[england's day] st george - april 23rd

Thank you, Ginro

Toque

Cross of St George Witanagemot Club

Englisc Fyrd

Wonko

Guthrum

[Apologies to those I've missed out here.]


This was 2004 when the flame was relit.

Ways you and your family can celebrate this day

No need to go to work today - it's our national day.

English National Anthem for now

Audio file here

[or you can listen from the left sidebar whilst reading this post]

Petition for Anthem 1

Petition for Anthem 2

English Claim of Right today

You can do your bit here to call for an EU Referendum.



The Telegraph today - England Arise

"In the early years of the last century socialists in England used to sing a hymn about their liberation from exploitation and under-representation: its title and opening line serves as the perfect envoi today. "England, arise! The long, long night is over!"

Labour might never govern in England again, which would serve it right, given the contempt it has shown for the English. It might well precipitate the end of the Union itself.

That was a process started in 1997 by Labour; and it has a logical conclusion of separation which would, once an English parliament were created, be clearly in sight.

The Conservative Party has its head in the sand on this issue, as on so much else: which is odd, given the sheer misery such a process would cause for Labour.

The Tories' prevalent and infantile cast of mind associates English nationalism with racism and other forms of evil.

Since the creation of an English nation would create an English citizenship equal to all who legally reside in that country, whatever their origins, such fears are groundless.

At the moment, the word "English" when applied to people is a badge of ethnicity; after independence it would become a badge of nationhood."

Some history

George was probably first made well known in England by Arculpus and Adamnan in the early eighth century.

The Acts of St George, which recounted his visits to Caerleon and Glastonbury while on service in England, were translated into Anglo-Saxon.

Among churches dedicated to St George was one at Doncaster in 1061.

George was adopted as the patron saint of soldiers after he was said to have appeared to the Crusader army at the Battle of Antioch in 1098.

Many similar stories were transmitted to the West by Crusaders who had heard them from Byzantine troops, and were circulated further by the troubadours.

When Richard 1 was campaigning in Palestine in 1191-92 he put the army under the protection of St George.

The European Union is the new enemy

England has fought off aggressors for centuries - the Bonny Bunch of Roses was always a plum target, to Napoleon and Hitler and now to the EU Monster which appears certain to succeed. Let there be no doubts in anyone's mind that they are the new enemy.

As Robert Winnett, at the Telegraph says:

England has been wiped off a map of Europe drawn up by Brussels bureaucrats as part of a scheme that the Tories claim threatens to undermine the country's national identity.

Check the map for yourself:



This will not stand.

You can do your bit here to defy the EU from consuming England.

Today is the day the EU is defied and eventually the monster will be mortally skewered, as he always has been in the past.

England will once more rise to nationhood, the ancient counties resuming their rightful subordinate places in the whole.

England rattles no sabres and offers no hostility to other home nations as long as they take care of their affairs and leave England to take care of its own.

St Andrew's, St Patrick's, St David's and St Piran's days are also important in the calendar and are respected, just as ours is. [I personally am a friend of Cornish independence.]

Thank you again, Ginro

This below is, of course, Beowulf rather than St George

Nu sceall billes ecg,
hond ond heard sweord ymb hord wigan.'
Beowulf maðelode, beotwordum spræc
niehstan siðe: `Ic geneðde fela
guða on geogoðe; gyt ic wylle,
frod folces weard fæhðe secan,
mærðu fremman, gif mec se mansceaða
of eorðsele ut geseceð.'

A sweeter note

To leave you with, the Nature of being English, according to Tiberius Gracchus:

The story really isn't the point here though - its the individuality, its the eccentricity (in England's that's a virtue) - there is a line in the Lord of the Rings when Gandalf tells Frodo that what's worth fighting for is all the absurd Bolgers and Boffins and Bagginses- that's the same sense you get from Wallace and Gromit.

These two characters are crackers, they are mad, their lives revolve around inventions, cheese (particularly Wensleydale) and tea- but in some sense they are the essense of the whole of Western civilisation. Civilisation isn't just Michelangelo and Machiavelli, its Wallace and his efforts to get to the moon, its loving Wensleydale and its a dog knitting in a chair and rats with shades over their eyes, its merry eccentricity which is a value all to itself.

The absurdity of life is in many ways its essence - when we talk about freedom often we lose sight of the fact that freedom isn't just a political issue - its a personal issue as well.

To all English at home and abroad - greetings to you and may it be a happy day to remember. To our other friends - back soon.

[housekeeping] national holiday

To non-English readers:

As it's a national holiday today, blogging will resume only in the evening. Have a good day too in your various respective ways, people.

[thought for the day] tuesday evening

All charming people have something to conceal - usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.

[Semi Carnally, 1938]

[tuesday caption] add yours

[whodunnit 1] first of a holmes series

This is what I sometimes did with the Year 9s. See how you go:

Sherlock Holmes received an urgent telegram from a client who felt certain that his life was in danger. Holmes and Watson hurried to his lodgings only to find that they were too late. The man had been murdered minutes before they had arrived.

"I found him lying there," said the landlady. "Before he died, he muttered something about belonging to a secret club and quoted the number 92."

"Damned strange thing to say, Holmes," said Watson. Holmes nodded in agreement. "Did he say anything else?" Holmes asked the landlady.

"I asked him who had done this terrible thing to him, but he just repeated the number 92!" she answered.

Holmes thanked her for her help and discharged her. He then proceeded to search the dead man's room, coming across a letter addressed to the man from the other three members of the secret club.

Their names were Wilson, Updike and Brown. In the top left of the letter was the name of the dead man, Smith (Code 69).

From this, Holmes deduced that he had been murdered by another member of the club, and that the number that he had uttered to the landlady was in fact the code number of the murderer.

Holmes then supplied the name of the killer.

What was that name? More importantly, on what basis did you decide on him? The answer is tucked away down below in white. You'll need to highlight.

Wilson - each letter has a number.

[crisis] what crisis?

There is a tendency in the blogosphere to look at the "micro", e.g. the abolition of the 10p tax rate and rightly so.

However, not enough attention is given to the "macro" - the overall game plan globally and any who attempt this are caught up in a hostile barrage of cliches about "truthers" and "conspiracy theories", among other things.

It astounds me by what sort of logic these cliches are trotted out as a first knee-jerk reaction. For example, there is most certainly a change in the world's weather. Whether it is a downward point on a hundred year graph or whether something direr I shan't argue here but those who then say "it isn't man made" really mean "it isn't the common man's fault".

That's what it comes down to.

And the Gorites with all the "carbon footprint" bullsh - they are the ones who are milking the issue for all it's worth so to agree that there is a change taking place - does that put us in bed with the illuminists? And what's with all the cliches and catchcries?

I'm not interested in the cliches, I don't have an agenda to push. I'm an ordinary person trying to make sense of the plethora of words.

And this denial of the very principle of collusion - for example, Lisbon being voted on in Ireland - is that not evidence of collusion with Barros et al? And what's this denial of collusion anyway? Don't people collude to protect their interests wherever they are? Aren't the Round Tables in Europe logically going to do that? Isn't the Bilderberg Conference going to press for a certain world view? Aren't you going to collude with your partner for your mutual interests?

Isn't this simply logic?

And what's with this catchcry "conspiracy theorist" the moment someone draws attention to a global issue? Where's the theory in this? It's simple logic.

When Fred Gates said, in 1904:

In our dreams we have limitless resources, and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands...

... is that not a commentary on what we are now seeing - the surveillance moves, the tightening of security, ID cards, global databases which mysteriously lose data, the Milliband EU army, China's muscle flexing, e.g. in Africa, the U.S. housing and sub-prime crises, the UK abolition of 10p taxation and the shifting of the poor onto tax credit dependence and so on and so on and so on.

And now this:

Japan's acute butter shortage, which has confounded bakeries, restaurants and now families across the country, is the latest unforeseen result of the global agricultural commodities crisis.

A sharp increase in the cost of imported cattle feed and a decline in milk imports, both of which are typically provided in large part by Australia, have prevented dairy farmers from keeping pace with demand.

While soaring food prices have triggered rioting among the starving millions of the third world, in wealthy Japan they have forced a pampered population to contemplate the shocking possibility of a long-term — perhaps permanent — reduction in the quality and quantity of its food.

A 130% rise in the global cost of wheat in the past year, caused partly by surging demand from China and India and a huge injection of speculative funds into wheat futures, has forced the Government to hit flour millers with three rounds of stiff mark-ups.

Ellee Seymour comes at it from the citizen's angle:

Am I the only shopper who has noticed that shelves in supermarket stores are not as plentiful as they used to be? In the last few weeks when I’ve popped into Tesco, it’s almost like the pre-Christmas rush has taken place, there are lots of unfilled spaces on the shelves.

I’ve just read that one of the UK’s biggest meat processing companies has been forced to close a factory blaming soaring food inflation, and 450 people have lost their jobs.

Faccenda Group, the second-biggest chicken processing company in Britain, said it had been hit by the rocketing cost of wheat - a key ingredient in chicken feed - which has more than doubled in the past year.

And there are also reports that some some retail chains are stockpiling goods, afraid that their suppliers will go bust due to rising prices.

One of the UK’s largest cash-and-carry chains has increased the volume of vegetable oil and rice that it holds in its warehouses and is understood to have spent £10 million on extra stock. How long before other outlets follow suit, spreading panic?

Stockpiling promotes fear and greed, the instinct for self-survival kicks in, of caring for your own, it can bring out the worst in people’s natures.

This is insanity which Ellee is touching on - this is a return to mass uneasiness and helplessness, global eco-collapse, world war and so on. The pre-WW2 scenario. This is the USSR handout mentality, the British rationing, the American food queues - buddy, can you spare a dime. This is the current policy direction and have any of these policies borne fruit as yet or have they sunk us even deeper in the mire? Please tell me.

And all avoidable.

Yes there is a soaring population worldwide, particularly in AIDS infested Africa and Asia. Yes there is a biofuel ad speculative food crisis world wide. Bird flu is just one manifestation of the essential limitation of humans of a certain ilk at the top trying to out-God G-d. Anyone remember the Tower of Babel?

Hey - humans cannot sort out their problems on their own. They are incompetent, they make errors, they have no long term strategy, they're gullible, as Fred Gates pointed out and the people at the top hold all the cards. You hold food, water and the air we breathe in your hands and you have control, whether markets collapse or whatever.

Here are some snippets on population - here, here and here, this latter where David Cameron says:

But the net figure is currently too high, he will say, “so we need policy to reduce the level of net immigration – and we also need policy to reduce the pressure of household formation”.

Ho ho - reduce household formation? Meaning families. Oh yeah - the illumined plank of destruction of the family as a means of controlling population growth? Great stuff, David.

And is there an unofficial depopulation agenda or not? Well one blogpost can't answer that but here's some reading on the matter and one quote from the editors:

While some aspects of the depopulation agenda remain murky and speculative -- its precise implementation and how it will unfold, the evidence for the existence of an intentional depopulation agenda itself is overwhelming. The public record is clear and available for all to read.

And if that is one of the goals, then here are some methods of achieving it, whilst ostensibly finding a solution for it. Here are some other methods.

No governmental interference in any of this? All just happened by itself? If even part of this report is true, then it is food for thought:





Introduction to "The Population Factor'', in "Down to Earth", HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 1988:

Predation, climatic variation, disease, starvation--and in the case of the inappropriately named Homo sapiens, wars and terrorism--are the principal means by which population numbers are kept under some sort of control.

"People" interview with HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Dec. 21, 1981, "Vanishing Breeds Worry Prince Philip, But Not as Much as Overpopulation'':

The more people there are, the more resources they'll consume, the more pollution they'll create, the more fighting they will do. We have no option. If it isn't controlled voluntarily, it will be controlled involuntarily by an increase in disease, starvation and war.

Now be honest - you half agree with him, don't you? Over-population is a major problem and if a billion Africans and Asians perish, well that only means increased security for you and your family, it eases the pressure on food, as demonstrated in the 2008/2009 global food crisis and heck - how will their perishing affect you? They're living on another continent. Heck, if they can't look after themselves, they don't deserve to live, right?

Therein lie the seeds of elitism, conveniently ignoring human ethical standards, giving the nod to extreme solutions to problems artificially exacerbated. What separates us from the beasts when we go along with these subtle suggestions? Are we any better than the fair citizens at the Nuremburg rallies?

Looking at all the aforementioned in summary, could and would an Andy Jackson or Churchill or Ben Chifley or whoever be able to help defuse the human timebomb ticking away? Would they seize the moment and reverse the acquiescence to the coming genocide? Are we morally untainted - you and I?

People, in our cozy British, British Commonwealth and North American living rooms, we think we are still safe in April, 2008 except, that is, for Ellee's first speculative query that things might not be quite so good for us as we'd supposed.

Out there in the wider world there are already rioting, looting and mass deaths.

To invoke a well worn cliche myself - please, I beg of you, readers:

Wake up and smell the coffee.

[youth strategy] negotiating your father

Don't normally run these things but as She passed it along to me, I'll post it:

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was picked up.

Then he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to "Dad." With the worst premonition he opened the envelope with trembling hands and read the letter.

Dear Dad:

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you.

I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice.

But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercing, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it's not only the passion...Dad she's pregnant.

Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with the other people that live nearby for cocaine and ecstasy.

In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get better. She deserves it. Don't worry Dad. I'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure that we will be back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren.

Love, Your Son John

PS. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than a report card. That's in my center desk drawer. I love you. Call me when it's safe to come home.

[thought for the day] monday evening

You write with ease to show your breeding

But easy writing's vile hard reading.

[Sheridan, 1771]

[self indulgence] feel a limerick coming on

The Swearing Mother has gone all limericky and wishes us to participate in an orgy of limericism about ourselves.

Her own contribution is here. My humble addition to the anthology is:

Behind the mild manners a raptor
Unless some sweet lady's his captor
Looks after his dears
Then bores them to tears
To write more would need a full chapter

[pecking order] why it's better to be the boss

H/T Anya

[epidemics] useful things in some hands

Only once was I gulled into having flu shots. That winter I had two bouts of severe flu, the second almost knocking the Higham into the Choir Invisible [or Furnace Stokers as the case may be.] From then on, avoiding these shots like the plague, major bouts of illness were avoided.

Interesting to see flu vaccine questioned here as well:

What’s gone wrong with the vaccine then? According to the times, what makes it so hard for a vaccine to effectively prevent the flu is that the virus changes from year to year and experts would have to GUESS what forms of virus will be circulating for the next flu season based on the current year. Based on the guesstimation, experts formulate a vaccine to protect against those targeted strains. The newspaper goes on to explain usually the experts' guess work is pretty good and make the vaccine's efficacy at 70 to 90 percent in healthy adults. But this year they guessed it wrong and made many recipients miserable.

Might be worth looking at the great epidemics:

World War I claimed an estimated 16 million lives. The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people. One fifth of the world's population was attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history.

Concerning the current Moscow epidemic:

Doctors consider vaccination to be the most effective means of fighting flu, and schools regularly run vaccination programs. Adults can be inoculated year round at GPs' clinics or polikliniky. Modern vaccines contain no live viruses and so are considered safe but are only effective if boosted annually.

Inevitably, in discussing flu epidemics, the name of Heinrich Muller and the book Gestapo Chief : The 1948 Interrogation of Heinrich Muller, Volume 3 comes up. Here is a comment which accepts Mueller's doings as authentic and here is one which rejects them.

The book includes:

The interrogator, James Kronthal, the CIA Bern Station Chief asked Mueller to explain "double blow virus."

Mueller: "I am not a doctor, you understand, but the 'double-blow' referred to a virus, or actually a pair of them that worked like a prize fighter. The first blow attacked the immune system and made the victim susceptible, fatally so, to the second blow which was a form of pneumonia...[Schreiber told me] a British scientist actually developed it...Now you see why such things are insanity. These things can alter themselves and what starts out as a limited thing can change into something really terrible." [p106]

The book states he also said:

"If Stalin invades Europe...a little disease here and there would wipe out Stalin's hoards and leave everything intact. Besides, a small bottle of germs is so much cheaper than an atom bomb, isn't it? Why you could hold more soldiers in your hand than Stalin could possibly command and you don’t have to feed them clothes them or supply them with munitions. On the other hand, the threat of war...does wonders... for the economy." [p108]

So we're left with the usual dilemma - whether to believe the sceptics or those who are convinced it is genuine. Just hearsay or genuine evidence?

Wiki says, about biological warfare:

Diseases considered for weaponization, or known to be weaponized include anthrax (TR), ebola, Marburg virus, plague (LE), cholera (HO), tularemia (SR & JT), brucellosis (US, AB, & AM), Q fever (OU), machupo, Coccidioides mycosis (OC), Glanders (LA), Melioidosis (HI), Shigella (Y), Rocky Mountain spotted fever(UY), typhus (YE), Psittacosis(SI), yellow fever (UT), Japanese B encephalitis (AN), Rift Valley fever (FA), and smallpox (ZL)^[13]. Naturally-occurring toxins that can be used as weapons include ricin (WA), SEB (UC), botulism toxin (XR), saxitoxin (TZ), and many mycotoxins.

Influenza does not appear there and the history of viral research is not clear. While it was 1939 before microscopy saw the virus, it's introduction to bacteria was known of before the 1918 cut off date, in fact since the turn of the century.

My own feeling is that it is scarcely necessary to "introduce" a virus. One only needs to create the social preconditions for it to develop. For example, the movement of Russian prisoners was sufficient for typhus to spread during the war.

From my reading, [of which a certain amount appears as blogposts], there are certain recognizable characteristics to Them. One is the fixation with untraceability, which in itself presupposes a concern for "official" innocence.

Now this has always puzzled me. Great lengths are gone to to appear legitimate, when one wonders why they'd bother - if they hold all the cards, to whom must they appear legitimate?

Reports on possible terrorists got lost in the works or rejected and this terrorist later turned up at 911. Who was culpable? No one. It was a stuff up, that's all - official incompetence. The powers that be were as pure as the driven snow.

And even if my contention were accepted, there'd not be a lot which could be done.

[apostasy] mortal or venial sin?

The question of becoming Muslim has been on my mind recently for personal reasons but there is the huge barrier of "apostasy" to overcome.

The Muslim idea is that Islam is the next step after Christianity and so to then revert, once there, is a backward step. They are true to their faith, the Muslims, so I have no problem with this view.

The more I read and learn about Islam, the more I realize the extremists are unjustified.

Just as the Crusades had about as much to do with Christianity as Beelzebub - what, they wore a big red cross, did they - so 911, Bali and Beslan also had about as much to do with the way the faith should be followed as Beelzebub.

Interesting article on Muslim apostasy:

Last week, British teacher Daud Hassan Ali, 64, was shot dead in Somalia. His widow, Margaret Ali, said her husband was targeted by Islamists who "believe it is ok to kill any man who was born into Islam and left the faith".

Those renouncing their faith for atheism or agnosticism are viewed in a similar way to those who adopt another faith.

A poll conducted by the Policy Exchange last year suggested that over a third of young British Muslims believe that the death penalty should apply for apostasy. Until recently, I would have shared that view, but since personally rejecting extremism myself, I've been re-examining the issues which I once regarded as conclusive.

I was staggered to learn that the Quran does not say anything about punishing apostates and that its proponents use two hadiths instead to support their view. Hadiths are the recorded traditions and sayings of the Prophet which, in addition to the Quran, provide an additional source of Islamic law.

The hadiths which relate to apostasy are linguistically ambiguous and open to interpretation. Distinguished scholars told me that the hadiths actually speak about a death penalty for treason, not apostasy. And even then, they stressed the punishment is discretionary.

Dr Hisham Hellyer is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at University of Oxford, and has researched classical Islamic law. He believes the death penalty punishment is no longer applicable and should be suspended under certain circumstances.

Usama Hassan, a Cambridge-educated scientist and an imam, goes further and says the classical scholars were wrong in how they interpreted the Quran. He is unequivocal in denouncing those who advocate the death penalty.

So what about the other way - the Christian who reverts once he's accepted the redeeming power of Jesus of Nazareth?

Here we get into the area of the Holy Spirit. The theory is that you become Christian the moment you do two things - believe in that redeeming power [which entails accepting the Trinity] and then live a life as close to that expressed in the Sermon on the Mount as well as you can.

That's basically it.

The Trinity is the Father, the Logos [or Word] and the Spirit - the latter the least understood of them all. Without getting bogged down in theology, this is the day-to-day "force" which enters you at the point of acceptance and then directs your conscience, provides protection and comfort and generally does cool things inside you.

So what happens if you go back on this force and do dirt on it?

Well, the Catholics [of which I am not one, as I don't accept the middle-man status of the priest between my Maker and me and don't elevate Mary to a status of worship*] probably put it the most clearly:

Q. What is the difference between a mortal sin and a venial sin?

A. For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must exist at the same time.

1. It must be of a grave matter;

2. It must be committed with full knowledge that it is a mortal sin;

3. It must be committed with full consent.

So, what is a "grave" matter? One of these is blasphemy against the spirit, a troubling passage in Christian scripture. Again the Catholics say of this:

"Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss." (C.C.C. # 1864)

So, in a nutshell, the whole point of this is to once accept the "grace of G-d" but then to deliberately reject it at a later time. Whether you could then turn around once again and accept it a second time I have absolutely no idea.

Also, what of the atheist?

Well, though he's not going to share in any "heaven" by virtue of his non-belief, he still has every chance of redemption until the point of death. And my reading of this theology would put the ordinary agnostic or atheist in one category but Richard Dawkins, who goes out of his way to prevent people finding the connection with their Maker, would be in the mortal sin category and heading for a warm reception once he karks it.

Saul is an interesting point of discussion on this. He was clearly out to destroy on the road to Damascus but then seemingly still managed to come back from that.

An apostate though is another matter.

He is one who has deliberately turned his back on the redemptive power and therefore the connection with his Maker, once he has actually experienced it. Once you've actually experienced this high, you'd know what I mean when I say to then turn your back on this would not endear you.

An analogy would be anyone who accepts you as his/her life partner but then "trades you in" for another. Bit difficult to forgive, that would be.

A more spurious analogy is that of the PC user with Windows XP who sees the light and converts to MacOSX, experiences the superior technology and sheer elegance of the Mac, then turns round and goes back to bl--dy Vista or some such.

What an apostate. :)

So where does becoming a Muslim fit into this? If Islam is truly an extension of Christianity, then there is no conflict. But if it is not so, then the apostate ex-Christian is in trouble.

And the ex-Muslim?

Well, as a Muslim is one who submits to the one G-d and as Christians accept the one G-d, is the Muslim-Christian apostate or not? What if his motivation was a genuine desire to get closer to his G-d?

I'm personally in no position to give you any answers on these matters, still being a student at the University of Life.

* The point above about Catholics elevating Mary to "worship" status. Of course Catholics say they don't do this - they simply "venerate" Mary and if this were so, then there is really little between Catholic and Protestant theologically, except on the middle-man status of the confessional.

[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.]

[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:

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.

[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

[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.

[slow saturday] wouldn't want to be any slower

[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.

[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:

boomp3.com

[rubbish day] nice evening

Maybe it's just us, JMB and myself but we didn't know Dr. Michelle was back to blogging. Delighted - a fine blog she had [has]. We missed her and were so glad to see the avatar here.

Today started awfully and the wind was so strong here that it almot blew out the balcony windows - had to do some reinforcements and then the traffic buildup and pile-ups had to be seen to be believed. Russia doesn't do things by halves.

The Kabaeva/Putin story is doing the rounds, the uni girls were a bit cranky and then a nice little interlude ensued in the evening and home to some nice surprises. It's going to be an early one tonight.

I wish the peace of the night to everyone I corresponded with today - everyone.

[net neutrality] euphemism for control

The analogy is not far-fetched at all

First the news about "net neutrality"

Silicon Valley high-tech entrepreneurs told the Federal Communications Commission yesterday that there needed to be more oversight of phone and cable companies at the agency's second off-site hearing on broadband Internet rules.

However, none of the largest service providers -- Comcast, AT&T, Verizon and Time Warner -- attended the hearing yesterday, despite requests by the FCC to participate, according to FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin.

At issue is whether the Internet needs rules that mandate it remain open and unfettered by network operators.

It seems to this blogger to be the thin end of the wedge. I'd like to see pornography thrown off the web altogether but to place the net under governmental agency control seems something that is being angled for.

This is the standard tactic - create a malaise so that the public demands something be done. In step the regulators to address the problem - voila, the government now controls it.

[eurovision] chanson sung in english

Marianne feels Sebastien Tellier should not perform "Divine" at Eurovision -- unless it is in French.

"A song represents the soul of a country," said Marc Favre d'Echallens, who heads a group dedicated to defending French against the growing use of English.

"It appears logical that a song representing France be a French song sung in French," he said, denouncing cultural "uniformity" and the "hegemony" of the English language in the world today.

It's the latest battle in a war France has waged for decades to defend French against the encroachment -- some call it the invasion -- of the English language.

The televised May 24 Eurovision contest, with entries from Andorra to Russia, drew some 100 million viewers last year -- when France placed 22 out of 24 finalists, with 19 points.

And the French are less than amused by the British attempt to mock them:

Les journaux britanniques qui ne manquent pas une occasion de se moquer de la France, s'amusent beaucoup en ce moment. Le Times en tête, ils racontent avec délectation comment la France envoie au concours de l'Eurovision, un candidat qui chante en… anglais. «Après des décennies de scores très embarrassants, la France a trouvé une étrange parade pour remporter le concours à Belgrade, le 24 mai prochain» , écrit perfidement le Times.

This blogger feels that the song should be sung in the native language by a native of the country to a reasonable number of generations.

English is a big enough language to accommodate that - there's hardly a need for this fixation for everything to be in English.

This blogger also feels that people should perhaps be a little less over-sensitive about some things and that good relations are more important than imagined slights.

Sebastien Tellier: "Divine"

[thought for the day] thursday evening

Each man has found himself in the situation, somewhere along the line, where a woman is not speaking to him. How many have been in the situation where three women from different parts of the world are simultaneously not speaking to him? Interesting, huh?

A misplaced line here, a regretted word there - that's a situation which clearly calls for Shakespeare, for example, from Othello:

O! I have lost my reputation. I have lost the immortal part of myself and what remains is bestial, grrrr!

[He scurries back to his lair.]

[настоящая любовь] может ли это быть правдой?

Update from the western press

А новой избранницей президента России якобы уже стала олимпийская чемпионка, дважды чемпионка мира и обладательница громких европейских титулов Алина Кабаева. 12 мая молодой красавице исполнится 25, она младше Путина на 30 лет.

Московский корреспондент утверждает, что среди московских компаний, занимающихся организацией корпоративных праздников, уже объявлен закрытый тендер на право проведения свадьбы Путина и Кабаевой.

Сама же свадьба якобы состоится на Троицу, которая в этом году приходится на 15 июня.

Местом проведения торжества выбран Константиновский дворец под Санкт-Петербургом.

This is sweeping Russia today but no one knows if there's anything in it or not.

There is a video montage below of her career.

She's always been my favourite gymnast along with Nadia Comaneci. Music in the clip is by HiFi.

Mой весьма информированный источник, пожелавший остаться неназванным...

кроме того, было много слухов по поводу того, что путин неравнодушен к Анне Нетребко - оперной примадонне и не зря он наградил ее званием народной артистки и гос премией. кстати, она гораздо лучше обеспечена деньгами - звезда!

I'm also told she is Ukrainian but born in Russia, with two citizenships - Russian and Austrian.

Still, I feel Kabaeva's the one.

[32 years on] where is she now

Fine looking woman, yes? Would you believe she's 47 years old? Here's an earlier shot of her:



I sometimes ask the Russians if they've heard of her - almost no one has. In Soviet days her name was never mentioned.

[city cars] clever privo might be the answer

Nunyaa got me thinking about city cars. She mentioned the Nissan Privo:

The car is run by lithium-ion batteries and has ZERO emissions. The entire cabin of the car swivels which makes parking in tight spots a breeze. While the word Pivo means beer in Russian and several other Slavic languages, the car design has nothing to do with beer cans or keg barrels.

Perhaps it's based on the Russian "privod":

привод I м. тех. (передача) drive, driving gear

Earlier, in 2006, the Clever concept was also unveiled:

... a three-wheeled car that, at a metre wide, is designed to squeeze into the tiniest of parking spaces, funded by the European Union and backed by BMW, called Clever (for compact low emission vehicle for urban transport, and a possible swipe at the Smart car brand), launched at Bath University in south-west England.

Its developers hoped to see it on European streets within five years at a cost of as little as £5000. Clever's most striking feature is the way the chassis tilts, like a motorcycle, when the vehicle rounds a corner. The tilt system, designed by the engineers at Bath, is controlled electronically to make sure the car is balanced at all speeds.

The vehicle emits about a third as much carbon dioxide as conventional family cars, with fuel consumption equivalent to 2.17 litres per 100 kilometres. It has a top speed of 100 km/h and takes seven seconds to get from zero to 65 km/h. It can carry one passenger in a seat behind the driver.

I don't see anything current on this vehicle on the web so we'll ahve to look out for the Privo.

[blog notes] patterns of visitors

To look at this, you could be forgiven for thinking this is a U.S. blog. Look at mid-evening, London time though and the story is usually so different. Last evening I had my best Brit stats in a long while - 55% of readers were from the U.K.

I never planned the blog to be that way and yet it's a delight and I now try to plan the posts with the target readers in mind.

Days of the week is another very consistent thing. There've rarely been weeks, except with a major holiday, where it varies. Saturday is usually my shocker for visitor numbers, Sunday picks up, Monday and Tuesday peak, Wednesday begins the slide down to Saturday.

What's your pattern?

[boris] still leading the race for mayor

I want to be Mayor for all Londoners


I wanted to run an analysis rather than a eulogy. In today's Telegraph, Iain Martin says about Red Ken:

He is now really up against it. The payola machine Livingstone built for partially reconstructed Marxists at city hall is seamlessly interwoven with his network of activists across the city, giving him real reach in campaigning terms.

Livingstone may well be tired, but he still has a very good chance of sneaking back in.

Johnson has to hope to persuade Tories in outer London to care enough to vote this time. The bad news for undecided voters is that a flirtation with the Liberals or the Greens is pointless.

The electoral system means that the top two candidates' names will first be identified and then only the second votes cast for those two are added to their first vote totals. If a voter wants it to count, their second vote should be cast for either Boris or Ken.

Johnson's campaign is showing signs of faltering as the winning post comes into view. The problem has not been that he has avoided playing the clown, rather it is a lack of grasp of detail. He needs to work out a series of coherent answers to questions such as: how much will his new Routemaster buses cost? Who will be in his team if he wins?

Beyond policy specifics - and there is much in his promises on knife crime, policing, open spaces and recycling that is worth commending - ultimately this is a set-piece battle in a culture war.

Johnson is the Cavalier fighting Ken's politically-correct Roundhead forces whose grip has been strongest in municipal government. In office his natural inclination would be to do a bit less, "don't just do something, stand there," as Ronald Reagan put it, rather than spraying money at friends and quangos.

In the end, I suspect a weary London will see the two names and opt for the fresher voice which seems to offer some hope for London. Boris is that fresher voice.

Not greatly relevant but here was a quick poll I ran last October on my site:

Ken the Newt………………….27%

Boris the Beefy………………73%

15 votes total

Well, all right - not all that scientific but some real indicators show that Boris, on balance, is still the best choice.