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320 thoughts on “Question of the Day

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  • Rob Royston

    Sandman,
    If you have more than twelve rooms in your house on Bermuda you will have to give one up for the “Scotch” Lairds when they come to collect the rent.

  • guano

    Saudi help for the Yanks and ziofuckwits was engineered by Zionist T.E.Lawrence who photographed them in compromising circumstances and blackmailed them thereafter. They did the same to Blair.
    That’s why they are called ziofuckwits, because they offer the political classes obscene amounts of money and dollops of lust, which they would be ashamed to be exposed indulging in.
    Praise be to God for the sexual and financial liberalisation revolution which has made it much more difficult to control politicians through blackmail.
    If I had a choice between myself or my wife being exposed doing something filthy, horrible and dirty, and sending Iraq, Libya or
    Syria to decades of bloody civil war, I hope I could find the honesty to save the lives of millions at the expense of my own pride, and to expose the blackmailers who offered the temptations and caught me with my trousers down.
    Blair has still not found the courage to do so, relying on the blood of Jesus for redemption, which I suspect Jesus pbuh him would rather prefer to keep circulating in his own body than waste on tramps like Blair.

  • Sandman

    Rob Royston – I shall remember to tug my forelock and avert my gaze when the Lairds come a’calling in Bermuda, or the 8% of it that will presumably be known as New Benbecula.

    Seriously though, I thought Scottish nationalism was about self-determination. Didn’t realise they had aspirations to annex autonomous territories thousands of miles away.

  • Fedup

    Charity begins at home The back to work (now there is a novelty, great assumptions; there exists work”) Tsar adhering to the great principles of crony capitalism got busy squeezing every penny towards good causes; her bank account. Has resigned but the stink goes on.
    ,
    Great ploy, anyone who thinks there are any jobs ought to have stepped off a banana boat, or a Martian Explorer. Therefore to appoint a greedy patsy who will take on finding work for the millions of unemployed is the first step in the elaborate scam, then the second step is to expose the misconduct, and malfeasance of the greedy patsy, the third and final step: everyone starts fighting about the monies being spent to find work for the lazy layabout who don’t want to go to work, and no one talking about where are these jobs suppose to be fucking at?
    ,
    Job’s a gooden and problem of doing away with the benefits solved, done and dusted. Soon we will be reaping the benefits of the model economy we have followed for years: families dying together in their homes because of hunger and cold.
    ,
    Family of three dies from apparent starvation in Japan
    ,
    {http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/24/family-die-starvation-japan}
    ,
    I suppose one way of reducing the calls on the nation’s purse. Kill the poor over there in the wars of choice, apply the same formula to the “spongers” over here too, calling it war on fraudsters/layabouts/spongers

  • bonifacegoncourt

    @Iain Orr

    But ‘uninhabited’ does normally mean ‘humanless’! It would be nice if the FIs could be subsidized forever in their idyllic peat bog, but realpolitik enters the frame. Two thirds
    of their income is from selling fishing licences, notably to
    the Spanish, who come to scoop the calamares, but could the FIs collect without Royal Navy enforcement…paid for by UK?
    Mauritius is a member of the Commonwealth, African Union etc, has no known predators, and its 2,000 strong paramilitary police/coast guard is trained and equipped by UK, US,
    France, India. It exports a lot of products. It pays for itself. What hope for an independent FI, which does have a known predator, no industry, no distinctive culture, and only a few thousand people? What have they been doing for 170 years?

    France’s overseas territories thrive because they are
    actually parts of the French Republic. London has no interest
    in hanging on to Tristan da Cunha, St Helena, or the FI, while Bermuda, Caymans, and Turks and Caicos are just for money-laundering. Is Britain going to make FI a shire? No. Perfide Albion will always let you down [cf the disgusting betrayal
    of the Chagossians]! Passerby’s rather brutalist take is about right. It’s money. You cannot just recite ‘we’re sooo British’ and expect a meal ticket. Most Brits don’t want to pay for Wales, let alone Marmite-munchers on the other side of the world, and even less so as 1982recedes into ancient history. Anyway, why are the FIs still ‘British’? In 170 years they could have evolved a new identity, like Canadians or Australians. Or, they could have reached out to their neighbours and become South Americans. At least they could have
    populated the place and built a few towns. Eventually London will dump the FIs, or at least offer them an identical peat bog in Scotland or Co Tyrone. Suddenly the Hobnobs and Shippam’s meat paste won’t taste so good, and they’ll wish they had become part of Chile.

    @Azra

    There are only two kinds of godworshippers, the conmen and the conned. All religion is vanity. All worship is self-worship. ‘Allah’ is merely the right hemisphere of your brain.

    @Sandman

    “I live in Bermuda, which is 21 sq miles. Which 8% is going to go Scotch?”

    Sandman I have many fond if glazed memories of your island. Bermudians have no need to go to Scotland since most of the scotch is in the Bermudians.

  • Iain Orr

    I’m sorry that several contributors have such narrow views of the UK’s overseas territories. Most sound like the FCO, which has indeed tried – but failed, with the recent exception of Hong Kong – to get rid of most of them. Quite apart from the territories rich biodiversity (conservatively 20 times the endemic species of the metropolitan UK) they have many historic buildings and sites with much of value for those who have any sense of British history.

    .
    A particularly striking example is Rupert’s Valley in St Helena recently excavated to reveal the bones of many liberated slaves when St Helena became a focal point for the Navy’s suppression of the slave trade from West Africa. See the article by Andrew Pearson in the March-April 2012 issue of “British Archaeology”. He will also be launching his book on the excavations in St Helena with a lecture at 17.00 on 9 March at Bristol University.

    .
    Other territories remain of far greater interest than as offshore tax havens. The Cayman Islands operates a more effective Freedom of Information Act than does the UK. Bermuda has a fine artistic traditions and a magnificent Maritime Museum. Montserrat has an active volcano – where can vulcanologists go in the UK?

    .
    I have doubts myself about whether it would be sensible – for them or for Scotland – for any of the present overseas territories to shack up with Wee Eck. An Independent article of 1 July 2006 showed that Scots were better at seeking fame and fortune within the British Empire than running their own. See http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/the-complete-guide-to-the-scottish-empire-407924.html . I’m not enough of a lawyer to know whether the Scottish legal system could easily adapt to taking on the “sacred trust” (UN Charter) of giving paramount importance to the interests of any overseas territories (aka colonies).

    .
    However the section “What Next?” in the article does show the considerable Scottish links with Tristan da Cunha and the Falklands. In his dreams I bet Wee Eck would love to get his hands on Diego Garcia and then sell it to China!

  • bonifacegoncourt

    @Iain Orr

    It’s nice to be romantic but you can’t eat sentiment. When the Rothschild regime in London finishes robbing the British people, why will they bother about useless remnants of empire? You won’t need to travel to the 3rd world to view imperial relics, for Britain will be in the 3rd world.

  • Ass.District Commissioner

    Just in case you didn’t scroll down that far, watch this. And be prepared to vomit (preferably) at the sight of the former Labour MP for Harlow, Bill Rammell, now Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Plymouth:

    http://vimeo.com/17401157

  • guano

    Bonk-face Gonk-ort.
    ‘There are only two kinds of godworshippers, the conmen and the conned. All religion is vanity. All worship is self-worship. ‘Allah’ is merely the right hemisphere of your brain.’
    .
    By that logic, the whole outside world is an illusion. When you get into a plane and fly over the English channel it’s reassuring to find that it doesn’t just exist on a map. Or is that the same as my Tom Tom? It still thinks it’s steaming up the M40 after I’ve put it to bed in a chest of drawers at home.

  • angrysoba

    I suppose we now know why Hamas quit Damascus:
    .
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/hamas-ditches-assad-backs-syria-revolt-1.414701
    .
    The divorce between Hamas and Damascus had been coming for months. The Palestinian group had angered Assad last year when it refused a request to hold public rallies in Palestinian refugee camps in Syria in support of his government.

    Hamas’s exile political leader Khaled Meshaal and his associates quietly quit their headquarters in Damascus and have stayed away from Syria for months now, although Hamas tried to deny their absence had anything to do with the revolt.

    Haniyeh visited Iran earlier this month on a mission to shore up ties with the power that has provided Hamas with money and weapons to fight Israel. It is not clear what the outcome of his visit has been, though the tone of the latest Hamas comments is hardly compatible with continued warm relations with Tehran.


    .
    It will be sad if Hamas and Iran also fall out. 😀

  • Voila

    Guano and Azra,
    The shia do not worship the dead, they ask the dead to help deliver their prayer (dua) to Allah (God), in other words they associate smn in asking Allah. This is called shirk and Allah says in the Quran He forgives sins of humans (provided they repent) except for shirk.
    Passerby: there is no documented fact that prophet Muhammad did appoint Ali as calif at his death. However, there are documented facts that only Abu Bakr was alllowed to lead congregation prayers in the mosque of the prophet when he was severely ill. Leading the congretaion prayers meant being a leader at that time, and there were two or three cases when prophet was not able to lead the prayer at the time of his death and asked Abu Bakr to go for it. Therefore, after death of prophet people chose Abu Bakr to become calif. Besides, Abu Bakr was one of the ten people whom Muhammad prophesized to see in paradise.
    Insinuation of the shia that Abu Bakr, Umar and other califs went againts wishes of the prophet is pure madness driven out of political objectives to divide muslims.
    Allah says in the Quran that prophet Muhammad does not say things out of his desire, meaning that everything prophet says or does is because of instructions from Allah. If prophet allowed Abu Bakr to lead the nation at that time he did so because of instructions from Allah. Denying this is denying the Quran.
    Peace.

  • angrysoba

    Craig Murray: Angrysoba

    I don’t suggest the Bahrainis want to be invaded by Bahrain. I suggest they did not want to be invaded by Saudi Arabia, and wanted to choose their own government.

    .
    Yes, I too want Bahrainis to choose their own government. And Iranians to be able to do so too. But I don’t understand this comparison:
    .
    Why is self-determination an inalienable right for the people of the Falklands, but a gross example of Iranian meddling for the people of Bahrain?
    .
    I think you are referring to some comment in which it was considered hypocritical for Iran to call for Bahraini freedom and decry the brutal crackdown of the demonstrators there while treating its own citizens no differently.

  • Clark

    Bonifacegoncourt, Britain will fight to hold the Falkland Islands for the same reason it did in 1982; there is oil there.
    .
    I think you should think again about why people believe in “God”. Of course religion is used to con people. But your statement “There are only two kinds of godworshippers, the conmen and the conned” ignores two important groups; those who are both, and those who are neither. These are not empty sets.
    .
    The term “worship” has very negative connotations in this modern age. Fake worship of one’s self is vigorously promoted by commercialism. There is no profit to be made from promoting respect, reverence and awe for whatever it is that makes our Universe consistently, continually and superlatively creative. To do so would detract from commercialism, which promotes the lie that creativity derives solely from itself. Commercialism claims to be the “producer”, and that all us people are mere “consumers”; there is no room for The Creator in that relationship.
    .
    Huge damage is done by the various religious descriptions of “God”. As soon as people decide that they know what “God” is, they can disagree and argue over it and ultimately fight and kill (and a definition of “God” as non-existent is just more of the same). Yet we all know, if we look into our hearts, that fighting and killing are in opposition to creating. We know that we are most creative ourselves in a peaceful and supportive environment. We feel happy when we create, and we are hurt when that which we have created is destroyed.
    .
    “God” is just a word for That Which Creates. We all know when we are acting creatively; we don’t need anyone to tell us. Thus, it is correct to state that God is within us all. All the Universe is creative, so it is correct to state that God is everywhere. We should treat any person or group that claims to speak on God’s behalf with vigorous skepticism. Always, the responsibility to act morally is personal. Paradoxically, we cannot escape our free-will, our own God-ness. We can choose to follow someone else’s laws, rules or advice, but whose to accept is still our own choice. So the only inescapable “commandment” is:
    .
    THOU SHALT…
    Decide for thine self!

  • Clark

    Angrysoba: “It will be sad if Hamas and Iran also fall out. :D”
    .
    It is both sad and extremely dangerous that so many in the Middle East are “falling out”. I really don’t see anything positive in any of it at present. Support for Hamas and its extremism is a reaction to extreme oppression by Israel. Israeli oppression will not disappear even if Hamas does become more isolated. Rather, the attitudes of Hamas’s supporters are likely to harden if Hamas’s isolation increases, leading to yet greater oppression from Israel. This looks very bad for the people imprisoned in Gaza.

  • Mary

    Miles Goslett is on the BBC’s case. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2103258/BBC-pays-1-8million-legal-help-stars-pay-confidential.html
    .
    BBC pays £1.8million legal bill to help keep stars’ pay confidential
    By MILES GOSLETT – 19/02/2012 Figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday show that the BBC Trust – the body that has overall control of the public broadcaster – paid an average of almost £20,000 a week to the London office of Baker & McKenzie during the past two years

    .
    The Berghaus Broadcasting Corporation: Presenters accused of ‘advertising by the back door’ as BBC gets massive discounts on designer winterwear
    By RUSSELL MYERS,MILES GOSLETT – 15/02/2012 The Corporation has spent thousands kitting out staff on its most popular programmes in a range of the Berghaus brand’s latest jackets and fleeces.
    .

    MPs say BBC must reveal details of journalists’ commercial deals
    By MILES GOSLETT All By This Author – 13/02/2012 Radio 4’s Sarah Montague (pictured) and Newsnight’s Gavin Esler have been paid to speak at medical conferences organised by the NHS.
    .
    http://tiny.cc/6lfco

  • Mary

    We have discussed Somalia here before. As someone said, it’s always about OIL.
    .
    ‘The Observer can reveal that, away from the public focus of last week’s summit, talks are going on between British officials and Somali counterparts over exploiting oil reserves that have been explored in the arid north-eastern region of the country. Abdulkadir Abdi Hashi, minister for international cooperation in Puntland, north-east Somalia – where the first oil is expected to be extracted next month – said: “We have spoken to a number of UK officials, some have offered to help us with the future management of oil revenues. They will help us build our capacity to maximise future earnings from the oil industry.”
    .
    British involvement in the future Somali oil industry would be a boon for the UK economy and comes at a time when the world is increasingly concerned about the actions of Iran, the second-biggest oil producer in Opec.’
    .

    Britain leads dash to explore for oil in war-torn Somalia
    Government offers humanitarian aid and security assistance in the hope of a stake in country’s future energy industry
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/25/britain-oil-dash-somalia
    .
    Note the little throwaway phrase on Iran. That’s right Guardian. Keep up the pressure and keep the propaganda flowing.

  • TV Viewer

    Get the soar-away Sun TODAY! Yes, SUNDAY! That’s right, you’re not hearing things.
    .
    This is truly historic, you can tell by the media’s 24 hour display of continuous astonishment.

  • ingo

    what a lovely uneventfull sunday, had to put in my earlies yesterday, The sun is shining on my back and TV viewer is rupturing his little brain in excitement over some artificial hype about nothing, nothing at all.

    Hamas jumped before it got involved in this sectarian brawl between Saudi’s paid mercenaries, their money and Russian arms, I call this a wise choice. What is important is that Hamas and Fatah are growing together their real politic, something Israel is trying to break up at every opportunity.
    The danger of increasing isolationism of armed factions in the ME could mean a re run of sectarian violence ala Lebanon during the early 1980’s, a collapse of past peace alliances. We in the west know very well how to support such kind of instability, as it serves our aim and plans to intervene for our own reasons.

    Craig, have you found Adam Werritty in Ghana? If he’s not there, maybe we have misread his relationship with Liam Fox, he could well be lavishing it away in some spanky dungeon of his own liking, ready to be released from his leash.

  • angrysoba

    Clark: Bonifacegoncourt, Britain will fight to hold the Falkland Islands for the same reason it did in 1982; there is oil there.

    .
    I was only five years old at the time of the Falklands War so I don’t remember the debates at the time. And yet, this claim seems to me to be so radical as to be almost entrepreneurial. Could you elaborate on it a little? I didn’t know oil was known to exist in such large quantities off the Falklands at the time.
    .
    However, just for the sake of argument, if we assume that the existence of oil was not known to exist there would there have nontheless been a case for expelling an invading army directed by a fascist regime in Argentina?

  • angrysoba

    Clark: It is both sad and extremely dangerous that so many in the Middle East are “falling out”. I really don’t see anything positive in any of it at present.
    .
    I would suggest that if Iran did not provide Hamas with rockets then there would be something positive to be said for the split.

  • Iain Orr

    Bonifacegoncourt: I’m partly happy to accept your implication that I’m romantic [you at 26 mins into today]; but I don’t think that regarding different parts of the world in their own terms is romantic. Throwing stink-bombs such as “imperial relics” and “Britain will be in the 3rd world” is far more romantic, in the sense ” having no basis in real life”.

    .
    However I’d rather call you catalytic (others might say “cataleptic”), especially for eliciting Clark’s reflections on God, creativity and non-empty sets.

    .
    You are, of course, right that “uninhabited” normally means “with no humans there”. My phrasing was meant to be an antidote to rampant anthropomorphism; but it seems to have worked in your case as an injection of anthrax (“an often fatal infectious disease…caused by a spore-forming bacterium and capable of being transmitted to humans”.) You are an earthling aren’t you, rather than a transvestite Martian?

  • TFS

    Off Topic: As frauds go, no one touches Ponzi Street (Wall Street) for blatant arrogance, and funnily enough a pat on the back for getting away with it.

    When you thought it couldn’t become funnier, the MF Global scandal steps in, and then a Lord of the British realm steps forward with some more scandalous news.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL5hqvTWkYg

  • CheebaCow

    Angry:
    .
    Your last post seems to ignore that Israel has a long and sordid history of undermining Palestinian non-violent resistance. With that in mind, why is it good that the Palestinians are made even more defenseless? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like violent conflict or random rocket fire, but I am also painfully aware that the strength of Hezbollah does deter Israel from waging further war against Lebanon.
    .
    AmnestyUSA on Palestinian non-violent resistance:
    http://blog.amnestyusa.org/middle-east/palestinian-nonviolent-resistance-has-strong-roots/
    .
    Foreign Policy on Palestinian non-violent resistance:
    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/18/palestines_hidden_history_of_nonviolence?page=0,0

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