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758 thoughts on “Cui Bono?

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  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Mr Goss

    “It is almost as bad as his advocation of torture in Guantanamo.”
    ___________________

    There’s a certain sad repetitiveness about this, isn’t there.

    You periodically come up with that claim.

    I always ask you to substantiate it by inviting you to quote me on that.

    But you never come back with a quote.

    Variant: you occasionally come back to say that one or other of my comments (which you never reproduce either, of course) shows that I “implicitly” support torture.

    These are well-known lefty tactics, you old Commie! 🙂

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Resident Dissident

    “TonyM

    I hope you feel better for that rant, though I doubt it did your blood pressure much good – and all because Habba doesn’t like blowing up people and has the ability to see more than one side to an argument.”
    _______________________

    For a variety of reasons I believe that Tony M – who sudddenly appeared out of nowhere – is actually an agent provocateur and that his rant is entirely synthetic; he does not mean a word of it.

    Why this blog should be judged worthy of receiving the attention of an agent provocateur is a mystery, as the Eminences and their useful idiots are mere armchair warriors and internet heroes – as demonstrated by the silence of California Ben and the Adult Celtic Poetaster in the face of my question:

    “Just to be able to evaluate your bona fides, so to speak – apart from frequently sounding off on this blog (and perhaps on others?)- what do you do in concrete and practical terms to support the Palestinian cause and help the Palestinian people?”

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Mary puzzled

    “Jay you are ……. joking, right?”

    Is she merely demonstrating a lack of humour…..or has she sniffed out TREASON?

    Only time will tell.

  • Ba'al Zevul (Chimp Assassin)

    A Node –

    I am sure you can find the equations and claimed proofs of Electric Universe theory for yourself: I am certainly not going to supply them, as I am not remotely interested in the idea. Glad the RWiki link stirred it up a bit, though.

    I wouldn’t fall for the ‘reputable scientist endorses this’ argument, though, as many reputable scientists, having made their bones on good science, have then pursued completely wrong ideas. It’s part of the process.

    Personally, I reckon that any whizzo alternative theory of everything that doesn’t produce a model mathematically compatible with the known facts about everything, can be treated with suspicion. As it takes about five years’ hard work to learn the maths which describe physical events at the sub-Newtonian scale, and colossal computing power to apply some of it, I will content myself with that. Any non mathematical physicists here might do the same without shame.

    One might wonder, though, how a hole blown by an improbably large electrical discharge (thousands of miles long, through a highly insulating vacuum, into quite a good insulator, among other major objections) would differ in its appearance from an impact crater. One might be that much of its periphery would be fused solid, and there would be no Tycho – like rays. OTOH we have evidence even here on earth – also on Mercury, Mars and elsewhere – that impact events occur, and the results are what would be expected. Occam’s Razor applies.

  • nevermind, viva beautiful football

    It is obvious now that our resident bully here refs up his tactics when Craigs is away or busy with his private life.
    When Craig comes home for another session of issues, he’s much more subdued.

    Meanwhile in the bigger boys politics Cameron is still playing the moral winner when he has shown how naive his bullying of Juncker really was. He’s outplayed his hand and now will have to face the consequences.

    freely translated “David Cameron is isolated after his arghument/spat with Claude Juncker, with humiliation looming during thew forthcoming EU summit. The Britisch premiere has outplayed his hand whilst still posing as the moral winner on the island”

    http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/david-cameron-im-streit-um-juncker-britischer-premier-bleibt-hart-a-976990.html

    Meanwhile Ms. Le Pen and her new posterboys in the EU, the populists who play with racismn and have no alternatives to the EU’s woes, who are being paid to shout obscenities at other public representatives, have failed to form a group in the EU as young Mr. Wilders has a’problem with Polish people’. you could not make it up.

    Where to go now Mr. Cameron? Is it a portion of humble pie or will you be forcefed by your own party?
    http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/eu-parlament-rechte-scheitern-mit-fraktionsbildung-der-eu-feinde-a-977031.html

  • Sofia

    Jay. 6 58am

    Genius.

    Thanks for solving the vexed Palestinian problem.

    Of course this would create a lot of very pissed off Turks but then the non Palestinians of Turkey would have it in their best interest to leave the land and find another land to settle and flourish. The amount of good will among non Palestinian people could help them find a homeland and help them settle and flourish.

    It would need to be a fertile land and similar to Turkey in nature.
    Maybe Israel. This then would free up Turkey for Palestinians to settle and then Palestinians and non Palestinians could help the Turks.

    I am hoping that Palestinians will lead the world and distinguish themselves in other ways satisfactory for all.

    With the Turls moved and aided all should be well and doing this could focus many people and resources and will nurture good will.

    Of course this would leave a lot of very pissed off Israelis but then the non Turkish people of Israel could….

  • Ba'al Zevul (Chimp Assassin)

    In addition to Blair’s flying visit to Egypt last week and his presence in Riyadh yesterday, his interest in Abu Dhabi should be noted. Long cache link as the FT has a paywall:

    http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:G6HJgMtNFZwJ:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8e7daff0-f78f-11e3-90fa-00144feabdc0.html%2Btony+blair&client=firefox-a&hs=tEN&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=sb&tbs=qdr:d&hl=en&&ct=clnk

    Mr Blair has become an increasingly important contact for Abu Dhabi as tensions between the emirate and the UK have heightened.

    Abu Dhabi was rattled by the rise to power of Islamist parties after Arab uprisings in 2011 and officials accuse the Brotherhood of trying to sow trouble in the UAE. The UK, on the other hand, has been willing to deal with elected governments in the Middle East, regardless of their political orientation.

    Abu Dhabi has signalled its displeasure with the UK through commercial and political pressure. BP was temporarily excluded in 2012 from bidding for an extension to onshore oil concessions. Despite Mr Cameron’s lobbying efforts, the UAE declined to purchase the European Typhoon fighter. Dozens of British military advisers to the UAE armed forces are also heading home after their contracts were not renewed.

    UK-UAE relations suffered further strain earlier this year when three members of Islah, an Emirati organisation that the government says is tied to the Brotherhood, were given political asylum in the UK.

    Sheikh Mohammed is described by people who have visited him recently as “steaming” with anger towards London – and that makes Mr Blair and his more sympathetic attitude all the more valuable.

    IOW, Blair is acting either as a deniable back channel, or, traitorously, against UK government policy in the region.

    He also wholeheartedly supports the Sisi regime in Egypt, whose human rights record is so far none existent, which tortures and executes its opponents, and which imprisons jpurnalists not toeing its line.

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/23/al-jazeera-journalists-sentences-international-condemnation-egypt

    Too right Kerry’s embarrassed. He’s just handed the regime $M500 of USAID as a reward for making Gaza even less endurable for its residents.

  • Sofia

    …find another land to settle and flourish. At present the lands of East Ukraine are rapidly emptying so they could go there and solve two problems at a stroke.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Third time I’m asking the otherwise very voluble Adult Celtic Poetaster:

    “Just to be able to evaluate your bona fides, so to speak – apart from frequently sounding off on this blog (and perhaps on others?)- what do you do in concrete and practical terms to support the Palestinian cause and help the Palestinian people?”

    Come on, show us you’re not just an keyboard warrior!

  • Mary

    The bees and their decline.

    After a big fight with Owen Paterson, Big Agri the pesticide producers and the NFU lobby, a two year moratorium was put in place on the use of neonicotinoids.

    This report explains the science.

    24 June 2014 Widespread impacts of neonicotinoids ‘impossible to deny’
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27980344

    Our lives depend on the bees and other pollinating insects.

    My lawn has turned from green to yellow with a flowering of bird’s foot trefoil. Normally there would be hundreds of honey bees, bumble bees and other species collecting nectar from the tiny flowers. There was not one solitary bee when I looked round earlier.

    Interesting that there is hydrogen cyanide in the plant.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_corniculatus

    ~~

    Killing badgers in not enough for Paterson it would seem. He got it all wrong.

    He should have been put at the MoD instead of that weedy Hammond.

    Badgers: Ministers ‘wilfully’ ignoring science advice
    Pallab Ghosh 23 June 2014
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27926951

  • nevermind, viva beautiful football

    Oh dear, the Lisbon signatory Cameron is throwing his toys out of the pram and he has a stinky nappy to really embarass himself.

    Cameron will force a vote in the EU Parliament being only assured of the chaos of the populist parties, his final embarassment before he gets his fat pension.

    Cameron is speaking for nobody in Britain, a bit like Habby, his agenda is that of the Tory party bereft of many of their voters who left in disgust. Does he really believe that such antics will not hurt British business interest in Europe? gosh what a self centred stalinist ideologue, head down and through the wall, dial on No4.

    http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/06/24/uk-britain-eu-juncker-idUKKBN0EY0ZQ20140624

  • nevermind, viva beautiful football

    Thanks for flagging this up again Mary, bees are a key specie and far more important than politicians. Maybe thats why they are not reacting, its a bit like the PR shambles they allowed us to take partin, bless, they makle the decision and nobody else.

    BAN NICOTINOIDS NOW! the evidence is indisputable so why dither?

  • Ba'al Zevul (Chimp Assassin)

    Nevermind, Cameron is simply obeying the voices in his head, where the City of London has successfully implanted a remote-control. If Europe becomes more federalist, the ability of the City fat cats to shovel gold into their bulging trousers will be severely impaired. That’s all this is about.

    Meanwhile half the Tories are praying that Cameron will go down with his unilateralist ship, and be replaced by…almost anyone, really.

    High comedy.

  • MJ

    “One might wonder, though, how a hole blown by an improbably large electrical discharge … would differ in its appearance from an impact crater”

    Perhaps by producing a long and distinctively ribbon-like pattern of rays, similar to those created in laboratory conditions marking the electron pathways that trigger a discharge event.

    you might equally wonder how a crater of Tycho’s size (medium-large) could end up with its distinctive ray pattern as a result of an impact. Not sure that that produces a model mathematically compatible with the known facts either.

  • nevermind, viva beautiful football

    Off course it is financial and most likely he’s been pushed by family members as well, but this week his feeble nature will turn to anger and he will discard his soiled nappy, not just the toys.

    The City will not succeed in diverting the course in Europe and they will loose their central point and markets after his talk of pulling out. Deutsche Bank will have to find a different place to dabble in offshoring.

  • Ba'al Zevul (Chimp Assassin)

    You can model the impact idea in a sandpit, if you care to. Catapult, marble, contrasting layers of fine sand. (Another explanation might be that the Flying Spaghetti Monster takes a bite out of the moon every so often, but tends to dribble when He does so.)

    Alternatively, generate several gazillion volts to tear every single electron off every single atom on earth (converting it into plasma), separate the electrons completely from the earth, to which they will return given half a chance, find a planet or moon which has already had this done to it – which might just provide the potential difference you need – carefully fashion the resulting flow of electrons into a ribbon…oh, I give up. Do some ‘O’ level physics, save me the trouble.

  • Ba'al Zevul (Chimp Assassin)

    Jon Snow giving Galloway and McTernan (Blair ex-SPAD, also SPAD for Julia Gillard) an equally hard time re Walking Eagle. McTernan comes off worst. Snow rather good.

    http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/

    “Should Blair Go” is the title – a specific URL for the item is not available

  • Jemand

    A Node, I think Hannes Alfven is neither a fool nor fraud. I also think he is not a cultist but rather someone who cultists have claimed, like free energy weirdos claimed Tesla, as a kind of scientific Messiah. It’s convenient that he, and others, are deceased and therefore not able to reject the more ridiculous crackpot theories that float around ‘out there’. So my advice to people is to respect, even admire this man but not to worship him as some now do with Tesla.

  • MJ

    “You can model the impact idea in a sandpit, if you care to. Catapult, marble, contrasting layers of fine sand”

    It’s easy of course to create impacts and study them. What can’t yet be done is replicate Tycho’s ray patterns this way. It doesn’t fit with our current understanding of impacts. O level physics isn’t enough, even PhDs can’t do it.

  • Ba'al Zevul (Chimp Assassin)

    I’ll take your word for it. It leads to less aggro, obviously. Happy modelling. And ignore the calculations.

  • A Node

    Ba’al Zevul (Chimp Assassin) 24 Jun, 2014 – 8:33 am

    I was neither defending nor attacking EU theory, merely pointing out that the rationalwiki article you linked to didn’t supply the promised summary of why you “would just like to dissociate [your]self from the ‘Electric Universe’ lot. Consisting as it did of no more than name-calling, it was an ironically irrational and unscientific defence of ‘science’.
    Your (own) summary given at 23 Jun, 2014 – 4:18 pm was much better. You should consider editing the rationalwiki article.

    Jemand 24 Jun, 2014 – 11:54 am

    I don’t think you can so easily separate Hannes Alfven from Electric Universe theory. The term didn’t exist when he was formulating his ideas on plasma fields, but if he said today what he said then ……

    “In order to understand the phenomena in a certain plasma region, it is necessary to map not only the magnetic but also the electric field and the electric currents. Space is filled with a network of currents which transfer energy and momentum over large or very large distances. The currents often pinch to filamentary or surface currents. The latter are likely to give space, as also interstellar and intergalactic space, a cellular structure”

    ….. he would certainly be classified as a loony, pseudo-scientific, woo-peddling, Electric Universe crank.

    The history of science is peppered with examples of theorists who’ve been ostracised or worse for going against the orthodoxy. Many were later proved to be correct. Whether this is due to rigid academic structures, or the control of knowledge by vested interests is another argument for another day.

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