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| After Lunch - Patrick Caulfield |
Oh, if I had been loved at the age of seventeen, what an idiot I would be today.
Happiness is like smallpox: if you catch it too soon, it can completely ruin your constitution.
Happiness is like smallpox: if you catch it too soon, it can completely ruin your constitution.
-Gustave Flaubert
Leni
ReplyDeleteRe: your question about a racial discrimination case - drop me an email via Montana, my friend may be able to advise. Need expertise as the law has changed & there are transitional arrangements for cases where discrimination began before 1 October. Check out the following:
Equality & Human Rights Commission Wales advice line - 0845 604 5510.
EHRC website: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/your-rights/race/advice-on-what-to-do-if-you-are-racially-discriminated-against/
ACAS website: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1849
Good morning Chin
ReplyDeleteCompare and contrast--
ReplyDeleteBenefits recipient A:
A. attended a demonstration to protest at the ruination of his future. After throwing paint on a car, A. is described by London's Mayor Boris Johnson as a 'violent agitator...a thug...inexcusable...' etc etc
Benefits recipient B:
An occupant of the car that had paint thrown on it, B. has been in receipt of state benefits for his entire life and comes from a family who have made a life on benefits a life-style choice.
He is described by London Mayor Boris Johnson as exhibiting '...great fortitude...courage...firmness of purpose...' by, erm...sitting still and looking alarmed.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Blame It On Cain
I just heard Emma Bloody Harrison of A4E bullshitting about jobs on R5 without being challenged in any way. When will somebody in Big Media expose this vile woman's odious operation?
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteMrsBootstraps on Helen Goddard...
An adult, in a position of power or authority over a minor, should not abuse their relationship with that minor by having a sexual relationship with them.
We agree and if you'd read my posts more carefully, rather than relying on your own self-importance and failing memory, you'd remember.
Here's what I posted at the time.
As it happens I've already said I don't think any one of 26 should get a custodial sentence for having a having a mutually consenting relationship with a 15 year old. Nor do I see any purpose or gain from sending anyone to prison for this kind of offence, unless they are
repeat offenders, in breach of court orders and in contempt of court, when there would be no other option. There are plenty of other more
appropriate sanctions, such as loss of job and pension, community service, banning orders, suspended sentences and probation.
Now I'd hardly have suggested alternative sanctions had I believed she was innocent, now would I? So your sympathy for the judge is somewhat misplaced.
And in another post of mine from November 2009:
Again in recent cases of teachers involved with students under the age of 16, sentences have varied from a suspended jail sentence to 4
years 9 months. In the recent case of Helen Goddard who had a lesbian relationship with a 15 year old student, the relationship continued for five months but remained secret until an anonymous tip-off to the school, which cannot be named for legal reasons.
You on the other hand MrsB are clearly in the hang 'em and flog 'em camp.
I just hope your nearest and dearest never find themselves in a position where they might be in need of a little compassion and to avoid being labelled a hypocrite, you are required to denounce those who might be so inclined.
You continue:
And continuing to insist that she should not have been given a custodial sentence flies in the face not only of the law and common sense, but also in the face of basic morality.
As someone who uses her son's misdemeanours to bolster her own reputation as a woman of the world, to all and sundry on CiF and here, I hardly think you're in a position to lecture anyone on basic morality. Any parent who uses their child in the way you use yours has very serious questions to answer about who is a threat to their current and future well being.
So for someone whose professional work frequently involves dealing with all kinds of allegations made by children either in the criminal or the family justice system, I sincerely hope you're keeping their information
confidential. After all you have a very cavalier, some would say potentially cruel way of treating your own son.
Hello everybody!
ReplyDeleteI posted on Cif 93 times yesterday. Aren't I fab? I bet you all wish you had a job like mine :0) Today I might go for triple figures, although I don't know if I can manage that, as I normally have a long liquid lunch on Fridays and then leave early for the pub.
If anybody's interested I'm having a little drinky-poos in London soon for all my fans in England. Bru might be there and I'm hoping that Jess and Bellla and some other wonderful Cif people will turn up so we can all fawn over them! So please, please come and show me and Jezbella) just how terribly popular I am with everybody on Cif.
See you there!
Complaint re A4E
ReplyDeleteI attended A4e at your offices about 5 years ago. I have to say it was one of the worst experinces I had encountered. The basic facilities were poor (no soap in the toilets, dirty cups etc).
Overcrowding was always a problem. Some, though thankfully not all members of staff were downright rude and unprofessional. When I complained to the job centre, I was told I was “out of order”. And this info was supposed to be confidential!!!
The IT facilities were wholly inadequate. 4 very slow PC’s for 30 odd people and only 2 had an internet (dial up) connection. ‘Clients’ were required to phone for vacancies and to arrange work experience. One problem: there was just one solitary phone again for 30 odd people.
The reading material provided by A4e was particularly interesting as it consisted of 2 week old newspapers and 2 year old telephone directories and Yellow Pages. Yep, really great for applying to jobs!
I ended up as doing A4e’s job for them. I took it upon myself to try and arrange work experience and ended up helping others to construct their CV’s as no A4e staff member could be bothered to show them how to use a computer!!!
To think that I was told at the beginning of my time at A4e I would be there for a ‘couple of weeks’ only as I’d easily get work experience. I was at A4e for the whole sorry 13 weeks.
What irks, no angers me is that A4e advertises ‘courses’ or did when I was there. I was supposed to be attending a ‘media and design course’. The course did not exist! None of them did. Most just sat around telling jokes and smoking spliff outside.
When I mentioned this to my New Deal advisor here response was “oh it looks like they’re (A4e) getting money for things they’re not providing”. Unbeleivable!!!!!!
This is out and out FRAUD! Fraud sanctioned by a corrupt New Labour govt under their New Deal.
I was in two minds as to whether to send this to you. I don’t expect a reply, though as the saying goes, “stranger things have happened”. I do hope for the people you claim you are helping sake that A4e has improved massivley since I was there.
Now read Harrison's reply
Cheers for the email – sorry what we do does not suit you – the bare facts are that a whopping number of people get jobs with the support of the people at A4e. Many of the staff were once clients – and they are very passionate and capable.
We are not always perfect – but we do our damndest – even for people who absolutely don’t want to take part and only want to stand and knock the efforts of others. (Hey – it takes all sorts).
I suspect that there is little I can say to change your mind – but if you ever want to spend a day working alongside one of our tutors – and then coming up with suggestions on how they can help the people who are looking for work be even more successful then I will arrange it.
All the best
Emma
What a total fucking bitch. And this is before the jobs market went totally tits up.
http://www.newdealscandal.co.uk/flexiblenewdeal/2009/09/25/emma-harrison-doesnt-want-to-acknowledge-the-severe-shortcomings-of-a4e/
spambot
ReplyDeleteThat all sounds absolutely delightful.
As a note of caution, I hope nobody has been silly enough to post the details of your high-level networking event anywhere on the interverse.
If you are inviting people who habitually hobnob with the crowned heads of Europe and offer advice to heads of state, they might become the focus of attention for insurrectionists and the general riff-raff who compose the growing anarchist element at the lower levels of a society which never seems to know how good its lot really is compared with, for example, African babies and their matching accessories.
Even our own dear and delightful royal family cannot be kept safe from the angry stares, the clenched fists and the raucous noise of the filthy mob.
It might be wise to advise your friend to bring along a special security detail to protect the box of Ferrero Rocher (£1.99 from Asbo) and the bottle of Asti Spumante (pilfered from the cafe stock-cupboard) if you don't want your glittering soiree to fall flat on its lovely face.
At which point, I must go back to the ugly, lumpy world and sigh and dream of what it must be like to occupy such glamorous realms, where everyone speaks with lovely voices and each opinion is met with harmonious acclamation and swirls of musical laughter.
Oh, to be in Dribbly, now that Winterval is there...
Patrick Caulfield rules. Not so keen on his wallpaper collages...
ReplyDeletejack cade - interesting comparison. I wonder if Recipient B could be reported to the DWP for running a lucrative business selling over-valued foodstuffs whilst drawing a seven figure giro? It always stuck me as grossly unfair that he went straight to the head of the housing list for that 28-bed pile in Westminster when he's only got two kids and both of them are grown up.
I bet him and Camilla are both getting Winter Fuel Payments as well.
Hey, what happened to my goddamn post ???
ReplyDeleteCan some one rescue my post re: a4e ? Cheers.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, here's a thoroughly peurile, childish load of nonsense that I happen to thoroughly like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc0mxOXbWIU
Ain't that some shit ???
It is extraordinary, SK. As that nice Mr. Cameron and his friend Mr. Dunkin'-Donuts have pointed out, it's welfare scroungers and layabouts like B. who have brought this nation to its knees and made things so awkward for all those hard-working bankers.
ReplyDeleteYou know how Amazon gave wikileaks the push because they were disseminating illicitly aquired info or some-such pious drivel?
Well, Amazon is selling a downloadable version of the WikiLeaks State Department cables for its Kindle e-reader.
They've weaseled their way around any legal issues by stating that the download does '...DOES NOT CONTAIN TEXT OF CABLES...' (their capitals).
It is, however, an extensive and in-depth analysis of said cables (each cable numbered and catalogued); so even more useful for a someone looking for quick ammo and/or talking points.
Hypocrisy so brazen that one can almost admire it...almost.
Christ, have you seen the reviews of the product? About 100+ one-star reviews slagging Amazon off and only 20 favourables. Now that's what I call a moderation policy.
ReplyDeletePost restored, BW!
ReplyDeleteJack, I'm sure I saw something yesterday saying that Amazon was willing to host Wikileaks again after rethinking its position, but I can't find it now. I'll carry on looking, mainly because I predicted it would happen!
ReplyDeleteMorning all.
ReplyDeleteSpeedy, it's been a while.
(You were asked after yesterday, and then probably grossly mis-paraphrased(?) by me!)
Deano,
(If you're about)
The snow scuppered many of my plans in the UK, and made an already rushed visit into a logistical nightmare, so obviously, I didn't get an opportunity to come see you and Mungo, so apologies.
However, I hope to be back in Summer, and for a fair while, so I'll buy you a pint or two then.
Are there any plans for a UT meet-up around then?
erm, then = July/August.
ReplyDeleteObviously, duh!!
Thank you thauma !!
ReplyDelete@James
Me and Deano were thinking of a visit to Trent Bridge in July, and dragging along anyone else who fancies a day of cricket and booze.
jack - good posts. have added my own review of the kindle thing.
ReplyDeletejames - good to see you! I'll be in the UK late August (wedding! love weddings...) and also poss earlier, round easter, or such...(trying to find oisette a job in a british school next year - has to be private, sadly, as brit council has the state schools sewn up for curent students...)
looking forward to coming back for Christmas, too, although sadly won't be able to make the 20th (due to train arrival times), will be around in London that week, and following, if anyone is around...
Just been sent this. Anyone know anything about it
ReplyDeleteWikiLeaks 'struck a deal with Israel' over diplomatic cables leaks
Sheff
ReplyDeleteThe backlash starts here...
Bitters,
ReplyDeleteIf I was there for the right date, I can think of little better than. a TM/UT special....
Philippa,
With any luck, I'll still be around late August too!!
wahey!!!
(Am dead jealous about the Christmas thing, btw. Leaving the other day, what with the snow and lights (and, bizarrely, a brass band playing Christmas tunes at my departure gate) was really hard...)
Are you and db looking at making full-time UK move?
(I used 'db' because I didn't think I'd be able to spell 'oisette', but reading it back, it sort of seems disrespectful me using it, so apologies if it is. Wasn't my intention!)
ReplyDeleteno probs, james, use 'DB' meself at times, am just now taken with 'oisette' on linguistic grounds...
ReplyDeletehaving reached the six month stage (eep!), am actually starting to think 'long term', but that is a bit scary. at present we are just trying to find her something. can sort out ramifications later.
the lights in MTP are beautiful. am feeling quite excited.
Bitters
ReplyDeleteThe backlash is well under way by the looks of it. Just had a poke about - a fave notion among some seems to be that Assange is being run by Mossad.
They've got nice lights and shit here too, just seems wrong when they're juxtaposed with people walking around in shorts, and hidden behind a hazy smog.
ReplyDeleteIt also doesn't feel right to spend Christmas slowly sweating to death in a corner somewhere because it's 30+ degrees, and because nature cursed you with 'the ginner' gene!
Still, them's the breaks.....
PeterG on post privatisation, beautiful post:
ReplyDelete"What has happened, and is happening, to Royal Mail is a textbook case of the destructive impact of neo-liberalism. It starts with a publicly owned service run for the benefit of society as a whole. It works pretty much ok, and even generates a surplus for the public purse (a surplus that is not, however, used to invest in changing technology etc). But of course it can't be left alone.
The ideologues know that private is better than public, and anyway, it is unionised so has to be 'brought to heel'; the pragmatists think that this could be a source of some short-term cash. So the service is de-regulated, the most profitable bits sold off (and indirectly subsidised), and the service begins to deteriorate. Up pop the ideologues again, this time announcing that the deterioration of the parts of the service left in public hands 'proves' that private is better than public and so further privatization is the only answer. That the unions oppose it only 'proves' their point.
And so the end point begins to emerge (it's still a work in progress of course). The public service rump of universal delivery becomes 'unaffordable'. The privatized bits continually screw up (no? remember how your postie who knew you and delivered every day for years used to leave your parcel in the porch whereas now the casual contract in his van leaves you a little card entitling you to hang on the phone for a few days before discovering that you must collect your parcel from the depot 30 miles away, where it has been lost. But, hey, that's efficiency!).
And then there it is. Another little bit of decent everyday life chipped away. The postie noticing that granny isn't answering her door has gone. The feeble daily joke he shared with the dogwalker that made both their lives just a little bit nicer is gone. The continuity of employment and link with community is gone. The sense of pride at working in a public service is gone. Some huge overseas conglomerate owns another little piece of our lives, to be disposed of at a whim. Not huge things in themselves, but huge in their cumulative effect, and when that cumulative effect is felt, what do the ideologues do? Cry crocodile tears about 'broken Britain' and (according to taste) devise ever more elaborate 'strategies for community cohesion' or ever more aggressive complaints about immigration destroying 'or way of life'.
With variations, this - from out of hours doctors' visits to utilities to demutualized building societies to town planning - is the world that the neo-liberals have created for us - and urged on by a significant minority of us. It isn't diabolical or impossible - just step after step away from the good life - or not yet, anyway: but when the last piece of public infrastructure built from the effort and sacrifice of previous generations is finally sold off then we will indeed know what broken Britain looks like."
PeterG on post privatisation, beautiful post:
ReplyDelete"What has happened, and is happening, to Royal Mail is a textbook case of the destructive impact of neo-liberalism. It starts with a publicly owned service run for the benefit of society as a whole. It works pretty much ok, and even generates a surplus for the public purse (a surplus that is not, however, used to invest in changing technology etc). But of course it can't be left alone.
The ideologues know that private is better than public, and anyway, it is unionised so has to be 'brought to heel'; the pragmatists think that this could be a source of some short-term cash. So the service is de-regulated, the most profitable bits sold off (and indirectly subsidised), and the service begins to deteriorate. Up pop the ideologues again, this time announcing that the deterioration of the parts of the service left in public hands 'proves' that private is better than public and so further privatization is the only answer. That the unions oppose it only 'proves' their point.
"And so the end point begins to emerge (it's still a work in progress of course). The public service rump of universal delivery becomes 'unaffordable'. The privatized bits continually screw up (no? remember how your postie who knew you and delivered every day for years used to leave your parcel in the porch whereas now the casual contract in his van leaves you a little card entitling you to hang on the phone for a few days before discovering that you must collect your parcel from the depot 30 miles away, where it has been lost. But, hey, that's efficiency!).
ReplyDeleteAnd then there it is. Another little bit of decent everyday life chipped away. The postie noticing that granny isn't answering her door has gone. The feeble daily joke he shared with the dogwalker that made both their lives just a little bit nicer is gone. The continuity of employment and link with community is gone. The sense of pride at working in a public service is gone. Some huge overseas conglomerate owns another little piece of our lives, to be disposed of at a whim. Not huge things in themselves, but huge in their cumulative effect, and when that cumulative effect is felt, what do the ideologues do? Cry crocodile tears about 'broken Britain' and (according to taste) devise ever more elaborate 'strategies for community cohesion' or ever more aggressive complaints about immigration destroying 'or way of life'.
With variations, this - from out of hours doctors' visits to utilities to demutualized building societies to town planning - is the world that the neo-liberals have created for us - and urged on by a significant minority of us. It isn't diabolical or impossible - just step after step away from the good life - or not yet, anyway: but when the last piece of public infrastructure built from the effort and sacrifice of previous generations is finally sold off then we will indeed know what broken Britain looks like."
James - no problems. Slight thaw today but has been very difficult, so perfectly understandable.
ReplyDeleteAs BW says there is a good possibility of a wild cricket day in the offing.
Whenever - twill be a pleasure to meet you.
Jay,
ReplyDeletedid you see PeterG's post last night on one of the tuition fee threads? Another cracker.
Hmm, Sheff: not too surprising that the cables (so far) haven't included much criticism of Israel as they're from US diplomats!
ReplyDeleteAgreed Jay
ReplyDeletePeople still don't seem to have twigged that low taxes in recent years have been partly subsidized (kept artificially low) by 'selling off the family silver' and once it had all been sold/privatised it couldn't be sold twice and thus sooner or later taxes v. public services would become an issue.....
That post of PeterG's should be inscribed on broken glass shards and fed to the likes of James Purnell, Alan Milburn and Patsy Hewitt on a daily basis, for the rest of their miserable, traitorous, worthless lives.
ReplyDeleteOh it fucking depresses me - I shall go to me grave complaining that we foolishly allowed the sale of family silver in order to be given greater choice in vaginal deodorants and perfumed knickers for incontinent old men.
ReplyDeleteShame on us.
......with a TBlairaise sauce!?
ReplyDeleteJack - could we make that some roughly powdered glass introduced via a catheter too?
ReplyDelete(My above to follow the shards of glass post, not the perfumed pants one. Although....)
ReplyDelete....and an anaemia/douche of recycled glass fragments
ReplyDeleteDeano,
ReplyDeleteFor future reference, what's the nearest town/village/bus stop/train station to you? (if you don't mind me asking..?)
I'm away to see me lovely lady NHS dentist not quite as good as a lady librarian (scherf) but in inclement weather tramps can't be choosers.
ReplyDelete@Sheff
ReplyDeleteThat piece about Wikileaks and Israel is pretty dubious. There's even a rebuttal to it on the Indymedia site it came from, here.
The only sources are a Syrian news site, which (through Google translate) appears to be putting a gloss on a Wired article about a disgruntled former Wikileaks employee, and a Syrian paper talking about Lebanon. There's nothing else about it online outside the Indymedia echo-chamber, and it just looks from here like a piece of paranoid shit-stirring.
Let's wait and see what comes out as the cables slowly emerge - after all, Obama issued a warning to Netanyahu that there could be some embarrassment to his Government on the way.
Here's PeterGuillam's comment from last night id anyone missed it:
ReplyDelete"This article is about the party political effect of the fees decision, but the more important thing is the ideological effect. The core of the argument over student fees was whether what was hitherto a public good, mainly paid for by the public, should become a private good, paid for by those who most immediately, but by no means exclusively, benefit. With that argument now resolved, the public/private line has shifted just a little more towards the private. So what next? All the arguments made of university fees could be applied to sixth form education - why should this be paid for by the population at large rather than by those who study for A levels? No good reason? Well then let's charge those who study for A levels. But, then, why should those without children pay for the education of children? No good reason? But why then should the healthy pay for the unhealthy? No good reason? But why then should low crime Isle of Bute pay for the prisons to house London criminals? No good reason? But why then should low crime Richmond pay for the prisons to house Peckham criminals? No good reason? And so on, and so on until any notion of the public good is eviscerated.
It's the pulling apart of the public benefit aspect of university funding on the faux-egalitarian argument of 'why should the dustman pay anything' which will be the true, and wholly malign, legacy of this policy. And its benificiaries will be, of course, not the dustman, not even 'Middle England' (who will pay ever more for what used to be publicly available) but the plutocrats who have for three decades transferred the commonwealth to their own private wealth and whose crocodile tears about the 'hard pressed taxpayer' are cover for the fact that they pay no tax at all."
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCheers Duke
ReplyDeleteGot it, Deano!!
ReplyDeleteCheers.
That's more than do-able for me!!
\o/
Sheff, regarding Wikileaks, I think you can mess with pretty much anybody, get a jail term and come out and make a stack of money on the talk show circuit.
ReplyDeleteFuck with Israel, though and it's a one way ticket. (Dubai...)
"...the commonwealth...". such an important word that we don't see often enough in peoples thinking and language usage.
ReplyDeleteDuke,
ReplyDeletePeterG's on excellent 'calling bullshit' form.
(I give it a couple of weeks before he's relieved of his posting privileges...?!)
Duke - saw it yeah, PeterG has been superb lately, a pleasure to read. To think of some of the people they get ATL while he stays BTL is just astonishing - thats the meritocracy of media for you...
ReplyDeleteDeano - spot on, these asset sales are not only one off bonuses to the treasury, but the proceeds are virtually never used for investment, we have one of the lowest rates of public sector investment in the OECD.
This has really been the model of the last 30 years - keep taxes low by flogging the things painstakingly built and nurtured by previous generations, or just take out the credit cards (PFi, national debt) and dump it on future generations. Its all for the "now", pillaging past and future to pay for the greedy scum who arent prepared to pay for the services people need.
Interesting to look at a graph of national debt since the war. It was quickly paid down, a priority. Right up until the neoliberal disease set in - it then was pretty much left alone, why waste money on paying down a national debt when you can be cutting taxes. And now of course, its sky rocketed again.
Next time the Tories are talking about "fixing the roof while the suns out", should be remember that they instigated 30 years of ignoring the roof entirely.
Peterj
ReplyDeleteI agree - quite sensible people are sending me some really weird stuff - of which that is an example.
Well, that's not quite true, Jay!
ReplyDeleteThey sold the slate off, then subsidised the removal costs, closed down the slate mine, and then bought back inferior quality imported slate for twice the price, from the same company, and then just kind of threw it back on the roof in the hope that it would all fit well enough for nobody to notice for a few years!!
The establishment is getting quite a froth on over the two Cs little encounter last night with calls for a public enquiry - but very little concern about all the hospitalisations for cracked heads.
ReplyDeleteTheres a little video of it - I've seen worse on an average match day in Glasgow.
As to the 'violence' yesterday
Bob Brecher, who is professor of moral philosophy at the University of Brighton, suggests police were "ordered to frighten people into not demonstrating again", although he says some individual officers seemed uncomfortable about this:
The "violence" that occurred — and the disproportionality of physical violence against the person used by the police as against that used by demonstrators is significant — was deliberately engineered. The twofold intention was to ensure that the demonstration received "a bad press"; and to dissuade future protesters.
Three of our students, I have just been told, are unable to attend classes today, having been physically attacked by the police.
Sheffpixie -- I've also done a wander thru the Theories at Cryptome & Co that Assange is being run by MOSSAD etc and etc !
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, here's a stinker --
Viewing cable 09TELAVIV1098, ISRAEL, A PROMISED LAND FOR ORGANISED CRIME
Justin Raimondo at AntiWar.com just did a brilliant one -- extract --
------------------------------------------------------------
"Los Angeles, 1997, a major local, state and federal drug investigating sours. The suspects: Israeli organized crime with operations in New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Canada, Israel and Egypt. The allegations: cocaine and ecstasy trafficking, and sophisticated white-collar credit card and computer fraud.
"The problem: according to classified law enforcement documents obtained by Fox News, the bad guys had the cops’ beepers, cell phones, even home phones under surveillance. Some who did get caught admitted to having hundreds of numbers and using them to avoid arrest.
"This compromised law enforcement communications between LAPD detectives and other assigned law enforcement officers working various aspects of the case. The organization discovered communications between organized crime intelligence division detectives, the FBI and the Secret Service.
"Shock spread from the DEA to the FBI in Washington, and then the CIA. An investigation of the problem, according to law enforcement documents, concluded, ‘The organization has apparent extensive access to database systems to identify pertinent personal and biographical information.’"
-------------------------------------------------------
The Wikileak cable brings together a number of interesting things. OK, most of it is OpenSource already , but it does show that there are people inside the 'System' of : State, CIA, FBI, DEA, ETC, who are honest and trying to do a good job .
That is why in the US there are groups of whistleblowers from all those organisations, the Armed Forces and more, who are getting together to attempt to open eyes.
There's enough mileage to discuss this all day, but I recommend the Antiwar article !
The relatively new Multinationals specialising in legitimate 'Surveillance' and 'Security' provide services that can be used by a Police State , but I think you'll find that it's even worse than that...
PS -- thanks all for re-posts of PeterG's stuff. Brilliant. Impossible to read long threads, a real 'public service'.
PPS MrShigematsu 01.32 on Golem "The only thing that worries me is that his profile is getting bigger, and he could be attracting the wrong kind of attention - ' YES . . .
thauma
ReplyDelete"not too surprising that the cables (so far) haven't included much criticism of Israel as they're from US diplomats!"
also, to be considered, that the US might be exerting pressure re payments, hosting, and criminal charges, but mossad might actually start rubbing people out...
(ahem)
am going to stop rambling on waddya about the assange case, it's like scratching a scab. not good for the karma. need to get outside.
damnit, things have moved to another thread.
ReplyDeleteanyway. winter market calls. macaroons may cheer me up.
Sheffpixie -- I've also done a wander thru the Theories at Cryptome & Co that Assange is being run by MOSSAD etc and etc !
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, here's a stinker --
Viewing cable 09TELAVIV1098, ISRAEL, A PROMISED LAND FOR ORGANISED CRIME
Justin Raimondo at AntiWar.com just did a brilliant one leading from that Wikileak -- extract --
ReplyDelete------------------------------------------------------------
"Los Angeles, 1997, a major local, state and federal drug investigating sours. The suspects: Israeli organized crime with operations in New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Canada, Israel and Egypt. The allegations: cocaine and ecstasy trafficking, and sophisticated white-collar credit card and computer fraud.
"The problem: according to classified law enforcement documents obtained by Fox News, the bad guys had the cops’ beepers, cell phones, even home phones under surveillance. Some who did get caught admitted to having hundreds of numbers and using them to avoid arrest.
"This compromised law enforcement communications between LAPD detectives and other assigned law enforcement officers working various aspects of the case. The organization discovered communications between organized crime intelligence division detectives, the FBI and the Secret Service.
"Shock spread from the DEA to the FBI in Washington, and then the CIA. An investigation of the problem, according to law enforcement documents, concluded, ‘The organization has apparent extensive access to database systems to identify pertinent personal and biographical information.’"
-------------------------------------------------------
The Wikileak cable brings together a number of interesting things. OK, most of it is OpenSource already , but it does show that there are people inside the 'System' of : State, CIA, FBI, DEA, ETC, who are honest and trying to do a good job .
That is why in the US there are groups of whistleblowers from all those organisations, the Armed Forces and more, who are getting together to attempt to open eyes.
There's enough mileage to discuss this all day, but I recommend the Antiwar article !
The relatively new Multinationals specialising in legitimate 'Surveillance' and 'Security' provide services that can be used by a Police State , but I think you'll find that it's even worse than that...
PS -- thanks all for re-posts of PeterG's stuff. Brilliant. Impossible to read long threads, a real 'public service'.
PPS MrShigematsu 01.32 on Golem "The only thing that worries me is that his profile is getting bigger, and he could be attracting the wrong kind of attention - ' YES . . .
Bloody google request IRL too long ???
ReplyDeleteJustin Raimondo at AntiWar.com just did a brilliant one including that Leak -- extract --
------------------------------------------------------------
"Los Angeles, 1997, a major local, state and federal drug investigating sours. The suspects: Israeli organized crime with operations in New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Canada, Israel and Egypt. The allegations: cocaine and ecstasy trafficking, and sophisticated white-collar credit card and computer fraud.
"The problem: according to classified law enforcement documents obtained by Fox News, the bad guys had the cops’ beepers, cell phones, even home phones under surveillance. Some who did get caught admitted to having hundreds of numbers and using them to avoid arrest.
"This compromised law enforcement communications between LAPD detectives and other assigned law enforcement officers working various aspects of the case. The organization discovered communications between organized crime intelligence division detectives, the FBI and the Secret Service.
"Shock spread from the DEA to the FBI in Washington, and then the CIA. An investigation of the problem, according to law enforcement documents, concluded, ‘The organization has apparent extensive access to database systems to identify pertinent personal and biographical information.’"
-------------------------------------------------------
The Wikileak cable brings together a number of interesting things. OK, most of it is OpenSource already , but it does show that there are people inside the 'System' of : State, CIA, FBI, DEA, ETC, who are honest and trying to do a good job .
That is why in the US there are groups of whistleblowers from all those organisations, the Armed Forces and more, who are getting together to attempt to open eyes.
There's enough mileage to discuss this all day, but I recommend the Antiwar article.
The relatively new Multinationals specialising in legitimate 'Surveillance' and 'Security' provide services that can be used by a Police State , but I think you'll find that it's even worse than that...
PS -- thanks all for re-posts of PeterG's stuff. Brilliant. Impossible to read long threads, a real 'public service'.
PPS MrShigematsu 01.32 on Golem "The only thing that worries me is that his profile is getting bigger, and he could be attracting the wrong kind of attention - ' YES . . .
Looks like Sheff's been spammed
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJustin Raimondo at AntiWar.com just did a brilliant one -- extract --
ReplyDeleteAfternoon all
ReplyDeleteHave been woken up by the sodding drilling in the block.It's actually the middle of the night for me right now.
Have had several posts deleted on waddya and have e-mailed the mods to ask why.Can't understand it meself .Although the penny should have dropped by now that the clique of former UT ers on Waddya enjoy special privileges for reasons i can only speculate about.I've never known a group of people so adept at twisting things around and the depressing thing is i get a sense that they actually beleive they're been picked on.I can deal with them however cos in the overall scheme of things they're like irritating knats that are buzzing around and are easily swatted.It's the inconsistant decisons of the mods that piss me off.But then i'm mindful of the fact that i'm preaching to the converted here.For most people here have been there,done that and worn the t-shirt long before i came on the scene.
@Back to more imortant stuff there have been some really interesting posts and some great links to music from people here so tip hat folks!
Jen
If you're around i hope all's well with you.
Did it go up, then disappear Deano? If you're around Thauma would you dig it out for me? Ta
ReplyDeleteDe-spammed Sheff.
ReplyDeleteDave, you have a couple in there too but I think they're the same as the one you've succeeded in posting?
Sheff, well I have to say my interest is now finally piqued over the whole deal. I thought that kid on Today yesterday morning was pretty lame to be honest, especially his apolitical schtick at the end. As one observer put it later on "Wouldn't a better last question have been 'Have you got a girlfriend?'. " Quite, heh heh.
ReplyDeleteJamesD - talk to Deano about getting chucked out of TB last year - fookin hilarious !
Anyone else up for this thing next July ??
BTW - All I am still hoping to organise a BIG pissup on that day in April 2011. Watch this space...
thauma --you're right . Kept geting that IRI too long thingy . Ta!
ReplyDeleteSo I posted w'out the antiwar link, to try, and then it worked just after.
mystères frog2
"i get a sense that they actually beleive they're been picked on"
ReplyDeleteReally ? Outstanding !
Sheff
ReplyDeleteThat "the Police are being ordered to frighten people into not demonstrating again" is becoming a common theme...
Afternoon all.
ReplyDeleteFirst, FOB. Sympathy for the judge? What kind of bollocks is that?. I am only interested in what the law provides for and whether it has been applied properly.
I'm ignoring your weird ramblings about my son. In fact, I find it a tad disturbing that you want to pay so much attention to anything I say about him, given your proclivities for excusing sexual relations between adults and 15 year olds...
Secondly, and more importantly - Props to the demonstrators. I saw some LibDem eejit on t'telly at breakfast trying to say that the protests had no effect whatsoever (except reducing the coalition majority to 21?! That is a pretty close-run thing if ever there was one) and that, in fact, they were counter-productive.
Scrolled through last night's thread quickly and saw Spencer's photos. Great account from the street, as it were. Brilliant.
No, I wasn't on the protest yesterday - was out in the sticks at hubby's company do in the evening, so I was on my way straight out of London by the time I finished at 4pm. Apparently Victoria Underground was closed due to a "reported fire" - yeah right. Loads of students on the street on my way to Waterloo, and three big police box vans whizzing about the place.
Very interesting post re A4E there. Emma Harrison is a national disgrace.
Right, off to catch up on CiF.
Hey, wanna see a petrol-bomber running into a lamp-post ?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11942814
BW
ReplyDeleteReally ? Outstanding !
Hmm! I think those two loaded words of yours just about sum up the situation on waddya! Noted!
mystères frog2 (like that)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that means Israeli and US organised crime have a productive relationship...and how do you distinguish between OC and the 'establishment'?
Paul
ReplyDeleteDoes it make me a bully ?
;-)
@bw
ReplyDeleteGood petrol bomber clip. But you have to watch an advert first - on the BBC site. Is this new? I've never noticed it before but perhaps I'm just unobservant.
BW
ReplyDeleteDoes it make me a bully ?
Lol! Yep and i'm telling me mum!
Seriously though i'm mindful of the fact the exasperation i'm feeling with the mods is what most of the UT veterans have already largely come to terms with.I'll get there in the end:-)
I miss being a bully.
ReplyDeleteThe ability to make people think they were beneath you. But no, self bloody awareness had to come along and take all that way.
{a href="URL"}text{/a}
ReplyDeleteDunno whether people have seen this but here's a phone video of Charles and his missus having a spot of bother in central london yesterday.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23905622-student-protest-mob-attacks-charles-and-camilla-on-fees-riot.do
ps you need to scroll down a bit to get to the video.
ReplyDeletePaul
ReplyDelete{tory-bnp} = { giggle}
BW
ReplyDeleteI know Broadfield.
I would want to petrol bomb it aswell... :p
I must say that right from the first, I was puzzled by the absence of any cables referring to Israel.
ReplyDeleteLoads of stuff about Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Laurel Stan, Hotdogstan, Idonunderstan...but not a fucking word about one of the most volatile (and pertinent, in terms of the 'War on Terror') regions in the world.
I mean, seriously...how plausible is that?
I'm sure there's a case to be made for US diplomats self-censoring, ever mindful of their career prospects in a nation whose politicos and media exhibit a devotion to the Zionist colonial project that would raise eyebrows (to say the least) were that same devotion shown to, say...Egypt or Morocco or Guatamala.
But, c'mon...nothing on the I/P mess? Nada? Nish? Zip? Zilch? Something not quite right.
Perhaps there's lot's of I/P stuff to come: let's see.
In the mean time, here's another one for The Big Society soundtrack...JJ Cale - Unemployment
Sheffpixie - 13.50
ReplyDelete'I wonder if that means Israeli and US organised crime have a productive relationship...and how do you distinguish between OC and the 'establishment'?"
A bit of a rhetorical question there Sheff :)
A proper answer to it would take a book, but I think some of us around here could write parts of it .
Now outside while still daylight! frog2 X
Some excellent pictures from yesterdays demo here
ReplyDeleteMax Colson
Jack -- not complete absence see my 13.06.
ReplyDeleteHabib
ReplyDeleteSorry that one went right over me.sigh!Brain ain't functioning right now.duh! Are you back on nights now?
Hi Shiloh
Nice to see another new face.
Dave, that link seems to be dead, but unless I've misunderstood, it's about organised crime.
ReplyDeleted00d, I think the region has some more pressing concerns than the kosher Sopranos, no?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAny apologies to make are mine, Paul. I was saying that most tories are nationalistic fuckwits.
ReplyDeleteOh and not back on nights, just in dark times.
ReplyDeleteI expect that the cables relating to Israeli infamy have a higher security classification and therefore weren't available to the leak.
ReplyDeleteJustin Darktimes, P.I.
ReplyDeletePlayed by Alan Davies - that middle class wanker who thinks he's funny.
Habib
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that bro.Hope that GOOD TIMESwill soon be coming your way:-)
Jack 14.47-- follow to 'CACHE' ?
ReplyDeleteAnd did you check out the Antiwar link?
It's much more than a 'few' villains .
@Paul
ReplyDeleteI love the way the "mob" "terrorised" Chas and Camilla.
"All right, Charles? How ya doin' mate?"
@thaum
Re security classification, that's very possible.
Shiloh - is that Swifty in disguise?!
ReplyDeleteYeah, sweeping generalisations and all. I remember someone saying a while ago though that if you pile people on top of one anothing in the sort of conditions where rats would start to eat their own young, it is not surprising that there is a lot of crime. And that pretty much describes parts of Broadfield, sadly...
Will have a look at those pix, Sheff.
Paul, I seem to have come into the ownership a rather large amount of skunk.
ReplyDeleteGood times are guaranteed. :-)
(Although I wish Paul and many others were here, this in no way encourages or endorses the use of illegal substances. It's illegal, so don't do it!"
Damn
ReplyDeleteBandwidth limit exceeded on the Max Coulson site. Ah well.
@habib
ReplyDeleteI liked Jeremy Hardy's idea of getting a real skunk in a cage and hanging around outside Brixton tube going "Skunk?... Skunk?" at passers-by.
Habib
ReplyDeleteAnd as we're in the festive season will you be adding a bit of angel dust? :-)
Habib
ReplyDeleteI couldn't read what you said in your last post cos I had my eyes shut...
@BB:
ReplyDeleteOh sorry, yeah it’s me, blame Google - I like the nickname, use it elsewhere, but for some reason it's now "linked" to this machine. Not being devious – I’m sure I delurked when greeted by MsChin the other day?
Anyway, I don’t really agree about the conditions in Broadfield being as bad as that. We’re there quite often – my daughter’s best friend lives there, as does my good mate, and one of my wife’s work colleagues, and it looks to have been laid out fairly thoughtfully, at least in urban planning terms – lots of little green areas, every house has a front and back garden, garages en bloc, plenty of little streets to break up the monotony of the “main drag”, the parade of shops within walking distance, local schools, pubs, all low-rise, not a building over 2 storeys high, etc etc. Pretty much follows the Crawley model for individual, self-sufficient neighbourhoods, as far as I can tell.
It’s not the environment that’s to blame in Broadfield – it’s the usual minority of lowlife, thoughtless, criminal scum who live there and fuck it up for everyone else.
PS:
ReplyDeleteBB, I do agree that the council house stock in Crawley is badly in need of repair and renovation.
But that won't do as an excuse for the sort of criminality that regularly exhibits itself in the "jewel of West Sussex"...
Even so, Dave, surely Israel's criminal underworld is an internal matter and not really of any more relevance to the world at large than London's Turkish gangs or our very own luvvly-jubbly-'e luvs 'is Mum-Cockerny East End villains.
ReplyDeleteThat's not to say it's not interesting: it is; but surely the fucking brontosaurus in the room is the illegal settlements and ongoing suffering of the Palestinians at the hands of Israel?
thauma's suggestion makes a lot of sense--that all the Israel-related cable traffic has a higher security rating and simply wasn't accessible to relatively low-ranked bods like Manning, unlike all the stuff we're seeing.
They should all be made to sit down and listen to this...chill the fuckers right out...Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grapelli - La Mer (Beyond The Sea).
@jack
ReplyDeleteAlthoug Israel does have a pretty fucking huge population of naturalised citizens who can't set foot outside the country because there are so many international arrest warrants out on them.
Yep, that's pretty fair comment, Swifty. I was being harsh, I s'pose. Harking back to the days when I used to hang out at Crawley Mags, though, there is a disproportionate number of the crims in Crawley that hail from there compared with the rest of the town.
ReplyDelete@Paul:
ReplyDeleteI normally skip over your posts to be honest, but since you’re addressing me directly, I’ll ask you this – what makes you think these problems are “deep rooted” and “social”? Because I’d contest that they’re neither “deep rooted” or “social” – they’re “casual”, they’re “opportunistic” and they’re “criminal”.
@BB:
LOL, you might well know a mate of mine, he's a copper in Crawley. Was it the usual five families causing all the mayhem back then? Along with that lovely resident of Black Dog Walk in Northgate, of course, who seems to feature in every sodding edition of the Crawley News?
I have not been round Crawley Mags for at least 7 or 8 years, Swifty. Used to prosecute as well as defend there, so I may well know your mate.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, there were particular families that would crop up time and again - ASBO'd up to their earholes, which was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. :o)
SB
ReplyDeleteI had a mate living in what was reknowned to be one of the shittest estates in the county. I used to go and see her during the daytime and evenings - know what I found ? Vast majority of people keeping themselves to themselves, working hard long hours for jack shit. Occasionally there'd be a big bust up, an eviction, or a domestic, with the inevitable crowds of curious, concerned and nosey people; the Sun once painted it as a lawless area of pit-bulls on crack and whoring eleven year olds. It's fucking annoying when you realise most of those folks are living on a quarter to a tenth less what those hacks earn, rubbing along together, some of them looking out for eachother - and most - the ones who aren't just getting spliffed up all day - are paying over the top taxes per capita. I know I'm preaching to the converted, but they use these images try to keep us frightened of the "others". Fuck that shit.
Friday night...usual quandary...nip down the shops and get something in for tea..or...couple of pints / order a take away and fetch a few cans while I'm waiting..what should I do?
ReplyDeleteanswers on post card to...
(don't bother...no point...I'm down the pub)
I only had a chance for a quick look at the Big Ears and Camzilla royal variety performance event, so did anyone else notice that the only thing Mr Pass the Duchy Originals on the Left Hand Side seemed to do was adjust his signet ring and wave bleakly with a little crippled grin limping across his lips?
ReplyDeleteIs that all he can actually do - ever?
Has anyone seen him do anything else in his entire life?
Not much to show for sixty-odd years in the trainee king department, is it?
And we are soon going to be treated to the "benefits scrounger marries jobless woman" It's A Royal Washout event.
So, these people are so much better than us that we have to fund and preserve their lavish lifestyles...just why, exactly?
@BW:
ReplyDeleteI know mate - precisely the same situation in Crawley. It's got a bit of a bad rep because there's more crime than neighbouring towns like Horley, or East Grinstead, or Horsham... but almost without exception, the folk we know are just the usual, decent, neighbourly, struggling-to-get-by people recognisable and known to all of us on here.
O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven,
ReplyDeleteKeep me in temper: I would not be mad.
I'm off to find reason and meaning in life. So i'll be away for about 45 mins.
Bitterweed
ReplyDeleteYes, there was a thing about the area where the woman kidnapped and hid her own daughter with the help of her uncle[?] (Sorry, I do not even attempt to remember names).
It was portrayed as being a miniature wild-west on crack, with everyone on benefits and...etc just as you describe.
Then Channel 4 News[?] sent a reporter to see how realistic this portrayal actually had been.
Not in the slightest, it turned out.
It was a poor area - and as you say, the majority working for shit money and trying to get by and helping each other as best they could.
Of course, if the media insist on sending the wife of an Old Etonian politician's brother to report on the lives of ordinary people, it is hardly surprising that they run back to the office screaming and demanding counselling when they run into a real person for the first time in their lives.
It goes without saying, of course, that they cannot understand a word the poor people say, given their dialects and poor diction, so they have to make it all up when they file their story anyway.
Shiloh
ReplyDeleteI normally skip over your posts to be honest, but since you’re addressing me directly,
I know i can be a gobby git at times but i genuinely wasn't aware that i pissed you off that much.I certainly don't have any beef with you.If i have offended you in any way i apologize.
Regarding your posts i agree there are undoubtedly problems with a minority of families on many estates who are in effect holding whole communities to ransom.But without sounding like a wishy washy social worker some of the young people guilty of committing the crimes/anti social behavior the decent majority fear most have been totally brutalized by their upbringing.Therefore unless you are prepared to break the cycle of abuse that is often passed down the generations the problem will become ever more deep rooted.Yes people should punished for their crimes but there also needs to be much more onus on rehabilitation.
monkeyfish
ReplyDeleteYou're doing well...we're still acting out the usual pre-Christmas "nothing about" drama...
Have you tried Tesco?
SB and BW - yep, that is the way it tends to be. A minority make it shite for the majority of decent people.
ReplyDeleteMF - beer and takeaway. Hands down.
I have done my level best not to take sides in the Spambot argument, but christ she can be childish and spiteful.
ReplyDeleteThat is all.
AB/SB
ReplyDeleteYep, I mean of course there's fucking idiots there. my niece teaches at a school in a similar estate in Corby. There was a bust the other lunchtime, the whole school was shut down. Quite a few kids got turned over. One of them was in bits, pretended to not know anything about the stash in his bag, then said, "hang on miss, you can't put me on exclusion, I wasn't going to take it - just sell it !"
Gorgeous eh ???
This may be part of the supply problem MF is addressing.
I'm not usually stone cold sober this late on a Friday. But it's xmas-dinner-with-mates down the pub tonight and I thought I'd better not be rat-arsed before the meal starts.
ReplyDeleteStill, I think an apéritif is in order before half an hour is up.
@Paul:
ReplyDeleteNothing to apologise for, I just don’t feel I’m part of your circle. Nothing wrong with that, I should add – far as I’m concerned, “nodding acquaintance” is as fine on the internet as it is down the pub…
Anyway, no disagreement from this quarter on the notion of “rehabilitation”. Makes sense that keeping people (young and old) productive and out of bother is infinitely preferable to banging them up and locking them into a cycle of criminality which they can’t escape from.
There’s no “magic wand” though which we could wave which will stop some people turning to crime.
I'm waiting for the sun to be over the yard-arm meself, Thaum. I have given myself a 6pm watershed, then it's a vodka and coke for me.
ReplyDeleteHave a good night!
Happy Birthday for tomorrow Bitterweed and, er, Happy Meal for later, Thauma!
ReplyDeleteCorby! Ah! I know it well, BW.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest town in Europe with no station, and the biggest Scottish town in England. :o)
That's classic though - "only going to sell it..."
I hope she thought up a different excuse by the time the rozzers got hold of her, poor thing.
Cheers AB - am raising one to ya now buddy !
ReplyDeleteShiloh
ReplyDeleteNo worries!Thought from your post that you had a beef with me.Am getting a bit battle weary as far as these on-line misunderstandings go.
Bitterweed
Many happy returns for tomorrow if i don't 'see' you before then.
@BW:
ReplyDeleteThing is, even minor acts of dimwitted criminality and thuggery have a disproportionately large effect on the neighbourhoods where they take place. What could seem like nothing more than a “laugh” to some daft lad coming home pissed from the pub and kicking some lonely old Doris’s flower pots over, has a much larger effect on the recipient of said “fun”.
Always worth keeping a sense of proportion, but that’s really difficult for some people when faced with low-level fuckwittery like the above.
Jack 15.39 "Even so, Dave, surely Israel's criminal underworld is an internal matter and not really of any more relevance to the world at large than London's Turkish gangs or our very own luvvly-jubbly-'e luvs 'is Mum-Cockerny East End villains."
ReplyDeleteThe world's moved on a bit from the days of corner-shops, packets of five fags and Dixon of Dock Green with his little truncheon;) But it's a secret, don't tell anyone.
Spike--Althoug Israel does have a pretty fucking huge population of naturalised citizens who can't set foot outside the country because there are so many international arrest warrants out on them
I hate to think of the proportion of crims in Israel, but rather more than the five families on that housing estate...
The point of the cable was that some of the Very Top Villains were untouchable, could travel freely, suspicions of connections to elements in gov't, and are fr'instance capable worldwide of efficiently Surveilling each of us on the UT, (should they ever wish to!).
Another fuckin brontosaurus in the room that a surprising number of people are deeply unaware of.
Great Hesitations. Pub or no pub ? I'll get in the car aiming for a physiotherapeutic walk on the beach, and see what happens next !
frog2 XX
Yes indeed SB. But middle classed fuckwits are just as capable of this behaviour. TLook at that seething bunch of cunts who invade Cornwall every year after they finish their little public school exams. They had 2 deaths in one year and all of a sudden it's got fucking documentaries being made about - the tragedy of it all. Fucking Big Society that is. I am aware that I'm probvably not being coherent now, so here's Joh Martyn nailing an absolute gem
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_uv0uIY-g&feature=player_embedded
@Spike
ReplyDeleteSwiftyBoy recommended a "robust fighting wine for 1.79 at Asda" the other month or similar.
I hope you get such good deals as these in France.
Song for lib dem voters. ah, the world could be so nice.
ReplyDeleteI am assuming you live in France Spike ? I have probably got this wrong though. Fuck it. More beer...
ReplyDelete@BW:
ReplyDeleteIndeed mate, indeed. Though it’s “high spirits” when the offspring of the Establishment do it in Newquay, remember?
And let’s not forget white collar crime while we’re at it – rehabilitation for Bernie Madoff, anyone?
heyhabib - great link !!!
ReplyDeletewheee !
ReplyDeleteSB
ReplyDeleteAnd there was my spell in Betty Fords as house pharmacy enabler....
Swifty -- old-fashioned plod could 'terrorise' them right back ... according to mates now in mid/late sixties.
ReplyDeleteBitterweed - happy all-night celebration!
Off!
Anyway, good weekend all, I’m away in a minute. Although having said that…
ReplyDelete”…Train services between Clapham Junction and East Croydon are being disrupted due to safety checks being made at Wandsworth Common. Engineers are working as fast as possible to restore services to normal. Delays of up to 15 minutes can be expected. Only country-bound train services are affected by this problem…”
Thank you so much, Southern. Blimey, I really do feel like I’m getting exceptional value for money out of my annual season ticket these days…
Bitterweed
ReplyDeleteI was going to save my birthday greetings til tomorrow, but seeing as how you will probably be in bed all day with the mother of all hangovers, I will say it to you now
Happy Birthday!!
And I will raise a glass to you at 6pm xx
happy birthday for tomorrow bitterweed!
ReplyDeleteI take it from the "wheee!" that you are well on your way, there.
Damn, BW, I wish I could have a pint or ten with you.
ReplyDeleteI'm determined to make this a music hour, so song for people playing guitar for the first time. Even if you're shit, it can sound good for a few seconds.
Yesh. Mrs BW says I now have to stop talking to my friends in the little elctronic box and og down the pub.
ReplyDeleteLaters, and fangyou all and one, you are ver kind.
Shiloh/Bitterweed
ReplyDeleteI believe that the root causes of bad behaviour in the young are to be found in the adult world.And until we start holding parents more accountable for their childrens behaviour and the decent majority of adults start retaking control of their communities not a lot's gonna change.Unless of course we start incarcerating the problem like the Americans who in real terms imprison six times as many people as we do.Which IMO would be the wrong thing to do.
Yes there are issues of poverty and social deprivation to address but that doesn't negate the responsibilities of adults who too often these days behave like teenagers and set the young a bad example on how to behave.
This is a highly complex issue but for starters i would grant fathers equal custody rights of children.Yes we need to make men more responsible for their children but that has to be tied up with rights.And all children need to grow up in a communities where fathers are valued and not seen as being 'optional extras'.
'ning all
ReplyDeleteBB
banal i know but who is spambot?
happy beerday bitters..........!
ReplyDeletePaul
ReplyDeleteNot ignoring that last - catch you soon buddy.
habib, come on the piss one time, it'll be a gas mate.
ReplyDeleteIt would be my honour, BW and also quite possibly the death of me. Nice way to go out though.
ReplyDelete:-)
Forgotten song (probably rightly) for the student demonstrators, so demonised in today's media.
@bw
ReplyDeleteYes, I am in France. And I'm now in France with a 3-litre box of a very pleasant Côtes de Bourg at €9.49, which works out to the equivalent of £2 a bottle (so a bit more expensive than the fighting one).
So cheers! And many happy returns of tomorrow!
Here's a classic fromLed Zep to get the weekend going.Have a good one folks!
ReplyDeleteCheers Gandolfo!
ReplyDeleteAnd Get. It. On. habib !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHDYfoRYcqQ
wheee !
PS Purple Quote:
"If I was a girl, I would, quite frankly, get my tits out for this". Yeh.
Right, getting *that* look. Bye.
damnit. cool tune just came on pm. started a little wiggle. then they say the theme tune of [who-the-hell-knows] of the BNP....
ReplyDeletefeels like entrapment.
feel dirty.
Heheh. My last comment on the old Whaddya thread has been deleted. And all I did was call Pairubu an immature twat and take the piss out of his and junior prefect Kizbot's "sense of humour".
ReplyDeleteThat's abuse?
ah, paul, the classic!
ReplyDeletehabib - as the sisters are playing in paris in march, asked the oisette if she wanted to go - she pointed out that she hadn't heard anything by them. difficult situation - started gently (I was wrong, something fast, 1959) then cranked out 'this corrosion' (musically impressive), then, as she hadn't actually left me at that point, risked F&L&A (Marian, Some kind of stranger).
by the time i offered 'on the wire' and 'bury me deep' from the extra tracks, she was asking if i wanted her to call my parents...
am not sure she's going to come to the gig, heheheheheh.
speaking of which...
ReplyDeleteon the wire
and in case that didn't finish you off...
ReplyDeletebury me deep
(there's a great folky version of that out there somewhere - checks knock-off cover album - by 'faith and disease' hmmm, lovely but - hey! found it:
slightly gentler take on things)
Back from the pub..it's a big building full of smartcunts drinking beer and talking weapon-grade shite...but that's not important right now
ReplyDeletesorry about that...my tribute to Leslie Neilson...suddenly struck me I'd been somewhat remiss in failing to honour the man...thank god for beer and it's effect on my conscience
..take away being divvied as we speak...so it's looking like Chicken Dansak...few cans..then, if the muse finds me, I may decide to indulge in 'months of misogynistic abuse' before I go to bed
fresh from wikileaks....redacted clipping from Scunthorpe Herald
"Magistrates requested psychiatric reports on local man Stan Grimshaw prior to sentencing after he was found in breach of his restraining order banning him from dragging up and speaking in a weird Belgian accent. Grimshaw, 67, was detained on November 5th this year when the manager of the Parallelogram Terrace Community centre was bombarded with foul-mouthed abuse for the 43rd time this year over the continuing failure of the Scunthorpe and District 'Happy Players' to stage Aida for the 56th year running.
Having traced the calls, detectives called at Mr Grimshaw's bedsit to find him at the window, dressed in a leopard skin maxi blouse, black mini-skirt, fishnet tights, Bet Lynch wig and a pair of white stilettos screaming at passers-by that he and his well-bred attractive friends were sick of the sight of their ugly philistine little faces, and why didn't they fuck off and...."
Paul and BW, too cool.
ReplyDeletePhilibee, ha ha, what can you do?
My last shot, for the hour is up and you have to respect the seriousness of others.
MF - "so it's looking like Chicken Dansak"
ReplyDeleteyou cruel person. now i want a curry.
'ray habib! love that one. now that's wiggle-worthy.
clegg's batteries seem to be running low. after the fees vote:
ReplyDeleteso we can deliver the liberal, er, fair things we want for the country as a whole
presume someone's nabbed his notes.
tosser
Apparently LibDems are down to 8% in popularity in the polls...
ReplyDelete.
.
.
.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
BB - maybe that should be "presume somebody has nabbed his votes"...
ReplyDeleteNice one, Phil :o)
ReplyDeleteHeh
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends has just posted this on facebook:
"I rang the liberal democrats and asked them for a copy of their manifesto. They said that they had sold out. I said "I understand that but could I please have a copy of your manifesto"
Spike
ReplyDeleteHeheh. My last comment on the old Whaddya thread has been deleted. And all I did was call Pairubu an immature twat and take the piss out of his and junior prefect Kizbot's "sense of humour".
That's abuse?
I'm afraid if you post with the UT it probably is abuse in the eyes of the former UT posters who hold court on Waddya.And who seem to hold sway with the mods.To be fair i've never had any dealings with Pairubu so couldn't possibly comment about him/her.
The 'Milk Monitor' however reminds me a bit of that iconic photograph of St Pauls Cathedral remaining standing during the blitz whilst all around it was engulfed in flames.For as the Greek economy crashes all around her and Greek society implodes our Kizbot will remain standing at her desk with her recipe book and laptop posting non stop on CIF .And calling to account all and sundry for their shortcomings whilst remaining completely in denial about her own.
@BB
ReplyDelete:-)
My dear Friends
ReplyDeleteI suppose, being young folk, that you have been busy "protesting the cuts" which I gather is all the rage these days. What a shame that the whole event was spoiled by a few bad apples without whom no doubt there would have been much greater media attention, and all the demands of the undergraduates would have been met.
For myself, I was quite appalled by the scenes on the news. Seeing Her Royal Highness's rictus of fear inevitably put me in mind of Mrs Selfmade. True, she is less obviously attractive than the Duchess of Cornwall (the People's Duchess, as I call her) even though she too was born with every advantage in life (her father having been a fully qualified Turf Accountant and so from the professional classes). I shudder to think how I would have felt had our Vauxhall Viva been surrounded by a mob of media studies students hell bent on insisting, with Derrida, that 'there is nothing outside the text'. I suppose that my old National Service training would have kicked in and I would have sent them packing with a few bon mots from Isaiah Berlin. Naturally Prince Charles, lacking such practical training, was reduced to asking them if they had come far and introducing them to petrol pumps.
Neverthless, it doesn't bear thinking about and, thinking about it, I was more attentive to Mrs Selfmade than I have been for, perhaps, too long, going so far as to rub liniment into her upper thigh unasked. That this earned me a swift slap and the suggestion that I seek an early appointment with the doctor to discuss my supposed affliction with a 'sexual perversion' (I will say no more, since ladies may be reading) is just one more casualty to chalk up to these anarchist layabouts.
I must confess I lack sympathy with the students' cause (although no one is more in touch with a la mode sentiment than I. As I said only this morning to my solicitor (with whom I had some consultations of a business nature which needn't concern you) - when have I ever had need of the services of a 'graduate'? Her response tells us all we need to know.
Better by far to be, like me, a graduate of the University of Life (formerly Life Polytechnic). The fees are moderate, the coursework minimal and the marks awarded not by some beardy know-all in an anorak, spouting Bakunin at the drop of his woolly hat, but by the tutor of experience. How many of these so-called professors would cut the mustard in the import-export lark? Vanishingly few, I venture.
But don't let me deter you from your demonstrations. As a wiser man than I said: if you are not a conservative at 18 you have no wallet; if you are still a conservative at 30 you have no brain. And as the Thought for the Day speaker said only this morning, that is true, in a very real sense.
Yours etc
SelfMadeMan (BA, Life, UK; MA, Hardknocks, Alaska, PhD Bitte Experience, Germany)
...and just when i needed it, strangely i'm feeling right cheered up...
ReplyDeletePS
ReplyDeleteI should clarify (for any ex-colleagues who may be reading) that when I referred the the import-export business as 'a lark', I meant that it is a game, not that it is something frivolous.
Dear Mr Selfmade
ReplyDeleteWhat a delight to see you adorning our pages again. You are absolutely right in your analysis, of course. What need is there of graduates in the world? I am fairly sure that, given a copy of Gray's Anatomy, and a boxed-set of the series, anybody with a GCSE in triple science could manage a triple bypass in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
Many's the time when I have had to frequent a member of the criminal classes while on remand in "the Ville" for an alleged felony who has rightly pointed out to me just how ultimately useless my years of study were, given that he was able to get hold of an out-of-date copy of "Archibald" in the prison library and look it up themselves (although, strangely, they don't feel the need to dispense with my evidently over-educated services when the time comes - perhaps they just don't possess the requisite headgear?)
I do hope that Mrs Selfmade is keeping well and that the current inclement weather is not freezing her tappets too badly.
Yours, etc.
tom robinson just played this - new to me but love it...
ReplyDeleteNever heard of Crystal Stilts before. Good choon!
ReplyDeleteDear Mr Unmade, I find it quite disturbing that you can just turn up at will and leave us all laughing, while suffering no consequence yourself.
ReplyDeleteYou should be banned from gratuitously posting things like "I shudder to think how I would have felt had our Vauxhall Viva been surrounded by a mob of media studies students hell bent on insisting, with Derrida, that 'there is nothing outside the text'."
You just bring mirth to this, the heart of our website's glorious domain. While you demonstrate such humour, I, for one, feel inept and therefore can offer no support.
friday really kicking in now....
ReplyDeletehehehehehhehehe
philippa
ReplyDeleteI recently discovered this cover of an old Genesis track.The guy isn't a brilliant singer but i enjoyed both the song and the scenic video.See what you think!
Ohh I like that, Philibee.
ReplyDeleteCrystal Stilts? Didn't she have a dog called Alisdair?
their wiki page links to pitchfork, which i could have predicted, hehehehehe.
ReplyDeletePhil the Goth! :o)
ReplyDeleteI loved the Scissor Sisters version of Comfortably Numb meself...
Paul - lovely rendition of a good ole Genesis track. Ta for that.
ReplyDeletepaul - that's beautiful - the kind of song that makes me wish i played the guitar better...
ReplyDelete...much, much better...
ReplyDeleteBB - am ridiculously excited about upcoming tour. missed the last one, first time in about fifteen years...
ReplyDelete(when oisette asked 'so have you seen them live?', i just started laughing...)
right - vin chaud calls. have a good night, all!
ReplyDeleteVin chaud. Yummy.
ReplyDeleteBonne nuit, ma puce x
And a bisou pour l'oisette aussi x
ReplyDelete@Philippa
ReplyDeleteKnow how you feel - Van der Graaf back at the Barbican in March...
My darling BB
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how thrilled I was to receive your letter. I was also able to empathise with it since, as you know, through no real fault of my own I was "banged up" in the 'Ville in the 50s on some pettyfogging technicality. As it happened, I represented myself in that case and, whilst the outcome was less happy than I might have wished it to be, I was able to grasp the essentials of the matter without having to partake in any "dinners" other than the wholesome egg and chips served up in those days at Ernie's on the Commercial Road (now a Juice Bar).
If you don't mind, I won't pass on your good wishes to Mrs Selfmade. She knows of the feeling that exists between you and I and, whilst she accepts it up to a point, I would not want to rub her face in it (in our day, that sort of thing was simply not done, at least with respectable girls). Whilst on this subject, I assume that we will meet as normal under the clock at Waterloo tomorrow? If not, better to say now as in that case I will not stint on my Friday night Macallan whereas, if we are not meeting, I need have no worries about my ability to 'perform' (Mrs Selfmade tending to 'shut down shop' until after the Eastenders Omnibus on Sunday afternoon).
Yours adoringly
Arnold, I mean Selfmade.
Dear Mr Habib (or should I say Hey! Habib as I believe young people do - mint, innit? Standard!)
I am bound to say that I found your letter grossly offensive. You may regard the experience of your elders (it is not for me to say betters) a source of ribald mirth. But perhaps when you have borne, as I have, the heat and burden of the day you wil be a little less free to parade your prejudices. I am not one to invoke political correctness but, to be honest, I found your remarks 'inappropriate' and there can surely be no more damning criticism than that. I would like to think that you are still lightheaded from having daubed offensive graffti on the Cenotaph and sniffing the paint thus used but no doubt this is, as usual, unwonted charity on my part.
Offended,
Man, S.M., MC, DSO and Bar.
Dear Mr Selfmade
ReplyDeleteI regret to offer "yer mother!" as a riposte. I do, however feel that, while unpleasant, it engenders the spirit of the age.
Your servant.
Mean, mad Habib of da block.
Peace out.
Chuhhh!
Habib
ReplyDeleteYeah show some respect for your ELDERS bruv:-)
dear Mr Selmade
ReplyDeleteI feel compelled to speak in defense of my dear friend Mr. Habib.
If I may be so bold to suggest it - I fear you write from a position of upholding what we are wont to call establisment values while at the same time pursuing Mrs. BB without regard to either your own or her marital status.
It grieves me to see such a blatant display of hypocrisy and I would venture to suggest you are better suited to waddya than to this hallowed website.
Mr. Habib has proved himself to be a model of integrity and honesty as well as, to the best of my knowledge , refraining from the sexual peccadiloes of the traditional moneyed classes.
You Sir owe Mr Habib and indeed the redoubtable Mr. BB a grovelling apology.
Yours
The completely insignificant Leni.
Dear Arnold, I mean Mr Selfmade
ReplyDeleteI, alas, am unable to make our rendezvous tomorrow. Family duties beckon, and Father Christmas will have nothing to put in our stockings if I don't make it to M & S in the morning. In my day, a few nuts, a satsuma and some Quality Street in a sock was all that was required. These days youngsters expect far more exotic fare in a purpose-made red stocking if they are to be kept quiet during Her Majesty's much-anticipated after-lunch speech.
As an aside, I have to second Mrs Leni's rebuke of you, however, with regards Mr Habib. He is a hale and delightful fellow, and I fear your attack on him, unwarranted as it was unfounded, has somewhat cooled my ardour.
Nevertheless, once the cold weather passes, perhaps my ardour could be rekindled with a few kind words...
Yours diffidently
Mrs B.
Hi! A nice elegant summary of the Guardian's position from @Wiccaman which syays it all really.
ReplyDeleteHaving spent 13 long years rationalising & apologising for the worst excesses of New Labour before recommending the Lib Dems at the last election, I think the Grauniad has a far bigger credibility problem than Clegg's party. The only distinctive voice the paper has is of the 'Tuscan Tarquin' North London dinner party clique that has too much common interest with our corrupt body politic to be able to develop an objective & independent critique of the continuing free market consensus.
Dear Mrs Leni
ReplyDeleteWhile I am, largely, in agreement with your letter, I did find the phrase "you are better suited to waddya than to this hallowed website." rather harsh.
Being better suited to waddya is something one would not wish on one's worst enemy.
Yours etc
Dear "Lenny"
ReplyDeleteI was of course delighted to receive your letter. Nevertheless, loathe as I am to criticize, I wonder whether you defence of sexual puritainsm and the sanctity of marriage does not betoken a rather greater commitment to what you are wont to call "establishment values" than any that I might have espoused? My friend (it is a purely platonic thing, I should say) Luce Irigary would, I think, agree with me. However, I note that you "self-describe" (as is your right!) as completely insignificant and therefore I forgive you, as I hope you will forgive me for not ignoring you!
What this Habib fellow's response to my letter means is anyone's guess but, frankly, I cannot think that it betokens anything one would want to sink one's teeth into. One imagines he would be all fingers and thumbs with my three year old grand-daughters potato prints (yet, even at this tender age, her work has been compared with that of a modern artist).
Bemused by it all,
SMM
My darling, darling BB
ReplyDeleteOf course I will withdraw any comments I have made that may have cooled your ardour. I must admit that I am a little confused as, at our last meeting, it seemed as if my whispered critiques of our fellows served only to increase your passion (if you recall, the felow in the next room at the Excelsior, Pimlico shouted something rather graceless at us through the wall).
I am devastated that we will not meet tomorrow and yet your talk of "stockings" has only inflamed me. True, one is used to seeing Mrs Selfmade's tan-coloured hose in the utility room yet your sheer black lingerie surely speaks in a different register and if the price of my enjoyment of its satin-smoothness is a modicum of politeness to Mr Habib well then - hey, Habib, come round for tea and scones at my place!
I know that grovelling sycophancy is not what the ladies want but to be honest I am too far gone to 'play it cool'
Worshipfully,
Arnold.
Unmade
ReplyDeleteDon't you disrespect my mate Habib like that.I'll have you know he's been doing stirling work at Exit for years now and old sods like you should be grateful to him.Cos when your times up you're gonna go out with a bang and you'll have Habib to thank for that.
Anyways what are you doin' here ?I thought friday nights was when Mrs Selfmade gave you a bit of prostate massage.
Regards
ps 'Your slips beginning to show' as the lovely Hermione would say.
Dear Arnold
ReplyDeleteI am most grateful that you have decided to be kind to Mr Habib. I would count him as a friend, and I thought, rather, that his post to you was merely one of deference, so your response to him took me quite by surprise!
However, I would rather prefer if you did not discuss my undergarments in front of all and sundry. Some things a gal likes to keep private, you know!
Yours etc
B initials BB
Dear BB, Leni and Paul,
ReplyDelete(oh how well you would make a name for a 70s band)
I am not worthy of the defence you put up for me, a man of little honour, I once got sacked for making an inappropriate remark:
"Have you met your new boss, Habib?"
"Yeah, I've come across her before, but I had to pay for dinner and a shit load of drinks, first"
Selfmade
ReplyDeleteDear Sir
I fear you mistake me. I write in support of establishment values as personofied by Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 and the lingering but not yet dead Baroness Thatcher.
I fear you miss the essential nuances of life which have made this country great. It is not for nothing that we name it Great Britain the Island of the Mighty.
I cannot help but note your rather slippery use of two names. Is Mrs. Selfmade aware of your duplicity ?
Your in disgust
Leni of all the values which matter in Wales.