The Diet of Worms began on this day in 1521. Make your own joke. The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in 1724. The best novel in the English language* was published in 1813. In 1898, Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, became the first person in the world to be issued a citation for speeding when he was found to be driving a positively reckless 8 mph when the speed limit was 2 mph. His fine was 1 shilling. In 1986, the space shuttle, Challenger, broke apart during take-off, killing all seven crew members.
Born today: Colette (1873-1954), Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Acker Bilk (1929), Claes Oldenburg (1929), Alan Alda (1936), Nicolas Sarkozy (1955) and Jamie Carragher (1978).
It is the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas.
*
Pride and Prejudice by Miss Jane Austen, of course.
Yeah, Waiter, I'll have the number 41 please.
ReplyDeleteCan I have boiled rice with that a bottle of Tsing Tao?
Thanks.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDuke--As one who has spoken the language for over 30 minutes,I feel I must tell you that you are reading the wrong way round. You want the number 14 (Starling giblets sauteed in a Yangtse side single malt) and the Himalayan oatmeal( Fills up and enlightens at the same time.) Accompanied by Dragon ale and finishing with Yellow River port.
ReplyDeleteEvening Boudican, you've done a long shift since walking the 10 pound hound ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Medve--Yes, clicked on a few lines and was directed to some escort/porn site in Asia. ?? Probably should delete.
ReplyDeleteI think what 免費成人色情卡通漫畫 said was quite disgraceful; 41-4-2 is the best formation.
ReplyDeleteSong for Boudican - sorry I missed you earlier... Don't know much African stuff, have this from India. Hope Gandolfo is doing well.
Medve, been out twice more since then, the pup has energy to burn. Keeps me happily from a sedentary life style.
ReplyDeleteIts Chinese - I put the first few lines into babelfish and got this -
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese people video and music video chat sweetheart net - fires a pistol - the sentiment color website - sentiment color network - adult website - dream factory adult video and music - spicy younger sister chatroom - av female superior - Jin Ping Mei free movie - pornography video - video to make friends video Xiu -
But don;t click on anything!
Ooh, that sounds quite good, Edwin!
ReplyDeleteThanks Habib, lovely song, I like tohear music from other countries and cultures. Lovely lady too, wow!
ReplyDeleteYes, hopefully gandolfo is enjoying the hell out of himself. Must say I'm a bit envious.
Edwin,
ReplyDeletewow, I've never been to a Chinese restaurant with that on the menu.
Alisdair,
It was nice to see you on last nights thread. I hope every day you feel better and when you're ready it would be good to see you more often here.
Duke, the restaurant where every dining experience has a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteNight all.
Hope you dream of Chinese Restaurant menus Boudican ;)
ReplyDeleteYour Grace,
ReplyDelete"I've never been to a Chinese restaurant with that on the menu."
But presumably another sort though? Indian?
;-)
Morning Dotterel, can you delete the Chinese spam post? I am not keen on the IP addresses of esteemed Untrustees getting compromised. I reckon Montana must be in the land of Morpheus.
ReplyDeleteHi medve,
ReplyDeleteI know I'm some sort of admin on here but I'm not sure how to do it, any clues?
Dotterel: i'll quickly make myself a a blog and find out. get back to you about 15 mins.
ReplyDeleteComment deleted.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOk, scherf, for future reference, how?
ReplyDelete(e-mail dotterel@live.com if you don't want to post it, I'm aware this is publicising my e-mail, don't care about that e-mail!)
I just wonder what a sweetheart net is! I just thought of an awful joke but will keep my bad taste to myself for a change.
ReplyDeleteDotterel: could you post on Finding out how to whack silly spam
ReplyDeletei will then delete your post and tell you how.
Zapped
ReplyDeleteDotterel: simple isn't it once you know how.
ReplyDeleteDotterel: it seems if you are admin, there is a dustbin at every comment. Clicking on that will zap it. I see though that the stinking porny spam has gone, thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteNope, I only get a dustbin by my comments, maybe I'm not that powerful after all :-(
ReplyDeleteHmmm, there must be another way as well, because on the test blog it says This post has been removed by a blog administrator. whereas the Chinese porny spam has been memory holed apparently.
ReplyDeleteI spotted that too, scherf?
ReplyDeleteAha. super-powerful admins also have a dustbin next to deleted comments. binning them again does the memory hole business.
ReplyDeleteAh, I'm toothless then, probably just as well, I'd probably cause havoc accidentally!
ReplyDeleteDotterel: Thanks anyway for posting on my short-lived aunty spam blog. I have memory-holed all comments.
ReplyDeletesherfig: Thanks for taking action.
Good hunting all Untrustees, off to do a bit of real-life.
Heavens, you chaps seem to have been having fun.
ReplyDeleteForgot to set alarm last night. Grrrr.
What's a 'memory hole'?
Philippa,
ReplyDelete"What's a 'memory hole'?"
The place in Orwell's 1984 where unwanted documents were put to be burnt, their existence never to be so much as acknowledged again........
Ah, OK. Thought rabbits might be involved somewhere (Alice down the...)
ReplyDeleteBoy, rednorth's good - his of 10.43 yesterday on the Williams thread is vintage rednorth...
ReplyDeleteQuality, quality post by rednorth @10.43 pm on the Williams thread.
ReplyDeletePhilippa - snap!
ReplyDeleteWas excellent post.
ReplyDeleteHis point about building higher walls in response to crime is, i understand, already fully in view in South Africa. Huge inequality has led to a surge in the building of gated communities, literally a road or two of large houses for wealthy whites with walls and private security.
The use of private security has grown in the wealthy parts of London as well, this again is quite a recent development. People in wealthy areas are pooling cash and hiring their own security.
I saw Newsnight (i think) last night, was on computer so only glancing up. It has Theresa May wringing her hands about the news of increased inequality, she was really really concerned by it, dreadful news. What was the solution? We need change, we need to fix this, the conservatives are the people who will fix this. Tories will fix our inequality.
Have put a plea up on Waddya to see the questions asked in the Attitudes Survey (as I can't afford to buy it meself). Think that could shed some light on the possibly surprising results re: redistribution etc...
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha ha,
ReplyDeleteTheresa bl**dy* May on equality! Many moons ago she presented the prizes at my school awards do, as she gave me the Biology prize (I'm not boasting: it was a very small school) she asked me what I was "reading" at university (even by that point people only "read" stuff at Oxbridge, they "studied" or "did" everywhere else)
*sorry, since this is the way my Dad constantly refers to her I can't think her name without adding it!
I think that RedNorth post you refer to is post of the year.
ReplyDeleteTruly brilliant.
I'm assuming this'll be zapped, and I thought 13th D might want to see (he's trying to rile you at the bottom, by the way, though he's picked pretty shite grounds to do it)
ReplyDelete"CIF and 'The Untrussed'
Questions
1.' Is there any relationship, if any, between these two?'
'NO.... OF COURSE NOT'
posed the cynic
2. Several posters on the UhT were featured in the Ciffies? Strange for a site born in apparent 'opposition' to be so warmly welcomes so soon?
'NOT Strange at ALL'
posed the cynic
'quality...... it's not everywhere you can get chatter about sandwiches and soup covered in such depth and profundity'
3. Why do so many of the glorious posters on the UhT still pose/post on CIF when some of their colleagues (monkeyfish, hanscorpio) were bunned, in the eyes of their' fellow posters', so unreasonably?
'LOYALTY'
posed the cynic
'amongst the untrusted is a beautiful thing to behold'
4. Why do some posters from the UhT seem to behave like moderators elsewhere?
'Pure coincidence'
posed the cynic
5. There is no 5
6. 'is it the fate of all professional cumedians NOT to be taken seriously by their audience?'
posed the cynic cryptically
'English batsman: Out for a Duck the 13th time?'
"
"There is no 5" made me larf.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'll give him that.
ReplyDelete"bunned?"
ReplyDeleteattacked by rabbits?
Perhaps he types with an accent.
ReplyDeleteAfternoon. Yes Rednorths post was epic! Absolutely brilliant. I see BB got modded for suggesting that the right wing tossers on that thread were like flies round shit. And I got modded for putting some of their nastier contributions up again and asking the Guard why they'd banned people like woolly and hank but let these hate filled people spew on. But it was gone in a trice but the wanker who called poor people 'rat children' was allowed to stand.
ReplyDeleteSeriously that place is an absolute disgrace at the moment - someone wants to sort it out asap.
This is a bit interesting. The TUC wrote a letter to the Work and Pensions secretary demanding that they implement a policy of a full employment guarantee. Apparently what it means is that once a person has been unemployed for twelve months they are guaranteed a job - for a limited period - to give them work experience. It has to be a real job and has to pay at least minimum wage. The idea being that it provides a period of employment in a long ish stint out of work which should make finding a job easier. Allows the person a fixed period of time in which to earn some money and once it is finished if they do not get a job out of it they can go back onto their benefits.
ReplyDeleteI dont know how it would work - the logistics of creating these jobs out of thin air seems tricky to me. I mean 400k jobs for the 2.5 mill out of work?
Anyway here is the really weird bit - the letter stated quite strongly that a scheme such as this should urgently replace workfare schemes currently being introduced as they are shown not to work and to trap people in poverty.
It is signed by lots of TUC bods and....wait for it....James Purnell. JAMES PURNELL!!!
Workhouse, shitdribble, Purnell is campaigning against his own reforms! You could not make it up. He obviously is now trying to desparately re position himself as something other than an evil, vainglorious, Blairite little shit.
Jay if you pop in - that was a really interesting idea - about taking money before it even appears on a PAYE slip - you put on the Lesley Riddoch thread.
ReplyDeleteI still cannot believe that even after her article, which clearly articulates that even the wealthy are better off in more equal societies the right wing nuts are there in force denying it all. They either say 'I dont care I just want my money more than I want my health etc'
Or they say that 'it has to be a lie. Sweden kills people at birth that is why they have a better society they kill the weak and the sick at birth.' A more outrageously unpleasant and putrid bunch it would be harder to find I think.
But Heverale put up a blinder of a post on the original Lawson thread - eight reasons why the right are idiots. And what was brilliant about he/she gave all these pitfalls they always fall into and then about three of them came along and just fell right in - cant have read the post. Brilliant stuff.
Afternoon all
ReplyDeleteNow that is what I call a perfect day at work. Case called on at 10.00, judge had read the papers and already decided in my favour, all I had to do was tell him the bits he was missing. Case finished 10.20. Home for lunch. Woohooo! :o)
That will make up for leaving the house at 7am yesterday and not getting in til 8pm ...
Oooh, I will look for that heverale post.
ReplyDeleteI have been clipping a lot of the posts on those threads over the past day.
Oh dear....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/28/natasha-walter-feminism
Well done Thauma....
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ReplyDeleteOooohhh, Fencewalker. Strong words from the Tinfoil Tintin there. Hit a man when he's down eh?
ReplyDeleteBeing ridiculed by GIYUS is akin to being savaged by candy floss pirhanas. Good on him I say.
posed the punch drunk aristocrat.
princess, there's clearly an astroturfing campaign going on over at CiF at the moment from The Tory activists, the BNP, The Nazi Party, the Falange, Estado Novo, Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, Mussolini's Blackshirts, the British Union of Fascists and the French Vichy Regime 1940-45.
On the Syma Tariq thread, the mods really didn't do thaumaturge a favour when deleting an idiotic post about "feminists' attractiveness" which thauma mirrored with a post about "misogynists' attractiveness"; it makes *her* look like an idiot.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that this was intentional ...
Aye, Watson. Took me a couple of seconds to work it out, but by then I had the strong feeling of having been kicked in the nuts by her.
ReplyDelete13thD - you missed out Horthy's lot.
I read through some of Herivale's stuff, which has lots of quotes in it. Is it just me, or is a lot of that rabid stuff just really badly spelled? And is there an irony in that given their professed attitude to education?
Elementary,
ReplyDeleteHas the original post gone? Grr, mods!
Anyone got any ideas how I can draw two overlapping normal curves for the idiots on that thread?
Right all am off to my sisters for an afternoon. First time out in ages - yeah. Someone has told me that apparently Purnell is trying to distance himself from his own reforms. Ha ha ha. Have a good afternoon all.
ReplyDeleteSorry, FW, hope your nuts have recovered!
ReplyDeleteGuardian.co.uk achieved its second record-breaking month in a row with nearly 37 million unique users for December, a record for a UK newspaper website.
ReplyDeleteShould somebody tell them that 15.6 million of those 'unique' users were GIYUS?
Philippa: can you repost
ReplyDeleteHave put a plea up on Waddya to see the questions asked in the Attitudes Survey (as I can't afford to buy it meself). Think that could shed some light on the possibly surprising results re: redistribution etc...
because there is a new Waddya with 0 comments. Missed the previous ..
scherfig - aha! Perhaps you're on to something and *this* is why posters get banned....
ReplyDeletesherfig:
ReplyDeleteAssuming you are in Denmark, is it in the news locally that the sea has frozen over to the East? I have been following Arctic Sea Ice & Analisys daily and i see a growing trend to the East of Jutland.
BB: thanks for you kind words last night. We did get in really early today and we were in and out in about quarter of an hour. The throat specialist was kind and knowledgeable and my boy's singing will be OK; he's "only" got a viral throat infection.
Have new flatmate!
ReplyDelete'Ray!
And he's even paying a deposit, bless 'im...
Weight off the mind (and the finances)
Philippa: thanks for posting anew.
ReplyDeleteNot yet medve, but a few of the smaller ferries aren't sailing because of ice. They've got two icebreakers on 24 hour alert now because more VERY COLD weather is on the way. There's been about six inches of snow in my garden for the last 6 weeks, and it snowed heavily again yesterday. Btw, the last time the shipping channels froze here was 1996.
ReplyDeletescherfig: thanks. Keep warm. Damn cold here in Budapest as well (-10C during the day).
ReplyDeleteOn the 'Paternity leave' open thread, this comment:
ReplyDeleteIf the government thinks people should be paid to have time off with their kids they should fund it themselves
Name of poster:
ThinkOfTheChildren
My irony meter just exploded.
ThinkOfTheChildren is a strong advocate of population control, I think....
ReplyDeletePhilippa: Here's to Ray, may he be a Ray of Sunshine in your flat and share your views on the subject of hygiene.
ReplyDeleteDog story with happy ending:
ReplyDeleteLucky
elementary - he shares my views on Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, so that'll do to start with...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNot wanting to get all BTH, but of all the suggestion of WTF? the one they're acting on is the one by Handsome Matteo.
ReplyDeleteI'm sayin' nowt further.
afternoon
ReplyDeleteAll hail Rednorth! - but what a thread....what pool of shite have these people crawled out from?
The Graun have given us Percy Bysshe today and thought this seemed apt:
England in 1819
An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king;
Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow
Through public scorn - mud from a muddy spring;
Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know,
But leech-like to their fainting country cling
Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow.
A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field;
An army, which liberticide and prey
Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield;
Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay;
Religion Christless, Godless a book sealed;
A senate, Time's worst statute unrepealed -
Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may
Burst, to illumine our tempestuous day.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Sheff,
ReplyDeletevery apt poem. On the the theme of 21st Century Britain and the rise in inequality, I guide you to Confucius:
"In a country well governed poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed wealth is something to be ashamed of."
I can't quite work out if the land we inhabit is the former or the latter.
Blix article up.
ReplyDeleteDon't know whether to laugh, cry, or throw something.
I just know that some of the 'it was legal' crowd are now going to turn up and tell the guy who was actually there that he's wrong.
ReplyDeletepeh.
Philippa,
ReplyDeleteI see this 'scouserlee' of the TonyBlairFaithFoundationDepartmentofInformation is on the case already.
I think Blix does well to emphasise and emphasise and emphasise that weasel Straw's actions.
Unspeakable Charlie Uniform Novemeber Tango
yr grace - ffs, already? anyway - someone referred to Blix as a 'nice human being and a gentleman', and sadly, that might have been part of the problem. a sensible, scientific chap, simply unprepared for the degree of vapid single-mindedness and devious dirt-baggery of international pols...
ReplyDeleteif he'd only been a git as well, well, who knows?
BLIMEY!
ReplyDeleteMatt Seaton just quoted me on the Blix thread.
*falls over in shock*
Another poster claims Blix does not come out of it well because ''Blix believed that Iraq may be hiding WMD''. Which is correct but then disingenuously omits to add that Blix says he wanted to continue his investigations under UN law rather than a War to be launched on the premise that unproven WMD stocks MAY exist.
ReplyDeleteoooooh, I'm sorely tempted to jump on!
Do it, your Grace! FFS. We need you.
ReplyDeleteGet in there, Duke!
ReplyDeleteHa Ha,
ReplyDeletewas about to go on, however
The Duke's comments have been pre-emptively modded by the most powerful mod on the planet- his wife. It's time for his dinner and I've told him to get off that silly Guardian site he's always on
Back later.....
*thaumaturge picks self off floor after being knocked down by feather*
ReplyDeleteBB, not only does he quote your post but admits that you are better informed!
LOL at the Duke!
ReplyDelete"Get off that silly Guardian site you're always on" :o)
I know Thaum. I am stunned.
RIP Howard Zinn
ReplyDeleteThat HuffPo article is a really good obituary. RIP.
ReplyDeleteGood grief, Sheff, that Huffington piece is a bit far over the top, isn't it?
ReplyDelete"What would Howard do?", FFS! Perhaps he'll rise again in a few days?
Peter
ReplyDeleteI know, but you know how emotional the Americans get when a good man bites the dust, particularly when they're a bit short of them, like now.
JD Salinger has just died too.
Salinger?
ReplyDeleteWoah.
Peter
ReplyDeleteThis on Zinn from countercurrents is better Goodbye Howard Zinn
Right - which thread for Seaton's stunner and what's the Williams thread & what did rednorth actually say?
ReplyDeleteAnd hello, good evening etc.
Thanks Sheff, that's much better. I'd much rather judge Zinn on his own words.
ReplyDeleteBB: re Blix -- carlgardner well and truly put in place. kudos!
ReplyDeletemedve
ReplyDeleteWell, I am trying... it is hard to argue against theorists when, as I just said in my last post, we have never actually seen Goldsmith's legal opinion on all this.
BB: the linky to spinwatch does suggest that the single A4 piece of paper appears to be in the same class as Chamberlain's Peace in Our Time rag.
ReplyDeletemedve - yeah, pretty much. Interesting article, that. I hadn't read it before, it just popped up on google.
ReplyDeleteBlimey
ReplyDeleteNow this would be something, if they pulled it off
Laser fusion: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8485669.stm
ahhh, selfmademan's back on the trouser thread. happy times...
ReplyDeleteHaven't looked at the trouser thread yet. On my way...
ReplyDeleteMuch as I am sure mr selfmademan would not approve of a bunch of whinging trots such as us, I hope he will accept my plaudits at least for such an erudite piece on questions of sartorial elegance.
ReplyDeleteHilarious.
selfmademan is bloody brilliant!
ReplyDeleteOh, and BB - for some reason I actually looked at that BNP berk's poetry you linked to.
ReplyDeleteAm still coughing.
It was the subtle and compelling use of imagery that really made me laugh out loud.
He is really out there where the buses don't run.
ReplyDeleteYou might be surprised to realise that this is what he looks like:
Lee John Barnes LLB(Hons)
He doesn't look like a NWA / Enemy fan to me.
ReplyDelete(also checked out his blog profile)
(presume he's trying to make a point)
selfmademan is magic anytime but especially tonight. And imho hermione's apology was brilliant.
ReplyDeleteMsChin
ReplyDeleteStill laughing at her friend with vaginal spasms and an asbo! :o)
apropos Lee John Barness LLB, it strikes me that he shares a common trait with Gordon Brown: nail-biting.
ReplyDeleteHe is a total nutter.
ReplyDeleteHe turns up on Harry's Place every now and again and has a little rant. Bloody hilarious.
BB: Good work on Blame it on the French you have garnered six recommends already. There's a suspicious character called mariettemarman on there at the moment, perhaps you can come and help out.
ReplyDeleteJust read the trouser thread - Cif comes into its own on threads like this! Wonderful! ;D
ReplyDeleteSorry, i see you are on the case, well done.
ReplyDeletemedve
ReplyDeleteWhoever she was she has been zapped into oblivion now. To begin with one or two of her comments were modded, then a moment ago *pooof*! Disappeared!
What a loony toons though.
annetan
ReplyDeleteThat thread is a marvel :o)
wow, i just got modded for saying something completely unoffensive.
ReplyDeleteHello annetan, yes, wonderful.
in fact, i got memory-holed
ReplyDeleteUhoh. Mariette Mk II is on there now. Time for me to duck out.
ReplyDeleteYou mean SchlockDoctrine?
ReplyDeleteI am not up to your standard by a long chalk, but i'll do a bit of rear guard action there.
ReplyDeleteNo, MkII has been zapped as well. MkIII was there for a while to call me a lefty cunt and suggest I was Oxford educated and worked for the Beeb. Then a rant including the wonderful word "liblabcon" and I suddenly realised it was a BNP-er. But the mods have zapped those too.
ReplyDeleteMM#3 now - oh, was going to say 'up', but clearly she's been zapped afetr that little piece of arse/brain confusion theory.
ReplyDeleteHave checked the McShane quote from yesterday and thrown that into the mix. Just fo' fun.
Mk4 is there now
ReplyDeleteOK, just went back and checked the 'trouser' thread, and have been reduced to helpless laughter.
ReplyDeletethe words 'vet' and 'dirty bomb' are probably going to be enough to set me off for weeks.
quality writing.
Philippa: tyrone aka abdul is a classic as well in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteOkiedokie
ReplyDeleteTime for beddy byes. Early start tomorrow. Meh.
xx
Griffin after the court adjournment sounding, as ever, like an over-promoted doorman rapidly losing control of the situation...
ReplyDelete