Some of you may already know that Nourishing Obscurity will be hosting the:
Britblog Roundup
... this Sunday, September 27th and your humble blogger has every intention of having it posted by mid-afternoon. I shall be relieving Mr. Eugenides who is on holiday.
So, get your nominations in to:
britblog@gmail.com
... tout suite.
I say "every intention of having it posted" but the question is - where? This blog passes into history on Tuesday, September 29th and the new blog:
http://nourishingobscurity.com
... will carry on from where this one leaves off. The solution is clear - the Britblog Roundup will be posted both here and at the new site.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
[yesterday's news is old news] see how you do
1. July 2008 - last month, the news broke that Gordon Brown was making phonecalls to unsuspecting members of the British public. Now, the News of The World has reported that The Queen had been thinking about setting up premium rate phone lines to allow the British public to call and get a message from the Royals - for what purpose?
2. September, 2008 - a "lady' burst on to the scene, calling Paris Hilton "a piece of sh-- who looks like a tramp". Then she impersonated a presidential hopeful. Who is she?
3. October, 2008 - there was a real stink when a prank resulted in one man having to depart but the other golden boy only got 12 weeks. A lady called Lesley also had to resign over the affair. Who was the prat who got 12 weeks?
4. November, 2008 - one which has died away of late but at the time, this sort of thing was said - it is better for Saudi Arabia and the company to pay out a few million in ransom and save the 995 million left over. What was the issue?
5. December, 2008 - someone significant connected with Watergate died. Who?
Answers
To help pay for the double glazing at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, Tina Fey, Jonathan Ross, piracy, Mark Felt
[clearstream] a pandora's box for the ump
It's flowing strongly, the Clearstream biz, churning up mud along the way:
Les avocats de Dominique de Villepin ont jugé mercredi soir «scandaleux» les propos du président de la République au sujet des prévenus du procès Clearstream, propos qui selon eux violent les règles relatives à la présomption d'innocence.
To put the issue in perspective, the Grauniard called it:
A case of paranoia, slander and vengeance involving:
a) Dominique de Villepin, an ex-prime minister who dazzled the world on 14 February 2003 with a historic speech at the UN against the war in Iraq, a Gaullist with a taste for history and poetry and a penchant for Bonaparte;
b) Nicolas Sarkozy, former Chirac minister, today president of France, whose permanent agitation has transfixed his compatriots, and amused, irritated and awed the world in equal measure since his election on 5 May 2007;
c) the French intelligence services.
Naturally, the socialists are lapping it up, hardly abel to believe their good fortune, after their own infighting:
Le Monde concludes: “The involvement of the head of state unmistakably emerges from the testimony. Contrary to official statements it is very probable that Jacques Chirac issued ‘instructions’ in this affair... Irrespective of what the prime minister has said so far, the almost obsessive search for elements which could compromise the UMP president is unmistakably clear.”
The French love a good scandal but not of this sort, at this time and indications are that most French, for either reasons of boredom or reasons of fear for what it might do to UMP, vis-a-vis the next election, ushering in the truly loopy and perpetually infighting French Left, do not think it should have gone this far.
If UMP have plans to remain in power, they'd best get Sarkozy to close this thing off out of court. But that's not in the nature of Them, is it?
Let me wax religious for one moment. What the Clearstream affair revolves around is someone's knowledge that something was false and his willingness [however true or not is it of Villepin in this case] to remain silent on it and to allow things to come out which would damage the other.
That is no different to the exhortation, in Christianity that "blasphemy against the spirit can't be forgiven". Translated into Secular, it means exactly as stated - knowing something to be based on a false premise, namely the way the Pharisees and Saducees were going about things, they chose instead to bring down the accuser and rival with false testimony.
[thoughtful thursday] sign of the times
Those made up signs are not so funny but this seems genuine. The huts in the background seem Russian to me but the vehicles and language sure ain't.
[airbus] here we go again
There are references to Airbus problems:
Here
Here
Here
Here
Here
Here
Here
... and now here:
The EASA airworthiness directive concerns carriers that fly Airbus A330/A340 jetliners equipped with Goodrich pitot probes stamped with the part number 0851HL.
"Several reports have recently been received of loose pneumatic quick-disconnect unions" on the probes in question, the agency said, adding that the problem might lie at the "equipment manufacturing level."
The fault could result in an air leak that could in turn provide false airspeed indications, the statement said.
Ah yes - good luck with your Airbus flight if you have once scheduled.
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