Many thanks for all the very kind messages. I appear to be back on full fighting form again and will resume blogging shortly.
Allowed HTML - you can use:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>
Expat apply for a moderator’s role — see what happens. Proof of the pudding is in the eating. Objectivity is in my training as is freedom to observe. Poodles and herd mentality was part of the problem how Blair managed to shaft the whole of the British parliament. Come out of the shadows.
And by all means contribute to the debate instead of just sitting there saying i don’t like him, block. Bumchums etc, grow up if you’re serious at all about the world, its sorry state and humanity.
I’ve had a load of jet fighters flying around in circles over me all day, costs £30,000 and hour to keep one of those things in the air.
I’m no fan of the Royal Family, can’t stand them myself, loathe them actually but I know a lot of people do like them. I know see how immensely popular they are with the masses, they sell an awful lot of news papers.
So I reckon they don’t cost that much compared to fighter planes and giving arms to Al Qaeda and such`so I’m quite prepared to tolerate them considering they give so much pleasure to all those people standing hours in the rain to wave flags as they drive past.
That’s what a free society is all about isn’t it? Tolerating the things you don’t like much for the sake of those that do. If we start demanding everything is just how we want it be then a lot of society isn’t going to be free.
Habby
There are two answers to Britain’s recurrent problem in having a constitutional setup that almost always produces an elective dictatorship.
1. Abolish the monarchy and elect an executive president with real power.
2. Strengthen parliament and make the electoral system more representative of the people.
2. is what’s normally proposed these days, but they don’t ever seem to get around to it.
1. is easier. You just need media to work their Diana magic again.
@ Villager
“As for Herbie, he seems to be here only in a vain attempt to score points. I have read with interest his exchange with Habby who is chasing him all over the board — he’s on the ropes with no specifics.”
_________
You cheeky so-and-so! What do you mean, “on the ropes”? – Herbie was down on the canvas, out for the count.
But then his twin brother stepped into the ring with a new theme. Owing to his present silence, only time can tell how many rounds he’ll go before the ref counts him out.
When Habbabkuk’s in the ring, you get two for the price of one, and that is not to be sneezed at in these austere times.
Excellent Big Picture comment by Fred.
Profound in terms of relevance of comparison to fighter jets and the broader point about, as i read it, live and let live — based on the reality of “what is’, Not some ideology.
—–
Whats your verdict Expat?
@Villager. 11 11pm
“That doesn’t sound like a very sincere apology when in the same breath you accuse Habbabkuk of sock-puppeting.”
I can see how you might have though that I was accusing there. In fact I was simply apollogising for a post that was 100% ad hominen. I take the piss, I know, but I try to keep it relevant and I dashed that one out in haste and later regretted it. Hence the apology.
I don’t really care whether Dad is singular or plural. What matters to me is that, whatever the topic he/she/they can be counted on to defend the indefensible. Always promoting narratives in which humanity loses out to power.
Re monarchy, I just can’t for the life of me see how one UK monarach could be considered to be worth 9560 nurses or 112 Irish presidents. That’s it.
Okay Habby so it must be in the genes — Sofia Kibo also tried to give us a two-for-one 🙂 I get it 😉
Anyway I’m reminded of one of my favourite Beatles songs for its melody of the Beatles well before Sir Paul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXdKlpBOvs0
All hypocrites, though!
What did the Flower-children bring us other than a popularisation of drugs?
We need another way to live but i remain deeply sceptical of the armchair activists like Flaming June, Herbie and our failed petty-politician Nevermind and such likes.
Sorry if i misunderstood you but the Eminences including ‘Herbie’ have been going on neurotically — minus the forensics i applied in your determination — about Anon being Habbabkuk.
Take your point re equivalence but the Irish e.g. perhaps is a better apples-for-apples comparison. One will get a closer look in the morning.
Villager
17 Jul, 2013 – 12:06 am
intended for Kibo, if not obvious
Villager; I respect your protectiveness wrt to free speech, but I question the limits. Do you really think the unmentionable one is serious and not disruptive in intent? I have been meaning to ask you that question.
I guess i’m using the US definition of ‘free speech’. In our democracy, you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater when no fire exists. There are limits.
Ben, i think he is. He doesn’t rush to declare or box himself as a ‘liberal’ wearing it as on a uniformed sleeve as many do here, but i think he’s on the ‘right side’ of many key issues (or at least he wants to understand if one is taking a holistic view in a very imperfect world. Syria is an example)– my interpretation, i don’t want to be speaking for him. He’s far more subtle than some of the gushing sycophants, a trait i despise in the spirit of poodles etc — see my earlier point re Blair shafting the whole of Parliament and then people reelecting him for more. A rigourous debate to come to ‘conclusions’ or synthesis of thinking is more scientific and rational.
Ben, but you can chase a black unarmed young black boy, start an intimidating altercation and then take out a licenced gun and shoot him dead with candy in his pocket.
Then why does ‘he who must be obeyed’ harass those who wish not to engage. That feature, to me is a bug. It identifies one who uses that approach as a troll. Is it ‘borderline personality disorder’, or am I seeing this through a prism?
“but you can chase a black unarmed young black boy, start an intimidating altercation and then take out a licenced gun and shoot him dead with candy in his pocket”
And..get away with it. That’s my point.
Might i also add that we are far more downstream in the evolution of dialogue from even a month ago. I think people need to move on and be agile and live a new day fresh rather than lapsing back. Life is a living thing!
“I Hereby Resign in Protest Effective Immediately”
“The narrative, professed by the state, and echoed by the mainstream press, has proven false and criminal. We have become what I thought we were fighting against.”Brandon Troy (Former US soldier)
Full letter: https://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/07/16-5
How many wearing those uniforms must be having similar realisations?
It must be getting harder by the day to really believe all the crap.
I would rather think the progression is ‘upstream’. Salmon prefer it.
“At £30 million minimum per mile, that means that every year 6,5 miles of motorway don’t get built because of Her Majesty.
Appalling!”
Another way of looking at would be grateful for the environmental damage thus prevented.
Ten Years Ago: The Political Assassination of Dr. David Kelly
The Dr Kelly Inquest Campaign demands due process of law – the re-opening of Dr Kelly’s inquest – and transparency, to achieve truth and justice.
TENTH ANNIVERSARY SILENT PROTEST
ROYAL COURTS OF JUSTICE,
THURSDAY 18th JULY 2013
2pm PHOTOCALL
The campaign to re-open the inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly is holding a silent, gagged, protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice, London, on Thursday 18th July 2pm, to mark the tenth anniversary of Dr Kelly’s death and to demand the re-opening of his inquest.
Campaigners demand Dr Kelly’s inquest, as his right under British law, to examine all the evidence, including the fresh evidence. The coroner ‘speaks for the dead to protect the living.’ Campaigners demand due process of British law and transparency, for the clear establishment of truth and justice.
All single, unexplained deaths require an inquest under British law. Dr Kelly’s unexplained death, according to many centuries of British law, should have been examined in a proper coronial inquest, with the option of a jury, the power to subpoena witnesses, testimony given under oath, with cross-examination and the requirement to establish suicide beyond reasonable doubt.
Instead, Section 17A of the Coroners Act 1988 was quickly invoked – which is used to cover multiple deaths, as with train disasters – probably uniquely, for Dr Kelly’s single, unexplained death. The result was the Hutton Inquiry, engaged only to look into ‘the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly’s death’, neither overseen by a coroner, nor with the proper powers of an inquest.
There is fresh evidence which requires the scrutiny of a proper coronial inquest. Thames Valley Police FoI responses reveal that there were no fingerprints on six items found with Dr Kelly’s body, including the knife with which he is said to have cut his ulnar artery, blister packs of Co-proxamol tablets, which he is said to have swallowed, an opened water bottle, a watch, spectacles and mobile phone. No gloves were found at the scene.
Lord Hutton requested the records provided to the Hutton Inquiry, not produced in evidence, be closed for 30 years, and that medical reports and photographs be closed for 70 years. The Ministry of Justice was unable to explain the legal basis for Lord Hutton’s order.
The Dr Kelly Inquest Campaign demands due process of law – the re-opening of Dr Kelly’s inquest – and transparency, to achieve truth and justice.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/ten-years-ago-the-political-assasination-of-dr-david-kelly/5342952
Barclays have already been fined for fixing the Libor rates. Now they have another fine for manipulating US electricity prices.
US energy regulator orders Barclays to pay £299m fine
Bank penalised for attempting to manipulate US electricity market hours after appointing Tushar Morzaria as financial director
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jul/17/us-energy-regulator-barclays-fine
Barclays….’We are very disappointed’…. Not half as disappointed as the many Joe Soaps and their families in the US who were swindled.
Fines, however large, do not have any effect on this bank’s illegal activities. Shut them down and be done with it. Oh sorry! They have got a new director who will make them squeaky clean like Domestos does. He is being stolen from JP Morgan Chase (B.Liar’s employer) at a reputed £6m salary.
And no Villager. I do not envy wealth, in yet another of your preposterous statements made about me in your role of armchair psychologist. These bankers can keep their obscene wealth. It will not make them happy or extend their lives.
The other night I was watching a programme about the current state of medical care in Greece. It is appalling and is virtually non existent. Unless you can pay for treatment and medication you have to rely on charity. The poor people are suffering whilst the likes of Goldman Sachs who set Greece up, went off with the profits from the deal.
Greece’s life-saving austerity medics
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23247914
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/world/europe/greek-unemployed-cut-off-from-medical-treatment.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
PS I see there is another reference to me above in your midnight ramblings. ‘We need another way to live but i remain deeply sceptical of the armchair activists like Flaming June, Herbie and our failed petty-politician Nevermind and such likes.’ You seem to have a fixation. Leave me out of your comments. I do not engage with you nor do I have any wish to do so.
Iran, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, China. They are all in the frame, including Israel.
The committees also want more detail on a sales licence granted to Israel earlier this year for the purchase of £7.7bn worth of what is described as “equipment employing cryptography and software for equipment employing cryptography”. (BBC website)
Scrutiny of Arms Exports and Arms Control (2013) Report
17 July 2013
There are over 3,000 Government approved export licences, worth more than £12 billion, for strategic controlled goods going to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s 27 Countries of Human Rights concern say MPs.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/other-committees/committee-on-arms-export-controls/news/pn-report/
@ Ben Franklin, re my occasional interventions on this blog
“I guess i’m using the US definition of ‘free speech’. In our democracy, you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater when no fire exists. There are limits.”
___________
As often, this sounds impressive but reveals itself less so when you stop to think for a second or two….
My questioning of la pensée unique on this blog is compared to shouting fire in a crowded theatre (and should therefore be sanctioned)?
This reveals a slightly exaggerated sense of importance about this blog and a more than slightly exaggerated sense of self-importance on the part of some of the Eminences, I think.
Could it be that “fixations” are contagious?
In good medical practice, the source of an infection is normally quarantined.
“Ouch! A bit below the belt, that, don’t you think?” Habbabkuk.
Norman St John Stevas didn’t have a below-the-belt. Perish the thought, Ma’am!
We comment on the US hellholes yet we have our own.
‘Morton Hall detainee held for nearly three years, report finds
A charity for immigration detainees said protests in centres were not uncommon
An asylum seeker has been detained for three years without trial at a Lincolnshire centre, a report reveals.
Inspectors at Morton Hall Immigration Detention Centre praised recent improvements but raised concerns that many people were held for too long.
Immigration Minister Mark Harper said the Home Office “enforces the return” of people in the country illegally.
Campaign group Detention Action said the UK should put a time limit on how long people were held.
‘Safe establishment’
A riot broke out at the centre, which houses about 360 men, over the Christmas period, according to the staff union and in July last year a number of detainees protested at the length of time they had been held.
But HM Inspectorate of Prisons said it was “pleased to see physical security” had been upgraded since the disturbances.’
/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-23334753#
If the UK must be a republic, a model that provides for an elected president would be a disaster. Elected people are, by functional neccesity, politicians. So to have a politician elected separately to a parliamentary party is a recipe for political conflict and embarrassment for the government.
My preferred system is one of parliamentary appointment of someone who was never a member of a political party (eliminating appointment of political cronies), is over 50 years of age and titled ‘Ambassador General’ rather than ‘President’ in keeping with their effective role as an internationally roving representative of the country. Former judges or military top brass could be suitable candidates. Oz used to appoint retired military brass as Governors General before Labor decided to go with an affirmative action policy.
As a republican myself, I see that monarchy has a diminishing future. But I will not support any model that attempts to recreate the appallingly bad, but glamorous, US model. Republicans are, in my view, a little too excited for change and a little too deluded about what improvements to society such change will bring. Look around the world and see what republicanism has done for other countries.
Having said that, a reasonable person should tote up the pros and cons of monarchy vs republic on a periodic basis and make informed, not romantic, decisions about where their best interests lie in the future.
NSA News.
The lawyers are moving in on them in the USA. Should get interesting. This is First Amendment stuff, they have not started on Fourth Amendment yet. Washington’s defence up till Snowden was that it was all secret and all evidence anecdotal. No more.
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/unitarian-church-gun-groups-join-eff-sue-nsa-over-illegal-surveillance
Kempe: Komodo, you’re quoting from exactly the kind of nationalist website I was talking about.
For the n’th time, I’m not arguing for Cornish independence. I’m truly neutral, verging on anti (it’s economic nonsense) on the matter. What I quoted from the website is true. It has the advantage of being concisely stated there; if I hadn’t quoted it, I’d have had to use two or three links. And I’m sorry, the Daily Mail didn’t have much information on the topic, and I couldn’t use the Excrescences’ official source for that reason.
Monarchy: It occurred to me, belatedly, that, re. the monarchy, the alternative is usually assumed to be a President, who performs the same function at rather less cost – basically frontman for the country. In the UK, the PM performs all the identifiable functions undertaken in the US by the elected President – so a President would be superfluous. Functionally, HM is unnecessary, by the same token. She simply doubles-up the PM’s, and our ambassadors’, PR brief.
It’s time to rethink the job. Which is, essentially, PR. For that we need a personage well-versed in branding and marketing, capable of heading a team of creatives and capable of implementing a Ministerial brief with imagination and flair. They should be charismatic, and well-informed. They should not have to ask the random punter beside whom their gilt carriage has paused what he does: they should know. Conversational and wide networking skills would be a distinct asset. Appointing such a one, issuing it with a crown, and paying it by results, would enable the PM of the day to GET ON WITH RUNNING THE BLOODY COUNTRY INSTEAD OF SWANNING OFF TO UZBEKISTAN TO SELL ARMS.
In short, ladies and gentlemen, Eminences and Excrescences, the monarchy should be the subject of a PFI contract with a PR firm.
What’s wrong with the Irish system? It produced Michael D. Higgins. He even had his salary reduced. How often do you hear of that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Higgins