Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719. The US declared war on Spain in 1898. Watson and Crick published the paper detailing their discovery of the double helix in 1953.
Birthdays: Oliver "Bastard" Cromwell (1599); Guglielmo Marconi (1874); Walter de la Mare (1956); Ella Fitzgerald (1917); Albert King (1923); Al Pacino (1940).
I would rather be anywhere else than here today.
ReplyDeleteQuiet today, today?
ReplyDeleteI am just popping in to say hello. Still in Glasgow, weet to the Kelvingrove art gallery yesterday, interesting collection of art.
I am PISSED OFF with the online company I ordered my laptop with. I ordered it nearly two weeks ago and they haven't even posted it yet. Last week I asked them to change the potal adress to my new adress in Glasgow, but they will only post it to Stornoway, even though it has not been dispatched. So, there would be a further event as my friends/realtives post it down to me (at their own expense, also I have the expense of internet cafes). Their site said delivery in 3-5 days.
For the record, I name and shame them- PIXMANIA. Do not buy from this company!
I will have to buy a laptop in a computer shop. Also as I do not yet have a credit card I will have to pay by cash, so I run the risk of walking around with £400 in my pocket.
Without the interent has been nearly impossilbe for me. If they cannot provide a decent public service, then they have no right to my money.
This is
thauma:
ReplyDeleteIs that song about Cromwell, or is it just lateral thinking on your part?
While I realise that he’s viewed (justifiably) with some distaste in Ireland, he was also instrumental in the first (?) successful challenge to the Divine Right of Kings, almost 150 years before the French Revolution. Shame it all went a bit tits up after that, but not a complete bastard, IMO.
NK:
If they haven’t dispatched it, they shouldn’t have taken your money yet. In a situation like you describe, I for one would be willing to shell out whatever administrative fee your bank charges to stop them from getting their hands on my money. It’s the only thing these people understand.
And if they have already taken your money, they’re surely in breach of fair trading practices, and could be challenged over that.
Best of luck…
Why commemorate Marconi, an active Fascist and a member of the Fascist Grand Council, who got Mussolini to be his best man at his second wedding?
ReplyDeleteandysays.
ReplyDeleteI have been through their webiste (hell on earth) have cancelled hopefully and given them a polite bollocking. They better accep. Tommorrow I am going to Curry's or somewhere, even if it is slighly more expensive. If the company refuse to cancel my laptop before it has even been posted (a breach of fair trading indeed) then it will probably eventually be sent to mother's adress. But I will already ahve bought a new lap top so their one will be returned to sender unopened. I beleive legally, they would have an obligation to provide a refund.
Anyway, I hope that is doen now. I am looking for curry's/PC worlds etc in Glasgow. And of course, without my credit card I will have to pay in cash, dangeorus to be walking about with several hundred quid in your pocket, but oh well.
On the other hand medve, I think it would be awesome if there was an international Al Pacino Day. I'd have Glengarry Glen Ross focibly played to each and every estate agent.
ReplyDeleteHas someone instituted a mass boycott of the UT or something? It used to be really popular round here, now it is like the Mary Celeste.
ReplyDeleteOh well, goodbye. I may be back tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteNap
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you tale of woe. Hope you can sort it without financial loss.
Remember to put very negative feedback on site - maybe contact Paypal if you used them.
I hope this isn't off topic but I am so annoyed that I had to post it somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI came back from holiday to find I was in pre mod (on Cif) I posted a few things just because typing things out soothes my mental chatter.
Nothing nasty or contrary and now I have had my commenting 'priviledges' (sp) withdrawn.
I make pretty harmless comments (maybe a bit sharp when I am drunk) but honestly nothing nasty and I am fuming about this.
jenni30
ReplyDeleteWe don't hav a topic as such here - when site is busy we usually have several things going on at same time.
Have you been banned or put in premod ? If banned your profile will have been wiped.
Feel free to fume .
medve
ReplyDeletegree about Marconi - usual problem of separating man'woman from their work. i have resolved it rather simplistically - if the bastard (of any kind ) is still alive and likely to gain financial benefit from buying their work i avoid it.
Not saying this is ideal solution - just the one I decided on.
Bitterweed: Cheers
ReplyDeletejennifera30:
ReplyDeleteWelcome, and commiserations on your pre-mod. Can they really not spell privilege at CiF? Next they’ll be suggesting there’s no privilege, favouritism or preferential treatment going on there…
Many of those here have fallen foul of questionable moderation, to the extent that it becomes like water off a duck’s back, but the first cut is always the deepest (insert your own you-tube link here)
And there’s no “off topic” here either – what were you commenting on when you committed CiF heresy?
jennifera30:
ReplyDelete“This user profile is not available”
I am not on pre mod any more I just can't comment at all, so I guess that means banned.
ReplyDeleteThe last comment I left was on the rape as a method of war thread.
I left a reasonable comment at first then guardianevangalist left a comment suggesting that the death of Rod Hull was the funniest thing he had ever heard (apart from rape as a weapon that is) and I called him out.
Worth a banning? I don't think so, I could have said so much more.
andy
ReplyDeletehow's Cornwall ? Hope you are enjoying your new life .
Hiya,jennifera30. Nice to see you here:don't get me started on the inconsistencies of moderation (banged on last weekend about that on here at some length,should still be there in the archive,plus broader points about the failings of the Guardian stance (too co-opted by new Lab, too blinkered etc). Can't say you've ever posted anything that offended me, and I like your sane correction of some of the more hateful or ludicrous pseudo-rad-fem stuff, while all the time still being feminist.
ReplyDelete@ PhilippaB (from earlier today, but on yesterday's thread). I did clock those posts and actually have a funny feeling I may have spoken to him/her in real life. Some of what they say really resonates: it's a corollary of the wider corporatisation of major charities, becoming almost arm's-length branches of Govt, aping the worst aspects of the private sector too (inflated wages,treat staff and customers/users poorly: they confuse being business-like with simply copying the corporates,faults and all). However, I'd also say their aim is too scatter-gun and indiscriminate, plus they don't answer the eternal issue in MH: no (not even grass-roots
groups) vol/com sector group can survive without money/income, and in MH that comes via the Govt, or Govt influenced bodies like the Big lottery Fund (all managerialised to death: obsessively monitor everything that can be counted, and so misss the wood for the trees...). Even the best-known private sector MH business, the Priory group, which cherry-picks clients, doesn't deal with low-income severe and enduring folk, struggles to even break even, and has posted losses several years running. The money ain't there unless it's from Govt in some form, so that poster maybe overlooks the problems faced even by the honest,principled and decent groups of perhaps being compromised in some way by Govt interference and micro-management. He who pays the piper and all that...
Hello all.
ReplyDeleteNapK
I think we've all been taking advantage of the sunshine, hence so quiet round here!
andysays
x
jennifera30
Don't understand this banning thing, someone made the most appalling racist/religiously offensive comment on an immigration thread I was looking at the other night & was merely deleted, not banned.
And on the discovery of DNA:
"In 1962 James Watson (1928– ), Francis Crick (1916–2004), and Maurice Wilkins (1916–2004) jointly received the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology for their determination in 1953 of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Because the Nobel Prize can be awarded only to the living, Wilkins's colleague Rosalind Franklin (1920–1958), who died of cancer at the age of 37, could not be honored".
Alisdair: Fine comment on the mental health thread. Thought of firing up a couple of virtual machines so i could give you three recommends, but you are gathering plenty as it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alisdair and I am glad that I haven't offended you, when I am sober I am fairly sensible (I distance myself from some of my more stupid comments by dint of being pissed).
ReplyDeleteI used Cif as an outlet for my angry side when I had no one else to talk to (how sad is that) but I count myself as moderate in all aspects of my life (including feminism) this banning means that I have to look at my attitude all over again.
McKenna's article today has got to be a contender for worst article of the year. Absolute and complete meaningless bollocks.
ReplyDeleteEdwin, excellent post calling him out. It's a total embarrassment that that man writes a column on Scotland each week.
Every single column is middle class voyeuristic gang porn, using couthy words such as arrondisement to portray the worse areas of Glasgow. What a wordsmith eh?
He reminds me of those two West Enders from 'chewing the fat' who go about listening to 'the banter' from the underclass.
Can I just point out to everyone that reads and contributes to the UT that the portrayal that McKenna paints of Glasgow every single week is ridiculously distorted. I'm not arguing that there aren't gangs, murders etc, but really, 98% of the population of Glasgow live the same normal lives as everyone else in the country. It's not Mad Max, Beyond the thunderdome honestly
andysays, good to see you posting again. And hello Jennifer.
@Hi jennifera30
ReplyDeleteI,ve always thought your comments were quite moderate
.And it,s unlikely you would have been banned unless you have a history of being in pre-mod.
If it bothers you why not e-mail the mods and ask for
an explanation?-then take it from there.
Thank you Duke, the English equivalent to the stereotypes that abound about Glasgow is Middlesbrough, I live there and whilst it isn't perfect it isn't as bad as the press present.
ReplyDeleteHi Paul
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right, I should try and find out why I got banned and then get myself re instated but hell why should I have to.
There are lots of places on the internet that I can vent and basically fuck them. I am pretty upset about it (I don't like to admit that).
I may go on a 'class war' rampage. ;)
YourDukiness
ReplyDeletethis demonisation of Glasgow - and M'brough Jenni - I read as diversionary tactics to cover up the problems across Uk, rather than addressing them. We can all tut tut and feel we have done our civic duty.
We are 900 people here in village - the state of play in international rugby can be guessed by the type of drunkeness observed on saturday night - tho murder is thin on the ground vandalism can follow - even here we have drug problems among a few. Those few perhaps on par with national % average ?
BTW-is it true Bidisha didn,t get her place in this years London Marathon because she and Bindel wanted to compete as a three-legged team.And they insisted the
ReplyDeletebus-lanes be turned into a women-only course,policed
by female officers of the Met and excluding anyone of
a transgendered persuasion?
jennifera30:
ReplyDeleteI checked jennifera30's profile and got
This user profile is not available
nor, sadly, can any of your previous comments be accessed.
May i suggest that you refer to http://cifmoderationwatch.blogspot.com/ and post a document of what has just happened to you?
Commiserations! I also say your posting is OK. Glad to welcome you here though.
Paul
ReplyDeleteFurther to tattoo discussion. I read that wealthy merchants and top brass brought the practice here from Japan. Was taken up by the lower orders, eschewed by the toffs and has forever since been regarded as example of a disreputable habit practised only by the plebs.
Hi Leni
ReplyDeleteThe toffs at the time clearly thought inbreeding,
syphilis and morphine addiction were 'classier
habits'to have.And probably still do!!
Leni
ReplyDeleteDid you read the Libby Brooks article about tattoos?
Her take on it was superficial and silly to say the least (she has one herself, I am guessing dolphin/ankle a la Sam Cam) but the BTL comments were awful, they showed that Cif really is a seething mass of bigotry.
Leni,
ReplyDeletethe General Election is coming up, an enormous scandal is enveloping Glasgow City Council amongst other important events. So what does the Observer's Scotland columnist write about?
An ancient anecdote well known in Scotland about a footballer and samurai swords. Pitiful.
Jenni
ReplyDeleteI missed the Libby article. I can imagine the holier than thou responses.
Paul
Inbreeding is a necessity if you are to retain inherited superiority - one drop of pleb blood - even a single cell - and you drop down the order heading for social oblivion - the void in which the unmentionable things dwell.
Duke
ReplyDeletehave seen various shouts for Cif to cover the disreptable goings on from Glasgow council leader - to no avail.
In terms of the political structures in UK I am becoming totally depoliticised - the corruption and coverups are as bad as those practised under any despotic ruler - an attempt to protect these nomarks by surrounding them in the golden glow of untouchability. Feel sorry for the few decent human beings in politics.
Afternoon all. Hi Jennifer - sorry to hear about your enforced disappearance.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen what Barbara Ellen is doing to her daughter? Poor kid.
I did read it Shaz, poor girl. :(
ReplyDeleteLeni,
ReplyDeletethe corruption and coverups are as bad as those practised under any despotic ruler - an attempt to protect these nomarks by surrounding them in the golden glow of untouchability. Feel sorry for the few decent human beings in politics
Spot on. I would also add the media's culpability also. The Purcell affair is a classic example.
Montana, second time luck with my email address. I just sent it to you. Hope it reaches you.
Right, Dutch cup final starting now. Ajax-Feyenoord. See you all later.
jennifera30:
ReplyDelete“I left a reasonable comment at first then guardianevangalist left a comment suggesting that the death of Rod Hull was the funniest thing he had ever heard (apart from rape as a weapon that is) and I called him out.”
It won’t be much consolation to you, but that epitomises much that is wrong with moderation of CiF, and CiF in general.
Threads like that rape as a weapon attract the worst sort of offensive shit, and when reasonable posters like you react angrily, as you are fully entitled to, you’re the one who gets modded/banned.
You can, of course, ask for an explanation, but the experience of many others suggests you won’t have much luck there (unless of course you’re regarded by the wider BTL gang as a “star” poster).
You could do what rumour suggests others have done (though I couldn’t possibly confirm) and simply sign up a new name.
Or you could just write a snotty e-mail to Matt Seaton telling him to stick his ironically-named pseudo-debating Jaffa-cake flavoured love-in up his arse.
But whatever you choose to do, I hope you’ll stick around here :-)
Thanks andysays, I don't think I will bother to go down the Matt Seaton route (urg that makes me shiver) and whilst I am upset it isn't important enough to me to create a alter ego.
ReplyDeleteSo I suppose I will just have to let it go.
Another lesson learned about life not being fair. (Why does life insist in only teaching me bad lessons?)
guardianevangelist seems to be on a roll this afternoon - posted some pretty... er... interesting... stuff on the Julian Baggini thread too:
ReplyDelete'As outlined, I certainly no misogynist. I'm simply illuminating a pattern of experience which I believe to be shared by the vast majority of cogent people, both men and women. That is that men are, on the whole, more intelligent and interesting than women. Especially women who have borne children.'
Anyone want to talk about knitting patterns?
Sorry, that should of course have read 'Any women want to talk about knitting patterns?'
ReplyDeletejenni
ReplyDeleteGet the bad lessons in early says I - get over all the putdowns - stop caring about the nasties. Just take them on.
Shaz
I have a very good pattern for mittens and another one for a wooly mouth gag for idiots - sequin encrusted.
Jennifer - blimey - saw your (very measured and helpful) initial comment on the 'rape as a weapon' thread - given the crap that G-Eva was coming out with, I don't blame you if you called him a twat (most others on the thread are) although that seems to have been 'memory-holed'. But banned? Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteEmail them, ask what comment you got done for, and argue your case...if only for the purely selfish reason that I like reading your posts!
G-Eva clearly trolling to try to get regulars in trouble? Apparently added 'Christian' to his worldview on the rape thread - probably a good thing I didn't see that one...
Leni - "if the bastard (of any kind ) is still alive and likely to gain financial benefit from buying their work i avoid it."
ReplyDeleteNice approach - am currently havering between wanting to see Ghost and not wanting to see Ghost...loved the book. not comfortable with paying for the film. and considering moody download...
Ms Womens' reply was excellent.
ReplyDeletePaul - nice theory on the Bidisha Marathon thing - but I heard it was that they wanted the freedom to make their own way to the Mall, unfettered by the masculist oppression implicit in there being and 'official route'. They even draw lines on the road for you to follow, which clearly prevents the female runners (and their whellchair bound sisters) from fully exploring their own potential. Or something.
ReplyDeleteYour Grace - I rarely read McKenna's stuff, but the title tempted me. Couldn't work out what the holy hell he was talking about. He's like that every week? Criminy.
That guardianevangalist sounds like a laugh-a-minute guy - just the sort who the Guardian advertising dept are hoping to attract. Silly little prick…
ReplyDeleteHi Leni:
Cornwall is pretty good, as I hoped it would be, though it’s not really a new life, just an extended break from the real one. I’ll be returning to London in due course, probably at the end of the summer.
The biggest downside, apart from being apart from those I love, is the large number of posters and signs which have sprung up recently supporting the fucking Conservatives. Tottenham may have its downsides, but at least that’s not one of them.
Mind you, many down here are apparently still proud of their Royalist credentials in the Civil War (see Cromwell ref above) so I suppose I shouldn’t expect them all to be in the vanguard of revolutionary libertarian socialism :-(
1st:
ReplyDeleteThanks, Thauma, for getting a thread up. Shitty day for me yesterday the reasons for which I shan't bore everyone.
2nd:
Sorry that you were banned, Jennifer. Bit mind-blowing, that. I don't recall ever seeing a post of yours that was in any way abusive or inappropriate.
3rd:
E-mail received, Duke, and duly forwarded.
Philippa: Further to your comment about the Dutch Mountains, may i point out that Nijmegen is not in Holland, but in Gelderland. Of course, you are right that mountains should be taken with a few tonnes of salt.
ReplyDeleteAndy
ReplyDeleteAre there any Mebyon Kurnow candidates ? Difficult to believe there are many conservatives there. The Cornish have traditionally been independent - even at times rebellious.
Are we 'all tories now' ?
You OK, Montana?
ReplyDeleteMontana
ReplyDeleteYou've been very quiet recently - hope all is well with you and that shitty day was just that - not part of longer shitty period.
Seconded Leni
ReplyDeleteFrom my own experience you are only willing to admit to a bad day once you are on your way out of depression.
When you are in the middle of it you can only repeat that you are fine or ok.
I hope I am wrong Montana and you have just been busy.
((Sorry if I am being too forward).
The rape as an act of war thread on Cif is turning out to be a good one.
ReplyDeleteAye - things have calmed down a bit now G-Eva has pottled off. Numbed should win a medal or something. I wouldn't have the patience...
ReplyDeleteWhat do people get out of 'trolling'?
ReplyDeleteI put scare quotes around the word because it is triggering to me (I look like Fiona as a troll in Shrek apparently).
beats me, jennifer, but then there are many things I can't get my head round - voting tory, supporting man u, liking celine dion. just file it with them in the 'blimey it takes all sorts, dunnit?' folder.
ReplyDeleteand then burn it...
Well said PhilippaB.
ReplyDeleteandysays
ReplyDeleteGood comment; banning Jennifer is another very bad CiF judgement call.
Jennifer - you can try eamiling them; I never got a reply though. I think as mentioned above, unless you're a "gold star" BTLer (i.e your face fits and you're regular on the WDYWTA thread - CiF's ingenious contaiment tank for would be dissenters) you get pretty short shrift.
They can't appear to work posters out on their own merits, they really can't. Subjected to group think, lousy pay, and all very young I should imagine. It ain't easy being amod...
Paul
ReplyDeleteThat made me chuckle.
PhilippaB
ReplyDeleteI'll meet you at the bonfire. Can I bring 80s New Romantic music too ?
Cheers.
Clement Freud with a story about a drunk. Class.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPwOuUt_OXs
Thanks Bitterweed and my attitude now is basically fuck em (it still hurts a bit though).
ReplyDeleteI will get over it and it has shown me that life and the guardian are just not fair (life has an excuse).
I never fitted there because I was one of the people they spend their lives feeling sorry for.
I should have realised where I was and bowed to my master before opening my common mouth.
Yes I am bitter.
Leni:
ReplyDeleteI know that the sitting MP for North Cornwall is a Lib-Dem, and I know that the Tories and Labour are both standing, because my home down here has been leafleted by them, but I don’t know (or care, TBH) who else might be standing.
I’m still officially living in Tottenham and thus registered to vote there, but even if I was in London on the day, I very much doubt I would bother to vote this time around.
As far as Cornish nationalism goes, I suspect it would be stronger the further west you go, though some round here do refer to the area east of the River Tamar as England, with the implication that here is not England.
Although the Cornish may have been rebellious (= anti-English) at times in the past, I’d be very wary about equating any sort of regionalism or nationalism as automatically progressive or radical, so I’m sure it’s possible to be a proud Cornishman and still vote Conservative.
“Are we 'all Tories now'?”
Fucking hope not ;-)
Jennifer - if you got banned for having at guardianevangelist, as I am assuming from the above, having already been on premod, maybe ask if they can take 'provocation' into account - because the stuff he was putting up there was just f-ing offensive, and on a very sensitive topic, that touches a lot of people (not a reason to ban him either, btw). You don't have a record of telling people to sod off, as far I can recall, so maybe plead extenuating circs?
ReplyDeleteWhatever you decide, hope you stick around here. We're an odd bunch, to be sure, but we have our moments (chuckle).
Bitterweed - God yes. Also, WKD and the clothes shop 'Morgan'.
Not that I'm a repressed megalomaniac, or anything...
And - RIP Alan Sillitoe.
Hi Montana:
ReplyDeleteFirst, wanted to echo the best wishes if you’re going through a bad patch.
Second, glad you’ve brought up jennifera30’s banning on WDYWTTA? It will be interesting to see if anyone else picks up on it there, or whether outrage at banning is reserved for “big names” like Jay or LordS. I hope to be proved wrong, but won’t be surprised if I’m right.
The rest of your post was pretty spot on as well, BTW.
missed montana's post while giving consideration to the Clegg question - have weighed in meself, as has hermione.
ReplyDeleteon a lighter note, usini has told peterbracken that his 'leftism' is "cross-dressing", which, quite aside from the issue, has caused a very disturbing mental picture...
Right, am not going back to the MH 1/4 thread, that desik bloke has really outdone himself. It has been a weird day on CIF today. And to cap it all, I chose to watch Villa v Brum rather than Chelsea v Stoke as my allowed match, so got to watch one v v dodgy penalty, rather than what sounds like a bizarre display. Presume Mr Dixon is currently cackling into a beverage of some description...
ReplyDeletejennifera30
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth you're cracking poster. And my exclusion isn't the issue here, there have been some notably fine posters removed over the last eighteen months by that New-Age Autrocracy run by the outgoing Seaton. There are other splendid blogs around to get stuck into. My favourite feminist / critical thinker is Ophelia Benson. She and philosopher Jeremy Styangroom set up Butterflies and Wheels several years back and it's stil going strong. Well worth a look.
http://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/notes/
Cheers.
Hi andysays
ReplyDeleteAlthough my family are North Cornwall, my regular stays are in the South. The few Cornish "Nationalists" I've met are an odd mix. There is a large strain of "Bollocks to Brussels" throughout from what I've seen; its appeal is pretty knee jerk. That said my sympathies always lie with people who've seen their houses match London's in price while average wages are half most of England's. As for the farm workers, mechanics, fishermen I know - I know I always post this, but this song is their story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt2Svy-e0x4
Montana
ReplyDeleteHope things improve.
Laters x
Am just listening to the last twenty minutes of this and think may well have to start listening from the beginning.
ReplyDelete(three hour podcast, btw - but sounds like a cracking listen for a free morning...)
Cool flipper !
ReplyDeleteHave you read Maconies book - Cider with Roadies ? Pretty good.
Thanks for good wishes, everyone. Combination of lots of things at the moment. Failing to do the daily thread tends to be a bit of wake-up to me to stop isolating myself, as I'm sure that it won't make anything better.
ReplyDeleteMontana
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you,re going through a rough patch.
Hope it,s nothing too serious.Keep your pecker up
as we -sometimes-say here in Blighty!!!
BW - actually, that was recommended to me by the doorman the last time I saw Okkervil River, but haven't quite got round to it yet. Better class of heavy at the Lumiere, doncha know. Now you have weighed in as well, I might just go for it (will have suitcase space on next trip after delivering painting, for books and Cds and lots of lovely other stuff...)
ReplyDeleteMontana - hope you're OK. Know what you mean about 'isolating' - try to go out at least once a day and talk to someone, or I know how that ends...making rules / routine for yourself is something I try, and often fail, to do, to keep me level. While I have off-days, the contact / routine does help at the end of the day....
(it helps that the man who runs the local mini-mart is so sweet, or I'd go days without a 'real life' conversation sometimes! - he sees it as his duty to help me practice my French, bless 'im - things like that make me firmer in my belief that people are essentially nice...)
So - good vibes to all, am removing self to sofa to watch cheesy US imports on TV...
Hi BW:
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've seen, the appeal of nationalism, of whatever persuasion, is usually pretty knee jerk.
“my sympathies always lie with people who've seen their houses match London's in price while average wages are half most of England's”
Mine too, but knee jerk nationalism is not the answer for them anymore than it is for those who think the BNP is the answer to their problems.
On previous evidence, I’m guessing your link is to Show of Hands, but as the National Trust in its wisdom has a blanket ban on you-tube, I’m unable to verify that :-(
andy + BW
ReplyDeleteI support the idea oflocal democracy - but dislike ethnic nationalism in any form. Sometimes the 2 are conflated and the one is exploited by the other.
There is so much disaffection in UK - politics and economy is very London centric - perhaps those living in SE are not really aware of this or of how it helps shape social and political thinking in areas away from the centre.
The Welsh Assembly - and Scottish too I think - fell into this trap by promoting Cardiff and concentrating resources and development in one area - thus creating further marginalised areas in the rest of Wales - the development of 'hubs' through which social and economic development will seep out into surrounding areas is not working.
Am looking at the most brilliant sunset.Dunno how
ReplyDeletemuch of a volcanic ash element there is to it mind.
The beauty of nature can be breathtaking at times.
And for the record i am neither pissed nor stoned!!
Leni:
ReplyDeleteI support the idea of local democracy too, but the way it seems to be practiced in Britain appears bound up with a rather out-dated petty minded fear of the “outsider” who’s “not from round here” (I’m probably over-generalising and I expect someone can come up with an example which doesn’t support this).
Although I’d agree that “politics and economy is very London centric”, most of the people who live in London don’t benefit from it in any meaningful way. There may be a higher concentration of the rich, but the poor are just as poor – relatively speaking, they (we) are perhaps even poorer.
Not surprised that Welsh and Scottish devolution have been supported by and largely benefited the existing elites; why would it be any different in Cornwall?
Oh, and I’m glad to see the “Free jennifera30” campaign is attracting some support on CiF. One of the few benefits of being a miserable cynic is that you can occasionally be proved wrong.
Night all.
Hi All
ReplyDeletePhlippaB--Will NEVER vote tory,(they are just about as odious here) or listen to Celine Dion, but I do support MUFC. Can you forgive for 2 of 3?
jennifera30--Hi, I thought your posts on the rape thread were considered and spot on. Don't let the bastards get to you. Keep it up.
Paul--Neither pissed or stoned? Going for the natural high, cool, but I do hope this is just temporary for you.(:
Montana--Noticed you have been quieter of late, hope you are fine.
http:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm7EUbCvgMc
Boudican - oh, alright then...
ReplyDeletehehehhe.
Jennifer
ReplyDeleteSupport for you on CIF is growing by the second.Make
that e-mail to the mods as people have suggested and
you,ll be back in no time-and post on UT as well but
that goes without saying.
Evening Philippa and Boudican.
Just coming back to the thread after putting it up....
ReplyDeleteAndy
Is that song about Cromwell, or is it just lateral thinking on your part?
I think it's a bit of lateral thinking on Costello's part. Apparently he composed it after a trip to Northern Ireland. And no, you will not find an Irish person who doesn't think Cromwell was a complete bastard. So evil that he made a particularly venal version of the monarchy look preferable.
Medve - had no idea that Marconi was a fascist. Was putting the post together in a hurry and thought, "that bloke who invented the radio". Besides, I don't see the birthdays as "commemorations", but rather persons of note - if it had been Mussolini's, I would have mentioned that too.
Afternoon Boudican
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul (and everyone else) but I don't think I will, I am no Lord Summersisle, he at least had something to say, maybe not Ciffing it all the time will give me the kick up the arse I need to get on with important stuff (I am trying to write a book).
ReplyDeleteHey Thauma, snap!
ReplyDeleteAbout Marconi: Just a thing of mine. You may know that i like physics and that sort of thing, but i am also into amateur history. As a dutchy it has always roiled me that the Dutch term for the radio operator on a ship is marconist, after i found out more about Marconi. In a nutshell he was not really the inventor of radio, but a rich Italian kid who used his connections to get the British General Post Office and the Royal Navy to pay for his experimentations based on the previous work of Lodge and Bose (and perhaps to some extent even Tesla).
Napoleon - hope you get revenge from the bastards.
ReplyDeleteJennifera30 - ditto! Your posts have always seemed pretty damned reasonable to me. I encourage you to rejoin under a new ID if the "e-mailing the mods" route doesn't work. [Just finished reading rest of thread and will get onto Waddya tomorrow to join the chorus of disapproval at your banning.]
Duke
Can I just point out to everyone that reads and contributes to the UT that the portrayal that McKenna paints of Glasgow every single week is ridiculously distorted. I'm not arguing that there aren't gangs, murders etc, but really, 98% of the population of Glasgow live the same normal lives as everyone else in the country.
C'mon, I'm not buying that. I've read Brookmyre. Superevil international sociopaths are always in Glasgow.
Andy - you must read some Daphne du Maurier while you're in Cornwall. ;-)
Jennifera
ReplyDeleteIt,s your call.But if you didn,t have anything
interesting to say then why are people talking
about your banning?Methinks you,ve probably got
more cyber-mates than you realised.Anyway keep
in touch on UT irrespective of what you choose
to do.All the best with your book.
Philippa,
ReplyDeletenot so much cackling, and I havenae had chance to watch it yet, but I did do a particularly bizarre dancing on the spot routine when I checked the final score.
(we still won't win the premiership tho....)
Montana,
best wishes from me too
Everyone else,
hope you're all well.
Can we please not talk about sport. Am gutted over Munster losing at Thomond Park (losing at Thomond Park!) yesterday and Connacht getting bloody crushed by the Scarlets today.
ReplyDeleteMontana - dog sends huge sloppy kisses X X X
james - was expecting something of a shut-out, but not at that level... heavens, poor stoke. they can just take comfort in having beaten city eariler in the season....
ReplyDeletewhat's your run-in like?
Being a Boro fan I have barely looked at the Premiership this year.
ReplyDeleteChampionship footie just isn't the same though.
Same prices and the level of play is still pretty high but it seems like we have a match every 15 minutes, another season of it for us.
:(
Hi medve--How are you? I take it the latest election in Hungary did not come out to your satisfaction? Extreme righties would be hard to deal with. Political situations in other countries fascinate me. Always things to consider and learn about. Leaves one relatively pleased to live in a somewhat stable country, though we have no such thing as perfection here.
ReplyDeletePhilipaB--Thanks, that's a load off.(: I know not everyone would be so, shall we say, accommadating as you.
Boudican - I'm not a footie fan, but even I regard support of Man U as a bit dodgy. ;-)
ReplyDelete(Except Bestie *did* play for them....)
Being a Grimsby Town fan I'm trying to avoid talking about football this season. But if we don't get relegated to the Blue Square Premier, I shall have the father and mother of all piss-ups...
ReplyDeleteHe He Shaz you support an even less 'fashionable' team than me.
ReplyDeleteYou have my sympathy and I really hope you stay up.
Thanks Jen... go on, take the piss, I can take it... I'm used to it...
ReplyDelete(sobs into hanky)
ReplyDeleteGrnnngh ... work tomorrow ... off to bed. Night all!
ReplyDeletePhilippa,
ReplyDelete(sorry Thaum)
we've got L'pool next Sunday, (which is when we'll officially cock it up!!), followed by Wigan I think.
Man U have got Sunderland and Stoke, and Spurs yesterday was the only chance of them dropping points.
Still, there's always next year.....
Gahhh. What possessed me to get involved in taking on the men's rights lot on Frank Mullane's domestic violence thread (again). I truly hate it - the man lost his daughter in a DV murder and the usual suspects turn up every time with their bitter & twisted carping.
ReplyDeleteEvening all!
boudican - as long as you are thoroughly ashamed of yourself...
ReplyDeletesafe in mid-table, though, jennifer - unlike poor shaz (see you're down there with barnet and cheltenham, two of the many teams I've had as locals....)
Has the Hungarian election happened? Excuse my ignorance, my primary news source is saying that the last item of Hungarian news was a volcano blowing up in Iceland...
Philippa, yeah - beat Darlington 2-0 on Sat, but I fear it's only postponing the inevitable... only a miracle can save us... (strikes dramatic pose, hand to head...)
ReplyDeleteJames--Methinks the Prem is yours. Don't see Liverpool offering much in that game. Benitez has still got European issues, and this is the only sniff he'll get at any silverware.
ReplyDeletePhilippaB--Second phase of their election was today. I have not seen results though. Just wondering if medve had the goods on it.
Boudican, Philippa:
ReplyDeleteYes, today was the second round of the Hungarian General Election. My worst fears have come true. My poor children.
I'm not taking the piss Shaz relegation is not a joking matter.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't that upset last season when it happened to us but the time before saw me taking to my bed.
Two cup finals (both lost) and relegation just was too much for me.
boudican / medve - are there any english-language links? have tried the Times as well, you will be comforted to know that the French national side are apparently unable to find a blonde to bed without money being involved....that's what I call news...
ReplyDeleteJen - thanks for that, didn't think you were taking the piss really! Two cup finals + relegation in one year - owchie.
ReplyDeletePhilippaB--Yes, of course, French libidos must be considered news.
ReplyDeleteI just Googled 'Hungarian Elections 2010' and a list of items came up. Haven't read any, I shall start now. Service/language could be different where you are.
Boudican,
ReplyDeleteit's one of those things though, and I can just about hear the narrator on the premiership years 2009/10 episode already:
"even though Liverpool had themselves been out of the title race for some time, they still had a part to play in the dramatic 247th title win for Man U...."
(you're a red sox fan right? Spare a thought for me, as a Chelsea fan, and a red sox one, I've seen enough of the 'mortal enemies' winning to last a lifetime.....)
Sorry Boudican, Philippa, just had to have a little cry thinking about how my boys still have to finish secondary school in this country.
ReplyDeleteIn short, one in every six voters supported the nazis. Fidesz got a two third majority in parliament, which means they will be able to change the constitution at will.
This is the party that led the government of 1998-2002. Then they interpreted the constitution so that weekly sittings of parliament meant every three weeks, there were no minutes at all of cabinet meetings. Their leader turned into a billionaire allegedly from the sales of his book.
I could go on if it was not for another bout of crying coming on.
Thanks for the support, leni & shaz.
ReplyDeleteshit, medve - had remembered you describing 'Jobbik' as deeply problematic, but hadn't realised that there had been such a swing going on...when you've finished weeping, could you put something up about it?
ReplyDeletemedve
ReplyDeleteThat is a truly scary and horrible post.
I hope that you and your children will be ok.
Evening MsChin
ReplyDeleteHi medve.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear of your sorrow, must be grim.
medve, that's bad news, I feel for you.
ReplyDeleteJames, a Red Sox fan? Wow, didn't know you liked the Sox, nevermind baseball. Cool. Going to Boston for a week in june to see them play 6 games. Will be my first look at Fenway Park. Know what you're saying about mortal enemies, the Yankees have plagued me for decades, and I was 51 when we finally knocked them from the playoffs in 04.
MsC - I don't understand the thinking behind turning up on a thread just to randomly insult someone. The guy's got nothing relevant or intelligent to say, what's the point?
ReplyDeleteLeni - really well said. x
Brilliant work on the Domestic Violence thread Ms Chin.
ReplyDeleteHorrible horrible thread but your posts stood out.
The DV thread
ReplyDeleteThere are some posters attracted to this thred and others similar who clearly get vicarious kicks from reading - possibly vewing - violence. Their 'protecting' the abuser suggests to me they are protecting themselves by pretending it's not so bad really. Despicable creepy crawlies.
Go MsChin.
Night all - medve - very sorry to hear the election news. And we thought there were issues with British politics.
ReplyDeleteBoudican,
ReplyDeletegot hooked on baseball after watching a couple of games on TV in the US as a kid. for some reason, I chose the team that hadn't won anything for 80 years to support, though it all came good in the end....
'Cept now the Yankees are starting to get that 'we're gonna win everything, for ever' look about them again, which me no-likey...
PS- am very jealous about your Fenway trip. It's on my list of things I really want to do though!
Evenin all,
ReplyDeleteShaz, my flatmate in Nottingham in the late 90s was a Grimsby fan - I saw lot's of their games. Great fans, especially considering that wicked North Sea wind that cuts you in half at the Park. Good luck to yers!
Mr Dixon, I believe that Liverpool have ceded 4th place and will really really not want Boudican's team (sorry old friend) to win another title. Fans will be supporting Chelsea, trust me.
Heyhabib,
ReplyDeleteyeah, a friend of mine was at the Liverpool game when Blackburn won the title, and said the other fans were happier than he'd ever seen 'em before....
Thing is though, you're not dead keen on us recently, innit!?
Cheers, folks.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you to Leni - was much moved by your post.
One of us must get Clunie over here one day, she can get pretty fired up on certain subjects too!
My enemy's enemy...? Besides, I always loved Zola, even when he was kicking our arses - good luck!
ReplyDeleteLeni
ReplyDeleteNail on head - classic (alleged) perpetrator behaviour of minimising & denying.
Heyhabib,
ReplyDeleteCheers, I think we'll need it!
And to you in the UEFA cup!!
(Zola was a legend. Made winning nothing substantial for years mostly bearable)!!
Giving up 'crusading' on the DV thread for now!
ReplyDeleteNight all.
Boudican, Philippa, any other interested parties:
ReplyDeleteFidesz 263
MSzP 59
Jobbik 47
LMP 16
independent 1
as yet undeclared 1
I already spoke about Fidesz, MSzP=Magyar Szocialista Párt reform communists turned into a new labourish rabble. Jobbik i will not go into now other than that i referred to them earlier unpleasanly. LMP=Lehet Más a Politika, which means Politics Can be Different, a fairly progressive greenish party.
The independent is Oszkár Molnár, the mayor of Edelény who caused a scandal last year by claiming that Roma / Cigány women were hurting themselves and their unborn children by doing self-harm with rubber mallets and with drugs in order to qualify for better social provisions. After a long period without reaction he was finally kicked out of Fidesz and stood now successfully as independent. The Jobbik withdrew from the ballot in his constituency. Hungary has a complicated electoral system with lists and constituencies. Out of the 176 constituencies (FPTP) Fidesz has won all but three. The figures i gave above include the first round results of two weeks ago, when the seats from the lists were decided as well as a fair number of constituencies. Yesterday were the run-offs for constituencies in which no candidate had more than 50% of the vote in the first round.
Futility in sport-supporting:
ReplyDeleteTry Bolton Wanderers and the Chicago Cubs. Combine that with the fact that my uni's teams are traditionally hapless, at best, and I doubt that anyone here has lower expectations than I.
Montana,
ReplyDeletewow, you must be some kind of masochist!!
(although, I have a friend stateside who still insists on following the Pittsburg pirates. Now that's mental!!)
"Zola was a legend. Made winning nothing substantial for years mostly bearable"
ReplyDeleteRobbie Fowler, Zaheer Abbas, Graeme Hick, Vince Cable...?