Cyrus the Great took Babylon in 539 BC. King John lost his crown jewels in The Wash in 1216. The first Oktoberfest is celebrated in Munich in honour of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen in 1810. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by American schoolchildren for the first time in 1892. British nurse, Edith Cavell, was executed by the Germans in 1915 for helping Allied soldiers escape into Belgium. Douglas Adams's
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was published in 1979. The Provisional IRA attempted to assassinate Margaret Thatcher by planting a bomb in Brighton's Grand Hotel in 1984. Five people were killed, 31 wounded.
Born today: Dmitri Donskoi (1350-1389), Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937), Ralph Vaughn Williams (1872-1958), Magnus Magnusson (1929-2007), Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007), David Vanian (1956) and Hugh Jackman (1968).
It is National Day in Spain, Thanksgiving Day in Canada, Mothers Day in Malawi and Columbus Day in the United States.
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the fucking Pledge of Allegiance?
ReplyDeleteAnd leftover comment from yesterday's thread:
BB, pigs are lovely, wonderful creatures. Actually house-trainable. If you don't want to eat such clever animals, stick to beef. Cows are only marginally more intelligent than the grass they eat.
Morning all I see BTH has now accused me of being "The official spokesperson for the father's rights movement".
ReplyDeleteWords fail me ...
annetan: If words haven't failed you before with regards to BTH, that in itself maust have been an incredible feat.
ReplyDeleteSo, no need to worry about your vocabulary, now.
Hey Montana,
ReplyDeletethanks for the heads up re the ME thread. Yep it stands for a really long word that I cant say - and I had never heard of it before I got it! Other than yuppie flu in the 80's. I think the US is better for ME sufferers than here - here a very nasty man called Simon Wesley - shrink - has spent his life campaigning against it being seen as being a physical illness.
He got the UK govt to put it under mental health classification but the WHO made them put it back under neurological.
Anyway - I am popping in to say hi but been pretty rough all weekend so going to pop back out for day or two as feeling bit ill.
Hank will read the tax haven bit properly when better and comment.
Sheff and MsChin - nice to see you met up and had a good old time in Sheffield.
annetan42 - good article. Being the official spokesperson for the fathers movement I expect to see you in a batman outfit atop the houses of parliament tomorrow!
Dmitri Donskoi was really the first of the Russian tsars (although he didn't hold the title - that would come later). His victory over Mamai and the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo (near the Don, hence his nickname Donskoi) was of enormous nationalist significance to the Russian people (various of the previously independent Russian principalities contributed contingents to his army), and effectively signalled the end of Mongol domination of Russia...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, here endeth the history lesson. As you were, folks.
annetan: Great article, by the way. BTH really shines in the comments, though. What an ... Well, here's the point where words fail me.
ReplyDeleteAnnetan - thoughtful article which was a pleasure to read.
ReplyDeleteHanks piece on tax havens over on "Untrusted too" is also well worth the time spent on reading it.(Occasional readers/visitors will find a link to it at the top right hand of this blog)
Hope you feel better soon PrincessCC.
elementary_watson:
ReplyDeleteRe BTH: He does shine! He is after all a shining wit ;)
I wonder if he'll read that!
ReplyDeleteHey y'all
ReplyDeleteI thought Canadian Thanksgiving was always on a Thursday - I am obv. wrong.
Happy Columbus Day, Montana!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteannetan
ReplyDeleteprincessc said:
Being the official spokesperson for the fathers movement I expect to see you in a batman outfit atop the houses of parliament tomorrow!
Aside from there maybe being not much room up there 'cos of the Greenpeace protest (NB: haven't checked the news yet, so sorry if they're aground already) ..
I have to respectfully point out that Batman doesn't have good enough Marxist credentials, so imho, blue overalls will do nicely for your assault on Westminster.
Fuck me...can he get any worse?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.examiner.com/x-4275-Secularism-Examiner~y2009m10d11-Tony-Blair-equates-atheists-with-violent-religious-extremists-in-Georgetown-speech
Remember: every time you say 'There is no god' a puppy dies
this puppy...
http://www.myfreewallpapers.net/nature/pages/beagle-puppy.shtml
Oh lord. Another BNP thread. I can't bear to look...
ReplyDelete#Conservapedia is not a site I regularly visit. I’m assuming it’s some rightwing trainspotters’ club like Biased BBC, Samizdata and the Taxpayers’ Alliance. Apparently, the site have started the Conservative Bible Project, which aims to ‘counteract the liberal bias that appears in current translations.’ According to Carrie Quinlan, there are ‘10 guidelines for deliberalising the text, which include avoiding unisex terms, accepting the logic of hell, and expressing free market parables.’#
ReplyDeleteFuckin liberal bastard translators...deleting all of baby Jesus's neo-liberal parables. The sermon on the mount actually starts..
"blessed are the hedge fund managers for they shall sit at the right hand of the Lord and manage his stock portfolio"..Who knew?
http://maxdunbar.wordpress.com/
Blessed are the elite - for they shall inherit the earth.
ReplyDelete... and become truly hyper-skilled at tax avoidance.
ReplyDeleteAwymyn.
Blessed is bluegrass
ReplyDeletePlay this now, have some hooch and tell me you don't feel better already on a Monday night !
Hell yes....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RJVKjKZZJ4
Evening everyone
ReplyDeleteI'm presently hunkered down in a lovely old bar in Newry, Co. Armagh, sipping a Powers and full of guinness good food and contentment. Think I might give cif a miss as it's been such a good day I'd like to keep it going as long as possible.
Don't have to do any work 'til tomorrow so can keep up the fantasy that I'm on the road again...if only it were true.
Powers ? Jeez. My mate from NI got me totally WRECKED on that stuff one night last year. Powers and red lemonade it was. Damn
ReplyDeleteAhhh!Common sense at last!
ReplyDeleteLooks like I won't be taking OFSTED to the high Court any time soon then...
Just read that report in the Examiner on Blair's speech, MF. The guy's spent too long with the neo-con loons. Completely lost it.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I'm not an activist secularist, so no chance I shall be confronted by his Christian militia. Until Judgement Day, obviously.
Even then, I reckon he'll be holding up the queue that day while he explains a few things to The Big Fella.
BB
ReplyDeleteWell that's one up the fundament for the jobsworths at OFSTED - although they should have kept out of it in the first place. They must have known that wasn't the intention of the legislation ffs. They'll probably say they needed to clarify 'reward' but they could have done it without terrorising two families.
Pity in a way - I'd have loved to see you wiping the floor with them in court.
BW - Red lemonade in Powers? - You're a pair of barbarians putting that shite in a decent whiskey. Just a little water, please...
ReplyDeleteSheff - have a lovely evening!
ReplyDeleteMF and Hank - how the fuck that guy dares to call himself a Christian is beyond me. No wonder he became a catholic, though. He probably believes he has atoned for his sins with half a dozen hail marys. Bah.
Sheff
ReplyDeleteNo - HE'S the oirish, and insisted on the red lemonade. (I might add though he is a collossal piss head too.)
I wonder if the authors of Conservapedia are in fact for - or against - baby Jesus ?
BW
ReplyDeleteThought I might make a quick visit to this conservapedia site - went in to google and saw they've prioritised the following:
Barack Obama
Homosexuality
Talk (talk ffs?)
Bias in Wikipedia
Atheism
Richard Dawkins
Evolution
Global warming
no sign of baby jebus...
So I thought no - why spoil a really pleasant evening by reading their fatuous crap.
That blue grass was terrif btw - but I'm too full to dance.
I miss him in a strange way, BB. That interview where Paxman asked him if he and W prayed together was comedy gold.
ReplyDeleteGot a new case for you, BB. You'll have to dust off those constitutional law books and your Erskine May, but this is a biggie...
ReplyDeletegaggingorder
I miss him like a hole in the head.
ReplyDeleteHank
ReplyDeleteThat's fuckin outrageous..I thought anything said there was 'reportable'. Who's the client btw? D'you know? Are there any rumours?
Only seen the Guardian story, MF. I don't even know who'd have the power to shut down press reporting - the Leader of the House on advice from the Lord Chancellor or Attorney General?
ReplyDeleteThere'll be an Enabling Act next.
FFS! That is bloody outrageous!
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean that there is some kind of secret Star Chamber answering parliamentary questions from which the public are excluded? What the hell is wrong with this country?!!!!
As you say BB - outrageous. I thought parliamentary privilege protected them and that what they said was reportable in all cases. Hope graun do make big stink about it. Also curious to know who/what it's all about.
ReplyDeleteIt either has something to do with national security - although that can cover a multitude of sins these days - or some commercial interest. Or both - maybe it's to do with BAe and bribes?
ReplyDeleteFFS! That is bloody outrageous!
ReplyDeleteIt is, most certainly, a "what the fuck?" moment, and those were the precise words I mouthed when I read the report.
I seem to end up looking at some link or other and writing 'that's fuckin outrageous' every day now. It's fuckin outrageous.
ReplyDeleteIs everything just fuckin outrageous these days or am I getting old and angry..I mean angrier. Seriously..talk about a corporate state...they've started deciding what our elected representatives can freely discuss, or at least whether or not the electorate gets to know about it.
I'd suggest this for a piece of much needed legislation: Anyone who ever engages Carter Ruck loses by default, pays everyone's costs plus a further 50% to a charity of the defendant's choice and everyone in the country a drink. You just have to see the name to know some slimeball crook's involved.
By the way Montana..if Carter Ruck get in touch..my real name's Yevgeny O'Toole and I live in a little tin shack in Chernobyl..next to the pet shop.
ReplyDeleteMF
ReplyDeleteEverything is fucking outrageous these days.
Is there anything/anyone Carter Ruck won't defend for a buck?
On the "Cif rolls out the welcome mat to the Nazis pt.2572" thread on the absence of bacon in the greasy spoons of besieged Albion:
ReplyDelete"Then buy your breakfast somewhere else, fuckwit."
Just choked on my beer before checking that it was the otherwise ever polite, LordSummerisle.
Quality stuff, well said, LS!
Oooh I missed that one! Will check it out.
ReplyDeleteWell done LordS! :o)
This is so good it has to be saved for posterity in case it gets modded:
ReplyDelete@linlin
refusal to provide bacon with English breakfasts in some cafes
Then have breakfast somewhere else, you fuckwit.
refusal to sell cigarettes and alcohol during Ramadan,
Then buy your fags and booze somewhere else, you fuckwit.
Christmas lights changed to blue and white instead of traditional colours in order to include Diwali
There are traditional colours of Christmas? This is news to me. What are they, and why? This'll be good.
no obvious religious Christmas neon symbols and almost no Christmas music in shops and certainly no carols
.
Now I know you're talking rubbish. I live in London, the most cosmopolitan city in the world. This doesn't happen. If it did, do your Christmas shopping somewhere where you can hear George Michael singing Last Christmas if that's what floats your boat.
Met police stopped from wearing union flag badges in support of troops because the union flag is deemed as offensive as the St George's Cross, etc.
There's no reason for the Met Police to be wearing any badge other than the Met Police badge. They can support the troops, gay rights, breast cancer, John Sergeant for Stricly Come Dancing on their own time.
Where do you live, on the moon?
Believe me, if it would get me further away from fuckwits like you I'd move there tomorrow.
Did I wake up in Arseholeworld by accident today?
Worth printing & framing, LordS!
ReplyDelete"Is everything fucking outrageous these days or am I just getting old and angry...I mean angrier."
ReplyDeleteRepeat after me
"My name is monkeyfish and I am a rageaholic."
mmmrageahol
Re HankScorpio's Guardian link - here's what it's all about:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ministryoftruth.me.uk/2009/10/12/defending-parliamentary-privilege/
And here's some more
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/16/trafigura-oil-ivory-coast
Thanks for that, Cath. So Barclays are pissing on 300 years of parliamentary rights in the service of tax abuse?
ReplyDeleteIt's come a day too late for my rivetting expose on the issue, ahem, but it all adds fuel to the flames.
Rumour has it it's actually Trafigura Hank.
ReplyDeleteLove the quote from Tim Bell: "Trafigura has always done its business in an ethical and transparent manner."
ReplyDeleteWhich is why it needs to employ a mendacious shit like you on top dollar, Bell.
Should be an interesting few days.
Blimey!
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, time for bed for me. I shall read it all tomorrow as I am "working from home"
*skiving off mostly
Night all x
A link to Monbiot's GU blog on the scandal last month...
ReplyDeletetrafigura
What were you saying about corporate control, MF? I'm not gonna downplay the environmental scandal here, people died FFS, but the really menacing aspect to all this is that corporations have always used the courts to shut down legitimate criticism of their activity so that the only route to openness, to nailing the bastards, is by using parliamentary privilege.
And now they're subverting 300 years of parliamentary sovereignty to save their sorry arses.
Thanks again, Cath. This is about as serious as it gets for me in terms of the corporate hijacking of the state.
How long before I can access Tesco's police force on my 'clubcard'?
ReplyDeleteBB - I think you will find that you wake up in Arsehole world every day.
ReplyDeleteAt least I am sure I do! :D
Thanks Cath now we really know we are in Arseholeworld!
ReplyDeleteThats pretty scary actually, thanks for the links.
@monkeyfish
ReplyDeleteAn old post, so you may not see this, but thanks for the link to Blair the psycho and his anti-atheist rant.
Ron.