November 03, 2006
We r stuk hear n Irak - but our message isn't.
Jim Miller posts about the routes by which the image of the now famous banner reached several million screens.I am rather sorry for Mr Kerry in that it was a gaffe, not a deliberate insult. However they that live by the sword will die by the sword: the media has feasted well on George Bush's slips of the tongue, and I didn't hear John Kerry complaining about it then.
The story also was given extra oomph by the fact that Mr Kerry made a big deal about his own military service in Vietnam. One example: he started his acceptance address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention by saluting and saying, "I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty," and finished up that speech with a reference to his Vietnam service too. The previous day he had made a river trip with his "band of brothers", former comrades from his Swift boat days, a major feature of his campaign.
There are many things about US politics that I don't get. One of them is how anyone ever convinced themselves that was a good idea.
I'm not talking about the counter-claims made by his less brotherly former brothers in arms, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. I haven't looked into all that. Leave them out of the equation. Assume that his service in Vietnam was as admirable as it is possible to be. Kerry was still only in Vietnam for four months. Afterwards he joined the anti-war movement, chucked his military decorations over the Capitol fence and said that loads of American soldiers had committed atrocities. Maybe he had defensible reasons for doing all of these things - but given that he did, all that "reporting for duty" stuff looks most odd.
What a low opinion of Republicans Democrats must have if they thought that throwing them this little crumb would be enough to gain their votes. Look, he's a soldier. You like soldiers.
November 02, 2006
An ABSO for the Archbishop.
Not quite, but not so far off, either: Cathedral bans Carey as a 'divisive force'The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, has been banned from one of the oldest cathedrals in Britain after accusations that he has become an “instrument of disunity”.[snip]
The Dean of Bangor, the Very Rev Alun Hawkins, is understood to have imposed the unprecedented ban because he feels that Lord Carey has become a “divisive force” and has been “disloyal” to his successor, Dr Rowan Williams, who was born in Wales.
November 01, 2006
Means of control or delusion of control?
JEM writes:Your correspondent (whom I shall call 'C' for convenience if I may) who writes...Wasn't it the case that it took decades for the same dollar to be in use all over the US? I don't know what this proves, if anything.JEM ... does not appear to understand that a currency is also a means of control by a state over its subjects.
... does not seem to understand that this is a delusion. A state may attempt to control via its currency, but in actual truth it can't. That's why the British currency problems basically went away, not when we fell out of the ERM, but when we stopped trying to politically control the pound and handed the technical side of the matter over to the Bank of England: result, happiness--at least, relatively.
As for...
... putting control of something ... under the control of a foreign, corrupt and generally useless bunch of bureaucrats...... indeed. That's just what the citizens of 25 Typical Street would say about the Typical Street Groat. So C's point is... what? Indeed, does (s)he have a point?
Doesn't (s)he feel we should warn our American friends that their silly continent-wide single currency idea will never work and soon reduce their economy to the level of Upper Volta?
If one is not prepared to trust other people, whether at the end of the street, in Threadneedle Street, Frankfurt, or Mars, to manage the currency, then money itself is not a valid concept and serves no purpose.
Is that what C is proposing? Or is (s)he just being xenophobic? I think we have a right to know--especially since, in the real world, it's actually these 'dirty foreigners' who determine the fate of our, and all the other, currencies anyway.
JEM
The king is (not quite) dead. Long live the king!
There are times when it is more proper to vomit than to debate:Fidel announced that because of an intestinal operation, he was signing power over to his brother, who would be acting president. In Miami, there were celebrations in the streets, with shouted assurances that this meant the end of the Cuban Revolution. As one celebrant put it: "We'll all be home within a month. The Cuban people will never accept Raul!"- written by Wayne S. Smith in the Guardian. Emphasis added by me. Also spotted by Tim Worstall.
But accept him they did. The Cuban people took Raul's promotion in their stride, with calm maturity. They had always expected that if Fidel were for any reason incapacitated, Raul would take over. Now he had. He does not have his brother's charisma, but is known to be an excellent administrator. The armed forces, which he commands, are without doubt the most efficient and respected institution in the country. Three months on, Raul is running the government effectively.
October 31, 2006
Contains spoilers. Now you really can't resist.
October 30, 2006
Non-Europhile blogs.
Very non. The EUsceptic roundup is hosted in his kitchen by the Devil himself. His language is about what you might expect from the Devil, but I feel sure he's a good boy really.
Excuses for absence.
Better than most!Hello Natalie,I know you're not blogging, mate. Look at your referrer stats. That's me, that is.I hope all is well.
I just wanted to drop you a line and say thank you for helping me maintain my reading habits while here in Iraq. Six months down and sixish months to go.
All the best,
George
currently not blogging at EU Rota
In the comments to EU Rota's most recent post announcing that for the present he would continue to refrain from disturbing the repose of the enlightened classes, I found
... Europhile blogs.
Meet the EU Patriot. Read his comments on President Bush. I think they could be best described as "quintessential".
We Europeans abolished the death penalty long time ago, because we listened to sociologists, psychologists and experts on the field of death penalty. We Europeans believe in science, not in ancient books like the bible. During his legislative period, Gov. Bush signed not less then 152 death sentences. This means for me that he killed 152 human beings. This is a sad statistic which shows his barbarity. It’s the same thing with his wars: He is the reason for these wars, not anyone else. He is guilty. For me and many Europeans, he is comparable to evil guys like Stalin or Hitler. His cheating during the election (according to US film-maker Michael Moore) makes him a kind of dictator.
And via EU Patriot's comments, meet Kirsty of Down (and out) in Amsterdam. Here's her review of The Wind that Shakes the Barley:
The lads are lined up against the wall, the women are screaming. The Black and Tans demand to know the name and occupation of each of the men. Most comply readily. All except one - Micheail; who refuses to say his name in English. The others give him pleading looks, yet he still refuses. He is taken into the chicken coop and beaten to death with a rifle butt.She obviously read the review in Time Out magazine: ("It’s not an historical event. Nor is Micheail a politician, a particular hero, or even a character with whom we’ve spent more than five minutes. Instead he’s a fictional, anonymous rural labourer invented by Loach and his regular screenwriter Paul Laverty...") In true Time Out style, Kirsty continues:
Simply because he said his name in Gaelic. It is a fictitious event. Micheail was not based on any historical figure, he was of no great importance - nor did he feature in the film for more than five minutes. Yet this is what makes the scene so poignant.
He was simply one of the many, many anonymous farm labourers who suffered wreckless brutality at the hands of the English.Er, didn't you say he was an actor, acting out a fictitious event?
October 29, 2006
Britblog roundup.
Why not try out Philobiblon, reviewing a book on the English Civil War?Purkiss also maintains the often-buried genuinely radical elements of this English Revolution and explores the failure of imagination that meant these ideas of equality - of the participation of the ordinary man in politics - could establish only shallow roots. She finds a wonderful example of the Levellers finding an image of what they could only grasp at from a foreign culture."A Leveller newsbook The Kingdomes Faithfull and Impatriall Scout described two American Indians displayed in France by merchants as objects of curiosity. But the Indians are not only observed: they also do their own observing, and they are ’stood amazed’:
"That so many gallant men which seemed to have stout and generous spirits should all stand bare, and be subject to the will and pleasure of a Child [Louis XIV]. Secondly, that some in the city were clad in very rich and costly apparel, and others so extreme poor, that they were ready to famish for hunger; that he conceived them to be all equalised in the balance of nature, and not one to be exalted above another."
UPDATE: Twit that I am, I forgot to put a link to the Britblog roundup around the words "Britblog roundup". There is in fact a roundup of interesting posts from British blogs that you can go and look at here where it says, "Britblog roundup."
The post by "The Englishman" about country wisdom regarding the employment of rabbit catchers and how this relates to speed cameras is very informative and rather funny.