Sayonara dudes

I have had a rotten couple of weeks and to be honest I’m just not enjoying writing the blog at the moment. I’m sure I’ll be back, but I’m not sure when.

I need a break - maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks. I don’t know. I need time to think.

Comments are closed.

Hersh: Bush administration supporting al Qaida

Money the Bush administration is sending to the Middle East to suppress a potential ‘Shia Crescent’ forming (and strengthening the hand of Israeli enemies Hezbollah and Iran) is finding its way to into the hands of at least three Jihadist groups linked to al Qaida, argues Seymour Hersh.

Bush has no congressional authority (the money is possibly diverted from funds appropriated to Iraq) to send this money, and it is claimed that John Negroponte, the former intelligence tsar, resigned because he feared this could develop into an Iran-Contra level scandal (Negroponte was also considered by Cheney and those at the Pentagon as ‘too ethical’).

Hersh is demanding that Congress investigate his findings which he calls ‘very serious.’ This may well be the straw that breaks the administration’s back.

Via: Skeleton Project.

Feedback

If you would be so kind…

Multiple choices ok. Many thanks

The irregular quote of the day

I like Slate. In fact I love Slate. But one thing that annoys me is the pro-Microsoft bias that lingers at the online magazine (Slate was founded by the Seattle monolith before being sold to The Washington Post).

From Slate’s gaming writer Chris Suellentrop: -

After more than two months with a “Wii60″—gamer slang for owning both a Nintendo Wii and an Xbox 360—I’ve been surprised to discover that the 360 is the console I turn to when I want a quick gaming fix. The Wii is a “party console”—a go-to system to impress guests, and a guaranteed good time when more than one (physically present) person wants to play. But the allegedly hard-core 360, and not the family-friendly Wii, appeals to the casual gamer in me—the guy who loves to play addictive and familiar mini-games.

Of course it could be coincidental, or could it?

Europe: A Happy Lot

It’s true; in Euroland we’re blissfully happy. 87% of Europeans are happy with their lot in life. And those Danes, those CR-A-ZY Danes, well they are deliriously exultant with life – a whopping 97% of Danish folk can’t stop giggling to themselves.

Message to all those Euro-sceptics out there (no doubt rubbing yourself and thinking of Lady Thatch): stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Brown: Immigrants who want citizenship should help the community

We woke up to another headline grabbing oration from the Chancellor this morning.

Immigrants who are “seeking citizenship,” Gordon Brown argues, should, “undertake some community work in our communities - introducing them to a wider range of institutions and people in our country prior to enjoying the benefits of citizenship.”

Quite a good idea Gordon, but seriously, how do you expect to monitor and finance such a programme if the public and voluntary sectors are not on board? I know supposedly Brown has countless initiatives he plans to rollout once he gets the Number Ten gig, but this is just pillow talk to a potential electorate. I guess we should assess whether it’s a good idea, but I can’t see it ever materialising – it would be much better if, as Ming Campbell suggests, we concentrate on teaching English.

Hat-tip: TrafficOne

Trouble in the Black Country

Ministry broke the story.

A nice little pitch battle between West Bromwich West CLP and ultra-Blairite Adrian Bailey MP, with the BNP in the shadows sharpening their knives. This Iain and Paul is what you call self-criticism*. Say ‘hi’, I don’t think you’ve met.

*A Labour Blogger breaking a real Labour scandal. Oh the horror.

The irregular photo of the day

Up the Hill, originally uploaded by tucumcary.

Another beautiful shot of some buildings. Why am I so interested in architecture I have no idea, but I’m always spellbound by cities.

The Monday List

It’s that new feature!

Top Ten Magazines

The irregular quote of the day

I feel at one with Charlie Brooker: -

You know how sometimes you develop an obsession with a writer’s work, and decide to seek out their entire oeuvre and inhale their every word, even if you don’t really know what an “oeuvre” is or what it looks like? Well, I do that for masochistic reasons. I actively enjoy reading people I can’t stand. When they write something particularly horrid, a wave of nausea surges through me and my pulse quickens. I am hooked on it, like a base jumper compelled to leap off chimney stacks for the adrenaline rush. Consider it a sickness.

This explains why I read Mark Steyn and Melanie Phillips.

Feminism revisited

Don’t you get the feeling that slowly but surely, even among PC-obsessed lefties, that feminism is - and please do forgive the turn of phrase - losing its mojo?

I know there are still the militant feminists who prowl the pages of The Guardian’s Society supplement, and almost yearly a survey drags up the equality of pay question, or some helpful git publishes a report telling us what we already know: that women are not adequately represented in our boardrooms. But other than these mild chastisements, feminism is almost non-existent in the popular intellectual discourse.

Maybe you women need to start burning bras again or running under the Queen’s horses?

Look at British political life. Yes we have several women cabinet ministers (almost all of whom, have been framed by the media – rightly or wrongly – as scatter-brained dizzies completely out of their depth), but where are the women challenging for the party leaderships? Harriet Harman and Hazel Blears are up the deputy leadership, but neither is considered a contender to topple Brown’s almost unstoppable march. This is surprising when you consider the sub-standard champions the Blairites are holding up as challengers.

We have similar issues on television. Anna Ford was a great newsreader, yet she retired last year for fear of being “shovelled off into News 24 to the sort of graveyard shift.” Maybe this was a case of ageism rather than sexism, but one only has to look at the average ages of the male and female newsreaders to spot a trend.

I know this is not a subject to be tackled by a blog written by white, middle-class male (especially when he’s already done so before), but when a movement such as feminism stands still, it’s more likely to slip back than consolidate its position.

Having said all this; this is an excellent essay on the subject of slacker-films, which tackles among other things, their portrayal of women. Brilliantly written by one Marisa Meltzer. Go girl!*

*No, the irony of closing a post debating feminism with “Go Girl!” is not lost on this blogger

The promised war

War with Iran is coming, so says Seymour Hersh: -

Still, the Pentagon is continuing intensive planning for a possible bombing attack on Iran, a process that began last year, at the direction of the President. In recent months, the former intelligence official told me, a special planning group has been established in the offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, charged with creating a contingency bombing plan for Iran that can be implemented, upon orders from the President, within twenty-four hours.

In the past month, I was told by an Air Force adviser on targeting and the Pentagon consultant on terrorism, the Iran planning group has been handed a new assignment: to identify targets in Iran that may be involved in supplying or aiding militants in Iraq. Previously, the focus had been on the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities and possible regime change.

The irregular video of the day

I had been looking for this sketch since it was on the box, and I just called by Mars Hill and there it is. Naturally I nabbed it…

Another one for meadowsboy.

Conspiracy Corner

From the BBC: -

[Lib Dem MP] Norman Baker tells BBC Two’s The Conspiracy Files he has reached the conclusion Dr Kelly’s life was “deliberately taken by others”.

Mr Baker has also obtained letters suggesting the coroner had doubts about the 2003 Hutton inquiry’s ability to establish the cause of death.

Hutton reached a verdict of suicide but a public inquest was never completed.

Dr Kelly, whose body was found in July 2003, had been under intense pressure after being named as the suspected source of a BBC report claiming the government “sexed up” a dossier on the threat posed by Iraq.

[Emphasis my own]

Surely establishing the circumstances surrounding Dr. Kelly’s death is the least we can do? Regardless of the consequences. Baker was of course the member of parliament who so effectively hounded Peter Mandelson. He is adamant that Kelly did not kill himself, and last year claimed that evidence relating to the case had been wiped from his PC’s hard-drive.

The end of the world is nigh

I’m so fucking disillusioned with this world.

Pass the gun.