It then stuck out its neck for the Americans - again - during the liberation of Kuwait in 1991 and after the September 11, 2001, attacks when it shared intelligence on al-Qaeda, and suppressed Egyptian Islamists. And what do they get instead? Israeli espionage on Egyptian territory, where in 2007, a man was accused of stealing documents from the Egyptian Atomic Energy Agency and passing them on to Mossad, the Israeli intelligence.
So American insistence on "human rights" and democracy as tied to an earmarked aid package receives a cool reception in Cairo. Truth is that Egypt has real problems at grass roots level with the huge under 25 male population. Not to put too fine a point on it, radical Islam appeals to youth:
Previously, it was popular only with the urban poor. It has now infiltrated high society and is equally popular with the Egyptian rich. Although outlawed, the Muslim Brotherhood is well-grounded at a grassroot level and is manipulating the increase in the price of bread, which has captured nearly 30 million Egyptians by the throat. To avert a showdown and fearing the wrath both of the Brotherhood and labor unions, the government continues to subsidize food with $13.7 billion.
Greater democracy after all would only empower the Islamists, as it did with Hamas (a branch of the Egyptian Brotherhood)in Palestine. They argue that the money going to Cairo is not spent on strangers, since most of it goes to buying arms and technology from the United States.
So it's a juggling act all round and with Mubarak not so far from departure. A fundamentalist regime in Cairo would be a major turning point in the delicate balance which has so far averted all out conflagration in the region.
This blogger believes there are cogent reasons why the power behind the western regimes, far from being averse to conflagration, is either courting it through its policies or is sadly inept. A closer look at Blackwater's operations certainly raises eyebrows, although perhaps Adriana Huffington is not the most reliable source.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
[thought for the day] saturday evening
Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses - they last while they last.[Charles de Gaulle]
[saturday quiz] crossing the line
1. Sailors who have already crossed the line at the equator are nicknamed (Trusty) Shellbacks, often referred to as Sons of Neptune; those who have not are nicknamed (Slimy) _______ .
2. In 2006, a school teacher crossed the line with her 14 year old pupil. Her name was _______ .
3. Julius Caesar crossed the line by crossing the _______ River with his army in 49 BC, supposedly on January 10 of the Roman calendar, to make his way to Rome.
4. On October 27th, 1962, a U2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba. This was the point where many consider the line was almost crossed but in the end, both Kennedy and Kruschev agreed to pull their repsective _______ out.
5. Many consider that Hewlett Packard crossed the line to near oblivion when in 2002, _______ rammed through the controversial merger with rival company Compaq.
Answers, as usual, are in white and need to be highlighted below:
Pollywogs, Debra Lafave, Rubicon, Missiles, Carly Fiorina
2. In 2006, a school teacher crossed the line with her 14 year old pupil. Her name was _______ .
3. Julius Caesar crossed the line by crossing the _______ River with his army in 49 BC, supposedly on January 10 of the Roman calendar, to make his way to Rome.
4. On October 27th, 1962, a U2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba. This was the point where many consider the line was almost crossed but in the end, both Kennedy and Kruschev agreed to pull their repsective _______ out.
5. Many consider that Hewlett Packard crossed the line to near oblivion when in 2002, _______ rammed through the controversial merger with rival company Compaq.
Answers, as usual, are in white and need to be highlighted below:
Pollywogs, Debra Lafave, Rubicon, Missiles, Carly Fiorina
[primitive] when it's preferable
Given the recent gay mafia references, this might surprise.
When I was part of the gay scene some years ago, we had some interesting parties, usually starting late evening. There were always three groups - the gays themselves [with accompanying girls] occupying the plush pile living room and bedrooms, the potheads floating around wherever and the beer swillers who occupied the kitchen.
One of the iconic groups were the Velvets, led by genuinely subversive Lou Reed and John Cale. The Velvet Underground were groundbreakers in just about everything, considering when they operated at full force - up to 69 but they were raw and the production values were primitive. Contrast that with the slick Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music.
And of course there were Warhol and Nico to add to the mix. In this clip, you really do need to have a good system or use the headphones to catch the creative bass lines - ordinary speakers won't cut it:
For me, the rawness and simplicity were absolutely vital to the sound, an integral part of other later groups as well, such as the Stranglers - wait for the second half of this clip "Something better change". You can see Jean-Jacques Burnell as a prat bouncing round like a young punk or you can see him as a punk. A genuine one:
And the singers.
The Velvets without Lou Reed were not the same; the Stranglers without Hughie Cornwell were pointless. In both cases, it was the not always smooth flowing chemistry of these particularly dangerous singers with Cale's insane arrangements and Burnel's creative bass which made the sound - which made the groups uncopyable.
Put that together with either Warhol graphics or those of Anne Taintor, courtesy of Ivyology and it's a hi-primitive retro world I adored and still love to smithereens.
The Velvets without Lou Reed were not the same; the Stranglers without Hughie Cornwell were pointless. In both cases, it was the not always smooth flowing chemistry of these particularly dangerous singers with Cale's insane arrangements and Burnel's creative bass which made the sound - which made the groups uncopyable.
Put that together with either Warhol graphics or those of Anne Taintor, courtesy of Ivyology and it's a hi-primitive retro world I adored and still love to smithereens.
[economics 101] what's wrong with this picture?
What's wrong with this picture? Don't answer if you understand economics:
The Bank of England will next week unveil a plan to swap £50bn of government bonds for British banks' mortgages, the BBC has learned.
The government bonds would have a maturity of up to a year, but would be rolled over for up to three years.
These would meet banks' demands for longer term loans, while escaping being accounted for in the national debt.
The Bank of England hopes the scheme will encourage banks to lend to each other again and also to homeowners.
The banks have been asking for longer term finance from the Bank of England to fill their funding gap following the collapse of the market for mortgage-backed securities last August.
The disappearance of this market deprived banks of tens of billions of pounds of finance for mortgage lending and is one of the main reasons why the cost of mortgages for many homeowners has been rising, even though the Bank of England has been cutting its base lending rate.
We start with a hugely overinflated price for a house, out of all proportion to income, fuelled by the banks' willingness [greed?] to lend at all costs, even to sub-primes. By this massive influx of funds to the banks now, the process will continue.
Shakespeare wrote:
Feeding on that which longer nurseth the disease ...
But there's no such thing as a free lunch and the big slug is on the government itself, i.e. in its bonds. How far can they be trusted, especially considering the slump of the pound sterling and the jittery markets?
Maybe it's the turnaround everyone was hoping for, especially those involved in the game but it looks very much to me a game of double or quits here with quits the more likely outcome.
[putin answers] about alina kabaeva
Nunyaa's Babel translation here.
Various denials - here's one.
Путин ответил на вопрос о Кабаевой
18.04.2008 14:05
"В том, что вы сказали, - ни одного слова правды ", - сказал Владимир Путин на совместной с Сильвио Берлускони пресс-конференции, отвечая на вопрос журналистки о том, что он якобы собирается сыграть свадьбу с российской гимнасткой Алиной Кабаевой.
"Вы упомянули статью в одной из наших бульварных газет, где упоминается Алина Кабаева - олимпийская чемпионка по гимнастике и упоминается телеведущая Екатерина Андреева. В других публикациях подобного рода упоминаются другие красивые молодые девушки и женщины, и думаю не будет неожиданным, если я скажу, они все мне нравятся. И все российские женщины", - продолжил Путин.
"Я лично считаю, что наши российские женщины - самые талантливые и самые красивые. Конкуренцию им могут составить только итальянки", - продолжил российский президент.
"Мне конечно известна избитая фраза, что политики живут в стеклянном доме, и общество вправе знать, как живут люди, которые занимаются публичной деятельностью, но и в этом случае существуют какие-то ограничения. Есть частная жизнь, в которую нельзя вмешиваться", - заявил Владимир Путин.
Российский президент отметил, что Россия в последние годы демонстрирует быстрый экономический рост, сокращается число людей, живущих за чертой бедности, реальные доходы граждан растут, "никто не задает вопросов про Чечню".
"Я всегда плохо относился к тем, кто с каким-то гриппозным носом и со своими эротическими фантазиями лезет в чужую жизнь", - сказал Путин. "Но, если в связи с отсутствием интересных тем, кто-то хочет покопаться в личной жизни, то и тут надо соблюдать определенные приличия", - заключил он.
18.04.2008 14:05
"В том, что вы сказали, - ни одного слова правды ", - сказал Владимир Путин на совместной с Сильвио Берлускони пресс-конференции, отвечая на вопрос журналистки о том, что он якобы собирается сыграть свадьбу с российской гимнасткой Алиной Кабаевой.
"Вы упомянули статью в одной из наших бульварных газет, где упоминается Алина Кабаева - олимпийская чемпионка по гимнастике и упоминается телеведущая Екатерина Андреева. В других публикациях подобного рода упоминаются другие красивые молодые девушки и женщины, и думаю не будет неожиданным, если я скажу, они все мне нравятся. И все российские женщины", - продолжил Путин.
"Я лично считаю, что наши российские женщины - самые талантливые и самые красивые. Конкуренцию им могут составить только итальянки", - продолжил российский президент.
"Мне конечно известна избитая фраза, что политики живут в стеклянном доме, и общество вправе знать, как живут люди, которые занимаются публичной деятельностью, но и в этом случае существуют какие-то ограничения. Есть частная жизнь, в которую нельзя вмешиваться", - заявил Владимир Путин.
Российский президент отметил, что Россия в последние годы демонстрирует быстрый экономический рост, сокращается число людей, живущих за чертой бедности, реальные доходы граждан растут, "никто не задает вопросов про Чечню".
"Я всегда плохо относился к тем, кто с каким-то гриппозным носом и со своими эротическими фантазиями лезет в чужую жизнь", - сказал Путин. "Но, если в связи с отсутствием интересных тем, кто-то хочет покопаться в личной жизни, то и тут надо соблюдать определенные приличия", - заключил он.
Friday, April 18, 2008
[thought for the day] friday evening
Two opposed views:A lover without indiscretion is no lover at all.
[Thomas Hardy 1876]
A time to embrace; a time to refrain from embracing.
[Ecclesiastes 3:1-8]
Hear part of this here:
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